Ski-ing in New Zealand.

The following interesting comments upon Mr. W. F. Ingram's article, entitled Ski-ing in New Zealand, which appeared in our August issue, are made by Mr. A. Singleton in a recent letter to the Editor:—

“Mr. Ingram mentions: ‘Incidentally it is not generally known that skis were first used in New Zealand in 1893—and then for the first time in the world.’

“As I represent here Sportarticles Ltd., Finland, official athletic goods suppliers to the Olympic Games since 1920, I was very interested but surprised that the Alpine Ski should have originated in New Zealand and immediately made investigations. Although the ski was in Finland an object of reverence, and proficiency in ski-ing a condition of existence, strangely enough real mountainous cross-country ski-ing was developed only after the Olympic Games—yet the actual idea of ski-ing was invented by the Finns. Most people do not know that the ski is a development of the Siberian and North American snowshoe. It does really seem that New Zealand invented the first alpine-ski, that is the cross-country ski.

“The first ski-ing contests were organised as recently as 1886 only after hundreds of years of usage of skis. Yet within three years an annual competition was arranged and this has continued ever since.

“At the end of last century the Finns and Swedes were busy entertaining each other at International Sports and the Finns were unbeatable—only when the contests were held over flat terrain. Things have changed considerably since then, for this year at the World's International Contests, Finland won its share of prizes.

“I think it would interest your readers if I mentioned the following point as showing with what care the Finns prepare for their contests and how far we in New Zealand will have to go before we can compete successfully in an international event, and I am sure that all New Zealanders hope the day will come when our country will rank as a worthy competitor. Before Finns enter the winter ski-ing contests they practise both summer and winter with a definite plan; in summer they go in for baseball, track and field athletics, and in winter they take long cross-country walks, practise hill climbing and work at tree felling and wood cutting. What strength and stamina is being built up!

“The Finns believe that in a few years with a planned indoor athletic campaign they will soon be in the forefront in competitions such as swimming, boxing, etc., this indoor branch has been neglected, due to the lack of stadiums.

“I hope that the above will be of sufficient interest to publish, and I also hope that the page ‘Panorama of the Playground’ will continue for many years.”

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Car Free, Care Free.

It has recently been our experience to observe, from a comfortable seat in a fast train, the interminable procession of small cars, winding like a mechanical caterpillar slowly along a main road towards the metropolis, and it was borne upon us that the possession of a car in these times of traffic congestion is surely a doubtful advantage, at least, where there are rail or bus facilities. The car owner enjoys, it is true, besides the pride of possession, a greater choice of time, of route, and of destination, but the sphere of his boasted liberty of movement becomes more limited nowadays as his responsibilities increase. Naturally, we are prejudiced in favour of travel by rail, but from any point of view it seems to us that the pleasures and advantages of the small car are more than outweighed by the cares and responsibilities of ownership and the difficulties and discomfort of driving on our roads as they are at present. It may be that the car owner tends to become a slave to his hobby, but if owning a car means taking one's place in a procession, in an atmosphere of exhaust gases, with a deadening concentration on the road ahead and an ever-present sense of strain and responsibility, we can only say again that we prefer the train.—From the “Railway Gazette,” July, 1938.

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More Railway “Howlers.”

The following are some additional “howlers” collected by a member of the Department's technical staff concerned with the marking of apprentice examination papers.

“The safe edge of a file means the lines run both ways.”

“An articulated locomotive is one that has an element in the boiler to superheat the steam.”

“An articulated locomotive has two cylinders in the cab and drives itself along and also drives a winch for pile driving.”

“The oil fired furnace is perhaps the best of all as it requires no stroking.”

“Make sure the cab is clear of all the mountains on the face plate of the boiler.”

“Latent heat is the heat required to keep the water boiling without evapouring it.”

“The vernier is a instrument much more accurate than a microscope.”

“Saturated steam is just ordinary steam driving straight to the piston and the superheated steam is compressed and used when needed.”

“Saturated steam is steam immediately above the water and is very ready to condense to water again and is therefore no good for cooking purposes.”