CURRENT TOPICS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IX, Issue 479, 12 September 1878, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

fa ni"n to nny onn wtio, in ttja_conrßa .... of bis rending t>i- •i.:u , rwis:\ tosT'toTct.vTTip infor--uVition which laiy ba rjjjaritecl as of genera) •or.loc-il inttvv.iD, and whocap-cxpre.-n nny corurrients Lheruoa within thi compass of a. ivsisrmublo paragraph. The naim of tlio writerN la required, although not for publication.]

3t would seem thrit. one of the gravest faults which in Scotland can be urged against her Majesty the Queen and the members of the Royal Family is that they have an unfortunate tendency to what is knownas "Sabbath desecration." The Queen forgot herself so far as to take' a quiet sail in a buat one Sunday to a little island in Loch Maree on the occasion -of her last visit to Scotland ; and the Prince of Wales also chose a Sunday to have a look at some very fine Clydsdale horses which were in a well known stable in his neighborhood. A certain religious body in Scotland known as the " Sabbath Alliance" has therefore come down rather strongly upon the Qupen and Prince, ind g'v s its unq; a'ifit d ap_ r -val to some boatman who refused to carry the Queen to the island, as also to a publican who would not allow his horses to desecrate the Sabbath by carrying the Queen's 'etters to Loch Maree. I have always heard that the Sco v ch are a peculiarly religious people and won't tolerate anything "whatever On the Sunday except the ■"itch," and other kindred things which they can't possibly avoid. To allow a man rub himself against a post (which latter I have been told are put in the ground for the purpose, just as we put telegraph poles) on Sunday is in Scotland considered to be an act both of necessity and mercy ; but to sail in a boat or look at a Clydesdale is of course a deadly sin. No doubt the Queen and che Prince of Wales are ;ashamed of themselves, though the English papers don't say so. In my opinion the Queen's offence wa9 the greater of the two; for being a farmer I honestly confess I would like to see those Clydesdales even on Sunday. I would even go the length of buying one if I had the money, for I have, reason to believe I could make a pile out of him in this very district. But if I did make the bargain od Sunday, I would of course not sign the cheque till Monday morning so as. to keep my conscience clear.

Is the sparrow a destructive bird ? is a ■question' which is becoming of great in terest in New Zealand, for in many parts of the Colony sparrows are very numerous, and already it has been seriously questioned in the Colony whether their introduction has not been a eurse rather than a blessing. The American 'Agriculturist' of a late date contains some items of interest. A club of na'ura'ists in America have decided that the sparrow is an enemy rather than a friend to man, but Dr. Hagan, a distinguished member of the order, protests against this decision, and from his communication to the 'Agriculturist' we make some extracts : Mr. T. F. Bock, in 1874, considered the sparrow simply as anuisancp, both injurious and obnoxious, and demanded that the Legislature should be applied to for its destruction ; this was carried out several times with such a pernicious effect, that the sparrow had to be introduced again. It is not necessary to give Mr. Beck's decisions, as they are exactly identical—the ■carnivorous and murderous habits excepted —with those of the JN'uttall Club in 1878. Mr. F. M. Beehstein, in 1795, says: "The food of the sparrow, insects and grains, indicates him to be beneficial as well as injurious. In spring, he visits all fruit trees, collects caterpillars from the leaves and flowers, and kills an exceedingly large •number of May-beetles to feed his young. In summer, he lives on the seeds of the lettuce and spinach, on young peas, cherries, grapes, and berries. In the fall he goes into the grainneld and eats a large quantity of ripening or ripe grain. The greatest benefit he confers is in the destruction of innumerable noxious insects, May-beetles, pea-grubs, caterpillars, and grasshoppers, to feed his young." Dr. O. W. L. Gioger, in 1858, says: "The formerly much-abused sparrow is often an impudent fellow, but "he eats insects as long as they are to be found. With some predilection, he collects leaf lice from the buds of the scrubs, and trees, and feeds his young with caterpillars. Certainly the sparrox merits well the few cherries and grapes which he steals, as he protects so many other fruits, which he leaves untouched. In former times people were shortsigh.'ed enough to hunt and to kill the sparrow; now opinion has changed aming intelligent horticulturalists who will never prosecute the sparrow." Dr. Hagan is decidedly in favor of the theory that the spirrow is more useful than destructive, and quotes the existing opinions as to the sparrow in Europe a', the present time, where the little fellow is universally regarded as useful. In conclusion he adds:—As no naturalist would pretend, that a bird, by importation into a foreign, but similar, climate, could entirely change its character in a few years, the sparrow •question will probably in America go through the same, though briefer, stages of opinion as in Europe. I consider the sparrow to be a valuable addition to the native birds, and most certainly beneficial for both horticulturists and farmers.

Hebe is a specimen of Yankee " blow " lor the readers of the 'Mount Ida Chronicle,' which is taken from the New York ' Spirit of the Times':—"Unable to obtain a match with any American sculler, Mr. Courtney has decided to visit England and challenge whoever may hold the championship on his arri'al. He will also enter in any regettas which are open to him, either in Englaud or Prance. We warn'our English cousins to get themselves in readiness to see their sculling championship 'go west.' The Union Spring man is no Jimmy Hammil nor Walter Brown, but an oarsman fit (o row in any company. If any Englishman can beat Courtney in a fair sculling match, American oarsmen must be very poor judges of what makes a fast sculler, for we think he could have towed the English .champion whe was exhibited at Philadelphia."

Judge Dotvling, of New South Wales, has been making various observations during the present sessions that deserve to receive the saiv-ful attention of our social reformers. He says that lie is convinced the treatment of young criminals .at Darlinghurst is a complete failure. In England ihey would receive a good whipping with a birch, and be sent to a reformatory for a few years. Instead of that, they are sent to prison, where they .communicate with canfirmed criminals, and sink at once into the criminal elass. We talk of the old " barbarous punishjiiente," but what can be more truly cmw

an 3 a Hoy to the society, pfrmeoixsh.o^are almost certain to lead him to Further d«*ptb.s-of- infamy - ?" Instead of pilm-ihimg himj.welgive; Mm a shore to that pit which has ao bottom, atj %njj the gallows are reached. Our procedure is the very re-"' iinement.pf,cruel ty n ..rWe lake from the youiig cuipritAliTipst, every chance of; reformatio.:, and condemn Miii to a career of.,yice,; . ~We, in New Zealand, are not without .upholders of the practice evidently favored by Judge Dowling—see sentence ot ■• Mr'. 1 I. N. Watt, lately in Dunedin, when a boy, forsorre trivial offence, was ordered to be whipped, imprisoned for'seven days, and sent to the In dustrial School for a number of years.;