TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13162, 8 July 1908, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Tho accident to tho mailPrkle moth airship Ariel at lierkeand Icy, California, -iviH make A Fall, people very chary abo-it ■taking to tJhe air in ships. According to tho National Airship Company of America, tho Ariel was destinod to inaugurat-o a noir ora in-trans-portation, superseding steamers and railways. The prospectus was seductive. It sot forth a fascinating picture of how, in the immediate, future, passengers on tha Ariel would travel luxuriously in t.\venty-four hours across the American continent. Tho present airship, tile public were informed, was the forerunner of a far bigger one, which, to ensure the absolute safety and cojnt'ort of tho passengers, would have '"its lower section arranged in parlours, sit-ting-rooms, bedrooms, and 'hall, and equipped with special airship furniture as nicely as a palaoo." The cost of working tho air-liner was represented as small. "The expense of a trip f rom New York to London wdtt be only £175, or less than a farthing per pound, weight. We know what is required lo establish an aerial rapid-transit system —a few airships, a few smaH docks on towers, and , investment of a few dt>ilars." Tli© inventor was absolutely confident that tho balloon could not burst, and, indeed, that nothing could happen. "We are as safe as in- the battleship Oregon" ho assured tho nervous relatives of the nine passengers. "We will prove our ability to travel 150 mil's an hour. Our 'buoyancy is immense and indestructible. ,. Up roso the ship amid tho cheers of 50.000 spectators. Slio reached a height of 300 feet, and the order was given to start the engines. Scarcely had the ship begun to move forward, when tho • forward engine stopped, and the revolving rear propellers slowly turned the ship on end. The crew, with, the exception of <-ne man, lost their heads, and the passengers clung desperately to tho railing of the "platform. Then the "non-burst-able" balloon ripped, and tho vessel began to drop. As the gas escaped tho velocity increased, until, when the £>hip •was about 75 feet from the ground, the last, of the gas rushed out, and she fell to earth like a meteorite. Six machines and over twenty people were entangled in thousands of square feet of canvas, and scarcely one escaped injury. / Tho Vienna correspondent Traffic/ of "The Times" reports a in Httlo comedy of Orders. The Orders. German Princes who visited Vienna to congratulate tho Emperor Francis Joseph, distributed no fewer than 400 Orders. Among them was the Order of the Prussian Crown of the Third Class conferred by tho Kaiser on Dr. Woiskirchner, President of i ! ie Austrian Chamber of Deputies. Now tho Prussian Crown is itself a third-class Order, and the Third Class of such an Order would, "according to tho Byzantine calculations that govern tho distribution of these trinkets, be adapted for a police official." It is not surprising, therefore, that Dr. Weisicirchner, like the English ady given the Order of Cliastity of the Second Class, by tho Sultan of Turkey, should have declined the honour. There is an uncomfortable feeling in political circles, says the correspondent, that the Kaiser, in bestowing so insignificant a decoration, meant to administer a snub to Dr. WeLskirchner for his sympathy with tbo Prussian Poles. Tho '■Spectator" has sorao interesting comments on the incident. At tho close of such gatherings of Princes what can only be described as a Decoration Exchange is cstablisljpd-. ''The representative of this or that Empire or Kingdom leta the representative of a neighbouring Monarchy know that if he will be good enough to give two Crosses of tho Second Grado of tho Golden Owl, three Crosses of the Second Grade of the Order for the Meretricious, and four of the Third Gradti of the Cast-iron Throne, the proposer of the transaction will advise his master to make a suitable return with the. Orders of the Blue Rock and the Elephant and Castle." There is a rule forbidding any British public servant —soldier, sailor or diplomat— from wearing any foreign decoration, but it has been brokeu # down. The absence of Orders, which caused Talleyrand to say of Castlercagh, "My word, he is very distinguished!" has ceased to be the spec sol mark of leading Brit- \ ish public servants. Though it is to [ be regrettetl, acceptance of foreign orders cm hardly be avoided. When a diplomatist refuKs a decoration courteoesiv. pleading tho above rule, the,

Monarch in question appeals to the British Court-, -which has to choose between breaking a sound rule or offending a friendly, but sensitive, Monarch. It never occurs to the latter that the Briton does not want to wear "tbe decoration.

''Old" Tom Morris, the most Tom famous and most popular Morris, professional golfer in the history of the game, died the other day as the result of an accident, in his 87th year. There can be few club-houses in which his portrait does not hang. * Morris was born at St. Andrews, and lived there most of his life. As far back as he could remember he had a golf club in his hand, and at the age of eight he had few rivals. At fifteen he was apprenticed to the renowned Allan Robertson, and soon bega/i to earn distinction. In 18G1 he carried off the Champion .Belt, and was champion again in 1862, 1864, and 1867. Then a new star arose in the golfing world, his son, "Young Tom," and between them father and son held tho championship for eight years. "Old." Tom was a consistent cutrailt ior the open championship until the last few years, and his physical vigour was wonderful. He celebrated his 8-lth birthday by playing a match, in a gale of wind, against a crack player, and doing wonderfully well, and of lato yoars he frequently went round in scores ranging between 80 and W strokes. But it was his character as much as his golf that mado Tom Morris famous. It was the broad-minded, genial, kindly and courteous spirit of the man which endeared him so much to golfers. "Courteous to all alike," writes ono who knew him intimately, "he was as much at his ease in the presence of Royalty as when playing a match with his own particular crony." An English biographer says of him that long ago he justly earned, and to tho day of his death enjoyed, the full confidence and respect of an immense circlo of friends. "A great and good man," was how A.K.H.B. spoke of him, and ono who knew hi in when at tho height of his fame has left it on record that, "with his genial countenance, penetrating eye, imperturbable temper, unflinching courage, and indomitable self control under circumstances the most exasperating, he was an honour to himself and to the game which he has so much adorned." Morris, in fact, was an institution. He had a rich fund of Scottish humour, and many stories are told about him. "You've missed nao short putts the day," was his criticism of a sermon by a golfing divine. Tho late' Lieu tenant Tait once drove a ball through a man's hat, and had to pay 5s by way of compensation. Mr Tait tried to get Morris to act as •mediator, with a view to saving payment. "Ah, Master Freddie," was the reply, "ye may be verra thaukfu' that it's only a hat and no' an oak coffin yo hao to pay for." Asked his opinion on Sunday ,golf, he replied that if the player "did na' need a rest, the links did."