SOMETHING TO INTEREST YOU

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20989, 16 December 1939, Page 19 (Supplement)

SOMETHING TO INTEREST YOU

HELPING HAND A touching little ceremony took place recently in the little church on the island of Luing, on the west coast of Scotland. It recalled a tragic sea disaster of two years ago, for it was a memorial service for the 15 Latvian sailors who were drowned in the wreck of a Latvian steamer. The Latvian Ambassador in London unveiled in the cemetery a granite monument made in Latvia, and to the men of Luing, who had played a gallant part in the rescue work he gave the Order of the Three Stars, awarded by the Latvian Government. The owner of the lost ship presented a Communion cup and plate to the tiny church, and the Latvian shipowners gave a carved oak lectern. But it was the words of the Ambassador which moved everyone. “My country,” he said, “ looks on Britons as ideal men who can be depended upon to lend a helping . hand in time of trouble.” SHIP IN A BOTTLE If you have ever seen one of the model schooners or barques made in bottles by the sailors of years ago, you have wondered how they could possibly have been inserted. There is no join |or place in the bottle through which the model could have been introduced except by the bottle’s neck, and this seems an impossibility. The model may be 3in. or 4in. high, and yet the bottle neck is perhaps no more than an inch wide.

Here is the secret: The boat was constructed, and the masts and sails put on so that they lay flat on the deck. The collapsed model was then pushed through the neck. Then, by a cleverly-arranged piece of thread, the masts were drawn into an erect position, and the sails were extended. In some cases even the deck broadened out. The thread is then sealed into the mouth of the bottle.

DIDN’T LIKE IT Myra was staying at a farm for the first time, and was afraid of meeting a bull. “ There’s nothing to be afraid of,” said the farmer’s wife, seeing Myra edging away while accompanying her across a field. “ It’s only a cow.” “Is it? ” asked Myra. “ Well, I don't like the look of its handlebars.”

HUNTERS AND HUNTED Animals of prey and animals which are preyed on are easily distinguished by the way in which their eyes are set. The-hunters, such as lions, wolves, foxes, cats, and so on, have their eyes set in front so that their vision is trained directly on their prey. But the hunted creatures, like mice, deer, and rabbits, have eyes on each side of the head so that their range of vision is greatly increased. FOOTPRINTS IN DUST Jean Patterson went with Granny to shop in a big store. She found a quiet staircase, wandered up into a deserted attic, and fell asleep. Granny missed her, searched the store, went frantically I into the street, and in a short time I all Sunderland was sarching, too. I This was on a Saturday aftmoon. | On Monday morning the store I opened and someone saw the prints I of hundreds of tiny feet in the dust of the staircase; and there, dusty too, with tear-stained cheeks, was two-year-old Jean, much troubled but all right again after a hot batfi and a meal. GREAT WATER-POWER Russia has huge water-power resources, probably the greatest in the world. The Russians claim that their water-power, fully developed, would represent 65 million kilowatts, or more than a third of the world’s total. America, according to this estimate, is second, but she is first in developed water-power.

It was Lenin, the Father of Bolshevik Russia, who gave the lead to Soviet electrical development, moved by the writings of an Englishman. In 1928 Russia had developed only 107,000 kilowatts; the first Five-year-Plan raised this to 437,000; the Second Plan made increase to 1,250,000. This is rapid progress, but the authorities are dissatisfied and aim at a further big extension.