TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12507, 21 May 1906, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The reported re-opening The Cornish of many of the Cornish Tin Mines, tin mines on account of

tlio boom in tin (which, by tho way, seems to be bursting), recalls tho Rev. S. Baring-Gould's account of this very old industry. The formation of the country where tho mines occur is described by Mr Baring-Gould in a. diverting simile. "I remember," he says, "being at a Iμ 11 many years ago at that epoch in the development of woman whon her 'l>ody' was hooked along her dorsal ridge." A stout lady, un adapted to take violent exercise, insisted upon dancing, and an explosion was the result. ''Hooks, eyes, and buttons yielded, and there ensued an eruption of subjacent material. In places tho fastenings held, so that the tumescent tinder-garments foamed out at intervals in large bulging masses. This is precisely what took place with Mother Ear Hi in one of her gambols. Her slate panoply gave way, parted from N.E. lo S.W., and out buret the granite, which had been kept under and was not intended for show." The great mass of Dartmoor, the Bodmin Moors, Itedruth and Camborno, Land's End, and finally Scilly, were erupted as successive hooks and eyes gave way. Granite likewise cracked, ejecting other molten granite, which formed dykes. And as tho tatin of the lady's "body" also yielded, revealing what was understood to be the lining, co when the granite broke forth a bastard granite, known as "olvan," was extruded, which took with it tin and copper, forming ''lodes.'' According to a West Country legend Joseph of Arimathea, taught by the Child Jesus, was the first to treat Cornish tin, and quite recently, when the metal was flashed, the tinner cried, "Joseph was in the tin trade," which it is suggested was probably a corruption of "St. Joseph to the tinner's aid." In the days of Augustas, merchants traded to Cornwall for tin, but there is no evidence that the Romans worked tho metal (luring their occupation. From Norman tinien till Elizabeth's day, tin mining was an important industry. The machinery employed in extracting i!ie tin had reached perfection when

"(he need of any ceased in Cornwall and Devon, where- n««rly nil mines had been abandoned. Baroa tin can be raised >o much more cheaply, being surface tin, that lode tin cannot compete with it m the market." The statement and the explanation are again the Rev. S. Baring Gould's, and are made by him in his delightful work, ,; A Book of the West. ,, written some years ago. A secondary explanation given by him for tlie partial extinction of tho industry is the dishonesty of company promoters, which caused the public to become very s-hy of investing capital in tho mines.

A theme dear to garA Lily-white den eesayists is tho Farm. charm of the "white garden,' , one of the loveliest examples of which in England has also an appropriate legend, concerning a grief-stricken maid, who choeo that all flowers surrounding her should be ns colourless as her sorrowful fate. But quite as notable is the experiment now being earned on in the "White Farm," at Crichel, where. Lord and Lady Aiington have extended the principle of colour exclusion to animals and birds as well ns flowers. All the farm work ie done by white horses; white cows supply tho milk; white, fowls, geese, and pigeons flock together at feeding-time, and the white turneye are valued not only for rarity, but as much lees quarrelsome «nd unmanageable than the evervrfay "bubblyjcck." White cats, white dogs, whHo rate, white guinea-pigs, and white owls, are amongst tho attractions of the place, which boasts also more iemarkable guests, such a*? a white- Egyptian zebu, a whitb yak from Thibet, and a beautiful silver peacock, a gilt to the farm from the Sultan of Turkey. If tho traditional white cow browsing along a country lane accounts for as many stories of the supernatural :ir liavo been ascribed to her, it would bo a still more nerve-trying ordeal for a stranger, approaching this farm by night, to find all the creatures in every

field fronting him ii.us glimmering ghosts! Ghosts, by the way, should be really plentiful, if animal deaths evolve them, for Crichel experience has confirmed the theory of unusual mortality amongst light-coloured animals.

"In the sun, he melte like butter; In the rain, he melta like nalt"— is tho proverb of certain Arab trtbe.s against tho white horse; and it takes a good deal of anxious care to keep up the distinctive character of thk snowscattered But "Tho World and his Wife," in a recent page on this experiment, reports eager visitors from all countries seeking out and admiring the "White Farm." .Possibly colour-fann-ing may be the hobby of tho future. The "Red Farm" might, work out brilliantly with high-coloured poultry, tor-toise-shell cats, red cows, and the brightest bay horses; or some agricultural pessimist express himself in funereal fields reserved for birds in sable, and tho blackest of black sheep.

It is pathetic to noto The Death of how tho death of ColColumbue. umbue, 400 years ai*o

yesterday, passed unheeded by tho world. The discoverer of tho New World died in Volladolid, in. a house which in still shown to tourists, and his last words are said to have been, "Into Thy hands, 0 Lord, I commit my spirit." A ema.ll circle of relatives and friends mourned "his death, amd "tho tale of his departure," says a historian, of our day, "came like a trough of wind to a few others, who bad e?en no "way to alleviate a misery that merited their sympathy." But "the King oouid have, but found it a relief from the indiscretion, of his early promises. The world at large thought no mere of the mcurnful procession which bore tliat wayworn body to the grave than it did of any poor creature journeying on his bier to the potter's field." In 1493 learned men cried for joy over Columbue's discoveries in 1506 a chronicler like Peter Martyr, who wrote five long letters full of gos-ip and news from Vallad'olid juet at the time of the discoverer's death, and who had frequently written about him in former years, mado no mention of his death. The history of tho remains of Columbus is tinged with doubt. They wore removed to Seville, where they lay till about 1541, when they were removed to the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, in the Island of Espaniola, it being supposed that Columbus had expressed a wish to rest there. But it was not till 1676 that any record was made of the interment. When in 1795 tho Santo Domingo end of the island was transferred to France, the Spanish authorities removed what they held to bo Cduinbus'e remains to Havana, but nearly a century Inter the Bkhop of San Domingo and his adherents claimed that the remains wore still in the cathedral, and that it was the body of his son Diego which had been removed. When Cuba jrt'ent out of Spain's hands tho suppiead 1 remains were removed to Seville, where they now rest in. a epeci-alry-constniotcd mausoleum. There is little, doubt that there are descendants cf Columbus to-day, but the maJe line terminated with the third generation and the estates and titles parsed by marriage to a scion of tho House of ,Bragonza. A historian, writing some years ago, stated that the last in the line of euoccssicin to the title and estates was born in 1878, and, curiously eaiough, had Basque blood in his veins. "The blood of Columbus, the Genoese, now minglee with that of the hardiest race of navigations of Western Europe, and of whom it may be expected that if ever earlier contact of Europe with the New World is proved, these BaeqiKe will be foiijid forerunners of Columbus."