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Evening Star, Issue 15035, 18 November 1912, Page 4

The Balkan Allies have not yet formulated their terms of peace, but Terms of Reuters Sofia corresponPeaoe. dent advises that they are momentarily expected to be made known. When they are, Turkey will be given 24 hours in which to accept or reject them. The came admirable and astonishing swiftness that has characterised the policy of the Allies from the moment the first shot, was fired, but little over a month ago, is to continue right on to the end. And stupendous and appalling as the losses have been, in war a cam°paign that is carried through with a rnsh, irrespective of the numbers lost, is the most merciful. Had Greece and Servia, Montenegro and Bulgaria, surrounded the positions they have captured, instead of taking them after a pitiless artillery fire at the point of the bayonet, they would not to-day have Turkey at their* mercy. Had they invested instead of attacking, moTe thousands would, have rotted in the trenches and perished with out honor or advantage than have fallen in those superb charges that have carried them triumphantly on to the gates of Constantinople. Turkey cannot hope to secure even a. temporary respite by negotiating for an armistice. The day when she pitted Tower against Tower and laughed at them all has passed. The Allies know exactly what they want, and they arc determined to put themselves in a position to secure it. The Bulgarian generals, more than one message has stated, propose, to create such a military situation that when the Allies present their joint terms of peace, with a time limit attached, Turkey will have no choice but to accept them. Unsupported by a- single Tower, friendless amoc the nations that have so long regarded her with aversion, forced into the far east corner—the remnant of her once formidable and far-reaching territorial possessions—Turkey has .no hope of savins anything west of the Maritza or north of the boundary of Eastern Roumelia. The best she can hope for is to reserve, portions to the east and south. And this, it is said, is the advice of their own general Nazim Pasha. Make pence at any price, ho is reported to have said, lest worse befall us. We may in this way save Constantinople- irom the further humiliation of a Bulgarian occupation. Within the city itself hope seems to have died. The citizens gather on the housetops, whence they can hear the roar of the enemy's guns and await his coming in a spirit of fatalistic despair. What is to be will be—there is but one God, and Mohammed is His prophet. We live in an age of marvels, and of marvels that not only far exceed the utmost stretch of expectancy, but that follow so fast upon each other that wo cease to regard them as marvels. We regard the overthrow of a dynasty, the transformation of an Oriental monarchy to a republic, the downfall of a tyranny much as we regard the ordinary happenings of everyday life. Yet the Gibbon of the future will find in the story of the rising of the so-called Christian States of the Balkans against the Turk as worthy a theme for his genius as did the great original in the siege and capture of Constantinople by Mohammed 11. in 1453. There has been no such amazingly sudden collapse, such confident advance, and complete victory since the Prussians crossed the Rhine in 1870. The Home papers that so far have reached this Citycontain no hint that the statesmen of Europe anticipated that within six weeks the armies of the Allies would be within sight and possession of Constantinople. On the contrary, there are the most confident assurances that the great Powers would step in and impress upon the small Powers the wisdom of going slow. Happily the guardians of the world's peace, though unable to prevent one war, have not committed the further crime of provoking another and greater one. They are nob seeking, as was done at Vienna in 1815 and at Berlin in 1878, to set back the hands of time or to restore a status quo that is doomed beyond recall.

The last English papers and reviews to

hand are somewhat conThe Motor spicuously at one in In England. their demand for a

better regulation of tho speed of motor cars. It appears that a long series of accidents has shown that neither law nor public opinion has yet succeeded in adequately controlling the use of the motor. To such an extent has tho nuisance and the danger grown that many people, especially in holiday times, avoid the use of the main roads altogether. One review, 'The Nation,' declares that both the law and its administrators are at fault. At inquest after inquest the same result occurs. "Not only cases in -which

"a child runs out from behind a cart, or "a woman hesitates at a. crossing, but in " which a cyclist or pedestrian is run down "from behind, are dismissed as accidents." This paper quotes one remarkable instance of the viewpoint characteristic of coroners' courts. A woman cycling along a road after dark was caught from behind by a motor car ami killed, and the coroner told the jury of the difficulty he himself had had in avoiding accident in similar circumstances, and lectured cyclists on the duty of providing themselves with rear lights! Evidently there is some truth in the writer's complaint that the motorist moves under a law made by motorists for motorists and administered by motorists. Even the coroner's jury is probably composed of tradesmen whose towns have been bovcotted by motorists because they sought to protect themselves by asking for a speed limit. It is the excessive speed maintained by cars when passing through villages that is most reprehensible. ° While 20 miles an hour may not be excessive on clear roads, even 10 miles an hour is excessive in a village, where every cottage door opens on to the road, and children are constantly running in and out. The motorist shoots through the village as though the road were a railway, forgetting that what is to him but a section of a long line of communication is to the villagers a bit of their familiar home surroundings—more, their only means of communication with one another.

Another paper, 'The Economist,' does not mince words, as the following quotation shows:

It is quite obvious that here and elsewhere Governments and Parliaments, public departments and local authorities' Magistrates and Judges, juries and coroners are in such sympathy with the passion for speed on land and water and in the air that they place it far above security. Let us save time at all costs is the cry, especially - among the leisured classes, who have to kill it somehow or other. Unfortunately it is

not only time that is being killed, but a multitude of persons, especially the tiny children of those who are too poor to have gardens or nurses. It has come to this: If you want to commit homicide with impunity you have only to take a motor car and run down i cyclist or pedestrian. Under the present state of the law, as interpreted by its administrators, you will not incur the slightest risk, and even ,the chauffeur's license 1,111 :ROt be endorsed. Any compensation you may have to pay is 'covered by insurance. But the motor cars now are j becoming so numerous and so dangerous ! to one another that restrictive measures are likely to be forced on the Govern- , ment not by the passivo population, but by the very cream of the motocracy. People often tell us that to save time is to W ve life. This reminds us of the doctor whoso motor car killed two children while he was on his way to "save" one patient. Perhaps it is the spice of clanger that makes motoring so much more popular than healthier recreations. But the morbid taste for speed and the over-valuation of time-saving are to blame for many of these tragedies. The motor omnibus in London, by far the most formidable machine ever launched on the streets of that city, according to a writer in the ' Saturday Review,' has been killing so many people that, by sheer force of tho cumulative disaster it is causing public attention has been drawn to a state of things which is only tolerated because it has come about gradually. Tho police authorities are now experimenting with a form of guard for the front wheels, which many advocate should he made obligatorv One suggestion has been made that by equipping the motor omnibus with a very much more powerful engine the engines could work directly on tho wheels, and an automatic cut-out could then be arranged when a- certain speed was reached, because the engine speed would then -bo in constant correspondence with the speed of the wheels over tho road. When it is remembered that the smallest thing CTO ing wrong with the brakes or the steering gear, or the nerves of a driver who is steering some seven tons over a surface of polished wood at speeds of up to 20 miles an hour, it is remarkable that disasters happen only sometimes, and not continually.

_ This case should be a warning to rounw girls who become attached, or think thev become attached, to young men of whom they know little or nothing," said Mr Jus tree Cooper at a sitting of the Divorce Court at Auckland recently. In the case in question a young girl had been married to a man to whom she was engaged for about seven months, but during that'time- she saw him only »t week-ends. Immediately after tho wedding he commenced drinking heavily, and had continued to do so ever since -It is almost certain,- continued Vr t i°T' , • t^ t this y° un s m ™ «m----l-r.ictcd.tho drinking habit before his marriage, tor it would be an unusual thine for a man to start drinking to excess a few days after his wedding. Young ff i rls Stt Tv- no,r a considerable amount about the habits of their future husbands before they get married."

W 1 iot about New Zealand not being known at Home, but I think many ot the statements are somewhat exa"» e . rated.' said Sir Charles Campbell to° a lress reporter. "The working man in England to-day knows more about New Zealand than he used to know. All this • talk ot New Zealand being 'an island somewnere near Australia' has been absorbed by an increasing interest that has been aroused m New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand and Australia are two conntries that are being well spoken of in (treat

Another triumph for Otago Harbor's unexcelled ship-repairing facilities has been achieved in the case of the German steamer Waltraute. That vessel arrived here with her bottom resembling a run«t% flf"? tin - She went dock at lon Chalmers, and had extensive repairs and renewals efficiently carried out mp5 V L We /f- w° 6Xtenfc 0f the dama S e S b t s ,er - d , fr ? m tho fact thafc &° contract price, including the dock dues, is said to amount to close on £6.000 That to being done promptly, mav be gauged om Urn tac t that Lloyds smVevor passed t e job as oemg quite in keeping with that corporation's highest classification. tionwoUv.s. The repaired steamer sailed for Newcastle this afternoon. ,l, Th + 6 Band had the luck Tester-£eV-U' a ™ ? in , the Gardens/where ht °,}t elt - r , U 'T tho Tain - spite of ch % B £ ° f T ls a V€l 7 J "ge number of citizens assembled, and when the rain came ne-id the programme, to the and, not forgetting to subscribe liberally to the collection L was a capital programme that the band presented., under the direction of -Mr G. B. Laidlaw. The feature items were an enjoyable selection from Gounod's i'aiibt, a very fine march called 'The Champion,; played on this occasion for the ftrst time in public by the Kaikorai Band the evergreen 'Raymond' overture, which was specially asked for. and the air yarie _bimec.ii, with bell effects, on the rendering of which the players were heartily ct-i: plimented.

The- St. Kilda Band went to St. Clair yesterday afternoon, and found a good crowd assembled on the second beach to hear them, whilst every tram delivered a packed lead, and residents of the Flat walked over by the score. If the weather had kept fine it would probably have been a record attendance. But the bandsmen had not got far into the programme—thev had played the ' Howitzer March' and the 'Spanish Chant,' and were halfway through the 'Madame Butteifly' selection—when the rain came, and' Conductor Smith brought the concert to an end with the ccntest march as the people scampered for shelter and the cars.

At the Hunedwi Hospital last week four patients died, iheir names being George Sparrow. James Bollett, William Kilpatriok, and Esther Graham. The same number (57) were admitted asi were discharged, and the number of inmates at the end of the week was 165.

The average daily attendance at the Carnegie Public Library for the week ended Saturday, November 16, 1912, wa.s 607 persons. The books displayed at the Library this week will be en France-.

A very pretty little romance is told by the Carterton ' News.' Ten years ago a. couple were- married in the' Wairarapa. Things happened which led to a divorce. A child was afterwards born to thorn. Recently tho husband wa.s lying at death's door in a. hospital. A little girl came to him with flowers. After a few visits he recognised in her his own daughter. He began to recover, and implored the chTTd to bring her mother. A reconciliation followed, tho man got better, the longestranged .again went through tho form of marriage, and the last that was seen of them was that they were proceeding to Wellington on their second honeymoon, with their offspring by their side. The 'News' vouches for the story.

The Minister of Education last -week visited the school for boys of feeble mind at Otckaike, and found the institution greatly overcrowded. Mr Allen states is keenly alive to the necessity for having an extension to the existing buildings put in hand, and he hopes to authorise the additions almost immediately. As to providing a similar school for girls, the Minister states that he has determined to hold the matter over in the meantime. While in England he purposes seeing, as far as time will permit, the special schools for feeble-minded in that country. The following is the list of additions to the- lending department of the Carnegie Public Library for last week:—'TheOrigin of Earthquakes' (C. Davison), 'Architecture' ("W. R. Lethaby), 'Elementary Coal Mining' (G. L. Ken-), 'Australia, "in Its Physiographic and Economic Aspects' (Griffith Taylor), 'A History of Labor Representation' (A. W. Humphrey), 'Life m Ancient Egypt and Assyria' (G. Maspero), 'An Australian Parsonage' (Mrs E. Millett), 'Home-made Beverages' (M. E. Steedman). 'Cookery Up To "Date' (May Little), -History of the British Constitution' {J. H. B. Masterraank

Mr Paulin telephoned at 2 p.m. : Squally S.W. to N.W. winds, and rain showers.

The Otago Art Society's gallery was well attended on Saturday afternoon and evening, and many of the visitors signified their apreciation by buying tickets in the art union. Mr R. Neilson reports another sale, this being of Mr W. Green's oil painting ' In an Essex Nursery.' The case set down for trial at the Supreme Court to-day was that of John Murdoch and Co.. of Dunedin, "v. Alexander M'Kecknie and John M'Millan, of' Wellington, contractors, a claim on promissory notes for £566, with £256 interest, but there were negotiations for a postponement, and ultimately an order was" made by consent for trial before the Judge alone, on a date to be fixed after His Honor's return from Invercargill.

Our special wires from Clyde :—A Dunstan syndicate are said to have applied for permission to utilise water from the Kawarau River to irrigate the Cromwell flats. They also intend applying to the Vincent County Council for the right to construct an overhead electric trolly system between Clyde and Cromwell. "They expect to utilise 60 heads of water, and operate at 10 miles an hour. This will enable the company to convey passengers and goods between the two points, and also to carry electrical energy 15 miles towards Lug"gato. Rails are to be dispensed with, and the cars will all make free use of the present roadway.

A talking clock has been placed on the market in Berlin. Instead of striking periodically, the clock calls out the exact time every quarter of an hour " in a clear human _ voice." Tho mechanism can bo so adjusted that these announcements cease at a certain time, and continue automatically after a stipulated interval.

An ex-warder at the Seacliff Mental Hospital will be charged in the Police Court on Friday next with assaulting a patient.

Love letters between pupils, under proper supervision of the teacher, is advocated as an excellent method of" teaching literature by Dr Arthur Holmes, of the department of psychology of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr Holmes has been lecturing before tho Cincinnati Teachers' Institute tor the last week, and finished his remarks with this suggestion.

A girl, aged 15£ years, was charged in the Juvenile Court this afternoon with '■emg_ found by night without lawful excuse in the unoccupied dwelling of William Gingle George at- St. Kilda. The father said that- the girl left home last Friday, and never returned. She had stopped away before. Constable Havelock said that he found the girl in an- empty house at 5.25 this morning. She was uncontrollable, and was always about at nights with boys. She had" been warned several times to keep off the streets, hut it had had no effect on her. Detective Ward said that he had known the family for some time. The girl's home environments were of such a nature that he was not surprised to see her before the Court. Her stepmother died some months ago. He thought, that if the father had paid as much attention to this girl and her two younger sisters as lit- did to hanging round hotel bars the girl woidd not now be before the Court. He did not think she was a bad girl. He thought she was agirl who could be controlled, if placed in proper hands. The father had neglected her, and it would not be advisable to send her back to him. His Worship remarked that after what Detective Ward had said tho police might inquire into what should be done with the two younger girls. The Sub-inspector: "We will do that." His Worship ordered the case to stand down, in order to see if the Salvation Army authorities would take the girl into their care.

The United States War Department has decided to eliminate all "superfluous phrases of a complimentary character" in its correspondence. To some extent the step had been anticipated on the other side of the Atlantic,* for the Board of Commissioners of the British Navy used to subscribe, themselves "your affectionate friends." This was tho official ending to ail letters, even letters of reproof, exceptthose addressed to titled persons. It is said that the practice was abandoned when a naval officer started to subscribe his letters to the board in the same sympathetic way. He was requested to adopt some other formula, and he promised to do so in a letter subscribed " I am, gentlemen, no longer your affectionate friend."

Just opened, new photographio goods; best brands of plates, papers, mounts, etc., always iu stock. At Gill's, Frederick street; tel. 1,14*. Agent for Harrington, N.Z., Ltd.— [Advt.] Chiaroni Art Depot now showing great variety of new pictures and art goods, which make suitable presents. Lowest prices.— [Advt.]

The Otigo A. aud V. Metropolitan Summer Show will be held at Tahtma. Park on Wednesday and Thursday, the 27th and 28th inst. St. Clair Congregational Church bazaar will be opened in St. Clair Gymnasium at 3 p.m. on Wednesday by the Mayor of Dunedin. There can be no better portraits done than those exhibited by Mr Morris, of Garden Studio, 554- George street, on left-hand side of the Zenith vestibule, in Princes street. Appointments made in Zenith Portrait Studio, or telephone 2,279.—[Ad«t.] Ladies.—Mercolised wax, the new skin specialty, is now in stock; a limited supply. Wilkinson and Son, chemists.—[Advt.]

A glass of Speight's beer at lunch and supper i 3 better than all the tea in China -fAdvt.]

The Acms Photo Company, George street, are making quite ft new show of exquisitelyfinished photographs. Country visitors are delighted with their portraits. Tel. 965.—[Advt."]