HERE AND THERE.

Shannon News, 2 March 1928, Page 2

HERE AND THERE.

A “Drunk” Test.

When a builder was charged at Feltham, Middelesx, with being drunk in charge of a motor-car, it was stated that he was asked to answer the following questions to test his sobriety: What is your occupation? Do you know the district well? How-far is it from Hounslow to Stanwell? Draw plans of the Staines Road from Hounslow to where it intersects the Great West Road, giving the position of the turnings on each side the . position where you are now. What did you do in the * afternoon ? Any celebrations? Draw plans of the house you say you sold in the afternoon, and draw a section of the roof. Draw a plot of ground with 55ft of frontage and four chabis deep. Put a house in the middle and show what margin you have left. It was stated that the builder answered the questions very successfully, and the Bench dismissed the case. The Moon and Vegetation.

The influence of the moon on vegetation is firmly believed by many people to-be a fact, and not a superstition. It has been proved that wood cut when the moon is on the wane is the best. If by any chance wood was cut when the moon was rising, the heart of the rvood rotted within a year, whereas wood cut at the proper t me lasted seven or eight years. _ This is an accepted and proved fact in the tropics. In cases where wood which was cut when the moon wa.s rising, it rotted within a few months. It is supposed that this phenomenon is due to the action of the sap, which is rising during the growing of the moon, and there seems to be, every reason to believe that there is truth in the theory when one considers the influence of the moon over tides, and therefore it is not unlikely to have an influence over vegetable life also. Royalties’ Investments.

According to an eminent banker the general public would be considerably surprised if it could learn of the extensive manner in which foreign Royalties invest in British stock. The King of Spain, according to this authority, has a very large proportion of his huge private fortune invested in British securities, and So has the King of Italy. The ex-Kaiser is still suspected of drawing dividends from . London through third parties. King Edward some years ago advised the late Czar of Russia to place his money in British stock, and as ; a result of this advice members of the ex-Russian Imperial House now find themselves much better off than would otherwise have been the case. „ Midnight Skating. Hundreds of Londoners drove in motor cars during the recent spell of snow and frost to Keston Common, near Bromley, to skate on the two frozen lakes. They parked their cars round the lakes and directed their headlights on the frozen waters, and’ the setting resembled a fairyland. The sound of the skates mingled with the jazz strains from a gramophone placed underneath the leafless trees. The ice was hard, although not smooth, and many skaters who had not used their skates for years could not keep their feet. At midnight scores of cars were parked round the lakes, and in many of them skaters were recruiting their strength with refreshments.