CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12242, 30 June 1900, Page 7

CURRENT TOPICS.

IflpWASI*-

h There are few women in K fay station of life who bare P| . had such a romantic career |e as the -preeent Dowager-Em-B- pnes of China, lie story life-ha* been -tcH more tiian ospa in hni> just" now when its hero? Man appears to be directing a great rovokthe “influence” of the Western ifcwwwni it mQ bear repeating. Yin Ling Emmu bum in Canton note -than fifty years 'hv parents belonging to the very poor- * Sapb-dara of Chinese, and often being enable ■..'‘W WO sufficient food for their largo rJwdly pf ohydren. But in. spite of the “ '.lfewataati privations Yin. Ling grew into a W beautiful girl, according to Chinese ■55, and at her own- urgent request was her father as a slave to General .. 3wh», a cousin of the Emperor. She soon hw Ws*9t«r ? s heart by her singular and great intelligence, but General ’ '-'!5loo' was anxious to gain favour with/the : and was easily persuaded 1 to part ; Pri? e to his royal relative. Now Sj ifjfjjj •Lkg , s public ’triumphs really. began, /j, ’ '(The Emperor speedily fell a victim to her -■I- ;«fcf(fa*'and made her his wife next in posis to Tsi An, the real Empress. His {, deferred to his favourite in every- )■ .‘fbjng, and when she gave birth to a son $ "ttha was raised to the rant of an Empress \ f«*V the title of Tsi Tsi- At the Emperor’s Vdte*rth, ,Tsi Tsi placed her son, wbo ■n as then mm/m. years'of age, on the throne, and if’ herself in his name. In Ig75 r her II: wapj spu died, and the present Emperor, Sp, then a child of four, the nephew m m former Emperor, succeeded to the Sovereignty, the regency of course remaining .-•with Tsi Tsi. By this time the Empress & |h*d developed an insatiable thdrsfc for power, B bold, it was broadly hinted in both diploI Smlic and ■Court circles that the death of H her eon had accelerated by her desire 3pßee»Wt her own importance*. However Biay be, she found a very pliable tool Hpa until a few yearo ago, when m began to develop progressive mtWmi ajjjij to rebel gainst the dominance of Since then he has been pracRusikUy a prisoner W the hands of this paste ■ lady, and the present rising is largely his inability to exercise any real auin Ms own kingdom.

■ '"jfijtei™ in CAJt(3t?TTA-

!i We need not be surprised 1 ; if colonial doctors are unable > to. prepare for every de.velop--1 meet of the plague in their seeing that even in India, the home ! o# the scourge, medical experts have still ■ ;'awj<fh"Stt concerning it. It used to be ;< confidently, for instance, that Oalr jcutta enjoyed practical immunity from the j • {disease, yet this year it has been the scene of ; ‘a really serious outbreak. It was' in. the .. ; spring of 1898 that the plague first made its “4 <*ty. Its character was Wild, and the number of deaths by the authorities did not exceed ■ The saopnd outbreak, that of last year, Jwijfib developed earlier in the season, was ‘of 4 qjjuch more decided character, and the. ’’ ! estimated mortality was over 1200. Ccm[pared, however, with those of other places \ second visitation was neither extensive !n«r particularly virulent. The present, outj bn*k h;f» assumed a very different character. * i Within right weeks the mortality mounted ■ fvflga tha normal average of about 500 to no ' jlccy 1536 for the week ending March •SSft, %c 4 the total plague mortality during ! th* ,jajrie period exceeded 3000. >'f course, , cities of Poona and Bombay suffered far v- ; aßii the disease became more virulent with !«aeh succeeding outbreak. The last visita- “'! tiff at .Poena wae 'the most severe ever ex- || pcrknoel in India* and during the present rye«f the mortality in Bombay has been the •fcigheSt recorded. During the first three months of the year Bombaj lw>t fully 20.000 roiji'plague alone. The history it 4 that occurred during.last cen-

-fete disease m-appears six, seven or eight years in succession, and that the most serious outbreaks are those of the third and fcrarth/yeais. Calcutta, therefore, in spite of its supposed immunity, is suffering what may be called a “regular” visitation, and may look forward to even greater tronble next year. For a long time the natives firmly refused to be inoculated, but the example set by their friends in other parts of the country is having a good effect. In Bombay 4000 people present themselves •weekly for inoculation, but the plague continues its ravages among the obstinate millions.

Although, according to the surgeons and nurses at the seat of war, a large section of women have nob come off with flying colours, but have only succeeded -in. indulging 'their selfish craving for excitement and new experiences, a very different view must be taken of the great mass of the women who stayed at home. These could take no active part in the struggle, and, though equally sensitive to the spirit of patriotism, they had nothing to do save to stifle .their personal longings. Even the great mental, intellectual and physical advance made by woman, during the century has been of no avail against the return to a more elementary phase of life induced by the war-spirit, and she has had to fall back into that passive attitude - which was ever the Teutonic woman’s lob in war time. There is, however, this great difference, that in those primitive days news from the battlefield came tardily, and was often r only brought by the comrade after many months, , even years; her burden had none of the ameliorations conferred by the daily cables and newspapers of civilisationprivileges- which the last nine months have taught us to value above the price of rubies. Not-is the old iSpartan spirit dead. Long latent in womanhoudj ''-dt -hgtsfc iqto flame with the first clear call of patriotism, and the widow {sent, forth her only son, the wife her hwband, the maiden her lover. They were proud, they told themselves, that their men folk saw their duty and followed it tmblenchingly, and they, held their heads high, even though their hearts were bursting with grief at thp. parting. For the ©yes of their goals were not blinded to the pospp and panoply of war, and underneath the manual pp and: the ringing cheers of the crowd they could hear the groans of the wounded; Yet .they said their farewells with smiling faces, while they scarcely kept their pallid lips from trembling. These are among the heroes of the war. For them there is no Grogs of valour, praise of njap, or material recompense of any kind, for none could be adequate. They have provad themselves worthy of the heroic men born to them- This uteh o i? their reward.

A HAIiFrORGOTTEX BAND OR HEROES.

Reports from the seat of frequently contain refer? . to mercenaries in' tie ranks of the Boer army. These men are now held in cooteinpt, but they gig the of a gipat wiftoh atj ofi© tinje played an important part ip history. Many years *9sp, wore. net caHod mor«naries, but sob dferi of fortune and they mpibered among thetp men o| ability and' -honour, who 4«r lighted to fight for what they thought was the right, and ppt. fqr gsro. It is laid that tjhe first real, soldier of-fortune was sp Englishman named Sir John Hawkwood, who h 3 ® often been classed with captains ol piaipudhig brigands, btit whem Walton declared to* be- the, first strategist seen in Europe since the conquering days of Rome, was knighted on, the field of Csessy by Edward ill. He disappeared from view for massy years,' but afterwards appeared in Italy as the conuhander of •what was called the great White Company. He was hpp«wuc%i well as feared. When he died the Florentines gave him a splendid ftmeral, and portioned hi® daughter as a child of the Repihlic. In a book entitled “ 3E[istoire, de Flancfte,” recently issued, ’ it is churned that the heroes of the Aether.' lands were often appealed to by English kings and English rebels for assistance in civil wars in England. Later on, the moimtaineers of Switzerland took up soldiering gs a trade, and other nations seem to have followed their example,. In the great wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, German,, Scotch, Italian, Spanish, English and Swiss, soldiers fought under foreign banners. It is a curious fact, however, that while the Swiss were most numerous, few of them rose to high distinction. The Scotch and Irish soldiers of fortune who won titles and estates in foreign lands axe flxpoft counties]?, and to this day they are represented in Prussia, France, Sweden, Russia, P.fnßprk, and pfthejr' countries, by I powerful 'fanpli.es. As for the English, of course, there axe practically no wars on the Euxcpegn Continent in which they were hot represented. One swis3. who. is conspicuous in this respect ft Reinhart, and his reputation is not an enviable, one. He went to India, to fight for the French, de? serted to the English, deserted again to the French., and finally went over to an Indian prince, to whom he acted as esecutionecr, after tip horrible office had been refused by almost every native commander in the prince’s anpy.

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