Light Illusions

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 567, 21 January 1929, Page 16

Light Illusions

Animals Magnified WHAT ENGINE-DRIVERS SEE Night lights produce many curious and fascinating illusions. Small objects are magnified; animals and birds which go almost unnoticed in the daytime are brought into prominence. Queer sights greet the drivers and firemen on the locomotives of the Limited each night as they through the darkness. The brilliant eye on the front of the locomotive, with its 250 candle-power, turns the velvet darkness into day for a quarter of a mile ahead. This beam of light catches everything as it flashes along. Frogs jumping along the permanent way are more easily noticed than in. daylight and develop into quite large creatures. Often the men on the footplate of the Limited engine have seen weasels or ferrets stalking rabbits. Animals which has been sleepingon the railway wake uit to find the eye of the locomotive staring straight at them. Its effect is apparently mesmeric and the animals simply sit there staring, until the huge engine thunders over them. The effect of the reflected light on the eyes of rabbits or even smaller animals is extraordinary. The eyes seem to increase in size until they resemble the headlights of a distant motor-car. Drivers have been known to mistake the eyes of rabbits on the line for handsignal lamps. Hedgehogs are killed by the dozen on the railway line. These curious bundles of prickles, when overtaken by the engine, simply roll themselves into a ball in the effort of self-preservation. Sometimes the train rushes over them and leaves them unscathed, but frequently the force of the breeze caused by the train draws them into the wheels. The light acts as a magician on moths. When caught in the brilliant beam they become something the size of birds. Clouds of moths at night produce a wonderful effect when caught in the light of the onrusliing locomotive. Birds are frequently dazzled by the strong light and dash themselves to death against the engine. This has the same effect on numerous insects which fly about at night. Recently the driver of the Limited engine opened the window of the cab. Suddenly he received a violent blow on one cheek. He thought that someone had thrown a stone, but on investigation found that a large insect had caught him on the face, cutting the skin slightly. Some time ago a peacock, which was well-known to the train staffs as they passed near Taumarunui, flew into the train and was killed. Even in the daytime birds frequently fly at the train. The pukeko which frequents the swampy lands near Mercer often meet its doom on the line. Drivers fre- j quently find these birds wedged under I tlie smoke box of the engine. A party of motorists who were travelling between Horopito and Erua had a curious experience one night recently. Thousands of mice were suddenly caught in the beams of the headlights. They were crossing the road from tlie west side to the east. Many of the mice were_crossing a small bridge on which the batons were loose. As the car struck the loose batons the mise were thrown high in the air, but this did not prevent their companions from continuing the trek. Strangely enough when the party was returning two days later they saw large numbers of mice returning in the opposite direction, at the same point on the road, which was alive with the tiny rodents.