NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 52, 2 March 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

' Many of even the more serious epi« cn[ i PH of the war are not without their Sorou. sidc * The sie S cof u Sch^ eiz ' Reneke, in the south-western Transvaal, and the monthly relief of the garrison by the ponderous column rreverently known as "Settle's Imprial Circus." must be counted ?mon"«t the number. Some equally ■vert'ino' experiences have befallen the Trrison of Christiana, a neighbouring EL which the Boers have been _C._-Wa.ins: in » somewhat Sent "fashion. . The officer who tells the story is m charge of nne of th" sections of the defences. n„ December 2nd the siege had lasted ■for a month, and the bored garrison were relieving the tedium of their con- . _ m ent bY diamond digging, the reJSbeing fairly lucrative. The Serssniped the outposts briskly, but lid not venture on an assault, They ,Uo\verl trader's waggons to pass their lines 'but §' aye notice that thc - y would ■Utroy anything belonging to the Gorttiftnent. The reason was that many f their wives and families were in the tmvn an d they did not, wish them to , nfle r unduly. The enemy also allowi a Dutch diamond buyer to come Lo the town to traffic in stones, also „n hotelkeeper, who brought a. welcome case of champagne. A khaki coloured turkey belonging to one of the officers escaped and was supposed to have gone over to the enemy, but he turned up a few days later and was duly eaten. There being no clergyman in Christiana tho Provost-Marshal ue'rformed the marriage ceremony one day on a Dutch couple. "The register was found among the archives," says the writer, "so 1 suppose it was legal. Anyhow the whole population as well as a- lot of Tommies, were present, so it ought to be all right."

When the Commonwealth celebrations were being held there Sydney was the happy hunting ground for deadheads, says a writer in the "Age." They rushed the hotels, where the Government was paying the piper; besieged the Government offices at every hour of the day with requests for invitations, and crowded "paying guests" into back seats at every function. Every visiting official or Town Council magnate who squeezed through on his face was apparently anxious to get far forward, so that the crowds might mistake him for a Federal Minister, or at least a. State Premier. The same distinguished multitude are preparing to swarm over Melbourne when the Duke and Duchess of York are over here. The first request for a general invitation came along some weeks ago. "Dear Sir," the applicant wrote, "I received invitations to all the Sydney celebrations, and was the guest of the Government, who paid all my expenses. No doubt I will receive similar courtesy from the Victorian Government. I have therefore written to a friend in Melbourne asking him to select me rooms on the first floor of the Grand Hotel, as I understand you are going to engage apartments for your guests , there. Kindly .send me the railway pass and tickets as soon as convenient, in_uuvng passes and tickets for my wife aMuaughter." The sole basis of this modest claim consisted in the fact that the man who made it was, about a quarter of a century ago, secretary to a State Premier. He now combines the role of amateur politician with the business of an agent.

A club composed of divorced women has been formed in Vienna. Ou a recent Friday the first meeting of 12 founders was held for the purpose of organising the club, drawing up bylaws, and electing officers- The club will endeavour to provide all women who were compelled to divorce their husbands for economic reasons with the comforts of home which they Avcre forced to relinquish. Legal aid will a]so be offered to women who wish to dissolve their marriages, and one of the chief aifiis of the club will be to influence the legislature in favour of a reform in the marriage laws. A great effort will be made to abolish the provision of the present Austrian law which enables a husband to confine himself to the general term "uncontrollable sympathy" as valid reason for seeking a divorce. The twelve founders of the club are almost all ladies whose divorce cases created a great stir in Viennese society at the time.

Scotland, according to the latest file, of -newspapers, is discussing a question of great interest to eaters of marmalade. Mr Thomas Jamieson, 1 public-analyst of Aberdeen, on examining twelve samples found that while eleven were genuine, nearly one-half of the twelfth consisted of apples, and the person who sold this mixture contended that he had a perfect right to describe it as marmalade. He quoted the dictionary in support of his; contention, and declared that he was perfectly entitled to use any bitter fruit in the manufacture of marmalade. It seems that the term "marmalade"' originated in Portugal. In that country marmalade was generally made from oranges, but sometimes quinces were used. Extending this view certain dictionaries deiine marmalade as. being made from any kind of sour hv,it.

\ "Domestic. Treasure" is the phrase in which a London contemporary sarcastically describes the three servants who have just been sentenced for robbing their mistress. Miss Janette Steer, the well-known actress. They certainly were " treas*sS>" costly and undesirable ones. The tri<s managed to lay their hands OT "portable property" to the value °f £400. All sorts and descriptions °f articles were purloined, the thefts frobably being made easier to accomplish owing to the fact that Miss steer's profession took her away from home at certain definite periods. Mr McConnell, Q.C., who tried the case, drew attention to its remarkable character. "This," he said, "was a combination of domestic servants to fob their mistress on a wholesale scale. Never before have I met with Meb a ease." The servant girl question, .always a vexatious one, will, in m light of this case, assume a still Wre serious aspect. The possibility combination for robbery amongst as-Met girls is alarming. Luckily, #«eh occurrences as the one referred to are exceedingly rare. There are ffhoMsancis of "domestic treasures" of «aothj?r sort—"domestic treasures" worth the having.

A pretty story is told of the English philanthropist, the late Yere Foster. Having- lost a valuable watch whilst walking through the back

streets of New York, he gave out that on its return to him uninjured he would pay a stiff reward, "no questions asked." A day or two later a man turned up at the humble hotel where Yere .Foster was staying, and asked to see him alone. His request was granted, the watch was restored, the reward given, and the thief about to depart, when Vere Foster-stopped him, saying apologetically, "I should like to know—if you don't mind telling me—exactly how and when you stole my watch." "Certainly, sir," replied the thief, "if you will stand just there, I'll show yon. Do you remember one day last week stopping at the corner of —— Street, to look at. a Punch and Judy show? Well, I brushed by you then —like this — and it was then I took your watch, ('ood morning, sir." And the pickpocket bowed himself out. A little later, Yere Foster had occasion to consult his watch, when he discovered that it had again been taken. And it was not again restored!

The advance of cremation in England, shown by the establishment o:C a municipal furnace in the North, nnd the projection of a new crematorium not far outside the four-mile radius in London, recalls the interesting history of Japan in the matter. Cremation followed Buddhism into Japan about 1200 years ago, but it only partially superseded the Shinto custom of disposing of the dead by interment. In 1873 cremation was totally prohibited by the Japanese Government, whose members seem to have had some confused, notion as to the practice being un-European, and therefore barbarous. Having- discovered that, far from being- nnEuropean, cremation was the goal of European reformers in such matters, they rescinded their prohibition before two years had elapsed. Cremation in Japan is carried out in a somewhat rough and ready manner. The cheapest process only costs about 4/6. This is scarcely adapted to European requirements, and is sufficiently described by the title which the foreign residents of a certain settlement in Japan gave to the native cremation ground among the hills — "Roast Meat Valley."

Professor W. P. Amalizki, of the Warsaw University, lectured the other day to the geological section of the local university on the first skeleton discovered by him in North Eussia of an antediluvian race of giants (Pareiosaurus). This skeleton measures three metres from head to feet, and is perfectly preserved down to the smallest detail. It will be the first specimen to be lodged in the Palaeontological Museum, which is shortly to be built in St. Petersburg. Professor Amalizki's discoveries were heard of six months ago, when he was engaged in excavations on behalf of the Czar on the banks of the Northern Dwina, and where he found thirty portions of skeletons. These skeletons are all enclosed in a hard sandstone, from which they are made free in Professor Amalizki's laboratory. This was the first completed skeleton, and only another much smaller one is known throughout the world of this particular species. Russia will not sell any of these skeletons, but proposes to mould plaster reproductions.

» It is interesting to note the progress made in the advance of women during the century. Matrimonial transactions, including the sale of wives by public auction, were not infrequent between 1811 and LS.O. hi January, 1815, "a man named John Osborne, who lives at Goudhtirst," the ".Maidstone Gazette" said, "came to this town for the purpose of disposing ot his wife by sale in the public market place, but' it not being market day the auction was removed to the sign of the Coal Barge, in Earl-street, where she was actually sold to a man named William Sergeant with her child for the sum of &1. The business was transacted in a very regular mannet', a deed and a. covenant being given by the seller. The document was witnessed in due form, and the woman and child were handed over to the buyer to the apparent satisfaction of alj parties."

.Apropos of titles, and the way in which they are regarded by their holders, it is interesting to recall the case of the young hereditary - Prince of Isenburg - Boedingen - Birstein, who succeeded last year to his father's estates in Austria. He found them so hopelessly encumbered that there was nothing left for him when he had paid a/il the creditors. The Prince thereupon decided to abandon his title, and registering himself legally as plain Charles Isenburg, he applied for a situation as a bank clerk. lie will be satisfied with his share of the good things of this world if he rises to be manager of his bank at three o~ four hundred pounds a year. It will be better, at any rate, to be a bank manager with an'income than a Prince with none.

The High Commissioner in South Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, was once on the point of being made a. prisoner of war, his captor being a very opinionated Irish soldier with a strong sense of duty. After his return from Pretoria, Sir Alfred was wandering about in the neighbourhood of Kroonstad, and one day he was promptly arrested b Tr an Irish private, who possessed, in addition to his accoutrements, a brogue which might have been cut with a knife. "Ye caw'nt giv' any raisonable 'count of yerself," said the soldier of the Queen, "therefore I 'rest ye, an' if ye don't march quietly, bad scran to ye but I'll equivocate ye wid my gun." Nothing was left to Sir Alfred Milner but co s.bi_..t to the order of the Hiosrni.n soldier, and he w.'i. put en _ont. accordingly lo In_ establishment for prisoners of war, when fortunately he fell into the arms of General Hunter, whom he had not seen for eight years. General Hunter d*d not at first r3cognise him, but after a few words of parley he told the Irish sentry the status of the prisoner of war whom he had arrested, who, of course, was at once set at liberty. It is.pleasant to add that Sir Alfred Milner acknowledged the action of the Hibernian sentry to have been worthy a faithful military guardian, and recommended the soldier who arrested him to his commanding officer as a man who could be trusted to do his duty without fear or favour.