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FROM CHINA TO PERU.
(By 'Philos.')
Seems Improbable.
A contributor forwards the following
interesting extract from a Californian
newspaper: —
A new use has been found for the
national flower of Scotland, that peskiest
of weeds, the thistle. ^Experts of the
United States department of agriculture
report the results of experiments made
to determine whether this- forbidding
plant might not have food value for
animals. Rations of ground thistle fed
to twenty lambs every day for a period
of time increased the growth of the
lambs at a great rate. It was also
found that it was not necessary to grind
the thistles, but that if cut and made
into a hay-like forage, the lambs de
voured it greedily. The experiment is
said to be especially interesting to
farmers of the West, since the thistle
thrives in the dry belt and in seasons
of drought when other crops fail.
He adds: — 'I am at a loss to know
whether to send the item to the Coun
cil for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Canberra, or to the Department of
Agriculture, Perth. I know that some
class the thistle a noxious weed and
others say that It is good food for donkeys.
Mr. Sntton might try a ration allowance
on those export lambs we read about.
Could the local Caledonian Society give
any particulars regarding this latest
Yankee stunt?'
The fact that the Scotch thistle has
been permitted to spread so widely and
freely from its native habitat suggests
that it is unlikely to possess any nutri
tive or' other value.
A Pious Pagan's View.
As a pious pagan, this commentator is
deeply interested in the Controversy on
the Oxford Movement. When a chair of
theology for the study of comparative re
ligions is established at the University
he hopes to take advantage, of the oppor
tunity of learning something about the
matter. Uninformed, he is unable to say
whether the statement of the Rev. C.
B. Law that 'the Oxford Movement has
again brought into light the claim of the
Anglican Communion to be fully Aposto
lic and Catholic' is justified or not.
It was 60 long ago that Arius and
Athanasius had their difference, and
Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, Eusebius of
Caesarea, Eustathius, Marcarius, Marcel
lus and others had their day and say that
only the religiously erudite know mnch
about them. When present-day politi
cians hnve to be reminded by quotations
from 'Hansard' of- what they said, and
apparently believed, a few sessions earlier,
it would be dangerous to' dogmatise on
the claims and counter-claims of dis
putants when the world was very young.
To the pious pagan, however, the past
is of little importance in comparison with
the present and the future. After all.
the basis of Christianity is a perfectly
simple thing and, perhaps, a simply per
fect thing. Looking backward is un
likely to help in translating it into prac
tical effect.
An Appalling Proposal.
The women's sub-committee of the
State Economic Council must be com
posed of man-haters. It has recom
mended that a man's fashion parade
should be held in connection with the
forthcoming local products exhibition;
man mannequins to strut in clothing suit
amle for every occasion.
This is a truly appalling proposal. Man
does not claim to be a beautiful creature,
and what he requires of clothing is that
it shall keep him warm, or not too hot,
and allow him pockets in which to carry
his pipe, tobacco pouch, matches anc
money. These destroy the symmetry of
his apparel, but it would be a revolting
spectacle if men carried those bags in
which the fair sex transports its door key,
lip-stick, powder puff, handkerchief,
purse, shopping , list and other things
necessary to feminine existence.
World conditions are not so bad as to
require man to mince before a feminine
audience in dress clothes, bathers, funeral
garb, football togs, or dainty creations for
office wear, or for calling on his girl. The
male' is not built for this form of display.
When theatrical producers stage panto
mime do they hire a man to play Dick
Whittington or the Fairy Prince? Not
on their lives; they pay a large salary
to a member of the sex which delights
(with some justification) to flaunt shapely
limbs before the front stalls. It is only
when the part of the ugly dame is to be
filled that they call on, the male actor.
Man may be intrinsically the nooier
work of the Creator; but no one with
any sense will claim that he compares
favourably.-with the other sex as a spec
tacle, either in his best clothes or in
none at all.
Letting Bond-street Down.
In another paragraph the suggestion
that a parade, of man mannequins might
be held to stimulate interest in locally
made clothing is condemned rather
severely; but an item in a recent issue of
the 'Sunday Referee' (London) suggests
that at least there should be some form of
instruction in the niceties of dress given
to men who may travel abroad. The
'Sunday Referee' says: —
It is surprising really how Bond
street, despite the slump of the last
three years, has maintained its stan
dard of exclusiveness— for the lack of a
better word. J. M. Dennis Bradley . . .
is very proud of this, and when three
South African delegates walked into
his father's tailoring establishment in
grey flannel trousers last week, he
pointed out with gentle firmness that
they ought not to let the street down
by appearing in such clothes. '
Thank heaven we may feel confident
that our Mr. Bruce will not let Bond
street or the Commonwealth down, by
strolling about in grey slacks, plus fours,,
backless bathers or any other attire un
suitable to the locality; but other intend
ing trippers might take warning lest
they be held up to public approbation in
the newspapers of Great Britain.
It might be made part of the duty of
the traffic police of London to save foreign
visitors from the embarrassment of com
mitting, such a solecism, just as persons
not in evening dress are turned away from
dance cabarets on specjal nights. The
London policeman could say quite politely:
'Not in those clothes, sir,' and the wan
dering Australian, glad at being saved
from the dreadful experience of his South'
African cousins, would hand out a hand
some tip and seek a suitable environment
for his attire.
Extremes Meet.
A -correspondent, explaining the differ
ence between an economist and a broker,
says: — 'An economist is a man who
knows a great deal about a very little,
and he goes on knowing more and more
about less add less until he knows every
thing about nothing.'
'A broker is a man who knows very
little about a great deal, and he goes on
knowing less and less about more and
more until he ends by knowing nothing
about everything.'
Why a broker should be expected to
know very much about anything is not
quite clear. His life's work is to ad
vise you to sell or to buy and to collect
commission in either case whether shares
or stocks subsequently go up or down.
An economist has not even this to do.
He deals in theories and the number »f
theories is not even limited by
the number of economists. Most
of the economists said that the
Great ? War could not continue more
than a few months because of the cost.
When it had raged for nearly four years
at a cost which expressed in figures gave
even senior wranglers a headache to Took
at, economists said that Germany would
have to pay billions of millions or the
world would be mined. After Germany
had paid for some years they declared
that other nations would be ruined if the
payments continued.
Regarding the depression generally
they agree that nations must go off the
gold standard or remain on it; that people
must work more or less; that if pro
duction is irot increased or reduced the
world will get into a frightful mess; that
if the cost of production (mainly wages
is not brought down considerably indus
tries will perish; if it is there will be
so little money to spend that industries
will die.
The definition of an economist seems to
be as near the mark as could be expectec
at the moment. *? v »»
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