News, Views and Opinions.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 274, 18 November 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

News, Views and Opinions.

• The apathetic attitude of the public I {n the matter of the general elections Continues. It is amusing to witness the spirit in which the vast majority of those who attend the speeches by -the candidates approach the subject. •They are prepared to f^ive a. patient hearing, or comparatively so, for about an hour. After this allowance has expireJ, unless matters are lively above, ■the average, stragglers commence to Jeave, and the stream increases in volume in direct ratio to the length of time that the Candidate extends his remarks. Such treatment, while it 'does not. minister to the vanity of the speaker^ is calculated to have a salutary effect in schooling our politicians in the compression of what thej'have to say. Any capable man should "within an hour be able to explain •■briefly his views on the main. Jieads of contemporary politics. The next " week should witness a marked change in the posir ■tion of affairs, and by its close it is to be hoped that everyone will be fully 'awake to the'fact that we are on the eve of a general election, an event '•■which should receive.the careful consideration of every person who has attained his or her majority.

• In some of the islands of the Cook 'Group the population has an aversion to intoxicating beverages which should win the unlimited admiration of NewZealand prohibitionistsa At Raro'tonga the other day the learned body of men who constitute the Government 'of the group passed a law rescinding 'the provisions under which it was ille■gal to import liquor into Aitutaki. ,As a consequence the opening of an ordinary pub in the banana groves of that favoured island .was mooted, but the population of the place held a poll and carried a motion against the 'law which the country's wise legisJators had i^assed. Liquor can still only be had by visiting a vessel in the offing. In this Aitutaki is, however, more liberal than Mangaia, for at the .latter, at least up till recently, any .native wbo obtained liquor on board ship laid himself open to grave penalties. The dusky maidens used to be set to find out if anyone who had visited vessels in the offing had been drinking. Their mode of detection 'took the form of meeting the "lords of the soil" on their landing. With outstretched arms they would rush 'the unsuspecting "lord" and plant a kiss On his lips- It was a

Judas kiss, however; there was no affection in the salute, for it was- only given in the hopes of being able to detect by the smell of the breath if liquor had passed down the throat of the "pilgrim from the sea." A portion of the fine went to these fair but false detectives, hence their zeal in this kissing game.

, Julius Backi, a Tzigane fiddler, now' .said to be in-London, was condemned in a Paris Court the other day by default to three years' imprisonment, and a fine of £4, on a charge of a French Countess, Madame lie Kaime. Like a certain American lady, who became celebrated as the Princess Chima.y, the Countess fell in ]ove with the gipsy fiddler. She first met him at Treport. and afterwards ■in the Grand Cafe in Paris, where ■he was employed to evolve more or less excellent music from catgut. He told her that he had his eye on a fine property in Austria, which formerly belonged to the Empress Elizabeth, and he asked her to lend him £4000 in order to enable him to effect the purchase. His plan was (o sell it at a. profit when the Countess became his wife. She lent him £3000, with which he decamped, so Madame de Raime brought the case to the notice of the Judges of the Tenth. Correctional Tribunal, with the result statedi

Mr F. P. Dunne, alias "Mr Dooley," the la/test humorist to receive wide- • spread recognition, has arrived back ■in the States from a trip to Europe. ■He is reported as saying when interviewed, on his return: —"My trip was all right, but too quiet. If yon want • excitement don't go to Europe to find dt. You are liable to obtain the impression that something really is going on. across the Atlantic, but don't 'yon believe it. The British Isles and the Continent of Europe are far more .placid than any two police precincts •yon may name at random in the borough' of Manhattan. Now there is < Ireland. I did think that there I .should find at least one real good .political argument in progress. I was .mistaken though. They don't talk ■about Parnellites and Nationalists as they do at police quarters in Chicago. Of'course they don't. ' Whenever I broached those subjects they just looked at each other sadly and then at :.me hopelessly, as at one to be pitied. There's no doubt about dt. Europe is a fine place to go for a rest."

As a venerable minister tells this story, it would be ungracious and superfluous to adduce further evidence of its truthfulness:—"l went to •a new parish that year," he relates. . "In looking about for a house I came upon a. very handsome residence that ■was charmingly situated. But everything indicated that the. place had long been without a tenant, and I made inquiry. The house was haunt•.ed. according to neighbourhood_ tra-. dition, and no one would rent it. I '•saw the landlord, and he was glad to ■ let the place on easy terms. It would <.be worth much to him if I would -exorcise the ghost placed there by popular superstition/ We moved in, and I admit that we had a very creepy ■ experience—one that my wife could • not long have endured. When every■thing bad settled down to the quiet of the night we would frequently hear the most distressing moans and the sounds as of someone walking .heavily in the attic. I made several -.visits to that gloomy part of the ■house, but could find nothing to account for the uncanny noise. The next night that I was disturbed I .went up there with the determination to fathom the mystery. And I did it. ■ The moans were, produced through the sighing of the wind through the district telegraph wires that were .numerous ou one side of the roof. The 'heavy walking' was accounted for <"by a loose slate, flapping by the same winds that did the moaning. Next .'morning I had the wires removed and ; ihe roof repaired." "And that was nil?" "Not quite. The landlord at once advanced my rent one hundred per cent."

The family of a Mr William Jones. milkman, of St. Helens, England, rej ceived a great shock a few weeks back, j when seated in the house after tea, |by what at first was thought to b?. j I the apparition of a dead man returned j |to life, but what proved to be Mr i | Jones' brother, on whose supposed 1 corpse an inquest was held at the. Town Hall a month previous. On 23rd of August last a body, supposed to be that of Edwin Jones, labourer, aged about forty years, was found in the canal on the outside of the town. Deceased's brother identified the body, and an inquest was held by the County Coroner, at which formal proof was given, and a verdict of "Found drowned" was returned. Inspector Thompson, of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, gave evidence that the man's wife and children had been in Whist on Workhouse for about a year. The man was buried in the name of Edwin Jones, and some of the family having him insured drew the money. Jones reappeared the other night at the house of his brother, who on the sight ;of him fainted away. Jones states that, he saw the account of the inquest when he was in Wales, and enjoyed the joke immensely. He was afraid that a warrant for his arrest had been taken out by the police, and thought it advisable to allow1 the relatives time to "draw the club money," after which he came home in the hope that he would be able to settle any proceedings that might be pending. It was a considerable time before Jones' brother and the rest of the family could recover from the shock. The question of who the man was that ; was buried in mistake for Jones has ! yet to be solved, but it is certainly a most extraordinary combination of circumstances that a mistake .of this. ! kind should have been made. ■■-• ■■>

To the ranks of the "strong men," Vvhose feats of late years have occupied so prominent a place in popular entertainments, yet. another, addition has been made. The new-comer, who is American-born, and who is now exhibiting twice a day at the Royal Aquarium, London, has already earned for himself in the United States the •title of "Hercules." His career as an athlete is said to have begun at the age of nine, and to have been crowned with many triumphs at Harvard Uni J versify, of which college his is an M.A. Though only twenty-four years of age Edwin Fulton Morrison, as "The American Hercules" is properly called, first appeared as a strong "man" ten years ago, and he has more 'recently performed at several Continental towns, at one of which he incidentally carried oft" the first prize in a seventy-seven mile cycle race. In weight-lifting the American's great feat is to raise with. one hand and hold above the head a bar weighing 3361bs—that is 181bs more than Sa.ndow's record. He also supports in a recumbent position a weight of 6721b5, and declares himself able to carry on his chest the weight of a wooden structure on which 'sixteen young' women are posed. '•Hercules" also bursts stee-1 chains by the expansion of his biceps and of his chest, or by n blow of his fist, and lie breaks pennies, sixpences and shillings between his fingers. Prior to one of the London performances the chains used were first tested by being employed as the attachment between a cartload of old iron and a team of three horses. In concluding his performance the American Hercules declared his anxiety to meet the redoubtable Sandow in a public contest of strength. R may be 'added that the challenger' stands sft i SJin in height and weighs list lllb.

Les ecoles menageres (as the house'keeping1 schools of Belgium are called) are worthy of being1 widely copied., Had we them in England (says a magazine writer) our girls would make better housewives in their own homes than they do at present, and probably the "servant difficulty" would be much mitigated. In these" schools girls are taught every branch of housekeeping. They are sent out marketing Avith n ■ limited sum of money, and are expected to purchase materials for a dinner of excellent quality. This involves care as to choice, and seeing that they get the best value for their money. "When they return they learn to cook the dinner they have provided, and as they become expert in marketing and cooking, they are allowed to order others and to superintend the cooking. Thus they are fitted by degrees to become expert housekeepers. This is the sort of instruction that our girls need, for but few of them on leaving school can distinguish good meat from bad or fresh fish from stale unless the odour proceeding- from ; either make the matter very apparent. In the Belgian schools the students attend lectures on hygiene and are instructed in the care and management of children. A baby (generally the child of some poor, busy-mother) is sent to the school to be taken cai-e of for a certain length of time. The pupils of the class bathe it. dress and undress it. and are instructed as to what is ■ necessary for its food and general well-being. They also learn everything that is useful for the com- , fort'and health of a home.

! Mr Andrew Lang-, in his re-issned book, "Dreams and Ghosts," dilates ■with much charm on the purposeless character o- modern ghosts and the purposeful character of the old ghost stories. In the following- story, "Put Out the Light," the purpose of the g-host. though trivial, is set down as having been successfully accomplished. In place of asking people to do what it wanted the "ghost did the thing itself. The Key. D. W. G. Gwynne, M.D., was a physician in holy orders. In 1853 he lived at P House, tie air Taunton, where both he and his wife were made uncomfortable by auditory experiences to which they could find no clue, or, in common English, they heard mysterious noises. During the night, writes Dr. Gwynne, I became aware of a draped figure passing across the foot of the bed towards the fireplace. I. had the impression that the arm was raised, pointing with the hand towards the -mantelpiece, on which a night-light was burning. Mrs Gwynne at^the same moment seized my arm, and the light was extinguished. Notwithstanding I distinctly saw the figure returning towards the door and being under the impression that one of the servants had found her way into our room, I leaped out of bed to intercept the .ntruder. but found and saw nothing. I rushed to the door and endeavoured to follow the intruder, and it was not until T found the door locked, as usual, that T was painfully impressed. .1 need hardly say that M-s Gwynne was in a.very nervous state. She l.ad seen the samp figure, but, she writes, I distinctly saw the hand of the figure placed over the night-light, which was at once extinguished. Mrs Gwynne also heard the rustle of the I tall man-lilie iigure's garments.