TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14474, 1 October 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Reports to hand by the Dark latest English mail of tho Deeds, recent execution' of two

Chinese Generals in Poking by order of Yuan-shih-kai, give tho affair a very black look. Oriental duplicity seems to have been seen at its worst in tho treatment of General Chang-tseng-fu, who had como openly to Peking to confer with the Government. Ho dined with General Tuan-chi-kuei, ono of tho President's satellites, who treated him very cordially and toasted him repeatedly after tho Chinese fashion. After dinner Chang departed for his lodgings .outside tho Chienmen Gate. Meanwhile, strong bodies of mounted and foot gendarmerie had taken possession of the gate and all its approaches. Immediately the carriages neared the fatal spot General Tuan-chi-kuoi, who was in tho vehicle following his guest, leaned out of the window and blew a polioo whistle. A forest of bared sabres and bayonets appeared as if by magic, surrounding General Chan, who was dragged out of his carriage, bound with ropes, flung into a mule-cart, and conveyed to the military court, whoro the judges were already sitting. These officers simply stated that the death of the prisoner had been decreed, and ordered that ho should be- shot instantly. No evidence was adduced at this sinister midnight court. Chang was taken out. tied to a pillar in the courtyard, and shot, and hia executioners, wanting c'.othee to dress the corpse in, perpetrated' the cold brutality of sending a message to his wife asking for more clothes for her husband, as ho "felt cold in tho night air." The other General, Fengwei, who had aiso come openly to Peking, was executed after a similar apology for a court-msrtial. The men were suspected of complicity in a plot to engineer a second revolution, but Yuan-9hih-kai's attempted justification is not at all convincing. The affair roused a storm of protest in China, and if its barbarity has not been oxaggerated, an English paper is justified in comparing it to the execution of tho Duo d'Enghien, which cast a black stain on Napoleon's memcry.

Tho "Standard" gives Imperial us an interes'tdmg Spade-work, glimpse at what may be called the drudgery or spade-work of Empire, the quiet work of brave, hard-working men that wins no popular applause, and rarely gets into the papers. The English public reads in a corner of a paper that "a survey party under Captain R. H. Rowe Trill return to the Nigerian coast in September for the third field season," but does not realise how much is behind the announcement. In September, 1910, tho authorities commenced a survey of 330,000 square miles of Nigerian territory—swamp and creek, dense forest, regions of broken country, "and prospects of park-like beauty and wonderful open plains" and the work will not be finished for more than twenty years. Army officers and noncommissioned officers, with native assistants under them, work in the wilds through the dry season, and when the rains come, go back to London and draw their maps of the country. It is not "deck-chair work." Sometimes the undergrowth is co thick that progress is only at the rate of two to four miles a day. Tho day's work leaves little time for recreation, but now and again there is a sort of scratch Britain r. Nigeria cricket match, when sticks of bamboo lashed together with creeper take the place of the willow bat. Game there is in plenty. Leading this daily life, tho little band of thirty white men and thirty-one natives surveyed 2600 square miles in the first field season, and in the second COOO square miles was the total. In future, with the experience gained, it is hopsd to cover 10,000 or 11,000 square miles every season. Economy is the rule. Last year the cost of triangulation was reduced from 9 S lOd to 7s lOd a square mile, and the cost of making the map decreased-by throe shillings a mile. The survey will ba well worth the money, for Nigeria has a great future. It is now the richest tropical Crown j colony in the Empire, its revenue having doubled itself in seven years. Government departments Diet tend ,to become more and and more maternal towards their Work, employees. A few years ago the British War Office issued a circular to its women typists, j advising them to eat wholesome food, • rnri Tit to 't!» o*i tr~i f''] cnl-iFF. Tn co large a department, the loss and inconvenience caused by employees being able, and the authorities held that much of that ill-health was preventible. An official in the French Post Office has called the attention of postmasters to the importance of diet in keeping women employees in good health. Hβ is strongly against girls living by them-

selves and cooking their own meals. ''You know iK'ioituaiKi/ suyis mc circular, "which of the employees is likely soon to go on the sick list. They are tho ones who eat at home, and who do not look after their own food because of the trouble of cooking it. They scarcely spend lOd a day to buy sausages, and ham, eggf*., tea,_ and cake, and never eat fat, roast beef, or vegetables. At tho end of a year of this diet they grow anasmic, and the doctor puts their condition down to overwork. You also know that these same women spend all their money upon dress, and upon dress far too luxurious for their position." . In the French telephone exchanges, however, supervision does not seem to bo to strict as it is in other countries. A recent order forbidding girls to read or sew in their spare momenta on duty, gave rise to some discussion. The girls have now taken to manicuring their nails, apparently with the approval of their superiors, but tho correspondent suggests that this might bo forbidden in the interests of subscribers. Ho thinks that the authorities may induce tho women employees to eat proper food, but fears that no interference in matters of dress will bo tolerated. Howevor such interference is tolerated elsewhere. In Chicago, the company insists on plain, semi-uniform attire, with the minimum of jewellery. It is obeyed, and from what one reads, gets excellent service from its disciplined employees.