ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 306, 30 December 1909, Page 3

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

As a result of the inquiry into a ' recent fatal accident to a cadet in ! West Australia, an order has been i issued by the Defence Department of that State that no officer or non-com- . missioned officer of the cadet instructional staff is to take charge of cadets firing at more than two targets. Such targets must be adjoining. Cadet I non-commissioned officers and cadete ! are not to be placed in charge. Cadets are to be instructed that if a cartridge jams or any defect is found in the mechanism of the rifle it must be retained in a position pointing towards the targets until taken by the instructional officer in charge. The West Australian correspondent ;of the Sydney Daily Telegraph states: ! —"The temerity of a young lady swimmer is causing anxiety to the Cottesloe (W.A.) Council, which has recommended tlie Commissioner of Police to try to restrain her natatory ardour. Cottesloe is Perth's oceanbathing resort, and the chairman of I the council's beach committee complained that the girl often swam right out to sea and did not return for a very long time. She had even threatened to swim to Rottnest Island, eleven miles out. Theso swims caused great anxiety to beach frequenters, and if a shark took the girl or she became unable to swim back Cottesloe would get a bad name. Some of tl'e councillors intimated they had no objection to the girl swimming in the Swan, River from

Fremantle to Guildford, where she would be in sight all the way. One dissentient considered that the girl had a right to swim to Sydney if she liked, but a motion was carried that the Police Commissioner be asked to intervene."

Frequent consultations , have been held recently between the Commonwealth Prime Minister (Mr Deakin) and the Minister for Customs (Sir Robert Best) On the subject of unemployment insurance. It is understood that a decision has been arrived at to take definite actiqu, and that a small, expert committee (probably composed of departmental officers) will be appointed to investigate the matter and examine t^o mass of information which the Minister has collected. The Commonwealth statistician (Mr G. H. Knibbs) collected a good deal of information on the subject during his recent- visit to Europe, and he will probably be asked to act on the contmittee, in order to give it the benefit of the knowledge which he has acquired. *

London people have almost ceased to walk, except over distances of a few hundred yards. The extent to which-they are-increasing their use of modern means of locomotion is really extraordinary (writes a London correspondent). Railways, fast omnibuses, taxjeabs, tramways—all these are being rapidly multiplied, and still the demand for more continues. Facts now available show how insatiable the public is. A little while ago, when the number of taxi-cabs on the streets rose to about 3000, someone declared that no more were needed. This assertion had been barely set forth when another strong company was formed to start a new line of 1000 cabs, and it is estimated that there is room for an additional 2000 of these handy vehcles. But the most remarkable figures come from the managers of the London County Council tramway services. Within four years the annual total of the passengers carried on the various tram lines has risen from 183,000,000 to 413,000,000. The limit in this case is not yet in sight. Nine million passengers a week are being carried. The total for next year will be at least 450,000,000. In less than twp.years the County Council will have spent an additional sum of £196,000 in improving thY services. The result of .this expenditure will be more 'electric lines, and still bigger yearly totals of traffic. No one suggests'that the prosperity of any of the rival forms of modern locomotion will be endangered by municipal enterprise. The old steam railways alone are suffering from the competition of the tramways and underground services.

"If there is any danger threatening our educational system," said Mr Edmunds, of Deniliquin, at a recent Teachers' Conference in Sydney, "it is the entry into the service of a great number of young fellows eminently unfitted to be there. Some I have met are without culture of any kind. They cannot talk English, and cannot set an example to others, judging by their behaviour in the railway carriages. These are in want of very drastic training, and there should certainly be a higher qualification for entry into the service, lest it be degraded in the eyes of the whole community." < Speaking later,' Mr Coulson, of Murrumburrah, took strong exception to Mr EdmundVs remarks. At Fort Street, he said, he had occasionally seen some display of animal spirits, but^.nefne. could call it worse, arid he had certainly seen nothing at- any tiriie to compare with what Mr Edmunds had described. He protested very strongly against the statements.

"I'm a humble man," meekly remarked Mr Mclntosh, M.L.C., at the Russell Memorial unveiling ceremony, at Sydney University last week; "but"—witL a • flashing smile' of infinite optimism—"l'm a Scotsman !" He was relating reminiscences of the late Sir Peter Nicol Russell, whom he knew from the early Jforties. He told how Sir Peter had left his home at Kirkaldie in 1832, because his world was too small. He commenced business in Tasmania, which place he likewise found himself too large for. He then removed to Sydney, and opened a small engineering works at Circular Quay, subsequently 'removing inwards and establishing what was, or promised to be, the biggest ironworks in: Australia, and perhaps in the Southern Hemisphere. "In 1875 a great strike among the engineers, almost as disastrous as the present one. occurred," said Mr Mclntosh, " and Sir Peter's business was irretrievably ruined. He was away Home at the time, and when he returned he found or^ly the remains of a once thriving enterprise, and he ' fair cried ' when he said to me, " Mac, all my work in Australia has gone for nothing.' " Sir Peter evidently thrived subsequently, for rushing on with his story, Mr Mclntosh a few miniftes later was telling the audience that he had advised the wealthy engineer that £100,000 was "little enough" for him to give towards an engineering school at Sydney University.

An amusing paper on "Everyday Errors" was read by Dr. Leeper at Melbourne last week, at the monthly meeting of the Austral Salon Society. Maxims, he said, were usually misunderstood. It was absurd to think that the exception could prove the rule. For instance, the rule was that all swans were white; then the exceptional Australian black swan was discovered, and this disproved the rule, therefore. Cleanliness was next to godliness, we said, and what an amazing statement that was! It would mean that the regular use of soap and water was better than truth or valour. The correct form of the maxim was cleanliness is next to goodliness, and it meant. "If 7/ou cannot be handsome be clean." The time-honored anecdotes about famous historical pwrsonages, the lecturer showed, were all fallacious. Canute never gave orders to, the se.a, Alfred never burnt the cakes, there was no truth in the story about Robert Bruce and the spider, nor were the Old Guard at Waterloo all shot down after saying "The Old Guard dies, but never surrenders," The story about the Russians burning Moscow to prevent it falling into the hands of the French had also been disproved; the fire was really caused by the carelessness of Napoleon's soldiers. After dealing with misquotations and errors' of speech. Dr. Leeper gave two specimens of examination blunders from his note-book. The student confronted with "lupercalia" (one of the Latin feasts) said that it was a she-wolf that had suckled Romeo and Juliet; another stated that the Salic law hn-d been framed "to prevent any descendant of a woman from sitting on the throne of France."

Preaching at St. Michael's, Christchurch, on Sunday morning from the

text, "<*od is come into the camp 1* (1 Sam., 4,^7), Archdeacon AvenlJ, after detailing .the circumstances to which the words of the text referred* spoke of the necessity for human leaders. He said: '.'Do you remember —hay, can we evef forget-^-that sad, black week at the beginning pf th» South African campaign when disaster after disaster befell our brave soldiers, hampered as they were by antiquated methods and an nndeir-estjmation of the strength of the enemy? " Do you remember the Badness, the gloom, the anxiety, the distress of that time when men and women were brought to their knees and some of them to their senses for a tiirte "What was going to happen? What would be the end thereof ? What would be the result of the suc-r cesses of the enemy? Well do I re- : member, and well must you remember, the thrill which went through the whole Empire when the news was proclaimed that Ijord Roberts was going out to assume command? The eyes and hearts of the Empire were rivets ted upon the mattj'th© shouts of joy" and jubilation were heard once more, the gloom began to disappear, the spirits of men and women began to revive, and hope was born anew into : the heart of the Empire. Men trust-" ed the tried veteran, men knew that the Empire was safe in his experienced hands, and men felt that he would be the saviour of the situation. And we know the rest; (with Roberts in the camp hope revived and victory, was certain. Men need their human f saviours, men need leaders in whom they can trust, and whom they can '<: follow^ and men wiHiiever be at their ' best or do their best without them."

The, New Zealand Herald states that the dreadful fire which destroyed the establishment of Messrs Armng and Hobbs, at Ciapham Junction, has caused other losses than t6 th© proprietors of the great stpre themselves. It happens that prior to leaving London , for* Australia^ Mr Bert' Gilbert, chief comedian of tlie J. G;: Williamson Comic \ Opera (Jompany, < stored in the building diestroyed the whole of his furniture and household goods. H© has no doubi but that he has lost everything; seeing; that the storerooms were situated right beneath the big dome, which, as the cablegrams made cilear, coHipsed diliring the .conflagr»ti'dn;-i'-"i-r^f/-':Q:ab«ri-:i especially deplores the dratructi^n of a quantity or paintings; frplb&bM "■<oyrn i brush' 'besides .^^iiu'mbei1 of:'tre^tHre%';; articles that cannot be replaeedV

A singular incident occurred last week at Wollongong (New South. Wales). About four years ago a box of jewellery, valued at £W) r was stolen from a safe at the Wollongong Hotel, the safe haying been- temporarily left open. Two individuals were suspected and arrested^, but nothing could be proved against them, and they were discharged. White a drain pipe belonging to the hotel wa£ being cleaned out last week, tljfo box w*s discovered, and the jewellery, which belonged to the" wife^ of thel licensee, was returned to her intact..

One would not look for th« foundation of a romance in a reel of printing paper. But when one of the staff of the Taranaki Herald was taking. the outer. wrapper, off a reel he noticed some writing on $10 *j»ito*; paper. •' 'Give this to one of the girls. —A. M'K," it weftt. Pursuing his investigations, he found a further message as follows:—"Ottawa, Canada, April 15th, 1909. A. C. M(K«nna, O'Connor Street, Ottawa* Can. Some young English girl send postcard or write.".. • .-