TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10239, 7 January 1899, Page 7

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

It is evident that the enTrophies thusiasm aroused throughout from England, when the news Omdurman. came to hand of the decisive battle of Omdurman, hoe not tot been lessened in any marked degree, Kitchener, whiile he remained in the count it, w>l9 made the object of such heroworship as must have been trying even to a man far less modest than tire Sirdar; and though Ire has returned to the Soudan, public admiration of the bravery displayed by the British and Egyptian troops in their final conflict with the Dervishes, seems as keenly appreciative as ever. This has been shown in the latest instanoe by the remarkable juccew which has attended an exhibition recentlr organised by the Royal United Service Institution, who temporarily added to their valuable museum at Whitehall a collection of trophies captured on the battle-field of Omtiutm;i:t. Whon this collection was thrown open to th« public view, crowds of people flocked to the historic banqueting halt, and museum, hitherto comparatively nejrlwtcd by the pubuc, immcdiatclv became one of tho most popular "sights" of London. Naturally the interest of the visitors centre* in the mementoes of the charge of the 21st Lancers. A group of ppcars of various sliapes and sizes, including on the one hand the blade, twenty inches long, eight inches broad, and keen as a razor, and on the other the barbed hunting ipear of the natives of Kordoftui, shows what sort of weapons tho Lancers rode into the midst of, facing with the same old stubborn courage odds of something like ten to one; and a khaki tunic, nil slashed and bloodstained, in which Lieutenant Brinton charged with the Lancers, gives si2ent tribute of the fierce and unrelenting character of that memorable struggle. Another singular memento is a little leather-bound missal, a Mohammedan book of prayers in Arabic manuscript, brought back by one of the Lancers on the end of his spear. It was the means of saving for a time the life of the Dervish who carried it inside his jibbah, for a lance thrust at him went half way through the book, which, remaining transfixed, was torn from its owner's breast as the British troopers galloped on. One more object of considerable interest is the metal top of the Mahdi's tomb, battered about by the fragments of the shells which the British dropped into the town. This is one of tho trophies of the 37th Field Battery, who have sent also a brass Krupp gun, supposed to have been captured by Dervishes when the army of Hicks Pasha was annihilated near El Obeid. The collection includes other guns, the dark green banner token by Macdonald's Soudanese brigade, exactly eimilar to the flag round which Yacoub's bodyguard made their last brave stand, some coats of chain mail, some head-dresses of Dervish warriors, and a number of jibbahs, as the cotton "overall" of the Dervish is called. If we judge of the trophies from their intrinsic merit, there is very little to see in them, and their value is far outweighed by the gorgeous sword of honour presented to the Sirdar by the City of London; but from the personal interest-surrounding them, theee worthless-looking relics are worta a good deal.

We referred, some time M of Moving ago, to the subject of Accidente." "deaths by misadventure"' in the animal world. Lately • contributor to "Chambers' Journal" has collected a dismal list of accidents to wild creatures, reported in Great Britain during the last few years. Those who meet with the least sympathy are probably the unfortunates who come to grief, as many do, from "over estimating the capacity of the gullet." A pheasant will occasionaHy try to swallow a mouse, and the owl's dinner is a choking morsel for this too enterprising gourmand. In one case, though the food here had not beso incorrectly chosen, a large water-vole was found firmly lodged half-way down to the crop of a dead heron. "This bird must have gulped down its prey without that preliminary eye measurement any ordinarily judicious bird would give." Many more bird deaths come from some accidental collision while travelling. Birds are both liable to panic, and inexpert in stopping themselves when flying at a high rate of •peed. It is then that they daeh themselves to death against any obstacle, or take what •eems like deliberate flight through the glass of a window. There is a Well known case of a wild duck coining into collision with the iron water pail a girl -was carrying. The dock was crushed almost out of shape, and the pail remained-deeply indented. An instance lately given in an American paper may almost match this. In New Hartford tl»re stands an abandoned church with a heavy bell still hanging in the steeple. Twice the neigubours were startJed by a muffled peal, and on investigating matters in the old belfry, the bodies of two fat partridges were found, both crushed out of Dhape by the force with which they had flown against the bell. Our chimneys cut «*>ort a good many innocent exwtences, as *°n» pigeon fanciers in Ohristchurch could tell; but it was an unusual accident when an English cormorant, during the hard winter of 1895, perched himself upon a chimney for warmth and in a weak moment peered down the shaft. He had not allowed for the *upefying power of smoke, and a moment afterwards "reached the bottom in a very ruinous condition indeed." Bicycles account w a good many accidente in the animal world, as well as in tie list of human casualties. One cyclist ran into a covey of partridges dusting themselves upon a quiet wed. One was kiUed, the wheel passing «*er ita neck. There is the record of a cat Joying to run through the wneel of * passing tocycle, and bringing a bad fall upon the jwer, wh£e it lost ita own life. Bat the hart story of cats and a bicycle we* told in the "Scotoma*" the other dky. Scorching aioag a countay rood, a wheelman came so suddenly upon two cats tiat one was run over and kiUed metanteneously. The other Just savednterff by a spring tfce.cyolktfs 7**' Where ifc **. being carried along iw a considerable distance before the pace slowed sufficiently for it to take ka departure proton to mourn over a fees agile friend. £***XT animals and birds suffer some accidente in the purauitof their T"*»-«*in "Mercelh" the poacher finds !*** * ° "*** borrow, and pull* out "a ™™W pus, wio on some happy hunt had C "*&* "*•W* «4 •■> perished And while one has bo **P«ial sympothv witt the mussel upon Jkch a s«d-piper suooeerfdlv makes his *°ncr there is something harrowing in £ ■"•«* of a bird found done to deatk by £ ' £ P Jili* "****• Asuddendo.be *> inexorable bivalve to *n» or ,

with all their The taAente, do net seem to have the-kreefc of acquking tern - tory. Latdy they have nft«w • i . cin *P 1 7 been jumping other peop*i ckant, witi tie natural rewlt ot •WKwart ooaoplicMtku. Thmn h*» him

enough friction at Shanghai to develop into an Eastern Version of the Faehoda incident if only some Jingoes could be got to work it up. The city of Shanghai, like all the treaty ports, consist* portly of the Chinese quarters, with narrow fiitihy streets, mean and paltry buildings, with quaint teat-like roofs, and alongside of them the foreign settlements, well laia out with good wide roads and with houses in a variety of Western forma of architecture. On one side of the Wang-poo is the French quarter; on the other Pootung, where the English and Americans have established valuable industries. Lately there hae been so large an influx of Europeans that all these settlements are becoming more and more overcrowded. Determined this time to get the start of the:r rivals, the Fronch were first to lodge with the Chinese Government a claim for extension of territory, backed by a threat that if they were refused, their war vessels at Nanking wot£d enforce theor claim. An argument of this kind has never been known to fail with the Chinese, and the concession was made. But they had included not only an extension in their own direction, but also Pootung. and a storm of indignation broke out among the foreigners. The British residents appealed for protection to their Foreign Office, the Americans sent their protest to Washington. Were" France really powerful just now she might pick a quarrel in the Far East as readily as in Africa, but. fortunately, her Government recognises the folly of rushing upon almost certain defeat abroad, whilst distracted witli strife at home. Should war, however, break out, part of the British programme will be the destruction of her power at Tonking, of her fleet in China, and of her right of interference with the Chinese Government.

It was in 1862 that the "All London's the Year Round," then un- " Pavement der Charles Dickens's manArtiste." agement, introduced as the liero of a Christmas story that "blighted individual in the art line," a London pavement artist. According to a paper in the "English Illustrated," he must then-have been quite a recent addition to London streets. One of the oldest men now in the business declares that a Paddy Keogh, who, about forty years ago sefc up his openair picture gallery in Ratcliffe Highway, was the father of the craft. But his success soon brought imitators, and the fashion spread from east to west until the pavement of Piccadilly blossomed out as in the "All the Year Bound" story, with representations of "Mount Vesuvius going it," supported by a ship in full sail, a shoulder of mutton attended by two cucumbers, and a bunch, of gripes under a rainbow. The trade has now so. far advanced with the times as to admit a feminine member. "The only woman artist in London, has her station opposite the Lowther Arcade, where she •takes about five shillings a day by her exhibition of work done fairly and honestly by her own hand. But the unfortunate artist of '62 still lias bis representatives. Too often, "the man you give the money to hires those works of art, and brings nothing to 'em but the candles." More especially is this the case, since a fashion has come in of displaying, instead of the chalked, pavement, moveable oil paintings, which may be packed up and carried off in times of rain. It) is stated that a round dozen of artists in London make a specialty of painting these daubs, and letting them out on hire at the moderate charge of "sixpence a day or two bob a week." By paying a slightly advanced price, the exhibitor may in the end acquire the picture, on the hire-purchase system, but this method is not popular with the craft. A scene having been exhibited for a few weeks and lost) its novelty, is of no more use in their eyes. The street artist's fortune depends chiefly upon catching the popular notice by some reference to the excitement of the day. Jubilee scenes or Armenian atrocities for instance, acquired now, would fail to draw a penny. "On the other hand, an enterprising peripatetic who recently pourtrayed on an Islington pavement a highly coloured and ditto imaginative picture of the destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet at Santiago, was rewarded with a record day's takings." With all this rapidity of genius, however, in their production, it is sad to reflect that the artiste show nothing of what Buskin would have called "fateful lines." Mrs Ewing"s "Jan of the Windmill," is not to be found in these days upon a London pavement. "We have heard of the great singer, the great violinist who began in the streets, but the romantic artist career which began on the pavement is still sadly to seek."