TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 13937, 10 January 1911, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Sea pirates aro no more, Mutiny save in parts of the China at seas, and mutinies are rare, Sea. but for all that the officer in the merchant service never knows when a "straight right," Or a littlo dexterous play with a revolver may stand him and his comrades in good stead. Tlie British cargo steamer Clan MaeLean made New York the other day with a strange story of mutiny that is a case in point.' The Clan MaeLean, it seems, had a crew or Lascars, who were so lazy that th© captain dismissed them at Gibraltar, and took in a crew of Spaniards TJiifertuhateiy tfie Spaniards W-ere a good deal more objectionable than the Lascars. They were lazier, and while the Lascars were passive, they were violent and fituper. tiVe. Orte of t'.eir number, nicknamed "The Pirate," who spoke English, became the leader of the revolt, early on the voyage to the States. "The Pirate" told the uen that tney were bound for America, Where nobody -worked, and advised them to do as little as possible until that country -was reached, when they could desert the ship for the Cah'fornian mines, where untold treasure awaited them. The ignorant Spaniards took this all in as truth. Day after day they met and talked iv the forecastle, sang about rum and freedom in the true Stevensonian manner, and at frequent intervals went aft to demand increased rations from the officers. The captain and his. mates drove them forwarfi wl_.h revolvers again and again, and finally compelled tlibm to work. When the ship came within sight of the Delaware River, wliere she was to await orders, the mutiny broke out. The Spaniards went forward to the officers' quarters, and announced that work was disdainful to them. They pointed to the shore, and .said that they were in America, and would do as they pleased. But when they made a threatening move towards the officers, Kerr, the second officer, felled the leader with a blow of his fist. Th© other Spaniards advanced, but Kerr knocked them down lik" ninepins. The captain and mate stood ready to assist, but Kerr (says the "Daily Telegraph's" correspondent) was apparently a match for the entire gang. Eventually they were drten back to their quarters by tho firing of revolvers, and confined there until the ship reached New York. Tho officers had to work the ship themselves, and had considerable difficulty in making port. Those who saw "The Sociable Admirable Crichton" will Socialism, remember that the Earl of Loam was pleased to dabble in Socialism. Ho believed I strongly in ©quality; being an

> Earl, and having a largo in- -. com-, he could afford to. Ho , insisted on entertaining his servants to afternoon tea in the drawing-room and " making his daughters hand round the tea and bread and butter. It was a 1 charming idea, but unfortunately the I beauty of it was rather tnarred when , one of the lady's maids noticed that . the nnder-kitchen maid had been given precedence over her in the distribution of tho refreshments, and openly protested against such low discrimination. ' America has a city that is going in for ' a similar experiment in Socialism on a '■ larger scale. There is ft certain beer - that is billed as having made Mil- : waukee famous, but if the Socialist adt ministration of that interesting city t goes on as it is doing, the beer will ' have to take a minor place among Milwaukee's architects of fame. Mil- ' waukee's Socialist City Council, rel ports the "Daily Telegraph's*' correJ spondent, is trying hard to level things > up (or down) socially, for all classes of ratepayers. One night recently a big municipal ball was given, at which evening dress was tabooed, and the guests were invited to "mix regardless ! of whether they were dustmen's daugh- . ters or leading lawyers, or whether the v head of the family was worth a million or a pawn-ticket. The funcrion was a " great success, officials, society folk, and ' working people of both sexes "meet- - ing without restraint as perfect equals, s and liquoring up together in the inter- [ vals as if to tho manner born." Officials called "floor-managers" w*ere appointed to see that nobody affected airs or g;racos, and from the equality standpoint correspondents agree that L the ball was a huge success. "It was > tho duty of the floormanagers," says > the "New York World," "to see that p young persons were introduced, and, indeed, the spirit of friendliness so Far L took possession of tho affair that it was not long before a fellow could ask a girl he did not krtow to dance without being snubbed." For the first time there were no "wall-flowers'—per- [ spiring masters of the ceremonies saw . that everybody danced. In the grand L march-past, the little factory c. rl in a "shirt blouse" followed the "Upper ten" woman dressed in a thousand-dollar "creation," and the Mayor and Corpo- [ ration beamed on the delightful 1 "mixing" of all classes. s As time goes on, Dr. Cook > Dr. becomes more and more inCook teresting as a psychological Again, study. A?c have heard of i his trip to America in the George Washington, and the latest , news to hand is that he is to publish in a well-known magazine his full confession—he will tell everything, he said to an interviewer, "fully, freely and frankly." Apparently, the explorer ; does not relish the unenviablo position he now occupies, and is anxious to clear 1 himself. By what means is not yet i apparent, but it lcoks as if it will ! be on the plea of temporary insanity. [Ho has found his case aa a _ geographical discoverer, hopeless, and he notv desires to be heard as a man. Isolation, hunger, and the craving for discovery so acted "upon him 1 (he says) that his mind became, under 1 that terrific strain, unbalanced —he ■ "could not believe his own eyes." He . tells an inter View r er that for this samo i reason "it would bo impossible for _ any man to assert positively that ho had reached the spot where all meridians meet"—the wholo region is "one of insanity." However much credit ' will be attached to this portion of his ' story, it will be remembered that i the samo reason was advanced by many ; at the time of his "discovery," to soften term of "liar." One can hardly credit the remarkable egotism displayed by the following!--"He (Dr. Cook) had always looked upoh the discovery of 1 the Pole as an achievement for his own personal satisfaction—for the satisfaction of a desire that ,w&8 greater than any other factor in his life. He could not understand the sensation that the story oi his discovery created in every country. He had not reasoned that it Mould interest the world to such an extent. He was bewildered, amazed." . Dr. Cook quite realises his present posi- > tion —"I believe that, in a vOry undesirable way, I stand unique, the object of such suspicion and vituperation as i have assailed few men." One can give 1 him credit for the manner in which he has summed up his position, but it will 1 take a very powerful story indeed to extract, as Dr. Cook expectantly hopes, ' the words which alone will completely satisfy him: "Cook is sincere and honest; half-crazed by months of isola l tion and hunger, lie believed that he reached the Pole; he is not a 'faker. 1 '* > — '' "'" ■" ■"» ■