NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 23 January 1901, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A league is being formed in England for the purpose of assisting to give effect to the wish expressed in Lord .Roberts s recently-published letter relating to the treating of soldiers and sailors home from the war in South Africa. “ Bob s League ” it is called, and membership simply implies a promise not to break the pledge asked tor by Lord Roberts.

Some interesting rominiscenes of the early clays of railway travelling have been given by Mr Thomas Baildon, who has just retired after fifty-seven years service on the Lancashire and \orkshirc Railway. He remembers when the guards used to collect tickets from the passengers along the foot-boards while the trains were in motion, just as they do on the Continent at the present time. In those days the trains were trumpeted out of the Manchester terminus, and when they arrived very late the bugler, as he was called,used to play “Oh, dear, what can the matter be ?

If the Ameer has been a close student of Russian aggressive methods, he nil! learn with grave misgiving that some of the St Petersburg and Moscow papers are charging him with hostile designs. History shows that this sort of pretence lias almost invariably proceeded every fresh endeavor of Russia to extend her Asiatic territories, It is perfectly true that Abour Rahman has latterly clone all in his power to increase the fighting efficiency of his regulars ; probably, too, the number of soldiers on the frontier has been increased. But the proveation came from Russia. The Ameer took alarm. But he has never departed from a purely defensive position; he calmly waits for that “ unprovoked attack ” which, under his treaty with England, would entitle him to claim British help.

At the Kyneton (Victoria) Court on December 18th an extraordinary decision was arrived at by the Bench. A charge of unlawfully wounding a horse, preferred hy tire police against James Brown, was heard before Messrs Bcgg and Matson, J.P.s. It was given in evidence that defendant was seen about three o’clock in the morning of the Oth instant to fire a gun at tire horse of Thomas Garlick, which was trespassing in Brown’s paddock. The horse was found afterwards to have a considerable number of small lumps on his side and flank, which were bleeding, and from which shot were extracted. The solicitor for the defence quoted the case of Rex v. Beckett, from “ Russell on Crime,” wherein it is laid down that wounding must moan n separation of the cuticle (the outer skin.) He contended this had not been done in this case, and that the charge of small shot had lodged in the animal’s epidermis. The Bench accepted this view, and dismissed the case.