News, Views and Opinions.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7401, 1 March 1902, Page 4

News , Views and Opinions.

We were certain that it would come Booner or later; the .only reason for surprise in the matter of its arrival is that it has been so long delayed, for it had been due any time these eighteen months. We refer to the malady described loosely and in unscientific language as "Ping-Pong Face." It is one of the duties of the medical experts who edit the "La" cet" and "The British Aledical Journal" to invent a new disease or two for every new employment or pastime, in the hope that the public may be persuaded that it is in need of extra medical or surgical advice. There is Croquet Wrist and Golf Elbow, and Cycle Spine and Motor Neurosis, to mention only a few ot the more recent; and now we have Ping-Pong Face, whose symptoms are " contortions of the features and more especially of the eye muscles, caused by the constant strain of following at close range a small ball shooting back and forward over a net. The tendency to this malady is aggravated by the fact that players are not. relieved of the strain when they become spectators: in fact it j is increased, and complicated by an incessant rotatory motion of the head on its own axis, which is very exhausting to the nervous system, and tends to attrition of the vetebral column. Ping-Pong Face is guaranteed to produce in three, years crosseyes and a permanent scowl, and in much less time the game develops Housemaids' Knee; but happily in less than three years Ping-Pong will liave a successor, doubtless with its own tail of maladies. Another late disease is known as "trollymania." It has been judicially recognised, the Supreme Court having awarded £2000 damages in a <?ase in' which the malady was said to be contracted by being run down by a -trolly on the Broadway, New York, last summer. The victim, one Hoyt, 3ms since the accident been afflicted with certain hallucinations in which he imagines that he hears the uncouth clanging of the trollies and fancies they are chasing nnd ovei*taking him. He runs wildly about, enters the house by the parlour window, and throws somersaults on the floor— very unpleasant and unseemly practises for a hitherto respectable, gent of advanced years to indulge in. A new terror is added to life Toy the announcement that the telephone has been laid on to the dining tables in a New York hotel, so that the visitors can tise them while eating. The inmates of our nurseries will have yet another prohibition added to the many things which they "mustn't" do now: "You must never telephone ■with your mouth full!" An American exchange is the not too reliable authority for the statement that it is estimated that the expenses pf the Coronation will reacn the sum of £4,000,000. Over £'»:>O.OOO ■will be spent on gold lace, miniver, court swords, silk stockings, artificial calves, Coronation coaches, and red sealing wax. The cost of windows, Coronation parties, and entertainment by the Government <n princes, chiefs, and envoys of nil shades of black, brown, white, red, and yellow will approximate £Sr>o,ooo. while banquets all over the country will consume no less than £700,000. Mr It. W. Hudson, whose name was forged for such enormous sums in the Liverpool Hank case, is almost a millionaire: at any rate he is one ot the wealthiest men in the country. He owes the principal part of his income to the famous extract of soap with which his name is connected, but he has also a finger in many other valuable pies. He is married to an Trisliwoman. and haw two boys at Eton. Mr Hudson purchased recently a . large property near Marlow. winch includes Medmenham Abbey, famous, or rather infamous, as the resort oi the Hell Fire Club in bygone days. A great card scandal is shaking Vienna's most exclusive social set to its base. Count Potocki. an immensely wealthy Galician landowner, lost the huge sum of £12"),000 at one sitting at baccarat at the Vienna •Jockey Club. The principal winner was M. Nicolas de Szemere, a Hungarian deputy. The trouble was accentuated by the fact that the Jockey Club's prenaises are on ground owned by the Emperor, and the loss of the Club's privileges is a possible sequel to the affair. A criminal prosecution has been commenced against Count Potocki and M. de Szemere, for illegal gambling. The Radical papers demand the banishment of both parties, according to law, as they are foreigners. One of the witnesses in the case when questioned regarding i. he coming revelation.-, said that h« rould not testify, as he was ash-en during- the game', but he hinted that Count Goliieh ow.sk i, Austro-Himgar-ian Minister for Foreign Affairs, was one of the onlookers. The Count, it seems, took his tremendous losses quite philosophically, although he ''>!>d + o ask for something 1 over six months to settle in. His income is stated at £70,000 a year. A story recently was widely circulated that two large Newfoundland dogs were enrolled as regular

members of the Paris police force, j Uieir duty being to assist the "Agents Plongeurs," who are equivalent to the British Humane Society officers, in life-saving. The narrative gave some graphic details how every day they exercised by plunging- into the river and rescuing a policeman who pretended to be drowning. A trial of the value of 11'ese noble animals the other day however, had a somewhat, unexpected sequel. A sort of lay figure haviu"- been thrown into ihe river off. the Quai de la Tonrnelle, Cesar, tho larger dog, jumped in and brought it safely to land. But Turc, his mate, was waiting at the landing stage, evidently jealous of his success, for he promptly grabbed the rescued bundle and tried to get. possession of it. Cesar set his teeth into the trophy all the harder, and between the two of them they very yo(h.\ tore it to pieces. The condition of the man dragged in an exhausted state from the river only to become the bone of contention between two fierce dogs would be in- } deed unenviable. There has been distinctly, some excitement in the Madrid newspaper world of late. The "El Pais" has been conducting a scandalous campaign against the Queen Regent. The other day it was noised about that the young officers of the Royal Guard were going- down to attack the office of the paper and the editor The hour mentioned was midnight, and the newspaper office prepared for a siege. The three deputies who wrote the articles were there and about fifty of the staff of the paper, all armed. They were reinforced by about a hundred of the public carrying revolvers. Policemen were *posted outside, and the midnight air vibrated with expectation. After a long wait the garrison reluctantly dispersed, the enemy not putting* in an appearance. Some other day, no doubt, when the newspaper is not 'so well guarded, the young bloods will drop in and give the proprietors and editors some forcible advice. j A story is told concerning Queen Alexandra when she was Princess of .Wales. At one of the receptions given by her to the Queen's nurses at Marlborough House, one old nurse — one of the few remaining from the old Sairey Gamp regime — was sittingat a small table ha\ing some refreshments, when the Princess asked her if she had all that she required in the way of food and drink. The old lady thanked her and said she liked the sandwiches very much, but she was anxious to know what she was drinking, because she had not tasted anything of the kind before. For a second Her Royal Highness looked at her. and then seeing with what simple i faith the question was asked, smiled, and took a sip of the glass held out to her, and laughing- heartily, said, "Why, you are drinking champagne cup." The dame, nothing daunted, remarked as the Princess moved away, "Well, 1 suppose it is all right, but for my part I would*?' much rather have a glass of stout." Talking of the kindness of monarehs, another anecdote has been added to the many already oii record of the goodness of the Emperor Francis Joseph. An old forester at Ischl, long since pensioned off, but still allowed to accompany the monarch in his yearly shooting excursions in that neighbourhood, was lately exceedingly distressed because His Majesty failed as usual to respond to his greeting. The thought, that he might, have lost the long-enjoyed favour of the Emperor gave him no peace day •or night. The story of the old man's distress went the round until it reached the Court, and was repeated to His Majesty. The satisfaction of the forester may be imagined on receiving the following letter from the Emperor's adjutant, Count Gaar: — "His Majesty the Emperor asures his faithful forester of his continued favour. j His Majesty knows very well how to^. : value true service when out on shootI ing excursions, and evidently was quite unaware of the presence of the forester at the time mentioned, or His Majesty would certainly have responded to the forester's greeting in his usual gracious manner." A heavy weight was removed by this kind note Trom the forester's heart. At last we have a solemn scientific announcement by a competent body of wizards on the vexed subject of smoking. The Itoyal Academy of' Belgium has been sitting on the nicotine plant, which we commonly call, with our usual irreverence, "the weed." After much deliberation the august body alwve-nameci has arrived at the following conclusions. They are put forth in the form of advice to smokers: — Do not use moist tobacco, since nicotine then escapes with the vapour, and ih not decomposed. Do not smoke either while fasting or a short- time before meals. When smoking cigars or cigarettes always use an amber, meerschaum, horn, or cherry holder. Nicotine vapourises at 250 degrees, and that portion of it which is not decomposed in the centre is attracted towards the tip and accumulates there; it is therefore prudent to throw away the last quarter of a cigar. Do not smoke a pipe which has a short stem. Of all methods of smoking the cigarette is the least offensive. The gallant. "Forty-Twas" (according to Mr Minuet liurleigh, the wellknown war correspondent) have been

captivating even their enemies' heai'ts along the Basil to border. The other dv.y the Black Watch was formed up to quit Ladybrand for another district. All had fallen in, and there was a wondrous scene ere the pipers turned up and the regiment took 'the road. All the towns folk, and many from the surrounding districts, Britons and Boers, were in the spacious street. "Quick march!" the pipes skirled, and away the "kilties" swung down the road; there were cries and cry ings, women and girls waving their handkerchiefs and mopping their eyes by turn — and the majority of them were unmistakably Boers — as the laddies gaed aw«.\ Some of the. lassies would see the very last of them, and followed far their soldier friends;, wring-ing- then 1 hands as they said, "Good-bye, Sandy," "Come back, David," "Think of me, Tarn." It was: as the departure of a regiment of their own people to the wars, and as a prognostic, helps us to realise that Briton and Boer can unite.