TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume II, Issue 8704, 29 January 1894, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Whejt Mγ Jabez Spencer BalJabez fouti of " liberator" notoriety, Balfour. sought refuge from justice in Buenos Ay res, be thought he was quite safe from pursuit, because no extradition treaty existed between Argentina and Great Britain- ; He overlooked the fact that it was possible to pass such a treaty. This is what has actually taken place. Negotiations took place between the two Govercraenta with the result that;' laefc month the Argeatiue Congreee sanctiooed

the conclusion of an extradition treaty with Great Britain. ' Ratifications, no doubt, have just been exchanged, and at the earliest possible moment Mr Jabez Spencer Balfour was arrested just as he was prepared to make his slippery way into Bolivia in search of the immunity no longer possible to him in Argentina. The news of hi 3 capture will be received with exultation in thousands of households in Great Britain rendered desolate by his knavery. His rascality and Sight have, howerer, had one good effect. They have reduced the number of havens of refuge open to English scoundrels who have broken the laws of their country. Iv the course of a few years we may hope that extradition treaties will give the course of justice free run in every part of the globe. Then swindlers and rogues of every kind will have to betake themselves to another planet if they want to get out of the way.

The Otago Daily Times Government has very properly called Vandalism. attention to what we hope is an act of unintentional vandalism on the part of the Government. The Land Department is offering on lease thousands of acres of bush land in Fiord county at a total rental of about £89 a year. The land is nob fit for settlement, but it embraces some of the grandest scenery in New Zealand. I Probably nobody would be mad enough to take it up, but if they were we know what 1 would happen to the Duah and what the i effect would be on the scenery. That I Government should deliberately offer to J destruction aome of our finest natural en- / dowments for the paltry sum of £89 a year is almost incredible. We hope that the notification was issued in error and that it will be promptly withdrawn.

Theiie were some ghastly "A Ghastly incidents during the trial Job." of Monson for the Ardlamont murder. A vital feature in the case was the expert evidence as to whether the gun shot wounds in the head of the deceased man were self-inflicted or not. The skull of the deceased was brought to the Court, but was kept in an adjoining room. One of the medical witnesses, . however, to illustrate his evidence produced another skull, which he again and again took out of and returned to the inside of hia silk hat, which stood inverted on the corner of the witness-box. One of the witnesses called was a gun-maker named MacNaughton, who was employed to fire at three bodies at the Edinburgh Mortuary, at various angles, in order to ascertain the effost of the shots and compare them with the iv juries received by Lieuuenant Hambrough, the man alleged to have been murdered. Photographs were taken of the. body after each shot was fired. Mr MacNaughton said that he simply tired the shots at the angles directed by the doctors, and, for himself, "did nob care to look at the bodies after he had shot at them." "I do not wonder," retorted counsel; "it was a ghastly job." In this opinion the public generally will agree. The medical evidence in the case was, on the whole, strongly against Monaon. It was i largely a matter of inference, however, and on this ground, as our readers will remember, the jury declined to convict the prisoner. It may be interesting to add that one of the witnesses called was Dr. Joseph ' Bell, F.R.C.S.E., the original of Conan I Doyle'a recently deceased Sherlock Holmes. ' f We have received the fol* I Life in the lowing letter from the j [ Dead Sea. Rev. J. S« Smalley, of Kaiapoi :— 1 " Allow mc to thank, you for your iute-. j resting notes on the supposed discovery 'of living fish in the Dead Sea by a i "Victorian clergyman. Having lately been to the spot I can confirm the statement as to ttuxxty iorms OI liie in I felxe cane. axou&d ifes banks. X 'ilsflhlliilflllil .character of the. air. Xiie appearance of the lake is certainly very beautiful on a five day—at least that small section of it not hidden by , misty evaporations. Sat lying, W ft fIQS&j X<sQof& below the Mediterranean. and" shut in by hills on three sides, the atmosphere cannot be otherwise than opprosaivo and uuhoalthy. I was there'iu the early spring, and suffered considerable discomfort from the heat, and shudder at tbe i thought oi what the elimaUo condilioriß I must be in midsummer. - However, the discover/ oi Dead Sea, fish ia unquestionably a , traveller's tale. There can be little doubt that your explanation ia the correct one— ' \h»t the 83k, came from the Jordan, and were in a moribund state when seen. It i must not be forgotten that the specific gravity of the water differs considerably according 'to the season- of the year, and its nearness, to the Jordan or the other rivers that flow into' it, f The fact of this gentleman bathing with his friends indicates that the ' place was near I the Jordan, for it is customary to-bathe there only, on account of- the leaser density 'of tho water in that locality. The analyses of cheniißts, for the same reason, Bhow very different results. Some give only 70 parts of water to the 100, while others give 80, or even more. We know that for ,many miles at sea in the.neighbourhood of the Amazon river fresh water can be dipped up. Something of the same kind may happen at the mouth of the Jordan, Which at the time of flood emptied vast volumes into the sea. If the daily influx of fresh water ia six millions, of tons, it ia ,easy to understand that ia* "the swelling of Jordan" sufficient may be found in the northern part of the lake to keep alive for some time the fish brought from the river. 5 '

We. have to thank our correspondent for his interesting contribution. Our authority for the statement' as to the healthful atmosphere of the Dead Sea district was Dr. Cunningham Geikie, who ' says :—" The climate is perfect and most delicious, and indeed there is 'perhaps iio place in the world where a sanatorium could be established with so much' prospect of success as at Am Jidi (Engedi)." (" Hours wilh the Bible," yoL 1, p. 388), Perhaps Mc Smalley was untortunate in the I time of his visit.