TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13558, 20 October 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

_.aid Belton, tho , An _n|llshnian English officer who j Iri was appointed ty Morocco. Mulai Hafid torn- 1 mander of the Moorish troops-. last year, has fourid the atrocities practised by his master too much for h_ stomach, and has resigned. Bis- written protests produced no effect j and an a*ud—-rice w_S reftised hiiri. A threat of resignation produced only an" i offer df an e-ftendcd contract and more | pay. At his fast o_cial parftdo at Fez, j ninety-three- human heads were held [ up* before'the Sultan on the ends of [rifles, and later in the l day the right hands of twenty of the Pretender's officers were cut off and taken to Mulai __fi_ on a tray. The- Raid speaks' of the fortitude of tho men as superb. Not ofie of thO mutilated men uttered a sound when the stump of the arm was plunged inte boiling oil, which was done to stop bleeding, and not By way of further torture,. "One prisoner, having stretched c-tft his right arm arid suffered the* mutilation, walked over to the cauldfott of oil, which was placed on * fire. The riiari' ha_ a cigarette beWe-*" his ftps, >rid white the stump of his arm was l plunged iri the boiling liquid he calmly stooped and lighted his cigarette; at the flames \" When 300 ffi«#6,he«d* K&A been brought the Kaid tiiade' another fruitless attempt to' see the Sriltariy arid -then left the country, ine Ministers dare— not interfere, for fear of losirig their own heads. This ydurSg Englishman tel_ an interesting srtory throwing light on -the Sultan's attitttder td*ward_ the f refleh; wife df a; Spanish dentist employed ty the S—tdh glay€d- so_o airs on the piano to Mtffai Bafid, an 4 the" following dia"legno"—io_ placO-:— ■ Saitahi H li—? that £iece> What is ii c&\U& r '~„.. • ... ■ Dentist: "That" is 'The March of Cadie,' your Majesty. It was written io commemorate thff.'driririg out of the French from Spain." , _ Sultan (surprissd):-"What I Were the Fi*ricH ever; iri Spain?" . . . - jfentislr: 'Tes,- your Majesty." gftltart: *_xjw many of theriiP" Doritist: "About two hundred thotite_a*." . Sultan: "Twd . hu'ridfed thohsaud 1 Arid ye-fi drove* them eat?" • _c_tist:"Yes, your Majesty, every ■*»_•"' "* , .Therft was o slight pause, and then the Snltari said" quietly, "Just play it again." ; The day may come when, a— fugitive from Fre*ric_ bayonets?, Mulai Hrffid will learn* that there W-j 4 person called mllihgteri, ' , ; tit. was irietitablo that fr**-l«f*-' the Coofe-Peary quarrel < # *ft»l—j _MJuh£ inspire articles on '~../''.'. travellers' tales. A collection published in the "Daily Expfe—f'" rfitfg-t frflrii tha eighth eehtorj to dd Rtragemo_t; The renowned Marco Poio recorded that certain islands'—y 16 faf ridrth iri the. Northern Ocean; __t bhts } gd_:g*hi —isr, Actually left the Pdte 6t£r" a trifle behind to the south, and Maundevillo told of a sea of aand; that ebbed and flowed in great waVes, &M codtaine"d '-flight good fisli 6i iriloiSt doheiatlS eatirig." In I Charles it.'s reign the great hydrographer Moson was assured by a Dutch I skipper that h© ha_ siiled two degrees I beyom ifie Ntirtii P"oie. Some of the steteritente made by James" Bruce, the Abysslfiiah divided the country: ihta Sfac-tes arid aati-BruOeites, 1 tritich is America is divided into stipportiSfs dl Cook arid supporters of iPeiry. feoplfe found it hardest te believe" that *&§ _by_Maris ate live flesh, a stateni—it that inspired the lines Mi have I Btse_ where men—what IcSs, Kill half * «W, t£e_ send tbe rest to "fNus. Bruce Wai sribjfected te some acute cte-MJxatiiiriatittii, " cri atriusjag instance} of which _ described iri" the ttogfap_y" of "the"A g^rit-_an dried "bitintjy oW served that it was nbt possible that the flatif-t df ABjrssitiia dotild eat raw meat! Bfu€o s_id not a word* hut, leaving the ro—U, shortly retrarnod froth the kitchen with _ piece of rriw bfeefsteak* peppered, and salted in t_e Abyssiniatt fashion, 'Yori'll eat thatj sir, Or fight mcl' he sitd. When the gentleman, had eaten up thd raw flesh, Brace calmly observed, 'NOW, sir, you Will never a"gain say it is Impossible V " Captain Lawson, Who startled Europe with taks of Madagascar, believed iri adofnfnent Of at story with, impressive detail. He had se*m spiders of ox-like propdrtiO—i that biuit Webs of ropes and fe_ on lai-ge birds; he had found the hofrea of a bokny of dead giants i wihd must hare been forty ieib high; he told of a waterfall beside which I Niagara was a stream from a roof

spout. The day of travellers' tales Of tins description is. however, quickly drawing to an end. When all the world is known, the Munchai_ens and de Rotigemouts will have no audience. There is a chance for Wanted, the ambitious man to a make a name for himVocabulary, self by giving to the world a vocabulary of apt terms to describe the new art of fjving ar.d a'-l thnt pertains thereto. The s-crb has como upon ua so suddenly "that, as a London writer points .out. the resources of the European languages have been called upon in vain to meet tho new situation.'ln the first place, ho points out, there is the name for the machines themselves. The simple term, "flying machine," confuses aeroplanes with dirigible balloons. The description 'heaveir-than-air-machines'' t-j differentiate between an aeroplane and an apparatus supported in the air by a gas-bag, is altogether too awkward for every-day use. "Aeroplane" has no poetry in it. It simply describes what the machine plane, or series of plaucs, thrust through tho air by a motor. The words "triplane," "oiplane," arid "monoplane"' merely distinguish between different types of machines. Another difficulty arises, "suggested by the contests at Uheims, to fix upon a term for v • the open spaces upon which tho r.erial contests take place. "Aerodrome,' - which is too clumsy, "aviation ground," which is fully descriptive but not clever, and "aerial racecourso, were some of tho words used by despairing but they are atl open to objection. The word "aviatoriura'' nas been suggested, and "aircourse,'' which is an improvement, .but does not fnily meet the case. "A brand-new word is ' what is wanted—a word that will suggest tho new which is with us, a word that will convey some idea of tho Strangeness of the groat flat expanses which are needed as the playing ground of man's new aerial steeds."' * But there is confusion worse confounded in attempts to doscriba the men who control tho aerial machines. Tho term "pilot" is clurig to with desperation. It, hcnvevcY, suggests nothing unless one prefixes it with the- word "aerial." "Pilot" expresses the slow, sure method of tho bearded man who brings a vessel up the Thames. It does not suggest the keen-eyed individual, keen as quicksilver in nis movements, wbo 6its at the lever of a rushing, swerving aeroplane. "Aerial jockey" is a brilliant inspiration, and is occasionally lised. But tho term is an ugly one, and there is really nothing to commend it. ''Flying mail is simple, and follows the advice of.the' maxim, "Call a spado a spade." But one cannot help feeling that the word is used merely for want of a better one.