News, Views and Opinions.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 156, 27 October 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

News, Views and Opinions.

Chinese history tells of several women who have acted as generals of armies. One of them was Mou-Len, a Chinese maiden, who, taking up the Official Gazette and seeing her father's name among those who were ordered to the front to defend the empire against a foreign invader, determined to follow him to the war, led her countrymen to victory, and returned home a full-fledged Chinese Generalall this without allowing the secret of her sex to be discovered. Such is the legend embodied in a poem which, according to a writer in a French journal, is learned by heart by the children of the Celestial Empire, lhe Chinese counterpart of the Maid of Domremy did notfc end her career either as a virgin or martyr, for the parallel ended with her return home from the war, when she married. Another Chinese woman won honour :is a soldier in the Japanese^var. _ When the Chinese army engaged with the Japanese at Phi Yang, Corea, Li Pan, a brave General, was killed in battle. His wife led numbers of her sex and defended her country.

The overbearing1 insolence and reckless driving of the Paris cabmen are notorious. JVCr Dooley, after visiting France in connection with- the Dreyfus case, slimmed up his impressions of the Paris flyman's tyranny and immunity from control in the remark that if he was a French General he would not be afraid of anybody but ■the cabmen, and would not be afraid of them very long, because he would become a cabmaja himself. The other day a hatless, wild-looking cabman drove through a busy thoroughfare of Paris at a furious pace, shouting, "Death to the Bourgeois! Down with Society!" After one member of socisty had been downed, the cabman's wild career was checked by the ingenious expedient of throwing a cafe ebsir among the horse's legs. Between this cabman and the ordinary Jehu there was very little difference on the ecore of reckless driving; but the absence of a hat and his shouting attracted the attention of the police, to ■whom he explained—"l am' an Anarchist, and I have sworn to exterminate the bourgeois. To do this T became coachman." He was detained as a lunatic, but no one can deny him method In his madness. If he had gone about the business quietly, he could have sxterminated a large number of bourgeois very conveniently as a Paris cabman, and no questions asked.

Despite the numerous biographies and stories of Colonel Baden-Powell which have appeared from time to time, there is one little incident in his career which appears to have escaped the attention of his chroniclers, and that is, that during the Matabele War of 1895, when "8.-P." was the chief staff officer to Sir Frederick Carrington, orders were issued for him to be put under ajrest. The head and front of "8.-P.'s" offending was that he had

caught, tried, and shot, on his own 'responsibility, a dangerous native • chief. The Exeter Hall party at Home took up the case, and made representations to the then Governor of South Africa (Sir Hercules Robinson, I think), which resulted in orders being , Eent to Carrington. to place "8.-P." under arrest. Whether Baden-Powell waa ever actually under arrest, I am not certain; but I ha.ye a shrewd idea

that when the messenger bearing the memo, from General Carrington arrived at Baden-Powell's camp—he was operating by "himself at the time —he found that the gay colonel had departed, leaving no address. Possibly he had received an unofficial tip. Anyway the matter blew over, and Exeter 'Hall failed in its attempt to stop "8.-P.'s" career.

'The following instance of a wellnierAted reward' for perseverance is told of a commercial traveller who was expecting a large order from a country tradesman in England, but had the misfortune to arrive in the town on a fete day. Finding the shop closed, he inquired as to the whereabouts of the proprietor, and, ascertaining that he was attending the fete, about a mile ■put of the town, immediately set out after him. When he arrived there a balloon was on the point of/ascending, and to his dismay he saw his man stepping into the car. Plucking up courage, however, he stepped forward paid his money, and was allowed, to take his seat with the other aeronauts. In a few moments away went the balloon; and It was not until the little party was well above the tree tops ftfiat, the entexprising "commercial!" turned towards his customer with the first remark of —"And now, sir, what

can I do for you in calicoes?" Catching the humour of the position, and t; mot unwilling to reward such perseverance, the astonished tradesman : gave his pursuer as/ large an, order as possible, stipulating, however, that in future he should be allowed to take his pleasure in peace.

I It is a question whether the Suicide I Club of New Brunswick, New Jersey, jis a joke or not. The town thinks it ] is; some of the members say it isn't. The members are New Brunswick's best known young men. They have. congenial tastes, and those thai; don't j draw big- incomes from their estates,dabble in literature, or lead cotillons. No one ever dreamt that they would talk of suicide. But that was ihe keynote of their meeting-, when the organisation was perfected and elected. The president is G. F. Staats, a verse writer of much renown* nnd he is very serious about the club. AH the i members are young men with serious purposes, -which some feel have not been fulfilled. The idea is to have a certain number of suicides a year— ■ how or when, to be decided later. At an early date a. nieeting^will be held at wuich all the conditions are to be determined. It is understood, however, that lots will be drawn, for the first and succeeding suicides, and that to each self-slayer will be left the choice of weapons. Some time ago a regatta took place in a certain district in North Argyll. ; The largest neighbouring proprietor acted as commodore, and there was a full muster of local magnates. Every yacht, pleasure boat and skiff within ! a radius of twenty miles entered for the various races. Among those who entered a boat in one of the sailing classes was an itinerant tinsmith and rag gatherer, or, in vulgar parlance, a tinker, and, to the intense chagrin and annoyance of the committee in charge, he won one of the most valuable cups. Then a regrettable incident occurred. The committee peremptorily refused to hand over the cup to the winner, expressly because he was "neither a fisherman nor a gentleman." A summons was promptly served upon the proud and haughty members of the committee, and the case went before the Sheriff. His Lordship ridiculed the idea of a competitor being disqualified on account of his trade or occupation, and unhesitatingly ordered the trophy to be delivered forthwith to the now triumphant mender of pots and pans. The advent on the eve of a regatta of a tinsmith owning a sailing boat is now sufficient to create a feeling of alarm and dismay in thi6 particular portion of North Argyll.

Apropos of the recent sale of the manuscript of a story by Eobert Louis Stevenson the London "Daily Mail" tells of a curious experience that Stevenson'had about fifteen. years ago. He had been invited to write a bloodcurdling Christmas story, and he offered "Markheim." As this was not sufficiently sensational he submitted "The Bodysnatcher." Then the paper proceeded to "boom" it. "Six plaster skulls were made by a theatrical property man. Six pairs of coffin lids, painted dead black, with white skulls and crossbones in the centre for relief, were supplied by a carpenter. Six long white surplices were purchased from a funeral establishment. Six. sandwichmen were hired at double rates. One quiet morning, when all was ready, they were duly attired. With some difficulty they made their way up to Piccadilly, along Eegentstreet, down Bond-street, everywhere attracting profound and universal interest. The one subject of conversation in the clubs and the West End was the mysterious and appalling phenomenon which had suddenly appeared in the metropolis. Among those who had been startled in Bondstreet was the late Lord Londesborough^who took the usual course, of shocked and angry Englishmen—he wrote to the newspapers. The next day every newspaper in the kingdom had a description, vivid, scathing, demmciatory, according to the humour of the writer. But the objects of this wl-ath had already been paid off. Scotland Yard and the law had stepped in. The 'Pall Mall' phantoms were certainly the most remarkable advertisements that ever appeared on the London streets. We wonder what Stevenson himself thought about it all. 'The Bodysnatcher' went like wildfire."

It is generally known that the Sultan does not like the introduction into Turkey, and more particularly into Constantinople, of Inventions such as the electric telegraph and the* telephone, which permit of rapid communications between persons at a distance. His Majesty's aversion to publio sports is also thoroughly understood, he holding that' such assemblages are dangerous to his person, as they permit* of the possibility of in^ trig Ties being arranged. No one would have imagined, however, that the zeal of the Ministers for the safety of the Sultan would result in the prohibition of bicycle races. Such, however, is the case. The proprietor of the Pera Palace Hotel, having taken a lease of the municipal gardens, organised a series of bicycle races, to take place on Sundays. Three meetings were held, and these proved very successful. The fourth was fixed for the first Sunday of last month, but the Prefect of the city notified the manager that the assemblages could be no longer permitted The faot is that the authorities greatly fear the possible result of the Turks gathering together, even for such an innocent pastime as bicycle races Since the assassination of King Humbert they have been living in constant dread of Anarchist conspiracies.

.S^^n^if KgU "Herald") it is very difficult indeed for the truth to catch up with it. Some years ago an American spent an hour or twoin Ola^P-ow and to his own :£i^£n?te%&£*lto details of onr municipal life. He forthwith prises that the citizens sat tax-free, Paper men have time and again start- • ed paragraphs in pursuit of the ongi- j : Daflie, with a view to arresting its , career, but all to no purpose. It bobs ! -*£ again smiling, and makes other ■cities enviously miserable. The yarn .'■■tes now got to Indiana, and a few H ago "The Honourable Mayor of the City of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland" received a letter inviting him to giye information how it was done. I Aftfcles have appeared in some news■papers there, with headlines declaring Glasgow to be "The Ideal City of tli! i - World," and "A Municipality Without iT^tibn » and other fancy stateineivts. A newspaper devoted to "City Government" atNewYorkhasalso askI «d: for information, and there is some probability, if the trouble continues, that our authorities will vote a free cemetery lot to the man who started the falsehood if he will come along ana i claim it. ' I

The TJ^JJff^ violent deaths ■*% p^io^ c Wlh£ ruier« or leaders (^thenat^n3 When Caseno, the lurKisn papers repwucu as to '^noe dear readera-*J* ?'*^£l*^^%™ £™ a tomb,'-termxn ated the VggW* J question. The> «*^J" 5* dreadful Empress of Austr« as££e»™ shock to ™* I( |£S ot f 22et Bey, n^eß^J^^^J^^ the , btutan s ia,yu^ i n wasatonce i^tructd to^d an announcement to.the-™isi papers that the Empress, while stay ng ..*l Geneva, had £°™ a ™££i .& Action, declare^ by^ her medical^ visers to this perwhy Abdul Hamid exercises ttoP«nicious^and lying flue^ OVJ^ press when the death cerned is ?™•^^%?L**S. member of the Yorung "The Sultan uses every.^?3^ fc S power to prevent the Turkish peopij who have quietly gone °^jf Wni™ the last twenty-two jeavs to™£B that a mere blade of steel sufficient to cut oft a man from the land of the living." : , L'; ■ :- ■;•■'*