GENERAL NEWS.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXIII, Issue 307, 10 January 1912, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

A landmark of Old London has disappeared in the removal of the oldestablished' premises of Messrs S. W. Partridge and Co., the* well-known publishers, of Paternoster Row. As the work of demolition proceeded the remains of some early monastic establishment were revealed, the work being so substantial that it was found easier to utilise than ' destroy it. Arches and vaults were disclosed, containing remarkable examples of Roman brick and tiles. But for injury by the pick there would have been an all but intact specimen of Roman vase work. Another striking object was a: bone or ivory syringe belonging to a time before such instruments were made of glass, and in an excellent state of preservation. Then there w r as a curious pair of bronze smiffcrs. of quaint design. Palatial new offices are to be erected on the spot. The editor of the Sydney Bulletin, Mr James Edmond, who has just returned from a. tour of the Old World, says it is possible to go into, forty-one costly hot-els in and around London, at which one was liable to be charged £lO per week for board and lodging, and ''find the bathroom door as rigidly locked as if it contained a gorilla instead of harmless washing apparatus." Tills impression of Mr Edmond's is borne out by returned New Zealandcrs, who have been surprised- by the fact that, like "washing" in a colonial board in ghouse. the use of the bathroom is an ''extra." Although the diphtheria epidemic about Sydney has now lasted for about two years, it is still fairly severe in its incidence, and there are about 100 cases in the Metropolitan Hospital. When the epidemic was at ive height the patients numbered about 150. A few cases are still being reported from the countrv districts of New South Wales.

An heir to estates valued at £17,400,000, for whom the British Government and the Dukes of Marlborough and Devonshire have been searching, has been found, and turns out to bo Joseph Coila. a carpenter, living at Brooklyn. Coila is 65 years of age. Captain Thomas Malcolm, eldest son of the late Captain James Malcolm (one of the pioneer skippers in the Union Steam Ship Company's, service), died recently at Shanghai (China). Mr Malcolm was well and favourably known as chief officer of the steamers \Vakatipu and Herald, and alter resigning from the company's service left for China, where he rose rapidly to the post, of commander under the flag of rho Clr.na Navigation Company, being at (he time of his death master of the Tamsni. trading between Eastern ports. His death was due to an attack of tuberculosis. Mr Francis McCullagh. the famous war correspondent- of tho Westminster Gazette, who handed in his papers to General Canova as a protest against the atrocities in Tripoli, is a native of Strabane, County Tyrone, where his relatives live. A surgeon of a great London hospital says: "All infants at birth havo blue eyes. In fume babies immediately after birth pigment granules begin to develop in the iris. Tims they become brown or black eyes. In others, however, no such pigment, formation takes place, and, the eyes remain blue or grey throughout life." Tie also states that it is possible for a man's eyes to change colour as the result of mental shock or physical ill-treatment-A Norwegian Antarctic explorer, H. J. Bull, gives a startling word picture of a shark's tenacity of life. This man-cater was caught at the Iceland cod-fishery; his liver, heart, and internal arrangements were removed, so as to put a, period to his career. And the mutilated body was then cast into the sea. Ho simply gave a leisurelv way of his tail, and swam rapidly out of sight. ' President Harding, in hi 6 address before the Nebraska Dairymen's Association, asked the following pertinent question:—"Which dairyman, foh example, do you think the most lilcely to succeed: the one who, on 40 acres of land, maintains 40 head of good dairy cows, producing 10,0001b of butter-fat per year, or the one on 640 acres of land, who keeps 100 head of cattle producing IO.OOOIbs of fat? These two types arc by no means extremes. The first is altogether possible, and the latter extremely common." In ovory way possible it is sought to render the education service of Victoria attractive to male teachers, so that the department may not be forced, as in Canada, to rely solely upon women. 'J he proportion of males in the Victorian department . has increased during the last 20 years.

It would appear that our much-vaunted education system is not a complete success in all respects. In referring to arithmetic in his address on the practical problems of education, the Principal of the Christchurch Training College pointed out that frequent complaints wero made by shopkeepers that the boys who went into their employ could not even givo change, and he pointed out that this was owing to the fact that tho shopkeeper gave his change on tho plan known as complementary addition, which is asked for by the present New Zealand syllabus, but which cannot be worked m schools without the provision of boxes of imitation coins and smaller classes than at present. A Sydney journal comments severely on the antiquity and wastefulness of the legal system now in vogue, and quotes the Dr. Peacock case as an instance. Says our contemporary : "Here was a man found guilty of murder by a jury and sentenced to death. Law points taken on his behalf wero overruled by tho State full Court. Then the High Court was approached, and it look days of argument to decide what, to any but lawyers appeared but a simple question—whether he had been 'legally convicted or not. It ought to bo possible in these progressive days to have the laws so plain that there would scarcely bo a question of their interpretation. And if a doubt did arise, a few hours at least should l>e sufficient to determine the difference between black and white." Enormous numbers of guinea pigs are used at the Pasteur Institute for experimental purposes. At the Institute farm at Garches, where the animals are raised, from 20,000 to 22,000 guinea-pigs aro born every year. And even with this enormous supply to draw from the Institute has to go into the guinea pig market and buy all it can get hold of. It is now said to be becoming very difficult to obtain guinea-pigs from the dealers, for tho little creatures aro costly to raise, and there is not sufficient profit in it. Their price has reached, and even passed, Is 3d ;<, niece. The price of mice and rats has increased in like manner. The Pasteur Institute expends annually £16.000 for 'the purchase and support of tho animals used in its work. One of the perils of aviation is the risk of collision. Two aviators, whilst making a flight on November Bth, at 'Minecla, on the Long Island river, U.S.A., collided in mid-air. The machines wore slightly damaged, but the pilots themselves escaped with a few bruises.