TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11010, 6 July 1901, Page 7

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The statements contained in. "ProUct, the letter from Mx 5, J. C. Your Own JtkyU, whach to publish is Property." another eoiosm, Mβ rather depressing to those who admire the result of the Beautifying Association's work, and look u> an extension of t? •s time goes on. Briefly, a large nnmber of the treta planted by the Association on the South belt, a dre*ry waste which needs beautifying as sorely as any thoroughfare ever did, have been seriously and, of course, wilfully damaged, while others have been pulled up by the roote. The Native G»rden, which has become a feature of the river bank between Madras and Manchester streets, has also suffered severely at the j hands of young barbarians. This, as Mr Jefcyll says, is naturally most disheartening j to the Committee of the Beautifying Association, to whoa© effort* to make the town brighter and generally pieasanter to loolf at residents and Visitor* alike are greatly indebted. It k> M th» more disheartening because one was encouraged to hope the public recognised the value of the work and appreciated its effects too greatly either to destroy it or allow others to do *o. Tlw Victoria Square garden has, thanks to the- Chrysanthemum Society, been a thing of beauty and a joy for the greater part of the twelve months for several years past. So far as can be- eeen it has altogether escaped the attention* of the larrikin and th« pilferer. Hitherto one has hesitated to attribute this immuaity to the strong but not insurmountable fence that surrounds it, but after the recent occurrences on the South belt and elsewhere the conclusion is almost irresistibly forced upon one that ♦Ie garden owes a good deal of ite beauty to the fence. It is, of course, impossible to put a poet «nd chain and <Jog-proof wire fenoe round every tree that the Beautifying Society may plant in the city, or every bit of garden by which they transform the waste places. Something must be left to the pubIk)? if they want trees a«4 shrubs and garden beds they must undertake some little •hare of the responsibility of looking after jfoem. "Protect your own property" should be the motto inspiring the attitude of all towards the work of the societies which are doing their beet to make Christchurch pretj <aer- Without this assistance theirs is low's labour lost.

Opportune at the present Radical juncture, when Royalty is and Prince, much in evidence and Radicals are airing ultra-demo-ciatio views, comes Mr Henry Broadhuist's autobiography. Mr Broadhurst is a w tilknown man at Home, as one should be who rose from the stonemason's bench to a seat in the Ministry, and who ihas a long record M a labour leader. He wae the eleventh or twelfth chdld—-he does not know which—of A stonemason living in an Oxfordshire village. In time there came to him what he terms the "inevitable and irksome restraint of education." It did not last loog, for after a few years at a private school, where for ; sixpence a -week apiece the echoolmaster thrashed the sijdinierjte of learning into the rather thick heads of the youthful cottagers, the young Broadljtirst passed from the restraint of education into that of working lor hj* Civing. It would take too long here to record how }» passed from the black.smith's chop, in which he spent Jfois thirtsenth year, jthrough his stonemason's career, and finally blossomed out as M.P. for Stoke-upon-Trent, and thence climbed on to the Treasury Benches for a brief tenure of office as Uoder-Secretary of State for the Home Department. He devotes a chapter of his newly-published autobio- ,. graphy <to describing hie visit to the King, then Prince of Wales, at Sandringbam. It occurred at the time when he was in the Ministry, and very shortly after some "neering inference had been mad* to his birth aed career by one who shoflld have known better. Tha invitation to spend a day or two at Sandringham was made 'twice before being accepted. Finally, "hearing that I mode it a rule not to dine out, and that I did not possess a dress coat, the \ Prince of Wales renewed hie invitation in a - form which/ aays Mr Brbadhuret, "I could not refuse without being guilty of unpardoaabCe booriehnees." The visit was en- -, tirely successful, pleasant alike to guest and , • bost. Mr does not pretend that . he did not enjoy this close acquaintance ,'. ' with Koyalty. "I epeat three dfcys at Bandringsham with the Prince and Princess, and I can honestly say * that I was never entertained more . to my Bking and never felt more at mn* wiaen paying ft visit than I did on ■ thi* ooweiou. On any arrival his Royal Highness .pewonaUy conducted mc to my worn*, made a careful inspection to see ttot all was right, stoked; the fires, and «W«, after satisfying himself that ail my *<utf» were provided for, withdrew and left mc for the ojght.-. In order to meet the effioulties in the matter of dress, dinner ""[M served to mc m my own rooms each right." The visit he paid with the Prince to eevenal of th© cottages on tbe estate . fT*** iiim exceedingly. He knew what wbpurers , cottages were too often like, and \ « appreciated the Prince's pride in tha ' comfort of his people as much as he did his ;.. *° *** cotta S ers » mA *he compCete I I*2J°* ftwn th * lr gratings to their Royal t. "w* of eaything approoching eervibty j. or bbeequionsness. The whole chapter is I n t inetructive acknowledgment, from one I '•'Tγ*' h ? *« c o^ ll merit, has risen abeo- ! ranks, of the courtesy an* ■i. .goodloeliog of Royalty.

\ n . „ T^ 2 ** must °c a v#ry large w Lftta. number of oat-lovera in imek* else an American lady % > TO.** have taken ih * trouble to write *'* It! 00 . <tevoted Bolel y to «*• treated from erttatic, domestic, and several I IT? ***** «*■»*•»■. The fondness for V Si COUrW, ITOrl<l - wi<fe . «Ed belongs to " " Tlw baby instinctively turns to I ™ fanily cat or kitten for amusement and <: , and learns too late from ' \ Si * paW8 ' c** «* lessons, that «£*** IM>t elv& y s whatth *y seem. Later ' bL i *** wcites m the small boy the pri- : J™ P*Mkra for the chase, which he inV J""** ™° m ** remoteet ancestors, Btill b <* the wme boy, grown to ; 6 ' to regard the cat as th& ; ' $**?* <* OT «»7 accident that takes place in i ttf» Qle ' Man ' ** fancy, "takes ' iL*?* ,, * he> * k* Ve *** same siting as he I I Tjwpiddng out the softest cuahkms and 2»ttugg«t chair near the fire, and he does *** th " P 61^1,, * 1 rei »Jndier of his own s ? JJJ"' T***. «t le*«t, is wltat feminine cat- %\ *S!!!!J* y ' when tha P* of tl» family is Tidl * ntl y out of the room. Yet c Wui^ have IoTCd catß, as w * u M th *y ?: «Zri ? own familiee, almost as much, i- 2L 1 to « they loved SSI" Mahomet , Colbert, Chateau- • fSrW TaBSO, B y ron ' Dr - Johnson, Pro- "**■ tofl2 UXky ' Pkrre Loti ' Bouthejr, Alger'i S. barce, hw * aU liked ate * and » in l>? hfcl*?**' <I<>ne tueir *° imn »°rI, r? tbeir 'wwerite*. The cat really ocSf'Smi gUit * * res P ectable Piace »n literature. ff k S* ff therein expressed for the firet X . h qoite different from the modern gEr.. Svif , * 1, I*"**- There are National f| " "«* » Eagkatf, America, and on the

i ■•..*■ Continent, The Baglkb CM*, ~W are told, was established to provide honesty in tlH> breeding of to ensure purity of descent, and to encourage the exhibition of them. It has its stud book and ite library of kexm«i referencer, its Wteriany'surgeon asd its "blacfc litt" TJ» ttcoxA lor highpriced cate Wongs, w« should say, to America, where for one lordly animal, Napoleon the Groat by name, £800 has beea offered and refused. A danghter-of this patrician ie valued at £300. We' learn, for the first time, that there are such creatures as "Australian cate," valued in America at £100 to £120 each. They are as beautiful and intelligent as they are rare and delicate, but, •inasmuch «3 it appears they are descended from Siamese stock, we fail to see why they should be called Australian. Mr Louis Warn is workl-famous aa a cat-lover. He k responsible for a Statement about the creatures which should endear them even to people who are apt to regard them as nuisances. "I have found," he says, "as the result of many years of inquiry and study, that people who keep cats, and are in the habit of petting them, do not suffer from those petty ailments which ill fleth is beir to. Rheumatism and nervous complaints are uncommon with them, and cat lovers are of the sweetest temperamjeat. Ihavia often felt the benefit after a long speil of mental effort, of having my cats sitting across my shoulders. , ' The author of the book we have referred to supports Mr Wain's statement, and adds that to her nothing is more restful and soothing after a hard day's work, than to sit with her hands buried in the soft fur of one of her cats. One of her friends has even declared that when she is troubled with insomnia, she can get sleep by holding one of her cats in her hand. We confess this is the first time we have ever heard of cats inducing sleep. Their power of keeping one awake is unfortunately too well known.