NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7428, 5 April 1902, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS, VIEWS, AND OPINIONS.

■ In these days of unrestrained journalism it takes a lot to shock the modesty of the newspaper reader, but really the Paris "Presse" almost raises blushes even on the pressman's hardened cheek. It appears that the celebrated Liane de Pougy is about t "> marry a London stoekbrokei-, who, like many other mere males, has been strongly smitten -with her , charms. In a "Presse"' interview she received the newspaper man "lying between the sheets of a large and majestic bed." Her' fiancee stood by the bedside, and she addressed him several times as "darling." The "Presse" man says he felt somewhat embarrassed, especially as ne understood English. "Yes," said Liane, "i have decided to marry and become an authoress; I am now at work vn two books, 'Ecce Homo,' all in favour or men, and 'The Silent Voices.' " "Then -.ye shall no longer see you on the stage?" asked the timid "Presse" man. "That all depends". My future husband is a stockbroker in London, and the stage would always come in useful to earn our living if his business went wrong-. Wouldn't it, darling?" "Darling," the "Presse" man tells us, looked awkward and i-.n-1 swered never a word. But Liane may take our word for it; it will. Chevalier in America was interviewed vi his bath, and — this in a whisper— a friend of "the writer's in London confesses to having interviewed two distinguished Antipodeans — the one a thin Chief Justice and the other a bulky politician — in their pyjamas, but even had one this preliminary case-hardening, one would fervently pray that the "Presse" man's lot might remain unique. As for the prospective bridegroom, one pities him if ever his identity becomes clear to the habitues of the London Stock Exchange. Their chaff, "pointed as bayonet and delicate as a gun butt," will render life a misery to him, and Liane is wise in her generation when she makes that remark anent the usefulness of the stage. Only the strength of a. Sandow, combined with the dexteritj' of Bob Fitzsimmons, and courage of the highest order, will enable the athletic "darling" to live down the "Presse" interview in Throgmorton-street.

Stories of the War Office are many, but the latest is, perhaps, the best. A* reservist, invalided home from South Africa, had to leave his kit behind. The question arose as to whether his kit should be sent on to him or sold. As he would have had to pay its carriage home, he decided, after some correspondence, in favour of the latter alternative. In due course he received the proceeds of the sale in the shape of a penny stamp, accompanied by a request for an immediate acknowledgment !

Some few weeks ago we referred, in this column to an incident of the Anglo-American, war of 1812, to show that during that struggle the War Office's notorious "unmounted men preferred" was not the only remarkable instance of official incompetence on record. The case cited was the action of the Admiralty in sending out to the British fleet at Kingston, Ontario, several shiploads of water casks, it being in the minds of my lords of Whitehall that Lake Ontario was a salt-water lake. An American journal has now discovered a far more ludicrous instance of official geographical ignorance. At the beginning of the American Revolution the Admiralty ordered Lord Howe to take jU fleet up the Bronx Eiver and bombard White Plums, the Bronx L?ing merely a little millstream, barely navigable at its deepest part by even a light draught canoe. Can you imagine a more piggish wav of ending existence than by gorging like a boa constrictor and dying from the effects? This has just been the cause of the death of Malines, of Leyssens, the most gluttonous eater in Belgium. It is told of him that he once bargained with an innkeeper to provide hi^n with all he could eat at a meal for 4/. To the disgust of the j latter he devoured two stewed rabbits and the greater .part of a calf's head. On another occasion he ate twelve yards of beef and pork sau- J sages, and a few days after disposed of 300 raw mussels and 21b. of bread. His last famous meal, which, like many others, was eaten for a wager, consisted of sixty-nine hard-boiled eggs. He had engaged to eat seventy in an hour, but just failed to do so. This feat caiised his death after a short illness. ■ An interesting review of g-ifts and bequests of ."iOOOdols or more for public uses made in the United States during 1001 appears in the "Xew York Times." It appears that the enormous total is 107,360,000d015, (about £21,450,000). which is far in excess of the record in any previous year. The best year before 1901 was 1899, when 1 the total was 62,730,000 dols. The "Xew York Times" points out that the amount given last year is equal to one-third of the cost to Great Britain of the South African war for the same year. Of the

107,360,000d01s Mr Carnegie gave to colleges, and for libraries nearly 31,000,000d015, his gifts to libraries alone amounting to nearly 14,000,000 dols. The statistics exclude ordinary denominational contribution* for educational, benevolent, and religious purposes, as also Congressional, State, and municipal appropriations for public and sectarian institutions.

Bishop Barry was not the least amused of the observers of a little incident which occurred at the marriage a few weeks ago at St. James' Church, London, of the Hon. Myrtle Mostyn and Captain Wombwell. The Bishop was the chief celebrant, and delivered the usual post nuptial sermon to the happy pair. Whilst His Lordship was discoursing in his most impressive strain a little dot of a train-bearer, growing weary of his task, suddenly dropped his white satnl encumbrance and toddled swiftly down the aisle in search of his nurses. • He was decorously pursued, and after several De Wet-like elusions of hastily-formed "cordons," was finally captured and sent to tie front again.

A romantic story of a millowner's passion for the daughter of a caretaker of a club he frequented is told by Mr Arthur Bamforth, a workman in Messrs. Vickers, Sons, and Maxim's naval construction works at Barrow. It appears that Mr Bamforth's grandmother was the caretaker of a club where the millowner saAv and fell in love with her daughter. The daughter was yoxmg and winsome, and | modestly declined his offer of marriage as their social position was so unequal. Repeated appeals to change I her decision were unavailing, and the millowner went away, saying that he would wed none other. Afterwards I she contracted a marriage more in keeping with her station in life, and had seven children. Her husband died, and later on the millowner died also. By his will he made handsome provision for the woman he had admired and for her family. They did not hear of this windfall at the time, and now, when the welcome news has reached them, Mrs Bamforth is stricken with illness. She is seventyfive .years of age. Mr Bamforth. does not state what is the exact amount of money left to the family under the will of the millowner, but as his own portion will be £6,000, it must have been something considerable.

The "Figaro" is responsible for the statement that boxing has become the favourite recreation of Parisian authors, and gives a list of sportsmen, including several of the most eminent novelists, dramatists and journalists of the "day. It will be interesting to. see whether the fashion foreshadows the introduction of a new mode of settling the dispiites which are so frequent in French literary and journalistic circles. If sufficiently heavy and well-padded gloves were used, the risk of serious consequences from encounters on small points of honour would not be appreciably greater than it is at present; nor is there any reason why the stain of a small affront should not .be as effectively wiped out by blood drawn from the nose as by blood drawn from the fleshy part of the forearm. The fact thatvthe present champion of the gymnasium frequented by the men of letters is not a creative writer, but a critic, indicates that the freedom of French comments on matters of public interest need not be imperilled by /the suggested change in the national habits.

A knowledge of the vicious depravity with^which the so-called "Christian Science" has been associated during the past few years, and the evil things 'that -have been done by professors of this new religion, makes one feel grateful to the German Emperor for the stand he has taken against the spread of this obscure | form of mental disease — it is nothing else — in his. country. The Kaiser, like a wise man, has decided not to persecute the "Christian Scientists" by putting the law in motion against them. By so doing he might have given them a chance of figuring as martyrs for. their faith, and, as we all know, one of the surest ways of vitalising new creeds is police* persecution. The Kaiser means to kill by ridicule and contempt this "nuisance unworthy of our age and of Germany," and he has made it clear that no person who takes part in spiritualist meetings or becomes identified" in any way with faith-healing or kindred movements will be received at court or countenanced in court circles.' It seems that the Emperor's attention was drawn to the spread! of obscurantist views in Berlin by the fact *hat several members of his immediaTe circle had attached themselves fj Ihe Christian Scientists and other mystic bodies. It remains to be seen whether the "attachment" is strong- to withstand the magnet which the Kaiser has brought to bear in the shape of his pronouncement of exclusion from court of all who run after these new' things in religion. "" lr* most cases there is no doubt it will not prove to be so. Under the influence of fear timirl women often do strange things, but it is a long time since we have heard of anything so queer as the plan adopted by three maiden ladies to

avoid all chances of disturbance - by burglar's. The ladies In question are Frnch, and according to an account from Paris a cabman drove with them at midnight to a Paris police-station. There he informed the officials that after driving the ladies about all the evening they coolly told, him that they had no money to pay the fare. Inquiries showed thait about six months ago the poor old maids were frightened out of their wits by a burglary committed in the house where they lived. They thereupon made up their minds to avoid such scares in future by never sleeping in a house again. So they sold all their furniture and other possessions, scraping together a sum of about iten thousand francs. While this lasted they fed in restaurants by day and slept in cabs at night. ' Many cabmen to whom they had been good customers gave them accommodation in their vehicles when their money was gone. But the limit had been reached, and the poor old souls are now sent to an asylum.

It is stated that in more than one public-house in London has lately been affixed the notice "Public Pingpong Saloon within,"- and that the old billiard-tables have been diverted •to this new use. Jt would seem to be a. harmless alternative; but the extravagant development of the game has caused an outbreak of protest in the weekly 'papers. It is pointed out that two books have been published which are both didactic and. I—though1 — though At* would be (thought, impossible — historic. "Table tennis" — a name Avhicii at best seems a weak and inaccurate substitute for the Onomato-poetic "ping-pong"-*— has an organ of its own, and, like trade, the game is following the flag. A French paper, in its enthusiasm for historical parallels, recalls that Nero fiddled an accompaniment to the burning of Rome, ajid suggests that the welcome of ping-pong in Africa will become in a similar way a tale typical of British degeneration; for who could imagine a lusty nation playing ping-pong when it shonlcl •be facing pom-poms? Certainly we may grant ping-pong to be a mania; but it will so the way of other manias long: before' the British nation goes the way of Rome.

The irony of fate is strikingly illustrated in 'the person of Mr. Cecil Rhodes-. Struck down in his mental prime, it looks indeed as if he would be called from ' the national work in So\ith Africa, originally conceived and since directed by him. It would seem also that his untimely death would rob him of honours which it was intended to bestow on him in the near future. When the last mail left England rumour was very busy concerning the Coronation, and especially as to who will and who will not receive honours on the occasion. A correspondent informed "Lloyds" than he had learned from a reliable source that one of the new peers will certainly be Mr. Cecil Rhodes. The paper gives the information without any pretence to be prophetic on the subject, but the elevation of the South African "Dictator" to the Upper House would certainly not be unlikely. The correspondent adds that the recent purchase "by Mr. Rhodes for £100,000 of Dalham Hall, near Newmarket, from Sir Robert Affleck, was for the purpose of taking his title from the estate, which is a very fine one. The buyer was in Cairo at the time the purchase was concluded for "him, and never saw the property until some three weeks later. Wu Ting Fu, the Chinese Ambassador at Washington, who is accused of nobbling a portion of the surplus of the indemnity returned by the States to China, is an interesting personality. Like nearly all Celestials, he has a perfect genius for asking the most awkward questions. At Kansas City recently he amused the inhabitants by his variety of personal questions and his pertinacity in putting them. He held a sort of reception at the Commercial Club. Secretary Clendening introduced his wife. ' Mr. Wu scrutinised her keenly, then turned to the secretary of the Commercial Club, and inquired: "You entitled to such a fine woman?" "He's all right," Mrs. Clendening replied, coming, like a true wife, to the defence of her husband. "Did he come home last nigjit?" Mr. Wu persisted amid roars of laughter — for the Commercial Club banquet did not end until about 5 o'clock that morning. "No." "Does he stay out that late every night?" "Oh, no." "How late does he usually stay out," — amid another burst of laughter. Here Mr. Clendening hurriedly begged the Minister's pardon for taking up his time, and insisted that his wife move on.

'After going through three campaigns "Drummer," the famous war dog of the Northumberland Fusiliers, lias been poisoned at Colchester, where its owner. Colonel Ray, is the principal medical officei' at the Military Hospital. "Drummer" was all through the Egyptian campaign, and ■was present at the battle of Omdurman. He went to South Africa with the first regiments sent out, and was present at Magersfontein. where Major Ray, Northumberland Fusiliers, son of Colonel Ray, was killed, and was present at the relief of Kimberley, where Mr. Rhodes gate him a meal. He was wounded in the shoulder at Wynberg, and Queen Victoria

signified her intention of giving him ' a medal when he returned from South Africa, but the War Office raised objections. He had, however, . miniature medals and clasps. The latter were for Diamond Hill, Johannesburg, Paardeburg, Drief ontein, relief of Kimberley, Belmont and Modder River. "Drummer" was the only dog Lord Methuen allowed to accompany his column from Orange River. The dog also "assisted" at the pacification of Crete, and saw foreign service at Gibraltar. The "Dog's Annual" for 1900 was dedicated to him, iand contained a eulogistic article on this old canine campaigner.

Divorce is very easy in Turkey, and does not require a judge and jury to settle matters. All that is necessary is for the injured party to say, "I divorce you," three times, and the deed is done. The husband has to make the wife a proper allowance, and all is over. Two cases have recently occurred which . are rather amusing. A certain Turkish gentleman is a keen amateur gardener, and his garden contains at all seasons a brilliant show of flowers, to which he devotes most of his time, rather to the disgust of his wife, who is never allowed to cut thenj. Last autumn his chrysanthemums were in the height of their glory, when a tremendous downpour of rain came on. This threatened to destroy the magnificent blooms, imny of which were equal in size to the best results attained in England. Seeing the danger, the gentleman called all his servants and set to work to carry the pots into the Louse, and arranged them on both sides of the staircase. When they had finished the lady suddenly appeared and fell into a violent rage, declaring that her husband thought more of hi*, flowers than he di- 1 of her, and tnat he insulted her by bringing earth into the house. In vain he explained that in all the best European houses flowers in pots were the proper tmngs. Nothing- would appease her; she said he was defiling her house by bringing dirt in, and she would divorce him. She sent for her sister to come and be a witness "of- the divorce, and setting to work with her women, bundled all the flowers out again. When the sister arrived, however, matters v.-ere settled xip, ar.d the divorce did not take place. On another occasion, .ac same lady sent her small son down to breakfast in a pink shirt and a green tie. The father was shocked at this barbarous combination, and made a remark to the English governess, who sent the child back to Change his tie. But down came the lady of the house in a furious rage, saying that she knew how to dress the child, innt a pink shirt and green tie was the best of taste, and she would not remain to be insulted by his giving preference to the opinions of an English girl. Again she threatened to divorce him, but again it fell through, as the husband could not find the £COO he would have had to pay her until her v-rath had cooled down.

A touching incident illustrative of the kindness of heart of the late Queen Victoria was related last month by Dr. Schofield, in his address to 600 of the submerged tenth who sat down to the annual New Year's breakfast at Grays-yard Ragged Mission. A year ago he said he visited an old woman of 74, wh'> lived in a small room, the only furniture of which was a broken-down bed, en which was one ragged coverlet, and a rickety old table and chair, on their last legs. All her friends she said were dead and gone long ago, all save one, who wouldn't remember her. Pressed for the name of this friend the old w'onian said in a Avhisper: "The Queen. Years ago at Southsea I used to see that gracious lady, when she Avas but a girl of eighteen, go out rowing with the Duchess of Kent. One day the coxswain took ill of brain fever, and was carried into my home. I nursed him until he died. Soon after the Duchess of Kent called and g-ave me a beautiful Indian shawl, which the Princess Victoria had sent, adding, 'If at anj r time during the rest of your life you are in want, Her Royal Highness desires that you should write to her.' " Dr. Schofield wrote her story to the Queen, receiving an early reply: "I remember it quite well. It is all true. Here is some money for her present needs, and when she wants more you must let me know." He took the letter to the old woman, who was "a bit ot a scholard," and putting ion her spectacles, read it, the tears coursing down her cheeks. She took the order to the nearest post-office, and, in reply to the querjr, "Who sent it?" said "The Queen," tipon which the money was handed to her. She purchaser! a new bonnet with roses on it, a bright red shawl, tea, sugar, bread, butter, eggs, and bloaters, coal, firewood, and new blankets. The news of her good fortune soon spread down the narrow alley, and all the old women quickly donning their best, called upon her to examine her new bonnet and shawl, the general remark being " 'O\v fine, and what did they cost yer, Mrs ? and who sent yer the money?" The last question only was answered, with the simple words "The Queen."

We are all fortune-tellers — that is, we can tell a fortune when we see it."