CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXII, Issue 15733, 28 September 1911, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

A BOJIAN JIOTOn ROAD.

The old Roman occu-

pation of tho country continues to exercise- a practical as well as a

romantic influence upon the _Bntun of the present day. The newest of tho Lata** th« National

Road Board, which was created last year by the Development and. Ror.d Improvement Act in order to use money raised by tho petrol tax for improving reads for motor traffic, has decided to rehabilitate tho Roman Fosse Way for tho delectation of motorists. Tho Romans made a great road from Leicester to Lincoln, and tho Saxons named it tho Fosse Way. Though most of tho main roads have continued in use from tho time of tho Roman occupation until now, large portions of tho Fosse Way have been desorted for hundreds of years. There aro a fow old farmhouses scattered along it at intervals, but the villages aro built far away from it and in parts the old roadway has been hidden from view. The National Road 33oard has undertaken to re-open a length of about cix miles, which was covered with such a dense growth of briars and thorns that tho men who surveyed it recently were occupied for a fortnight in the task. On each side of the road they found Roman ditches, thirty yards apart, which wore fillod with water and overgrown. The old road had long been given up ft) gipsy camps, but in tho early times when ' tho parishes and counties of England were taking shape •it was etill sufficiently in evidence to form a boundary lino. The workmen who have been clearing tho Fosso Way have found indications of earlier disturbances of tho paved surface. A good deal of tho paving ovidontly was dug up years ago. Probably any enterprising farmer who was building a cowshed simply visited tho road and selected quantities of stone- to form a flooring for hia own building, leaving the tangled undergrowth to cover up the evidence of his depredations. Now a roadway fifteen feet wide is being constructed with tho old paving stones and now material. Before long motorists will bo speeding along tlie path which was fashioned by industrious Romans nearly two thousand years ago.

A WOIIAN RULER.

The Begum of Bhopal, who has been creating a sensation in Europe

by the extent of her dealings with the jewellers and dressmakers, is in many respects a remarkable woman. Bhopal is the only Mohammedan country ruled by a woman and it is the best governed native State in India. It has been administered by the present Begum, her mother and her grandmother during a period of more than a century and has mado remarkable progress in tho face of serious natural difficulties, including a series of famines. In order to combat the famine the Begums have made arrangements for a good water supply in the neighbourhood of tho capital. They have built hospitals, organised relief measures and encouraged thrift and confidence among their subjects.. The work that has been done by the rulors of Bhopal is of-peculiar interest from the fact that the Mohammedan women as a rule are condemned to a lifetime of drudgery and obscurity. Their fathers and husbands refuse to interpret literally tho ancient laws that secured to the women freedom of action and of thought. The Begums have been helping by force of example to establish an improved standard of lifo for millions of the members of their sex in Asia and Africa. Tho present Sultan Jehan Begum is a woman of commanding presence, with a dear olive skin and keen, lustrous eyes. She maintains always tho dignity of her. royal rank, but her interest in the affairs of tho European nations is insatiable * and she is constantly collecting information for use in the government of her own. opuntry. She is enormously wealthy and spent a large fortuno in order that she might attend the Coronation of King George in proper state.

XHB STOKY Or A STIAGEDY.

The Rev Dr Porter, who has made a long tour hi the Solomon Is-

lands, returned to Sydney last week and told the true story of tlie recent murder at Malaita of Mr Daniels, a member of the South Sea Evangelical Mission. It was reported soon after the tragedy occurred that Mr Daniels had been attacked because ho had given shelter to a native man and woman who h; ! committed a serious crime, but Dr Porter denied that report. He stated that.it was a custom of the natives to sell their daughters to young men for wives. A bachelor in search of a wife generally declared his suit by making a present to tho father of tho girl who had won his affection, but sometimes the young man made sure of his bride by stealing her first and paving for her afterwards. It was in connection with an incident of this kind that tho attack on Mr Daniels occurred. The murderer was a man who had stolen a girl and had been told by her father to bring him a white man's head, for which ho would give a reward. The missionary was the nearest white man, and tho young bridegroom shot him while he was conducting a service among a number of natives. Tho civilised natives were deeply shocked and mourned very sincerely for the death of their pastor. Dr Porter is of opinion that Malaita, in spite of its very evil reputation, is no longer a dangerous placo for whito men. Many of tliQ bushmen have givon up cannibalism, but they are responding very slowly to tho efforts put forward by the missionaries for their education and improvement. It is not safe to trust thorn until they are " properly converted," and as they manage to evade tho law and procure rifles and ammunition they have to bo watched closely. Since the murder tho civilised natives have maintained a guard with a view to preventing attacks on themselves or their white friends, and steps have been taken to punish tho murderer of Mr Daniels. Punitive expeditions into tho bush, however, afford at best a cumbersome means of teaching tho untutored savage to respect authority.