NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 110, 9 May 1903, Page 1 (Supplement)

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

mjjg adoption by all the South African /wermnents of a uniform time system ; considerable step towards the simplification of the world's clock (says the telaagow Weekly Herald"). Greenwich ' mean solar time has long been generally Served throughout Great Britain, and L, years ago was adopted by Spain. 1 re3 t o f the civilised world has contented itself with a Standard Time based oaths meridian of Greenwich, but differLrfroin Greenwich time by whole hours, to tie purpose of this Standard Time i g ear th is divided into longitudinal «,nes of fifteen degrees, in each of which dock differs by an hour from, the -me on either side of it. Thus, while jll the clocks in the United Kingdom and jpgin are, or should be, striking noon, jjjese of New York are striking seven, Aose of San Francisco four, those of Mid garope one, and those of Brisbane ten. Cape Colony being partly in the one (ftloek zone partly in the two o'clock zone, ha 3 hitherto split the difference and set its clocks at half-past toe. It has now wisely relinquished another half-hour in order to synchronise uith the other British Colonies of South Africa. The reform has been hastened, jo doubt, by the unification of the Coljnial railways, and the necessity of simplifying time-tables. The popularisation if the electric telegraph will some day amplify the matter further by eompellgig the adoption of one tune for all the world. It would be a little awkward at jfcst for the dweller in Chicago, for example, to wake up at sunrise on a spring morning, and find that it was already twelve o'clock, but he would soon get Bsed to it, arid he would at all evente be roared the perplexity of finding his London telegrams dated some hours later ; jbm the time of their receipt.

According to the French papers, the Ukalt of Persia has reformed hi 3 harem #hs Ms return from his European trip. Uie harem contained 1700 women, and of tltese, after duly passing an inseveral times, the Shah weeded e»ii 1640. Each of the discharged ladie3 jieetred £200. About 50 of them became t|e wives of the Shah's officials, who commanded to marry them at once.

Apropos of Lord Selborne'S recent trip ajto the Channel on board tne Revenge, t|e "United Setvice Gazette" tells a good jjqij of an earlier First Lord of the Adsniaßy, who insisted upon exercising Ms right to hoist his nag. After waiting in hour for the fleet to get under way he went to the Admiral—he was on board tie flagship—and demanded to know the ussoti for the delay. "Waiting for enters, sir," was the response. "Orders, what orders?" "Your orders, sir," said the Admiral politely. "Your flag is hoisted." "Well, get under way then!" 'Tα" said the Admiral, "what signal I wilt you have hoisted?" But here the j Minister gave way, and hauled down bis -flag. He was not equal to manoeuvring j gqnadron.

la consequence of representations k&e by numerous large employers of fcsour in Pari3, who complain that many & their employees report having been delaj«d by breajgdowns on the railway in fite morning, thus causing them to be kte, the manager of the Metropolitan Mway has decided to supply the ticket collectors with special forms to be filled npt The collectors are required to note tethem the hour at which any breakiiwn occurs, and its duranon, together trifch the name of the passengers asking far the form. In future any clerk or Wjrkman arriving Lite at his office or fictory. and alleging the delay to be due to the" Metropolitan Railway, may be rented to produce a form in proof of hze teartion. This reform is one which Bright be greatly extended in scope, and fe other cities than Paris.

The Duke of Westminster is thought fey some people—but these secrets are Jealously guarded—to be England s wealthiest Duke, his wealth being denvtd, of course, from his extraordinary valuable London property, which comprises the cream of the fashionable quarter of town. As yet very little is really known of the young Duke; in any case, lie is neither in physical appearance nor m character like his grandfather, the Boted philanthropist - statesman. Still, the Duke, young as he is, has had Sfenty of opportunities of seeing the world. Whilst still a boy, say 3 "Men and Women," he was placed under the charge of Lord Mflner at the Cape, and when War broke out he lost no time in hurrying to the front. It wa3 whilst there that he received the news of his accession to the dukedom.

A really original invention is the game M Sylphs. Thi3 is al3o called the elecjtric battledore and shuttlecock. Two Opponents each hold a wand, piiyiously electrified by friction. One of tie shuttlecocks—which are small butterflies or leathers made of a preparation of collodin—is thrown up in the air, where it floats. The two opponents then cast it backwards and forwards, but not in the way. When the wand is apJroached to the so-called sylph the latter immediately floats away, being repel«d by the electricity. Its motions are *foi3 guided from afar by the wands, and fte players throw the airy shuttlecock oaokwarda and forwards without ever touching it. If k3S exciting than pingpon?, the game ha 3 the advantase over the latter of beins noiseless and fraught *ith no peril for the furniture.

The story of Anthony Trollopa killkg Mrs Pvoudie to please a man whom. »c met in a train may now be capped by a atory of Signor Leoncavallo and the German Emperor. In the new opera now king written at the -rial command, !-ae musician is reported to be re-casting last act in accordance with Imperial ! Suggestion. In the original version the I '*«o, being of humble birth, died of grief became he-was unworthy to marry «ie Burgomasters daughter. The Kaiser r decided that the youn? man shall oe knighted and live happily with her Seeing that His Majesty rules over a country in which a GoVernment official was " recently dis- ' tossed from hia post for wedding the "Wghter oi a ncm-commissioned officer, ,a» preference for this particular kind ■'Vi~- " a Ppy ending will perhaps be conquered m certain quarters to reveal an jwmispected vd n of tenderness in the : «nppnal character; but the sarcasm is ■wmiy fair. Most of us like to be more ■«Titimental in the theatre than we can "wit to be at the office: and there is "ojood reason to expect the rulers tf .to diSfer fn this respect from Weir subjects.

A fraud exit of which good certainly came is still causing trouble to its perpetrator in Austria. A young woman, who was acting aa housekeeper at Prague, had a headache and took what she thought to be ani-pyrine. She found afterwards that she had taken by mistake a so-called rat poison, purporting to be composed of strychnine, and that she had swallowed enough of it to kill fifty people. She at ones went to th« hospital, but to the astonishment of all she did not suffer any ill-effect,?. It was then discovered that the "rat poison," instead of being strychnine, as represented, was only white sand. To this fortunate circumstance she owes her life. The vendor of the supposed poison has been summoned.

It is said that circumstances alter cases, and here is a very good example of the fact. When he returned from his first boxing bout, James J. Corbett, the American pugilist, was asked by his father: "How did it turn out?" Being advised that the fight was a financial failure, he advised the youthful pugilist to remain at home in the future. "Remember, me lad," he said, "there's an old proverb and a true one, 'A rolling stone gathers no moss.'" Six months later Corbett boxed Kilrain in New Orleans, and when he came home hie father again approached him. This time he replied that he had made a lot of money, and paid him fifty dollars which he had borrowed on a previous occasion. '"Well;, me boy," said "Pop" Corbett, "remember there's an old proverb and a true one, 'It's the roving bee that gets the honey.'"

Even in these days of mechanical development the automatic bar which was opened recently at Leeds cricket ground may be regarded as a decided novelty. The total length of the bar is 25 feet, and there is something almost human about the ready way in which the sixteen taps respond to the coins. Bad money is promptly rejected, and should too many pence be placed in the slot only the requisite amotmt is retained, the surplus being returned to the customer. The kind of liquor sold is also registered, the money being conveyed to special compartments allotted in the till for each drink. When a '•'mild and bitter , is required the tap turned one way will supply the necessary quantity of bitter, and when turned in the opposite direction the half pint will be completed with mild. Pressure applied on a special stand will permit of a flow of water, so that every customer can wash his own glas3, and, in fact, be his own barman.

The fickle Parisians have tired already of the cake-walk, and*, in their revolt against what they now denounce as "American choreography and the contortions of the red-skins in delirium/ , lovers of the gavotte and minuet hail with enthusiasm a new and charming dance entitled the "dance of the veil."' In a poetic description of this novelty the "Gaulois" says: "Imagine a young girl with folds of muslin" which look like diaphonous wing 3 attached to the right and left of her ball corsape. The material adhering to the costume is taken in the hands, which give to It movements harmonising with the dance, and completing it by a kind of supple and delightful co-operation. The dancer seems . to- glide forward, pushed along by the little white wings, and the luminous spangles on the dress, forming as, it were a. milky way, send back rays of light, /leaving ;,behind them a train of Tt is a slow and noble dance, with the majesty of the waltz and the harmony of pose, and to-morrow, in the dance of the veil, which has dethroned the saraband of the hams of Chicago, the young girls will open their wings and escape from the meshes of the horrible cake-walk."

Time was when marriage by proxy was fashionable among crowned heads; but, if we- may believe a paragraph in so potent, grave, and reverend a periodical as is the "Journal dcs Debats/' that exceptional mode of procedure has now been extended by His Majesty King Alexander cf Servia to the duel. It seems that a professor in the University of Belgrade recently made reference to what he described a3 the undue influence of Queen Draga over the promotion of officers in the army. The King, judging himself to have been insulted, ha 3 deputed four officers to demand reparation by arms from the author of the offensive criticism. We are not told whether the unlucky professor will have to meet these warriors simultaneously or severally one by one. In either case the sense of fair play is violated, although a battle, or series of battles, between four soldiers and one civilian Aould certainly afford the latter a unique opportunity of proving that the pen i 3 mightier than the sword or even than the pistol. Whatever be the result of thia singular exercise of Royal prerogative, it is evident that Servia still holds her old proud position as the home, '"'par excellence," of comicopera in real life.

Some interesting evidence was laid before the Official Keceiver in Bankruptcy at Manchester recently by a convict named Stanton, who wa3 recently sent to penal servitude for ten years for embezzling over £40,000 from his employers. He was invited to explain where the money went. The small fraction of £GOOO was lost in a business which Stanton conducted on his own account. On the Stock Exchange he waa lucky, for he turned over £180,000 of shares, through one firm, and lost only £2000, while in one deal of £25,000 in a fortnight he dropped only £300. Putting his Stock Exchange transactions at a net loss of £5000 the convict was asked to account for the balance of his embezzlements —namely, £35,000. It all went in betting. One man "put on ,7 Stanton's money, or, rather, his employers' money, to the extent of £25,000 a year, of which he got about £20,000 back. Another man "took the money to a public-house." Hundreds went to "a man who, he believed, took bets for some member of a club." Stanton did not know his first name, nor what dub he was member of. There were several other men who relieved Stanton of the stolen money with the utmost ease. Stanton hardly era? made a personal bet, and took no interest in horse-racing. He apparently seldom had a run for his money; in fact, he seems to have been another Goudie, upon a more limited scale with respect to his depredations, but a man of equal softness and simplicity in his relations with betting men. But perhaps neither Goudie nor Stanton required great shrewdness to cheat his employers; and, on the other hand, even the shrewdest man of business succeeds often in persuading himself that he can make money on the Turf or at Monte Carlo, by a curious suspension of his ordinary "intelligence and foresight