Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

16 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

r' ACROSS THE TABLE.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

r' ACROSS THE TABLE. It is strange how little any but scientists Know about lightning and its ireakish be- iiaviour. Probably not one man in ten thou- sand, or in a hundred thousand, realises that a Lightning Research Committee, comprising some of the chief electricians in the country, eat from 1901 to 1904, and arrived at a de- cision as to the precautions which the insur- ance companies ought to insist upon as a condition of insurance of buildings. It is a significant fact that among the 115 cases of buildings struck by lightning which were re- ported to this committee only two could show injury of any sort to the inhabitants. The idea which is widely prevalent that a lightning stroke nearly always results in death is quite wrong, says the Pall Mall Gazette. The percentage of deaths to the total struck is very small. In Germany on one occasion ninety-two persons were struck, of whom only ten died while in the case of a church which was struck over one hundred of the congregation were rendered unconscious, but only six died. In another case two were killed out of sixty struck. Everyone m ,the parish was invited to eon- tribute something to the lucky-bag at the bazaar, and most of them sent something in their own line. It was a shock for an elderly citizen who was supporting the cause when he drew a piece of cardboard bearing the words: "Good for one grave, dug any time during the current year." This was the grave- digger's contribution. The Primate of Ireland tells a story about a chprity sermon preached by his predeces- sor. Two very Scoto-Irish farmers had this conversation after the service. Weel! weel! said the one, "he's a wonderful man entirely. He tuk half-a-crown off me-all the siller I had in my pocket. It's a terrible thing to go to hear a man like thon." "Eh, man!" said the other. "It's a' that. But I had heard him afore. So or e'er I ganged to the church I tuk all the money out of my Sun- day breeks only ane bawbee. That's the way to work it. He's a terrible man, so he is." Mr. Winston Churchill has a double who is a waiter in a Plymouth hotel. Lord Charles Beresford also possesses a double in a waiter who is his exact counterpart. As a matter of fact, we probably all have doubles somewhere or the other, the Carpenter says .in the Daily Exprex*. King Edward had quite a lot. King George and the Czar of Russia are eerily like each other, and there is a gentleman in Massachusetts who is ex- actly like Colonel Roosevelt, even to the teeth and the smile. JJeneath a Yew, near Timbuctoo, Would come the Gnus, young sprouts to chew. One day a girl Gnu came in view! And, lo! the Yew tree loved the Gnu! His love he did rot tell, ',tis true, Although ■he thought the new Gnu knew. She, wishing much to help him through, Made eyes and murmured, "Oh, you Yew! The tree by this emboldened grew, And yewsed his limbs to help him'woo. At last he popped! Did she refuse? See wedding date in News for Gnus." "'Ware Baedekers!" should be the watch- "Word for custodians of free libraries from this time onward for the next few -months, says Wic Daily Chronicle. Artful tourists know the value of the book for whatever country they are visiting, and also its pur- chase price. Regardless of other people's needs, they have taken to borrowing it from a library for the whole time of their excur- sions abroad. Last year, for instance, one of a small party going on a trip through Switzerland and Northern Italy cut expenses by taking the Baedeker out of their sub- urban free library. They retained it during "the tour—for six weeks in all—and wrote' off the smiling fine when returning the book as one of the "incidental" expenses of the holiday. Sometimes one suspects the coming gCIlera- tion of artfulness. The boy approached his -parent, and said, Father, do you know the tide came up and carried off my comic paper? Don't worn", my son." said the genial parent. "It can't be helped." "No, father, it couldn t he helped. You see, it was in my coat pocket." It was at this point that an angry and inconsistent father proved that it could and ought, to have been helped. They had brought out the youthful prodigy to show the visitor what she could do in the matter of piano "pieces." The girl rattled off something showy, and the visitor listened with critical attention right to the final crash. Then she nodded with judicial appreciation. "Very good," she admitted, adding conversa- tionally, "My daughter plays that piece, too. I know it by the way you cross your hands." Writing in "A London Diary" in the Nation with reference to the late Mr. Theo- dore Watts-Dunton, "A Wayfarer" savs: "Of his 'Avlwiii' I must speak with reserve, for I could never read it; it remains, I am ashamed to say, a book which is no book to me." "I am glad." writes a correspondent, "that £ A Wayfarer' is so candid, for I have never been able to finish Avlwin myself, and T have now presented my copy to a Y.M.C.A. library. But I wish that the admission of the ,t i the a d ni;ss i (?i-, of the writer in the Nation respecting it had been published sixteen years ago. when I bought Aylwin on the strength of a laudatory re- view which ran to .three columns of the literary page of the Daily Chrotnrle, whose editor then was—the present editor of the Nation!" Among the stores told bv Mr. Joseph H. Elgie, author of "The Stars Night by Night," is one relating to a country ladv who was a veritable Mrs. MDJaprop. "Do you let vour rooms to members of the nrofession?" *Mr. Eigie once asked her. Wcl], as a matter of fact, I do, sir." slve replied. I'm not one of them, sir, as can't dhear theoreticals." The cake stage had been reached, writes a correspondent, and the smallest girl, to mv amazement, exclaimed, Is it F.H.B.. mother? It seemed to be a distress signal in domestic telegraphy, equivalent to C. Q.D. or S.O.S., but before I could think it out the little girl's brother answered. "No! P.M.K. and tea proceeded. Shortly the children with- drew. Then my hostess explained that F.H.B." was "Family hold back." "But ■what did P.M.K. mean?" I asked. Plenty more in kitchen," was the reply. This is the tourist season, and they are telling the story of the old inn where the waiter thinks it is Irs duty to describe the furniture and enlarge on the history of the place generally. Everything in the house .has a legend attaching to it," he said, enthu- siastically. Really," said the bored man. Do teli me about this quaint old liani sand- wich Many a tourist h,l< wished that he had had the courage to say this kind of thing Mr. Roosevelt's man-eating trout ap- pears to be the piranha, which attains a weight of 6nz. to 41 b. Its extraordinary voracity and the strength of its jaws and teeth render it an object of ivrror to the natives of the Upper Amazon district. Mr. J. F. Wood- roffe, a traveller who spent eight years in this ,region, states in his recently published book that many cases are known of wounded ani- mals and even of men being literally con- sumed alive by these fish before a rescue could be effected." One of the stories told by a'elergyman at a mission meeting last week referred to William Wright, aged seven, who had, against his v.'ill, been promoted from a Sunday school class taught, by a charming young woman. A few weeks later :-110 found a funny boy named ■ John Wotherspoon was one of her pupils. Ilc- proved to be William Wright, aged seven, dis- guised. He had lost his heart to the teacher, and had disguised himself so that he mieht •remain in her class. The vicar told him that John Wotherspoon. being a new boy. could not go to the annual treat, but that if he saw William Wright he might tell him that he could go if he liked.

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