NEWS AND NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 88, 15 April 1911, Page 12

NEWS AND NOTES.

[The following items of intelligence have been selected from files received by the latest mail.] A much-heralded mass meeting of tha United German-American and IrishAmerican Societies was held in New York recently to protest against the proposed Anglo-American Arbitration Treaty. It was attended by a large miscellaneous crowd, and addressed by not one man df real influence or importance. Mr. John Devoy, editor of the Gaelic American, made a characteristic Fenian harangue, basing his opposition to the treaty on Irish hatred' of England, which would not be abated if Ireland became an independent Republic. The whole tone of the speeches and resolutions made it clear that the objection ia not to arbitration so much as to any friendly relations between England and America. Such 'Stuff is calculated to arouse enthusiastic " Hocks " and " Hurrahs " among the excitable denizens of bowery saloons, but commands little serious public attention, and is not likely to influence a single Senate vote. Fearing blood-poisoning from an injury to his leg, received while "cranking" an automobile in California, Mr. 'Charles Gates, a well-known financier, r-came to New York for treatment by special train in record time. He left Yuma in Arizona on a Thursday afternoon, and reached New York on Sunday night following, 3000 miles kin 74 Jiours 19 minutes gross time, including stoppages. The total cost of the trip was £1500. Tho doctor^ pronounced Mr. Gates to be in no danger. The , barque Wendur, which reached London recently from Tacoma, brought the latest news from Pitcaim Island. A boat with 18 of the natives put off, and covered nearly 20 miles to intercept theWendur and learn, the latest ocenrrencesin the outside world. The Islanders informed the master of the vessel that the population numbered 150, females--being in-the majority. All enjoyed ue--markably good health, and appeared contented with their lot. The oldest inhabitant, Mr. Christian, who is 91 y-eaxs of age, is a grandson of Fletcher Christian, who was 'leader of the mutineers of the Bounty. , Isaac C. Johnson, J.P., inventor of Portland cement, attained the age of 100 years on 28th January last. He lives in a neat little cottage called Maywood, at Gravesend, England. He is now spending his time in translating the New Testament and parts of the old from Greek into literal English, because he does not believe anybody should be idle. Born at Vauxhall of hiunble parentage^ he received only a rudimentary education, and for a time was employed in a bookseller's shop. Later h© entered the service of a firm of cement ' manufacturers at Nine Elms, worked in ev-ery branch of the business, and finally reached the office of the managers. Only after a long series of experiments and many failures was- he finally able to produce Portland cement. _ In Augsburg, Germany, there is a little citjr in the heart of the city shut in all by itself with two gates and named the "Fuggerei." It~is so called because the 106 houses within it wers built with, money left by Fugger, the wealthy 'sixteenth century banker. When ho died he directed that these houses should be built and then given to poor aged families for four marks and twelve pfennigs rental a year, which is exactly one American dollar. They have four rooms and kitchen, with a little front : garden and a little garden behind. East Anglia — the eastern counties of England— is one of two localities in Europe where the plague bacillus exists. Tha apathy of the authorities and people in this matter has given rise to the suggestion that perhaps England feels that she owes a debt of gratitude to tha • plague, and that it would be indecorous to be obtrusively hostile. It was the plague that put an end to serfdom in England by producing a scarcity of farm labourers. ' It was the plague that re- | duced the power of the monasteries and co paved the' way for the revolution. It was an aid even to English literature inasmuch as it nearly exterminated the classes that spoke French and Latin, and called into activity a new body of educationists who spoke oniy English. 'The plague may be said to bsuthe father of hygiene, for not even the terror of smallpox -was so great a stimulus to cleanliness as the plague. Some day a book will be written on the beneficence of catastrophes or a study of calamities as aids to human progress. The British suffragette is peculiarly militant, but it would be a mistake to suppose that "the sex" is unanimous. This is srown by a recent poll of women Voters who are on the register for municipal purposes and who were asked if they were favourably or unfavourably disposed to the parliamentary franchise. Fifteen of the larger constituencies were chosen and 41,757 women were polled. "Out of this number only 5579 were in fa-vour of th© franchise, 18,850 declared themselves as- opposed to it, while the -remainder were unaccountably and unsilent. Th© British law courts report gives an, analysis of the divorces for the tea years from 1900 to 1910. It shows that out of every 20,000 persons there were 33 divorces or separation orders. The total numbetr of cases heard in the ten years was 9284. In almost half the cases the marriage 'has lasted from ten to twenty years. More than one-fifth th© divorced wives were minors when they were married. A majority of the petitioners belonged to the middle class. In 40 per cent, of the cases there were no children, in 25 per cent, one child, and in 17 per cent. two. The parents of six and upwards were only 1.72 per cent. The .celebrated' Swiss Guard of the Vatican isi to be reformed, but not out of existence, as has happened' to some of the semi-roilitary bodies in attendance on the Pope. Its ancient traditions are io b r e restored and the recruiting system placed upon its formecr baeis. All its members must henoeforth be drawn from the Swiss army, for it has been a common saying of late years that the guard is Swiss only in name and that a good many of the men had never seen Switzerland in their lives. The Swiss Guard dates from the fifteenth, century, when Sixtus IV. chose a regiment of Helvetians because of their ' unshakable loyalty. The regiment became a permanent institution under Julius 11., the della, Rovere fighting Pope who decid-ed finally that to Swisi» soldiers phould be entrusted tne duty of guarding the person of tho pontiff. Their number has varied at different times, reaching as high as 3000 and falling to about 100 now. "The discovery (how to manufacture gold) may be made to-morrow," says Edison. "It is just as likely to be i made to-morrow as at any other time. The discovery will surely be made some time, because the making of gold is a question only of the proper combination and treatment of matter. I mean by this that all matter is alike. Silver and gold differ only because the matter in them was combined in different proportions and treated in a different manner. Who knows but radium has the power to convert a cheap metal into a dear one."

Wolves have long been extinct in France, yet there are a hundred "lieutenant d& la louveterie" whose nominal duty it is to keep these animals under, j Among the holders of this office are » aristocrats, such as the Prince d'Arenburg and the Marquis de Clermont Tonnerie, and 1 millionaires like the Comte Grefiulhe and M. Paul Lebaudy. They j draw no salary, but the state provides j them with a showy . uniform, the buttons of which are adorned with wolves' heads. The distinction is keenly sought after, as the "lieutenants de la louveterie" have shooting rights in all the State domains and thus enjoy some of the best sport in France. Dwellers in the hills, crudely armed with primitive weapons, but -terrific fighters, are the Yaqui Indians, who have more than once decisively beaten the soldier of Mexico. Peaceable when undisturbed, fully alive to the richness of their mines and the value of their fertile valleys, they sought only to defend that which was theirs from the grasping hands of those who desired their mines and their lands. Like most aborigines, however, they were doomed from the first. What was, at the time of Cortez, a tribe five thousand strong, able to defy the warriors of Montezuma, has dwindled until there are now not more than five hundred souls in the valley of the Yaqui River and in the mouniain gorges which wall in the source of this stream. There is just one variety of rubberproducing tree in the world that will thrive outside the tropics. That tree is now growing on. the southern slope of a hill in theArnold Arboretum, in a residence district within three miles of the gilded dome of the Massachusetts state-house. When the arboretum's explorer and collector, Mr. E. H. Wilson, went back to the gates of Tibet a year ago, an English nobleman, offered any sum Teqnired for a. quantity of the seeds of this remarkable tree, to be brought from their native home. For a* jade vase seven, inches high and seven and a half inches in diameter .in the late Robert Hoefe collection of art objects 3600d0l was paid at the auction ,Jn New York City a few days ago. Tie jade was of the greeni variety approaching the hue of spinach. Its ornamentation was in undercut relief carving and pierced work in such form and airaiigeroent that ite beauty is best revealed when a light is placed within. It was carved in the reign of the Chinese Emperor who abdicated in 1795 rather than show disrespect to the memory of his grandfather by reigning for as long a time as the grandfather did, the grandson, Ch'ien-lung, having already/ occupied the Dragon Seat for fifty-nine years, while grandpa K'ang-hsi reigned for sixty. When Pastor Kneipp advised healthseekers to walk barefoot on the dewy grass he was ridiculed by ( the medical profession. The worthy pastor's motives were evidently disinterested, sinco he had made no corner in dew and had no monopoly of it. Moreover a great many people said they were benefited, which, of course, they had no right to be after the medical verdict. But the EJneipp cure has had ite adherents ever ■ since, especially in Europe. ' Now comes Professor Negro, of the University of Bologna, who says that dew contains a certain amount of radio activity. He collected the dew on glass plates, and he found that the radio activity continued for some time, and then gradually decreased. Professor Negro says that the phenomenon is due to the magnetic influence of the upper cruest of the soil upon the dewdrops, and_ .that it is quite possible for the radio activity to be transferred to the body and thus to benefit health. Paris sends its children to scho&^ and supplies the poor ones with clothing, shoes, and food, as well as' with free books, slates, stationery, and instruments. And it arranges that no child shall know which of the otheis are -charity pupils. _ It sends poor children on summer outings. It builds houses and rente them at low rates, giving preference to the poorest and largest families. It taxes ©very theatre ticket 10 p^er cent, for a .public fund which furnishes every year fifteen thousand free beds in hospitals and as many more in asylums. This fund has also built a. maternity hospital, where no questions are asked. It helps to bring wo thousands of poor children. It furnishes free medicines for the sick poor. It collects a per diem from the employer for a workman who receives injury in the discharge of his duties. It spends ten million dollars yearly for benevolence. The Marquis Katsura has issued a sort of semi-official apology for the fact that the recent trial of Socialists in Japan was conducted in secret. The press of Japan, he said, was much improved, but it might still disregard the ethics of the Western press and strive to make martyrs of political criminals and so inflame the popular mind against the , existing order of things. This, of course, is very gratifying to the Western press, thus blushingly crowned with the laurels of moderation, but it would seem i/hat if the Premier wishes the Japanese press to imitate Western newspaper ethics he might well set the example. Western ethics forbid secret trials, and it would, indeed, seem hard to conceive of anj rthing more likely to inflame popular sentiment. Dr. Sun Vat Sen is in British Columbia preaching the overthrow of the Chinese Government and the establishment of reform. Some sixteen years ago Dr. Sun Vat Sen was abducted in London and confined in the cellars of the Chinese embassy, doubtless with a view to secret deportation. Fortunately for him, he was able to scribble a note io his friend Dr. Canfclie, of Charing Cross Hospital. He tossed the note thiough the window into the street, and it was found and •delivered. Dr. Cantli© wont at once to tha Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, who pasted no time in diplomatic representations, but sent v, seigeant of police with twelve constables to the Chinese embassy with a demand that the reformer be handed over to them on the spot. Of course the embassy officials professed entire ignorance of how the prisoner got into the cellar and gave the blandest assurances of their innocence, but Dr. SunVat Sen has never sinco been quite so close io death as npon that occasion. It is said that George IV., when Kegent, once" imparted a note of frolic to the august occasion of the King's Speech at the opening of the British Parliament. The Regent made a bet with Sheridan that he would insert the words "Baa, baa, black sheep," into his Speech without occasioning comment. He did it, too, and Sheridan, who could never look a lost bet in the face without consternation, asked Canning how it was that the strange words should bo unnoticed. "Oh, I noticed he said 'Baa, baa, black sheep,' " replied Canning, "but as he wos looking straight in your direction at the moment I deemed it merely a personal allusion and thought no more aboul it." Among the objects stolen from the Carmelite Convent in Lisbon when the religious houses were invaded by the populace is a Telic valued at twenty contos of reis. It is asserted to consist of a hand of St. Teivsa. It was in an. artistic glass case studded with diamonds. The authorities are endeavouring to trace the relic, but it is believed it has already crossed the frontier together with other valuables taken forcibly from the reHg;iou£ eriabljshmenta.

Mr. Sydney Brooks, in the Fortnightly Review, gives this description of the American' Congress, "a phalanx of small boys, the sons of Congressmen, who sat on their fathers' knees during the debates .... and one urchin, I was enraptured to see, came up with his father to be sworn in, held up his little fist, and took the oath of allegiance. 'Isn't that just the cunningest, cutest thing you ever saw ?' said the ladies in the galleries." We also have i glimpses of the legislators being shaved in a room separated from the floor of the House by a glass door, which is left open so that the negro barber may come and listen to the debates when his business is slack. We are then given an edifying picture of the messenger boys, I who "101 l about at the table in front of the, Speaker's chair and play surreptitious games beneath its shadow with a watchful eye on the Sergeant-at-Arms." These boys sometimes join in the applause which comes from tiie galleries. j "When you have seen tree trunks [ that were many centuries in growth falling bit by bit into the maw of a factory furnace, without any attempt being j made to fill their place in the forest, • wheD you have been saddened by the spectacle of the marvellous Brazilian forests blazing in every, direction to make room .for coffee plantations that I will presently spring up amongst the charred trunks, you realise keenly that there is no more urgent need in these great countries than a complete organ- | isation of forest planting," so writes M. Clemenceau in the Observer. .Cromer, out of -whose sides the sea has just bitten another huge mouthful, was, a century ago, the despair of engi- | neere. After each inroad attempts to protect the coast were made — unavailkigIj. Now a modern sea-wall offers substantial resistance to the waves. At one time Cromer was included in th© parish of Shipden; but that town itself is but a memory. It disappeared under the foam one wild' winter day, in the reign of Henry VI. It is said that keensighted visitors to Cromer may still see, at low water, a little way from the shore, the ruins of the churches and cottages that formerly stood by the margin of the sea. Although most of the world's coffee is grown in South America, yet in no country is it so dear as in Argentina, for the simple reason that only foreigners ask for it. The natives of Argentina drink mate, or Paraguay tea, as it is sometimes called. Among the working classes this is the universal drink. Instead of coffee after dinner, many Argentine housekeepers serve a basin of soup, which guests from abroad find some difficulty in. swallowing. Attempts have been made to popularise mate in Europe, but Uiese have never been successful. There is a cafe in Paris where Argentine visitors can obtain their national drink. But mate in London has so far eluded the searcher. Norwich ill the eighteenth century possessed a club known as the Gre.gorians, who pursued drinking in a most business-like spirit. Coke of Norfolk was taken there by some of his friends, and elected a member at 2 in. the morning. Just after he had taken, his- seat at the club table, a basin full of toast swimming in oil was placed before each member. Coke wished to decline, but Sir Edward Astley, the president, informed him that every member was expected to consume his portion. "It is the finest dish in the world for dispelling the fumes of wine, and is always brought in at this hour so that we can continue drinking an ireshly. and freely as if th© evening had only just begun." Legislation in the Isle j>f Man is at a standstill because the rle-use of Keys has gone on strike. Manxmen can afford to mark time, for their laws hav6 long been in advance of ours. Every woman, widow or spinster, in the Isle of Man, whether she be owner, occupier, or lodger, enjoys the Parliamentary franchise. Every widow enjoys half of 'iher husband's personal estate, and has a life interest in his real estate, and she cannot be deprived of this by will. The sale of cigarettes and intoxicants Ito children was forbidden in Man for ! years before such a prohibition was enforced here. We have legislated mildly against moneylenders. The highest interest ths-t can be charged for a loan in the island is 6 per cent., and that has been the law for over 200 years. The Rev. Augustus Orlebar, aged 87, who was at Rugby with Tom Hughes, is very discouraged about the modern youth. Says he : "I am afraid that the boys of to-day are not quite of tho ■same hardy stuff that they were in the days of which my dear old friend Tom Hughes wrote. I don't imagine for a moment that it is their own fault. Nowadays boys are too much pampered and coddled. There is no moral teacher greater than hardship, and seventy years ago the Rugby boy had plenty of that. In my days we used -frequently to take our icy cold baths by the light of pale matches some of the boys would hold aloft. To-day, nothing but a -warm bath seems to be good enough for -a boy. Looking back, I often think Ahat I owe my longevity to the lack of comfort in my boyhood." Signor Caruso, the famous tenor, has just lost £2000 through a little speck lof dust. This insignificant morsel blew into his throat as he was walking along the street, with the result that he had to cancel four operatic performances, j for which he was to have been paid j £500 each. It is not so Very many I years ago since Caruso was receiving only tenpence a day for singing in a church choir. • Now he shrugs his j shoulders at £60,000 a year. Up to comparatively recently he used to live l the luxurious life of a wealthy main, but lately he has hact to follow an almost Spartan regime in order to preserve his wonderful voice. Apropos of ' the new school of painters known as the post-impres-eionists, this is an age when analysis and enquiry into the force of thought occupy many minds, and nowhere is this shown mere vividly than in the new school of post-impressionism. Some of the pictures are merely hideous cacophonies of colour ; some resemble posters ; pavement artists or mad children might have done others ; but ono spirit dominates them all — " Let my individual idea speak. Subordinate execution to conception," they say, or occasionally shriek, and the moat imaginative and suggestive of them all io Paul Gauguin. The joyous Romette, of the little county town of Le Puy, has become Mayor by the sole fact that his colleagues have resigned. Elected as a protest agaiuat municipal extravagance, Romette, or Rome, has taken his office with extreme seriousness. He was a street hawker before he rose to civic dignity, and this social fact ha>3 mitigated against his popularity with the other members of the council. Yet, assuredly, here is a democratic simplicity. The ordinary candidate for office promises the moon. Romette is much iuore practical. "I want to limit work between meals," he said. Could there be a more popular measure? Then he would tax pianos ! "You tax dogs, who do not make half as much noise.!" At I the same time, he thinki, a little music ; is good to cheer poor people, aad he j proposes the installation of a mechanical piano in the municipal night-ehel-»tsr»