HERE AND THERE.

Evening Star, Issue 11681, 13 February 1902, Page 7

HERE AND THERE.

An incident of which the 'Pall Mall Magazine' contributor is evidently proud is the holding of a British Cabinet Council on American soil. He describes the incident as follows:—"The American Ambassador gave a dinner to ex-President Harrison as he passed through London two years ago, on his return from that ill-fated expedition to Paris as counsel for Venezuela—-ill-fated, since nearly everything he and toe Government of President Cleveland had contended for was overruled by that very arbitration tribunal which Mr Cleveland had demanded so strenuously. There assembled at Mr Choate's one of the most remarkable companies ever gathered beneath a single roof in London—' the most remarkable I ever saw,' said one of the most distinguished of the guests. Among others were Lord Salisbury, Lord .bansdowne. Mr Balfour, and Lord'Wolseley, then Com-mander-in-Chief of the British Army, and ;i;s such often called in consultation on military questions. These four, after dinner, and after many others had departed, stood in a group in a broad hall between the head of the stairs and the door of the drawing room they had just quitted. So evidently were they conferring on high matters'that everyone else drew away, and the four were left standing by themselves. Presently they walked on to the music room in front of the house, and there remained. It was a council of the Inner Cabinet, and, the house of the American Ambassador is, of course, American soil."

Comparison between the latest British and American census statistics discloses a remarkable difference in the numbers of the males and females that made, up the population of the respective countries. In Britain, it will be remembered, the female portion of the population were in numbers at least by far the most considerable section; but in America this state of affairs is reversed, the men and boys outnumbering the women and girls by 1,800,000 in a population of 76,3u3,387. The excess appears more distinctly, perhaps, when it is said there are 512 males and only 4«d females in every 1,000 people in the United States.

The municipal council of the French town of Grenoble recently voted a large sum of money for the purpose of erecting a bronze statue of the famous chimpanzee, near Charlemagne, who not long since died there. For nine years the chimpanzee, which was brought to Grenoble by an African explorer, had enjoyed the freedom of the town, being privileged to enter practically every house and to help himse'i: to anything he fancied in fruit and vegetable shops. The chief reason of the town's great regard for the chimpanzee | was that about five years ago he rescued a child from drowning in a well. Charlemagne had seen everything, and for him to swing himself over the top of the wed was the work of a moment. Descending by tho rope used for the buckets he grasped the child, and quickly carried her back to her friends, climbing up by the same rope by which he had descended. Charlemagne increased his popularity by spending hours in the children's hospital of the town, playing in the different wards and amusing the children, who were all verv fond of him In such respect was the chimpanzee held that when he died the inhabitants of the town followed his remains to the grave.

Waterman, of the Appellate Court of Chicago, recently decided a case in which a litigant appealed from a jury s verdufc holdiu«T him liable for the amount of an acceptance he had endorsed. The appellants counsel quoted Portia's judgment in the 'Merchant of Venice' on his clients behalf, but tiie Judge decided against the petitioner, and ridiculed Shakespeare's law, iemarking: "The judgment of Portia did anything but make wastepaper of Shylock s bond. On the contrary, it was converted into au instrument by which an unfortunate Jew was robbed of all he had. We have not understood that Portia's judgmentwas, or is, law in this or any other coun-

It is commonly believed that red anl auburn hair is a " freak" or variety of black, but this view is not borne out by the late researches of ethnologists. Dr Topmard has shown that in France and some other parts of Europe red as well as blonde hair has obviously come from the Bakic countries, and it is "now regarded by anthropologists in general as a characteristic . f the. tall blonde race of northern Europe, sometimes called "Teutons,'' but mo-e scientifically "Nordics." There are sonn. who entertain the traditional notion that all, or nea'.y all. Scotsmen are " sandy," although the great majority of Scotsmen they see are blonde, brown, or dark-haired, like the majority of Englishmen and Irishmen. The percentage of red and auburn hair in the Scotch is, in fact, only a little higher than it is in tlii English.

One of the most remarkable triumphs of modern surgery achieved in connection witn the present campaign in South Africa is furnished (says a London paper) by mi operation that has recently been perforate i upon Captain A. It. Finlay, of the 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment. This officer was shot through the hea# ai Vlakfontein, the ballet penetrating the forehead and eventually emerging at the back <:i the skull. He was picked up on the battlefield apparency lifeless, and was carried do the nearest hospital tent. There he remained in an unconscious condition for nearly two months, during the whole <-.," which period one side of his body was paralysed. He was then sent to England, '" the faint hope thai the sea voyage might, possibly do him some good, and on arrival at Southampton was removed, more dead than alive, to a private hospital in Welbeck street. While in this institution came under the professional care of Mr Victor Horsley, who succeeded in removing no fewer than twenty-seven pieces of shattered bone from his hear', and thus restoring sensation to the paralysed side. Captain Finlay stood the operation exceedingly well, and his complete recovery is confidently anticipated.