TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11110, 31 October 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

President Koosevelfc is Stdiries one o£ those strong About the men about whom count-! New President, less anecdotes are sure ! to be set afloat. Ovr-' ing to\his romantic career he is a hero in j the eyes of aJI young Americans, and New j York ladies describe him as "quite a lovely j wan."' The popular verdict was voiced by a> coachman whose English passenger stopped to bare a look at tie new President : "Teddy's a grand fellow." A corres-' pondent of the London "Times" describes i him "as resembling the Evelyn Baring of !

[ ISB2> quick, inipatient, and impulsive, with ft look that says, *"I Jbiow what you are j going to say, and will i tell you where you BTO .wrong," and with a general manner that implies', "I and Providence are one." ■As a boy "Teddy , BooseveTif'was delicate l and weak-sighted, &sd consequently looked down upon by all school and college mates, who did not know- of what stuff he was - made. One Story of Jiis> Harvard days tells how the sickly-looking fellow severely I drubbed a large and muscular student, % ; notorious bully, -who had challenged him. Ito a boxing match, but who had to take to his bed for a week when it was over. ■ On another occasion, when lie was roughing ! it'out in Montana, h* gave a still mors , severe lesson toa tall, strong ruffian, known ' ,as Long Ike, -who had tried' to impose ou him in a prairie saloon. Rposerelt sprang on him. like a wild cat, threw liim to the floor, turned, him over like a cat playing with a mouse, stood him up, and taking away his revolver ran him out of doors, j Iks returned, but the second bout left ; him too dazed to continue the fight. The greatest achievement of Roosevelt's youth, , however, was killing the biggest wild bear , in Dakota. He went, out with a cowboy, ' and when the latter was about to fire, called out, "Don't shoot that bear! That's my i bear. Til shoot you if you shoot him!" The cow)>oy lowered his gun, and Roosevelt "afterwards compensated him with a.j present of a silver-mounted Winchester and a "pair of the finest corduroy breeches ever, seen in Dakota. He is a born fighter, and two of his popular sayings are, f 'The highest type of success in life is the result of strife,*' and "Aggressive fighting for the right is the greatest sport the world : knows." He has shown something of the; aggressiveness for the right in his public ■ career, and already in his brief term of i office as President has said and done some v=ry bold things—&.g., his invitation, of Booker T. Warhirigton to dinner, and his declaration that he meant to disregard j party politics. The plutocrats rather mis- j doubt him. One influential man ia reported, to have said: "Wβ forgive Teddy a great deal for his absolute iionesty," but another more dubiously gave his, opinion that •'When Teddys done with- America it will want another Christopher Columbus to find what's left of it."

The Deportations CornCompensation -mission appointed by the Claims. British Government to investigate the claims made for compensation in connection with the South African war has apparently completed its labours. According to a cablegram published yesterday, the British Government, "as an act of grace," has allotted £69,559 as compensation for all the foreigners, excepting. Hollanders and Frenchmen, deported from South. Africa, Germany receiving £30,000. Under International latar every State has the right to expel from its territories aliens whose presence therein is considered dangerous, whether in peace or war. In war-time, as was pointed ,out during the hearing, of the compensation claims last month, the exigencies .of military operations render ifc impossible to give individuals long notice to quit, or furnish them with the amenities available in time of peace.. All that can be expected is that- the expulsions shall not be conducted unreasonably or capriciously, or with unnecessary hardship. It was contended by the British Government . that the foreign subject of a neutral Govercment who. continued to reside in the country of a belligerent must submit to the inconveniences incident to' the prosecution of the war. Ths great difficulty inthe work of the .Commission, was that of defining a. limitation for which compensation .should fee -awarded, and- the persons upon whom, the defraying of. the compensation shall fall. When* material and direct injury had been, suffered, only tb-ise claimants who .came .before the Court, "with clean hands," and who had obeyed the reasonable . and proper orders oi the military authorities, were adjudged ±<f have any right to compensation.' It was .further pointed out that in time of peace sufferers by accidental injury, lostj, or damage, had no claim agains£ the State, _ and in tame of war they cauld expect ho "better treatment, as liability to compensate was not incurred by the ordinary operations of war. It is interesting to note that after the Franco-Russian war in IS7&7J, the Commission appointed to compensate those who had suffered received 10,000 claims, representing one hundred and- five million francs- Of these ,7000 claims were, admitt- | ed, amounting to forty-seven million francs, 1 and the award for the Commission wa« t twenty-five million francs—less than half 1 the-amount which was admitted. Only } thore claims -were admitted material and direct injury • had been suffered, and it was laid down 1 , as in the present instance, that the compensation was awarded solely as an act of grace. The proposal to run a - New York line of turbine steamers in across the Atlantic; has Ninety Hours, been in the air for some time, and a cable message now states that an American compmv has been" formed for .the purpose, j with a capital of thirty million dollars: The steamers will be fitted with turbine engines, fed with oil, and it is expected that the passage across the Atlantic "to Ireland will be made in a little over three and a-half days. There is, on the face cf it, no reason why an in vent ion which made the torpedo-destroyers, Viper and Cobra, the fastest vessels in the world ■should not accelerate the progress of an ocean liner. At any rate, the experiment ,is now to be tried*, Hud there is reason to believe that it will prove successful in lowering the trans-Atlantic record. It is j not stated whose turbine engines are to

be exploited, but it is possible that the reference is to the invention of lieutenant J. Weir Graydon, the American who designed the Great Wheel in London. His turbine engine has been favourably regarded by several of the leading shipping engineers, and one of the big trans-Atlan-tic shipping companies actually made the inventor an offer, which apparently fell through on a question of terms.. Another project cf a similar-nature was mooted recently by the company owning the Parson's turbine, .which has offered to put a complete set of engines into a Cunard liner, free of cost, by ■way of demonstrating the capabilities of the system, Ifc -was also announced not long ago that the' Atlantic Shipping Company waa negotiating for the construction of some thirty-knot turbine steamers, with vrhieh, using Texan oil as fuel, it was hoped that the voyage from New York to Bremerhaven would be made in four days. It is estimated that £800 worth of 'oil will suffice for a voyage. This is £1120 less than a supply of coal, with equal driving power, would cost, and there will also be a- saving of £440 on stokers' wage* eacu trip. Mention of ; stokers raises A question worth considering. ' On the Great Eastern Railway oil locomo- , tives have for several years proved their j value, despite the cost of bringing r-he fuel J over-sea. Firing with, toil is a purely nie- [ chanical operation, and as oil replaces coal the tendency will be gradually to relejjate the stoker's terrible task to ma- . chinery. The change,is not likely to come I so quickly that the labour market will nob [ have time to adjust itself to the new con- , i ditions. ' I