TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13427, 20 May 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Some interesting in-Gun-Kumiing. formation about tho

gun-running trade is given by the ''Standard. , ' All tho trade is eaid to havt> its roots in Europe. Tho rifles and guns are. purchased everywhere, and the traders do not confine their business to old discarded -weapons, but buy the, most up-to-date material from the best maters. Antwerp and Hamburg are tile busiest centres of the trade. At the latter place there is an enormous depot, from -which munitions of -war aro being shipped daily without proper enquiry or supervision. Tho requirements of the German Government are very simple. The shipper has to lecJare the country of destination, and deposit 10s per rifle as security. Upon receipt of a certificate from the German Consul at the port of destination, that the goods have arrived, the deposit will be refunded. So long as the arms are not destined for u.-o against Germany, tho German authorities apparently <\o not care -where they go to. It is therefore easy to get arms to the Persian Gulf, and once they are there it i.s simply a question of dodging British cruiser.-*. Until now this has been looke<l upon a< a business involving but slight risk, but there are indications that this risk will be much greater. H.M.S. Fox made two captures in a week recently. One of the dhows had ICOO rifles an,; 200.000 rounds of ammunition aboard, and another was found suspiciously empty, the inference being almost certain that a large consign raent of arms ha/J bo*n thrown overboard. Every form of rifle and machine-gun is adverti>ed in the trade catalogues. Large quantities of 1834 Mausers, with bayonet, can be had for ,6s 6d, and the Austrian MannIkher repeater of 1890 costs 32s &!. Even field iruns are quoted. £7000 per batten-. Th*> German exporter* will obligingly pack you out anything from revolvers to field guns, secure from observation.

Perhaps the average man Museie will lose VILS contempt

ior poetry until a great poet makes a <entury in :> test motch. Thnt day seoius far

«!i", though there are encouraging signs ot a clo.-i-r connection between literature and tho great sports of the Empire. Quite a respectable eleven could i-.> m>!< i.-to.; j rom IJriiLsh authors «.•:' to-

.lay- C. 1?. Fry. Oonan Doyle. Barrie, Ile.-keth-Pntchnni, E. V. l/.iras. ntui A. C Uf.y-.0v., for .vix. We do w* k:i-.>w whether Andrew Lang's prowesr. i> oi|u;;l to his ciuhu*ia>:y. In tl:e past. Imivi-ver. author.- h.ive s:<-t a> a rule been aihlctrs. In tin - - cour>e »'f

a very inievr.sting and at times diverting discussion at tin- Authors' Club the

other day it \vn> pointed out that Seneca observed that it v. ;..< folly for a man of

].>tier> to .indulge i" robust exerrise-. and indecent for him to exult in the :-tr«'P.gth of his arm or the V'loadth of his !>u'/k. The iitl-.icto and the author had ti r.det. to bwi'.if opposite polos of humanity. The athlete- lacked culture and tin- hlerary man larked inuM'le. 15: it 1:0 man eon id interpret the life Hi England to-da> who did not undeiv-tand why the people flecked to Lord's. and it is t'.ifiioiilt to imagine a man writing wcU about cricket who lias not played the game. To-day there an; element:- < ( an entente between literature an-i ,«pori. One speaker lool:«'il iorwuril tr> a time when such titles "Literary World' , and "Athletic World'" would he meaningless, hecause- e\vr> man would naturally write books and play game-! '"'[here is a j>o.s>il>ility." wrote tStevenson. "that literature is a morbid secretion and abhors health." Lγ! us hope it is not so. It t> ;in oi-.i brlioi" thac lins (lone iinmen.se Jiarni to lite-rn-ture and the t.ooner it i> killed the better. A.s for the literature of games, then- is plenty of opportunity tor the man with the tiitt of writing. A speaker at thr- gathering quoted the following from v report of a cricket match: — •'Oh let. this bo a warning to yon. my hright and beamish Brcrkwoll. A hall comes along fairly .shouting to he let alone, and you must have a gr> at it. What happen?': . Why Tunnicliffe. happens. Dear little Tunny puts out hLs dear little hands, and the dear littlo globule nehtle.s in them." Just compare this with the. account of the match in "Tom Brown" or on a lower plane, with parti of that delight of cricketer.-, "Willow the King." A correspondent 01 a Ttirki>h London newspaper Extravagance, gives an illuminating description of tho extravagance that, went- on in Adliul Hamid's palace. The writer mentions Imperial pipe-holders, Imperial light-carriers, Imperial cigarette box-holders, and when such office holdors were each ]>rovided with an assistant and a long tail of attendants, and such sinecures were multiplied several times over, it can easily he understood why tho total coat of tho upkeep of the palace stood at a high figure. The Imperial kitchens, for instance, employed some 240 cooks and 500 scullions. Twice a day they prepared about 3000 ''tables" or trays, rach carrying a dozen courses. Thxeo hundred attendants, bearing the trays on their heads, distributed them throughout tho palace: somo to tlie Sultan's apartments, to the harem, and to a ho.~t of sheikhs, sheriffs, and notables. The waste, extravagance and peculation that obtained there are beyond description. There is an «rmusing story told of a French cook at tho palace who is saidi to have asked for a- Jittle beef to prepare some dish for the Sultan.. He was brought an ox. On bis protesting that he only wanted a little, he was answered, witli a grin, that what ho did not require could easily be given away! 'The Sultan's stables were another pretty extravagance. Hundreds of horses, with an army of coachmen, grooms, and; attendants, lived in pampered luxury, some of tli€j retainers enjoying salaries that might, tempt a bank director. The harem, as may he imagined, headed the list of lieavy items. By the

'■'harem ,, is. comprehended! not only the Sultans wives—not pxnetly «i small number—but all sisters, daughters and rela'civos, with an odd thousand or so of ivoraen attendants and servants, who, by one pretext or another, luui succeeded in attaching themselves to tho palace. The ladies of tho harem kept very high State. Besides their negro attendants, they kept up a Court, with their ladies of this and , mistresses of that, as full and complicated as their lord , the Sultan's. Theso females by no niPtns stinted themselves ii) gratifying their costly tastes and in bedecking themselves in purple and. fine raiment every day. In fact, a* long os they could obtain money by hook or by crook. European and Parisian nru'eis ior magnificent clothing were, numerous; and tho jewellery they were in tho habit of weiring would cause own .some of their rich American sisters tc opeD their eyes Details might be multiplied to show what, a costly affair a Sultan (signified for his Turkish subjects. Apart from thi) amount he drew from his Civil List, Abdul Haniid ami the palace camarilla, as wo know, had been actively engaged in sweeping booty into their coffers from even , source whence it oould be stolen. The Turkish Reform Party did well in intimating to the Sultan an<2 his ''black horde"' that they were no longer ''wanted.'"