A CITY OF LONDON SCANDAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIX, Issue 148, 25 June 1898, Page 3 (Supplement)

A CITY OF LONDON SCANDAL.

TEN- OFFICIALS SUSPENDED.

A grave scandal has just been brought to light in connection with the Corporation of the City of London. A special committee was some weeks ago appointed to Inquire into certain alleged cases of bribery in reference to what is now known as the Public Health Department but what was formerly the Commission of Sewers. The charges were tha? certain officers of the Commission hac for many years been in the habit of receiving bribes from contractors. At a meeting last week the committee founct that the charges were of so serious a nature that they suspended 10 officers, some of whom had been in their service many years. It is alleged that a Avell known firm of city contractors is implicated in the scandals, and that certain city officials have been in receipt of bribes for years past.

The Attorney General is understood to be considering whether legal action shall be taken under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, in connection with the paying over of two cheques for £25 each for services rendered by a common council man in securing the appointment of a city official. It seems that at the present moment sorhe petty

fticers and poor men—lo or a dozen Injectors, clerks of works, superintenlents of A-ariotis things—at salaries ranging from £150 to £250 a year, are tinder mspicion of having accepted bribes from contractors. The thing has been under investigation by a special committee, who have satisfied themselves that the bribery brought to light at last by informers has been going on for jrears. ISo far, sufficient evidence has been obj tamed to warrant the suspension of all ■■the officials concerned, and the actual I dismissal of four of them. It is confidently asserted that this time there will I' be no concealment or whitewashing. The investigation will be thorough, and where necessary action will be drastic.

Having- solved the long locked mystery of the interior ot the 'Dark Continent.' the exploration of Central Asia has become tne principal ooject of interest for geographers.

Tne medial part of the Asiatic continent embraces Immense tracts of yet unknown country, very difficult of access, the stuuy Hi which otters the greatest interest irom every point of view.

Between Siberia and India on the one part ot the Trans-Caspian steppes and tlie sandy deserts ot Western China on the other, the vast region stands like a colossal fortress whose ramparts are formed by the highest mountain chains of the world. On the south is the enormous 'relief of Thibet stretching- betAveen the high hanks of the Himalayas tlie Karakorum and the Kuen-juuen Mountains. To tlio north along tho southern frontier of Siberia the ThlanShan range stretches its mighty heights to a lengtn three times greater than that, of tlie Alps. On the west, in Afghanistan, is tne impassable Hindoo tvoosh range. All these find themselves united in the mountainous mass of the 'Pamirs,' which geographers have justiy denominated 'The Root of the World.' Wo other definition could be so representative and so suggestive.

In all this zone the numberless peaks rise to extravagant heights. Tho aveiage altitude of Thibet is over 14,000 feet, while many peaks iv and about it rlsu to double that height, Yuinisankar and others on the south going JOOO leet higher still.

This huge complex system of mountains separates tne most powerful empires ot the world, Russia, China and the Anglo-Indian. The natural routes from Russian Turkestan to China are

over the basses of the Thian-Shan, Avhile on the crests of tlie 'Pamirs' and tlie Hindoo Koosh must be fought tho coming duel betAveen England and Russia. A knowledge of this region is theretore ot the highest importance to statesmen as well as geographers and naturalists, and every step in its exploration must lie viewed with interest by the general public. *

On this account the very important expedition over tho 'Pamirs' and through Thibet, recently accomplished by Dr. Sven llcdin, the Swedish naturalist, has attracted great attention in European circles.

Dr. Ilei!in\s journey lasted some three years and a half, during which loiik period his routes covered a large part of Central Asia, crossed and recrossed them selves on the Pamirs ami the Hindoo Koosh, as Avell a.s on the sandy deserts oi Chinese Turkestan, and then on through Thibet to Peking, whence he turned back lo the northwest and reached Europe again by wav of Irkutsk and the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

Choosing Russian Turkestan for his point of departure, the explorer reached tlie foot of the Pamirs by way of Taskend early in IS!):.. This region, tlftcen years ago, by Mahometan fanaticism, was closed entirely to Europeans, but

since then tlie Russians, Avith their Trans-Caspian Railroad and their marvellous way of dealing with these most refractory people, have brought them Avell under tlie influence of European civilisation. As a proof of this, among other things, Dr. Iledln has a photograph of a dervish telling tho news to a group of his fellow Mussulmans against the wall of a mosque. It Is Avell known that the law of Mahomet forbids its adherents from having their features reproduced in any way. Dr, Hedln has numbers of such photographs, showing that the religious sensibilities of these natives are becoming less acute.

The assault of the 'Pamirs' was begun on the 23rd of February, 1594. This quadrilateral mountain mass is surrounded by mighty crests, some of whose peaks as that of MustaK-Ata reach a height of 25,000 feet and more. Polar Avlntor reigns in these elevated regions until late spring, and the cold was intense, 28 degrees C. bcloAv zero on April 1.

This Avas not the greatest obstacle, however. The 'Mai de Montagno' (mountain sickness) was terrible. The rarefaction of the air made travelling painfully difficult, often impossible. Suffocation, nausea and vomiting, Avith in-_ tense headaches, rendered the men incapable of exertion, Avhile the horses, not less sensitive to the variations or atmospheric pressure, often fell under their charges.

This extraordinary region has few inhabitants; The forms of the women in a group photoprrnphed in front of one of their habitations do not remind one of the Venus de Mllo.

From the Pamirs, Hedin went through the Tarlm basin and the Takla-Makan desert to Lab Nor, the phenomenal lake which, filling Avith the sand .driven by the wind, the principal formative agent in this country, shifts its position from time to come over a range of 100 miles from north to south.

The Takla-Makan Is a vast sandy solitude more desolate than the Sahara and without oases or springs. No European ever before attempted its passage. Retarded by sand storms in crossing it the water supply gave out and two ot his men perished from thirst, Avhile Dr. Hedin himself Avas only saved from a like death by his energy and Avill power.

Dr. Hedin afterward traversed the mountain deserts of Thibet, living for months at an altitude of U.,000 feet. He replaced his horses with camels, whicn with wonderful endurance drew his taianfass, a primitive travelling carriage, over tho moving sands as well as the mountain steeps with littld or no food or water for days at a time.

Reaching Peking on February 3, 1897. and resting for some time. Dr. Hedin again turned to the interior, and crossing the Mongolian deserts Ada Ourga and Iviachta arrived later in -the year at Irkutsk, and returned with more comfort than he had known for a long time to Sweden.