NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 276, 18 November 1905, Page 9

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

•irtDWt has'jnst been circulated .by ■ n burg Press agency, the Han- * *• he Press Bureau, and described by bavin" been received from a welliVLed source, of a, startling conjn/ornieu b _ & number of Boer _-£ 4 German South-west Africa to V%£U colony,, to steal all the horses a fflttie, and" join the rebel natives in £ out the Germans. The plot, it V >d was revealed to the police at llhoek'on August 22 and a- certain VXL do Wet was indicated as the ■JZer This De Wet is a nephew Boer General of that is well known in Germany, and Sied to a daughter of a Prussian mr Early in the morning of August 'jpPsibag body of, police surrounded Wmtia house, arrested him, in coniflvvrith a number of suspected perV md seized a quantity of arms and Munition. This news will, if con•mied rive the coup do grace to any SSI pro-Boer sentiments still enSuncd in Germany. unpleasant " er ience the Empire has already had 'th Boer settlers in its African' ternS„ had already alienated many symrlthies but one of the newspapers goes „ far as to say "the Boers have, asfthe rennans have to learn to their cost, only two attributes, naked avarice and ,„ unconquerable penchant to conEpiracy."

j Among the inaugural addresses dcliv- ' ycd at the re-opening of the medical schools in London wa3 a remarkable one made hy Sir James Crichton-Browne 8 t Charing Cross Hospital. He pleaded for increased activity in combating the evils of physical deterioration and inefficiency, which he declared so largely abounded. There were hordes of undertow, underfed, debilitated men, wo„en, and children who were industrially . jnd' socially inefficient. Many of our public institutions were inefficient, and uere as incompetent as the "stenosed ralves of a damaged heart." Our educational machinery, too, was inefficient, or we should not have so much ignorance, stupidity, and hooliganism amongst _, Our economic system was inefficient, added Sir James, or there would not oethe crowds of unemployed there were, or starving school children, or the desertion of the land by the people. Our municipal administration was inefficient, or there would not be the shocking housing conditions which existed. The Army, too, was inefficient, or they would not have the Commander-in-Chief telljn" them so. Inefficiency was wide£pread and disastrous in its effects. But it was an undoubted fact that it it was at length recognised, and that in many directions measures to insure efficiency yere being adopted.

At a farewell dinner at Simla, Lord Cnrzon, replying to the toast of his health, observed that the relations between the local and Imperial Governments had never been so free from friction as at present. This result was partly due to recent surpluses, but it also reflected a positive desire on the pit of the Imperial Government to ■raid petty overruling. He deprecated any. slackening of the central control, tat stiongly advocated riding the local Governments on the snallie instead of the curb. He recalled with pride that in every considerable action the Council lad been an absolutely united body. Concluding, he said: "India is in some respects a hard taskmaster. She takes toil of health, spirits, and endurance. A man's love for the country is apt to le soured by calumny, his passion for work to be checked by obstacles encountered, and his conception of duty chilled by delay. Such have been sometimes my own feeling 3. But this is only an ephemeral depression. When it comes, cast it off. It is not the real sentiment of the Indian service. We feel we never should have such a life again so crowded with opportunity, instinct with duty, and touched with romance. We forget rebuffs and are indifferent to slander aid pain. We remember only the noble cause for which we have worked together."

Tie German Emperor travels in such peai state and splendour that it is interesting to know who "pays the piper" for the special train which carries him bo frequently from end to end of his lealm. A German contemporary gives tie following facts about the Imperial journeys: There are two special trains, ?ne for the Emperor and one for the Empress. These are the property of the "ussian state, but the travelling expenses are paid by the Emperor himself. ■fie Court trains are chartered at the b«m rate as ordinary special trains— «at is to say, one mark and twenty * pfennig (about- l/2_) per mile for the . ,womotive, and forty pfennig per mile : lor every axle of the train, and twenty . pfennig for every axle on the accom- ' frying guard's train. Thus the jour- , My from Berlhl to mhing) near the . Mrtj-east frontier, costs rather over , &m, and the same fee is, of course, • ■«wged for the return journey. Being ■ |*> tt at this handsome rate, the State • m every reason to smile upon the '■ «am journeys of the Travelling Emper- ; has been stirred over the '! bSvTS tmmel mystery, and what- , '£&£. ■ ™ sult of tbe inquiry of the I, attending the sad death \ \ ■itfTV C? the oi the jury ' S D S >baby SoUnd ~e D kneU of the - Sear n System on English railways I • 'and<! year outrages of. various l bnx« I 6 P el *Petrated in these miserable "«f e^,_ Jm Y bich there is Httle chance death r '11" ' fc bo fco almost certain lave-'inn y f the raiiw ay companies I! Pofev b^ ldin S their carriages on ' Widl r ed P lan - corridor car I Jottd thJ SUch hor rors almost be- ( also faAi ? ge ., of Possibility, and it is 1 ■*ttwkoL *« c " three card trick " • »™ mfest British lines. ' 4° U to h h^ * sti »> «-« I- ! scou_S r + r uiy a year ' the white ! oVe '', and £ ' the worst of days are ' °?' liko cholera ' « will 3 written \ terror - So much is said ' >t-thS_?,, about this P la S"uo nowadays ■ St aever w prevalent impression that ! v S r a' fflaS T? viru 'cnt than now. ] fact -' its presence has 1 ° £th *pSk? ? evident °ny because 8 ? d echlu c _ m P which science ; ' i lat «''vS. Cd P ub,ic option have J '■fH'KprW for its extinction. ! £ r medial ' rt - aUlly this fresh triumph • '? e^Sfl P l 6 T is bein g achieved. ■ on t0 tbe International lf ht .i made TC erCUlosis in P~ris last ' M tt.-aL.T, re 'narknble statement ■ ] '■?**■ JBrifaSrTY from this disease in i • ecreased twttw »|;

There's hope even for the baldheaded. A Turkish physician has made the amazingly and ridiculously simple discovery. that hair roots can be transplanted from one head to another, like so many carrots or lettuces, and, moreover, that a sprig of hair will "strike" like any cufeting in the garden. His method is to dig furrows in the bald cranium, and insert therein his bulbs or cuttings, aud then wait for the spring. Luxuriant crops (it is said) have resulted, but so far there has been no slump in the oldfashioned hair restorer concerns. Let jthe ingenious doctor persevere. He may yet be able to discover the hair seeds, and put them on the market in | penny packets, assorted according to texture and colour. The nutmeg grater | will do the ploughing part of the operation nicely, and the seed can be gently sown with the pepper-box.

The National Federation of Assistant Teachers held its last annual conference at Hull. Mr. A. W. in his presidential address, said with regard to primary education that the personage who euphemistically dubbed himself the large ratepayer" ruled almost supreme. On local authorities he wielded power quite out of proportion to his numbers, and so far as education was concerned he used that power with most disastrous effects. The first essential to true education was that teachers should come into close contact with scholars.. But in primary schools that vital principle was flagrantly disregarded. When they found classes ranging from CO to, 100 they might be quite certain the nation was doing its best to lose the services of some of its brightest intellects.

The ex-Queen of Madagascar, while staying in a boarding-house at SaintGermain, Paris, last month, was received by the Minister of the Colonies with due ceremony, and M. Clementel has had a pleasant little surprise for the dethroned llanavalo. She has constantly complained of the insufficiency of the income allowed her by the Government of the country which has removed her from the Malagasy throne, and now her allowance is to be raised from £1200 to £2000 a year. That is an act which does -honour to the old tradition of French gallantry, which should certainly not be found in default when the lady in question is a dethroned and exiled Queen. Ranavalo loves Pari3, and, with the prospect of a- substantial addition to her pin-money, she ought to enjoy her shopping and sight-seeing thoroughly.

■ Lord Roberts has just celebrated his <3rd birthday. He has fought in nearly 60 engagements, hearing a greater part in seven of the greatest campaigns in the modern history of the Empire. Lord Roberts has received the thanks of two Sovereigns, has been thanked by the Government of India three times, and twice by both Houses of Parliament. In addition to his Earldom, he is a Knight of the Garter, a' Knight of St. Patrick, Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, Knight Grand Commander of the Star of India, Knight Grand Commander of the Indian Empire, has the order of the Black Eagle, is a Privy Councillor, and the holder of innumerable degrees and minor ! orders and distinctions.

Mr. Andrew Carnegie is an optimist, an optimist alike in business and in politics. He foresees peace reigning for ever over Erance, Great Britain; and America', and he expectS" that in the near future Germany will come out of her sulky, suspicious mood, and join the mighty pacific league under which the peoples of the earth are to work their way towards the Millennium. It is a noble and inspiring ideal, and one that will best be strengthened by pei- - sistent entertaining of it. But we need not stop navy-building yot awhile.

The new building material known as "Kremnite" is made in a factory near St. Petersburg, and consists erf powdered clay, sand, and fiuorspart, melted together at a high t-em.peTa.tnre. The molten mass may be used like iron for moulded castings as well as blocks. The material can be coloured in a variety of shades, may be ground or polished, takes glaze well, and gives a good imitation of coloured marble or other natural stone. It may be cast in large pieces of any desired form. It is well adapted for architectural and artistic purposes, yielding such products as hollow bricks for buildings and stoves, fancy marble-like bricks, tiles for floors, and pavements, and even thin corrugated (plates for roofs.

Threatened men Hve long. Th« frequent truth of this saying is once more exemplified in the announcement of the death, at the ripe age of 94, of Mr. Patten S. Bridge, whose name was well known 30 years ago as that of an Irish land agent much menaced and more than once murderously assailed. It was near that subsequently famous place, Mitchelstown, that Mr. Bridge was engaged. Towards the end of 1875, as the "Times'" obituary notice records, he was shot from behind, while walking in his own avenue, by a man who was never caught. Each of the several shots fired by this man took effect; but wo are unable to say whether Mr. Bridge was like the old Emperor William, who carried shot in his back for years before his death. Then, in March, 1876, Mr. Bridge was shot at again, this time o,n a car; and his car-driver, seated by his side, fell dead from the seat. It is not the only recorded occasion in the history of Irish agrarian turbulence in which the marksmanship of the murderer has been unequal to his intention—-luckily for the designed victim, but unfortunately for a comparatively inoffensive third person.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin has been passing through an unpleasant experience. A short time ago £2000 was clapped on to his salary by the Lord Mayor's casting vote. Then, at a later mooting, that sum was unanimously knocked off again, the Lord Mayor admitting (after it had become apparent that it would go).that ho had doubts about the legality of it himself, and would vote against it if to voting it came. He found himself confronted later on with another revulsion of feeling, when his Nationalist friends proposed to restore the £2,000. Between his conscientious doubts on the law of the matter and his natural feelings as a human being, what was a poor Lord Mayor to do? What he did was to make a masterly retreat from the scene, leaving Mr. Harrington in the chair and the Corporation "to do as it pleased with his salary. By a majority.of four it put on the £2000 again, and now the Unionists and Labour members demand yet another special meeting to knock it off. once more. The moral and intellectual damage that the Lord Mayor must bo undergoing, if his nerves are at all sensitive, is painful to contemplate.