RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 52, 24 November 1928, Page 8

RANDOM NOTES

SIDELIGHTS ON CURRENT EVENTS LOCAL AND GENERAL

(By

Cosmos.)

Being the party in power cannot mean much unless there is pow er in the party. ♦ • They say It takes nine tailors to make a man, but one dressmaker has been known to break him. The mystery of the day in New Zealand is the identity of the party that i« going to laugh last.- *»- - * A fool and his money are soon parted. In Auckland it appears that a similar alienation is often arranged foi; a fool and his car. It seems that nothing is too great or too small for Benito Mussolini, Premier and Dictator of Italy. The other day he set one hand to the altering of the entire system of government, while with the other he killed off all the flies in the country. To make certain that every inhabitant dees his share in fighting the pests, a penalty has been fixed for failure to report progress. The slightest, a fine of 200. lire, will probably fall on the citizen who does not buy Government flypaper and swatters, but insists on using homemade fly-traps or rubber bands.

But he should not be punished too severely, for.shooting flies with elastic is increasingly fascinating to the sportsman and will bring down a considerable bag. A thousand lire should be the fine for the poacher who leaves his own home to kill in a.more populous territory. Newspaper correspondents who have reported the anti-fly war remark that the campaign could be pushed with greater vigour under an autocratic rule than by appealing to “the people’s intelligent-co-operation.”

Reference to “The,Ashes” .in the news of the day prompts the. question as to how that term originated. .“The Ashes” are a mythical prize contended for at cricket matches between England and Australia. Although cricket was introduced into Australia by the crew of the Calcutta as early as ISO 3, it was not till 1861 that an English team V Ited the country. Curiously enough, the well-known English catering firm of Spiers and Pond were responsible for this visit, thereby laying the foundations for the first Test match of 1877. It was not, however, until ISB2, when Australia defeated England at the Oval on August 29, that the “Ashes” were first originated. Many people even to-day appear to think that these “Ashes” have some tangible form, but this is not the case. After the match a London paper published the following in memoriam notice: “In affectionate memory of English Cricket, which died at the Oval on August 29, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P. N.B.—Thfc body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.” This intangible body, cremated 46 years ago, has been fought for many times since then.

Virtually founded by William Booth in the East End of London in 1865, under the zame of the Christian Mission; the Salvation Army has reached to-day another critical period in its life, and commissioners from all parts of the world are rushing to Britain owing to the illness of their second general. It was not till 1880, however, that this institution took the name of the Salvation Army, and at that time, with a mere handful of officers and insufficient funds, it is doubtful if General Booth forsaw the enormous strides that his Army would make in every corner of the world. In response to an appeal from Adelaide, : William Sutherland, his wife, and four others, founded the original Salvation Army in Australia in 1881. Four years later the project had expanded practically over the whole of the inhabited areas of the continent In fact, the excellent work of the Prison Rescue Brigade so impressed the Berry Government that they gave the Salvation Army official recognition. By so doing this Government was the first in the world to give official recognition to General Booth’s Army. In 1883 the foundations of the Salvation Army in New Zealand were laid in Dunedin by G. Pollard and E. Wright, and in spite of a certain amount of opposition, both in this country and Australia, the institution has attained a position of considerable importance. In addition to General Booth, the headquarters at London are administered by a chief of the staff, a foreign secretary, and a...chancellor. They have control of 130,000 officers, operating in 83 countries, and speaking 67 languages, whilst property to the value of £30,000,000 held in trust on behalf of the organisation.

The reference in this column recently to the length of the law’s arm recalls the famous Moat Farm mystery, which ranks among the most fascinating and striking examples of the truth of the saying that “murder will out.” Samuel Herbert Dougal, a shady character, who had had three wives, recognised in Camelle Cecile Holland, a spinster of fifty-six, an emotionally-starved woman, courted her for her inheritance of £7OOO, and took her to live with him on a lonely Essex farm, near Clavering, on April 27, 1899. Four years later to a day, Miss Holland’s body was exhumed from a drainage ditch adjoining the property. The couple had lived together at Moat Farm—the “romantic” Dougal gave the property the name—for about three weeks, since on Friday, May 19, 1899, he announced that he was taking Miss Holland for a shopping excursion. • They left together in a trap, and Miss Holland was not again seen alive.. For the ensuing four years Dougal lived a life of bucolic debauchery on Miss Holland’s fortune.

He successfully forged her signature over that period, the manager of the National Provincial Bank in Piccadilly receiving frequent requests signed apparently by “Camille Cecile Holland” to send money to Moat Farm or to sell securities. The reason for the man’s immunity from the law was probably due to the district being verv sparsely populated, and the clever manner in which the scoundrel had fostered the rumours that Miss Holland had left him on account of his conduct with the maids. DougaJ’s undoing was due to his own stupidity. .'He brought his legal wife back to live with him, but she later ran away, and when Dougal applied for a divorce the King’s Proctor intervened. In the meantime the local constable had reported on the suspicions of the countryside, and Dougal was held oii a charge of forgery.’ To establish the capital charge it was necessary to find Miss Holland’s body, and as a result of a fourmonths’ search the remains of the body were recovered. A verdict of guilty was returned and Dougal confirmed the jury’s finding in one wordtO the officiating chaplain at the moment the executioner pulled the lever.