NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 288, 2 December 1905, Page 9

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

The Americans-Humane Association is (iw excited over the plea put for- * r J|*bv Miss Helen Hall, of Cincinnati, I **»? jiued'in a public conference that of persons hopelessly injuxlying in tne last agonising throes fl,W disease, should be hastened by She explained that she l asks for mankind the same mercy k h is already accorded to suffering •male-' S er proposal 15 debated f some' hours, but the opposition, led iPr. Stiltaan, of Albany, proved too j '"v p r . Stillman pointed out that I F° ' a m an given up as lost has ulti--1 recovered. In view, however, of f- lS life number of railway accidents • America> the association recommend- ! 'i that a box containing anaesthetics i 'v ou ]j he carried od trains, although, 8 Dr. Stillman said, a delicate eitual i'oß arises as to by whom the anaes- ; jjjetics should .be administered." One of 1 jjjj founders of the association, Mrs j TotteD) of Washington, said, "If I were ; i a ,-wreck, and savr Isuch hopeless ■ scS of suffering as ao-e described, and i i a d a pistol, I would certainly shoot I n,e sufferer, and put him out of his ; jaisery."'

Professor Landouzy, of the Faculty of jledicine, makes .the remarkable statepent that dogs are responsible in* a peat measure for the spread of tuberculosis. The disease is not only prevalent, lint on the increase, in the species.' During the last five years the proportion of tuberculous dogs among those dissected by the Alfort Veterinary School has risen from 4J to 9 per cent. jlost of the diseased animals belonged to small cafe and restaurant keepeis in Paris and the suburbs. It is easy to tnderstand that they spread contamination to other dogs, particularly to pets, c r to human beings. The professor actually quotes a case in his own expe-iience 'of a young music-hall singer who lately died of consumption. Her inseparable !pct was a small lap-dog, which died ihorfly after its mistress, and was found to have tubercles in the lungs, bronobjal lubes, and liver. Professor Landbuzy deemed it quite possible that the lady taught the disease from her dog. On lie other hand, dogs may certainly be 'contaminated by human beings.. la either case the danger of tuberculous pets, especially when small, children,are allowed to fondle and play with them, js undoubted. Professor Landouzy concludes Ms remarks with "Cave canerri!"

Forty-nine American and 'Canadian young women have been sold in Chicago into what is practically a state of slavery in China. The local federal and police authorities have discovered the facts of the case. The police are in possession of the names of a woman in Chicago and another in Shanghai who ere thought to be the leaders in the practice.. The immigration authorities have reported the sale .of a girl named lonise Miller, of Montreal, to the agent of a Chinese official in Shanghai. Three waitresses from Montreal, who were induced to go to Chicago, -met ■with the same fate, uttier evidence-is also adduced as to the extent of the tuffic. The plan of the gang who efiected the sales is believed to be asMoffs. Unsuspecting girls are offered positions as high servants to a wealthy Chinaman, and when they reach China are sent under guard to their purchasers, who have previously paid from 500 to 1000 dollars per head for them. Many are supposed to be held prisoners in the places oil wealthy CMnanieii.

At Chicnsro Robert Gardiner, who has beea convicted of murdering a young Woman, will probably escape hanging because his neck cannot be broken, nor can lie be choked. The only possible way legally to execute the penalty upon him, that is to "hang- him by the neck until lie is dead," is to drop him through the trap and let him remain suspended in the nir until he starves to death. Gardiner is afflicted with a rare disease, of which, Recording to Professor Steffenson, of the Bush Medical College, there are only four cases on record. This disease causes ossification of the vertebrae and tissues of the neck. Gardiner's counsel has tortnally notified the court of the impossibility of hanging his client, and sentence /Has been deferred.

Mr J. H. M. Abbott, in an article on /How it Strikes an Australian" in the Spectator," writes of Oxford: "Time has walked slowly through the coljeges," he says; "has even, one would think, not hesitated to sit down and Test when it has pleased him so to do. .He could not hurry here. All Eternity ■night be waiting; but there is that in 'he air, In the :>«ppet, in the spirit of the place which must delay him. And so, occasionally, the Past has caught fiV with the Present, and both hold the nands of the Future. How it all contrasts with every other place that one tas seen? Glaring little white-walled ■ d °rps in the Karoo; weather-board and crackling galvanised iron in the backMocks-, wind-lashed townships in Ota--8°; rustling plantations in the Pacific — every remembrance of places, and men the places, that one has recur. All he colleges in the great University of we world—from fo'c's'le to shearer's "it, from Port Said to Port Melbourne —where the Faculty of Experience is Paramount, are in competition with these old foundations, and so much as one has eeen of them rises up for comparison. But there is nothing like it Wl, nothing to compare it with. Oxford -tands alone. Put aside all books, leave a U learning to take care of itself, take heed of honour lists—look at Oxford lr °m without. Xever mind its influence on English life, its influence on Jfiglish politics, its bearing on« world destinies— take it as it stands. Just * e ° it. Carry no introductions, be led no guide, hear nothing of story and tradition. Content yourself with what your eye alone may convey to your Dra 'n- Stand and look. And then, if J'ou have breathed in ever so little of ; he beautiful spirit of the place, have Wtonie aware of an inward sense of reverence which may in the slightest define have influence you towards feeling wealthier, and better, and cleaner of 'Wil—then you have seen Oxford. You ™ R }' not understand the deeper meann gs that Time has written on the grey . a -J s ~-perbap3 you are too new a product for that—and you may not altogether realise what life means within e m. But this you cannot faij to -omprohend—that Oxford itself is al■st uo the noblest place you shall have «*n to, England, take this idea out ™ Hie Bank of Beyond. You will nev- « lose it. 'The world, surely, has not .■ Wo tyer Ox fordJ' "

No prettier sight could be imagined, says a writer in 'T.P.s Weekly," than a group of Swedish girls standing preparatory to jumping into the water for some contest. To one standing at a.distance their costumes seemed very complicated for—swimming.,;: Some were dressed as babies, others as Kate Greenaway girls, others 'as peasants, others against as ladies of fashion, or in pictorial farcy dress; and all the costumes so voluminous and brighthued that they could not be watched going into the water without a pang of wonder and regret. But relief as to the costumes soon came. In less than a minute the fair mermaids came to the surface in the conventional garb, and their pretty costumes lay floating everywhere about on the free of the water. The striking get-ups had been manufactured for the occasion, and had been composed of crinkled paper. As for swimming, it was a revelation in its complexiiies, sureness, and perfection of pose, especially when it was considered that entire classes, without any distinction as to special capacities, took part.

The quinquennial census of London, which the County Council contemplates taking next April, will, it is expected, reveal a considerable migration of the population since the general census of 1901. In Central London the tendency is to decrease, but on the outskirts in all directions the growth is marvellous. The expansion, however, is especially noticeable in the north, the residents of Willesden, Acton, Ealing, Tottenham, and Hornsey having inerea?ed upwards of 75,000 from 1901 to the close of last year—the firstnamed showing the most remarkable development of the five places. In' the same period Hendon's population has grown from 8647 to 11,046, and that of Uxbridge from 11,058 to 15,2W5, while similar increases are shown at Enfield, Edmonton, Wood Green, Hanwell and the surrounding towns which a few years back were pleasant rural villages.

Many of the tales told of the late Sir Henry Irving are of the ben trovato description. Such an one, probably, is that of the American gentleman who mistooK him for Washington Irving, and wished to know when and how he wrote 'Rip van Winkle." Another is that of the lady who professed the greatest lore of all * Shakespeare's works> and told the actor that she would witness nothing else. "'Henry V 111.,' 'Richard 111., , 'Charles V 111.,' and 'Louis XI, , are quite good enough for mc," the ardent patron of the drama remarked. A third is Jthat of a gentleman struck with the immense versatility of Sir Henry. '1 should never have thought," said he, "that a man who compiled a Book of Dates could act Shylock so nobly." The best of the "unauthorised" tales, however, is the one illustrated by a picture in "Punch." An elderly lady from the country buholds in the Strand a very unkempt "sandwich" man bearing the legend "Henry Irving as Hamlet." "Bless mc!" exclaimed the astonished beholder, "he is not at all the sort of person I expected to see." Sir Henry himself had a pleasant—sometimes a very caustic —humour. He exhibited it one evening, when a grntlo-, man, who had written a novel, and pre- i sented a copy to the aetor-managrr, called upon him in his room at the theatre, to ask his candid opinion about it! "Smith," said Sir Henry Irving, turning to his dresser, "what did we think of Mr. —'s novel?" Mr Seymour Hicks relates with much gusto that Sir Henry once detected in him a resemblance to Charles Mathews. The young player was much gratified. "Yes." said Sir Henry, "he wore the same shape collar i an you do!" . I

Mr Andrew Carnegie tells this as one of hi's experiences. Soon after he had bought Skibo, there was a circus exhibiting m the neighbourhood of the castle, and one of the main attractions was the' orang-outang. One night, th?', out,.| e U &$& the cliff,; 1 . and was ldlied. In the morning two'bf the keepers ran across the body of the dead orang-ou + ang. One of r.hem scratched his bead and said: c 'He 'ain't no 'Ilander, that's sure." The other said: "He ain't no Lowlander, they ain't ' got that much hair on 'em.'" After a while one of their, proposed to the other as follows: "I'll.go up to the kirk and see the parson, and yiu go up to Air Carnegie and see if any of his American ■gentry are missing." I According to the "Military Mail," rumour has been connecting the names of Princess Patricia of Connanght and the Marquis It looks as though the alliance with the King of Spain has j fallen through more from religious and diplomatic reasons than anything else, and, seeing his opportunity, llid young peer is said to have proposed, and there the matter ends fur the present. The marquis is a second lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues), having received his commission on Miry G of this year. He has youth on his side, for he was born in 1885, and inherits £100,000 a year. He is charming and simple in his tastes (as- distinct from the late eccentric holder of the title), and has not yet been spoiled by society. The first Marquis of Anglesey, by the way, was a field-marshal, and commanded the cavalry at Waterloo. A correspondent writes: The interest roused by the latest discovery of a ' "Shakspearean document/ though but a I prosaic record of chicanery, recalls to some of us that a whole manuscript of Shakespeare exists probably, and one written at his bes-t period tinder conditions which would Wge him to exert all bis power. It is as well assured as such details of history can be that when Edmund Spenser was buried in the Abbey the leading poets and drarrt fists of the time followed his coffin. It waa in January, 1599, twelve years before Shakespeare's withdrawal to Stratford. Mr Sydney Lee says: "In the procession of mourners walked, we are told,' the poets; of the day, and when the coffin was low-' ered these loving admirers of their great colleague's work threw into hia tomb poems and mournful elegies, with the pens that wrote them. . . Little imagination is needed to conjure up among them who paid homage to Spenser's spirit the glorious figure of Shakespeare." Dean Stanley exclaimed: "What a funeral was that at which Beaumont, Fletcher, Jonson, and, in all probability, Shakespeare, attended! What a grave, in which, the pen of Shakespeare may be mouldering away!" It seems hardly credible that no effort should have been made to recover these priceless relics or to prove they no longer remain—perhaps were never deposited. We treasure broken lines of the Iliad, dug out of Egyptian coffins, and worship fragments of an old Greek poet of whom none but the very learned ever heard. So many graves in Westminster Abbey have been "violated" that Horace Walpole told Mann he hoped to s?e every | corpse that had been buried there before his own time came. But the tomb in which an elegy of Shakespeare may have been rotting for three centuries is spa-red! Even if he was prevented from paying his tribute toSpenser, those of Beaumont and Jonsou 'would be very interesting, not to reckon upon others; but, in fact, we cannot guess what historic valuables may be perishing there! Scores of bodies have been exhumed in the Abbey for reasons infinitely less cogent, or for n-o good reason at all. But apparently it would not b9 needful to disturb Edmund Spen-er , ! coffin —the manuscripts seem to have been thrown upon it. [