CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12531, 19 June 1901, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

The announcement tba.fi Mr Kruger will disclaim- any responsibility for a settlement of the Sleuth African troubled-hat does not include tbe independence of v tbe Transvaal obtainsl special significance' from the report of a large public uneetJag he’d in Kimberley at the beginning of last month. The object of the-meeting was'to dis.ouss the terms of. the- settlement, which’ then appeared imminent, and its first resolution affirmed that tbs Imperial Government should consent to- no- proposal' that did not ensure the country against a repetition of the bitter experience- of the past eighteen m-on-tlhs. The principal speaker, Mr . Victor Sampson, M.L;A., said that, al- ' though the whole world was aghast at the foolishness of the Boers in prolonging the druggie, _ none of the newspapers seemed to have .-discovered the reason for. their criminal obstinacy. What they really wanted, -he,said, was to patch up a-peace without acknowledging their less of independence, and'so leave themselves free to renew the conflict whenever a favourable opportunity might occur. “ From numerous sources comes the same report day after day,” Continued Mr Sampson, that if they have to wait twenty years for it, t-ba Boers intend to relieve their fight ’for independenceat some -future time. This is thei-r present fixed intention. Botha knows this ; Kruger knew this when he said if Botha agreed to the terms he would have been a traitor to his countryMerrim-an- knows this, and to-day he is delivering the Boer message # upon British platforms. It is the, duty of the South African people to open the-' eyes of the English public if they can- to tbe true significance of that message.’’ Other speakers followed in the same strain, insisting upon a peace which, while just and even generous to the Boers, should be sufficiently firmly established to resist the intrigues of the , next generation of disloyalists. Of course all this is only a repetition of what .was said by well-informed .mea on the spot when the Transvaal was grant* ed its independence after the disaster tat • Majuba Hill. Even Sir George Grey, whom ■ no one could accuse of being a blood-thirs-ty Imperialist, always deplored, the scuttling policy •; of'Mr Gladstone. If Sir t

THE SETTLEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA.

George had wished to make terms vdth the Boers he would have done so after the British troops had occupied Pretoria and stamped out the last embers of the- rebellion. At that time this could have been accomplished without .any. great; difficulty, and Great Britain would have been ensured against the .cost and horrors of a second campaign.

old rpsi.

It was a wicked perveiv sion of a name that coupled

gin, and the , Calvinists together. The “ grim, Geneva ministers ” had some connection with the Swiss town;' the “distilled damnation,” as Robert Hall called it, owed its name to the juniper, or rather, to the old French form of the word “genevre.” Hollands and Schiedam and “ a little square,” were alternative names, for two hundred years ago Schiedam was famed for its gin factories, and square bottles were already in vogue. “ Old Tom ’* is really a London product, that is if the ■ story told recently in the New York courts is correct. An American plaintiff tried' to restrain a rival dealer in gin from using on j the labels of his bottles the design of a oat which plaintiff had previously adopted. The. Supreme Court decided against him. The cat was shown to be an ancient symbol, having been used commonly after sweetened gin acquired the name of “ Old Tom.” In 1729 Sir Robert Walpole’s Government, thinking ’that the people were - drinking too much gin, resolved to put a prohibitive tax on it, and-offered a reward 'to informers against illicit gin-shops. Many attempts were made to evade the 1 law.; ’A certain, Captain Bradstreet rented a : room in Blue Anchor Court, and'nailed “a. sign, of a cat” against his ground .floor window. Below the sign protruded about' one inch of lea ; d pipe, and the cat bad a slot in. its mouth. The streets were filled with riotous crowds, who- eagerly responded to Bradstreet’s invitation to “put twopence into, the cat’s mouth and the end of the pipe into your own.” Thus, nearly two centuries ago London had a “twopenny tube,” and the “ Old Tom Cat,” or more briefly, “Old Tom,” became the accepted tejin for -sweetened ■ gin. “ Old *Tom ” has fallen into ‘ disrepute at various periods because of the adulteration practised by gin-palace keeperS'-4n London. Turpentine is said to bo the most common adulterant.

Society -is threatened’with

a new fashion, designed, ap - >. parently, to break the monotony of decollate'dresses. It

PAINTED SHOXJLDEES.

is said that some society leader, shocked at the broad 1 expanse of unclothed back , displayed by one of her friends, suggested that the space might be put to useful pur--1 pose, and lest she should be accused of .unpardonable vulgarity, spoko seriously of having .her own shoulders specially painted'. The subject is obviously an indelicate one, but not more so than'some evening dresses. Mr Meredith has declared; that; “woman will be the last to he civilised by man,”and tills idea certainly looks like a return to the fashions in vogue in B.C. 55, when Julius Ccesar paid a visit to Britain. He found the people clothed in tight-fitting suits of blue paint. It is nob yet certain what direction the moderf idea will take. Possibly the arms and shcuklei’s will be decorated with imitations of tattoo marks, bub there is no reason why landscapes and seascapes, with occasional portraits, loyal or topical, should not adorn the graceful shoulders of society dames. Only, with a London journal of repute, we shudder to think- of the base uses to which an advertising age might put the new fashion, if ever it came into vogue. Ib would indeed be a terrible thing to see the shoulders of a theatrical audience proclaiming the merits of some popular soap. Another difficulty, which may ultimately cause the rejection of the idea, is the dearth of competent artists. A lady could) uotWoll decorate her own shoulders. The permanent tattoo would be the most convenient solution, bub then fashions change, and tattoos do not. Moreover, it is-just possible that an innovation like this would lead to a further reduction in the amount of drapary. It is recorded that a Maori gentleman, dancing in one of the Rotorua hakaa, was so proud of his splendid tattooed decorations that he declined to wear any clothes at all. This, by the way, is another of the incidents that the censor should have suppressed.