TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10095, 22 July 1898, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Some sensation has been caused Subjects in Melbourne by the disclosures for , which have been made in the Inquests- papers as to the death* at the Benevolent Institution. An in-

mate of that institution died lately under circumstances which, v thotlgh satisfactorily explained by the resident doctor, should yet have formed the subject of an inquest. On the incident coining to the ears of the city coroner, the latter brought the whole question of the mortality at the Benevolent Insti-

tution under the notice of the Commissioner of Police, and as a result a detective was detailed to make full enquiries. The officer's report revealed a remarkable state of affairs. The records, which were most willingly placed at his disposal by the resident medical officer, showed that no inquest had been held at the asylum since October, 1891, although since that date there have been about- 1300 deaths in the institution, some of them -ring of a character which, if they had taken place anywhere else, would have led to a coroner's inquest. With reference to- some of these deaths it is possible that inquests may have been held outside the institution; the information is not quite clear on this point. But. it is absolutel-£,certain that in no single case has any one of the 600 deaths which have occurred during the last three years been inquired into. All the deaths were registered at North Melbourne and the causes ascribed for some of them, such as "inanition," "hemorrhage of the throat," certainly seem to require rather more detail to make tiiem perfectly satisfactory to the public. For all these deaths the certificate of the doctor in charge seems hitherto to have been regarded as amply sufficient, although in the case of deaths in hospitals, asylums, or gaols an in-quest-is deemed necessary, as it no doubt is. As the result of these disclosures the whole matter is to be brought before the-onief Secretary, with the object of bringing the procedure at the Benevolent Institution into line with that pursued at the other institutions mentioned.

It has taken the good people of Lincolnshire a considerable time to make up their minds about raising a memorial to Lord Tennyson, who was born in that oounty, and who has perpetuated its characteristic scenery in some of his finest poems. It was, however, decided at a recent meeting in the Lincoln Guildhall to raise subscriptions throughout the county lor this purpose. The meeting appears to have been largely attended by "county people, and the financial success oi the movement- should, therefore, be assured. But it cannot be said that the speakers at the meeting, among whom were several personages of light and leading, rose to the occasion. On the contrary, theii remark,, preserved a decent average of triteness, and tne Chairman, Earl Brownlow, was frankly Philistine. He did not pretend, he said, to be any great connoisseur in poetry, but he admitted that in reading Tennyson's poems he felt that he could understand them, and that they combined grand thoughts and beautiful words. Even if he had been quite unable to appreciate Tennyson's writings a feeling of loyalty to so distinguished a Lincolnshire man would have induced him lo assist the movement for the erection of a memorial. He incidentally remarked that one of Tennyson's grandsons had lately exhibited the same feeling of loyalty in rather odd fashion. The boy had just come home from school, and was asked what he thought of his grandfather's poetry. "I don't care much about it," he replied, "but I'd punch the head of anybody who said it was not good." It appears that it was first intended to put a stained glass window in Lincoln Cathedral in honour of Tennyson, but it was felt that that would liardly be adequate, and so a statue had been decided. up-on. Mr _.. F. Watts, who was a personal friend of the poet, and painted a very fine portrait of him, heartily concurred in this idea, and said ..lie. felt he qould almost see Tennyson already standing out in bronze in Lincoln. If Tennyson had been an ordinary man his admirers might have cause to tiremble at the idea of a statue being erected in his honour, for the average English statue pt a modern man is a dreadfully inartistic object. But Tcnnyston was no "frock-coat, silk hat, and umbrella" man'; his was a most pictiuresriue personality, and a well executed statue of mm in bronze—the only material for such a subject—presenting him "in his fashion as he lived," with soft wide-brimmed hat and cloak, should be one of the most effective st-atues in all England. By the erection of such a memorial Lincolnshire -would atone for its tardiness in honouring one of its greatest eons.

A Tribute to Tennyson

The war correspondent of the ''New York World" is really a most enterprising man. It would have been an undoubted "score" lor his paper if he could have described how he helped to raise the Stars and Stripes over the conquered city of Santiago. This was put out of his power by the dog-in-the-manger policy of General Shafter, who seems to have acted on the unreasonable assumption that the men who had done the fighting should also share whatever glory was to be got out of hoisting the flag which signified their success. He ought to have realised that if it had not been for riome of the New York papers there would prob ably have been no war, and that for that reison the representatives bf those papers were entitled to any favours he had to bestow. But these military people bave no.fine feelings. The outraged correspondent, baulked of his rights but determined to have something sensational to write about, promptly struck the Geha__ in thd face. His arrest and deportation followed—another instance of the coarse way these military people have of treating civilians who offend the_B-*-~but the correspondent was probably satisfied, for by this time the "World" has no doubt made its appearance with a detailed and lurid account of the whole affair, bearing in letters from one to two inches in height, some such title as 'He Slapped Shafter!" As a matter of fact r he war correspondent has been pretty well treated by the authorities during this campaign. The Press Censorship was at first rigorous, but this was necessary to prevent information reaching quarters where it might do harm. Before the invasion of Cuba there were a_" least' a hundred war correspondents at Tampa, besides many others at Key West. Several of the prominent papers kept despatch boats of their own, and in the absence of news the war correspondents used to make excursions in these to Cuba and hunt up something to write about. -They would be landed at night, so as to evade possible Spanish interference, and would then pueh on into* the interior on foot until they joined the insurgents. They would spend a few days in the company of the latter, and then make their way back to the coast, where their boat would pick them up again. Oh one occasion three or four of these adventurous newspaper men, who had landed in this way, penetrated eignty miles into the island and lived for a fortnight on bananas. The game went on perrily until the Spaniards threatened that if they coma catch any of these pestilent individuals they would twjat them as spies, a fate whicu would have involved standing up Defore a file of soldiers at short range. This did a good deal to discourage even the ente"_*p_ising and daring American reporter from making l-econnais-sances in Cuba.

"He Slapped Shafter."