HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1952-8-13, Page 8'law ,Fater Can
A Worm riit
Mw.:•' r '"ti�.
How fast can a worm turn? In.
an experimental laboratory at
or1101 University, scientist J. S,
obinson has been timing and
training worms in a transparent
'plastic maze, seeking to prove that
even a worm can learn a trick or
Over a two -foot course Dr,
Robinson times his sluggish worms
at about six inches a minute
fund after athree-months' routine
bis trained worms have learned to
Avoid 'a passage that leads to a
tingling electric' shock. Now they
invariably turn right for coolness
And comfort, but this seems due
Lather to instinct than . reasoning
power, One little earthworm still
Pattie the correct choice even after
being severed from its primitive
brain.
Photo -Finish Marvel
This is only ane string of the
strange research going on into the
lower forms of life all over the
world. Have you heard, for in-
stance, of the fly that can out -fly
the jet 'plane?
With high-speed photo -finish
cameras, Dr. Charles Townsend
has repeatedly checked the time of
fast -winged insect named Cephe-
nomyia. Moving at 400 yards per
. second, or 818 miles per hour, the
little creature, exceeds even this
speed in the high altitude moun-
tain summits ' of New Mexico.
Its rate of wing movement is
still unknown. Yet it's probably
faster than the small drosophila
fruit fly, which, studied at the Har-
vard Biological labs, proves to have
st wing beat of 13,000 flaps a min-
ute and can fly for thirty minutes
without taking a rest.
Female of the Species
From these insects manmay still
pick up hints and tips on super-
sonic flight. Did we say "man"?
Recent U.S. Navy tests tend to
show that females are less affected
by high speeds than males. When
rats were, pinned to a whirling cen-
trifuge and had been subjected foe
two minutes to a centrifugal force
twenty-five times that of gravity,
ten in every twelve males died ...
but ten in every twelve females
survived.
Jet piloting, in fact, may be a
promising new profession for thea
ladies.
Berry Nice — Wearing a blue-
berry necklace, Rhonda Shen -
wood samples some early
blueberries. She'll reign over
the annual Grand Haven
Harvest Fiesta.
Gait Fonar Windshield
Gold -Plated Yet ?
By covering car windsldelds with
a coating of transparent gold, only
a quarter of a millionth of an inch
thick, scientists believe they have
found a way to eliminate one of the
greatest problems of motorists and
air pilots.
For nearly two years experiments
have•been going on at the National
Physical Laboratory, Teddington,
with a view to Ending a device that
will keep car and aircraft wind-
shields free from iced -snow.
Now the. scientists believe they
bave found it.
The gold film has a light -trans-
mitting factor of 80 per cent. The
glass is first coated with an oxide
of lead, antimony or -bismuth. Then
the gold is depisited carefully on
the glass. n
It is emphasized that the process
is still in an experimental stage,
and it may be months before a
"guinea-pig" windshield is actually
tested. But there is little doubt that
the research workers have made a
revolutionary discovery, Its value
to air pilots is likely to he incalcul-
able.
In the United States, reasearch
into this problem of icy windshields
has been going on for some years,
' The Americans at present coat the
glass with oxides of metals which
are transparent if depgsited thinly,
but this method has its drawbacks.
We hear that an optimistic hiker
recently tried to cadge a lift from
King Farouk. A case of "The Shape
of Kings to Thumb?" as D'ottor
Spooner might have said,
1s* stain Cog Up.
•Bl a s.O! Incurable Soil 'Trouble
All over Britain hauset are crack.
Ing up faster than folks can build
them, foundations nettling, doors
Jamming, ceilings crashing, as the
result of a newly -discovered in-
curable soil trouble, Heavy repair
bills mainly incurred by ordinary
householders, are aoomhag to up-
warde of £10,000,000 a year.
In many areas whole streets and
suburbs art affected, Bricks and
plaster ,split, walls bulge, plumbing
and expensive fitments fracture
and as fast us owners repair the
damage this strange blitz happens
again.
In black spots from Eastbourne
to Rugby, Luton to Ilarwick,
broken drains and road fissures
impose new bills on the ratepayers.
Factory machinery is flung out of
true, church spires tilt, and 1n one
ease buildings were found to be
slipping clean off their foundations.
According to scientists of the
Building Research Station, Wat-
ford, the trouble is "shrinkable
elay." Entire suburbs of London
and many new housing estates
throughout the eastern counties
have been built on clay of large
shrinkage capacity which swells or
arrinks with the season.
Heavy rainfall over the past six
years has increased these minature
earthquakes. Some houses have
dropped into pre-shrunk pockets of
soil overnight, with drastic effects
on the structure. There's no easy
remedy. Such trees as poplar, wil-
low and elm, when close to a house
can, however, heighten the peril.
And this is just one of Britain's
hush-hush housing troubles this
year, 'quake problems that are
baffling locale authorities. In Shrop-
shire, for instance, disused clay
quarries have filled with water and
now a landslide threatens to carry
the village of Jackfield into the
Severn- Five hundred people hear
the earth groaning at might and
find their houses tilting under them.
Somefamilies have been evacuate
. ed. Even the postal service has
stopped. Notices warn the public
that they use the yawning village
road "at their own risk and peril,"
Once collapse starts, surveyors
cannot forecast what may happen.
Near Wigan, an engine -driver was
backing his loaded coal train when
the earth opened beneath him and
swallowed him up.
The engine and thirteen trucks
were engulfed to a depth of over
100 feet and the driver was killed.
His mate jumped clear but, with
some workmen on the line, he
could only stand helpless while
steam hissed from the crumbling
shaft as though an active volcano.
Today a disused, railed -off siding
is the only sign of this fantastic
vanishing. The engine and trucks
were never retrieved but had to
be buried in, beneath thousands of
tons of earth and rubble.
Then there's the trouble at
Swadlincote, Debyshire, where
houses lurch, ceilings fail and the
landlord at one of the locals can-
not put an even pint on the
counter of the bar. so steep is the
slope.
Mining subsidence is to blame
and government experts have re-
commended the evacuation of the
town. Houses built as recently as
1938 have been abandoned because
they are slowly disappearing into
the grouy,d. Fifteen housing
schemes in neighbouring areas have
been scrapped because there was
no assurance of stability for any
buildings erected there
In For a Shock?
Many townships are similarly
threatened. But what's worse is an
expert theory that a series of
earthquakes in England is now
overdue.
It is fifty-six years since the big
Herefordshire earthquake, when
chimney -stacks tumbled and many
walls collapsed over an ata of
several hundred square miles.
Shortly after the turn of the
century a 'quake north-west of
Derby stepped scores of public
clocks. At one time Connie, in
Perthshire, received no fewer than
143 tremors within three months.
Comparative stillness has made
many peoplebelieve that earth
tremors never batmen in that coun-
try. But perhaps they're in for a
rude' shock 1
-'-From "Tit -Bits",
SO NEAR, AND `YET
Victor Barge, the clever Danish,
raconteur, told a banker, "A man
you really should finance is my
uncle, who was determined to in-
vent a new soft d4inlc. He worked
on a formula for a whole year,
and came ;IP with .something he
called '4 Up'. It was a failure, but
my uncle was not discouraged, 'He
worked another year, and produced
a new concoction w;hich.he named
'5 Up'. Again it failed to sell, but
my uncle 'persevered. He took all
the rest of his"money; secluded'
Himself for .two years this time, and
turned u,p with still anotber drink
that he called '6 Up.' Alas, it failed
like the others, and my uncle, dis-
couraged' al' last, gave ftp in dis-
gkst.'
"The point of your story eludes
me," said the banker. - "Why do
you tell me all this?"
"I just wanted you to know,"
said Borge, "how close my uncle
came to inventing '7 Up'!"
Malayans Believe
In "The Third Eye"
There is a strange boons these
days in Malaya which does not
seem to be affected by the bandit
warfare.
On the Island of Penang, for
example,- the Chinese appear to
have become more inclined to mys-
ticism than ever. There are to -day
more than a dozen new "religions"
whose leaders claim that various
gods may appeased, so that the
sick may be cured and evil spirits
vanquished.
The names of the cults that seem
to be the most flourishing are: The
Cult bf the Monkey God; The Cult
of the Three. Mountains; The Third
Eye Cult,
Although these cults have differ-
ent titles, the methods of starting
them varies little; and the drive for
members seldom changes. The
method of collecting subscriptions
from followers invariably displays
the enterprise far which the Chi-
nese are famous.
A cult is launched by some Chi-
nese getting an idea and giving it
a name. The Cult of the Third Eye
may be taken as an example.
"Divine Sight"
In this case it was a Chinese boy
who claimed that "divine sight"
came to him in the night. This
sight was given the name of "The
Third Eye" and followers had to
paint an extra eye on their fore-
heads between their natural eyes.
It cost practically noth'ng at all
to make a new cult known, because
it soon becomes a sort of whisper-
ing advertising propaganda up and
down the narrow crowded alleys,
A boost is given to a new cult
by the simple method of affirming
that the more followers the cult
has, the more influence there can
be brought to bear on the spirits,
good or evil For some cults have
good spirts to watch over the fol
lowers, whereas others have bad
spirits only, which must be kept
in check.
In the case of The Third Eye
Cult, the boy who started it be-
came a sort of medium. He goes
into trances and contacts numer-
ous gods' and godesses.
When there are a good number
of followers, the sick among therh
are given crams which they are
11
PITCHING HORSESHOES
—from Countryman's Year, by Haydn S. Pearson
I
I
WE arc glad there is a national association to guide officially the
destinies of pitching horseshoes. If the people who enjoy projecting
arrows from semicircular pieces of wood or knocking around an inoffen-
sive wooden ball have organizations behindthem, then those who pitcb
horseshoes deserve the dignity of similar treatment,
A game after supper on the farm, however, needs no official sanction.
Two deeply driven stakes of oak or ash forty feet apart and a few
old horseshoes are all the equipment .needed. A man who pitches
regularly is particular about his "shoes." They can be neither too
heavy nor too light. They must feel right in a man's hands, The
countryman who enjoys the game from April to December is just as
fussy about his prize pair of old horseshoes as he is about his favorite
ax or his pet hoe.
One of the pleasant things about pitching horseshoes is the diversity
of opinion- regarding the techniques --and that's the way it should be
in a democracy where one's •opinion is respected among one's peers.
Some men insist that a ringer comes easier from holding the shoes by.
the calk at the rear centet and letting the shoes go three tim_s end over
end. Others maintain that one end -over -end revolution is best. '1 here are
those who stoutly argue the only proper way is to hold the shoes side-
ways, with a thumb curled around a front calk. Others balince the
shoe on several fingers and figure that two and three-quarter turns will
produce the most ringers.
These arguments' of course, are merely the technicalities of a blood -
Stirring, traditional American sport, For some three centuries men and
boys have been exercising their skill with the pieces of curved iron.
It's the good-natured rivalry, the masculine banter„ and the pitting of
One's skill against another's that gives zest to pitching horseshoes.
Wlten the shout "It's s ringer!" comes, s man h*s s feeling that lies
accomplished something warthwltilr
1
All Puffed bp—Jimmy•Witiad,5, has a quiet smoke with his good
friend FFank Wilson: ; Jiuiimy Was given a cigar by his father,
C. 'N. Wingo, at the age of two to cure him of picking up and
smoking cigaret butts, No cure resulted, but the cigar. business
has a steadfast customer.
told to burn, then to mix the ashes
with water and drink it.
The medium meets his disciples
in various temples.
Not -all cult leaders make claims
to powers of clairvoyance in any
form; indeed, €onie have been
heard to declare that almost any-
one Can acquire the power' fo serve
the gods by- practising Concentra.
tion .and making sincere efforts.
Although there is such an up-
surge of mysticism and new cults,
there are still others practised,
both in Penang and the mainland,
by Chinese whose forebears
brought the rituals from the home--
land
onne-land in China, -mystic rites whose
origins are deeply buried in antiq-
uity.
Such a ritual is the Chinese
"cure" for sick' children. The ar-
ticles necessary for .such "cures"
are temple joss sticks, green beans,
a piece of pig's fat, a pair of paper
shoes, cut-out _figures to represent
the sick child, a scroll of red rice -
paper, and a' duck's egg.
All the articles except the egg
are burned- during the ceremony.
Nothing happens to the egg, but it
is not seen again. Rumor has it that
the medium makes a meal with it.
"Top Billing" Made
Life -Time Enemies
That two brilliant geniuses could
engage in a lengthy feud over a
childish dispute shows how small
great men can sometimes be. Inigo
Jones, landscape painter, designer
and architect; Ben Jonson, once
deemed Shakespeare's equal, poet,
dramatist and satirist . . , these
were the two giants whose fierce
squabble set the whole of seven-
teenth -century London laughing.
Inigo Jones was the son of an
unsuccessful cloth -merchant of
Smithfield (where once was held
the Great Cloth Fair). He had so
little education that he could not
spell the simplest words. But he
had that mysterious quality called
genius.
In those days aristocrats acted as
patrons to promising artists. And
the Earl of. Pembroke, hearing
Horace \Valpole praise the young
architect, sent !nip to Italy and
on a tour round Europe to see
the great buildings of the past.
He name back and found many
other patrons. He designed build-
ings, interiors, and costumes for
the great masques, which were
then the rage.
King Became Curious
James I commissioned him to
design a great banqueting Hall at
Westminster, which stands as one
of his many monuments to this day.
Then the King became curious
about Stonehenge. What was the
mystery -of those great stones set
up on the plain? Inigo Jones was
the man to unravel that mystery.
A good deal puffed up by success
and unable to tolerate criticism,
Inigo reported back to his royal
toaster that Stonehenge was the
remains of a Roman temple to a
heathen god. The Ring was satis-
fied with this opinion; and he com-
missioned Jones to make all the
costumes for a grand masque which
was to be written by no less a big-
wig than Ben Jonson, the famous
playwright and poet.
Ben wrote his masque; and Inigo
designed the scenery (the first.
movable stage scenery ever used in
England) ae well as some gorgeous
costumes. And now We come to
thecause of the great quarrel that
made all London town laugh 'at
the two giants. Inigo Jones's name
was put at•ove, Ben Jonson on
the programmes t
For years after that Ben Jonson
pursued Jones with amazing venom.
He poked fun at him in his famous
comic poem, "A Tale of a Tub."
He went about maligning' him
everywhere,
Once Johnson said to the King:
"If 1 wanted words to express the
greatest villain in the world I
would call him an Inigo."
Rich but Not Popular
But the King took Jones's side
and Jonson- hover again wrote a
masque for royalty. He neither
forgave nor forgot this, and the two
men remained bitter enemies for
life.
It was Inigo Jones who intro-
duced the Italian style of archi-
tecture into 'England He built
fine , mansions and. churches. He
died just three hundred years ago,
on June 1st, rich but not popular.
He was va'n, pompous and in.
tolerant. But he •had his virtues.
He was very, very generous and
gave freely to all who askedefinan•
tial help of him.
QUIZ PROGRAMS
On one of those quiz shows
where they give dollar bills for
guessing Agnes MacPhail's first
name, a plump housewife walked
off with the five -hundred -dollar
jackpot. "What's the first thing
you're going to do with this mon-
ey?" gurgled the delirious Ivl,C.
"Count it," said the housewife
simply.
Another shote specialized in
wrapping objects in deceiving and
inappropriate packages, and pre-
senting them to the first member
of the studio audience who could
identify same. The announcer step-
ped into a soundproof booth on
stage to let the radio audience in
on the secret.
Edwin O'Connor was present one
day when the announcer. stepped
out of the booth and held up to
view a package big enough to con.
fain a set of the Encyclopedia
Britannica. "What have we here?"
he asked playfully. "A set of dish-
es? An elephant?" "You have
there," said a lady in the audience,
"a small diamond ring,"
"Wonderful," said thc.announeer,
hauling the lucky lady onto the
stage. "Have you X-ray eyes? Or
could you hear what I was saying
in that soundproof booth?" "Not
exactly," said the lady, "I'm a lip
reader,"
"Marriage is a step so grave and
decisive that it attracts light-headed
variable men by its very awful
flees," — (R. L, Stevenson).
Dutch Go In Far
"Hopped -Marr it
The modern-day Olying Dutch-
man" is a middle-aged gentleman
riding a hopped -up bicycle which
makes a noise varying between that
of an avolgrov*lt mosquito and a
wartime V -bomb.
With motorcars difficult to get
because of high prices and small
import • quotas,' there has been a
big switcllover from ordinary
bicycles to what are called there
buzz bikes, or bicycles fitted with
a wide variety of small auxiliary
motors,
Holland has about 5,000,000 bi-
cycles. In the past 18rmonths the
number fitted with motors has
grown from 50,000 to about 180,-
000. The total is expected to rcyteh
225,000 before the end of the year',t
sand 500,000 by 1956,
License Not Required'
An increase of 50 per cent in
highway accidents in the Nether-
lands during the past year has
been attributed to the "bpzz bikes."
The government regards them as
a bicycle—whit, means no license
is necessary, and riders use both
highways and the special bicycle
tracks provided alongside every
Dutch road.
The Dutch bicyclist has long
been known as a sort of circus
rider because, of his amazingdex-
terity and speed—and the many
traffic" risks he' takes.'
As long as he was using ordi-
nary bicycles, motorists and pedes-
trians could estimate his speed
fairly accurately and get out of
the way. But since the bicyclists be-
gan attaching motors to their bi-
cycles, which gave them a remark-
able variety of speeds, the accident,
rate -has ripen alarmingly.
Confusion Increases
By behaving sometimes as
cyclists anis sometime: as motor-
ists, the motorized cyclists befuddle
traffic policemen as Well as Motor-
ists. The confusion is increased by
the ,fact that few of the "buzz
bikes" look any .different from or-
dinary bicycles. Some of the motors
are so small that they cannot be
seen exceptat close range, while
those tucked away at t1•e rear of
the machine give no indication that
the "bicycle" f5 not an ordinary
bike.
• Motorists in Holland are accus-
tomed to droves of ordinary bi-
cyclists bearing down on them at
the peak hours, when every second
Dutch person rides a bicycle.
But when several buzz bikes
suddenly loom out of a phalanx of
bicyclists and dart alongside or in
front of cars without any warning
other than the normal bike bell—.
it's a terrifying experience for a
driver.
The problem of what to do about
them is unsolved.
Tl:e bicycling organizations ob-
ject to the "speed demons" using
the bicycle paths.
The automobile associations say
they are less of a menace on the
bike paths than on highways.
And the -government, after a
year's . careful • consideration, has
ruled they are bikes, which means
they can go anywhere,
Consequently, Hollanders walk
and drive with their ears cocked
for a noise like a refrigerator
motor with a shot bearing.
NOAYSCHQOL
LEON
By Rev. R. Barclay Warren,
God Prepares 4 Leader
1 Samuel 1120, 24-28.311, 16-21: 4
Memory Selection! The child
Samuel grew on, and; was in favor
both with the Lord, rand also with
men. 1 Samuel 2:26
A Perilous man whn asked how
early in' life the train ng of a child
should begin, answer d, "With anis
grandparents. Wellj we don't
know about Salpuel'st, grandparents
but we do know thatlboth his par-
ents were ,godly. His name, which
means, "asked -of -God' reminds us
of Hannah's prayer for .e c4d.
Beforehisit
bit' her t e a er "
s see d -
P n
Y q
ed for him. She knew' firht rule
of •soutdf. vocational guidance, a
dcdioatiori of her cilil to Go The
home in which he was reared while
ygsfng 'put, God first. The ,prayers
he beard were marked, by a warm
and livelydevotion, creating an at'
=sphere where reverence, that
highest emotion among men, took
precedence•-ova;f,dber, passions.
'Atp " us spirit of
the mother everold ger be forgot -
The pleasantya
ten by the T,..it@ .same - high
quality which -gn161et1', her to reply'
graciously to "The ' unjust censure
of Eli was no doubt observed by
her son on many occasions, and as
a lode star field him to the teach-
ings of homer,
While '• Samuel was still a boy,
God , revealed himself. Samuel
missed • out en the guntoting, crime-
comics, movie gangsterism which
most boys have today. But he
heard •God's voice and he obedi-
ently responded. d'Or many years
he was destined to be .God's great
and good leader in' Israel.
FANNYISMS
The .fate Fanny Brice (Baby
Snooks to you) displayed her pers-
picacity at a tender age when she
was helping out in her aunt's candy
store. Her aunt had stocked up
heavily an peppermint sticks, but
though the price seemed right (a
penny a stick) the neighborhood
kids weren't having any, The ten-
year -old Fanny borrowed a ham-
mer, broke the sticks in twelve
pieces ,each, and put a hand -made
sign in the: window: "Big bargain
today only! A dozen pieces of pep-
permint for a cent" The entire
stock was cleaned out, in three
hours,
Miss Drice's advice to young
ladies; "Never marry a man for
his money. The thing to look for
in 'a husband is a gentle, even dis-
position. Of course, a man without
a big bank account is always
grouchy and bad-tempered- Re-
member, girls, every household
gets the same amount of ice -but
the rich get it in August and the
poor get it in January."
"I Owe my own success," confi-
ded Misi'Brice, 'to the peaceful
home' life I enjoyed as a child. ,
Anything my mother wanted to do,'
Pop let her, saying that she had
a perfect right." Miss Brice
thought for a moment and added,
"She had a pretty good left too."
How Ham' 1 that;e;,?--follewing .cm t,t'Charles Laughton snort
for snarl;' former, heavyweight boxer cog Nova gets a lesson
in emoting frame the famous thespian lot p Hollywood' studio,
Both ore 'featured in a forthcoming., rnoyie,
J1TTER.
(Piton MUST KEEP THAT PET LOBSTER,
h7 LCAST 540 0 HIM 5511080 PCOPt.g
Won't Set 141M.
13y+ Arthur Pointer
TAY TO FLIRT
W161 reE WIu, H J