HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1914-6-25, Page 71,Wirie're=n1=x4r+PC.k.utt
riu:Tect Telepathy
• oaTayanniarn., ,,,,, aanntramaano ,,,,,,, steese
is.probable that the first men
who tried to tell his fellows of the
antennae on the head of mane insect
that haa rettaacted Jn teution
called them "feeleris,". Jae we do
still. When an ant or eeekroach
runs along the ground' with these
quivering thre•rals heal •straight for-
ward, and isouche,.s every objeob he
motile, like a blind an wiIh his
cane, the idea of "feeling the way"
ie instantly suggeeted, Yet tails is
probably the lease important are of
these organs. The semees of -smell
a,nd hearing also reside in the an-
tennae.
That the powers of antherma,e dif-
fer much among Mae -Me is clear
from the great, variety in their
form. Some look perfeotly smooth,
and vary in length from Ebert -spikes
to long whips. Even these may be
fringed with a microscopic down
finer than the finest cobweb, and
apparently sensitive to impres.sion•s
'far too slight for us to perceive.
Others have highly complicated
forms—numerously branched all
round, like a young pine, or flat
• and feathery, !er thick and coiled,'
or elub-shapecl, or with the ;surface
curiously sculptur.ed, or studded
with prortubarances.
All antennae are !coulposed al seg-
ments like a jointed fishing rod,
and male insects have more seg-
ments than fernale • All are hol-
low, and contain a. nerte cable from
the ''brain,'' whence fibrils reach
the root of each bran.ch or hair; and
these often miero•scopic appendages
are the mai sense organs—the sm
of. the feeler is only the structure
that supports them. The joints
give flexibility, and erieble an in-
sect to learn the shape as well as
the consistency of the article it
touehes, and also to hold the an-
tennae in the best position to
catch may odor or sound that the
creature wishes to understand.
Students of the behavior of ants
believe th.at some of the segments
bear a sense organ of smell thet
e nable.s these insects to distinguish
between odors in an astonishing
way. Thus they not only know their
own kind, and their nest mates
from neighbors, bat they recognize
the different clesees and ages in the
. colony.
Such delicate perception by means
of the antennae of an odor, or of
some chemical influence that we
can only compare to an oder, will
.account, perhaes, for the ;ability of
many insects to eommunieate with
one another at a distanoe. Male
meths will discover the place where
a female ef their ram has been ex-
perimentally hidden with a pkill
hard to explain. One theory is
that, when the mating season is at
hand,. the tesnale moth produces a
chemical emanation that affects
males within a considerable des -
tame strongly.
Ib is the opinion of most ento-
mologiste, however, that the sense
employed in this and other easee of
seeming "belepetay" is that of
hearing rather 'than of smell. It is
noticeable that in almost all in-
sects the antennae of the males are
larger aissa more oomplee than those
of the females. Thoee of our big
,silleworm mothare brandied in the
male like a fern tete while, those ef
his mate are miens knobbed ste,ms;
and every brans:Met of this "fern"
is elothe,c1 with hairs invisible ea our
eyea each reached by a nervelet
that branches helm the main cable
within -the antennas
That our ears cannot hear the
eounas made by a moth (although in
a few cases we cen do so) proves
nothing, for there is a •considerable
range of sound wave,s in ehe air so
high in pitch that evee the keenest
human _etre is tillable to .eatch and
report them te the brain. On the
o utermost margin of our afeWerS of
bearing ara certain enimal noises,
like thehrill erie.s ef bats, and the
fine, needle- like =Miming of min-
ute dies that Wine .persons cannot
hear ab all. Very hkely th,e miero-
scopic hales en thee antennae of'
sueh a fly vibrate with waves of G
pitch far too bigh for U,S. There -
fere the moths may eing Siren songs
!to which w.eare quite deaf. •
A plainer example is furnished
by 'the mosquitoes. Here see ea
mele, stshica does else aibing and
mese if tait all af the buzzing, has
a thread of on witness bearing a
few whorls of short heirs only,
• while bile male carries, a pair of
beaullifal bushes, that spree out
' into hairs so' fine that a Wong ma
crescope is eiernared to perceive
thee. it is not easy to think of
such an organ es an gar; yet what
could be better then this exoessite-
! ly delicate ansteament . 'mama
waves ef sound in the air? Beside
it, the deem and the inter pegs of
our ears seem coarse and clumsy,
• That the melee are more highly
e.ndowed with these pereeptive
senses then. bhe females .seems dee
to the fad that it is ;their bueiness
to bunt or thede mates of the other
sex, who wait to be found, yet try
to make their waibing-place known,
rrh mere pollee, s malele facia:ties
and melees for finding this waiting
mate the more likely he Iss to ;Os -
:001/.0r aler , eheed of is weaker !bees
the, end so' 'eatarile are the
strongest, parente "solesetedf" but
thee tendenciestoinerewsedtattoo,
tem in the' pereaptive feaulty,ie
strengthened. An efiere.sting polert
that experiment also brought out is
that the inalemesquite cosa probe-
bly hear little, if anything, exeepb
the buzzing of a gnat of Inc own
eine/ea—that is, a, suitable mate for
him. He has eves only for her;
and would seem, therefareto be
an ideal lover.
a—_.
SMUT BY WIRELESS,
You allay See Your Girl, Though
Many Melee Away.
The annihilation of space by the
wonders of modern scionee has been
carried 5 step forward by the; letest
scientific discovery. What the tele-
phone has clone in the transmission
of sound is now equalled by ae in-
vention for the tren.serassion ca light
by wire ,
The new invention enables "the
image of any object to be tranemia
tee and replies -timed before the eyes
of a specestor miles away, just as
the telephone transmits and repro-
duces the tone e of the voice.
The inveneor, Dr. M. A. Low, a
Lond.on, England, consulting engi-
neer, has given a ahoet description
of the apparatus and method of the
new wonder. The transmitter is a
screen composed of cells of sele-
nium, the' electrical resiatence of
whioh varies according to the light
that teethes it. Over this sereen
there pasees a eynohnonously run-
ning roller consisting of a number
of pieties, whice are alternating
conductors an din,sulators.
T,he roller is driven by a =ter of -
3,000 revelations a minute, and ,the
resulting variations of light are
transmitted along an ordinary con-
ducting wire, Tho receiver is made
up of a series of cells operated by
the passage of polarized light
through thin slats of steel end at
this receiver the objeet which is be-
fore the itransmitter is reproduced
as a flickering image.
The prooess is described as a
"acineuratographic application of
common ele,otrioal. principles. "The
system has been tested through a
resistanee equivalent to a ;distance
of four miles, but in the opinion of
De. Low there is no reason why it
should not, be equally effeotive over
far greater dista,nees.
"The tones of the human voice of
whioh there are hundire,de of gra:do-
lions," says Dr. Low, "can be re-
produced by wireless telephony.
The gradations of light are fax sim-
pler than those of sound, and it
should be possible to devise a wire-
less means of trensunission. I will
commit myself tei the prophecy that
in fifty years people will look back
with wonder at, ;the days when it
was necessary to be at a person's
side in order to •see him. When this
cley arrives consider how it will
dhange the eonditions of warfare.
Imagine the altered methods of
miliboxy operations when you can
see whet is happening miles away."
Ab present the inia•ge reproduced
is of about the size which, ths eye cif
&camera would take. It shows veri-
akions of light and shade somewhat
in the degree of a half -tone block,
but it does not reproduoe color.
Dr. Low is -well known in Lon -
clan aa a consulting engineer and
has engaged in laboratory researoh
for the Government. A numb.e.r of
inventions geed to his credit, in-
cluding the low eigh-pre.seure mo-
tor and a high-pressure petrol en-
gine. The experimenta in connec-
tion with light by wire have ex-
tendecl over five years,
In the transmitting soreen mle-
nium may be replaced by any dia-
magn•etie material. The cost of the
ap.paxatue is oonsiderable, as the
conductive sections of •the roller aro
made of platinum.
IIDUSES OF GLASS.
There'll Be No Wooa in the Archi-
tecture of the Future.
Paul Soheerbarb, the well-known
German wrfier, proplicsiee that the
architeebure, of the future will be
of glass, and that the world will be
inhabited by a happy race living un-
der the goad influence of light.
"The houses will be of glass," he
saye, "with a wood eliminated.
"The furniture will be of wrought
iron and the framework of the
buildings will be el iron and ruse -
,proof, while the walla will be of
doeble glass to ensure warmth, and
of many colors in order to beffie in-
quisative persons.
,"The buildings will be heated by
eleetvicity, and the wails decorated
in Tiffany majolica effect's, The
porch se every home will have three
sides of ease, end there will be
'glees garden hanses, whera one,may
live in the sunshine by dayeind the
starlight by nigh.t."
Herr Soheerbeet draws a. brilliant
word picture of a city., with stores,
churche,s and public buildings of
glees, all brilliantly lighted in many
colors.
Brun Traub, the aa'clateeb, built a
pata,ce along ,these lines at the Col-
ogne Exposition.
Good Yelling.
"Does the baby Mak yeti" askeel
a friend of the family of the lieble
heather.
- "No," replied the little lorotolme,
diesteitesily, "He den't needte
talk. All die has to-do is -yell and
as .gets eVeerthieg in the houee
worth -having:" ' •
Comment on Eloalarda
Theeesexour nee in.Volar Reffiene,
Among the changes ewe:emotion bY
ShitaidetOn 001hte antaretie eaneeltion
le the adoption of a "nineteen -hour day,"
He has been reamed se seeing that our
conventional twenty-four hour day hag
nQ ralfgoll d'etre 'in the pato regiOne,
and that time Would.he eared by eetab-
Belling a different and more AMU/We
unit, Ile ouggesta eight hours tor
work and exploration, three hours each
for meals and their preparation, and
eight hourfor sleep, This schedule
Would save five hours a daY and short,.
en the erne se the exneattion. •
There- are these who doubt the wis-
dom of the ereeosea max day. aeleaves
little or no time far recreo.tiOn amuse-
in8110, i'est othc,'Ilant
•
le trus
that there are no theatres, rauste halls,
daneee, elaborate dinner parties in the
polar regions, But Batt took a gramo-
phone along, and another explorer a
story -telling, card or chest playing',
football, baseball and other ports or
amusements are, of course, available re-
sources even in the arctic and antarale
regio,ia. 15 1t mole off cient to concen-
trate, cut into the part of thu day set
aside for recreation and seelability, than
to follow the usual end flailtuo.1 rout-
ine? 'Would not a nineteen -hour day
overtax the physical and mental ener-
gies of the exelorers? This is the real
question, and it IS one which members
or previous polar expeditions are 215001
cOmpetent to answer.
The Golden Age of Dancing.
We are a dancing people. Ours is the
golden age of rhythmic tripping to lilt-
ing music, Having passed through a
period of vulgar orgies the country is
now beginning to adept the more refin-
ed forms of dancing as an expression of
eniotion. Reformers who have opposed
dancing on moral grounds are swept
aside by a craze which sweeps the World
with an unrestrain enthusiasm.
Why dance? It is an interpretation
of folk lore national traitS, life and
thought, --a poetical expression of moods
and emotions and indulged In for pleas-
ure, beauty, art and health. In the
evolution of the dance a return to the
,dlednucceosabojef,
the seventeenth century is
Leaders who aro interested in con-
serving the art and clean beauty of the
Paetime are trying to (Urea the craze
in the right direction. It cannot be
cannot be stopped; it can only be direct-
ed and regulated. A popular craze is
always attended by pantliar dangers.
This IS particularly true of the dance.
They who sincerely believe that danc-
ing is as Jonah a part of life as singIng,
painting or laughing owe a duty to the
;MUM in safeguarding 10 standards and
malting it decent and delightful.
What Education Is.
There are some persons who think
that education requires lots of mOney—
grand buildings, elegant furniture, many
conveniences and everything extrava-
gant and rich. But such people know
no more of what education means than
a night owl knows art.
Education is plaiu, simple, clean and
straight. It doesn't put on style or
Want to make a great impression, All
these little whims of elegance aird ex-
travagrinee Inc foes to education. They
are tricks of mammon to catch the child.
Education is not tinsel, gewgaw, grand
buildings or 510,000 salaries.
The 1Ca1eeige Pifth sou.
An the world loves a lover, and when
royalty steps out of its glass to wed
there is a touch of genuine humanity
which is lacking in the coldly calculated
nuptials Of princely blood. The mar-
riage of Prince Oscar, the German Hats-
er's fifth son, to a mere countess, who
is his mother's maid of honor, will be
the first morganatic union in the Ho-
henzollern family since 1858, when a
great uncle of the present Emperor was
the bridegroom. If Emperor William
as Is reported, has sanctioned the love
pmraotoorh.fofbih.iseosmaimi,..he.ngjev.es another
An Important Discovery.
There has quite recently been brought
to the world one of those scientific dis-
coveries *Mat may,. without much ea-
aggeratton, be described as epoch-mak-
ing. Like that of radium, it was made
by a woman, and in a laboratory in
Paris Mme Victor Henri has establish-
ed the fact that under the influence of
ultra -violet rays microbes may be modi-
fied to a degree that is virtually equiva-
lent to transformation into a new spe-
cies. The significance of this, not mere-
ly in medicine, but also for biology in
general, hardly needs emphasizing.
"M. and Mme. Henri conclude that it
is possible to infer that all microbes
have originally had a common origin,
and that it confirms the datrine of De
Vries concerning the evolution ,or trans-
mutation of species, not by gradual
adaptation, but by sudden and highly
contrasting transitions,' says ei parts
correspondent. In a note sent to him by
the discoverer she says:
"51: is evident that the effect produced
on the microbes a anthrax is what we
call, after the theories of De Vries, a
'transznutatien,' that is to say an evolu-
tion with a sudden change in the bio-
logical characteristics. It is in this re-
spect that De Vries modified Darwin's
theory of evolution, by showing that
the variation of species is produced by
Sudden leaps or mutations, and not by
progressive variations. What is observ-
ed in the microbes a anthrax is a real
mutation and one. Is obliged to admit
that the 'diversity of microbes actually
known either prom:dal from a common
origin or front a. few. primitive forms,
which, under the action of the solar
light, became transformed, and gave rise
to a wrote series of ferms of maatione,
and which engendered diVers,maladies."
Monarchial Duties.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
IS evident/7 determined to do her duty
as a modern monarch. Not only does
she regularly' visit.mOst, if not all, of
the greater towns of her kingdom, but
she is devoting special attention, ac-
cording to a correspondent of the Co-
logne Gazette'to trade and industry,
studying the details of commerce and
manufacture, interesting herself in
various enterprises for the PrOmolion
of public welfare and paying surprise
visits to factories and workshops. In
Amsterdam she has entered cellar dwel-
lings and ascended to the upper floors of
working-class tenemente in order to
see for herself solnething of the hone-
ing Problem. EVening lectures are giv-
en at court, not unerequently on the
Dutch colonies, and she attencla manoeu-
vres a troops. This is in accordance
with the traditions of the Hotlee of
Orange, as well as with the established
practice of the heads a greater states,
Which doubtless ie a considerable fac-
tor in that revival of the popularity of
monarchy which contrasts so sharply
with the conditions in many continent-
al eountries a generation or so ago.
Queen Wilhelmina is net alone in her
conception of royal duties. Every
crowned head in Europe Is hard at Werk
getting in cloal touch with the people.
In Spain there is King Alfonso, who
would..certainly De the first President
if there were a Spanish republic. Itt
Germany there Is an emperor Who,
tocratic though he may .be, is looked on
liY his 5lesp]5 as the most effielent mali
in the eountry.
A D ark Deed.
• Wife--Biehloride ? No. put a
bands, . with an expression Of ex-
treme agonyae-Now I have done it.
But a selves me right for riot turn-
ing on the . light. I might have
known 1 would make a, mistake.
Islu•sboael (who is reeding .tbe pa-
pere)---Grreat guns 1 Whet have you
done'? Taken biohloride 1
Aria (entering room wringing her
two -cent ebeinp eri it postcard,
A Lack of Tact.
"1 Will confess to you," she mid,
"theb I am elcier than I look, I will
be thirty-two on any next birehday,"
• "Really 1" he rep)ied. "liteedly
apy tine wield, guess Shia 'you were
more than thirty,"
"Thogs the lase 'tithe," she ;mid,
when he had departed, "that; I'll
ever trY
IS Aida to' a bailee"
GOOD 'NATURE OF 'NEWU
L'ItINCE ALEXANDER $11OULD
BB POP vu.n.
Ills Wife Was lia0Wa IIS "P:iaaeSS
Mere of Wonderland"
When a Child.
Pluck, business capacity, geeial-
ity, and good nature are the chief
chareeteristics of Prince Alexander
of Teck, who is to .succeed the Duke
af Con•naughb as Governor-General
of Canada, when the latter's term
of offi•ce expires in Oetober 'next.
That the, Prince possesses ju.st
those qualities which will make him
popular in Canada is generally re-
aognized," says London Tit -Bits.
"His democratic unassuming ways
will undoubtedly appeel to our
overseas cousins.
In the Array the "Tominies"
loved bins became lie had no "side"
and knew his business. As a fel-
low -officer put it, when they went
out with the Prince's regiment the
Seventh Hussars, and firse saw ac-
tive serviee in the Mata,bele War in
1896, "he was not a military elothes-
horse, but one who knew, what sol-
diering meant," He was no shirk-
er from "roughing it," and he took
risks with the most, reckless of our
soldiers out there, being on several
occasions mentioned in despatches.
A striking illustration of ;his Roy-
al Highness's enthusiasm for sol-
diering is illustrated by the fact
that when the South African War
broke out the Prince at once volun-
teered fen immediate service, and
within forty-eight hours scaled with
the Inniskillieg Dragoons, who took
part in the operations round Coles -
berg, the routing of General
Cronje, the relief of Kimberley, and
the maroh to Bloemfontein.
Ris 'Unassuming Way. •
Of one of the Prince's South Afri-
can fights an interesting stoxy is
told, An Australian wax corres-
pondent who rode towards one of
the khaki -clad regiments was ap-
proached by a young, unassuming
man, who was anxious to bear news
of the outside world.
"Have you beeu under fire'?" ha
a,sked the coerespondene
"I should smile," was the reply,
"and I dou't much' appreciate its
Anybody who likes cen have my
share."
"We have to go under' fire• whe-
ther we kke it or net," said the
quiet', young Englishman.
"At a, salary," chirped the Corn-
Ths young man shrugged his
shoulders and w•alkecl away. Then
the Australian heaad that the un-
assu,ming young soldier' was Prince
Alexander of Teck, and he went
bank in the direction from Which he
had oome.
That, 'however, was just the
Prime's way. Says one who met
him during the wax, "I once tra-
velled half it day with him not
knowing who he w.a,s. Then I learn-
ed how earne.st at soldier the Prince
is, and hewthoroughly wedded to
his profession.. He is a good trek-
k.er, and it good ea,mp-man, too."
As a boy before, he went to Eton,
tho Prince spent his days .at Ken-
singbon Palace and the 'White
Lodge, Richmond Park, where,
with his two brothers and salter,
Queen Mary, he romped and ran
like a merry sanslboy. He was her
Majesty's 'faeorite, and ib was a
bleak day ivhen he first wenb off to
sohool—a "preparatory" for Eton,
!for, in epite of the .seven yeaxs' dif-
ference in their ages, the easter and
becalms, were constant compa•nions.
laisiness Capacity.
At Eton the Prince was known as
a good-tempered, jelly fellow, very
fond of games, a reputa,tion which
he had always maintained.
The business enterprise and cape, -
blades ef Prince Alexander wee°
displayed when he carried on the
teas of eaiseng funds f•or 'the Mild-
dleeex Hospital, begun -by his bre-
thee, the late Prince Francis of
Teak., four years ego. In this work
he was largely assisted by his wife,
Prineess Alexander, who devoted a
great dell of tin= to practical phil-
anthropy. Indeed, few big'eharita-
ble scbernes ere launched in whiob
she does not take a personal inter-
est„
A daughter of the late Duke of
Albany, and a aieter of the reigning
Duke of Saxe -Coburg, the Princess
Alexander of Tek married in 1904,
when she .wtss twente-on.e yea= of
age. Exactly how mach truth there
may be in yoniantic stories that are
told of foreige &spirants to the hand
of "Priecees Alioe of Woncleilaed,"
as she was called an her younger
days; because of her passionate de-
votion to th•e works of testis Car-
roll, le net known; bet ib is stated
that elm e,a,rly deteerained, like her
pousin the Princess Royal, that she
would not marry a foreign primes.
Certainly her marriage ea Prime
Alexaoder gave the greakest satiss
esebion threeshout Eeglatel. The
marriage has been an ideally happy
one, and there is liethe doubt that
the Prineees, like her husband, will
ender= hereela to Canadians.
. ,
• Aare feat thaleget aVa$ is eeldore
ste big its lithe story the.anglsr tolls
atraut it,
tin OF 20 ORES A STATE
kONTIBR BETWEEN FRANCE
a AND GERMANY.
Descendant of Wilhutin ef Orange
Is Grand .Duchess of
Lux curb urg,
Descended on her father's side
from! the heroic house of Nassau,
which gave to Holland and )3ritain
rulers of the House •of Orange, the ,
Grand Duchess Marie Adelaide, the 1
girl ruler of the little State of Lux-
emburg, es an intere.seng figure.
Hee mother was a Portugal prin-
cam of •the family of Braganea, re-
lated to many of •the royal houses
of Europe,
Luxeraibure itself is tt tiny state;
which owes its independence to the
jealousy of its neighbors. It is on
•the frontier between France and
Gerinany, and would be considered !
by either country a valuable -prize,
Its neutrality and independence
were secured in 1867 by the Treaty
of London.
Striated Nine Ifours a Day.
The Grand Duke William Alexan-
der, the last prince of the House of
Naesa,u, did not enjoy his healers
long. A long and severe illness pre-
vented his usefulness. He had .no
son and did not think at first that
under the constitution the eldest of
his six little deughters could suc-
ceed him.
When, however., it woe lound that
litee six-yeax-eld Marie Adelaide
was the heiress to the grand dually
her education ler her future posi-
tion was begun. During the foie
ye;ars her father lived no pains were
spared to get the best and wisest
teachers for the *had. Then her
mother became regent and the girl
studied ab 'home nine hours a day,
till at eighteen she ascended her
throne in 1912. The Grand Duelaess
A.deleide is still the youngest, ruler
in Europe, but ;sae is earrounded
by wise old statesmen and is her -
sear singularly fitted for her posi-
tion,
• Young and Beautiful.
She is said to be very beautiful
and clueing her ehildhoo.d was very
simply and sensibly brought up af-
ter the manner of' most German
children. That her task is no easy
one the fallowing paragraph shows:
"Upon the shoulders of Grand
Duchess Marie Adelaide kale it
heavy responsibility. 1She is the fin-
al court of appeal to those elf her
people wile may. feel aggrieved at
decisions of the ledges. In such an
event, as often happens in the case
of peasants heavy sa mind and
deeming themselves always in the
right, her deeision is accepted be-
cause •their Grand D•uehess pro-
nounced it, a •simple faith which
makes the greater her responsibil-
ity.
Multifarious Duties.
"The poor, the aged, the maimed,
blind .and oepbatied are all cared
for in the Decay iof Luxemburg in
institutions supported by the .State.
To 'aisit and to inspect affairs in
each of the.se forms part of 'the
Grand Deohess' dirty. All matters
of international sepect pass under
her hand, and ep 'her devolves the
visiting of reception ,of sovereigns
of other powers.
"This young girl of twenty,
tieough ;her bearing before the mas-
ses in ;strange capitals must uphold
in he•r own person the dignity of
her State and people, and at such
times, too, she 1111.10 cope -with the
brightest of minds, end treble her
age. A misplaced remark, a reply
capa.ble of, mieconstructioa, even it
thoughtless word would count
against her. When one considers
all these things, and the sweet
freshness and inexperience of her
youth as pitted .agairest them, one
must realize that it requires a re-
markable mind, courage and de-
meanor to sustain the situation."
Guard the Tongue
You would not think of taking
your neighbor's life or wounding
him with any physieel -weapon. But
you perhaps de not realize that
whe,n you say an evia thing about
him you are wounding than more
grievouslythan you could paseibly
wound him with gun or dagger.
You may be killing his xeenetatioe,
which may be a worse oalamity 1.0
idm tha,n killing his body. It is
steange, indeed,. that this terrible
item of weongdoing is so 004 amd
so eadcapread. 11. is Ila.PC1 to Under-
stand the peel -slier pleasure watch
matey people ;seem eo feel in saying
unkind things about ethers, Bad as
it is simply as a 1i -reach of good
neighborliness and 'good citizen-
ship, it is unepeakably bad front
ale stendpoine of Christianity and
the bea,chings el Olnistianity's fame
der.
4 A
A&
e see•
THE CLEANLINESS
OF SINKS.CLOSETS.
BATHS,DRAINS.ETC.
IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE
TO HEALTH.
FROM RONNIE 'SCOTLAND
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM 11 ER
BANNS AND BRAES.
Wliai Is Ening on In the Ilighlanth
and Lowlands of Auld
Scotia.
Lieutenant -General Sir Spencer
Ewart, K.C.B., has been appointed
General Officer Commanding-in-
Ohieef, the Scottish command.
The financial statement submitted
alb the annual meeting of tam Scot-
tish Football Ass,ociaition showed a
profit of $19,320 on the year's work-
ing.
A railway porter named Jahn
Burks, of B,olland Street, Glasser:,
was killed at Queen Street station
by being eaught between the buf-
fers.
. Dundee Parish Council have re-
solved to present an address to the
King and Queen on the occasion of
their forthcoming visit to Dundee.
As a result of a kick from a horse
in the yards at Sankind Road, Dum-
batten, a certer named Trotter has
dijeadsgoinw. the Western Infirmaay,
G
The death has occurred of Mr.
Munro Wilson, a retired grocer of
artarick, aged ninety-two. He was
iapicoontelau(l
eref the tenaperance cause
ns
A disastrous fire broke oat on the
farm of South Longmuir, Loaigside,
tenanted by Mr. Mare, ' and the
whols stook of cattle numbe•ring
thirty-nine, perished.
The annual pilgrimage to elm
Wishing Well art Culloden, near •the
veamese, on the fast Sunday in May
in observed with all the time-hen-
ored ceremony.
Ons miner was killed aud another
seriously injured in a bad fall in
the main eoel seam en Messes. B,o-
berti Addle and Son's Viewpark
Ucielington.
A public pine -ground and gymnas-
ium provided by the corporation of
Paisley for the benefit of claim)
residents bass been formally opened
by Provost Robertson
There has jitet clied at Eagresarem,
ab the age of 82, Oerporal Robert
Grace, another of the diminishing
list of Crimes= veterans, He wee
attached to th,e Scots Guards.
New premises are to be built, on
the High Street of Ilawick, 'foe the
Hawick Netioual Secerity Savings
Benk, and the plans have already
been passed by the Town Coencil.
The Wattling Committee of Glas-
gow Corporation is understood to
be in favor ef granting the city no-
jililoreb•86 t1ovetlItylayibdaykorf apeeatii, ibuniebenittedie7.
sanotion.
At a meeting ef the Peeblesshive
County Cour:boil the ;county elerk
was authorized to borrow tor the
eeectien of a new bridge at Crowe -
head, the estimated east of -which is
$18,250.
For the 307-611 year in snoceselen
the bounds ef Berwick Cornoration
estate were ridden recently. The
mayor, Councillor T. Wilson and
the -sheriff, Mr. E, W. Stacie head-
ed the peoetessioe.
THIS INVESTMEINIT
1 -IAS PAID .7% PER ANNUM
hall seribee since the Seenritios or Ws COrDaratIoti„*Tert)
Niftestrgr,' VrvelEIVIel
gwy title after one y ear. ease as a 100115150. rx111 sea
• startlers sea beeklet gladly flaraidied 011 realeat,
'NATIONAL ,SECOIRITIES 001tPORATI/111 .11.1MiTED*- •
vorambEnATiou XdrIal pi:MLA/NG 'ItratrafT0,
The ":Stiqging Tie'
Do yen remember — writes at
friend of The Youth's Conversion—.
beck ip your boyhood .daers on the
• farm, 'when essu were routed out of
bed .on a ebilly autumn morning,
and sent to fetch the; OM.% for milks
Mg/ As you drove the aerd up the
lane, in no veey.,seweet temper, one
oid "bossy'apersieted in lagging be-
hind. You stooped for a stiek to
hurl at her, and as you did so, your
hand brushed against as small weed
that grew Olose to the fence, You
bad totiehed a nettle, and far the
rest of the day there was a very
"touchy" boy ,aleout the ferm, If
that little netele had grown to a
height of eight or ten feet, a.nd the
venom in ite eting had increased
Propoetionately, you would have it
very fair example of 'the Austroafin
"stinging tree."
In that fax -away land—where all
-nature seems to take on an exag;
geratsd form—this poisonous weed
is most prolific. In the tropical
"hush" of northern Queensland,
especially, it attains a great height,
and sometimes it forms a veritable
thicket. 1t$ sting co,use.s the most
excruciating pain, and frem root to
tip it is covered with the minister
needles that enter the flesh upon
the slightest eontact.
Fartunately, natureelme provided
an antidote in the form of a plant
ealled the ;congee bar. This plaint
is usually found in the immediate
vicinity of the stinging tree, and
when you rub ib briskly over the
parts affeete.d,at exudes a juice that
allays •the pain to a censislera,ble
extent. The native blaeks are fa-
miliar with both plants, and when
sunffering from -contest with one,
readily find the other. Bub the
"new chum".—eer recent arrival in
the tame-ay—must endure almost
unbearable ageny until experienoe
teaches him the means •of relief,
The writer first met the stinging
tree while prospecting along the
Johns -Mile River, in -company with
two other, "new chums,' During
the 'noondaa rest, I took my gun,
and wandered into the "bush" in
seareb of wild turkeys. I started
one, which promptly scurried into
e thicket of stinging tree. Intent
on getting a shot I plunged ila afeer
the bird, and wa,s well into the mid-
dle of the "torture chamber" be-
fore I realized its nature. I forget
the turkey in the extreme torture
of the moment. Be the time
reached camp, I wee literally on
fire, and, in my Ignorance, I ap-
plied water to my hands and face.
That so aggra,vated the pana sthat
for some hours my companions fear-
ed that I would go masa We ap-
plied what, crude remedies aur out-
fit supplied, but it was the follow-
ing clay before I begat to experi-
ence any relief, and •fon several
-days I suffered eonsideaiably.
Aniuneas aleo suffer from contact
with this pestilent plena I recall
one case in particuler. A teamster
was conveying a piece ef machinery
from the cease up the inountoen
traal to one ef the mines. He used
• teve-whe,elecl dray, drawn by a
team of heavy horses, He covered
half the dista.nee on the, first. Clay,
and camped for the night in an
abandoned hut, nese which was a
clearing of perhaps an acre. He
turned the hones into this elearieg
to graze.
The hut was built of h,e.o.vy logs;
one end was entirely occupied by
an immense brick oven, used in the
"rush" &N, . to bake bread for -the
miners. The buildi»g stood at the
jlliretivn eve trails, and e -as a
sort ef siesi '1' ,T-IrVer place for be -
later Several were
there on this psrticelar night, and,
in the midst of their yarn -spinning
they heard FL lease tear umelly past
the hut with the mast blood -turd -
ling squeals. All hands rushed out,
but nothing was to b.e sem in the
darkness.
As they re-entered the hut, one
eld digger eugeasted to the team -
seer that 0110 ef 11±5 horses might
have been infectrd with the sting-
ing tree, and gone mad with the
pain. The te.amsber scouted the
idea, and Iran :inserting his belief
'that both horses w.e.re still feeding
in the elearieg, wben the animal .
'11410, again heard, earning back down
the trail, The men rushed fermi the
hut into the inky cairkness, deter -
Mined to tets.reept the horse,
The narrow shaft ef light from the
open door only seined te secentuata
t•lie blackness on either sislc of ib,
so that the men eie Id me see , one
enother as they waited, poisesa to
spring at the ()brushing etimal.
Pethaes tl,o rkne wile' to la erne ;
but with a nab of lea a and a)
most borrible iiriee, the agmeeed
oreature passed them al aria with
ODA great bound, Oli0h1141 through
the open doorway of els het,
l'or one instant \VIA l'10
sound al boofe a'tittli± irerces
floor ; then oanir 5, c'''1.‘511 et •tr
heavy body falling to tee Ilene ale
mon roalled in, to find the arena -
ter' s big gray etre gel lee in • Ids
doth agony. lie had run heed 4111
against tlio brick cergn 511 the ene
the hut, arid hie nook was beacon,
T•he stinging tree waato blame for
it
'It is resit's- to hear Is lot tile
is to raise the elency to pay fe
one,