NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 142, 16 June 1906, Page 12

NEWS AND NOTES.

"Stand Alane,". tho famous natural 'tower on tho beach between Cockburnspath and Dunbar, which was visible for a distance of twenty-five miles at sea, fell with a terrifies crash recently, bringing with it about a^housand tons of' red rock. The Yierdeziliterabgabeagitationskommissiondeiegiertenversammlungspetition'' ' Society has been formed at Berne to combat .the proposal of cafe proprietors to increaso the price of beer. A "character" produced by a prisoner at Surrey Quarter Session was read by the chairman. It was from his .former employer, and ran:— "l do not • know what you are charged with, but if you are charged and you ar© found guilty, I only hop© that justice will be meted put to you, and that you will soon befree again." This equivocal document ,<did not greatly help the- offender, who 1 was sentenced to six months' hard labour. One of the latest fads among members of New York's^ " Four Hundred " is the "hymn tea." .Young ladies of the " smartest " ' families to th© number of about three hundred meet twice a week at an hotel, where they have tea, and afterwards hold a prayer meeting. Male friends are not admitted, but are allowed to wait below. The " hymn tea " is followed by a drive- or promenade along Fifth-avenue. ' | Dr. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto, was waited upon by two churchwardens, who complained that their clergyman wearied his congregation by repeating the same sermon. He had preached it twelve times. The bishop asked for tho text. Neither of the churchwardens could remember.. "Go back,"' said the bishop sternly, "and ask jour clergyman to preach th© sermon one© more, and then com© back and tell mci the text." Aluminium-coated paper for wrapping food substances is prepared by applying a thin' coat of an alcoholic solution of resin to artificial parchment, then sprinkling aluminium powder over the surface, and finally submitting to pressure. Th© artificial parchment is paper that has been treated with sulphuric acid. The aluminium paper is not attacked by th© air or by fats, is much cheaper than tin-foil, and late analyses in Paris of this paper and of aluminium foil showed but a small proportion of foreign matter and no arsenic. The phrase " th© Nonconformist conscience ' seems rather a compliment than an insult to those to whom it refers, especially as it is commonly used in tho sense of the national conscience. It is, however, very offensive to Mr. Birrell, who lately spoke of it as " th© vilest of th© vile phrases which have leapt to light during recent discussions." This (writes Mr. Archibald Weir in The Times) is not th© case. It originated at the time when Nonconformist protests persuaded Mr. Gladstone to rofus* to condone, as h© was minded to, Mr. Parnell's adultery. Tichborne pretenders still appear from time to time. A late New York telegram says : — A man named Curtis, seventyseven years of age, who is dying in the hospital here, told the doctors that- he was a claimant to the Tichborne estates. At on© time, he added, he was- an officer in th© Carbineers. He came to the States and settled in New York. His son, Charles Tichborne Curtis, lives at San Diego, in California. Th© Paris correspondent of Th© Times states that the Societe de Geographic has entrusted an important mission of exploration in Central Asia to M. Peliot, a young French professor of the Chinese language. Th© excavations will take place in country north of Tibet, where ruins bear witness to a flourishing ancient civilisation. M Peliot, who is acquainted with the majority of the Asiatic languages, is said to ain> at nothing less than a reconstruction of the history of the Far Eaat. The story of the Bishop who, when a I waiter had spilt the soup in his episco- [ pal apron, openly confessed his inability to trust his own vocabulary, and begged some layman to utter the profane words apt for th© occasion (says the Daily Chronicle) has no lesson for th© vicar of St. Chrysostom's, Bradfor^. He has announced his intention in the Yorkshire Observer to preach a series of sermons on "The Damnable (Education?) Bill," I and h© has sot forth the intimation in larg© type. An interesting investigation in three typical schools (says th© chief inspector of schools in his report on the Western Division of Scotland) brought out th© fact that the English vocabulary of a slum child of five did not extend beyond some two or three dozen words. An average child of five from a good middleclass home had command of or understood not less than 1000 'English words, while bright children carried the number up to 1500 or even 2000. — We must confess considerable scepticism as to this and similar statements regarding th© limited vocabulary of the uneducated, and would like to know how th© estimates are made. A Berlin carpenter's apprentice named Richard Meissner, aged fifteen, last year permitted strips of skin to be taken from him' in order that they might b© grafted on to his littl© sister, who had sustained sever© burns. Thanks to this brotherly act of devotion th© girl is today alive and well. The young fellow has received a letter of congratulation on th© instructions of th© Emperor, in which it is promised that he shall receive th© medal for life-saving on the attainment oi his eighteenth birthday. Th© Vienna correspondent of the Evening Standard says & writ baa been issued against Princess Louise of Coburg in th© Vienna High Court for tho payment of the sum of £4000 lent to her by Count Rudolph Festitilch last October. The Princess's legal representative has written a letter to tho papers stating that the claim is a monstrous piece of usury, the Count having taken advantage of the Princess's financial straits before th© settlement with her husband to indue© her to sign a three months' bill for £4000 when ho only lent her £2200, and that th© Princess will bring a criminal action against th& Count for usury in attempting to extort over- 400 per cent, per annum interest. Count Festititch belongs to one of the leading Hungarian noble families, and has distinguished himself as an explorer in Africa. Th© Church Quarterly Review states that organists are probably the wdrstpaid men in existence. /' This, of course, cannot altogether be helped," it adds. "The funds in many parishes can only provide a very slender pittance for the organwta. But it i« a fact which has unfortunato Consequences. It means as a rule that th© organist is not properly a musician at all — he merely plays on Sunday, and perhaps his weekly practice- is regarded as only an amusement. Or he may bo a professional musician, but with so small a salary that it is impossible to ask for or to expect much of his time beyond th© barest minimum. Such arrangements may b© better than nothing, but no one can be surprised if the choir fails to go smoothly in this condition. Some of the friction which is heard of between the parson and tho organist might be avoided by means of. a somewhat more intelligent sympathy on tho port of tbo former.. -

If Ihe whole ocean -were dried up, the water passing away as vapour, the amount of salt which remained would cover 5,000,000 square miles with a layer one mile thick. The mineral matter in the sea would be sufficient to form a solid layer 125 ft deep over the whole earth, and to equal North America, Europe, and Australia together, or nearly one-fifth ot all land above 6ea level. The British Postmaster-General has informed a correspondent that he has drawn the attention of the Egyptian Post Office to the fact that lottery circulars emanating from Budapest are being posted from Alexandria to England. Advantage is being taken of the new penny post. The latest British Post Office Guide contains a warning that the transmission by post of lettex's containing circulars or tickets relating to eihher Home or foreign lotteries is forbidden by law. Referring to extinct British volcanoes, the London Daily Mail lately instanced Edinburgh as the most notable of ancient volcanic centres. A correspondent writing from Oxford adds:— "At Bath, too, wo have the crater of an immense volcano, not even now perfectly quiescent, as the flow of hot water still shows. Possibly this very flow, svhich has continued steadily for centuries past, is its safety valve; if it were to cease, it would certainly look loke a danger signal The size of the old crator plainly shows itself from Beechen Cliff, extending round for several miles." A music teacher of Washington, Ohio, arrested for appearing in the streets dressed in woman's clothes, declared that as Dr. Mary Walker is allowed to wear man's apparel he was entitled to wear skirts. The laws of Ohio permit a man to wear what he likes, providing "he makes no attempt at deception regarding his sex." To obviato trouble (the Telegraph states) he now bears a large silver badge, inscribed " Randolph Milburn, lam a man." This description apparently satisfies tho authorities, and amuses the public. _ Exciting scenes were witnessed at Cincinnati on the evening of Sunday, theIst April, when tho elephants belonging to a cdrcus broke from their quarters and caused much damage and alarm. The trouble- began with a female elephant which had lost her calf. She stampeded the whole herd of twenty elephants, and these, all trumpeting in chorus, accompanied her into the streets of the city, a section of which they kept in terror for three hours. They tore up trees and fences, and finally broke into a negro church where service was croing on. The worshippers escaped through the windows, but> the interior of the building was wrecked by the angry animals. In America, on some of the treeless prairies of the West, maize was extensively grown and used for fuel before the railway period, but there is something repugnant in the ideti of devoting human food to such a purpose. A like feeling is occasioned by late State experiments in the Philippines, where, the coal Dfiing unsn-ited for rjmt-xiinJcixigf ;t coconut gas is beang tried. Laboratory experiments indicate that a gas of great illuminating power may be produced by a very simple method from coconut oil. The oil is slowly fed into retorts which are already redhot. Here it volatilizes very rapidly, leaving a small residue of tar. Bulk for bulk, the oil has a much greater productiveness in gas than coal, and for this reason it is expected that, if the supply can be mode to meet the demand, it will be greatly used all along the Pacific coast. v The demand for aluminium is now greatly in advance of the supply. Last year the price was £140 a ton, but since then there has been a steady rise, the last official quotation being £170. At present, however, £190 is frequently obtained and recently five tons were sold in Birmingham at £200 a ton. The growth of the motor industry is largely responsible for the increased demand. On account of its lightness and alreugtfi aluminium has now almost entirely supplanted steel for the gear-boxes and body sheeting of mo-tor-cars. Its growing popularity for culinary utensils, cutlery, and ornaments has also put a further straii< on the suppiy- v A curious flaw in the Aliens Act lately came to light at Worship-street Police Court, London. William Hampe, a German, was charged with being found, in contravention to an expulsion order, in Leman-street, Whitecbapel. Defendant said after getting tho order of deportation he went to the German Consul, who stated that hfe could not send him back, as ho had been over seventeen yearß in this country. Ho had also been to the German Society, and was told tho same thing. He then went to the police sta.tion to know what he could do, when he was arrested. He had a wife and children living in this country. " How is a man without a penny in his pocket to get out of the country?" asked the magistrate, Air Dickinson. "Ho had done all ho could to get away ; and when he goes to the police station to enquire what h« is to do ht ii arrested. 1 am not blaming the police, who could not do anything else." Mr. Dickinson added | that he should remand Hampe in order that the papers might be sent to the Home Secretary, who had power to order the expenses to be paid. "It is a mistake," says an observant | writer in, the Westminster Gazette, "to ! suppose ihat mankind was physically stronger— fltouter ( of limb or larger of frame — in the military ages than now. | When I travel in France and Germany, I look in vain for signs that the average young Frenchman or young German who has undergone his compulsory sefvice is physically fitter or more upstanding than the average young Engi lishnian who has not. The superficial signs are all the other way. All forms of exorcise are, good and military drill among them ; but we mistake the problem of physical degeneracy if wo look to the drill-sergeant or the gymnasium instructor for its cure. Th© causa causans is the slum-house and the slum condition of life, whether in town or country ; remove that and we prevent the enormous mischief dono by foul airland bad food in the first fiv© years of life — a mischief which whole armies of drillsergeants can never undo. In so far as war or militarism increases t the .poverty which causes tho slum, it is actually a contributory cause of physical deterioration. This is not an argument against soldiering as a. national duty, but it should give pauEe to those who praiso war as a moral and physical discipline." Trading on the well-known namo of the " International Sunshine Society," a bogus company, under the natfte of the "Sunshine Legion," haa extensively swindled tho charitable in the United States. A precious couple, Joseph W. Flaherty ("manager") and 'Mrs. E. M. Tiibbetts ("national president") have carried on fherr operations on a large and systematic scale. They pretended to maintain settlements in seven largo cities, also to support day-nurseries and employment agencies for the children of the poor. To maintain these charities tho publications, Sunshine and Sunshine Journal, were- printed, Sunshino being a slxteen-pago monthly, made up of seleo« tions from Sunday-school papers, and Sunshine Journal an eight-nag© monthly. Subscriptions were solicited by young girls, whose pay was fifty per cent, of the proceeds (subscriptions are a dollar a year). It is said that those young girls did their part honestly, knowing nothing of the paper, but for tho most part taking the job in lieu of other employment. In the meantime the promoters were llv> wg ia luxury, on tie jeroocfdj.. \