TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9301, 31 December 1895, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A few daye ago one of the A moat remarkable coramor- , Remarkable oial ventures ia Australia Venture, came to a temporary conclusion. The Victoriaa Co»J Mining Company has for two years been ■' boring for coal at what is known as the Red Bluff, St. Kilda, and having gob down to a depth of 3500 ft, deeper than any coal mine in the world, without coming to tho desired coal, they have decided to give tho maohi* nery a rest whilo the Company goes into liquidation. The history of the venture if a most curious one, for, according to the Argus, it is controlled by a spirit familiarly . known as the " Old Gent," who operates through a medium—a young man in one of the Government; departments. This " spirit," speaking through the "medium," advised some of his friends to bore for coal near Dandenong. The fact thab no coal was discovered there did nob prevent) them again following the ghostly advice and sinking the bore alluded to above; at St. KUdft. The " Old Qent" stated tbrt he knew that an extensive bed of beet anthracite coal was to be found a good long ■ way below the surface, and aasurea , hit ;•• friends that they would be millionaires in -\, rathor lesa than no time. Not satisfied , with having thus showed them the way to boundless wealth, he gave them a lift along '- , the road bjr telling them to call on a wealthy __ maiden lady in one of the suburbs, to pat the position before her and get her to find the capital. Acting on this suggestion, they found the old lady was perfectly willing to . furnish tho necessary money, all the more so ao she had an idea that the magnifioent : ooa)seld which was to be discovered would , find work for all the unemployed and lift ;. the colony out of its depression. A costly { drilling plant] was, therefore, procured, and .-: operations were at once commenced. The - : drill steadily went down through sandstone, "/S drift, and other soft stuff at first, and then -- j,, into silnrian rock, which got harder and j; harder. The Government geologiets assured .\: the promoters thab " there was no more . i chance-of finding coal in eilurian rook than of • i discovering pearls in a piece of paving - \ stone." But the advice of the sceptics ,] was disregarded, and the promoters, having plenty of money, went oa boring. H» e p "spirit," we are told, attended maflf -,£; meetings of the Board " giving instructione through the medium, who would go into a trance at a moment's notice, and, epe»kiug ,"," with the ' epirit'e' voice, convey dijeotion* to the other* who were present. A* ,

tfa capita* B,l began to get a little dissatisfid with the way tho business was proding the "Old Gent" recommended that "he should tttko a trip to Europo about six Lnths ago, and sho very obligingly d parted, leaving auothcr maiden lady, a rtoual friend of hers, to manage her The lady capitalist is now in Europe, but she has supplied the necassary . de tt ii along." Up to the present she has Lt some £3000 in drilling expenses alone, & apparently she has decided that sho has done enough. The promoters, however, teem still hopeful, for after the liquidation proceedings arc ended thoy anticipate resuming operations. The •• spirit," to his cr«dit be it said, has not hitherto charged anything for his advice, which is apparently jast about what it is worth.

While half London was A watching, on November 9th, Reassuring with more or less interest Speech. the customary pageant of the Lord Mayor's Show, the London Stock Exchange was in the throes of a financial panic which had its countertjn the Continental Bourses, and which threatened to be of a most disastrous character. Strange as ib may seem, the oanic in London was in no small measure doe to the fact that that day was Lord Mayor's day, for it was generally expected that at the banquet in the Guildhall, with which, according to custom, the cay torminates, tho Prime Minister would deliver a gpcech of a very alarming charac ter with reference to the Eastern Question, toking a severely gloomy view of the prospects of peace being maintained. Ajl Europe shared in this expectation that Lortl Salisbury would fulminate denunciations apainat Turkey, and would declare that the limits of patience having been definitely patied, recourse must be had to immediate forco, and that England would act alone if ber allies drew back, as she did in the case of Egypt. And so everywhere the Funds and Stocks generally went down by thc ran. Thero was a mad rush to realise, and even British Consols, which had been at nearly 108, fell below 105 in a few hoars. Ono can imagine the . sincere regrets with which those who had hastily sacrificed their property read in the papers the calm, confident *nd masterly speech with which Lord Salisbury won a chorus of acclamation from the whole of Europe. Nothing could have been more reassuring than the genial certainty with which he announced the absolute concord of the six Greab Powers with regard to Turkey; tho assurance of their united action to compel the termination of the existing anarchy in that misgoverned country, and the solemn warning addressed to tho Porte that the days of Turkish misrule were within measurable distance of their dose. Similarly nothing could have been more judicious or better timed than his pointed reminder that as the Empress of India ruled over 60,000,000 Mahomotan subjects, a far"targor number than the Saltan of Turkey could boast, it was essential that nothing should be dove in the shape of partisanship towards one croed v against another; the British Government could not champion Christians as against Mahometans, but could only inoisb on good government for both alike, i:i accordance with the treaty obligations of the Porte. The Premier spoke, and all the world cheered—Russia, and even Franco, were aa complimentary as Germany, Austria and Italy. Lord Salisbury stood as the fit and ohosen representative of the English people, and as their mouthpiece ho spoke with calmness, courage, resolution and confidence. An instantaneous effect was produced. The financial panic which on this eveutful Saturday had set in throughout Europo subsided as suddenly as it had come. British Consols on the following Monday went up to 107 or very nearly, and a cheerful tone replaced the gloomy despondency with which the preceding week had closed. This, too, in spite of the fact that the Primo Minister did not pretend to deny, or seek to minimise, the gravity of the tituation in tho East. What he did was •imply to quell the alarm which had been felt lest strife should have been impending among the Great Powors with regard to the future of the Porte. That was what everybody so keenly dreaded. Had Lord Salts. bury determined upon isolated action and intervention on the part of England, the active opposition of France and Rusai* would have been certain. That must have meant war, the outbreak ot that war which has been bo often predicted, and which, if it ever does take place, will shake the world and alter the political face of Europe. Happily, the calm strong speech of Lord Salisbury at least postponed the evil day.