The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 24, 1901. THE FLEET.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 195, 24 August 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 24, 1901. THE FLEET.

The trouble betweon France and Turkey shows how quickly a little current may change the whole courso of national events. Recent publications to hand from England contain criticisms concerning Great Britain’s Mediterranean Fleet. Cablegrams lately received show that an effort is being made to remedy the defects complained of. Still, in view of the trouble now brewing between two nations, some of the criticisms are worth noting. “ A Message from the Mediterranean,” is the title of an article in the National Review, from the pen of Mr Arnold White That writer publicly declares that Britannia rules the waves only on sufferance, or words to that effect. The boasted Mediterranean Squadron, he says, is a galaxy of lighting ships and nothing more. It has no fleet auxiliaries, no provision has been made for hospital

snips, repairing ships, mother ships for destroyers, no ellieiont colliers, no telegraph ships and no provision has been made for the use of wireless telegraphy. No adequate provision has been made for the first essentials of fighting. The big guns on several of our battleships have no telescopic sights, gyroscopes, armour piercing shells or smokeless powder. Blacupowder and blunt nosed shells are still in use on several of the Mediterranean ships, and Mr White asks us to consider the advantage to a smart French admiral of firing armourpiercing slielF into the fog made by one of the Ramillies’s big guns. “ The captain of the Ramillies will be unable to see his enemy for some minutes after each discharge of his own guns, and when he does see him, and hits him, a blunt-nosed shell will break up harmless against the Krupp armour of the new French ships.” The allocation of Britain’s naval strength is nowhere declared to be supreme;;

everywhere it is weak or outmatched. In the Mediterranean Admiral Fisher’s ten battleships are confronted by fourteen French vessels of the same class, while jinssia has one in the Levant and nine in the Black Sea, As if the scare caused by such statements were not sufficient, Mr White proceeds : —“ So persuaded is the French General Staff of the unreadi;j ness of the British fighting fleets for instant war ,that the traditional French naval strategy has recently been de- j liberately changed from the defensive to the offensive. When war breaks' out it is the enemy, not we, who will select the time and occasion for hostilities. The time may come on a Satur■l day afternoon in summer, when the nights are moonless. Public offices ! and the telegraphic service are shut II 9a Sunday in England. The occasion : * *** tfec jgreat coup against the British Mediterranean will be position .. ■' squadrons when the Brest a--. \ have united in time of peaca.. tho French Admiral finds himself in a. position with his whole force sand- j wiched between the weak British fleet s and its base at Malta.” This boast- v fulness in regard to the attitude of r France may in a large measure ■ be classed as “ moonshine,” but t there are statements that must 1 r

lot lightly be thrust aside. "Wo ■re told that Malta, the has* of our leet, has no breakwater : Egypt is iraetically undefended, and that while )ur uosition iu the Mediterranean is as :>ad*asit can he, our oilieials go on jlithelv writing reams of despatches fbout "buttons, socks, and the treacle supplied, to Naval cadets, and the Government is apparently well content to let greater matters slide so long as Parliament will blindly vote millions for the construction of new warships. The Commons as a whole seem auxious to enquire into the allegations made regarding the condition of the Mediterranean fleet and its adjuncts, but for some reason or other the Ministry appear anxious to baulk discussion on the points raised by Mr \\ iiite uud Lord Charles Beresford. That is, however, only “ Hotel Cecil’s ’ little way. They go on for a time trying to persuade the people that they believe everything is all right. Then (writes a correspondent) comes a day when they are forced to acknowledge that the reverse is the case. With feverish, spasmodic energy they sot to work to right tilings in twenty-four hours, and as a consequence the whole ‘‘caboodle’ is turned upside down, millions are spent in hasty, ill-considered experiments and useless work, and then the public having been persuaded that the Government is fully alive to their duty and are doing it, the old “ let it rip ” policy supervenes, and the last condition of our army or navy is a trifle worse than it was before Alternations of cheeseparing economy and frantic expenditure mark the course of Lord Salisbury’s Ministry. Yesterday, so to speak, they plunge into a sciiemo which may give us a terribly expensive Yoomuury forco of problematic value, to-day they are imperiling the safety of the Empire for the sake of saving a few thousands extra necessary to give tho Navy an adequate supply of trained stokers and Jack sullicient good grub to keep him up to lighting trim. They will spend a couple of hundred thousand pounds in a vain effort to convert an obsolete man o’-war- into a decent third-rate lighting vessel, but a demaud for telescope sights for big guns, costing, perhaps, ten pounds apiece, is reooived with turned up eyes and upraised hands. Dealing with the subject tho Lyttelton Times correspondent writes : —“ There is a disposition on the part of the press at Home to force an enquiry into naval matters at present. I can forsee the result. We shall have a Commission of some sort, which will cost thous- [ ands, and a grand scheme for the redistribution of' responsibility among tho heads of the department in Whitehall. Then will come a new naval programme, accompanied by a demand for more ships, more men, and more money. At tho end of three years me Kamillies will ho using black powder and blunt-nosod shells, or whatever style of ammunition and projectiles ( are then as much out of date as those | things are to-day.” The feverish haste has certainly sot in, but it is to be hoped that it will not ho of the spasmodic order prophesied by the critics.

The Hon. J. and Mrs Carroll arrive at Gisborne this morning. Sergeant Leslie and other troopers return to Gisborne to-day.

Gisborne’s portion of the ’Frisco mail comes to hand this morning. Tenders close on Monday for building alterations to the Ormond Hotel.

A special meeting of the Patutahi Hoad Board will bo held on Monday afternoon.

The annual general meeting of the Ormond Cricket Club is to he held tonight.

Owing to the destruction of his poultry by dogs, Mr R. Moate has laid poison for the animals.

Air W. Douglas Lysuar makes a good offer for a family willing to enter upon dairy fanning. Tenders close to-day for tho erection of Messrs Dalgcty and Company’s offices and wool store.

Mr W. A. Barton, S.M., is, wo regret to learn, laid up owing to an attack of influenza.

A Dunedin telegram states that the man killed on the railway (reported in the Times yesterday) is believed to be P. Healey, of Gore.

The Legislative Council, as our telegrams show, has struck out of the Shops and Offices Bill all reference to warehouses.

The Legislative Council has added to the Shops and Offiecs Bill a clause prohibiting the employment of barmaids between 9 p.in. and 9 a.in. Groat interest is being taken in the forthcoming entertainment of the Gisborne Mutual Improvement Society. The seventeenth annual entertainment is to be hold on Monday evening next. The Rev. B. F. ltothwell preaches twice at Wesley Church on Sunday. Subjects : Morning, “ Things necessary to secure permanent revival ; ” evening, “ Turning out the pockets of a broken-down swell.” The following cablegram is a knock to Sydney educated larrikins ; —Reuter's correspondent says that the conduct of the students at the Capetown graduation in connection with the Duke of Cornwall’s visit was decorous, and in striking contrast to the uproarious behaviour of the undergraduates at Melbourne and Sydney. Gisborne people have been getting a poor idea ol the wakefulness of Christchurch business men. The long-pro-nounced dredge is still in the land of promise. The iollowing report has been received by telegram from the Harbor Engineer, Mr King: “Hopper doors completed, all the machinery nearly ready to put on board, riveting not nearly finished, few men on the job, more promised."

In another column an announcement is made that the Mow Zealand Accountants’ and Auditors' Association examinations j for the year will be held in Auckland and other centre:.; as may bo required, on October 16th next. Applications must be lodged with the Registrar by September 2brd. Copies of the rules, syllabus and application forms may be had from the Registrar, Mr .1. H. Mackic, Mercantile Chambers, Auckland, or from Mr T. A, Coleman, Lowe street, Gisborne, who will be pleased to furnish intending candidates with full information regarding the examinations.

A tl.it ic the establishment of Messrs Primrose and Leslie, saddlers and harness makers, Gladstone road, convinces one that Gisborne is not behind the chief four centres of the colony in regard to this most useful industry. The firm have a magnificent stock of saddlery, and all branches of the trade arc well catered for, whilst me prices arc most reasonable. Homo splendid sets of single end double harness are at present on hand, anil the quality of the work is worthy of the highest commendation. All the latest improvements in regard to insuring safety in travelling are introduced in the manufacture of the firm's goods, anl some of the contrivances are of a most ornamental as well as practical kind, One set of rlnnliln hfj i-iipcs. ilisfc LO fchf*

cicuoie Harness, juss coiiifjieteu lu uic order of Mr G. \V. Tift'en, was used yesterday for the first time, and was much admired by ail who inspected it. A number of other sets of harness for local ■Jehus have just been completed. One of ! these is a set of spring-dray brass-mounted I harness for every da,, ns.e whilst another is a pretty set of double 'harness manufactured by the firm at a cost of X'i IDs. Several first-class sets of gig and single ' harness are also on view. The •'*' -lei,! of saddlery, a firm '* dviuien.en's | large number si.-‘-d e!! t saddles and pack-sauiut- *""* workmanship being ottered at m„-. . reasonable rates. The firm invite the inspection on the part of the public of their large stock, and a visit to their shop in Gladstone road should well repay - residents of the town and country, 1

Constable Clarke leaves (or Auckland to-day, having retired from the force oil pension after ol years' faithful service. At St. Andrew’s Church to-morrow morning the llev. J. G. Paterson’s subject will be, “ The Half Adas Not Told Me." and in the evening, “ Breakers Ahead." Some Natives down at Wanganui had a good laugh recently o ■a. case of mistaken identity. The a tors were a Maori man and a colored fr .ale ’ from a sunny clime) who happen* to i-e passing. The Maori made a respectful salutation, and extended his lmn . and lifted his hat for the usual nose-i übbing. The handshake was heartily reciprocated, but further overtures were indignantly denied, much to the surprise of the astonished brother, who was made aware of his mistake by the aforesaid laughter.

Air John F. Sheridan has definitely decided to open his Gisborne season on Monday, September 2nd, with “When the Lamps are Lighted,” a musical comedy drama, written specially by George lv. Sims and Leonard Merrick for Mr Sheridan to show his varied gifts of characterization. The other production will be " Fun on the Bristol,” with Mr Sheridan as the original and only Widow O'Brien, a character that lie has played in every English-speaking town of any importance in tlie world. At the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s committee meeting, an innovation in agricultural shows was agreed upon, in the shape of roquiring a sale price to be placed in the catalogue against all exhibits. Five per cent of the purchase money when sales are effected will go to the Association, and when there are two or more applicants for one exhibit, it will bo put up by auction and sold to the highest bidder above tho reserve price. An exhibitor not wishing to dispose of his exhibit will be allowed to quote a prohibitive price.

The arrangements for tlie Druids’ social at Ormond on Tuesday evening next are now complete, and tho gathering promises to bo a great success. The floor is being specially prepared, and will be in capital order for dancing. Bro. C. Noonan has cliargo of the catering, which is a

sufficient guarantee that the viands will be of tho best. The music will bo supplied by Mrs Fernandez, so that nothing will be wanting on that score. For the convenience of the large number who intend journeying from town, brakes will leave the Masonic corner at 0.15. The moderate charge of Is Od return is all that is being made, and, as there will bo a good moon on that night, this is a good opportunity for those going out. Messrs Williams and Kettle, Limited, report holding their stock sale at tlie Matawhero Yards on Thursday. The attendance was only moderate, owing, no doubt, to farmers being busy with lambing, etc. The entry of cattle was fairly good, but sheep wore only in small numbers. Bidding for all stock was brisk, and everything changed hands before leaving the yards with the exception of a few head of cattle. The following prices wore realised: —Fat wethers, up to 14s 6d; forward wethers, Ids Id to Ids 9d; hoggots, 9s 6d. A good lino of Lincoln ewes made 12s 9d. Cattle: Forward cows, £0; springers, .£6, TO 7s Od, to .CO 10s ; grown stores, to £4 10s ; young steers, .£0 15s ; 18 months old heifers, £8 7s Od; and yearlings, £2 17s 6d. Pigs : Slips, from 7s to 9s.

Richard Robinson and Harry Poole, the two Walworth citizens who were accused of stealing the case of cigars intended for tho needs of the Duke of York and party whilst on tour, but which after much futile travelling got lost on tho Brighton railway, were arraigned at Clerkemvell Court the other day. Poole was acquitted, but Robinson got fifteen months’ hard labor. lie deserved his punishment, if only for the asininity of his procedure. Not only did he sell tho cigars in their original boxes, hut he was fool enough to keep tho ease as a rabbit hutch. On his promises wore found also a quantity of liquors and other things, most of which were identifiable as part of packages of goods which had disappeared from the depot the Duke’s cigars vanished from.

St. Andrew’s Church Services, to-morrow (Sunday).—Morning, 11; subject, “ The Half \Va3 Not Told Me.” Evening, 7, “ Breakers Ahead.”—llev. J. G. Paterson. Roman Catholic Church Services, to-morrow (Sunday).—Gisborne, Mass 8 and 11 a.m., Vespers 7 p.m.; Makaraka, Mass 9 a.m.; Ormond, Mass 11 a.m.—Rev. W. J. O’Connor.

Wesley Church Services, to-morrow (Sunday).—Gisborne, 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Ormond 3 p.m.—Preacher, ltev. B. F. Rothwell.