Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-15
\HE EVENING TIMES, Glasgow
Human fear Of lightning IS In
stinctive, and not to be quelled
nv nJInffy10 nfa fsetfrr Stn,,,S,. :,


Il by quoting statistics showing
that for every person killed by
lightning stroke thousands perish by
measles and tens of thousands by
motor vehicles. Lichtenburg, a famous
eighteenth century German physician
and philosopher, discovered the futility
OF such comparisons. He wrote a
treatise on The Fear of Lightning" in
which he pointed out that though six
persons had persisted IN storm at Got
tingen, dySentery, then rife In the town,
had killed twice as many folks in a week
as lightning had done In half century
The public, he found, remained quite
unmoved by the argument, going IN
terror OF lightning, yet viewing the
malady with remarkable eaSineSs -
How different it would be, he reflected,
IF the dysentery ross above the horizon
in the form Of q blaek cloud, changing
day into night, and whenever it selected
2 victim exploded with violent
Trinidad to Stop
Destruction Of MongoOse.
Port-of-Spain Gazette-Acting on
the advice Of scientists, the govern
ment has announced its intention to
stop the campaign for the destruc-
ton OF the mongoose, originally
introduced into Trinidad from India to
destroy snakes and small animal pests
harmful to crops.
Three years ago the government be-
gan paying q bounty for the complete
tails OF mongoose and since that time
more than $50, 700 have been destroyed.
The scientific men say the mongoose
itself Is not q pest and that IN its native
India there Is no objection to it.
But the mongooSe in India lives under
very different conditions from his
brother In Trinidad In these regions
the mongooSe consumes mainly frogs,
lizards and ground birds, all Of which
i've on harmful insects and plant lice
Much more than these articles Of diet,
however, 1t likes poultry, and, as most
of its hunting Is done by day, it natu-
rally catches and devours far more
poultry than rats, which was one of the
particular pests it was introduced to
combat. Had these 10000 nongoose
not been removed from their depreda-
tons 1t Is not hard to imagine what
might have happened to the poor
farmers crops and chickens.
=
Would Reduce Profit
OF Suez Canal Directors.
Fl Nuevo Diario, CaracaS.-The Suez
Canal Is Q curious survival in more
ways than one. It was the product of
private enterprise, and indeed one Of
its greatest monuments. But 1t seems
strange that one of the worlds most
important Seaways should be operated
as a profit-making concern above any
thing else.
While it is proper that q ship should
pay toll on passing through the canal,
it Is not just that these charges should
be set TO allow the payment Of maxi
rnum dividends, instead of service for
the good of all nations ut a. nominal
cost. There are 80 directors of the
company, Of whom Fl are French, 10
British and ! Dutch. These directors
are paid according to profits realized,
Of which they obtain 2 per cent.
Last year each director received
little over $4,000 on this basis. This is
really much more than these 80 gentle
men earn simply by attending commit
tee meetings, and as shippers at pres
emit consider themselves generally over
charged It would seem better to lower
the rates of passage through the canal,
even II the directors remuneration Is
not so much.
1t Is not fair to exploit an interna-
tional convenience for the benefit Of
few interested persons. The Suez Canal
should be more than mere speculative
investment 1t should be q free and
universal service.