BREEZES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 April 1938, Page 8

BREEZES

Fish Restocking From Air. Experiments of dropping fish a. distance of from 100 to 1000 feet by means of an aeroplane to restock lakes in the Canadian mountains have proved successul. Tiiis method was first tried out in the Laurentian mountain lakes. Fine, cotton nets were submerged on a wooden frame 100 feet long, and the fingerlings were dropped from a hydroplane travelling at a speed of 140 ft a second and at a height of 400 ft. Skilful piloting enabled 1 ‘direct hits” to be scored. The fish were then, taken from the nets by observers who found 95 per cent, of them were alive and uninjured.

Positive evidence of the success of these experiments was seen by the fact that 4-inch fish were taken from a Quebec Provincial Government fish culture station and deposited by means of an aeroplane in a virgin lake, a fin of each fish having been cut to identify it. The following year many of the fish were caught and were from 9 to 10 inches long. Further experiments showed that fish up to three pounds in weight could, be dropped from a height of 1000 feet and remain uninjured.

Smokeless factory. A £2,000,000 rayon factory is rapidly nearing completion at Red Sear, near Preston, Lancashire. Textile machinery is already being installed by a staff of 300 engineers, and actual production will start soon. Ultimately,.between five and six thousand operatives will be employed. A feature of the factory will be that even when in full swing and. hundreds of tons of coal are being consumed in the boiler-house furnaces, only the faintest wisps of smoke will be visible coining from the two 370 ft. chimneys, or the plant has been designed to reduce air pollution to the' minimum. Smoke which is not consumed in the furnaces passes through a special grit-extracting chamber before the colourless fumes remaining are liberated up the two chimneys. Another featur of this smokeless plant is that all the foul air and fumes from the spinning sheds will be user for the creation of more power, being driven by powerful fans to the engine house for the .extraction of the oxygen and hydrogen content and used, for supplying combustion for the boilers.

Sun Bathers, Beware! A Paris publication lias printed advice to those going to the Riviera in regard to sun-bathing precautions. Sun baths are highly beneficial, but care has to be exercised at the beginning, and an enthusiast who gets too much sun on the first day may have serious cause to regret it. The writer of the article is a doctor, and these are his recommendations.- On the first day, expose to the sun only legs and arms during five minutes. On the second day, expose the legs for five minutes, then the legs and thighs for another five minutes. On the third day, expose the legs and thighs ten minutes, and then the abdomen during five minutes. For the fourth day, legs, thighs, and abdomen should be exposed during a quarter of an hour, and then uncover the breast for five minutes. After this preparation during the first four days the body will be able to withstand the sun’s rays for any period. At all times, care must be taken to keep the head covered in the case of a prolonged sun-bath. The writer adds that people suffering at all from the liver, or whose lungs threaten to give trouble should not indulge in sunbathing without consulting their physician.

Arc de Triomph, During the month of July, August and September of last year, 175,725 people visited the famous Arc de Triomphe, that stands at the top of the mile-and-a-quarter avenue of the Champs-Elysees, in Paris. The Arc de Triomphe was begun by Napoleon, in 1806, to commemorate the victory of Austerlitz, but it was not completed until 1836 by Louis Philippe. It is 96 feet high, 48 feet wide, intersected by a lower transversal arch 61 feet high and 27 feet wide. The whole structure is 162 feet high, 147 feet wide, and 73 feet deep. Four colossal trophies, 36 feet high, with figures 16 feet high, adorn the four main pillars of masonry, and the names of 142 battles appear on the vaulting of the principal arch, in addition to 30 principal victories inscribed on as many shields above the entablature. There is no need to climb the 273 steps which lead to the platform on top of the triumphal arch, for now a lift conveys visitors to the top, from which there is one of the finest views in Europe over 12 avenues that radiate star-shaped from this spot. In a large room inside the monument a museum of the Arc de Triomphe has been installed, with documents, pictures, engravings and relics connected with the building of the world’s greatest triumphal arch.