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The Seaforth News, 1930-09-25, Page 6Midget Golf Popular in London; Course Makers Work Overtime London,—Midget golf, which Lae been all the rage in the United States ,for some time, quickly conquered Lon- don . on its inauguration here, last week. Star golfers played on the min- iature course opened by the Kit -'Kat Club and another widely advertised course attracted a record number of Londoners, all eager', to try the new game for themselves. Designers and makers of baby golf courses are working. day and night because the promoters are eager to take advantage of the public's present interest. The feet that itis an indoor as well as an outdoor game is regard- ed as a considerable advantage and it is believed that the rapidly multiply- ing courses should draw some oftho large crowds that thronged the ice skating rinks which were so popular last Winter, The green fee for an eighteen -hole round with the use of a putter and ball varies from the equivalent of 25 to 50 cents. Doctors Declare Turk Is Only 100 Official Records Show 111 Years As Extreme Case of Longevity—Tortes 156 Years Disputed. Is Zaro Agile really 156 years old, as the daily papers tell us? He will have a hard time proving it, thinks Science ;News -Letter, a Science Service 'publi- cation (Washington). Says this paper: "The old Turk, Zaro Agiza, with his birth certificate showing 156 years of age, who is now being proclaimed to credulous New York as the oldest hu- man in the world, will have a hard time convincing scientific skeptics. that he has lived so many years. "Oki he is, without a doubt, but those who have looked into such claims in the past are laylug their scientific wagers that he is not much More than a hundred or so. "In fact, the most extreme case of longevity that medical records show fully authenticated was not quite 111 years. That record was substantiated by the English investigator, Dr. T. E. Young, who in the early part of this century considered close to a million cases of suppose,' centenarians and found only thirty persons who from other outside evidence could be shown to have lived a hundred years or more. Of the thirty, 21 were women and 9 were men. "Medical statisticians hold to their idea that extreme old age is a rare phenomenon although in the million or more deaths annually iu the Milted States at least several hundred death certificates show ages of over a hun- dred and occasional ones will show such startling records as 120 years. "When such rases are looked into it is often found that mistaken iden- tity confers upon the supposed cen- tenarian his remarkable record. Re- peatedly instances Like this are un- covered: John Janes was born and his baptiem duly recorder,', but he died at the age of fifteen years and through an oversight lite death was not regis- tered. In the same year that he died another male child was bora to the same parents and named John Jones, Perhaps in eonuuemoration of his de- ceased brother. The second John Jones was never baptized. When he reaches tite age of 95 or 90 his appear- ance of extreme senility attracts at- tention and the baptismal records ap- parently show that he is a hundred or over. The need gentleman basks in his seemingly well authenticated re- cord of extreme age. 'America has had Its claimants to age records. Uncle John Shell, of Ken- tucky, who was exhibited as 'the old- est living human being' with a claimed age of 1:11 years, was pronounced af- ter a careful investigation of his case to be 'about otie hundred years old, possibly a year younger or older,' "Despite the fact that authenticated cases of human longevity to over a hundred years are few, man is nearly the longest lived of all mammals. The common idea that whales and ele- phattte attain many more years than man is not credited is scientific circles. But some species of fish may live to over 240 years according to the best evidence and reptiles are report- ed to have lived 175 years. Birds may have a life span of a few years longer Man maul in some instances." WHEN MEDICOS MEET One of the most famous organiza- tions in the world—the British Medi, cal Association—has just recently finished its annual meeting. But not anywhere in Great Britain—this year the "Doctors' Parliament," as the five- day meeting of the Association is sometimes called, is being held in Canada. This isn't the first time that the B.M.A. has inet in the Dominion, though it has not gone there since 1906. Some of the greatest doctors in the Empire attended the meeting, To the man in the street, the meet- ings of the B.M.A. are always very interesting, btcause the discussions cover a wide range of subjects, many of them of a kind that appeals to everybody. The human side of the gathering also nterests the general public. Last year, for instance, an enterprising Journalist discovered that the doctors, who knew all about the benefits of a light diet, were consuming large quan. titres of beefsteaks and similarly "solid" eatables,—Answers. Will On Chair Leg One of the strangest wills on record will soon be filed for probate in Paris. It is that of M. Auguste Pasquier, who had it engraved on a leg of one of his dining -room chairs. Boss — "You're sacked!" Clerk — "But I've done Absolutely nothing." Boss—"That's why " Tropics Again Hear Roar of Hurricane The Tyhoon's Brother Is An Inevit- able Visitor in Southern Regions. Once more the terror of the hurri- cane that sleeps in the doldrums of the South Atlantic has been roused to. sweep over the islands -that it period ically visits: • The great storm that struck San Domingo last week and caused heavy loss of life had entered the Caribbean Sea earner in the week; passing north of Martinique, touching Dominica and moving in a northwest- erly direction along a path that hur- ricanes have traversed many times before. September is the great month for the hurricanes that time and again have cost hundreds of lives and mil- lions of dollars in property losses. The season begins toward the end of July, and usually. ends in October, although there are November hurricanes. As to• the path they take, these brothers of the typhoon are capricious. Some- times they spend their ful- force harmlessly at sea, and only scientific observers in their recording laborator- ies and captai:.s of stray ships who observe the portents afar know of their existence. At other times they run the full course of those Caribbean islands that stretch like a by-path of stepping stories from South America to the North American coast. LONG PATH OF DESTRUCTION A hurricane moves along its course like a gigantic tumbleweed rolling across a prairie. It is a whirl of wind with a usual velocity of from 80 to 100 miles an hour, though higher velocities have been recorded. The whole storm moves forward at a rate of from 10 to 15 miles an hour Within the centre there is a partial vacuum.' This is usually about twenty utiles wide. The storm area rolling around • it is often 800 or 400 utiles wide, cut- ting a swath with its-f'irious power of wind and rain through the country it traverses. How does a hurricane, originate? The absolute answer to that question cannot be stated. But most scientists believe that in some small sea area below the paths of the trade wind's the equatorial heat causes a central mass of air to rise, starting a vertical circulation. Eventually the rising air reaches a Level of sufficient cold to change its water vapor to drops of water. This produces what is called heat of condensation. If the rising air mass is small, a thunderstorm is formed, but if the development is, of sufficient magnitude .. hurricane may be on its way to crea- tion. The heat liberated establishes relatively high temperatures in the rising mass, accelerating the circula- tion and the rate of condensation. This recurring process is probably the man- ner in which the hurricane, revolving in a counter -clock -wise direction as it travels, maintains itself,. The, devastation that the hurricane leaves in its wake is a phenomenon known to all who have lived in its re- gion. Last September a hurricane visited Nassau in the Bahamas that damaged practically every building on the island. Many lives were lost. For days the city was flooded and in dark- ness, arkness. Telephones were out of eonmus sion, and it was some time before com- munication could be established with the outside world even by radio. The sea wall was broken in several places by the force of the wind -driven sea. Many vessels anchored in the harbor were wrecked, Boats were swept up out of the water and carried across roads to land near the steps of resi- dences. Florida has many times felt the force of the hurricanes that sweep through the Caribbean. The disaster of 1926 is still vivid in many memor- ies, It was first noticed on Sept. 14. The next morning it was north of Porto Rico, and on the afternoon of the 16th it passed over lonely Turk's Island. Twenty-four hours later the storm had crossed the Bahamas, and on the morning of Sept. 18 it was bat- tering the Florida towns at the end of the peninsula. By the afternoon of the next day the hurricane had crossed the northern bight of the Gulf of Mex- ico and was approaching Pensacola, where it renewed its havoc. AN INEVITABLE VISITOR The hurricane is a part of life in the West Indies The natives look for it as practically an inevitable occur- rence during the hurricane months. And, more often than not, they are correct in their annual expectation. To have their houses blown down, their crops ruined, and much of their personal property destroyed ie a part of the implacable scheme of things. In some years, however, there are no vio- lent hurricanes -merely gales that Interesting photograph showing an tournament and horse show, held recall blow themselves out quickly and cause little or no damage. Although the weather man cannot control the hurricane, he has, with the aid of radio, so perfected his sys Sp - tem of reporting any tropical disturb- ance that the storm is plotted almost as soon as it makes its appearance. When a hurricane develops in the Caribbean the news is promptly broad- cast to vessels et sea, and the path is traced dayby�a day. Due warning is given to all ports likely o be involved. SAN DOMINGO RAZED BY FIERCE HURRICANE Santo Domingo, Don:inican Repub- lic—The city of Santo Domingo, most ancient setlement of the white man in the new world, was almost totally destroyed' by a hurricane that swept over the eastern end of the island of Haiti, The hurricane struck Santo Dom- ingo at 2 p•m,, Sept. 6, and blew for four hours. Houses in the aristocratic quarter were razed to their founda- tions. Dwellings of the poor disap- peared on the wings of a wind esti- mated tt be blowing around 160 utiles an hour, . Scenes, whose horror exceeded any- thing witnessed here in tea years, 601 - lowed its passage. President Rafael Trujillo took personal charge of the relief work The entire army was called cut. It is believed that 900 persons were killed or injured. officer tent -pegging at mounted police tly at Gorden Fields, Ilford, England. LONDONERS WITNESS $5,000,000 BLAZE 2,000 Flee From Tenement Homes In ' London.—Two thousand persons fled from tenement homes before flames which broke out in Wapping, Loudon East End district, recently. Three hundred firemen used ten miles of hose in fighting the fire. It was estimated that the blaze which started in a spice Warehouse, ciid damage of about 21,000;000 (about $5,000,000). SPANIARDS FIND JOY IN SILENT FILM Madrid.—Old silent films, made and, shown in the United States 10 years ago, and in some cases more, are hav- ing quite a•run iii Spain this summer, The programs of most of the movie theatres here just now are made up of reels that Hollywood ground out long before the talkie era. This is to fill the gap until a sufficient supply of Spanish-language talkies can be pro- duced, whether .in the United States or in Spain itself, to given steady run of talkie programs to the Spanish theatres equipped for them. There are 741,800 agricultural work- ers is Great Britain; this is 28,500, or nearly four per cont., less than last year. Aviatrix Honored in Wales New ` Device That "Hears Light" Will Overcome "Rog" Danger Chicago,•, Ill•=A new aid ,for air- plane pilots seeking, to laud on a fog- bound airport, a device that "hears" light, was revealed recently. It is the .invention- of Earl C: Han- son, anson, Chicago scientist, who disclosed the devolopment;to a group of aero- nautic experts attending the national air races, including Major James Doo- little, noted for hie blind -landing' work last -year for the'Guggenheim fund.'' Hanson utilizes . invisible magnetic waves emanating from a bank -of neon tubes, intercepting them with a device In the cockpit -that canna a steady !mm in earphones clapped to the pilot+e oars and activates an electrical altimeter that shows the number of feet the plane is above the ground, , Treasure, Quests Still Lure Hardy Richer Prizes Yet to be Found by Ad- venturous Sporte. Another chapter, in the story of mart's never -ceasing search or hidden treasure was written recently in the locating off Cape Finisterre, France, of the sunken hulk of the steamship, Egypt with its cargo of $5,000,000 of gold and silver. Rich•as this prize is -and it has yet to be brought to the surface—there are far richer hoards,' Impurities Give World's Airmen Glow to Radium Begin Congress Radiothorium and Mesothorium Com- pounds Used to Produce Luminous Paint. Only impure radium is luminous, according to a report made by Paul M. Tyler, chief engineer of the rare met- als and non-metals division of the Bureau of Mines, Department of Com- merce. The fact that a faint glow often comes from tubes of radium salts -is explained by the fact that the salts contain impurities, Mr. Tyler said. "Radium alone is not luminous," Mr. Tylers statement reads. "The faint glow that sometimes in exhibited by tubes of radium salts is owing to impurities. By, mixing radioactive material with phosphorescent sub- stances, notably with zine sulphide, a paint that will glow in the dark may be produced. "According to one authority, it was a shoemaker of Bologna who noted more than 300 years ago, that heavy spar heated in charcoal possessed the property of glowing in the dark after it had been exposed to light. Othgi• phosphorescent powders, mostly Weeds of zinc sulphide arid alkali r•ii [tide, were discovered subsequently, and were used for producing temporary stage effects, for example, long before the discovery of radii m made it pas- sible to maintain the phosphorescent glow for an indefinite period." Mr. Tyler said that the ingredients and formulas for producing luminous:. paints change from thee to time. In the United States, he said, paint used on watch dials had consisted mainly of crystalline zinc sulphide mixed with various proportions of radium, meso- thorium and radiothorium to obtain the greatest degree of luminosity. At first zinc sulphide was made luminous by radium alone, but later cheaper methods were found by using meso- thorium and radiothoriumr "As reported by Dr. Hartland, the paint used by girls in a..New Jersey factory contained chiefly zinc sulphide, rendered luminous by activation with about 20 to 30 per cent. radium and from 70 to 80 per cent mesothorium containing radiothoriunt. He quotes other authorities to the effect that these paints may contain all the way from 7 to 3 and even 4 milligrams of radium element to 100 grams of zinc sulphide. Impurities may be added to the zinc sulphide as follows: Cadmium, .05 per cent; copper, .001 per cent.; manganese, ,0002 per cent." Mr. Tyler describes the British prac- tice of using luminous paints, saying that they are of great military signifi- cance. At England luminous paints are used for the illumination of watch dials, gun sights and compass cards and, any other fortes which would not betray the presence of themilitary to the enemy, During the World War the British government bought eighteen grams of radium for war purposes. HIDDEN CITY FOUND BY 'MEXICAN SCOUTS Mexico City.—The U.S. Department of Education annourccdorecently that Boy Scouts had discovered a new arch- aeological zine in the wilds oe the State of Guerrero. Among the figures discovered is a large stone, sphinx bearing a marked resemblance to that in Egypt. Government archaeologists are leav- ing forthwith to study the zone, which, according to the discoverers' prelimin- ary reports, probably includes an en- tire buried city. A number o" hills in the zone are believed to cover pyra- mids. On the summit of one there is a huge globular stone covered with a kind of hieroglyphics. The department communique said that 'there was no known record tef the zone, which it was believed had never been seen before by a white man. The discoverers brought photo- graphs of the sphinx and other relics with them as proofs pf their find. Lighting of Routes As Aid. to Night Flying and Insurance of Fares on Program. The Hague,—Since. 1918, when com- petitionabetween nations in aviation turned to the scientific and commer- cial side, four great international con- gresses have taken place—in Paris, London, Brussels and Rome. A fifth is being organized at The Hague. The meetings, except for thefirst,' which is being held in the Arts and Sciences Bending, which accommodates 3,000 persons, are beegsheld in the Binnen- hof, famous in recent years for the Reparations and Pe ie. Conferences. .. Some idea of the 'magnitude of the work may be gained from the fact that 500 experts in various branches of aviation, traffic, science and technics, legal matters, medical questions and tourism, have inscribed their names as members. Twenty-one countries are represented. TO DISCUSS NIGHT TRAVEL A number of papers of great gen- eral interest in -matters will be entered and read which directly concern the airplane 'passenger. On of these is that of the lighting of air routes for night travel,' On this subject mem- bers of three different nationalities i are presenting papers. P. van Bream van Vioten, a Dutch member, deals 1 with the subject from the scientific point of view; W. H. Hampton and C. E. Ward, of the British Air De-, I partment, discuss "the requirements Ifor aerodrome and air route lighting at the resent time, and two Germans, F. Born and H. Strahler, discuss the effect of large neon tubes by whidi the loss of power resulting from filtration of red lights is avoided. To the business man who either ,. travels by air or, uses the airplane for consigning goods, the paper by Herr ron ak director W eerier of the v Lufthansa g . undertaking on "Co-operation between the airplane and other means of trans- port" will be of exceptional interest. OBLIGATORY INSURANCE URGED. The papers by the Frenchman, A. Grandjeany on "Uniform rules for marks of identification on military airplanes," and that Andre XaftaI on "Obligatory insurance of passen- gers in aerial transport," will have a wide and general appeal to^public In- terest. Curiously, the subject of aerial tour- isin has 'found Tittle favor, and only three papers have been submitted. These, however, cover the subject very thoroughly, one dealing with formali- ties and facilities, another with secur- ity in aviation, while the third deals indirectly with this subject by discuss- ing that of instruction and examina- tion of apprentice pilots of airplanes engaged in tourism. Equally important to the passenger` is the section given over to medical ,'natters, for not only is air -sickness in all its aspects being discussed, but the health conditions of the pilot are receiving considerable attention. The need for specialists in these matters is generally admitted, and two Dutch doctors roundly assert that "the medi- cal specialist in aeronautic complaints must himself be a eilot." Between thirty and forty papers on medical subjects have been entered. INFLUENCE OF RADIO STUDIED The influence of radio on aviation 15 not ignored, and besides the references to it in the report of the American liaison committee there are contribu- tions to the discussion by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, Dr. W. Moller and Herr F. Eisner (Ger- many), and A, Cellona, F. Marino and U. Cuerra (Italy). Capta'n N. Mac- millan, the English pilot, will talk about "Problems of air tran:port from the pilct's point of view." Besides the theorists and those who have ideas they wish to advance, the membership includes many distin- guished aviators. From England Sir Sefton Brancker is coming, Lady. Bailey, of "Cape to England" fame, also is to be present. "Tice past is a bucket of ashes."— Carl Sandburg. Large Trees Successfully Moved With the Help of Trucks Tree moving is no longer a mystery or a novelty. Giant elms and oaks that have been three or four genera- tions growing, are uprooted, eased upon underslung trucks • specially con- structed for their great weight and may be transported many miles at the behest of landscape architects, One o the record feats of tree moving was performed recently in Ja- Thousands watched unveiling of ,'monument to Amelia Earhart, famous kap. A venerable • gingko tree— an aviatrix of Boston, at Burry Port, Wales, England, to commemorate her feat elder statesman of the species planted in front of New Yorks City Ball— ot crossing the Atlantio with Wilmer Stutz in 1928, and landing at Burry was transplanted in the new Congress Port. Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, co-pilot with late Sir John Alcock, officiated.'g Park in Tokyo. The tree is five feet, ,i in diameter. Moved with it was a ball of earth surrounding the roots that measured twenty feet across and near- ly eight feet thick. The pntire'lyeight. was eighty tens, Five hundred men labored.,a month to -move the tree --a painful operation involving beams and r01'lersr for meter trailers 9114 14flova- tion that have not reached Japan. The Japanese have long been expert at tree moving. In Shiba Park in Tokyo risoa a gingko .tree nearly 400 years old and eight feet in diameter. Originally it stood a Quarter of a mile'' away. resting at the bottom of the sea of many a coast. Pieces -of -eight in Span,. ish galleons su:1: by English raiders or the fury of storms, golden ingots - aboard liners sent to Davey Jones's locker in war or shipwreck, still wait to be 'retrieved by adventurous sgirits. Hundreds of syndicates and individu- als have engaged -in this romantic quest, but failure, not success; has generally attended their efforts. Probably the most successful under- sea hunt for gold was that conducted in ninety feet of water off the coest of Ireland, when $35,000,Q00 in the bold of the White Star liner Laurentic sunk by a'German submarine in 1917, was recovered. Efforts at recovering the gold were begun in the summer following the Armistice. At first' the operation was difficult and nerve- wracking. The Laurel tic's sides bulg- ed and her decks collapsed. Extensive dynaihiting and a general disarrange- ment 6f the wreck'swas necessary. Months Jassed before any real head- way was ode, and then the gold be- gan to co: 'p. Every last coin was retrieved. Another success was recorded in the case of the liner Oceana, struck by another vessel near Gibraltar some years ago, She was taken in tow, but rough weather caused her to sink about twenty miles from Dover. The water was deep and she lay on the bor. tom apparently secure from the reach of ratan. But a daring diver pried open .her treasure room and recc vered about $4,000,000. DEEP DIVING FOR TREASURE Othet successes, less notable, may be cited. One hundred years ago a Turkish fleet bearing booty • .from Greece was met by a combined French, British and Russian armada and sunk. in the Mediterranean in Navarine Bay. Of the $50,000,000 cargo abort $250,000 was recovered. In 1915 Cap- tain Benjamin Leavitt, in the steamer Blakely, found the wreck of the fri- gate Cape Horn, sunk about sixty Years agoin the Pacific off e s c o the coast of Y South America, and recovered about $6G0,000 in copper. Although the value of the salvage was not so im- pressive as some others, its impart- ance lay in the fact that the metal was taken up from a depth of 314 feet. The treasure of the Ea..- .:nci- dentally, lies 409 feet down, wi ::•: 't� pressure is extremely great. Although careful preparation, lin- ancing, and the use of modern diving equipment make the successful hunt- ing of sunkengold largely a matter of calculation, luck often enters the pic- ture. In 1924, rear Nassau, a young American girl was engaged to do fancy diving for a mot'on picturecotn- pany producing an undersea film. One day as she was deep in' the clear waters around the island she saw the figured handle of a chest lying in the sand. Tackle was brought and the chest brought to the surface. It con. tained Spanish doubloons of the vint- age of 1790, valued at nearly $50,000. More than $250,000,000 in bullion is estimated to have been recovered from the wrecks of treasure ships by French and English syndicates, which sell shares in the venture to the pub- lic. The total of the unrecovered trea- sure, however, exceeds this sum by many times. And although the ap. proximate locations of many of these undersea fortunes have been known for years, the treachery of the ocean and the difficulties of working below certain depths have prevented salvage. Many of the tales" of Spanish gal- leons, heavy with gold, sunk at certain locations. Perhaps the most famous is that of the ship Pereira, supposed to have carried ttie pay of the Spanish Armada in 1588.' She was driven through the English Channel by the storm which helped Drake repel the invaders, and sank off the Isle of Mull in Tobei'mory Harbor So far the hulk has given up little of value, but in all the romance of treasure -bunting no richer prize is believed to exist. Pro: meters speak of at least $10,000,000 aboard the Pereira and investors has- ten to buy shares. No less than fifty companies have tried to reach the treasure. THE GREATEST TREASURE. In Vigo Bay, on the northwestern coast of Spain, lies the largest known lode of "drowned gold,' that of the Vigo Bay plate fleet. It is believed to have amounted to $100,000,000 in gold and, silver, ingots, sent to the bot- tom of the bay amid the flames of burning ship and the roar of battle. It was the costliest single blow ever inflicted upon Spain's New World commerce. In 1703 the flotilla pat forth frQln Cartagena, Porto Bello and. Vfia Cruz, guarded by twenty-threa. , French ships of war. British raidera. were combing the seas for this rick argosy. It took refuge in Vigo Bay.. pert that }gi vera proved of little llelp.. The British, with their Dutch allieay smashed into the bay and fired many of the galleons, Seeing that the cap- ture of the remaining ships was• in. evitable, the Spanish Admiral orderer them set afire, and they disappeared one by one beneath the waves.