CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15920, 4 May 1912, Page 10

CURRENT TOPICS.

Dr Frederick A. Cook has not abandoned his claim to have reached the North Pole in ad-

DRCOOK CONFIDENT.

ranee of Rear-Admiral Peary. He is still making efforts to convince scientific men ti£ J. really did attain the Pole n 1908, and seems to have been meet„g with a certain amount of success in Germany Anyone who wishes to reSn the belief that Dr Cook is a bragsart and a charlatan, says a correspondent of the London "Daily News' must not have any discussion with the f himself. He is frank and open in man h,m9e ''- fident and modmanner, confiden + C ?\n!!Ulv convincing picture of an thoroughly abso i ut ely competent ll0ne »' nr Cook has been lecturing in mß "' parts of the world during the rTIU i months, and ho proposes to V ««, for about two years. At preC °?Es visiting Germany, where hoj mined to address sixty audiences, has »"* b that the discredited explorer ! tal So' stout friends in influential has soiii" a rocent mooting of the ?" ar Sical Society of Belgium he exCC ° g T is claims in detail, . and his plalU is championed by Professor Lo caS :V secretary of tho International °T AlSon. ""It is my belief," Lo Cointe, "that Dr ggt reached the Pole, and it is the bo-

lief of Roald Amundsen. It is the belief of Rear-Admiral Sibley and : <Gen-. eral Greely. On the other hand, it is the'belief of three men in Washington, officially associated wH;b. Mr Peary—three.men who have neW»r seen a piece of Arctic ice—theft Mr Peary has'reached the Pole. Gentlemeu, on tho matter of belief, take your choice." Dr Cook said that the scientific societies had never accented RearAdmiral Peary's statement?, unreservedly. They had given hirfl medals for "Arctic service," not ior having reached tho Pole. " The whole problem," added Dr Cook, " rests on public sentiment. It is necessary to clear away distortions, and that cao only be done from the platform. My mission on the platform is not to make money, but to vindicate my position. The result of investigations that are going on can only be to substantiate my claims." It is not easy to see how Dr Cook can hope to make good by means of lectures that, in, tho eyes of the scoffers, are merely an easy moains of achieving increased notoriety" and making more money.

i>r MEMORY OF COOK.

The name of Captain Cook still receives its meed of honour in Australia. A week ago the

people of Sydnjey celebrated the anniversary of the great navigator's landing in Botany Bay one hundred and forty-two years before, and the ceremony was a fitting tribute to his memory.' Cook's discovery of the eastern coast of Australia was romantic. It was stormy weather, and the little Endeavour had had a severe buffeting. Suddenly above the roar of the gale rang out the voice of the first lieutenant, " Land ahoyl " The captain stopped in Ms march along the deck and peered into the distance. " Ay, land," he said. "But what land?" He knew of the land that lay to the south, but this dim outline in tho northern horizon was a mystery. It was six o'clock on the morning of Thursday, April 19, 1770, described in the ship's log, according to the nautical reckoning from noon to noon J as " the 18th hour of the 18th day of April." Intense excitement prevailed as the little ship approached the coast and the daring navigators realised that they had discovered a new country. For nine days they sailed along, looking for a suitable harbour. A southerly wind carried "them past Jervis Bay, and an attempt to land a little further on was frustrated by the rough surf; but at daybreak on Aprjl 28 the opening into Botany Bay was seen, and by the afternoon the Endeavour was at anchor in the bay and Captain Cook set foot upon the new land. The hoisting of the flag of possession, and perhaps the discovery of New South Wales, dates from that day, though the existence of a great southern continent had been known for many years. The intrepid Dutch explorers discovered Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1580, and the Portuguese and Spanish voyagers knew something of the land many years earlier, but it remained for Cook, after his visit to Tahiti and his circumnavigation of New Zealand, to claim the great Australian continent for the British Crown. Last week's celebration took place on the spot that is held sacred as that upon which Cook and his little band hoisted the flag.

ASHORE DT AUSTBALIA.

Cook's stay at Botany Bay lasted from" A'pril 28 till daybreak on May

6, and it is recorded in " Cook's Voyages " that the leader of the expedition "caused the English colours to be displayed every day on ■shore, and took care that the ship'sname and the date of the year should be inscribed on one of the trees near the watering-place." Cook, Banks, Solander and Monkhouse examined the neighbourhood closely, and, of course, they acquired a great deal of very interesting information. They made several attempts to gain the confidence of the "Indians" whom they saw in the locality, but always without success. The journal of the voyage says that "the Indians seemed, like other animals, to be scattered about along the coast and in the woods. Not a single article was touohed by them of all that were left at their huts, or at the places which they frequented, so little seuse had they of those small conveniences and ornaments which are generally very alluring to the uncivilised tribes of the globe." The Endeavour lay at anchor near the south shore, " about a mile within the entrance," and- the bay was explored closely. The "Voyages" states that Cook "found the north shore to be without wood, and to resemble in some degree our moors in England." " The surface of the ground was, however, covered with a thin brush of plants, rising to about the height of the knee. Near the coast the hills are low, but there are others behind them which PTadually ascend to a considerable distance, and are intersected with marshes and morasses." This was New South Wales one hundred and forty-two years ago, as described by the first band of British pioneers who set foot on it. They were the men who gave an impetus to cok> nisation. Cook realised the value and importance of his discovery, and it was as a direct result of his visit that the settlement of New South Wales was undertaken. Barely eighteen years elapsed before the "First Fleet" anchored in Port Jackson and the pioneer colonists laid tho- foundations of' a thriving, vigorous nation,

SAVING THE BABIES.

Some figures that have been published in France lately show that the infant death-rate in the

principal cities and departments has been reduced more than one-third in a single decade as a result of the good work done by the " infant care stations," which offer free advico and assistance to mothers. The corresponding death-rate in Germany has been reduced one-fourth in five years by the same means. It was in 1905 that Berlin followed the example of Paris, and now there are 251 "infant care stations" open in 165 towns of the Empire. Berlin has seven of the establishments open daily, and the annual cost of each ono is about £2400. The staff of a station consists of a senior physician with several assistants, a sister-in-charge, a number of trained. nurses, and some attendants. In 1909 tho babies brought to tho Berlin stations for attention numbered 13,49-1, nearly 30 per cent of the infants born alive "in the city, and 156,510 consultations were given, with 38,266 visits to liomes. Tho value of the work that is being done in the education of the mothers is illustrated by the fact that in 1905 60 per MO* <* *» baW comm S i

Under the care of the stations . -cere bottle-fed, while in 1910 tho percentage was only 35. During the 6ame period! the rate of mortality, among the infants had been reduced by about one* half. The working mothers of Berlin are now protecttd by statute from employment during a period of two weeks before the birth of a child and.' six weeks afterwards. The national insurance fund provides for loss of wages during that period, and provides free medical attendance, with nursing, either at home or in a hospital. The Germans have established in connection with the infant care stations a system of weekly premiums for poor mothers, in order that women who are nursing their babies may be able to secure an adequate supply of good food. Britain has eight schools mothers, but thera is need for an extension of the system, and it seems probable that steps will be taken soon in that direction. New! Zealand, with sanitary homes and comparatively happy economic conditions, is fairly well served I>y private organic sations and State maternity homes. The infantile death-rate in this country; is lower than in any of the older lands<