TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13009, 10 January 1908, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A very important decision Tho of tho British Army OunFised cil on the subject of rifle Target. >hooting is announced. The Council hold that bull's-fyo. fOiootimg, although an excellent method af - training a man to aim straight and steadily, is unreal, nnd that after the. soldier ha.s undergone three years. , preparation at tho fixed target any further expenditure of ammunition at such targets is useless and wasteful. Tho Army Council object to tho programmes of riflo c.lu-hs on the ground that they encourage a stylo of shooting un.suited to active service conditions, and tDio now regulations issued by tho Council aro ''intended to govern, the conditions of all nicotinics towards which assistance is given- from fhe pu.blic funds." This will affect the Bisley meetinK, and volunteers are now asking whether the King's Prize is to bo shot for by tyros, ox whether it ie to go to tho man who is best judge of distance- and can maintain tiho most rapid and accurate firing at unknown ranges. Tf the Council is going to insist on its decision beinff carried out to tho letter, an enormous sum will havo to bo provided in England for now rifle ranges. Tho attitude of the Council is mudh criticised, The "Daily Telegraph/ deolaree tiiat statistics show that tiho man who makes a study of light and wind, and oxoels in bull's-eye shooting, can readily apply his knowledge to service, conditions. 'In six oompeititionß at Bisley, arranged on. service lines— come of the targets appearing for not more than three seconds at a time—it ds shown tbut tho bulk of the prizes went to mem who had been awarded 'badges for their prominent positions in the Queen's and King's Pri7«e oonteete." Shooting men- interviewed by the 'Telegraph/ , aro stiron&iy opposed to the mew scheme of training. It is contended that owing to Iwtik of facilities, the proposals, instead of making marksmen more efficient, will 'have exactly the cgjposite result. Tho circular is also oriticrieed in Australia, but it is thought by some that something is needed to rouse rifle clubs from tlheir apathy as regards service matches. Aβ a proof of this apathy the "Argus" mentions that only about a dozen cltibe are competing for Mr Donald MadkinnoTr's trophy, tho conditions in connection -with wSiidh are field-firing at unikiwwß? distances and disappearing targets. Competitions at fixed targets attract double tho number of teams and oampatitarß. Attempts made to carry on sertmoe*ehooting clubs have not been successful, and have created but little interest.

Theprobabiliiy of Crosby A Hall, in London, a place Nation's of great architectural Treasures, beauty and historic interest, bfring; lost to the nation, leads the Panis corrofjpondent of the ''Daily Chronicle" to point out how much, bettor they mana/ro •these things in France. In the preservation of objects of (national interest Franco sets an admirable example to tho world. The. nation has ibeen spending money on such objecte for over 70 years, arid to-day the animal expenditure under this head amounts to £200,000. In France "Monuments Historiques* , is a comprehensive term, for in it are included the Cathedral of Notre. Dame and mogalithic remains in Algiers. Tho procedure is very simple. A Government inspector in £ho course of his trawls comes across a church with a magnificent door, a beautiful baptismal font, or an abbey with a tower that is areha?otagically priceless. Ho reports his discovery as worthy of preservation-, and the Government asks the owner if he will concent to his treasure being classified as an historical monument. If tne owner consents, tho Government, after consultation wit.h ite architect, makes a money grant for its up-ikeop. Occasionally tho Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts exercises his prerogative of expropriating a property on tho ground of public utility. iShwild tho Government subsidy bo accepted, the property, "whether it be a stained glass window in a little country church, or a chateau nf tho TU*naissanco. can neither ho sold, repaired, or restored without the approval of the Government. The vigilance exercised by the Department was ebown in the case of the Church of Saint Oven in Eouon. one of the hiost beautiful examples of the Gothic styl*> in Emrope. Tho Government voted a large sum for its restoration, and during the progress of the work the Olnireh Committee nlated a number of statues in 'the olicir and the nave. Tho Government export condemned these as disfiguring to the mediaeval interior, and the .subsidy was withdrawn. .After a Ions; and bitter controversy, the committee yielded, and the statuew were r«movfd. Over 8000 monument* are now under the control cf State. "The money

needed for tihe work is cheerfully voted

by the Chamber, and no deputy, whatever be his political leanings, has been found to question the annual subsidy that keeps do&ecrating hands off the monuments of his country*-" It has been suggested that Groat Britain should have a Minister of Fine Arts, but it seems to bo a fixed British belief that the State should not concern itself with art.

A writer in the "SydGeneral ney Morning Herald" Knowledge, discusses a general knowledge paper set at a well-known Sydney school, and makes some shrewd remarks on the subject, ot general knowledge, which he compares to a plateau, out of which rises tho peak of specialism. If a boy could identify Mark Tapley, Dr. Watson. Bill the Lizard, Amy Robsart, Shylock, Captain Starlight, and Mrs Malaprop, be would have a very creditable knowledge of literature. One question is nautical, as befits a maritime people, the boy being asked to name the kind of sailing vessel which answers each oi the following descriptions:—(a) Three masts, tho main and foremast square-rigged; (b) two masts, both square-rigged; (c) three masts, the foremast only squnre-rigged; (d) two masts, tho foremast square-rigged; (c) three or more masts, all square-rigged. "We wonder how many inhabitants of this, one of the. largest ports in tho world, could answer ■♦hose five questions correctly, and yet they must have seen counties* barques, brigs, barquentines, brigantinoft, and ships. It is a curious thing that the oyo only feos what it- is trained to tseo." Dr. Watson did not know hoAv many stops led up to his flat, but Sherlock Holmes did. The one man was not in the habit of noticing things, and tho other was. The faculty of noticing things is stimulated by this paper. No lx\y who was not observant could assign tho difforent-colourod funnels soon in Sydney to tho right lines. Ono question dealt with current events—the Antarctic Expedition, Wollman's baJloon, the M.C.C. (easiest of questions!), the Driice ca.se, limericks, and the Newcastle strike. Tho l>oys wore also invited to say what titles corresponded to Mr, Mrs, and Miss in France, Germany, Portugal, and Italy, to give tho names for a Mohammedan Holy War, an anti-Jewish riot in Russia, a French hospital, a white man in authority in India, an animal or plant that lives on another, animals that have no backbone, and animals that oat grass, to name the author of "The Ri.«o of the Dutch Republic," "The French Revolution," "The Conquest of Peru," and "The Inferno," and to state the national songs of the United States. Ireland, Wales, France, and Germany.