TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Star, Volume 12869, Issue 12869, 19 July 1906, Page 2

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

"" XFbom Oint Special CoßfcEsroirc>SNT.l - LONDON, Juno 9. GREENWICH OBSERVATORY THREATENED. The world-famous observatory which ;, crowns the hill of Greenwich Park is passing through troublous times just now. The ! Xondon County Council, in the role of pro- { ™er °f °heap tramways for the millions { of bouth London, is the disturbing element. V :p appears, that the-Council Have established in -.ho Greenwich meridian, and • within half a mile of the observatory, a ; large station for generating electricity, and ; the astronomers complain bitterly of its ; injurious effect, not only upon the atnios- ; pnsre, but also upon the delicate recordr ing instruments with which their work is 1 dona. The" disturbance caused by the hot Mr and smoke from the chimneys of the generating station cannot fail, they sav, to he serious, though it is at present impossible to estimate it quantitatively; but more alarming still is the vibration "caused by the L.C.C, engines. These are so powerful that they shako the observatory. According to Professor Turner, of the University Observatory, "the delicate observations for nadir, which furnish the reference points for Greenwich time and for terrestrial longitudes, indicate a state of constant vibration while the engines are running, which will bo greatly increased if the full proposals of the Loudon County Council are carried out." The attitude of the L.C.C towards the danger which threatens the world's astronomical centre appears to bo one of calm indifference. Writing _to the Astronomer Royal on March 13, they declared themselves "unable to acknowledge any liability in regard to the effect upon the* observatory of" the working of the station." The issues at stake are not merely national, but international, Greenwich" being the standard meridian of the whole world. Professor Turner admits, however, the difficulty of making clear to a public unfamiliar with astronomical work the great importance of the interests involved in th o danger which threatens-the observatory. "I have." he says, "been often asked whether it would not be better to move the observatory away from Greenwich, and it is almost "impossible to state the objections in a manner commensurate with their importance. Suppose one wore asked whether the pictures in tho National Gallery could not be replaced by a set of well-made copies, it would be very difficult to state the objections in adequate language. One might lose one's temper and retain general sympathy; hut a person who happened to be ignorant of art, and unwilling to accept public opinion, would not be convinced. There is a similar difficulty in explaining to those unfamiliar with science the impossibility of copying a standard—say the standard of length—and the consequent necessity of guarding it with the greatest care; and unfortunately in this case one cannot to the same extent take refuge in public support, since there are not so many who are sufficiently acquainted with the countless small details which make up the argument. To explain the issnes involved in moving Greenwich Observatory , is more difficult still." Fortunately for Greenwich Observatory, it has found a redoubtable champion 'in the Admiralty, which realises to the full the threatened danger, and is using all its influence to minimise it. But the conflict of interests is on a very large scale, and a serious sacrifice will have to bo made on one side dt the other before the matter is adjusted. THE PAUPERS' PARADISE. . Tba inquiry opened by the Local Government Board into the administration of the Poor Law in the Poplar district promises to be rich in revelations. The facts upon which the inquiry was instituted may he briefly sum aarised. Between 1885 and 1895 there was an increase of 1,153 indoor paupers, or 75 per cent., and an increase in cost of £16471, or 80 per cent. From 1896 to 1906 there was an increase of 1,024 indoor paupers, or 36 per cent., and'an increase in the cost of £32,594, or 86 per cent. As far as the outdoor poor were conteroed, from to 1895 there was an fctcrease oi 656, or 37 per cent., the increase fn cost being £6,801, or 92 per cent.; from 1895 to 190 ; i there was an increase of paupers of 5,169, or 249 pet cent., the increase in' cost being £31,459, or 222 per cent. The outstanding loans of the guardians had increased from £85,306 in 1896 to £182,710 in .1905. During the same period the rateable valne had increased from £739,484 to £818,922. The amount received from the poor rate and expended by the guardians had increased from £88,119 in 1896 to £152,908 in 1905. The returns of cost of maintenance of officers showed that it had risen from £1,600 in 1896 to £5,477 in 1905. It is alleged against the administrators of the Poor law in Poplar that they were fostering pauperism aha making it unduly attractive; that, they favored local tradesmen at the expense of the ratepayers by accepting tenders at prices monstrously above the market value of the goods sup"plied; and that, generally speaking, the institutions under their care were run on very extravagant lines, not only as regarded the inmates, but in connection with the officials. Instances were given yesterday when the inquiry opened. In one case the highest tender for £3ll was accepted against the lowest of £195. Moreover, luxuries, such as Gorgonzola cheese, laco curtains, best white counterpanes, damask table linen and napkins, Irish cambric handkerchiefs, fine art serge, "antique parchment double cream wove " notepaper, ivory vising cards, and similar extravagances figured in tho bills footed by the ratepayers. Further, it was shown that a sum of £ll2 was spent during 1905 in , "mental refreshment." The master of the . workhouse had for his own private use the 'Daily Telegraph,' the 'Daily Express,' 'Answers,' tho 'Weekly Telegraph,' ' Sketchy Bits,' ' Pearson's Weekly,' the ' Illustrated Mail,' 'lllustrated London News, ? 'Strand,' 'London Magazine,' 'LeisunwHour,' 'Reynolds's,' 'Weekly Despatch,' 'News of the World,' 'Weekly Times' and ' Echo,' ' Quiver,' ' CasselTs,' and 'Good Words.' The assistant master had the 'Daily TelegTaph,' the 'Daily Express,' 'Answers,' 'Weekly Telegraph/ 'Amateur Gardening,' 'Sketchy Bits,* ""Cit-bits,' 'Pearson's,' the 'lllustrated Mail,' 'lllustrated News,' 'The People,' and the 'News of the World,' with the samo monthly magazines as the master. Even tha cook had ' Sketchy Bits,' ' The People,' and the ' News oi the World. The workhouse, so far as the dietary of the inmates was concerned, was, it is alleged, run on highly-expensive lines. Frozen mutton or chilled Deef was not good enough for the paupers; they had to be fed with the "best English," and their bread, butter, bacon, cheese, pickles, cocoa, and tea were bought _ at prices which would make the average middle-class housekeeper gasp. Tea at half a crown a pound figured in the workhouse bills, and Lea and Perrnfs sauce, Lazenby's pickles, best cube sugar, and Cadbury's best cocoa, were among the items enumerated as having been contracted for by the workhouse authorities. *ALL BRITISH BORN." A grapoio narrative oU the scene ore the ocean training ship Port Jackson, when 100 Warspite boys coolly paraded on deck after the vessel collided with a liner in the Channel soon after commencing her voyage to- Australia, has been forwarded by Mr A. j. West, F.R.G.S., who was on board. He writes:— " I could not hut admire the behaviour of the Warspite boys. They saw and heard the crash, as the steamship '. collided with us, and. naturally, .they were indined to get a little excited, but Chief Instructor Giyn .ordered the bugler to sound the 'still,' whereupon every Boy stood silent, ■ waiting for the next order. This order was immediately given: ' Divisions fall in on the decfch&use-"The discipline was beyond all praise..-,- No one knew, the amount of the damage: "'; The ship heeled over, and the crashing of plates and timber gave evidence of the seriousness of the situation.. : For all that the boys knew, the ship might have gone" dowa in -a-few. minutes,- but- the lads lined up as if .on parade, waiting with set little faces for the next directions irom their officers. .The captain immediately gave the order to serve out lifebelts. There was no rush-or confusion. The boys and crew behaved with,, great coolness." - One of the lads said he did not need a lifebelt, but preferred Jo strip and sw'rm ashore. Just before the collision the chaplain was givinii-one

of the boys an imposition sum, and. had lent him a pencil. A few hours afterwards ;he boy returned the pencil, and expressed regret that he had not had-time-to finish the sum. In the evening, while being towed towards Dover, the whole crew were mustered on deck, and there, in the twilight, with caps off, all hands devoutly repeated after the chaplain the prayer of general thanksgiving. The captain addressed the lads, and told them how thankfuf they ought to be. They had acted as true British boys, and he was proud of them. 'The buglers then sounded the admiral's salute, and three cheers were called for the captain, which the boys gave with ringing enthusiasm." MR CHAMBERLAIN OX HIS NATIVE HEATH. Mr Chambarlain was fighting his battles o'er again this week at a garden party at Highbury, to which Mrs Chamberlain' and he had invited the principal Liberal Unionist workers in West Birmingham. He never was more proud of Birmingham, he said, than on that Wednesday night when the result of the poll was declared, because the result confirmed all he had ever said about the loyalty and steadfastness of Biimihgham. "After the election was over," he continued, ''my tables were covered with letters and telegrams congratulating me and congratulating the city upon its .steadiness, upon its firmness, npon the admirable loyalty with which it stood to it« colors and to its leader. And these cables came to me not merely from England, but fromall parts of the world—from distant colonies, from the Cape, even from the Falkland Islands, if you know where they are, a very long way off. All these came to congratulate me and to express pride in our victory. It was a great thing that you did. Remember, everything was going against us, people were getting duwn : hearted—(laughter)—and it was like one of those great battles, of which there have been many, where, when a defeat is apparent, some one regiment makes a stand, and almost restores the honor and glory of the field. And that was what my regiment did in Birmingham on that Wednesday. Great as was the victory of our opponents, they did not boast of it quite in the same style afterwards. I was told by a friend of mine who was in the Strand, at Aldwych. that when the news came, and the elections were being announced, the whole crowd appeared to be Radical. They were cheering all the Radical victories, but when Birmingham came up, and one after another seven victories were announced from one provincial city, there went up a. roar which lasted ten minutes, because even the Radical crowd, although they might on other grounds have been glad to know that we were defeated, yet they were all Englishmen, and thev could appreciate courage and loyalty and consistency." MATRIMONY BY THE ROUND.

In a volume entitled 'Backwards and Forwards,' which is more or less a. travesty of the future state of civilisation under the ultra-Socialistic code, a writer, who conceals his identity under the nom-de-plume of "Summer Springs,'* deals in a satirical manner with a subject that has already been treated seriously by Edward BelLamv and H. G. Wells, ft is* a decidedly clever book, and contains many telling criticisms, but probably the best part of the work is that which has reference to matrimony in tho happy (?) age when all men shall Ite equal. Then marriage will not be a. matter of personal choice. It will be the duty of tho State to mate with a view to producing equality. And the State—in "Summer Spring's" idea—will proceed on these lines: A dark woman will bo mated to a fair husband, and vice versa, A tall man will be matched to a short woman, and a tall woman to a short man. A stout husband will be given a thin wife, and for a thin man will be found a buxom spouse. The ugly man will be given a pretty partner, ami if a lady does not pass muster with tlie State connoisseurs of beauty, her injured vanity will be soothed in part by the grant of a handsome husband. Tho combined height of each married couple will have to conform to a fixed standard, and their combined weight will have to be within specified limits. And so on. Thus the State will endeavor to secure the survival of what " Summer Springs " calls the " unfittest-"' The State, one imagines, would find itself with "a very long row to hoe," for Dame Nature is" as full of tricks as several waggon -loads j.of monkeys, and is apt to resent any interference with her Workings in a very startling fashion. AN IMPUDENT SWINDLE. The visitors' book kept in every AgentGeneral's office in London is a. -ful institution, but' it is on occaiaoit put to base uses. "A short white ago," writes a Londoner to .the 'Daily Mail,' " a lady from one of the colonies came to stay with me, and put her name and address in the visitors' book at the office of that colony in London. Last- Friday a man came to my house and asked for her, 6tating that he was a steward of a steamer which had lately ao-rived from the place where she lives, and that he had brought a parcel for her from a friend in that place which ho. had despatched per rail, tho cost being norne -eight shillings. Unfortunately, I wafi absent, and the lady, being completely taken in, gave the man the money. Of course, no parcel arrived, and the" whole affair is a fraud."

There is "nothing now under the eun," and this particular swindle was quite a favorite "lav "'with a certain class of Hvers-on-their-wite Seme ten or twelve years ago. There was a recrudescence of the swindle two or three years ago, and among the victims was the mother of a certain respected Antipodean merchant, whesename need not be mentioned. He duly inscribed his name in the AgentGeneral's book one day, and gave his mother's address in BaJham. One evening, after a long day in town, he arrived home, to be greeted with the tidings that " the box has arrived." " What box?" mk\ he. "Why, tho box '-ou telegraphed about," was tho reply. " I haven't telegraphed about any box." Ki.id he. " But here' 6 your wire," replied hie mother, handing him a telegram, which read: "If box arrives pay bill." There was no signature, but the old lady naturally concluded, it was from her eon, and when a box did arrive in the course of the afternoon, paid a bill for over 30s. The. account was made out on a billhead belonging to an eminently respectable firm in the West End, and was'doly receipted by the man who brought it. On the Jkvx being opened, it was found to contain several bricks wrapped up neatly in newspaper. No trace of the perpetratom of this swindle could be obtained. AN EMPIRE CATECHISM. Lord Meath has drawn up an " Empire Day" catechism for the use of British subject/!. Tib.© first part of the catechism containa questions and answers as to the size, population, inhabitants, revenue, religious and other etatistios of the British Empire, and in the remainder the duties of ritize/nship are rehearsed. The following _ questions and answers indicaite the spirit in which the catechism is drawn up:— # Why is it the duty of British subjects to honor and obey the King ?—Because King Edward VII. repreEents the majesty and honor of the Empire, and because, as a constitutional sovereign, . he has sworn to uphold tho laws, and to govern his subjects with justice and equity. What are the duties of a citizen of the British Empire?—To cultivate feelings of affecta'an for all who owe allegiance to the King-Emperor,- so to live as never to bring reproach on the Empire of which he is a citazea; to pre■_pare himself by. every means in his power for the furtherance of its just interest, and, irrespective of date, creed, or'color,' to ■ advance, r to. the best of his power,, the welfare of his fellow: citizens, whether in peace- or in war " Why should a atehh of the British .Empire owe duties to the State?— Because citizens of the -British Empire enjoy privileges and an amouiit of Personal liberty and - freedom tmfitfrpassed"" by

those ienjoyed by the citizens of any otiier State in the world, and therefore owe, a debt-of gratitude to the Empire, which protects them in the enjoyment of these unrivalled privileges, liberty, and freedom. What is the " Empire Day s> movement?—An organised effort throughout the Krng-Emperor's dominions to impress on all British subjects the importance of cultivating the virtues which tend towards good citizenship, such as loyalty, patriotism, courage, endurance, reepect for and obedience to authority; to encourage self-sacrifice in the public interest, and to instil into into the rising generation—an uncompromising belief in the sacredness of the trust imposed on British subjects by the responsibilities of Eiwpire, and a determination, if possible, never to fail in the. fulfilment of duty. POSTAL REFORMS. - Mr Henniker Heaton'e occupation js not gene as a result of the recent International Postal Congress in Rome, for UniveiKal Penny Postage remains a dream of the future. But, thanks in a very large measure to the member for Cantorbury's constant agitation for postal reform, the Congress found the British delegates very keen upon certain important reductions, and on their initiative these were agreed to. Our Postmaster-General announced the nature of these reductions in the House of Commons last Tuesday evening. He i?aid that though the British delegates j failed to obtain a reduction in the initial postage rate of 2Ad to foreign countries then- were successful in persuading the Congress to adopt two considerable ccn-CO-9MOTIB to the- public—the one as regards the initial weight allowed for foreign letters, and the other ae regards-the charges on heavier letters. In reference to the i fitvt point, when the new Postal Union I Convention took effect next year the unit of weight would be donbled. so that the existing postage of 2.|,d to foreign countries would pre-nay a letter weighing up \ to one ounce instead of up to only half an ounce, as at present. This concession would embrace all letters sent und-or the Imperial Penny Post to any part of the British Empire, or to Egy-of. which letters at present must- not, exceed half an ounce for a penny. Tin;.;. ; a. letter, Fav, to France, weighing one ounce, wonlrl in future cost- for postage 2»}d. instead of sd. and a similar letter to India and the 'colonics would cost Id instead of 2d. As regards another point, at present an additional 2J,d was charged for every, additional half-ounce a.fter the ffcret. In future the postage on foreign lettei-s exceeding an ounce would bo reduced to l.'id each for each additional ounce after the initial rate of 2i-d on the first ounce had been _ paid. Thus, a letter to France weighing 2oz would be chargeable with a postal rate- of 4d —nainelv, 2£d pine Hd, instead of lOd as ajf. present/ Similarly, a 2oz letter to India, the colonies, and Egypt will cent onlv 2d instead of 4d. A further useful postal reform, which was adopted on the motion of the Briti<=lh delegates, was the introduction of a reply coupon, a little postal order to bearer, ex-clia.npea.bl-e in anv country for a Union postage stamp. Further, the transit rales had been reduced and simplified. He thought that the British delegates were to be conrrratulated on the general sneorr-s which had amended iheir efforts. The reform* described do not come into operation till Janna.rv next.