10
THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, MONDAY, APRIL 26,
· 1937.
SPARE MOMENT PAGE
SMITH HAS A DATE
He writes: "I'll meet you Monday,
39
April 26, at 6.45 p.m."
As he writes he is using ideas many thousands of years old
Srowed from the ancient Egyptians. Thousands of
•
SCIENCE IS NEWS.
MATURING WHISKY
WITH SOUND
X7HISKY has just been aged
W
- four years in seven hours
by screaming at it.. Dr.. L, A. Chambers reports that very im-
By John Langdon-Davies
portant effects have been ob- against fire, or combined with other metals to save the housewife from served in liquids subjected to a having to polish the "silver." kind of bombardment by sound
.
on the banks of the Nile thought it would be useful to Up and down the country hundred times a second and any air attack will not be fire, nor know what fraction of the day had gone by. So they built the first clocks known, and some of them can still be seen in museums.
THE
BLUE FUNNE
LINE
/REGULAR AND FAST PASSENGER SERVICES,
FREIGHT AND
LONDON SERVICE.
ANTENOR salls 6 May for Marseilles, London, Rotterdam & Glasgow. salle 10 May for Marseilles, Casablanca, Laindon Rotterdam, Hamburg & Glasgow
AJAX
PROTESILAUS
SERVICE
saila 23 May for Havre, Liverpool, and Bromborough.
framed in such a way as to prevent normally occur over long times ment" to counteract this mass-fear, PACIFIC SERVICE
by
RHESUS soils 1 May for Boston, N.Y., Philadelphia & Baltimore via Manila, Straits & Cape of Good Hope. (via Kobe, Nagoya and Yokohama) TYNDAREUS sails 15th May for Victoria, Vancouver & Seattle INWARD SERVICE
EURYLOCHUS Due 28 Apr. From Europe vin Straits CALCHAS tension,
Duc 3 May. From U.K. via Strats Special reduced fares are quoted for cargo steamers with limited passenger accommodation.. For freight, passage rates and information apply to
waves. He produces, electric- ally, sound vibrations a hundred times as loud as a full orches- NEWS-REELS for some time tra, choosing a note about an have been showing factories octave below the top D on your making Britain's future gas. Ipiano.
masks. Soon Hongkong's sup. LIVERPOOL MITH'S division of his day into hours has been bor- thermore, they decided that the year
ply will begin to arrive. should henceforth begin on January rowed from the ancient Egyptians. Thousands of 1 instead of on Lady Day, March 25, like intense hammer blows for the social psychologist. The Air NEW YORK SERVICE
These vibrations are exactly
This has brought new problems This change was not at all wel-hitting the whisky
Precautions twelve Raids
pamphlets all emphasise that the worst danger in were riots, and people were us back our fortnight" Yei same changes, take place as Already we are being given "treat. in Bristol. Their ery was: under this bombardment the gas, nor high explosive, but fear. the
Act of
of Parliament had been injustice being done
being shown films of calm people when the whisky is "matured calmly putting on masks at gua to anybody. In Onancial matters Smith con- in the wood."
dritis, settles his accounts on quarter days, tinues to use the old year: he still
But should children be instructed beginning on
In the same way the structure of in mask-drill? A British school March 25.
milk undergoes changes of great im- authority recently opposed this as it So do all Englishmen-except Mr.portance. Dr. Chambers found that might produce nervous Neville Chamberlain. More conser the vibrations altered the milk sa Psychologically speaking, I think this vative than anybody else, the Chan- that was no longer possible to a wrong. Children do not get afraid cellor still does not recognise the separate the cream. It is possible unless their adults are frightened eleven lost days, but forces Smith to that this will make it more dizes- first and show it. pay his income tax on March 25, tible.
I cannot imagine anything more plus eleven days, which equals April
The exciting thing about these terrifying for a child than to see a
room experiments is the use that can time at the moment of a known that the extent to which the depends partly on the size of the hoped that children will be kept If Hongkong is ever ralded it la to Lokly can
drugs absorb food or particles of which the substance is away from adults who cannot
their terror. Perhaps the school composed and perhaps we shall have
anil-gas a large number of new and more ought to be the unit for valuable medicines thanks to Bound Preparations rather than the home.
One thing has been omitted in all wave bombardment,
the offcial anti-air-rald pamphlets- wads of wool for the ears. It is noise that produces panic more than anything.
As a rule they were made by fastening a wooden lath at right angles to another. When the sun rose, the instrument was put flat on the sand pointing towards the East. A shadow was then cast on the bottom lath, and this shadow became shorter and shorter until midday, when the clock was turned towards the West.
THE bottom lath was divided into six portions, so that T there were six "hours" from sunrise to midday, and six from midday to sunset. Probably, at this time, like the Baby fonlans, the Egyptians counted in twelves and sixties, and not in tens as we do.
Traces of this ancient system are still to be found in our own choice of sixty minutes in an hour. Later, too, when we found out how to make clocks accurate enough to measure divisions of time even more minute than the minute, we decided to have sixty of these second minutes in a first minute.
But why doca Smith call the days glant clocks, the moon and the can, move about the heavens. The Bret of these gives a convenient division Here again Smith is following of about twenty-nine days-the in Egyptian and Babylonian customs. terval between one new moon and The brillant appearance of night sky In those dry, clear climates early drew men's eyes towards the stars.
of the week by their names?
the the next..
5!
wSmith now spenks of A.D. 1937.
Year of Our Lord. But remember that when Christ was born no one
considered this
event important enough to count the years from 11.
Hnd
PRIMITIVE people use no such system. They give
de מז:
Full
exner of them in medicine. It is the first of people in gas maskes for
N
a newspaper there recently |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|-|-| an ordinary looking American appeared the photograph of
business man, and beneath it the the words, "President of Indium Corporation of Ameri-
ca,"
This means that another precious metal has censed to be a chemist's
curiosity and entered the world of
commerce.
a proper name to each year, just as of the Abdication," and of 1935 as we might speak of· 1930 as "the Year the Year of the Abyssinian Wor." By the time of Christ the Romans were counting from the year of the foundation of their city.
Mast of the world went on doing The second moves about among this until about 1,400 years ago. Then Dionysius the Little, an abbot who the stars, but returns exactly to the same place in 365 days 5 hours 48 ruled over a South Russian monas- They noticed that they all rise in minutes and 40 seconds and this is tery, suggested changing over. the east and move together as one the exact length of a year. It is fashioned, way we
we
the old- system towards the west. *They
as we should now speak convenient to have could make maps of the stars, which evidently
of A.U.Canno urbis conditae," simple relation between the moontl show once and for all how they are and the year, and for centuries at the year of the founding of the city arranged.
-2009), and not of A.D. 1937. Juct-
Rather more than fitly years ago tempts were made to find one.
dentally, Dionysius seems
to have somebody discovered element num- It was then noticed that své stars
ber 40. For a long time it remained slight miscalculation. Many nothing but The Egyptians, a practical-people, made. move about among the others in
bright 1
Ene scen very eccentric manner. These are decided to have months of alternate- scholars think that this year is real-
through a spectroscope. Only twelve called planets, or "wanderers of the ly twenty-nine and thirty days, but ly AD. 1943.
Curious that when Smith was
years ago this business man tried to
ancient customs of primitive peasants he can sell it to you for rather less more than sixty pounds for it; now The Roman calendar was a much and admitting the abstruse calcula than gold. These noteworthy planets were more complicated affair. Originally tions and researches of the long- thought of as associated in close it had ten months-304 days in a forgotten Dionysius. Curious, too, manner with the gods, and
were year. Clearly this would not do, so that he was putting himself under their given
names.
The priests it was decided, about 700 B.C., to put the protection of the moon and of a thought that, by studying their in two extra months.
Roman god! movements and positions, they would
sky." The sun and the moon also this gave them a year of only 354 making a dute-he-was-following the buy an ounce and was willing to pay
belong to this group, which thus days numbers seven altogether.
the knowledge of.
intentions of the gods.
future.
And now came an important step; THIS Roman year began in cach day was put under the
March, so that September, particular protection of a planet October, November, and Deceraber god, and the days thus felt obviously were the seventh, eighth, ninth, and into groups of seven,
day
months. Their names still remind us of this, since, they come trum the the Latin for those numbers. but
Was
Not only was each day of week ruled by a planet-god, also cach hour of each
This calendar was still inaccurate, under particular protection." The and the Orst month--Mercedonlus, astronomer-priests of ancient Meso- the month of wages--was left out potamia had prepared lists of the every other year.. Normally, there- planels in the order of their distances fore,
These lists read: Saturn
Work it out for yourself
George, his wife, and young the Roman year consisted George went for a drive in the from the earth-and pretty accurate alternately of 355 and 377 days. country last Sunday, and went Confusion grew us time went, be-exploring in an old tower. Un- cause the priests had the right of fortunately the caretaker for- varying the length of Mercedonius got about them and locked them
they were. furthest, Jupiter next, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon nearest,
according to their Inclination or private profit. By the time of Jullus in.
QUPPOSE now that we have Caesar" things had become so bad The only means of escape
a day, the frat hour of that the spring festivals took place before morning was a rope pass- | which is under the protection of in midsummer. Saturn. Then Saturn would rule
from midnight to 1 a.m., Jupiter from
ing over a pulley fixed to the
Caesar decided on fundamental re- outside of the tower, with a
1 am to 2 nm, Mars from 2 am, form. He decreed that the year 46 basket on each end. Whenever
to 3 a.m., and so on.
B.C. should the longest in lustory
145 days. Two new months were one basket was at the window
If you go on in this way, you will put in: July, so named from himself, the other was on the ground And that the first hour of the next and August, from the name of his below the tower.. day is ruled by the Sun; the first successor. hour of the following day by Mars, and so on,
From now on, the 'was to begin`In the 'month of Janus,
And the rope was fixed 80 Roman year that the only way the baskets Last, if we agree to call the day the two-faced god of boundaries, could be used was by placing a by the planet that rules over its who looked both forwards and back-heavier weight in one than the first hour we shall got the following wards. And because his astrono-othor: last: Sun's day, Moon's day, Mor's mera had told him that the length of
Now George weighed 195 lbs., day, Mercury's day, Jupiter's day, a year was 3051⁄4 days, Cocanr de- Venus' day, Saturn's day."
clared that every fourth year should Mrs. George 105 lbs., and young be a leap year of 360 days,
George 90 lbs., and in the tower that the Saxons found when they But Caesar's, calculations were they found a 75 lb. iron chain.
It was this division of the week
The weight in the descending
came to Britain the Romana had wrong by 11 minutes and 14 seconds brought it from the East But a year. By 1682 this error had ac- basket could not exceed that in though the Saxons kept some of the cumulated to 10 days. Roman goda, others they replaced by their own..
For instance, they called the god of war Tiw, not Mars; and in the same way, Mercury became Woden, Venus Jupiter became Thor, and became Froy. The Saxon week- which is our own-thus ran: 'Sun's day, Moon's day, Tiw's day, Woden's day, Thor's day, Frey's day, Saturn's day.
Indium has proved to have three chief values: first, it is softer than loud and melts at very low heat nat much above body temperature. You can combine it with other metals and melt it, then dip linen in it and wrap it round a broken leg and it will harden into a better cast than plaster makes. It is already being used by doctors and artists for
Worked out for
you
After some careful thought George started to solve the problem in Column Three by sending the chain down in one basicet, thus bringing up the other.
ther
Then young George went down, thus bringing-up-the- chain. The chain was taken out and George sent his wife down, bringing young' George back again.
Next the chain was sent down alone, and, following this, George went down, bringing up the chain and Mrs. George,
Once more the chain went
down,
down alone. after which young George went bringing up the chain.
Mrs. George then removed the chain and went down, up young George. The chain was sent down alone,
bringing.
tals purpost is more lustrous than
Second, silver and has a great future in jewellery art. Third, it is as untar-Young George went down with nishable as gold.
A few years ago you had never heard of chromium; now watch aut for Indium, you will soon find it put in your mouth by your dentist, or put on your finger by your fiance, or put in the root of your fat by the builder as part of a sprinkler system
the chain as counterweight,
And, Jastly, when young out of the George stepped basket on to the ground, the chain came down by the law of gravity.
++H
VIA HONOLUL
TO
BY EMPRESS
CANADA, U.S.A., & EUROPE
at Noon May 14th
.May 28th
. June 11thi
ENTRESS OF CANADA
EMPRESS OF RUSSIA
EMPRESS OF JAPAN Pope Gregory therefore ordered the ascending basket by more that the day following October 4, than 15 lbs without the descent
Alr-conditioned equipment carried 1582, should be called October 15. being fatally fast for a human
on Trans-Continental Trains. He also introduced our present rule being. And only two persons,
Frequent Canadian Pacillo Atlantic sailings from Montreal and Quebec, for calculating leap years.
or one and the chain, could be down the smooth St. Lawrence Seaway, in Europe. placed in the same basket at the same time.'
PROTESTANT England re-
How did George get them all fused to fall into line and down, and, incidentally, take carried on with the old calendar, the chain with him as a souve-
In 1751, however, Parliament de-
For business, trade, and agriculture elded on reform. They ordered that nir? If you can't work it out, Smith needs divisions of time larger the day following September 2, 1752, it tells you at the foot of Column than hours, days, or weeks. Two should be called September 14, Fur- Five.
Telephone 20752.
Canadian Pacific
BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE.
Tel. 30123.
Agente.
1, Connaught Rond, C.
OUR BRITISH CROSSWORDS
1 Throw
114
T7
ACROSS
326
the
your map into Easiera river, a Rtting place for it.
Depressions countenanced with equanimity by girls. 10 Flexibly connected.
the end 11 Spells
cause.
12 Measures.
of
any Food
13 The heart of the crowd is not
for peace,
16 Scots girl-English girl, that is. 18 Watch for the man who goes for
the gume.
20 You can't help getting a touch of the sun in this position.. 22 If gold, I should like to halve it
-the second half.
24 Dares to be wrong.
27 Like ham in a ham and beef
shop (two words, 2, 3).
29 The Italian singer calls for beer. 30 To be right here you want the
wrong prefix.
31 Good housewives don't use this
duster.
32 Reaches.
33 One can do this London suburb with envy, It might appear (two words, 7, 5).
DOWN
2 Notes about foreign coins.
3 Limps and stops simultaneously.
4 You may take it that the bird
• looks back at the fool,
5 The thing to make one protest,
Rugger scores.
7 Draw by a small publication.
8 Shadows of coming events make
allent start.
0 Kindling for fogies (three
words, 3, 3, 0).
14 Proverbially a long time.
cun.
15 What you might expect to find in hose, but not in the watering- 17 Just a word in season, my boy, 19 I never hear this brute called anything bui sorry. But some women do.
21 The Story of Bill, obviously. 23 A good radiant heat is got from-
this form of sage-fir.
25 Get in a tangle.
20 Mad, sir? (anng.).
28 One of those who book a bet. 20. Upsets the whole tribe.
Saturday's Solution. LANCASHIRE EPEE JIBLOBOMBHEX KINDLINESSA RIÁ FNE FT 88||||G] BHOLA BRINGOING BURISTEN E TE USUALLY INSULAR
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