NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 129, 27 November 1909, Page 12

NEWS AND NOTES.

The following items of intelligence have been selected from files received by the latest mails : — A NOTED IRISHMAN. Of the late Lord Justice Fitzgibbon the Times" says : — "Breadth and clearness of vision on the larger interests of his time, sobriety of judgment and moderation in expression, a true and delicate taste in literature, a delightful humour, and the readiest and keenest enjoyment of humour iv others, were among his chai'acteristics. He entered the University of Dublin in the same year as Lecky, and a contemporary has described the debates carried on in thei Historical Society there by perhaps the most brilliant group that ever adorned ifc— rby David Plunket, Edward Gibson, William Lecky, Gerald Fitzgibbon. In the famous Christmas parties at his house at Howth they and others used to delight some privileged English guests with the brilliancy of their conversation. Lord (Randolph Churchill rarely, if ever, failed at those meetings, and Father Healy was almost as constant .... The men of that day knew how to take life seriously, but they retained the old Irish arfc of seeing the humorous side of even the most serious problem. There are signs in some quarters amongst the younger generation that, under the stress of sordid cares and of bitter passion, art is in danger of being forgotten. "Of all the dangers that threaten Ireland, this would be perhaps the worst. It was reported in the Times of 15th October that Mr. H. Farman lost his aeroplane, which, disappeared on . the journey by rail from Berlin to Chalons. On 18th October Mrs. Asquith presented about 400 certificates granted by the Royal Institution of Public Health to Salvation Army cadets in England, who passed an examination in domestic hygiene. A special audience was given on 14th October by the Emperor Francis Joseph to aD old lady named Tropsch, who as a schoolgirl fetched the police to arrest the man Libeny, who attempted to assassinate the Emperor on 18th February, 1853. An army pageant is to be produced at Fulham Palace next June. It is intended to illustrate the history and development of weapons, tactics, and military service, besides tracing the evolution of -the army as we know it at the present day. At the annual meeting of the National Conference of Friendly Societies, which was begun at King's' Lynn on 14th October, Mr. G. Wilde, who presided, maintained that State insurance or compulsion to join^ a friendly society was a. growing necessity. It has been decided' by tho Glasgow I Corporation to adopt -a system of compulsory notification of donsumption. for the next three years, and to carry out a systematic' visitation of homes to educate people in habits of cleanliness and the advantages of the open window. Sir ' William White, the eminent naval architect, in his address at the annual conference of the Institute of Metals at Manchester, said that it was ridiculous nonsense to suppose that the Old Country was played out. He had just returned from Canada,, where he had found the false doctrine accepted as partially true. Men who disseminated this untruth for their own personal advantage -were not faithful citizens. A London correspondent in the Riff campaign notes s» resemblance between the situation and that of the operations against the Indian tribesmen. With the advent of the rainy season comes a less recalcitrant attitude among the leaders. The economic conditions call for the men to till and sow. The cable news from Calcutta of 14th October, stating that 150 arrests had been made at Patiala on charges of sedition, is supplemented by the information that the 'arrests only totalled 53. The persons arrested, who all were Indians, included an executive engineer, an accountant in the Department of Public Works, A Treasury officer, and the headmasters' of a high school and a public school. <• "I have had a conversation, with Senor Udaondo, the popular Presidential candidate," wrote the Buenos Aires correspondent of The Times. "He is a remarkable man, of high social position and immense wealth, and is generally esteemed. He was formerly Governor of Buenos Aires province, and distinguished himself by the excellence of his administration. Senor Udaondo is a I great admirer of British enterprise and recognises the immense services rendered to the country by British capital. A correspondent who is intimately connected with Court circles in Greece writes :—": — " To King George, the indifference with which he believes his situation is regarded in England is almost as bitter as the indifference of his own subjects. He remembers that it was England and the British Government which forty-six' years ago persuaded him, an unwilling youth of 17 years of age, to accept the Throne. By his people he is made a scapegoat for the unfulfilled promises of the Powers, and he has been forced reluctantly to realise that Governments are capable of acts which individuals would shrink from committing." No one in Paris, either among the public or among the authorities responsible for the maintenance of order, has any intention of playing into the hands of agitators, whose one idea is to fish in troubled waters (says a Paris message of 14fch Octobei', the day after the fatal riot near the Spanish Embassy). The riot was carried through by the famous " Apaches," who are always at the disposal of the irresponsible leaders of the General Confederation of Labour. The authorities will not tolerate an attempt on the part of the Confederation to make the execution of Senor Ferrer the pretext for revolutionary agitation against established order in the country. M. Kokovtsoff, Russian Minister of Finance, reviewed the financial state of Russia on 13th October. Matters could not be compared with those of three years ago. Most of the Government securities had risen 21 and even 23 per cent., and, as the mercantile community^ cotud bear witness, without the aid of a.ny artificial measures. The sole new duty — that on packets of cigarettes — brought in only £500,000 per annum. The Minister pointed out that the Budget difficulties in other countries were far greater than in Russia. Sir Thomas Shanghnessy, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, estimates the value of the crops in the west of Canada at £23,000,000 to £26,000,000, and in the United States at £15,000,000, a grand total from the West of £40,000,000 this year. A Reuter message from Suez, dated 2nd October/ states that oil has been found in a second well at Jemoah, at a depth of 1660 feet. The flow was enormous, filling the sin casing, and the pressure was very great. The well is perfectly clear of water, and the gate valve was successfully closed. A third jjell-jLa teing drilled.

While the Clan Macneil was loading j at Queen's Dock, Glasgow, recently, the chief officer saw bubbles coming up between the quay and the vessel. Shortly afterwards a man's head appeared above I the water and disappeared. The chief officer, not able to swim, called the second 'officer My. HaTley, and he jumped overboard. He recovered the body of a workman who, it was found, had beeii dead for some considerable time. Although the Cunard steamers have only just begun calling at Fishguard, Important development schemes have begun. A dredger has been borrowed from the Mersey, which is fitted with eighteen centrifugal sand-pianps, dredging 1000 tons per hour. A breakwater is to be built which will enclose 175 acres and provide new ocean berths. The new wharves, with 40 ft of water alongside and 1500 ft in length, are in progress of construction. Mr. W. Johnson, M.P., stated at the conference of the Miners' Federaticrof Great Britain, which was held in October at Newcastle-on-Tyne, that tho number of people employed in icines during 1907 was 757,887. For the past five years' the total number of fatal accident was on an average 1219 a year, and the non-fatal .average per year' over the same period 7229, although in the last two years there had been a considerable increase. ! Delegates to the International Cotton j Committee which met at Frankfort-on-Maine is the first week of October had a highly intricate problem placed before them. Raw material is at a high price — there is considerable suspicion that brokers in England and America have played a part in bringing about this impediment to trade — and the International Committee is also engaged to provide a systematic reduction in the output of goods which, it is alleged, is largely in excess of the demand throughout the world. Delegates attended from England, Germany, Franc©, Italy, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and Portugal. Further developments have arisen in connection with the discovery of mummifield remains at Stramford, Lincolnshire. Permission was granted for a medical man to examine the Temains. The flesh was found to be in an almost perfect condition after having been buried for over five hundred years, and the features were easily distinguishable as those of an elderly priest. The body was replaced in the leaden shell, and. a paper was enclosed recording the incidents of the discovery and the reinterment. A requiem service was held, and the remains were interred in a grave specially purchased. Addressing the Victoria League, Sir Charles Crosthwaite said that the proposal to give India a taste of representative Government was like giving a baby a piece of beefsteak. Mr. Keir Hardie said that he found the peasantry calling for self-government. Certainly, no peasant who understood the thing at all would call for government by his own class. The unrest of the country was caused by the small educated class, who were discontented, not because they wanted self-government in our sense of the word, but because they wanted to take the place of the English officials, and administer the country. Senor Iriondo, Minister of Finance in the Government of the Argentine Republic, is described as a young man of distinguished family, of integrity and ability, enjoying the confidence of sound financial and business ciroles in Buenos Aires. The external debt of the country is £63,000,000, which he does not consider excessive when compared with the resources of the country. .The gold reserves seem ample to maintain the necessary currency. The provinces have a debt-creating mania. The nation once paid £20,000,000 of provincial debts, but ! it will not do so again. Pekin has recently been enlivened by the visit of a foreign gentleman provided with an English passport, who explained j his defective English by stating that he I was a Maltese. In England he had stated that he was an " Imperial Chinese Commissioner," and ',' the promoter of the First Imperial Chinese Industrial Exhibition, to be held in Pekin in 1910," but he did not say this in Pekin. Many English firms had trusted him, and had given him important commissions. The Times of India points out that the Ganpati festival at Poona is a religious sham. The festival songs contain many incitements to violence, the effects of which on crowds are easily imaginable. Public opinion is condemning the degredation of religious festivals for base political motives. The protection of Indians against the machinations of disloyal agitators has become necessary. According to the* Frankfurt Gazette, the employment of the microphone for the detection of underground water is • making considerable progress. A tube is inserted into the ground, and an apparatus is so mounted that the ear of the observer can detect the flowing or dropping of water at great depths below the surface. It is anticipated that the instrument will render valuable service in mining by indicating and making audible the signals and movements of imprisoned miners. At -the twenty-second French Congress of Surgery, which was opened on 4th October at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, Dr. Richelot, who presided, quoted the words of Velpean, " ' Without erysipelas and purulent infection surgeons would be gods.' These accidents have disappeared, but we are still men." The I noted surgeon deplored the lack of sim- ; plicity in surgical art. The obstacles still in the path o£ the progress of durgery are^ false ideas, arbitrary notions, and unmethodical efforts. A Berlin correspondent reports that there is a remarkable unanimity in the comments of German organs of all shades on Mr. Lloyd-George's Budget speech made at Newcastle-on-Tyne. i From all alike come expressions of opinion, some contemptuous, others deprecatory, but all, without exception, though for different reasons, unfavourable. The earnings of the Canadian Pacific Railway for the week ended 30th September amounted to £552,t>00, an increase of £.131,800 over the corresponding week of last year. ' General d'Amade, who was relieved of his command in the French army and placed on the unattached list on account of an indiscreet communication made by him to a Paris journal, admits the breach of discipline, but pleads that he thought only of the interests of his country. Among other things found among his baggage he carried confidential plans for 12in and quick-firing guns, and detailed drawings of a 25-knot cruiser that he was willing to sell to the Chinese Government for £1,120,000. An English firm of brewers had distributed a circular suggesting that 'good English ale" should be made a substitute for the evil opium among Chinese soldiers. The correspondent observes that the Chinese soldier draws about 10s a month in pay. and has to provide his own rations. Obviously he has not much to spare for English ale. The gentleman in "question remained in Pekin one week, and then retired to Japan, where the British authorities 1 Egre advised of hia arrival.