HOME NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 778, 30 March 1910, Page 5

HOME NEWS.

V V '" ' > . INTERESTING ITEMSf BY MAIL. A MAORI CHIEF IN LONDON. London, February-19. A Maori chief, Tuahino Rangiuia, ' who has spent some time in England, been telling his impression's of the country. Tho hugeness, the tremeud-, ousness, and the loneliness of London struck him very' forcibly. "When I first camo to London," he said, "I felt lonoly—so very lonely—lost, that, is the . better word. Then the streets seemed too: marrow to, bear, the immense traffic. I felt I was never safe; that the houses were coming on top of'me, and that the omnibuses would run over me." He went to his first reception; at . tho Duchess of Buckingham's. "I was quito taken aback by tho splendour of the function and the beautiful jewels worn by Men of. primitive races who rait London for tho first • time are often enough far from wholly oharmed with; tho life. AVlicn, some years ago, a party of Matabele. warriors came . nothingwould / convince ■ them that there was.: notin. London a great host of folk who lived underground., ' 'We want to . see' your '• un- . derground people," theys said; When . told that we had no : underground dwellers, they 'shook their heads. "We see the holes coming out of the ground," they said,,, pointing to the ' Tube entrances and the subways. "Wo. ; see the i people pouring down, into them and coming out' from them, yet you Bay, you have no underground city. Why will you not let us see.it?". "I, • had never dreamed there were so many people-in all the earth,"' said a mid- : African! visitor on one occasion. "You darken tho face of the sky, you shut. '. out .the. sun, and. the cattle die--in your presence. But I want to go home where the sun shines.". And he stood erect- and. stretched out his hands, oddly enough, just in the direction where his country lay. "I-want to go 'home," ihe. repeated. ',"Home!"— "Daily Mail."; NEW ARMY AIRSHIP. A new Army airship, "No. 2 A," has made;a successful trial'flight at, Faniborough, near Aldershot. Secrecy has marked its construction, and there has been, the keenest interest to. know the, result of the latest effort of the Army aeronauts. - When the great doors of the balloon works ' were thrown open ; the few '■ ■ spectators within range '■ came hurrying up : to 1 witness what , was 'certain to be a very, interesting spectacle.' Men of the Royal .Engineers brought . out the balloon;' which looked like' a huge yellow fish.; Colonel Capper, Captain, King, and two civilians took their places in the.; carriage suspended beneath the . balloon, which,' released by the; Engineers, rose at once'into the air. ; . Guided by Colonel Capper, the airship made its way. over Laffan'S: Plain .ana sailed within sight of the western extremity of the Hog's Back. The journey .back was made', by way of Aidershot camp, .and the balloon passed over Cambridge Hospital, the highest point in tho locality. A good speed jvas maintained even against the prevalent breeze .and the steeririe ;appeared-to bo very ■ effective. '.The>.vNo.. 2 A'.' descended to earth again at Farnborouglf after covering some sixteen or seventeen miles in an hour's flight. A . HUMAN TARGET. V ■ Whilst the Atlantic-Fleet : battleships' were, .engaged: recently, in; ;ftring■" practice in the Channel: - the; s. battleship Queen was towing,a.target : at'full speed,"' . ind the battleship .Venerable was engaged in'firing at this with r her ; . threepounder quick-firers. During the opera-' tions an, able seaman named Bailey fell overboard from the Queen." A lifebuoy ;, was thrown to. him, which he seized, but ■; he . was soon -in close proximity to the ■ rapidly, moving target,' which • struck tho : lifebuoy and carried it away. At' the same moment, the Venerable''fired her: -broadside of quick-firers ( at the target, the seaman's. fall not. having been noticed.; The target .-was riddled, but Bailey was fortunately hot touched, ; his sscape being regarded by. all on board as a .miraculous one. The Queen signailed to the i Venerable, and both ships steamed at full speed to the spot and lowered boats, Bailey being rescued in »n'' exhausted condition after being about ten minutes in the sea. .'■

> CIGARETTE'EOMANCE. : -. The death of Mr. Alexander Zicalotti, : at the age of sixty-eight;' of Portsdown • Road, ilaida Vale, has removed a Greek patriot and one of the pioneers of, the, mgarette industry in England.; A native . of 'Athens, he came, to England as a A toy-with hisfather,'who was employed by a Greek merchant ,in Manchester, biit returned to Greece. Coming back ' to England in early manhood, he was one of the quintette of Russians and t Greeks who introduced the cigarette industry ; to. England, and developed ■ the. manufacture of the Turkish brands. His motto was, "Smoke more and you will drink less. The pioneers of the cigarette were 'attracted ■to this country ;• eoon'after the Crimean War. British troops on returning, from the war first brought the' cigarette to these', islands, and the five men followed them to establish the ■ industry. • ' , ■' ■ ; SPURIOUS OLD. MASTERS. ' ; ' Bangor Corporation has been informed that a collection of "old masters" pregented by the late Captain Jones, is spurious. -. The pictures, which numbered over' 100) had been collected in various Mediterranean ports in the early' 'fifties, and there is no doubt that Captain Jones thought a great deal of thenW He catalogued them him- . self, attributing them to . Rembrandt, Rubens, Greuze, and other great masters. For many years .they, remained practically hidden away, as., they were in a very dilapidated state; but'it was recently suggested that they should receive expert examination! Mr. Hugh Blaker, of the: ■ Holburne Museum, Bath, was called in; and pronounced them all, to ,be either, dopies or, bad "school" " pictures. There is not one among the whole number worth' more than a few pounds. They are now: heaped up in a lumber room at the municipal buildings, where they will probably remain. The . colletetion of . museum objects also bequeathed to the corporation are of great. interest and value. ' CTRL FARMERS. Mrs. Wilton. Allhusen presided at the .second annual dinner of women farmers and gardeners organised by the Women's. Agricultural and Horticultural International Union, held at the Imperial Restaurant, * Glasshouse • Street, Piccadilly.. The union, which comprises 200 members, exists for assisting in every way all women connected with the land either as owners, tenants, employers, or . employed. Many of . the women agriculturists have farms of between 100 and 200 acres, but none approached • the 320 acres which Miss Binnie Clark farms in Canada, and'to which she returns in a few weeks, taking with her four English girls as pupils. A tall, dark-baired, slim young woman, with pink malmaisons clustering in her black evening gown, Miss Binnio Clark,. replying to the toast of "The Colonial Members of tho Union," spoke glowingly of. the prospects offered, to women by farming .in Canada. Poultry and stock work were very good as side interests, said Miss Clark, but "the'heart and

soul of farming in Canada would go out of it if-you haven't at least twenty acres of wheat." Sir Thomas Shaughnessy's soheme of ready-made farms was warmly supported by this enterprising woman farmer. Twenty-sight is the ideal age at which the Englishwoman should start farming in Canada, she said, and tho most suitable women were wliat she described as cultured and educated working .women. '.'MARBLE" MAN. A case no less mysterious than, that of Alan Rushbrook, the "brittle man at tho London -Hospital is puzzling the doctors at a Birmingham institution. Tho patient is Morgan Field, a needle pointer, who four years ago contracted pneumonia. The attack was a. severe one, and for six months the man was linablo • to follow his employment. Shortly after this period • his features begau to contract, the natural lines gradually left • the face 3 and it becamo as white as marble. Tho hands, arms, feet, and chest wero similarly affected, and where the disease has attacked, the sufferer the skin, has become. taut. Something akin to .a petrifjdng .effect Has been produced,'and . where the oody is affected, in way the flesh is as cold as the marble it so strikingly resembles. So tight is the skin at the joints that the man cannot bend his limbs, while he can. only open his mouth slightly, and then with extreme difficulty. The condition is thought to bo due to: an. obstruction in tho arteries, veins, or lymph vessels, dependent upon some disturbance in the-nervous centre.

TRADE UNION GROWTH. The growth in the number of trade unions during the past twenty years is illustrated in a series of figures; given iri the annual report of tho RegistrarGeneral. They are as follow: — .1888 1898- , 1908. Members 369,974 1,219,474 1 1,971,238 Income £739,036 £2,083,692 £3,295,941 Funds £719,522 £2,856,354 £5,996,032 ' £500 SALARY FOR A WOMAN. : One of the most coveted posts in the educational world open to women, that of headmistress'of tho Grey-Coat Day School for Girls, will become .vacant at midsummer by the retirement of, Miss Elsie Day after thirty-six years', service; A salary of £500 a year,' a contribution not exceeding £25 a year to a superannuation fund, and a cosy house in a fine old garden at Westminster make the position a vpry, desirable one, and although tho governors only invited applications last week there are already thirty-two candidates in the field.' The applicants must be graduates of universities or hold equivalent qualifications. The Grey-Coat 'Girls' School, which has accommodation for 400 girls; was founded in 1698 by city tradesmen for 1 the education of. children of- poor parents of the city of London. ; The Grey-Coat School was' so" called to. distinguish it from tin Black-Coat, GreenCoat, and Blue-Coat Schools already,, in existence. The school, which has al-: ways been a Church of England i'oun-dation,-was incorporated by Queen Anne in 1706. 'It.still provides for the class for, whom it was intended. BRAVEST DEED OF THE YEAR. - The Royal' Humane Society, at its annjaal meeting, awarded .the Stanhopo: gold medal, - which., is given , .for the, bravest deed' of the .year, ..and £5 to Thomas Bouttell, a seaman of -H.M.S. Glory. On November. 25; 1908; the s.s. Sardinia, on fire ; • from stem - to stern, run ashore; at Malta, the being very rough. A. pinnace from the Glorywas endeavouring to rescue . passengers, when ; three .Arabs; lowered themselves into the sea by a> rope, iniwhich one.-of-, them; became entangled/ Bouttell volunteered. to.try to save : him,'.-and,^at-tho risk of being : dashed against the< ship's' side'." which was in" maay .places almost red-not, or of being swept away by'the -heavy, sea, •he • Succeeded'.',in. ' liberatingthe, man and. supporting, him',until' a boat reached him.. Bouttell received .the silver medal at the time. V IN BRIEF. ' Mr. James Buckland, who in a recent lecture before the Society of, Arts gave facts; and figures showing the destruction of plumage birds in all parts of the world for millinery" purposes,.' has received a cablegram from. Honolulu stating. that the , captaii ,'of... the United States steamer Thetis, of, the Revenue Service, has arrested twentythree Japanese on the Hawaiian Island "Reservation, whero they had already' collected 259,000 pairs of birds' wings.

It was agreed at a meeting of the London County..Council Education, Com-, mittee to amend the regulations as to corporal punishment in elementary schools. The open hand, it is proposed, shall be used only by the mistress on the, arm .or the hand .in the case: of infants. Corporal- punishment must never be- inflicted on the face or any other part of the head. Children under "five years of age may be . sent, home instead' of being caned. " ' • Sir George White, chairman' of, the Bristol Tramways Company, • told . the shareholders that he had ordered several aeroplanes for experiments, and; he was optimistic enough to believe .that before long : there would be a carrying business in the air. i It is proppsed to obtain the King's sanction for a re view. of the London Territorial forces by .'his Majesty dur : ing the summer,' to mark the transition from' the old volunteer status arid the' progress 'as Territorials. Hyde Park has been suggesed, but it : ' is thought that some of. tho open ground about the Surrey hills would.be much more suitable. ; Week-end entertaining was criticised by the Rev. Montague Fowler, rector of All Hallows, London Wall, in a recent address. The manner, he said, in which too many couritry-house ; parties spent .their week-ends showed that they forgot that their, servants needed rest as well as/themselves. There were too many elaborate- meals, and too ' much bridge, golf, and driving, which not only kept the servants up late, but gave- them no-time ,to go to, church. We over-worked our servants' bodies and starved'their souls. - Paul Saunders, a Boer, described as a ship's fireman, was charged at Westminster recently with stealing an antique Chinese bronze flower bowl, a portion of a vase valued at 100 guineas, from tho front garden of Mr. James Carew, actor (the husband of Miss Ellen Terry), of 215 King's Road, Chelsea. Remanded. It waß decided at a recent "meeting of the City of London Corporation that a gathering of children from the city elementary schools should take place in the Guildhall on Empire Day (May 24).