CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15862, 27 February 1912, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

A writer in the “ Standard,” who is something of a humorist

CONSERVING VITAI,tTY.

as well as an observer, has been commenting on the ages of animals and drawing some very interesting conclusions from tho facts he has established. After a close study of the giant tortoises of Madagascar, which apparently never die, sundry centenarian salmon, the wonderful sacred crocodiles of India and the many shortlived members of tho animal kingdom, ho has decided that birds, beasts and fishes appear to enjoy either a short life and a merry one or an existence characterised by linked dulness long drawn out. “ If,” writes this authority, “ you whirl about singing and dancing and improving each shining minuto of the shining hour, like skylarks and nightingales, you die of senility at the age of eight. But a creature like a tortoise, that can sit and do nothing for days on end save wink its eye once, may watch the rise and fall of dynasties and feel no older at the end of it.” Tortoises, of course, furnish a triumphant vindication of the policy of conserving vitality, though it may be questioned whether the life of the tortoise is worth while, and whether there is any particular reason why it should live. Still, there may be some merit in its conservation of vitality, and tlie tortoise certainly is more fortunate in this respect than the bee is. Tlie worker bees die of overwork in a few weeks. Modern box hives and improved facilities for taking out the honeycomb have induced the little creatures to labour more furiously than ever in order to keep pace with the ever-increasing deficit in tho hive’s banking account. It is said that neurasthenia, due to overstrain, is the curse of the bee world. Still, the busy life of the bee appears to have greater attractions than does the state of suspended animation in which some of the tiniest living organisms exist for long periods, or even the calm, contemplative old age of the tortoise.

The first Ambassador

AN ambassador’s

sent by Russia to Britain reached London on Feb-

troubles, ruary 27, 1557, under strange circumstances. The Emperor of Russia wanted to establish commercial relations with Britain and he charged a nobleman, Osep Napea, to proceed to London with a large train and a great store of costly presents. The gifts included sable-skins, four living sables, with collars and chains, and a great gerfalcon. The Ambassador and his suite left Russia in several ships and encountered very severe weather. The ships were scattered and the largest of them, carrying Osep Napea himself, was wrecked on the coast of Aberdeenshire. Nearly all the members of the company were drowned, but the Ambassador reached the shore with several followers and was hospitably received by the local gentry. The wreck was pillaged by the people of the neighbourhood, in accordance with immemorial custom, and Napea had to proceed southward practically without equipment and in borrowed garments. News of his arrival soon reached Phillip of Spain, the Royal Consort, whom the ancient chronicle mentions as if ho were actually King of England, and Queen Mary, and two gentlemen of the Court, Mr Laurence Hassev and Mr George Gilpin, were sent to Scotland “ t-o comfort him and his there and also to conduct him into England.” The Ambassador was entertained in Edinburgh for several weeks and then proceeded to London with a train of Scottish gentlemen. Outside the city he was received by “eighty merchants, in goodly apparel, and with chains of gold, all mounted on horseback.” Those persons were the “ honourable merchant adventurers of Russia,” and evidently they realised the value of liberality as a business asset. They provided Napea with a house, servants, clothing and money, as well as with “a fair, richly-trapped horse, together with a foot-cloth of crimson velvet, enriched -with gold laces.” Some, days

later the Ambassador was brought before ‘ King Phillip ” and received with much honour. He returned to his own country with four ships “ full of good English merchandise ” under liis command and a commercial treaty in his pocket. <

the orimi CRUSADE.

Information concerning the progress of the crusade against opium in

China is contained in a letter that was received recently by the British Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade. The writers of the letter, the president and vice-presidents of the Fukien branch of the Chinese Anti-Opium Association, urgo a claim for British assistance in the groat work they have undertaken. “ Under the present circumstances,” they write, “we can almost accomplish nothing without the co-operation of our friends or benefactors in Great Britain, end hence wo feel justified to entreat that you will kindly continue to lend us a helping hand in consideration of our earnestness and sincerity in the antiopium movements in this province.” The earnestness and sincerity of the Chinos© reformers have been proved abundantly. The anti-opium campaign was commenced in Fukien six years ago, some months before Britain and China concluded the agreement for the grad ii al suppression of the opium traffic. Tho viceroy of the province at onco adopted a rigorous scheme for the extirpation of tho poppy, and within three years it was reported that the plant was extinct within the borders of Fukien. Strong measures have beefi taken to prevent illicit attempts to renew the cultivation of the poppy, and the importation of native opium into Fukien was prohibited last year. Fukien has led the anti-opium movement from the beginning. At first the Anti-Opium Association sought to prevent only its own members from using the drug, but as soon as the movement secured Imperial sanction sterner measures wore adopted, the Association lending assistance to the local authorities in the suppression of the evil. A new agreement made by the British and the Chinese Governments nearly twelve months ago provides that Indian opium shall not be conveyed into any province in China that has suppressed completely the cultivation and importation of native opium, and the earnest reformers in Fukien expect that that province will be the first to take advantage of the provision. They aro afraid, however, that the British Government may hesitate to carry out tho agreement, and the object of their letter is to beg the British Society to support their claim. It is to be hoped that their praiseworthy efforts will secure all the assistance they deserve.