From Many Lands

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 672, 25 May 1929, Page 19

From Many Lands

WHY WORRY? A reassuring statement ..po not be alarmed,” says Dr. E. B. director of Yerkes Observatory, ”°V the fact that a group of suns, I 0 _ the cluster of Hercules, is ’ known •ellintJ toward the earth at the rate , "/100 miles a second. Even at this 0 speed,” said Dr. Frost, address- ! !C »rin of scientific societies, “it 1 ■ntf a tnu ‘ ,jj takc at least a billion years for ; die cluster to arrive.’ FLAPPER voters students of politics Hundreds of london girl clerks and [vpists are nightly preparing for the j niing general election in a training ! «hoel for “flapper voters.” At the Bucklersbury headquarters of the j junior Women’s Brandi of the City of Tondon Conservative Association a j curriculum of political activity has ; teen mapped out for them. There is ] no entrance fee, but the student must be under 30 years of age and more than 21. The Junior Women’s Branch was formed last year by a group of "flap- j per voters” who desired to justify the i faith the government had placed in them by allowing them to vote. Certain days of each week are set aside for the girls to exchange views and discuss conditions. MID-DAY NIGHT LONDON’S FOGS ARE FEWER One of the sights of London—the pea soup fog—is gradually vanishing and some day it may be seen no more, for the annual sunshine records for Westminster, covering the past eleven years, show that central London now averages 22 minutes more sunshine a day than during the previous four decades. The improvement is attributed mainly to the increased use of gas and electricity and to the consequent abatement of the smoke nuisance. Often it is not so much fog as the smoke, from millions of chimneys, imprisoned by low-lying clouds, that causes London’s midday night. The daylight saving plan has also helped, for Summer Time has reduced the need for artificial light and heat between April and October ever since 1516. "WHO GOES HOME?” PICTURESQUE BRITISH CUSTOM The cry “Who Goes Home?” has rung through the vast Palace of Westminster o’ nights for centuries. The splendid, broad-chested policemen on duty iu the miles ot corridors shout "Who Goes Home?” the moment the Speaker has pronounced from the Chair the words, “This House now stands adjourned.” At this pronouncement the Speaker steps down from his great greencanopied chair, the Bword-girt ser-geant-at-arms walks up the floor of the House, removes from the table the great Golden Mace which has come down from Charles the Second, and it a moment the fluttering edge of Mr. Speaker's robes disappears behind the chair, the mace is borne away into safe custody by the sergeant, and the light over Big Ben goes out. Centuries ago the cry of “Who Goes Home?’” rang through the place in order that M.P.’s might band themselves together into little companies for mutual protection against highwaymen, footpads, robbers and would-be assassins. They called “Who Goes Home?” in th« days when my lady, if she dined or listened at the House with her M.P. husband or host, went home to Bloomsbury or to the neighbourhood of St. James's Park in sedan chair or coach, the way lighted by linkmen with torches. They may have cried “Who Goes r:ome?” when an ancestor of the present Viscount Grey rode on horseback ail the way from Northumberland to take his seat in the House of Commons (writes Charles T. King in “The tolly Sketch”). They called “Who Goes Home?” in the days when Beau Nash no doubt bad his friends in the House of Commons, and they call “Who Goes Home?” when now, in 1929, the Duch®,s of Atholl, M.P., sometimes goes tome from her work strap-hanging in 1 crowded train on the underground. „ 7* 18 fusty policemen still shout Who Goese Home?” although the highwaymen and cut-throats have disappeared. ■\ the hiding place MONEY IN LETTUCES The bad man who held up Mrs. Raymond Cline, of Chicago, on a recent dark night, “knew his groceries.” All he took from the delicatessen store owner was the bag nf foodstuff she was carrying home. in among the carrots, macaroni, gingersnaps and head lettuce w, ‘re the day’s receipts—£2s. Radium package lost SEARCH IN DEEP SNOW Lost during a blizzard and probably D iried under the drifted snow, a tiny Package containing fifty milligrams of Radium, worth between £I,OOO and * a ,ooo, is being eagerly sought by a saskatoon physician, Dr. E. E. Shepthe police, representatives of a 0Ca * insurance company and research porkers of the University of Saskatchewan.

Apart from its value, the little packKe, an Inch and a-half long and oneQuarter of an inch in diameter, conututes a grave danger to human life, Ue effects of radium improperly hailed may not be immediately notice hut contact with the intense radi 'ion over too long a period may re uit in burns which are sometimes in curable.

The radium, about enough to cover

TABLOID READING FOR THE WEEK-END

the point of a knife-blade, was lost by Dr. Shepley some time between 6 o clock in the evening and noon the following day. Aided by the electroscope, one of the most delicate instruments known to science, Dr. E. L. Harrington, head of the physics department of the University of Saskatchewan, assisted by a research student in radio-activity, braved wintry winds to cover again and again the route taken by the physician. The search for the treasured mineral was unsuccessful.

A reading microscope was also used in the hunt. The electroscope will detect the near presence of radium within a radius of five yards. The microscope is used in reading the movements of the frail gold leaf by w hich the electroscope tells its story. The searchers carry the electroscope close to the drifting snow and watch for the slender gold leaf to respond to the radium influence. The mineral is contained in a small glass tube. This tube is again covered by a red rubber tube and the whole is encased in gauze. A string hangs at one end for the purpose of carrying the package and to avoid being burned. CARING FOR FOUNDLINGS BRAZIL’S 200-YEAR-OLD HOME Iu nearly 200 years of its existence the Casa dos Expostos, or foundling home, in Rio de Janeiro has received 44,000 babies. The home is known as the “roda,” or wheel, from a small window opening on a narrow alley which swings like a revolving door. This window is back a foot or more from the wall of the house, and to it, generally at night, the mother or father grings the unwanted baby. The child is pushed against the revolving window and is received by a guardian within. The person who brings the baby is never seen, and no questions are asked. The institution was opened 1756 by Sisters of Charity. The girl babies are cared for until they are 18, while the boys are kept until they become 21 years old. The children receive religious training, and the girls usually enter domestic service or become nurses. The boys are taught trades. CROCODILE IN STREET TOWNSVILLE SENSATION The spectacle of two constables and two civilians holding at bay a crocodile in the gutter of the main street at Townsville recently caused a deal of commotion. The policemen were walking along the street about midnight when the saurian, which measured nearly four feet long, made a dive at one of them and just missed his leg. It is stated that the crocodile had escaped from its cage at the Palace Hotel nearby. Bags were thrown over it, and by the aid of ropes the animal was trussed by the hotel proprietor back to its den. IN TRADE AT 13 YOUNGSTER AND MODEL AIRPLANES Making model airplanes is a serious business with 13-year-old Gray Clifton of Kansas. While other boys tinker with tiny planes as a hobby, .this high school student makes money in his basement workshop. Young Clifton makes and sells complete planes and accessories. He has a definite schedule of prices for separate parts and assembled machines. Blueprints are used to insure precision. The boy has a set of electrically driven tools to fashion parts for any model of plane his customers may desire. NOT MADE A MEMBER THE CHICAGO SKULL CLUB The “Royal Order of Skulls,” in Chicago, was initiating Howard Kaplan recently, but Kaplan was shot dead before lie became a member. Dale Dolinsky. club member, was cent to bring Kaplan from a side room to the “initiation chamber.” Dolinsky carried a roll of bills, club money, and Kaplan inquired if Dolinsky was not afraid of being robbed. “Oil, no,” said Dolinsky. “1 carry a He* 1 whipped a revolver from his pocket as a demonstration. The weapon slipped from his fingers. As it was falling he snatched for it. The trigger was jiressed. The bullet struck Kaplan and killed him. “OLD MASTERS” IN CHEESE ANTIQUES FIT FOR THE TABLE At a recent agricultural show, near Zurich, a cheese made in 1778, and handed down from generation to generation in the same family, was exhibited. Its weight was 141 b. When first made it was .valued at lid a pound. Cheese properly prepared will last, for an indefinite period. During a. recent expedition to the Arctic, the explorers discovered in the \ alley Ten Thousand Smokes a cache ot foodstuffs left at least five years previously. A good deal was decomposed, but the supply of cheese was in perfect condition, and made an unexpectedly welcome addition to the camp fare. Experts advise us that this sort ot. cheese is “permanently keeping,” because the bacteria which are normally present in cheese and which are the ! agents of its destruction, have been ! eliminated by a sterilising process, j These bacteria play no useful part in : nutrition or digestion, consequently i the palatibility or wholesomeness of [ the cheese is improved by their rej moval. i After the cheese has been sterilised, ! it is packed immediately by automatic machinery in sterilised containers and \ hermetically sealed. This prevents : the access or growth of mould on the ! exterior or the re contamination of the : cheese bv injurious bacteria. So long ! as the sealed package or container remains unbroken, there is no spoilage agenev to which it is subjected, and the product will keep indefinitely.