THE WEEK.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10108, 5 August 1893, Page 4

THE WEEK.

The Wellington Philosophical Socle has been opportunely discussing the qu< fyon of the importation of noxious weec and lias contributed to the stock of genoi knowledge on the subject a good deal practical information. The ballast from single vessel from South America, d charged on the reclaimed land at Wellil toil, produced many absolutely nozk weeds. One of theao, in the earlier stag of its growth, is greedily eaten by catt and produces paralysis of the heart. : Kirk did not —according to the nowspaj report—name this weed; nor did Sir Jan Hector, who took part in the discussi< specify an imported weed that was now be found in the open fields, and whi investigation showed had caused t death of all the animals that hadeai it. It is obvious, however, that t ballast question will have to be ve seriously considered, and that stringe measures will have to bo adopted.

From noxious weeds to noxious insec and animals was an easy transition, T introduced stoats and weasels which wi theoretically supposed to devote the selves exclusively to the destruction rabbits, ato even now preferring a mi: diet. Mr Travers " wbib of opinion that t pests were good for rats ” —an opinion tl is net likely to ho shared by the nnhap rodents—" but that when the rodents ha been eliminated the fowl-yards may Buffei There ia very little doubt that in this cc jocturo Mr Travers will prove to be p fectly correct; for the notoriously bloc thirsty stoats and weasels “ are rapi( destroying the kiwi and other nooturi birds, in one instance being known-to 001 a radius of forty miles in their work destruction.’'

The Victorian Railway Commissions have in one year accomplished much in t direction of beautifying the station pi mises along the various lines. Their desi was to encourage the stationmastero establish bods of flowers apd small gron of ornamental shrubs, and to that end th issued a, circular offering a few jB prizes for the best result!. Then th chose an officer of the Department wl admittedly had a large knowledge of floi culture, and entrusted to him the tank awarding the prizes. “In determlnii the successful stations, Mr Ingram to< into consideration the natural advantag of some as compared with others for picturesque display, with the object of i cognising the merit of the ntationmasi independent of surroundings for which could claim no praise." The roan] of the first your seem to ha been eminently satisfactory, and i plan of awarding prizes is be continued. Travellers on the Nt Zealand linos will not be slow to appreoie the fact that some of our droary-lcokii wayside stations are capable of bell vastly improved on the Victorian model. Shakapero teaches that lips were ma for kissing, and poets innumerable ha grown rapturous on the theii\o of Bucli lasses as belong to early days, When heart, and soul, and sense in concert mo But no such idea animates some of t officials of Baltimore, the “ monument city" of the United States.- They mu on tha contrary, have focussed into thi system all the asceticism of the Puritai for the Baltimore Park Board has issued i j ®dipk letting fprfeh **th*»t the -public.

•ra stot meant as courting plaofe, and vfaat in future anything in the way .if love-mak-ing will be held to be improporconduot, and jjnnijhttble by the police.” la the springtime, we know on indisputable authority, SiU trees pat on a tendei. fees, and “the young man’o fanoy lightly turns to thoughts of love;” and the park of parks in Baltimore, the famous Druid Hill resort, 'beautifully undulating, and sdornod with All that the art of the landscape gardener can suggest, is Just one of thosa enchanting places wherein tender phrase* might well find spontaneous utterance. Herein it ■was that a young couple strolled on A recent occasion, and—they kissed each other. Alas! their breach of the new edict had been witnessed by a atony-hearted officer. They were arrested, and fined heavily. It is curious, however, to note that in Baltimore they appraise OBoulatory enjoyment disproportionately ■for while the young man was mulcted in twenty dollars, the young woman's fine was only a fourth of that amount.

Some additional details have come to hand respecting the terrible epidemic of yellow fever on a part of the Brazilian ■coast. In the latter part of last month [the ominous ** yellow jack ” still floated heavily in the air at Santos, where, " during the month of June the number of deaths from the disease was two hundred a day.” This seaport, lying in hit. 25deg. Bmin south, is within a sheltered bay, into which there discharges a small river named the Bertioga, so shallow as to be only navigable for boats. Into this small stream the panic-stricken people had taken to casting their dead, and “ every day bodies were to be seen floating down to the sea.” The trade of the port was paralysed, and on July 19 no fewer than forty-five ships were lying in the harbour, for crews could not be got to take them away, and the captains of twenty of the vessels had died of the epidemic. Details such as these might seem to be terribly overdrawn, were it not for the fact that the awful records of the plague are such as to prepare one for the acceptance of almost any statement of mortality rates and fear-driven results. Santos is not by any means the moat unhealthy seaport of Brazil. That unenviable distinction belongs to Bahia, with its tortuous streets winding up the hillsides. Here it was that the fearful visitation of 1850 first broke out, spreading thence up and down the coast, and sweeping away more victims than the most sanguinary war could ever have done.

Though the infection of this deadly disease has been carried to England, it has found no lodgment there, the climatic conditions being fortunately unsuitable for its propagation 5 bub the lower valley of the Mississippi in the United States has felt the intensity of the scourge. In the autumn of 1878 there were more than five thousand victims to yellow fever in New Orleans and Memphis alone; and it was ia 1888 that Mr E. A. Proctor, the astronomer, whose lectures have fascinated New Zealand audiences, fell a victim to the epidemic on his way from Florida to England, dying at New York,

There seems to be a reasonable prospect that the Jewish Colonies in the Argentina will have a successful career. LieutonantColonel Goldsmid, who acted as organiser on behalf of the liberally-minded Baron Birsch, is now able to report on the results of fourteen months’ experience. At the beginning hia task must have seemed wellnigh hopeless, for he had to do with many people whose whole associations had been with the barter of cities, and who were utterly ignorant of even the rudiments of agriculture. The first step was a process of selection, with the object of making each little community self-contained and self-supporting. "Every family has now a rancho, and most of them implements, four yoke of oxen, a horse and a cow, with a land allotment per family of 125 acres.” It is yet a far cry to the pronouncement of certain results, for, as Lieutenant-Colonel Goldsmid points out, lean years may come, the crops may be spoiled, and the result may spell disaster. Meanwhile, Baron Eirsch’s fostering care continues to be felt by the strangers in a yet strange land, and they receive periodical allowances of money. The politic programme for tho future is that these money allowances will be lowered gradually, and will bo stopped eventually altogether, but nob before some good harvests have been reaped.

The comicalities of " printers’ blunders ” have at one time or another been brought under the notice of newspaper readers, and they will easily appreciate the ]oy of tho Boulfully intense poet whose allusion to the " tremulous ” hands of the object of hia passion, saw publicity aa *• tremendous,” nor do such prosaic people »s the rigidly correct leader writers tor Conservative journals escape always tho dire results of cloudiness—in their caligraphy will of course be understood. For example: the Otago Baity Times desired to be oracular in commenting upon Sir Robert Stout’s speech in tho Financial debate; but the oracular utterances were somehow aadly marred. Au intention to describe the national account as in a state of "involvement,” became a declaration that the country was in a state of “insolvency.” In like manner, the oracle would have Informed its readers that tho Government was not at the mercy of a " master,” but alasl the “master” had, in the glaring black and white of tho printed columns become “ a monster ”!

How fortunes may come and go has been graphically illustrated in the ease of James Monro, the ex-Promier of Victoria. Mr Munro had to tell his story in the coldness of the Insolvency Court, yet, so moving was the record of unlooked-for disaster, that in the end a specific requirement of the Victorian law was sot aside, and a certificate of discharge was granted without the statutory payment of seven shillings in the pound. The estate, as a matter of fact, could not have realised more than a shilling in the pound. When Mr Munro left Victoria in 198.1, ho was worth a clear .£BO,OOO, and four years Is tar he found himself “ worth £2i1.,0U0, alter making provision for all his liabilities.” In the ordinary acceptation of the term, he had never speculated in shares of any hind, and yet, by investments in share.-* hifl disasters had accumulated till hia fortune had disappeared, and his liabilities were near upon £50,000. Apparently sound investment! had been effected in coffee palaces, banking and other companies, and all had encountered financial wreck more or less complete.

Here is a portion of the debtor’s formal statement, made on oath: — “In IciSi i owed no money to anyone, and .1 bad unencumbered property to the value of £40,0000r £50,000. It consisted of house and land at Armadale, and I had money

to my credit in the bank. In 1885 I was offered £20,000 for my estates at Cleu Iris i and the land and house, then ur.oaciuu- ' iwre&.wero worth £25,000. My station ia

West Australia was worth £30,000, and land in the Northern Territory worth £9OOO. In 1889 the Real Estate Bank shares were worth .£95,000. In the Territorial Bank I had shares valued at .£BOOO. The Glen Iris land, which I valued in 1885 at -£25,000', I sold for £IOO,OOO. The Armadale property I valued at £45,000 ; the station in West Australia I then valued at £35,000; Federal Coffee Palace, £28,000; Grand Hotel shares, £9500; Victorian Coffee Palace shares, £2000; other properties about £25,000, Northern Territory, £9000; Federal Bank, £15,000. That comes to £333,000. There were liabilities £113,000, leaving me worth £240,000.