OCCASIONAL NOTE

“East and West” for July contains, as usual, much that gives food for thought. At the present juncture of the Titanic struggle in the West, it is interesting to read Dr. P. Joseph’s comparison of German with British cartoons in his paper “The Cartoon of War Time.”

Commenting on the efforts of the German cartoonists he observes “Not a trace of the higher issues of the conflict is visible, and no wonder, since in the present psychology of Germany not a trace of devotion to the spiritual verities she challenged can possibly exist.”

After describing the weird attempts to glorify the submarine and Zeppelin atrocities, the writer continues:- “In the encounters on land, Hindenburg began to appear like some huge machine of a giant from whom on the least stir of his limbs tiny battalions of undersized Lilliputians flee in terror.

The Kladderadatsch led in cultivating Hindenburg, while Simplicissimus gratified the Germans with exhilarating pictures of distress and famine in England. In every battle the German must appear thrice the size of an Allied soldier, and this sense of beastly vastness and the contempt of hypothetical weaklings pervades every little freak of draughtsmanship.

This we do not believe to be an odd phase of whimsicality, but represents the normal spirit of the German – partly congenital, partly acquired, but wholly disastrous.

There is much acuteness in this diagnosis, and when the failure of the latest offensive is fully realised in Germany it will be instructive to watch the repercussion upon a weary and disillusioned Hundom.

INGENIOUS TAXI SWINDLES

A young Mahomedan is alleged to have been carrying on a clever swindle among taxi-cab drivers. The accused’s modus operandi was to dress himself up smartly and enter a taxi.

The driver would be told to drive to various houses of Indian gentlemen of position in the northern part of the town, and the accused would enter these houses on the pretext of having to get large sums of money due.

Finally, he would direct the driver to take him to a house which was known to himself to have more than one exit, and on stopping at the door he would ask the driver if he had any money on him, as he had only big notes and would find it difficult to change them at so late an hour.

In this way three or four drivers gave the man all the money they had, sums amounting to from Rs 15 to Rs 50 and saw nothing further of the accused.

A couple of days ago another taxi driver, who had heard about his co-drivers being swindled, happened to be engaged by a young Mahomedan to drive him to various parts of the town.

The driver induced him to enter his car promising to give him the money he wanted, but instead drove at high speed to the company’s garage at Ballygunge, where his passenger was identified by his other victims. The man was handed over to the Police.

GALSTAUN S TANK TRAGEDY

A sad drowning fatality took place on Tuesday shortly after noon, in which a young Anglo-Indian lad met his death. The deceased, Bobby Dias, aged 16 years, was living with his father Mr. A.M. Dias, of the Licensed Measurers Department, Ripon Lane.

On Tuesday morning he left home as usual for his work, but apparently he and another apprentice, named Howardson, found their way to the tank at Mr. Galstaun’s residence in Lower Circular Road.

The story given by Howardson goes to show that while Dias was swimming he happened to look where the deceased was and just saw the tips of his fingers as he went down.

An alarm was immediately raised and Mr. Chater and the servants on Mr. Galstaun’s premises came immediately to the rescue. After about 20 minutes they succeeded in dragging the body from the tank. Artificial respiration was resorted to, but life was found to be extinct.

CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN BOMBAY

In forwarding the annual report on co-operative credit societies in Bombay, Mr. Keatinge, Director of Agriculture, dwells upon the progress made during the year in all classes of societies.

Mr. Keatinge says: In respect of the number of societies, members and the amount of working capital the figures of this year show an advance of 25 per cent and the rate of progress, if maintained, means that the movement will double itself every four years.

The formation of new district banks, the addition of guaranteeing unions and departures into fresh lines connected with purchase and sale are noteworthy.

With development taking place at this rate it is essential that the departmental staff shall not lag behind in numbers.