NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7383, 8 February 1902, Page 4 (Supplement)

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

From time immemorial "the weather" has been a convenient topic of conversation. It is a good stock subject. Casual acquaintances refer to it; young lovers fall back upon it when the other stereotyped expressions anent moonlit skies and love-lit eyes, and so on, have become exhausted; and when two folk who have a good deal to say to each other are intruded upon by a third party, they "talk about the weather." Auckland has given occasion lately for the subject to receive even greater, prominence than the large amount it usually commands. Old folks have put on their thinking caps, and given it as their opinion that there never was more unseasonable weather, and the meteorologists have looked wise and spoken of atmospheric changes and amended climatic conditions. Now, this is not mere theory. The experiences of various parts of the globe for, say, the past ten years show that there are unmistakable evidences of variations in 'the seasons. Take England, for instance. The winters of late years have been drier, and accompanied by fewer and less severe snowstorms than formerly. Residents of England notice it and remark upon it. A visitor to the Old Country, who tad never seen an English Christmas until last year, relates that there was almost an utter absence of snow. He had conjured up visions of the beautiful flakes chasing each other in midair, falling playfully upon the strawberry no3e of the wine-bibber, and enveloping the poorly-clad and ill-fed. Then there were to have been snowploughs too, and skating on the rivers. And yet, although he travers? Ed from the Thames to Killarney, and on over the Boyne right across the Green Isle, over the Channel again, calling at Loch Lomond, ithrough Scotland, and back again to London town, he swears that he saw just about as much snow as would frost a good-sized Christmas card with a robin redbreast on it, or as would make a decent ice-cream. He further assert 3 that the first English snow he saw was in Ireland. It goes with*out saying that he made inquiries about it. and the reply elicited on all sides was, "It used to be so, but not now."

According to an annual return •there are in the British Islands only 17,125 private persons who pay income tax without abatement. There are only 396 persons in Great Britain with from £5000 to £10,000 a year, 159 with from £10,000 to £50,000, and eleven who enjoy more than the last sum. In Ireland four taxpayers confess 'to a revenue of from £10,000 to £50,000, and one only is able to confess to more than £50,000; he admits 'an income of £70,787.

Women on the Continent are fast falling into the smoking habit. Among the higher classes indulgence in the narcotic has become almost universal. Russian ladies who inhabit the capital are largely responsible for the growing taste for tobacco among the grande dames of Paris. The practice of smoking among ladies is very prevalent. Among the middle and working classes it is safe to say that scarcely a woman would ■think of smoking except for fun.

It is a sign of the times (says an Eng-lish exchange) to find "Coronation" clubs are being instituted throughout the busiest of London districts. The cue has been taken up by clothiers and linen-drapers of the poorer parts. By entering at once and punctually paying sixpence or sj per week, either a man or woman can ensure new garments for wear o.i the eventful day of the approaching ceremonial. Some one or two have a provisional rule to the effect that should members desire to withdraw from the club, they ars at liberty to do so, and have the privilege of securing goods to the amount they have already subscribed, but no en?h "will be returned.

The following race for life is taken from a sporting paper, and is unique in its way: — "If one could see a million babies start on a journey, and could follow them through life, this is about what he would see. 150,000 of them drop out of jthe ranks by the end of the first year, while twelve months later the number would be further thinned by tbe deduction of §3,000 more; 28,000 would follow at the end of the thirteenth year. They would throw up the sponge by twos and threes until the end of the forty-fifth year, when it would be found that in the intervening period something like 500,000 liad left the track. Sixty years would see 370,000 grey-headed men still cheerfully pegging away. At the end of eighty years the competitors in this great 'go as you please' would number 97,000, but they would t>e getting more shakey each lap. At the end of ninety-five seasons only 223 would be left in the final •ties,' while the winner would be led into his retiring-room, a solitary wreck, at the age of 108." There is something grimly humorous in this

quaint array of figures, but they are f'i'.irded upon statistics carefully compiled.

Here is a Whistler story which is vouched for by the "Hartford Courant," an American production. "Whistler was a guest at a dinner given by Sargent. After dinner he begged to be excused while he wrote a note. "Certainly," said Sargent, "you'll find all you want in the little room at the head of the stairs." "Thanks," "Whistler said. In two minutes there was a series of bumps ending* in a heavy thud at the foot of the stairs. Out rushed Sargent, with "Ars you Ivurt?" "Hurt?" said Whistler, "who in the name of thunder built those stairs?" Sargent gave the name of the builder. "He did, did he?" said Whistler. "The teetotaller!"

One of the big sights of the coming year after the Coronation will be Mr E. A. Abbey, R.A.s, Coronation picture. The term big is literal as well as figurative, for, interviewed in New York, the famous artist said that his canvass will be at least fifteen feet in length, and will show the interior of Westminster Abbey. He also had other things to say, for being an American he was asked why he did not live in America and replied that he liked London too much to dwell away from it. His advice to the young student was to study in the vast, smokj 1 " metropolis rather than in Paris, even though the latter was the cheapest place to live. Mr Abbey was also very pronounced in his condemnation of the American customs duty of sixty per cent, on imported foreign paintings. It was not only excessive, but it had two other very serious effects, for it compelled American artists to go abroad to study old masters, but all too often American buyers kept their purchases abroad as a protest against the duty. Possibly this criticism of the genial artist may do something towards removing the one great obstacle between the United States and Europe to reciprocity in Art.

Lord Rosebery is well known for his many kindly and generous acts. When taking a walk through the streets of Epsom one evening last mont.i he came to a waste piece o' land in the working-class portion of the town, where a large crowd stood around a crockery-dealer disposing of his wares. After watching the proceedings for a few minutes Lord Rosebery went up to the dealer, offered to purchase his remaining stock, and finally struck a bargain for £5. Lord Rosebery then proceeded to give the articles away to the people, but in doing so exercised much discrimination, the poor-looking children and women being the principal recipients, though everybody was anxious 'to receive something from his hands.

A romance is told by a gentleman well known in the English papermaking world. Some weeks ago the foreman of the stereotyping department of a large printing establishment in London bought an old harpsichord at a sale for twenty shillings. Being an amateur at fretwork he fancied the wood in the front panel and bought the instrument solely on that account. At home he soon reduced the harpsichord to ruins. The back was double, and between the boards he found thirty thousand pounds in Bank of England notes, dating back to one of the Georges. A lawyer was consulted, nnd it seems that the lucky stereo foreman is entitled to keep the money. The bank, it appears, is bound to pay the notes through a certain fund.

Bravery on the field of battle is not necessarily accompanied by perfect aplomb in social circles, as is proved by a story in a contemporary. A well-known V.C. was once asked to inscribe his name in Queen Victoria's birthday book. The blank pages seemed to horrify him, and he was so overcome with horror at the thought of making a blot that for a time he stood fidgeting with his pen, and unable to take further steps. At last he felt that something must be done. He turned to a friend who stood by him. "For heaven's sake," he whispered, "tell me how to spell my name."

"Hold up a ring and let them jump for it." The cynical phrase was tested by a popular American preacher — as is stated in an American Methodist journal. The preacher had lost one wife and wanted another. None of the circumlocutionarj' cumbrous matrimonial advertisement for him. He simply rose in the pulpit and said: "I am a candidate for matrimony, and if any woman in this congregation would care to take me let her rise." She rose; two of her. The minister, with a critical speaker's eye, timed the risings and called on the first. Then he invited the rest of the congregation to a hymn.

There is nothing more touching than the faithful affection of a man's dog. In this connection a story oomes from Colchester. At an inquest on the body of a sexagenarian named Thomas Sargent, who lived alone in a house in the centre of the town, it was stated that the neighbours, hearing his dog barking continuously for two days, broke into the house and found Sargent lying on the bed dead with the dog guarding his body from the rats that were running about the room.