Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 30 June 1934, page 9


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Figuring In The News Of the Week

France's Tennis Brain

TXABRY Hopman stated is a cable message from Paris this week that Merlin's victory over Crawford in the Davis Cup match between France ? and Australia was due partly to

Bene Lacoste

Bene Lacoste

advice given to Merlin by Rene Lacoste, the famous French player. 'You must nfake amends for your deficiency in technique with quicker movements. Use your brains,' wrote Lacoste to Merlin on the morning of his match with Crawford. This is one of Lacoste's methods of shaping the destinies ok the younger tennis generation in France and rebuilding a combination capable of making France dominant in the tennis world again. It is Lacoste's custom as captain and honorary coach of the French Davis Cup team to issue Instructions to the

players on how to tackle opponents. When Lacoste was champion of France he was renowned for the thoroughness of his training. He studied the physical and mental aspects of his opponents, and kept records of the weaknesses and tactics of all first-class players. He is now placing all this experience and knowledge at the service of his compatriots. When one of the younger Frenchmen is playing an important match Lacoste sits at the foot of the umpire's chair, and is undoubtedly the brain directing the- attack. He rises to attend his protege, and wants to give advice at every change of ends. He concentrates on the play so intently that he is almost exhausted at the end of the day. If France regains the Davis Cup in the next few years it will be Lacoste's victory. ' ? ? * Misleading the Birds SPRING is in the air, and the birds in the trees are being misled by the persistence of mild weather, according to the honorary ornithologist at the Adelaide Museum (Mr. J. Sutton). He said tnis week that the brown song lark and the fpntafl and brown cuckoos, nomads of Australia who grace us with their presence from the spring until the close of summer, were already in our midst. He had also heard the buzzing' sound of the love call of the greenfinch, which was also accepted as a sign of spring. They all have an excellent chance of having th»ir ardor damped when the long-awaited rain sets in. * . * * A Very Busy Man THE Trade Commissioner (Mr. McCann) confessed this week that the hospitality South Australians had shown him since he returned to the State after an absence of 20 years was proving almost too much for him. Since Mr. McCann reached Adelaide on June 2 he has had scarcely a minute to himself, and the demand on his time has been so great that he is weeks behind in his correspondence. Mr. McCann has seen almost everything of importance to primary industries in South Australia, and he has also inspected the show places of other States. :'It would be interesting to know how many thousand sheep, lambs, and cattle he has seen and how many meetings he has addressed since he arrived. Mr. McCann has been to Sydney and through Victoria and the South-East, and has conferred with graziers, exporters, and Government officials. Now the Federal Government has sought his assistance, and no doubt Mr. McCann will be slad to return to London m August, when his work there will seem like a holiday. ? ? ? Ink Round the Think! THE art of drawing now holds no mysteries for young John Gurney, the five-year-old son of ?ilex Gurney, the cartoonist, who will be rememaered for his work in Adelaide. Ever since he was old enough to know which end of a pencil is the business end, John has set to work to draw like his father, and nils vast quantities of paper with strange sketches. 'But what IS drawing?' he asked his mother recently. Mrs. Gurney explained that when about to draw the artist first thought of a thing and then drew it on to paper. 'I know what drawing is, daddy,' was John's enthusiastic piece of news later. 'First you think —and then, you ink round the think!' ? ? ? Tongue Twister for Papuans IT»HE Lieutenant-Governor of Papua (Sir William ??? Murray) is training natives as councillors and assessors to settle minor disputes among the Papuans. In his latest reports he tells how the natives are verbally wrestling with the title of 'councillor,' which has proved a real tongue twister to them. 'The natives' attempts to pronounce the word are often uncommonly wide of the mark,' said Sir William. 'The assistant resident magistrate at Ffcairuku says that he has heard councillors described as quinces, kings, and tins. When delegates from a village asked for the appointment of two 'saddles' he was at loss to understand them until a native clerk came to his rescue' Our aborigines can get much nearer than that to our official designations. * m ? Knight's Big Hit A N Adelaide knight who has been following the ?' Test cricket closely is Sir David Gordon. Sir David plays tennis and bowls in the summer now. As a youth he played cricket at Riverton ano Clare, and remembers on one

Sir David Gordon

Sir David Gordon

occasion representing worths against an Adelaide team which included George Giffen, A. H. Jarvis, J. tF. Lyons. When Sir David came to Adelaide he played with the Triton Club, whose headquarters were on the parklands north of the Zoo. He was also a member of the Australs. Sir David used gleefully to tell of a record hit he made at Victoria Park. Getting on the ball properly and assisted by a strong bree'.e, it went -a great distance, and the fieldsmen had to string cut to return it. He scored 11 for that hit, and made 96 altogether. There were no boundaries. While with the Australs he 'in a prize for fielding, match at Salisbury he and H.

J Day (of trie Supply and Tender Board) established a record last wicket stand. They made 200. For a great many years after dropping out of regular cricket Sir David lent able support to the press in their matches aga'nst Parliament, and later for Parliament against the press. * * * 'Birds of Passage' \ REMARK made by Mr. C. T. Gun, the de* fending counsel in a housebreaking charge against two Queenslanders caused a simmer of amusement' in the Adelaide Police Court the other day. The Police Prosecutor (Mr. Crafter) opposed bail, and told Mr. Muirhead, S.M., that the men had travelled the 2,300-odd miles to South Australia in a motor car. He described them as 'birds of passage.' Mr. Gun (heatedly) — I sincerely hope that Mr. Crafter would not suggest that if your Honor went to Melbourne or any other State in a motor car you would be called 'a -bird of passage.''

Cm L. (Jack) Badcock the young Tasmanian champion opening batsman, who arrived in Adelaide this week to take up residence. He will be available to play for Adelaide Club at the opening of the cricket season. Badcock, who had a very successful season with Tasmania before coming here, should develop into a batsman of the highest class.

Cm L. (Jack) Badcock the young Tasmanian champion opening batsman, who arrived in Adelaide this week to take up residence. He will be available to play for Adelaide Club at the opening of the cricket season. Badcock, who had a very successful season with Tasmania before coming here, should develop into a batsman of the highest class.

? The Lord Mayor ? -. Mr. Cain, who suggests a Royal tea for 8,000 to 10,000 children of needy families as a means of making the Duke of Gloucester's visit live in the memory of the younger generation.

? The Lord Mayor ? -. Mr. Cain, who suggests a Royal tea for 8,000 to 10,000 children of needy families as a means of making the Duke of Gloucester's visit live in the memory of the younger generation.

? Mr. E. L. Bean ? the Parliamentary draftsman, who is now busy preparing Bills for the next session of Parliament, which wfll begin on July 12.

? Mr. E. L. Bean ? the Parliamentary draftsman, who is now busy preparing Bills for the next session of Parliament, which wfll begin on July 12.

Mr* Claude Kingston concert director for J. & N Tait, who said this week that J. C. Williamson Ltd. had decided to keep the Theatre Royal open for sine months of the year, daring which time outstanding shows would be produced.

Mr* Claude Kingston concert director for J. & N Tait, who said this week that J. C. Williamson Ltd. had decided to keep the Theatre Royal open for sine months of the year, daring which time outstanding shows would be produced.

? Mr. L. S. Smith ? who this week was appointed secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Local Government (Mr. Blesing). He had been acting secretary since Mr. W. L.. Summers, the former secretary, began sick leave and long leave 18 months ago.

? Mr. L. S. Smith ? who this week was appointed secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Local Government (Mr. Blesing). He had been acting secretary since Mr. W. L.. Summers, the former secretary, began sick leave and long leave 18 months ago.

Is Larwood Right? TS Larwood right? Are Australians bad- losers? ?*- Last Monday night — when England and Australia were fighting out the second Test at Lord's — I drove through Port Adelaide to Semaphore (writes a correspondent). It was 8 p.nu, and Brown and McCabe were just about to resume the Australian innings. Two wickets were down for 192, and Australia looked to have a chance of reaching England's score of 440. Around every shop that sported wireless equipment there was a big crowd, and in and around one particular garage there must have been 50 or 60 people. The proprietor of this garage was evidently an enthusiast, as in addition to providing wireless for his patrons, he had arranged seating accommodation. About 10.45 pm. I drove back from Semaphore and through Port Adelaide. Australia had just gone to lunch at Lord's, where the score read eight wickets for 273. I looked in vain for crowds around the shops, where some of the wireless sets still blared, and when I got to the garage where so much interest had been evident early in the night, I was amazed. The garage was locked, the wireless was silent, and the patrons of the improvised 'bleachers' had emulated the Arabs, and vanished silently into the night I wondered if they would have been there if Australia had still had a winning chance? * =f e Police Student at Y.Q.C. -AT the Y.O.C. community centre at Port Adelaide '? Water Constable Bacon is one of the enthusiastic class which learns navigation from Capt. Ferguson on Wednesday afternqons. He is learning navigation so that he will be better equipped if he ever gets his wish to fly. ' Befcre he joined the police force he worked on a sheep run, and found I that bushcraft, or a rough working knowledge of! land navigation, was indispensable. Apart from frying, he thinks that ?a knowledge of navigation m&y help if, as a water constable, he is ever called upon to make a trip outside the harbor. ? * * Always at Football XfVERY Saturday Messrs. 6. H. A. Lienau and B. Love sit together in the members* stand at

the Adelaide Oval watching the league footbalL Mr. Lienau is one of Australia's authorities oh birds and flowers. He has adjudicated at shows throughout the Commonwealth, and has judged at more than 20 country shows in the one season. At hjs Unley Park home Mr. Lienau has a wonderful garden, and his aviaries contain many fine birds. Mr. Love is vicepresident of the SJL Lawn Tennis Association, and while Mr. A. A. L. Rowley (president of the association) Is watching the international tennis at Wimbledon Mr. Love is acting chairman of the council. Mr. Love is an authority on tennis, and' for years was in charge of our annnwl championship tourney. He follows closely the performances of international players abroad. Both Mr. Love and

'I most certainly shall not jomp Into that until you young men pot It on the ground.'

'I most certainly shall not jomp Into that until you young men pot It on the ground.'

Mr. Lienau are keen students of football and cricket ss weli as tennis.? * . * Cricket and Arithmetic TO make arithmetic more interesting the Thebar?*- ton Technical School has introduced ' cricket into the subject. A parent this week noticed his son pondering over rules governing the 'unitarv method.' This is how his notes read: — 'This line of argument is the essence of unitary method. Knowing the price of 17 articles we find the price of one then the price of 53. In doing so we made an assumption upon ?which unitary method depends. We assume that we paid at the same rate for 53 as we paid for the 17. 'However, the following examples cannot be solved by the unitary method. If Larwood runs 20 yards he can bowl at 90 miles an hour, how fast would he bowl the ball if he ran a mile before delivering it? 'If two persons in a room were awakened by one alarm clock, how many alarm clocks would be necessary to awaken eight people in the same room? 'If a fisherman lands four fish in an hour, how many will he land in three hours and a half?' 'TOmmnu1n111n11n11u1u1m111iHi111iBiu1111n11iH11nu11iMi11111111.1111.il ? uiiuiiiiiiiHiiHia Book reviews by 'Bodleian' will be found this tceek and in future issues on Page 5 of the Magazine Section. Broadcasting programmes and the Handyman article by 'Fresco' also appear on that page. ratimmrnitRimniniiniiimiiiMiimiiinui ? iniiftiiiintniitHirainHiiimimiiiiiiimimMtmm 'Morse' by Telephone Vl N' ingenious method of knowing the Test cricket doings while debating the problems of ratepayers was adopted at a suburban council meeting this week. Although the fall of each wicket was advised by telephone, and councillors knew which batsman was out each time, the meeting was not disturbed in any way, as there was no need for anyone to answer the telephone. It rather resembled a system of Morse signalling. By a pre-arranged system it was known that one telephone buzz would spell Brown's downfall, two McCabe's, three Darling's, and so on down to eight and nine buzzes. Becausfe of the sticky wicket these signals came through fairly frequently, and councillors had to keep consulting their code. ? * ? First Violet Day jJJONDAY will be Violet Dai, when all will be asked to wear a violet in memory of those who fell in the war. Violet Day was pehaps the first day of remembrance set aside for 'hose who were killed in the world war. The first Violet Day was held on July 2, 1915. as the result of the efforts of Mrs. A. Seager. secretary of the Cheer-Up Society. She had been thinking out a means of giving the public an opportunity to pay tribute to the fallen, and the wearing of a violet occurred to her. Speaking at a ceremony on that day, the than Governor (Lieut-Col. Sir Henry Galway) said, 'IT any day is to be chosen for Australia's Day, I think it should be April 25, when the Australian troops landed under the most hellish fire at Gaba Tene.'' ? * ? Duty and Pleasure 17OR most people attendance at a ball represents a pleasure, but for a few women in Adelaide it is just part of their duty. They are women police officers, who are detailed to attend many of the big dances held in Adelaide or at seaside resorts. They wear evening dres. and are indistinfuishable frgm other guests — until any breach of good order takes place. Then they have to see that any person who has been offensive is removed, or that order is otherwise maintained. Dance committees usually co-operate with the women police in this direction. But according to some of the policewomen duty and pleasure do not mix well, and so they do not join the dancers on the floor. Instead d remaining with the carefree crowds until the small hours the women officers go home at 11 p.m.. when plainclothes policemen take over the surveillance.

The Ace of Spades j-IOW many keen card players know why the ace of spades in many packs of cards is more elaborate than the other aces? The reason is Interesting, and the origin goes back many years. The ace of spades used to be the 'duty' card of the pack. When a tax was first imposed on playing cards it was provided that every pack sold must be marked by the Stamp Office to show that duty had been paid. One stamp was to be placed on the wrapper, and another on 'one of the cards.' Because of the confusion and the evasion of the tax, a later regulation enforced that the ace of spades should be the duty card, and that it must be printed by the authorities on paper supplied by the makers. The Stamp Office issued sheets of 20 aces of spades to the manufacturers for a sovereign. The paper was then pasted on to the card, and it is said that aces of spades made in this way could be distinguished by expert touch from the rest of the pack. When a later Act reduced the duty to threepence, paid on the wrapper supplied by the Stamp Office, the manufacturers went back to making their own ace of spades, but they kept to the custom of having this card different from the rest of the pack, and used it as an advertisement for themselves. ? ? * A Treetop Hotel \ITHILE Adelaide can boast an hotel between *^ whose portals some of the world's celebrities

nave passed, k aas fallen to the lot of the small town of Nyeri, in the heart of the forests of Kenya Colony, to possess the world's queerest and quietest hotel. It is called Treetops, and is a tworoomed bungalow built high up in the branches of a great tree a few miles from NyerL It stands close to the foot of Mount Kenya, and is exactly on the Equator. The hotel overlooks an open space, in the centre of which is a waterhole, visited at night by ; elephants, leopards, hyienas, rhinoceroses, and 'monkeys. Visitors Spend the night there, j just to see the anmials,; but they must be aloft before 4 o'clock. No shooting or smoking is permitted, and silence Is strictly enforced. (Letters are sent from the tree bun- :

galow by pigeon post to Nyen. Clan Spirit Strong T*HE present movement in Adelaide to revive the ?*? Scottish Corps— kilts and all— has (reawakened the clan spirit to all true Scots in South Australia. This spirit has manifested itself strongUy at Scotch College at different times, especially whjen the boy are being told about stirring incidents : in Scottish history. 1 For instance, when the Rev. Dr. Davidson hadj finished giving the students Scripture1 lessons he I would often tell them something about themselves, as he put it. But the boys woiuld become so excited that Dr. Davidson had to ; tone down his descriptions considerably. After he had told the boys the story of the massacre of Glencoe, every Campbell at the college had to stand a good deal of 'ragging' for weeks afterwards. Up to the present day at the college it has been noticed that the students form unconsciously into groups corresponding to the old clan groups. The Duncans and the Frasers are found together, but a McKenzie is rarely, if ever, found with a McLeod. Is it because the McKenzies took a large tract of land from the McLeods in Scotland years ago? * * * * Adelaide Man in Burma (?« OLD prospecting in Upper Burma, 40 miles from ^ the nearest European inhabitant, has attracted .Mi. Niels W. Thomsen, a former »Adelaide salesman. In a letter to the Lord Mayor's secretary (Mr. R. N. Hammant) Mr. Thomsen says that the 40 miles to the nearest Kuropean is through almost impenetrable jungle, and one has either to walk or ride an elephant, 'our only means of transport.*' 'Mostly we -walk, because elephants are slow. They travel only two miles an hour, and five hours seems to be a full day's work for them.' writes Mr. Thomsen. He keeps fires near his camp at night to keep off the elephants, tigers, and leopards, 'who won't come near any form of light' Mr. Thomsen has about 60 coolies working on the bores, while he is busy trying to : master the native languages. In the meantime he has to employ an interpreter. * * * A Lengthy Process MR. T. Mildren, a former Adelaide man, at the aee of 33, is manager of the Repulse Bay

T. Mildren

T. Mildren

Hotel, HongKong. inis noiei is one of the biggest and most popular in the East. Built nearly on to a beach, with wooded hills towering behind, the hotel is sumptuously appointed, and has a large staff. Many of them are Chinese, and a few are Indians. Of the latter Mr. Mildren tells an .amusing incident in a letter home, written when he was sub-manager of the hotel. It is as follows ''We have four herculean Indian watchmen armed to the teeth. The night reception clerk — a Portuguese — is rather 'breezy' of them. The watchmen get an unholy pleasure out of quarrelling among themselves in the dead ? of night One morning about 2 o'clock, when I was in bed, the

cierk — frightened stiff — telephoned me and a5Ked me to come down. I found the clerk shivering at his desk and four turbanned. duskv dingoes in the darkened dining room. '1 called them to me. lined them up, and let go at them in 'dinkum' Australian. A perfectly good waste of profane art. They didn't under- ! stand what I was saying! [ 'I had to tell the Portuguese clerk in English, he in turn told the sergeant of the watchmen in Chinese, the sergeant re-told his men in Hin- j dustaftii, and when they explained, it had to ci | the same way to me. ] 'I returned to bed about 4 o'clock witV i firm resolution to learn Hindustani before read- j ing the riot act to these fellows again!' 1 When in Adelaide Mr. Mildren assiyed in the management of the Victoria Hotel, which vas then owned by his father. Mr. T. Mildren. sen. Mr. Mildren. jun.. is an advocate for Ausfn.Jirm trade with the East, and uses his influence whenever possible.