TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11944, 13 July 1904, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

It will be remembered that the PifoA Marine Court of Enquiry into Dennis, the wreck of the P. and 0, steamer Australia found Pilot Dennis solely to blame for the wreck of 'the vessel,' and that it recommended an annual medical examination of pilot* in future. The evidence given before the Court unquestionably shows that eufflcient core- is not taken to make sure from time to tirao that pilots ore physically fit, both as to general bodily health and as t© vision, for the important dutieu they are called upon to undertake. In his own evidence, Pilot Dennis etated that when, he froanled the Australia she was very high out of the water, and he had mi exceptionally long climb from the bottom of the ladder to the rail on the promenade deck. Towards the latter part of tin climb he experienced a good deal of trouble. One of his boat's crew told an interviewer that he had noticed this, »eeing the pilot sway from side to side. He thought at one moment that Pilot Denim would fall back into the boat. When he reached t<he deck, the pilot told tlie Court, he had palpitation of the heart such as he had never before experienced, although he had often felt fatigued after a long climb up the side of the vessel. Wh«n on the bridge, he gave his orders, and a« the vessel approached the light* they assumed an appearance they hod never presented before They were not clear-cut, but rather looked bushy, "like two huge stars almost touching each other.* After the disaster the Pilot was for a time like a man demented, and this state wae followed by one of coma, and heavy breathing. It was stated at the enquiry that • "it was only after the stranding that the pilot was seen to lose his mental balance." The doctor of the ship saw him, and stated at tlie time that his condition was ' ' •" due to illness, and not in any way to ■ -t drink. Dr. David Grant, who examined 1 him after the disaster, told -the Court that he had observed signs of enlargement of tlie heart and degeneration of the arteries. There were also indications of ch'rouio Bright* disease, which sometimes caused 4 injuries to deep-eeated parti of the eye, . _•■ although there was nothing of the kind in . '[ the case of Pilot Dennis.. "It tni pot- , • fiibl*," he said, "for some email hemorrhage | of the brain to occur without causing nore ' ■ t titan a very transient disturbance of con-. ' "I Bciousnesa and mental capacity." The ~'i doctor added that the pilot* bad health , 7, must have existed for some time, and . J would have been deteoted if proper ex* ~■> aminations had been made ia (he part few °" s jeara. The shock consequent on tthe '"■ disaster was quite sufficient to account for £ the pilot* eubwquent condition. Theriwa* ' | not.the remotest euggestion that he wm in- ' ,;'' toxioated. On the subject of vision, Dr.' .' ) Janes D. Barrett, a specialist, said that the - „• :■■■ pilot was »hort-eighted in his distant vision, ' ," '.* but hie near vision w«* good, fie we* groat- , Iγ defective in long sight. But it was , * quite a common thing for people to have , ? very defective vision without being'aware of it. All this.medical evidence emphaitot . 'V; the necessity for frequent periodical ex- ' ;- '2 aminationa of pilot* in order to prevent t' r them going on duty when they art quit* -- jl unfit te do io. . \ > The historic relic* which", by ' ' yk Another the death. of Mr Donald • ■' t<, Stuart. Stuart, of Auckland, hare come* '. > ; £i Belie, -into the hands of the Publio ' . s ££ Trnetoe in Wellington, hay* ,*? created considerable interest. The Stuart -■■„■■ relic—the dagger with' which Rixilo for eaad, .-. *= to have been attrackd par- . "-^' ticular attention, and ha* been inktatmen- . j,s tal in bringing to light another curious ._ v |. relic in/Wellington. Tlii* is a pieoe of ;v»* tepeetry "worked by Mary, Queen of Scot* ,"''" '^ henelf. It ia at present in the piwrminn' , ,",",; of Mr A. R. Hklop, of Wellington, who ' purchi*ed it from the late Rer. Donald„ sfs McLean, Presbyterian mmkter of Hun'p- , ' i"*|f den, Otago, over thirty years ago.- Mr yl/ McLean, it is etated, used the proceed* of ', !-j the sale for church work. The "New Zea-' ' ~\ land Timee" tells how it cant*'.into' hi* *V;f possession. It appear* that he hid a brp- ,' '-$ ther in Queensland, one Hugh McLean, }• $ who had been a cotton *pinner in'a large ' '"* %k yroy of business in Glasgow, and became ; s \;;| secretly engaged to one of tb.4 ladie* ot t , \ '$ the Duke of Hamilton* family. The Duke ; r '- •>}& refused hie consent to the union, and Hogfa ,] t V^ McLean, heart-broken, decided to *migrate/ ''^fl SeUing up hie biwinese, be left Scotiaad for • ${ Queensland, wliere he took up land. Hβ , £%jl wa« coon aft«r murdered "by aboriginaJ*. ; r^ Jost before he left Scotland hi* ladjr lovt ~ gave him tiw piece of tapestry in question, >'$ asking him to price it, am it had been t ,*>* worked by Mary, Queen of Scote, fduriilg ■ \"\sl her imprisonment. After hi* death "thi*, '•*s''. together with other effect*, wa* *ent to -' :}-\ his brother.in Otago. Tlie *übj«t of the /" ; tapestry i* a Royal wedding. When Mr . '^| J Hislop first acquired it, th» reatm«nt*, '"'^ crowns, and other .details were covered "' with" pearls. Since'then, however, the ["> tapestry bae undergone van'ou* vicmitnde*. * •* *~* In 1876 it was sent Home in charge of a ' J\ gentleman, who died in England, and for - ''/ a time tfie tapestry itraa Jost. When rt , - - \"''' covered tlie glass covering wa* broken antp r, ' a - almost all tlie pearls were gone, only a few * ' '.\ remaining now round the Qu«en'* neck. It was placed in the hand* of Messrs Christie, '< Manson and Woods, who made a eubrtlin- :.ij. tial offer for it, which, how<?ver, wn* de- < "^ clincd. It was then ient back to New &a- '-1' land. . A few year* afterwards it wn* ;j * again Sent to London in the care of tlie ".]' late Mr Charles Young, chief engineer of tv! tlie'Arawa, who wan able to get an offer .>]' of £2000 for it from" the late Colonel North', , " > ]i. of nitrate fame. Colonel North, however, ' Vi died before the negotiation* were compJet- '"'■£ cd, and once more it returned to tlu* part /j of the world. 'j r i ~~~~~~"• _jV$ A great tohunga »waca ~.*fl A Tohunga took pliwe quito roceatly f >;; i:SM«ce. in the Patea district, ot V« '!''. which e«me five hundred ' native*, including Mr Wi Pore, 31.H.P.,' v> and several; other prominent nnd well-eda- ; J cak'd natives from around Wangnnui, were j^ prtscnt. The "Wangonui llcrald" cent a spc'chl reporter to watcli the procteding.*, ,/;*; of which he supplies on inU-uatins occoiint , \jp tojlhis pap?r. It appears that the great , -<{ tofhtrja, whose reported marveljoue powtn , -';' r attracted bo miuny to the meeting, w oik >^| Wrjjsta, ''a moft ordV.ary-looking mdiviiliial, affable in dispotition, but wrtoinU *|^ V - Tnot'giving one the- impr«» - .on of being th , . r pttw&wr of cny strikiag qualities «i i^, powers. He tnay easily be distingui h<4 }$* from other natives hy a someivliat pn»fus« -,{$ amount of hair, which curls gnux-fuHy over T VJ; Iris foKlwad, hie cap being worn at the 'j& back of the head, to dm to difplay to the /<;|; best one of lus chief aitrac«

tiona." His following includes about a ample of hundred, amongst whom are a Hett number of dm;ipk*H. Tho tohunga seance itself wns preceded by a .Scrijiture jiddn-.«s, delivered by a Wesleyau minister of Maori blood, other We-sliyan minister being present. Then the diaciples, vlio number about twenty, rose tip from their ecaie, and took up certain positions. Some then folded their arms, other laid orw hand over the other, whilst others again held out their hands, as does a clergyman when about to pronounce the benediction. They then moved about in perfect silence in as myeterioue a fashion 13 possible, for the purpose of. overawing tho.«e around them. "Peering first on one »ido and then on the other, into the faces of the natives," says the "Herald," '"they R'ould select a 'subject' for operating upon, Hid it may here be remarked that the ■elections in every case fell on the followers of the would-be great and mighty toliutiga." Having found a subject, «ue >r several disriplea would lay hands «n Him. Meanwhile, a ferodoiis-lookintj man [)ifjductd a small Tjottle, a small quantity of its contents U-ing fcrved out to thus* -■' -who took p;irt in the ceremony. 'H»o "Wanganui Herald's" repreventative did iw/t/ get mi opportunity ti> simple it, mi he is unable U, «iy what the liquor was composed of. Another man carried round v, basin and towel, and sonio subjects washed in tho liquid. The whole eeance lusted an hour in perfect silence, and was fcrought to a close with the benediction flic "Herald" rei«>rt*r unhesitatingly condfiniiß the whole thing as "pure and vmudulterated humbug, ,, but when ho asked gome intelligent Maoris how they could be taken in by such a charlatan, they replied with the effective tv quoque: What about Worthington and Bowie? It ia interesting to note that a number of Defence Force tents and railway tarpaulins were used for the occasion.