NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 77, 2 April 1910, Page 12

NEWS AND NOTES.

The following items of intelligence have been selected from files received by the latest mails : — MILITARY ENGINEERS. Tho Kaiser attended, on 12th February, the centenary celebrations held in Berlin of the Battalion of Engineers of the Guard. His Majesty proposed the toast of the battalion. He said that the uniform of the sapper, formerly found only here and there in th« army, and, so to say, isolated, had spread to the new formations, and when they looked* at their aeronauts and automobilists, or saw the column of the railway brigade go by, their hearts might well beat more quickly as they saw the fruits of devoted labour and untiring service. Herr Bernburg, who was a guest at Bremen on 11th February, adopting a well-known saying about the Rhine, said that the sea was Germany's defence, not Germany's frontier. Canadian opinion on the whole favours tho remission of tho surtax on German goods, states The Times correspondent. While, however, it is thought in Germany that the resulting increase of German trade will be at the expense of the United States, it is assumed in Canada that it is British trade which will suffer. Mr. Merriman, Premier of Cape Colony, said, on 17th February, that he did not retract an inch, from his recent speeches. He said the Progressives desired the domination of the money party, and he described Dr. Jameson's speech at Capetown as merciless, personal abuse. In the debate on the Congo Budget, M. Vandervelde said that the reforms announced by the Government were- a sham. The collection of rubber in theAbir and Mongalla districts had only been half stopped. Dr. Jameson, speaking ia Capetown on 11th February, asserted fearlessly that General Botha, Mr. Merriman, and himself could on every South African question sign the same manifesto. Party division was only desirable in the abominable racial question which Mr. Merriman had sought to resuscitate. An Imperial League for the promotion of good feeling between Indians and tho Government, the denunciation of anarchy and sedition, and the education of the people in the views of the Government, has been formed by the leading nobles and gentry of Bengal. In its examination of the Naval Est;mates for the next financial year the Bufiget Committee of the German Reichstag discussed battleship construction, the possibility of obtaining more building orders from foreign navies, and the merits and demerits of the Krupp monopoly. Nobody has succeeded in making much of Herr yon Bethmann-Hollweg's speech on the Prussian Franchise Amendment Bill made on 10th February {say 3 The Times correspondent). Ministers are not to be drawn into avoidable argument at the present stage. A proposal for a loan has been placed before the Greek Government by a group of French financiers. Baron Sonnino, the new Italian Premier, has explained his programme, which embraces a large number- of social and financial Teforms. Senor Canalajas, the new Spanish Premier, who is a close student of English politics, intends to tax unearned increment, and will use the Budget as the vehicle of many of his proposed reforms. News has been received in Paris that Mulai Hafkl, Sultan of Morocco, refutes to sanction the loan arrangements- entered into by his envoy with M. Pichon. It is pointed out that if the Sultan persists in his obstunctive attitude the French can impound the Customs revenue of Casablanca as a first guarantee for the European creditors of Morocco. There was an amusing sequel to the West Cork election at Baltimore on the morning .of 9th February. During the campaign the instruments of the .Baltimore Brass Band were stolen and were stated to have been thrown into the harbour, so as to prevent baud parades in the interests of Mr. Gilhooly, XI.P. Since then the bandroom has been carefully guarded, but the caretaker on entering on the above date found instruments identical with the missing ones hanging on the wall, each bearing the inscription, "With the compliments of Molly Maguire," ihe name under which the Ancient Order of Hibernians goes in Ireland. A claim for compensation has been withdrawn. By inserting a penny in an automatic gas meter and then withdrawing it Henry Saunders stole 13,500 cubic feet of gas from the Gas Light and Coke Company, it was alleged at Willesden recently. "Any man who has a defect is a marked man," said a doctor at derkemvell County Court, in pointing out that the Workmen's Compensation Act has handicapped working men in a way that nobody expected. Japan has always adhered to the principle of equal opportunity and the open door, says a Tokio paper, and as to placing the South Manchurian railways on a business basis, that has been Japan's cole object, so that the American proposal is nothing new to Japan and her people. All female prisoners in the Old Country between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three are to be treated specially as "juvenile adult" prisoners with certain privileges, by a new scheme of the Home Office. Strabane, County Tyrone, possesses an extradordinary fire brigade. Its personnel was discussed at a recent meeting of the urban council, the cnairman remarking that the captain of the brigade had reported that, with the exception of himself, no member of the brigade was able, wing to advancing age, to mount a roof. A good deal of sympathy was expressed with the old men, who if dismissed would be unable to find other employ. ment, but eventually a committee was appointed to make the necessary changes to secure the efficiency of the brigade. A queer story is going the rounds in the United States. At a recent railway -smash, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, three carloads of peanut nhells were discovered. This remarkable commercial product, it is stated, was on its way from the south, consigned to a celebrated manufacturer of "breakfast foods" at Battle Creek, Michigan. The Chicago Federation of Labour has a long-standing grievance against the consignee, and has asked the Pure Food Commission at Washington to investigate the methods jot his factory — a request which, in the > circumstances, scents reasonable. Until some satisfactory explanation is forthcoming, there will be an uneasy suspicion that food reform enthusiasts art; being regaled with the kind of provender which w«s instrumental in bringing th.s Pjrqdjgal gsn tfi SfPfJ^NiSfit

A French engineer of Pontarlier hns invented an apparatus which he has named the aero-ski, which can glide tover tho snow or on water. The aeroski resembles a bob-sleigh, to the front •of which is attached a wooden aerial propeller capable of making 1000 l evolutions a minute and worked by a five h.p. two-cylinder motor. The bobsleigh rests' on skis, which can be detached and replaced by a skiff to be employed on water in the same manner as on snow slopes. It is stated that the aero-ski has obtained a speed of over six miles an hour on the level snow, but the inventor hopes to double this speed .in his next experiments, which will take place shortly near Pontarlier. In a recent book, "L'Education Pat'riotique dv Soldat," Lieut. Roland complains that tl>e system of education in France is deplorably deficient ; unduly stimulating the nervous side of the child's organism, and releasing him when most in need of 'mental, moral, and physical training, and most liable to the temptations of modern life. The problem it>, how to instil the qualities of devotion to duty, unselfishness, and willingness to do and suffer for the common good, on which tho welfare of every country depends. Apparently, the years spent with the colours are th« only opportunity of instilling such principles. Tabulated results of the examinations of recruits show almost incredible ignorance of the elementary matters of common knowledge, and almost total neglect of the national history. Of 135 typical recruits taken at random forty -two per cent, apparently had never heard of Alsace-Lorraine, and fifty per cent, knew nothing about- the first Na» poison ! At a reception to missionaries on furlough, at the Memorial Hall, London, on 10th February, an interesting address was given by the Rev. Arthur H. Bestall, a Wesleyan Methodist who had been working among the outcast lepers in Upper Burma. He said that ] in Burma leprosy is" rampant, and added : "You hear a lot about Buddhism ; but I will cay that, whatever people may say about the ethical j beauty of Buddhism, Buddhism has never done ono day's work for the poor J outcast lepers." Mr. Bestall told how, when he started the work and went to fetch patients to the hospital with a bullock-cart and a native-helper, the lepers lied in fear, all but a poor old woman "who had no feet, and co ! could not get away." Mr. Henry Broadhurst has presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons a mallet and chisels u&ed by himself as a stonemason in the work of rebuilding the Houses of Parliament. The inscription on the stand is as follows: — "Mallet and chisels used on the building of the Houses of Parliament by Henry Broadhurst, stonemason, afterwards M.P., 1880-1906, and Undersecretary of State for the Home Depar tmeut, 1886." In view of the approaching completion of the new railway from Buenos Aires to the Pacific Coast of South America, made possible by tho Andes tunnel, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company is ordering three new liners, which will call regularly at Buenos Aires to make connection with the trans-con-tinental line. At present the steamers on reaching Brazil proceed up the River Plate as far at Monte Video, afterwards calling at the Falkland Isles and passing through Magellan Straits to Valparaiso and Panama. Passengers and cargo for Buenos Aires have tiierefore to be transhipped, and the new service will obviate this. The Mayor of Reading has presented Phillip if art in with a Royal Humane Society's certificate for rescuing an old man, aged yU, from drowning in the River kennett. Martin, though he cannot swim, has saved twenty lives from drowning in the Kennett. The Homo Secretaary hns caused a letter to b& addressed to a correspondent, denying the truth of the statement that Lady Constance Lytton was released from Liverpool Prison only when her identity was discovered. The release of "Jane Wharton" (under which name she had passed) was recommended by the medical officers and authorised by Mr. Gladstone upon medical grounds before her identity with Lady Constance Lytton was suspected. The Mayor of Yarmouth, on Btn February, presented the Carnegie bronze medal and £10 from the Carnegie Hero Fund to Ernest Quinton, a young labourer, who in Chribtmas week entered a burning house and three times scaled the stairs on bis hands and knees, on each occasion bringing out a child, although all the little victims wcic dead. A marble tablet for a roll of honour is to be placed in the town hall, and it is anticipated that Quititon's will be the first name recorded on it. A witness in the London law courts on Bth February said he had been obliged to dispense with the services of an employee. The man was honest and efficient, but could not be tolerated because of his extraordinary interest in politics during business hours. A youth of 16, named Ainley, has committed suicide by hanging at Huddersfield; he had been depressed for fear of having to undergo a further operation for a complaint in his throat. The coroner said he was afraid the present generation was impatient of suffering. A Reuter message, dated Berlin, Oth February, says : — "A statement published to-night xhows that the new air liners will provide oil possible facilities for the comfort and amusement of the passengeri>. A new monster airship, the Zeppelin IV., the framo of which is almost completed, will have several saloons for the accommodation of passengers during long voyageb, including a reading-room. The ship has a gas capacity of 20,000 cubic metres, and carries three motors. She is expected to make her maiden voyage in the spring." According to a telegram from Rouen, several Franki>h tombs of tho fifth and sixth centuries have been discovered during the course of excavation in front of the Church of Saint Gervais opposite the tablet which commemorates the visit and the death of William the Conqueror. The bobsleigh races at Charnonix, Switzerland, on 14th January, were attended by an unfortunate accident, resulting in the death of one English lady, while threo others wero injured. A Cheshire car was manned by a Miss Jannion, the captain, and the Miwes j Reynold*, Usherwood, and Hudton. Tho cay, aftei the firrt turning, rapnized, j Miss Hudson being killed on the spot. ] Mifs Jannion had her shoulder dislocated, and the other two sustained j various contusions. | A Reuter message from Copenhagen, dated 15th January, My* :— Mr. Lonsdalo, Dr. Cook's former secretary, declares that he received a letter from him dated from a place in Southern Spain on 24th December. According to this letter Dr. Cook was on the pea from tho 14th to the 24th, which is apparently the reason why he was not acquainted with tho decision of Copenhagen University regarding hie claim* to have reached tho North Pole. Sinco then h* has given no sign of life, though Mr. Lontdale has cent him repeated telegram*. Mr. Lonrdale i-aid he estimated that Dr. Cook had msdo some £10,000 by hu report . and added tliat he Sit beginning to doubi t>m %