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Zurich Herald, 1923-04-12, Page 3q+: ftp aces Around the World A race round the world has always been a popular. theme with novelists." Jules Vergie, for instance, wrote, " Riaand the World in .Eigety Dam" ill which lie described the record-break- ing journey of one Phineas Fogg. Wonderful performances have been accomplished by real people. The actual round -the -world record is held by an American,. J. H. Mears, who, in 1913„ circled tine earth: in thirty-five days, twenty-one hours; thirty-five minutes, and four-fifths of a second. •Before this the record was he' -d by Andre Jaeger-Sehrn dt, who performed the trip in thirty-nine days and rather less than twenty minutes, Mears undertook time feat with the support of an importanh• American neweaaper, and the time allowed Was thirty-five days, twenty-three hours, thirty minutes. Mr. Mears left New York for Paris on July 2nd. From there he travelled by the T,t;ane-siberi- an Rairway. At one point he was held up for eighteen hours` by a flood. IIe mans aged to pick up nine of the lost hours -,by bribing the engine -driver, but the Russian ,officials threatened to throw him into prison if thie continued this poQicy. In all he covered 21,066 miles, aver- aged 587 miles, a day. He arrivedback in New York on August 6th, well in- side- hire time limit. The total cost of the tripe was only $840. Schoolboy's Wonderful Trip. Two of the most •notab'le record- breaking trips were those of. Charles Fi'tzmorris, a s'oh•oolboy, who won a • raoe€ organizred by an American news- paper by travelling round the world in sixty days and thirteen and a half hours, and Nellie ply, a• woman jour- nalist, who c•om'pleted the journey in just over seventy-two days in 1889. The earliest krowaa trip Mend the. world was that of the Magellan expe• clition in 1519.1522. These beady ad- venturers took 'three years' over their voyage. It might be thought that, as ten years have elapa'ed since the present record was oet up, a modern traveller might lower it. ' A journey, round the world to -day would take considerably longer than thirty-five days. The last three records were set up with the assistance of the Trans' -Si- berian Railway° Tliis is not working now owing to the state of affairs in Russia, and a world traveller would have to use the route which the early record -breakers followed—that is, by the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Indian: Ocean, and China. Fifty-four days ' is the least time it would take to get round the earth to -day. Three Months by Aeroplane.• A traveller starting from New York could get to London in six days by means of ane of the fastest liners; then from Landon to' Paris and from Paris to Marseilles he could use the regular air services, whch take about a day. From Marseilles a P. and O. mail steamer could take 'him to Hong Kong in twenty-nine days. From Hong , Kong to Yokohama Would take five ` daps, and the journey from there to ' ;Vancouver would occupy another nine. From Vancouver to New York by train- would,„occupy four days: ' By aeroplane the world could be circled in 'less than fifteen days—that is, if there were a machine capable of making the journey ` without a stop. But this is not possible and when .—ANT) THE WORST IS YFT ' 'O TIME stops and so on are taken into con- sideration the'time works out at near- ly three months; ' At least this was the time allowed by Sir Ross Smith, who was. preparing . for a round -the -world flight when, he met his death. A Birthplace of Invention. In the centre ofthe mining -town of Redruth,.. Cornwall, stands a hoitse which is intimately associated with two of the great inventions that made Britain the supreme industrial nation -throughout the nineteenth century. The- owner of the house, William Murdock, ,while experimenting in 1784 with coal gas, had one of those 'happy accidents" that happen to clever and ob'servent men. 'Do put out the gas flame he .clapped 'his, wife's thimble over the end of the pipe. As the sme1R warned him, that gas was, still escaping, he held a light to the thimble and was surprised annid delighted to find that the tiny apart` of gas through a hole in the thiinbl•e , gave 'a much brighter and steadier light than the streets of :gas frorn the open pipe. Thus was born the gas -burner. 1Iurdcek also invented the pneu- matic pump arae two different kinds of valves for the steam-engine invented by. James . Watt, whose assistant 'he bad been, • • • But it wars in the cellar of the house that the greatest •idea of all was born. There 1Vlu;rdock` had: built a .,small stearal -engine, wlr'iele was then used solely as a pumping and stationary en- gine. 'Richard Trevithich, Murdock's friend, saw the engine one day and had Where the Custom of Stand- ing During: -the "Hallelujah Chorus" Originated. . W. F. Gates, -the writer of a book en- titled "Anecdotes of Great Musicians," gives us an interesting clue to .the origin of the custom of standing du1' ing the singing of the celebrated fial- lelujah Chorus•" from Handelee, "Mes- 'siah.t' , "The uninitiated," he says, who attend a performance of Handelrs 'Messiah'. are frequently surprised when, at the first notes cf the 'Hallelu- jah Chorus;' the 'whole audience rises to its feet. •Some think this custom arose from the desire to pay homage to the words. But if that be the case, they might wen stand during the whole oratorio: Others imagine that it . was because of. the intense enjoy- ment in the mucro lsoiiieaudience had a hundred and fifty years ago, which brought them to their feet. But this is said to be the truth of the matter: At one of„the early per- formances of this grand oratorio, the Ring of England, George, I., was pre 'sent. During the 'singing of this chorus, His Majesty, either greatly en- joying the music, or perhaps simply desiring to •changehis position, stood up; at once the courtiers and people,. followed suit, thus originating a cus- tom which is quite pleasant in view. it explained to him. He went away of the physical relief afforded by the thinking, set to work, and in due time change of posture in a two-hour per-, ''eomiv�e built the first. loot, the father. formance. of all railway engines lluedsck's house was partly des- troyed by fire some months ago, but it is to be restored and preserved as a local memorial to the two inventors. Honesty. Whatever happe;is, go straight, go square, be able to hold up your head as a man of honor and you will be in- domitable. If you go down, if you became in- volved in financial or other difficulties, your very reputation for going square will put you on your feet again. If you are true to this oours,e, true to the principles of manhood, there is no power that can make you a failure. If you have played fair and square, if you have not quailed before danger or bent the knee before Baal, if you have been .a hard fighter for your ideals, a server of your fellow -men, a lover of your race, whatever may hap- pen to your material fortunes, you are a success. It doesn't •matter whether you have mroney or not—that alone can never make a man a success—whether you. live in Park -Lane or in the alums, in a • mansion or in the workhouse, if you have stood the test of man, you are a winner; you are the noblest creation of God -you area 1VIan. More Profit In It. The Hostess --"You play, don't you, Me. West? Would yeti care to make a four at bridge?" Wooleley West ---"No, I thank you, Your ltusbanid has justnow invited nfe, to his den rhea) 1. think I sail make a fifty ata>olcss," • Short and Snappy. "Why is he always so snappy?" "Because he is always, so short."' Horseshoes of Paper. It has • been proposed to make a paper horseshoe that shall; for general purposes be the equal of the steel ar- ticle in the following way: Parchment paper is cut in horseshoe form and built up to a suitable thickness by the use of a mixture of turpentine; Span- ish white shellac and linseed oil treat- ed with litharge and the whole is placed under an hydraulic press, Thie produces very light and uniform pieces and it is an easy matter to stamp out the nail holes and grooves. Instead of nailing to the horse's hoof they can be"rapplied with an adhesive composition whose principal part is a solution of rubber in bisulphide of car- bon. Paper waste could also be mould- ed into the shape of a horseshoe by use of the press, but the result is not so good as with the above, Why Are Americans Often Called "Yankees?" When the first English people wont' to Amerca,'the Indians, unable to pro- nounce the word English, called the settlers Yengee:s or Yangees, as the nearest they could get! In course of time this Yangoe or Yankee becaine a clang tern: for "ex- cellent," or the, "very best." The Bri- tish troops in the war of Independetee Picked tip this• word, and used it in derision of their opponents; calling. them Yankees, and as we first have the word in Ha modern sense. C-M1,hHN W}►p HAS girl- PLAWIRD oMg ON RIA4'5 DOOR-5"rEP AND ►B MB, Mummies in the Making. The world has. awakened suddenly. to an interest in all matters• pertaining to the ancient Egyptians, and particu- larly to mummiege ,The elaborate precautions taken to preserve the dyad in those. far-off dans a-esre from, humble beginnings dating back 'thousands of years, when the dead were 'dried 'Au. the sun' and placed in a vault containing a few flint inetru- meats and a pot or two of food for sus= tenance of the departed'ss soul on its journey. It was found that this method ' did not 'prevent the body from decaying, and so the fashion for embalming started, the object being to preserve the features of the dead A king's tomb was prepared while he was still in his, prime, and when he died he was em,balm1.d with. great re- ligious ceremony. When a personof importance died the enlbaianling process was room started. An incision was. made with a stone knife—for some reason metal knives were never used—end the vis- cera was drawn out. The brains; too; were removed. The organs were pre- served in jars, which were enclosed in a box and put into the tomb with: the inuminy Strong. embalmingg fluids werepour ed into the body, which was then steered in natron and left for seventy days. After this' it was washed and bound with strips, of the finest flax, strong gum being used to secure the wrappings. The mummy was first placed in a wooden coffin. The latter was deposit- ed in another coffin, which In turn was enclosed in a third ,shaped lathe form of a human being. The idea was that the soul was free to wander through the abodes of the dead for a period of about ten. thous- and years, after whichit was supposed to return and look for'its earthly body. Transmission was imagined to have taken place if the body deeeyedeor was disturbed. iy What Sunlight Does. According to a French scientist long residence in a city makes, a person's eyes, grow paler and this hair lighter in color because he is less in the sun- light. unlight. The -,Advantage of An Education. Jamas "Mulligan was the .only man in the village who could be hired !to saw and "split: wood or to use a lawn mower; and' he never lost a chance. to impress," the fact upon a casual listen er. "I've got to get this" job througihl for your .!ma.'qui ok as ever I can," he an pounced to the snualll son of cone. of his empkoyers. "I'm losing sixty cents• an hour`.' right alttong every minute I'm here.:' Thare's three people: waiting for ; me now, and I d,on:'t know �hiow they are gout' to get along till to -morrow wit1w it me; °any ' sine of them" Mu4leg•an," said the bey. s rem, �� ' "tri. ' "�rir�'t see howyou u are Y i losing;. a,ix Vy cents an hour when moth I be; pays ye`u"'twenty, and you couldn't be lnaivere.than one place at the same r tame, arnd—" "Hove. you got as far aseome in g trY I your studies?" inquired Mr. Mu?ligan coldly, _resting his arms on the handle. ',of the lawn mower. "Ne," admited' the boy. • "Whin; you do you'll understand a good many things that's .hid from you now," said i\lr MuhI.igan,. resuming hips w� leis` x,yr er over the ;lawn.•.,. Magnetic Rotation. Tono-magnetic rotation is the terra given to a certain phenomenon. If a spark from _ a ooardenser of consider- able capacity is scent horizontally through' a gas' and two small vertical planes, of mice in tare form ,of •a cross are suspended in the middle of the dis- charge by- a-iine-fibre attached to the centre of the cross the spark produces no rotation of theesu'dss. If, however, a•vei'tical magnetic field is established in- the gas the," cross rotates through a considerable angle :it the gas is' • air and over a scall anglein other gases. This rotation, is ascribed by some authorities! to thebending •of the paths of the ions or electronsand to the ad- ditional protection which the vanes af- ford each other against impacts from one side rather than from the other in these circumstances, The observed rotations indicate' teat the effects of the positive ions are in general great- er than those of the negative. A POLISH Vr'iW or THE, GOLD KING., Uncle .Sall ---"Wily don't you quit worrying me a.bont taking- any name 04 Europe on uty hands.? l7on, t you, se's I am loader1 clowii as' it is?" —Fiesta 'Mut clia, Warsaw piny Ridge, April :9, 1917 This is the living and the dead who fought for us, Who fought and lived, and died for us on Vimy Wage; This is our living sons, our dead, who bought far us Our greatest; held for us, with sword, the nations' bridge This is the men who sealed their faith in blood for us, Who mocked for us at death; took up the challenge Prtnh; Who fought like warridi• kings of old and flung for us The gates of freedom wide, valiant of heart and limb. The nations, rising, bring homagee rare to them facedtie thundering guns, the rush, the dire advance;' Who sto1 med the fearsome height, and breached the line for them, And, dying, brought to death a sweet, a new romance, Our living heroes ! Rapturous praise we bring to them!. Theirs was the hour, at last, to conquer and to live; What shall we render, humbly, in our love to them, What wreathed incense shall the nation proudly give? Nought we can bring, in pride, shall pay aur debt to thein Who fought, and lived, or bravely fell on Vimy Height; Yield we our all, our lives, in tribute free to them, Who drove the darkness back for us—who brought the light: Anna Durie. Minstrel Show Programmes Should Not. Contain Negro Spirituals. he averageCanadian, who loves the old negro melodies, ;will readily agree that the movement to preserve the negava spirituals from abuse deserves eve'ryone's moral support. To mak& use of suet) pieces as "Go Down M'os'es," " Low Se hrio,". cr "I Ain't GoiSwingng to DIe AnyeeMC ho ," tat a minstrel show or in a turn on the vaudeville stage is'just as irreverent and out of place as to make light of such world favorite hymns as "Lead Kindly Light," and "Nearer My God to Thee." This is because the spirituals are sincere religious, • outpourings: of the negro hieart that had their birth during Vlroubloue times, of the slavery days in the South. It is, true that from a musical, theo- logical healogical and poetical standpoint, the spirituals may be considered outland- ishly imaginative and even, crude, but they are none the less sanoere. No gentleman nor lady would use such pieces in a way to give offence to the negro people any-, more than they would make disrespeotfua use of the religious songs 'of any other race. • One im dispose,d to think that the use of negro spirituals as comic choruses for e. minstrel show is al- most always unintentional, Our Cana dian young people are too •courteous. and well bred to knowingly ,give of- fence not only to colored people, but to all musicaovers and those who ie- spect tee feelings of others, by singing essentially sacred.eongs as funny min- strel stunts. A number of these songs .re :not habelief sacred in their titles, and• .it..,ia only -necessary' to have . our young people acquainted with the faots to guard against a misuse of negro spirituals: Any person' who h'as ever heard one of these numbers rendered by the Mendelise'ohm Choir or by the Fiske University Jubilee Chorus of over 200 voices in their home city, as the writer has done, will never fail to realize what the negro:`spirituals really.mean.. Highest Dwelling in U.S. an Mount Rainier, For the purpose of providing shelter for mountaineers, who may be over- taken by storms, the United States governmegt recently constructed a novel stone drweliing at an altitude of 10,000 feet, on the south side .of Mt. Rainier, Rainier National Park. The location of the shelter is on a sand and pumice --stone ridge at the base of Gib- raltar, a famous landmark in the park. The spot is known as. Camp Muir, named after a famous explorer who ascended the mountain in 1888, and chose this piece for a camp, because it is practically the only spot on the mountain sheltered from heavy winds. The shelter is built .of stones gather- ed on the site, and the style of archi- teeture resembles' that of Indian dwellings of the Southwest. Construct- ed by the National Park Service at a cost of $2,500,, the building houses cone for•tably 25 persons. Simple Perfume Making. At first thought it might seem an iinposs•ible feat to collect the perfume. of flowers after it has escaped into the air, yet it seems simple enough by bh'is method. Fresh, high scented blossoms are placed in an uncovered bowl filled with water and set near tee "collector," . which consists of a common glass fun- nel with the small end closed. The funnel is filled with a mixture of orushed ice and salt and suspended in au upright position. Moisture from' the air of the room forms on it and ' unites with the einanatices from the flowers. As .the moisture collects it runs off :the tip of the funnel into are- ' oeptaole. Ie this liquid is mixed with an equal amount of pure alcohol the perfume of the flowers is preserved in- definitely. Permits for Radio. While radio broaacacting has been i begun in Brazil from stations in Rio de Janeiro. the Government requires permits for the installation ef-reeeiv- ing sets. What the Clock Does. Ma ---"Is the •clock runnng, s,onnite" Sennie—"No,, mar it's just standing still an' waggin' its tail." Queer Fashions in Engage- ment Rings. Romance was not associated with engagement rings when they first came into fashion. The engagement ring is said to have originated as an institution to bold the fickle and forgetful man to his bargain from the time he declared his, passion until the wedding ceremony took place. It was during the second century; B.C. that women began to flash an en- gagement ring on the fourth finger of the left hand as a symbol of betroah- al. It was displayed on that particular finger because of the belief, prevalent at the time, that a special vein rang' from that finger to the heart. Later thisidea was scouted and ether fingera4, became fashionable. In Russia th,e. ring was worn on the' forefinger, and in France on the mid- dle finger, while during the seven- teenth century English women wore the ring on the thumb. At one time the engagement ring consisted of three hoops looped to- gether into what was. known as a puze zle ring. On the wedding day ene of these rings was given to the bride• groom, another to an intimate friend, and the bride kept the remaining hoop.; For many centuries the engagement ring did duty as a wedding ring as well. The wedding ring, also, was not given from sentimental motives, :but was at the start an article almost asi practical as • a frying -pan! The wife was. given a plain goad ring with a key, attached so that she and she only,l could have access to household goode. The' wedding ring was adopted- by; the Anglo-Saxons about A.D. 860, Dur- ing the generations since then it has been alternately plain and elaborate.! Very often the rings were inscribed in a puzzling fashion by interlocking the names of bride and groom. A, • Affecting the Fish. "Doesn't dumping all this booze into, the sea affect the fish?" "To be sure it does—they're catch-' ing pickled herring everywhere." Getting Butter from Columbia. Fish. Butter from a fish? Sounds ridicu• louse but it is true. In Meath only the butterfish, or colichan, comes from the unknown depths of the Pacific up the rivers ,of British Columbia to spawn. It is almost pure oil, and it le to the Indians of the region what butter is to Anglo-Saxons and olive oil to south- ern Latin races. The Indians get a year's supply of the equivalent of life sustaining fats of other nations in three weeks. Then the fish le seen no mere for another year. The fish, from six to eight inches long, are taken in millions by Indians in nets', then thrown into rough cedar bins ashore to soften in the sun, the first of the fat rendering process. Af- ter a week or so in the aun, aeoording to the weather, the fish are put in great cedat vests of boiling water, the water heated by dropping hot stones continually in. This, oddly enough, makes better colichau butter then toil- ing, the white man's way. A parallel may be cited in old and new methods of producing maple sugar, the old much better of flavor. The oil is Skimmed off into cedar box containers holding from ten to twenty gallons and ha,rtlens to an appearance very. much , lake lard. The cedar box oorr Miners are marvelous works of join- ing and are watertight. Tho colichan butter when well made 'is palatoble and contains no strong flahy taste, Needless to say there are as many grades of good and bad colichan but- ter as Cow's. The Imperfect Looking Glass. Man --"Whet bseame of that mirror I bought for my wife?" Maid ---"The inissus Made Inc take; it back, sir. She said it didn't do her, justice.' Practice makes pttri'e vices ar well as virtues.