CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 14213, 8 November 1906, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

AVJicn Sir Frederick Lugard resigned from I’lii'.nKiurK the High Com mission crnnc Ann. ship of Northern Nigeria there was a Conservative suggestion that the Government had made the position uncomfortable for him. Tho truth seems to be that he had been looking for an

opportunity to resign because he had spent some six years in Nigeria and six years of the climate is more than enough for any ordinary European. Sir Frederick has had a romantic and temarkable career. “Tall, trained down to nothing bub skin and bone and muscle, with bright, keen grey tycs, strongly-marked aquiline features, burnt to tho colour of a pigskin cigarcase, and a ferociously bushy moustache, he presents an extraordinary physical resemblance to Sir Richard Burton,” says a contributor to “ M.A.P.” ’“He came of a military stock, and his father was an Indian Army chaplain; hut it was as an adventurer, the spiritual descendant of Hawkins and of Drake, bent on such an enterprise as ‘singeing the King of Spain, hie beard,’ that he first, set foot in the Dark Continent.” He served first in the Afghan war of 1879, and then went through the severe Soudan campaign of 1885, being mentioned in despatches. In tho Burma campaign in tho following year ho was thrice mentioned in despatches. Then his steps turned definitely towards Africa. Ho was a poor man, and ho was looking for employment. The story goes that with fifty sovereigns in his belt and with practically no outfit at all except an old Empress .450 rifle, paid for in India by shooting a man-eating tiger with a reward' on its head, Lugard got on a tramp steamer bound for Naples and Suez. Then, as his funds were dwindling, he took a deck passage in a timber ship bound for Alassowah, and slept at haphazard among the cargo. He took his morning bath among the sailors in the forecastle, and his meal of broken victuals with the Italian cook in the galley alongside the engines. An Italian boatswain saw through Lugard As disguise, told him ho knew he was a “ gentilhomme,” aud astonished him one evening by saying, with a fervid imprecation, “ I do anything for you. Yon want shirt. Here is my other shirt; I give it you because you have good heart.” Never was present more acceptable, but the incident throws a flood of light on’tho personal qualities which enabled ■ this half-pay captain to save Uganda for tho Empire and to rise, in the space of a few years, to the rank of Brigadier-General. Ho W;as appointed to command an expedition against the slave traders on Lake Nya&sa, and when ho had recovered from a severe wound tho British East African Company was glad to give him employment. From that time his distinguished career has been entirely in tropical Africa.

AVe express no surtiie British prise when a here handSPiRiT, ful of European troops make a desperate stand against overwhelming numbers of blacks. It is what we should expect white men to do for tho prestige of their race. But some of the British, native troops in tho Lake Tchad region have this year shown that they, too, are not unworthy of the great Empire they serve. Under the leadership of a black corporal, a hare half-dozen British levies held at bay for over two hours, and subsequently drove off with considerable loss, a force of Tuaregs outnumbering the defenders by over eighty to one. Owing to the remoteness of the region in which the incident occurred, and the fact that no white officer was present at the time, only the hare facts are yet to hand. From these, says Reuter’s Agency, it appears that some time in Juno the British post at Yo was surprised by a raiding band of masked Tuareg or Tibu people, who infest that part of the Sahara bordering on the Anglo-French frontier to the north-west of Lake Tchad. The military quarters and residency are erected outside the native town, and are in an isolated position on a mound some distance away. The white resident was absent, having been removed to another centre, and tho place, .merely ranking as a, frontier post, was held only by six native mounted infantry of the AVesfc African Frontier Force, under the command of black corporal. AATiether the Tuaregs came from the British territory or whether they crossed from the north hank of the Yo River is not certain, hut it is reported that tho raiders, numbering about five hundred, looted the native town, and then turned their attention to the tiny garrison on the adjacent hill. Armed with poisoned arrows and spears and carrying shields, the Tuaregs for a space of two hours made repeated and determined attempts to reach the half-dozdn men who were defending the summit from behind a low mud breast-work, but tho well directed efforts of the native troops caused such less among the Tuaregs that they became disheartened, and finally retired. Perhaps tho most conspicuous act of gallantry on the part of tho defenders was that at this stage, instead of remaining in the comparative security of their position, they seized their horses and’ galloped after the retreating raiders, whom they overtook and further severely punished! The gallant conduct of the little garrison has, of course, been brought under tho notice of the proper authorities, and will* doubtless receive fitting recognition.

Several distinguished living EOR scientists have lately ever. been looking for a euro for old age, and in tho “ Monthly Review ” Dr Oarl Snyder writes quite cheerfully, and apparently quite seriously, on the measuie of success they have achieved. Aletohnikoff, a famous Russian physiologist, according to this authority, has discovered tho cause of the troubles that fall upon us as wo advance in years in tho microphags, “ tho little devours,” which wander about the body seeking out the weak spots and attacking the most active elements of the tissues. Dr AVolfgang AVeichardt, a German _ physician, Iras carried the research still farther, .arid has made a long and arduous series of experiments, some 800 in all, with, most .amazing results. “ Ho takes test animals, guinea-pigs, for example,’ to quote. Dr Snyder’s own artless narrative, “ puts them on a miniature treadmill, and runs them until they fall dead from exhaustion. Then he expresses or concocts from the fatigued muscles of these, animals a juice or sap. AVhen this sap is injected into the veins of uuworked guinea-pigs, they show promptly all the outward signs of fatigue—can support no effort, their eyes stick out from their heads; at the end of twenty to forty hours they die. Tho sap concocted from the fresh, unworked animals shows no such effect. Pro-

longed muscular activity, then, produces in the muscles a poison which, circulating through the body of the animal, causes its death. This poison is a definite substance, which, injected into other animals, produces identically the same effects. It is in its action evidently much the same as the poisons elaborated by bacteria. Following the nomenclature in vogue, Dr "VVeichardt calls this an ermudungs-toxin, that is a fatigue-toxin or fatigue-poison.” But, of course, the experiments do not stop here. Having found the fatigue-toxin, Dr Weichardt is now searching for the anti-fatiguo-toxin, and hopes that in the course of a few years, perhaps months, ho will be able to banish old age which is, ho contends, merely accumulated fatigue. Dr Snyder’s article concludes with an. appeal for funds to carry on the investigations, and this has led many of his critics to make merry at his expense. Those who have taken him seriously are chiefly concerned about the economic effect of every child born into the world living for ever.