WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 1927.
TAVERN SIGNS.
ORIGIN OF THE HONEST
LAWYER."
FLASHES OF HONOUR,
and this applies particularly to MODERN PROBLEMS. those signs which had a distinc- tive monastic flavour.
The "Angel and the Lady," for instance-a once-popular sign! which one frequently encounters) in the literature of the Middle Ages-was changed to the "Sol- dier and Citizen," which the
down their
NEW CRIMES AND NEW CRIMINALS.
POLICE WITH TOO MANY DUTIES.
of
THE CHINA MAIL.
now.
It is the outcome of the shallowest modern philosophy. The new type of criminal believes that what he wants is right because he wants it. "Paranoid paycopathic personality," the crime experts call it.-"P.P.P."
It may be said that all' big erl- minals in all ages. Dick Turpin, for instance, have been vain. But Turpin took his life in his hands when he set out on his adventures. These new murderers rarely risk their own skins. They strike secretly.
FOSSIL LIGHT.
ASTRONOMERS' REMARKABLE
PHOTOGRAPHS.
11
PAST RETURNS.
C
2,000-YEARS-OLD SCENE REVIVED.
GREEK PLAY AT POMPEII,
eye.
Some think it is a great spiralį structure and that to an observer standing at a far-distant place in space, it would look much like a spiral nabula looks to us.
The study of this system and its constituent stars has become the SOME APPALLING DISTANCES. commanding feature of natronomi- cal research. Blethods developed in the study of the planets' have Astronomera now take photo-
been replaced by the powerful me- graphs with rays of light that ori-the
The Homan theatre at Pompeii ginated when our earth was young these the astronomers are investi- der 2,000 years, was born to new thods of astrophysics, and with which has been dead for just un- in its earliest geological epoche. gating new and more distant re- life again with the performance of Begnning their journey in some far- gions of space.
the "Aleestla" of Euripides. rays continued to travel toward us referred to by Dr. Hubble, is itself the sandalled feet of actora
This method of exploring space, ancient stage was trodden again by while the great carboniferous for-]
turned
distant "island universe." theso
one
sixty-fourth
on
Its
and
A list of in signs, compiled Puritans liked better.
A new type of criminal has ap- from notes jotted down during, Similarly the "Lady of the peared, educated, cunning, re- town and country rambles, has Veil" became generally the "Mer-sourceful and dangerous, who em afforded me more entertainment maid," though "The Devil's ploys the latest developments and pleasurable mental exercise Tavern," originally "Satyr," re-aclentifle research to fight society. than I have enjoyed from any mained in spite of much organ- The old Bill Sikes has almost gone The new highwayman has made other source for quite a long time ised opposition and vocal protest. (saya F. A. Mackenzie in the his appearance, the motor.car (says a writer in the "weekly So did the sign "Mitre," and a "Sunday Pictorial"). The few of bandit
who, Incidentally,
has ests sprang up, flourished, died and one of the brilliant achievements of setresses performing one of those. Mai").
few others of the sume category, his type who are still left are most.
to coal, and while the great modern astronomy. It is based usually stolen the car in which he dinosaurs, long king of earth's the principle that a light having a plays which doubtless were the de- Some of them recall stirring Many of those who feared they secluded in preventive detention operates. episodes of years that lie far in wrath of
Scotland in the Isle of Wight. the Puritans, and in
regarda him with enough unenai- turned to fossils. In fact, the light appears only-one-fourth as bright turies ago. oir romantic past; others are consequence took
The new men and women-for ness to crente a special squad to
A cosmopolitan audience of some of these distant stars may truly at four times the distance: one thousands, among whom England the girl erook is more and more a fight him and with reason. obviously but quips of humour offending signs quickly enough, factor to be reckoned with-work
be called "fossil light, although distance; nt
sixteenth nĮ four times the In America to-day the auto- born from the magje of the flow- as quickly found themselves at a not with a bludgeon but with
atwas generously represented, gather- it is a live fossil, quivering with mobile brigand is at work on a
times eight
the distance; ed in Pompeii to witness this unl- ing bowl; and many, very many, loss for alternatives, and had per high-powered motor-car and with big scale. Ila raids bank messen ability to impress our photographic the distance, and so on.
its original energy, as shown by its one-hundredth at ten times que event. are neither one thing nor another, force to fall back upon their un-the skill of the trained chemlat and gers in main streets in the hearts plates. The Astronomical Society given both the apparent brightness tion of Alcestis revented the tre Thus, Marin Laetizia Celli's Interpreta- What is the origin and mean-aided wits. It was then that so expert photo-engraver.
of great cities and gets away with of the Pacific, in recently issued ing, for instance, of :—
many signs began to appear with
ok We are a much more aber na- his haul. He has accomplished leaflet, reminds us that astronom- neither originality nor historical tion than ever before. For every the most amazing strokes, repeat-
ers are now dealing with distances association to commend them. three people arrested for drunken- |,ing with a fost car the successes of, and sizes and numbers that are ap-
"Q" which meant merely that ness seven years ago only one is
palling. the old brigand of the roads.
Formerly the mile as a the innkeeper ground his own jrrested to-day. We have a more He will try the same in England unit of measurement satisfied the And others of a like kind that malt in a quern: "The Pyewipe," rational way of handling prisoners, on a bigger scale than he has yet explorers of coleśtical space. Now are either new or have hitherto a genteel name for peewit: "The and three out of four convicted done, and probably some of our
that telescopes have grown so large escaped public notice?
and measuring methods so effective, and "The first offenders never appear before | police will suffer in fighting him. Cheshire Cheese," "Goosie and Gamler," one can Maypole" are examples of this the Courts again--at least, not un- There is one sure way in which
the mile-unit of earth-dwellers is understand as merited compli-class, though "The Maypole" was
der the same names.
the motor-car bandit can be stamp-tion million miles is the distance altogether inadequate. The "light- ment to these stately village later distinguished in a famous law-breakers come up each year. tem of road barricades, fast cars
But an enormous number of new ed out a properly organised sys- light travels in one year. Six mil- fowls, and "Pipe and Snuff" we passage by Dickens bearing on For every five crimes with violence
lion million miles, or one "light- know to be merely reminiscent of an inn at Epping Forest that was twenty-five gears
for police patrola, life sentences your," is the "yardstick" of the the cosy corner, itself enshrined called by this name,
ago there are for any men who shoot at the present-day astronomer. The writer nine to-day.
police, in many a tavern sign, which men
long imprisonment for like Dr. Johnson dearly loved.
Shop-breaking has multiplied others, and the "eat" for those who
"Gruel Pot."
"Ape and Apple."
"Make no Noise,'”
Telling of Heroic Deeds.
are guilty of violence. In these old signs one also three-fold, and murder has become
not so much a matter of sudden
These vanity-caten murderers and motor-car adventurers are most serious criminals do not risk. merely the amateurs of crime. The
their own necks. The blackmailer, for instance, has not, as a rule, the pluck to kill; it would be in-
victim out of hand.
And yet, he himself. oddly enough, hated both these acces. finds references to every phase of passion aa of careful calculation. sories, which novelties like Sir statecraft and ministerial popu-While the total of discovered mur- Walter Scott have made immor-larity, not to mention the vicissi-ders has declined, there is good tal. ut "Pic and Poke" one tudes of our naval and military reason to believe that the un- gives up in despair.
detected killings have grown, and "Rodney's Bar," the "Duke of that some of the men convleted of Many of the old.inn signs are, | of course, heraldic and represent York," "Wellington's Head" the one murder have actually com-finitely kinder if he slew his royal bearings or the blazonings "Gordon Arme," the Old Brigade mitted several.
campaigns.
Policemen Side-Trucked. Blackmailing. as we have seen from court cases during the last few weeks, in fourishing as never before, and, until the Courts dia- cover an effective way of securing secrecy for those victims who are brave enough to prosecute, it will continue to lourish.
}
goes on:
tance.
a light and its intrinsie bright-mendous dramatic possibilities of ness at unit distance. It is a sim-this part. The poignant story ple matter to compute its actual dis-struck a deep chord in the 20th-
century audience. Fixing Distances of Stars. As muchowover, as the in- In the case even of remote stars, trinsic value of the play, the won- it is not difficult to measure their derful setting in which it was ren- apparent brightness, but until re-dered contributed to the delight of eently astronomers did not know the audience. The ancient theatre how to estimate their intrinsie had been partly restored for the brightness. Indeed, the epoch-foccasion. Towering over it was making advances in the exploration the dark muss of Vesuvius with its of the remoter parts of apace of the characteristic smoke cap at the top. last half-dozen years have been ac- All around, felt rather than complished because ways have been were the rains of the ancient city developed of determining the actual brightness of stara which be far with their story of the glory of beyond the reach of the older me
The acting was perfect, the thoda.
measur-
Rome.
seen,
Inadequacy of the Mile. One can very satisfactorily say that the sun is 93,000,000 miles A clue was found by Dr. Walter costumes colourful, the dancing from the earth. But when astron- S. Adams, Director of the Mount excellent. omers began working with groups Wilson Observatory, who showed of stars far outside our solar that when the light of an intrinsi- HONG KONG HOTEL VISITORS. ayatem, the inadequacy of the mile cally bright star is passed through and the usefulness of the light-year, a spectroscope, certain lines in
July 11, 1927. ita as units of measurement, became spectrum are intense, while certain Mr. A. E. Atkins, Mr. and Mrs. apparent. Even the nearest star, other lines are weak. He showed E. Avery, Mr. and
Mrs.
W. Alpha Centauri, is four and one- also that the relative intensities of Andrews. third light-years from us. while these same lines are reversed when Messrs. S. F. Brown, R. H. Rigel. 13.000 times brighter than a spectrum is taken of the light Beaven, T. H. Bardwell, A. Broetje. our sun, is 600 light-years away, from a star which is of a law order Mr. and Mrs. N. Anthony Baker.
But these distances are insignifi- of netual brightness. By
Miss S. Chong, Mr. R. Crofton, cant in comparison with the re-ing the relative intensity of line Mr. and Mrs. M. Dupre, Mr. and which astronomical research is re- brightness can be determined. This moteness of certain spiral nebula in the spectrum of a star, its actual Mrs. S. Farhoon
caling, "Island universe," theae method, found to be accurate for lonely habitants of space are call- near-by stars whose distances are ed. Evidence is at hand tending known, is now accepted as a reli- How are we going to fight the
to show that several hundred thou-able method of fixing the distances have a larger and more new crime wave? First, we must
sand of these "universes" exist, of the more remote stars. central
each comparable to our own in size, force dealing with nothing else but
and that many of them are ten mil- serious crime, and dealing with it lion light-years or for the whole country. The police-Thus, as our conception of the uni- mare away man has become so much more verse expands larger measures are than the crime fighter that there demanded. Already the "parsee," is danger of his having little time for tackling crime. Every kind of task is heaped upon him, and he does them so well that the tendency is to pile on still more.
discussion.
Messrs. A. F. Henry, Hodgins.
Earle
Meaars, J. E. Joseph W. Jones, Mr. H. A. Keller.
Miss H. Lillie.
Mr. and Mrs. Neunhoffer.
Messrs. A. G. Peterson R. L.
of great families. The "King's Tavern," the "Queen's Own," and Two main characteristics mark Arms" is one of these, and the sundry other titles of a like kind, the new criminal--calm prepara- "Prince of Wales's Feathers" is all speak of heroic deeds that tion and dominating vanity. He another.
served to animate the imbibers carries out his Killinge na delibor- In Scotland we come across, of the sparkling ale long after the ately, and in the same cold blood, such signs as the "Atholl Arms deeds themselves passed into the as another might accomplish a Hotel," and the "Buccleuch Arms prosaic records that lie in dust coup on the Stock Exchange.
and oblivion.
Leopold and Loeb, the schoolboy murderers of Chiengo, von Arbin The White Hart" one easily; The rewards of valour and re-and Kreuger, the aristocratic dyna- associates with Richard II., while nown are also fittingly commiters of Stockholm, Landru in the "White Swan" was peculiar to memorated in such signs as the France, and Stinic Morrison at the Henry IV. and Edward III., and "V.C. Tavern," the "Knight of Old Bailey, all had one character-
The Leavitt-Shapley Law, the "Blue Boar" to Richard III, the Thistle," the "Star and Gar-istle in common-inordinate self-
A second important method of Parker, C. A. Poat, E. K. Parker, The "Red Dragon" is a distinctive ter," and the "Warrior's Crown." conceit.
and, consequently, the distances of Printy. determining the actual brightness A. B. Park, C. Pickwith, Miss F. emblem of the Tudors, and the The "Thatched House," the When they appeared in court
far-away stars, turns upon an ab Mesars, W. Stewart, S. Sawamura, "White Rose" the "Red Rose." "Toll Bar." and the "Cocos Tree" they showed no sign of repentance or simply "The Rose," are the tell their own tale, as do also such meekness-not even those who
equivalent of a little more than servation matte by Miss Leavitt of R. Schoepe, L. Schipper, Mr. and
the Harvard Observatory, develop-Mrs. O. . Scobie. symbols of political creeds that familiar signs as the "Bird in the had pleaded guilty.
three light-years, twenty million ed applied by Dr. Harlow
And
Dr. E. S. Taylor, Mr. N. S. Taylor. once inspired their adherents to Hands," the "Black Full," "Cock Unrepentant and Conceited.
million miles, is in common use Shapley, Director of the same Ob Messrs. T. B. Wilson, G. Wragge, battle as obstinately and fero-o' the North," and "Rest and be The arch-murderer Kreuger act-
among astronomers, while occasion- servatory, and hence called the Lea. Mr, and Mrs. Ribhard Wilbur. ciously as any warriors that ever Thankful."
ed throughout his trial like a young
ally even the "kiloparsec," a thou- vitt-Shapley law. This method is drew the sword.
The "Conch and Horses" is a man playing a leading part on the When a police division in prepar-sand parsecs, is heard in current
restricted to stars of # certain There was, however, surely a reminder of the times when the world stage, scored little points. offing its plans for raiding a respect
able club because the members do element of irony or cynicisin in better-class inns were the only the Court. kissed the hand of a lady witness und. at the close, the fashion that gave to so many posting-houses.
not all empty their glasses to the of our old ale-houses such medi- So also is the "Saracen's Head" sought to have an emotional fare minute it cannot be tracking down
well with the chief counsel for the burglars, acval religious signs as The and the "White Horse." Inns
prosecution.
Most of us want the policeman Seven Stars," "The Cross Keys,” bearing such signs as "Crown and "The Angel," "St. Francis," "The Anchor," "Ball and Cue," "Fox laughed at the humours of their helper and administrator, the con- The young Chicago murderers on the beat to be the universal Pilgrim" and "Salutation." and Goose," showed that such trial, and when it was over bade troller of traffic and of speed
Names Which Had a Meaning.
games were played within, while their warders bring them a good limits, the supervisor of motorcar Many of the old signs were cor-dicated the nature of the local fingers, pie with cream and "all
the "Man with the Scythe" in- meat-steak as thick As two licences, the protector of lost child- rupted through time or careless-
ren and the guardian of lost dogs. ness, and not a few of these now staple industry, just as "Rods and the trimmings,"
Then we must supplement him by wear a comic aspect.
{Line" and "Hounds and Horn" de- Landru, labourer's son, played more specialised crime-fighting "Car, d'Or" (French
noted the sport that could be had the great and haughty gentleman service. for "Golden Heart") has now, for in and around the village.
to the moment he was pushed for- Scotland Yard to a large extent example, become "Queer Door." "Fox and Hounds." sometimes ward on a cald February morning supplies this need. What is want "Peg o' Wassail Bowl," which to varied to "Brush and Bugle" or at Versailles to the guillotine. ed, however, is a bigger Scotland our fathers meant a nip of their "Hounds and Horn," showed as a Morrison, professional blackmailer Yard, a detective service drawn favourite ligour, is now converted rule that a sporting squire lived and burglar, posed as an aristocrat from the cream of the police forces throughout his trial and after of the United Kingdom, knitting into the odd and meaningless sign in the neighbourhood.
together all the crime fighting "Pig and Whistle.'
Satire on a "Quiet Woman.” "See how they treat
forces of the entire country. Very often the signs were taken gentleman!" he called to the crowd Crimes against property, crimes from the works of outstanding when he was being taken front with violence, are on the up grade. writers, especially if the writers Waterloo to Dartmoor.
New forms of crime, more danger- ous than before because they have more brains behind them, are ap-
"Bacchanals" (jolly devotees of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine) is now tritely rendered. "Bag o' Nails."
"The Pig in a Pound" has be come "A Gentleman in Trouble," said to have been thus altered by a famous Irishman! Well, indeed, might Ben Johnson exclaim:-
It even puts Apollo For all his strength of art to
follow
wards.
me-
had some local connection, or had This vanity and aclf-conscious- made allusion to the village or ness of the new criminal, his ex- some particular feature of the aggerated egoism is a fresh feature locality; as. for instance, in the at least to the extent we know it case of the old seventeenth cen-: tury in at Windsor known far and wide as "The Merry Wives.
Probably no poet or writer of any sort has supplied so many of this kind as Burns, the Scottish What's meant by every sign.national bard, and it would take
The flights, and to divine
The "Goose
and Gridiron," which one meets with occasional
at least a whole column to en- umerate them.
The origin of the "Wooden
ly, is derived from the old inn at Horse" remains a mystery, as the north-west corner of St. does also the origin of "The Cow Paul's, London.
and Snuffers" and the 'Silent
It was here, when the inn was Woman," though one cannot but known as the "Mitre". that the suspect in the latter the caustic Society of Musicians met, and wit of the cynic. their arms, displaying the Lyre of Apollo surmounted by the crest of of a similar origin, and the The "Untamed Shrew" smacka the swan, were eventually em- "Speechless Spouse" likewise. blazoned over the doorway, and soon became jocularly known as in Dorset known as the "Quiet Thomas Hardy speaks of an inn the "Gouse and Gridiron."
The "Mitre" was destroyed Woman," which has a sign hang- during the Great Fire, and when tion of a woman with her head ing out bearing the representa- the present building was put up cut off, and here again the point- in its place the same arma were ed thrust of the satirist is plainly adopted, but the name was chang.
ed to "Goose and Gridiron."
In the same way we have a
apparent.
In most signs of this kind, however, the woman is shown
giant's mouth with a bull in it to with her severed head under her indicate the "Bull and Mouth" in Aldersgate Street, the sign hav-arm, like the gowned and decapi
ing been originally the mouth or hathour of Boulogne.
tated #gure with a wigged head
in his hand who usually represents
There is also the "Swan With the "Honest Lawyer."
Three Necks" in Ladlane, show-
ing as its arms a bird with three The electorate only cares about heads, though the sign was origin what may be called the football ally meant to indicate the three match in politics.-Sir nicks or marks of ownership made Simon, M.P.
on its bill!
John
Again, there is "The Cat," now We must have arms for 5,000,-| usually accompanied with a repre-000 men and enough aeroplanes sentation of your domestic pet, to obscure the eun.-Signor but which was at first merely a Mussolini. waggish allusion to the better
half in her disgruntled moods,
I have never yet met an old
Escaping the Puritan's Wrath gentleman who did not think that Some of the alterations were, the decline in good manners be however, made on purpose as a gan in his own time.Lady concession to Puritan sentiment, Rhondda.
pearing. Society for its own sake must keep pace with its enemies.
Recently Dr. Edwin Hubble, of the Mount Wilson Observatory, in a lecture at Washington, told about progress in the exploration of these, systems, about new and efficient me thods, and about the structure and extent of the universe. The his
of astronomy," he said, "is a investigators were concerned almost history receding horizon. Early entirely with the system of planets. Presently the stars came to be ac cepted as far-away suns, scattered throughout the depths of space. y, the brighter the star, the long The faintest nebula that can be de- er it takes to complete its cycle tected with the 100-inch reflector Now it is realised that the stars While astronomers are not clear as themselves form a single definite to the causes of this remarkable at Mount Wilson are at the enor system at least 100,000 light-years relationship, they believe that it meus distance of 140 million light- in diameter, itself but one of many holds good for all Cepheld vari-years from the earth. stellar systems existing in space,'
As Old as Dinosaurs. abies wherever found.
By these methods it is disclosed Hubble said, "we are witnessing "In observing these nebula," Dr. To quote the leaflet further:
that the half-dozen nebule which scenes and events which actually are nearest the Galactic System are occurred in past geological ages. at distances ranging from 100.000 In a very real sense, extra-galactic diameters range from to 1,000,000 light-years. Their
nebula can be clasified in a geo- to 4,000 45,000 light-years and their actual them all, the Magellantic Clouda,
logic time-scale, The nearest brightness from twenty million to 1,000 million times that of our sun-left them more than 100,000 years are photographed in the light that
class, known as Cepheid variables. You will find it almost as difft- These stary pass through definite cult to discover the average man the luminosity of each gradually Lynd. periods of variation during which as the perfect man-Mr. Robert
becomes more intense and then gradually weakens. The periods range from less than one day to 100
The complete sceptic is the days. It was observed that among man who is as sceptical of rea- these stars, which are all giant suns son as of everything else.-Mr. finite relationship exists between much larger than our own, a de- G. K. Chesterton.
their actual brightness and the period of their variation. That is to
The Galactic System. The system of stars of which our aun and its planets are constituents is known as the Galactic System, or the system of the Milky Way. Astronomers picture it as of the form of a thin watch, having a thickness of about one-eighth of Its diameter, and containing my- rinds of stars invisible to the naked
of
ago, We see them as they were Continued at foot of next column. back in the great ice age. The con- spicuous spirals belong to the Pliocene age, while those at the ex- treme limits of the observable re- gien are 'Carboniferous."
WHERE TO FIND SHIPS IN HONG KONG HARBOUR-CHART OF THE PRINCIPAL MOORING BUOYS
PROHIBITED
STD OF CO
WHARF
STONE
ISLD,
QUARANTINE
ANCHORAGE
IVÄNGERDƏR GOODS
ANCHOKASE
MAGNETIC MOSTN
YAUMATI
SOWONG HOP LUNG
SUP AND WORKB
COSMOPOLITAM
DOCA
BAY
TAUMKIE
SHELTER
MAN
820 82 du!
ANGHFRAGE
BA S20 Sia S15 S14
CENTRAL PAIMION PAY
630 29 21 625
3 $23 Sub by às be bu be 646 48434018 SUNK ANCHORAGE
SOUTHERN FAIRWAY.
SAILORS
HARBOUR
OFFICE
Cemur Chanm Kin
HOME
HONG KONG HARBOUR SHOWING
MOOKING BUOYS.
6s 6
KOWLOON
2.
MAN OF WAR
Bu
ANCHORAGE
S
CEMENT
HUNG HOM
KONLOOM
CUST ROCK
duay
DANGEROUS
ARC
34025 ANCHORAGE,
WHARE
are
*5
It has been aptly suggested that the photographic records of those faintly visible univerees truly fossils as are the eggs of dino- saurs, the bones of mastodons, and the hits of ancient trees and planta which the pick and shovel of the geologist are revealing. Indeed, it la
is not impossible that since the light which is just arriving from some of these far-away
worlds started on its
are-long journey through space, the worlds them-- selves may have suffered cataclys- mical disaster and have complete-
ly dissolved.
Man has left written records of himself which carry us back 6,000 years. Beyond this there is a period of about 500,000 years dur-
ing which he left traces of his exis- tence in the form of carvings, paintings and crude implements. Rack of this, the fossils of the earth
will
CAR
onc-
carry the Investigator along a trail of life that can be folowed for perhaps 100 million years. At this. point in time the scientist stands before the vell that hides from him the beginnings of life on the earth. It is staggering to reflect that light which travels at
speed that can compass the earth in
about one-eighth of a second, that wach the moon in one und fifth seconds, and the sun fa eight minutes, has required far longer to. traverse the ascertained limits of space than, it has taken the whole of the known links in the chain f life to develop. It is also a matter of no amali wonder that the science of astronomy has reached a point In its development where it measure these vast distances with confidence. To have pushed the boundaries of the observable uni- verse back from the 80,000,000 miles of the early workers to a distance which requires twenty digits to express it fit miles is an achieve- ment surely without parallel in the entire range of man's activities..
Ca
:
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.