The Star. THE WEEK.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9480, 6 December 1907, Page 4

The Star.

THE WEEK.

Delivered every evening oy 6 o'olook in Hftwer' Manaia, Normanby, OUaiawa, Klthanii Manga tolti, Kaponga, Awacuna, Cpuii&ke, OC»nelio, Jdanutani, Alton, Uurleyville, I'ute*. and Wuveriey.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1907.

The suffragettes aie having a hot time at Home. Those militant lenders, Mrs and Miss Pankhurst, have kicked up many a good noise and have been im prisoned more than once. To V.c ignominiously bundled out of political meetings as common disturbers is apparently regarded by these women as, glorious. In a measure they are being repaid in their own coin by the stud ents who recently used whistles, ratles, bells, cornets, and finally sulphuretted hydrogen to break up a suffragette meeting. It is generally supposed that some women, who will face real danger in any form, can be terrorised to daath by a mouse. Bui Miss Pankhurst is evidently not one cf these. The latest trick of the stud ents^ — who, by the way, have extra--ordinarily fertile ideas in the domain of mischief — was to let a lot of mice loose on the stage But the lady,, we are told, instead of leaping over the. table and wrapping her skirts about her ankles in a frenzy of fright, simply caught the mice and fondled them. Still it must have been a very entertainiiig meeting 1 .

Irdiand is profoundly peaceful. You could almost hear a pin drop. Mr John Redmond expresses' himself in words to that effect. He charge® the British press with wilfully misrepresenting Ireland as being in a state o; anarchy — and pei'haps the unrest, is over-stated. However, cattle-diivinjr continues, and so long {.s'that offence is persisted in the match will remain dangerously close to the powder barrel. Mr Ginneill, M.P., has taken the credit of originating the cattle drives. He has been addressing meetings in the West of Ireland, bidding the people not to fear the law, because, as he put it, "there were many in the Government who would see that the cattle-drivers were treated kindly " It now appears that juries as well a& the Government are treating offenders kindly by failing to agree to a verdict of guilty. A section of the press is urging that the Commoners who arc* inciting cattle-driving should be prosecuted, especially Mr Ginnell.

The mighty forces of revolution in Russia have been arrested by the third Duma. The first and the second Parliamemts of Russia in a great measure represented the people], but the one now sitting is clearly controlled by the reactionaries. During the past few years many affectionate promises have been made by the Little Father, and the country appeared to be marching towards political freedom. But all that isi changed now. The. Premier. M. Stolypin. has . successfully show his ability "to defend ihe Czar's prerogative® against all encroachments/ and he has now openly declared that the Autocracy and not the people is a supreme power in Russia. ' Events in the Duma, such as the expression^ of loyalty to the Czar and the exclusion of the democrat Rodicheff, clearly show how greatly the character of the House lias been altered. And it has been changed by a body of voters— the landed nobility — the leaders of whom declare) that the best way to reform Russia is to let the Cossack* loose on .those "drunken beasts," the common people-. The pendulum, which pointed .to political progress, has swung back.

His Majesty the King has conferred thft Order cf Merit on. Miss Florence Nightingale, who is the first lady to receive the Order. Now in her eighty eighth year, Miss Nightingale has enjoyed universal gratitude, and it has been said that she was the only woman who ever rivalled Queen Victoria in the affection of the nation, Her Majesty herself holding Mi«s Nightingale in. the highest honor and admiration. Well connected and highly educated Miss Nightingale, after ten years' training, offered her services Lethe British Government in the Crimea. Her services were eagerly accepted In, the Crimea she found a greae. hospital, containing 2300 patients the day -she arrived, and 5000 a day or two later, foul with accumulated filth, and reeking -with, infectious disease, so that practically one out of every two patients died, and four out of

ev-.ay five amputations . resulted in death. Men died like flies for want of cleanliness and fresli air, decent, food and piofcr requisites. If uity place deserved the title of a hell upon eaitli it was the> Scutari hospital.

Into this place of horror came Florence Nightingale, the incarnate figuro of England's pity and sympathy. Before long she had effected a veritable transformation; dirt and disorder vanished before her, the routine of the system that, bad produced such hidooits results had been thrown, aside. She often worked fcr twenty hours a day. The sick soldiers reverenced her. As she- made her -way, lamp in hand, through the wards at, night, long after the medical officers had left, the men would kiss her shadow jis she passed. When she returned to England the national gratitude found expression in a subscription of £50,000, hut with the ge<nerc«iry which characterised her life sh& devoted this money to the Nightingale Home for the training rf nurses. The roll of honor i 9 honored by the addiiior of the name of Florence Nightingale who fifty years ago enshrined herself in the lie arts of her countrymen by her splendid work in the hospitals in the/ Crimm.

The situation in Morocco is as grave us over, and there has been some very desperate fighting during the past week. Tribes which had hitherto maintained a neutral position joined tl)° rebels', which mad© the position of the French critical. At Temys, where the French were practically surreunc!e'l during a mist, the Arabs, who foughl with desperate courage, were driven off enly after great slaughter. The action of the Benis: Hassan tribesmen, in crossing the Algerian frontier and attacking a fort in the vicinity of Bahelassa, culminated in a ferocious struggle in which the tribesmen were mown down, with great slaughter, by shells.

The paramount Zulu chief Dinizulu, whose loynlty has been a doubtful quantity for years 1 past, isagain giving trouble, and is now r&ported to be at the head of a body of ai*med followers. The estimated fighting strength of the- Zulus is 30,000, who are in possession cf many rifles and considerable ammunition. The total defence force is 10,000". A party of Natal militia has been seat out to arrest Dinizulu for treason, and a conflict is feared 1 . Owing to the- stata of Zululand martial law has been proclaimed.

The failure, of the. filibusterers in Brs,zil — in their attempt to overthrow the- State Government of • Minas. G«L f «es — was very dismal. Minus Getraes means "general mines," or "mines everywhere'," and is tho most important of all the interior Sta.tes oi Brazil, belonging to the mountainous regions, and continued north and west by the high valleys of the San. Francisco, and bythose of the rivers Pardo, Jequitinhonhai and Parana (some sixty mile® from the sea) is the- region of tho historical Brazilian mines (gold, diamonds, and more recently iron). Minas Geraes is the industrial centre of Brazil. Of late years there has been great agricultural development in this part of the country. That the revolutionaries were aided by British, Canadian, and American filibusterers lends additional interest to the "raid."

The provisions of the new Gaming Act have been the chief topic of discussion this week. From the . eisplanation made by the Premier it is made clear that the intention of the Act was to confine gambling on lacing to the. people assembled on any racecourse and to abolish street and shop bettmtr So far, the spirit of the Act has not been observed. From Ministerial ar> nouncememts it is gratifying to- learn that the Dominion enjoys the conf 5.'5 .' dence of the money markets at Homo, and that as a result of the recent taritX revision some new industries are to be established in New Zealand. The genial weather which has lately prevailed has given the stock a chance to improve in condition, and the market reports regarding dairy produce are still satisfactory. In son c parts of Taranaki, .lowever, the authorities have been concerned ovei the flay.or of portions of this season's cutputu ,