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Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 228, 4 October 1901, Page 4

Speaking of the Russian Port Arthur, on the Pay of Taliemvan, a correspondent of the North China Daily News (Shanghai) says : “ The Far East will wake up one of these fine days and will find that a fairy-like city has arisen in this noble bay as if by magic. It is a favorite ambition of M. de Witte to make the new free port one of the most beautiful as well as one of the richest trade depots in the world. lie has given practically carte blanche to his engineers, and things are going on on a stupendous scale. One hears of fourteen miles of concrete quays, moles aud breakwaters, boulevards of Parisian glory and dimensions of hotels, parks, gardens, of hundreds of fine villas already in existence. English readers iray think this an inversion of the natural order of things, and may hold that it would have been better if these things had followed trade or come into existence pori passu with it, as in Australia, Hong Kong, and elsewhere; hut M. de Witte has a boundless confidence in the future of Taliemvan as the terminus of the

great railway, and thinks all these filings bound to come. He has simply forestalled their creation by private enterprise, thinking it will ultimately bo to the vast profit of the Government.”

Carlisle D, Graham has successfully navigated the whirlpool rapids below Niagara in a barrel. The feat was witnessed by 7000 or 8000 people, who lined both banks of the gorge and the bridge. After the closing of the trap on the end of the barrel, which was about nine feet in length, bound with iron hoops, and heavily ballasted in one end with lead, it was towed out to about midstream by a row-boat, and cut loose. It was caught in the eddy for about twenty minutes, finally being caught in the current down-stream. In the rapids it was tossed like a cork up high in the air and was then completely submerged under the great breakers through the gorge. Some seconds later it shot into the maelstrom of the pool. The current carried it clear across the side of the pool to Thompson’s Point, on the Canadian shore, where it was caught by boys and towed ashore. The trap was opened,, and Graham, who was in a dazed condition and a semi-conscious state for want of air, was taken out and brought back to life again. There is every likelihood at the present moment that the fight of the session will be over the innocent-looking and apparently harmless Licensing Bill ol which the Premier has given notice. Beside it, such minor questions as the San Francisco Mail Service, the North Island Main Trunk Railway, and ike rentesentation of New Zealand at the Coronation will fade into absolute insignifi-. cance. We had almost added to the list the question of arrears of pay owing the returned troopers, but the wave of militarism having passed, and the patriotism of our youth having served certain political purposes, nobody concerns himself much about the pay of returned troopers now. Therefore, if cannot possibly be regarded as a political question having any interest for Parliament Observer.