WEEKLY WHISPERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 11 September 1909, Page 2

WEEKLY WHISPERS.

if ffohSi a kite ill d'ytiur coals, I rede ye lent it I A chiefs amatig ye laiin' nMtt, Aitd, faith, he'llprent it. ■—Burn*. Following the aerolitis attacks, wc now suffer from Pol-iritis. After nearly a century of effort to reach the North J'ole — around which are enshrined in ice tlie bones of many heroes — two • men claim simiiltiiricoffsly to hrtve reached it, in safety and with compilative ease. How different it was with Sif Jtihii Franklin — once Governor of Tasmania — >• whose tragic end w-Js discovered by M'Ciintock— his snd thnt of 130 souls ori the Erebus and Terror ! Of Franklin, Tcnnysbii tvftte) oh the empty tomb in Westminster Abbey : — Not here : the White North has thy bones; and thou, heroic sailor-soul, Art passing on, thine happier voyag-?. now: towards no earthly pole. • ••••• By the bye, President Taft finds himself in something of a quandary between Commander Peary and Dr Albert Cook. He sent unreserved congratulations to the latter on the first receipt of - 'his news, aiid now Commander Peary, also an American, asks tor" a mead of recognition. The uncrowned King ot the United States does not know how to act. If he wire to Peary as a pioneer, he must take back, the already hearty wire to Cook, so he floes not know what to do' with tbe present of the* P6le offered him by two rival Americans. President Taft has been a little "too previous".; but so also has the Coney Island entrepreneur who offered Dr Cook ££O,OCO for a series of lectures. At the same time, let us not judge too hastily between Dr Cook and Co'mmander Peary. The latter was nnder the former's leadership on a preyipus.occasion, "and the doctor has a magnificent record of difficult and intrepid exploration. Some time ago he reached theperilous summit of Mt. M'Kinley, the highest mountain of North America, (which his detractors now attempt to deny). But he is shown in a photograph standing at an altitude of 22,390 feet above the level of the sea.- The terrible dangers, he accepted on that occasion denote his fearless- character. In his book, entitled "To the Top of the Continent," which was published" ii year ago, and written just before he started on his recent North Polar vovage, Dr Cook told' the story of discovery, exploration, and adventure in sub-Arctic Alaska, and of the first ascent of Mount M'Kinley, in 1903--06. He is .credited by the British press and- by books of reference as a mail or substanee explorers, and what he has written may be accepted as momentous at the present time— not necessarily as regards the North Pole, but as showing what "the man" is. In his introductory notes, he telk. how "a great mountain was re-discov-ered in an unexplored district," and named in honour of the late President of the United States. In that advemu.e "a series of barriers arose, which seemed almost insurmountable" — but they were surmounted, and in tbe accomplishment Cook played his part. The mere effort, he tells us, of getting to the. base of the mountain with sufficient supphes to prolong the siege required the exploration "of thousands of miles of track, less wilderness. The base having been reached, there were, above, 19,000 feet of "unknowable troubles, wherein the rush of crumbling, tumbling earth, with its storms and snows, must be guarded against." " Tho expedition- involved most of the difficulties of Arctic travel) and all, of the hardships of high alpine ascents multiplied many times ; but with tlie working incentive x>f pioneer adventure, and with the spiritual exhilaration of discovery, it was hoped all the ■ ob-, stacles would be surmoniited — and they were. Getting near the end ofhis great upward journey, Cook says, "that "after prodigious efforts were • forced to camp at 18,400ft., with not enough energy* left to talk or eat." And then-he tells how "the Silk tent was pitched in a gathering basin under the shadow* of the topmost peak, and as we crept into the bags we were so reduced By :frqst and the awful 'breath-reducing struggles that we were- but half-conscious- 'of the Surroundings. The circulation was^" he continues, '.'so depressed that it.was impossible to dispel the sense of chilliness. Increased clothing or bed-cov-ers did not seem to make much difference. The best thing to dispel tht shivers was hot tea -. _. . . /The walei boiled at a point so "low that- the tea was weak, and never too hot — indeed, ii we desired the real flavour of the tea it was necessary to eat the tea leaves. The last night of the climb was one which we will long remember. We were not able to see anything with a normal perspective until long after ' midnight. Unable to sleep, we were 'only permitted to rest in a semi-reclining position with shoulders raised, in which attitude the heart- was eased and breath came and went with less offort." ...... A thrilling story is told of tho perseverance with which "the courage born of inspiration, the enthusiasm arising from inspiration," took them through' their final stage. Dr Cook tells of break-down ifter break-down, and then relates that "just below the summit we dropped over an icy shelf on the verge of collapse. After a few moments, we gathered breath and courage, and then for the last stage the life-line tightened witii a nervous pull. We • edged up along a steep snowy ridge, and over the heaven-scraped granite to the top. At last! The soul-stirring task was crowned with victory; the top' of the continent was under our- feet." • ••••• These necessarily sketchy extracts give some indication of the sort of man Dr F. A. Cook is— the man who has come back from the North Pole, whether with a lie or a misconception of the .truth remains to be seen. But we must not judge Dr Cook off-hand as a sort of de Rougemont simply because Commander Peary chips in a few days after the former's story and declares that "Codlin is the friend, not Shortt." •••• - • • A correspondent in the country sends "Moff." the appended: — HCW HE LET OFF STEAM: I reside not far from Nelson, and my name's Converted Jane, And I read a recent-copy of the "Evening Mail" with pain,. For it told us of a meeting of the Coun. cil and its Mayor, — I mean the Mayor andCoiincil, as I think they call it "there. ' ■*.'••-••■-■' It seemed they'd got a balance-sheet that Mr Gully sent - And they didn't know in heaven's name what any of it meant, They had asked to have it sent them — to seem quite up-to-date, - And now all the Mayor could .murmur was : "It is so intricate." Then Mr Grace, the poet (he is an author too)", Explained- how poetry was made and balance-sheeting too; It sounded ver ysuitable — like four and four makes cightr— But to the poet Piper said : "It is so intricate." Then Mr Grace said pleasantly : "Extraordinary man!" * "Et tu quokue," said the Mayor, or rather began "Et tu Bru " and did not finish it; he thought it would be rude. And rudeness in a Maybr should always be eschewed. But ho said (must we beileve him?) that he's quite a common man In all his ways and words and works from Bearsheoa to Da'n. He seemed- to think "extraordinary" meant lacking common sense, But that sympathetic poet may have only found him dense. Then after much discussion, which further mixed up things, While the meaning of the balance-sheet fled far away on wings, A Councillor he up and spake the feel- - ings of them all, He said *. "We'll hang the wall .with it — but where is that dam wall!" And now to you, Mofiissilite, I've':. told' as best I can V The story of that meeting, and of howthe fun began, And how greatness -came to Mr* L -, for littlo "did he dream 'Twould be written in the records .'how he let off the steam. " . 9 * ■•'■■ ..». • A wide range of speculation was -opened up by a remark by the Acting-Chief Justice, Sir George Simpson, sitting .in his divorce jurisdiction at 'Sydney the other day. A petitioner (a teamster) for .a dissolution of his marriage? while on tho witness-stahd,- referred to a de? sirehe- had' to obtain "the ciisteii^ pf his" '■■ ■'■- ' -: ;::-",:.Vi-?:-: -.■- - -'■■

tWsons. : V'"What are their name,, ho wa-.-ai.ked. "Cyril andLeslie Arthur Hazel," he replied The tfotß "Hazel", was a puzzler to tne Court. His Honor.apparently-was going, to take it as read, but his eternal rsrefulness. led him to make more in; quir?. "How do you spell that word I he asked tlie witness. For answer tne witness cocked his <*,ve at the. portrait, ot a long-deceased judge, and said nothing. "You: can't spell it," challenged: m* Honor. "No*--"-, replied the father ot the bovs, "I cant." Nor could he «pell . Cyrnl's second handle. His Honor look-. ed jefleclively at- the Witrtessv "I wof-U - dcf,- ' he said; "how it is the? can't «|U them Willisc-i and John and Jarnss: out they don't seem to da that noW'fl-oayff-Here'(this to the father) you have called your boys by names that yon do not even! know .how* to spell. 1 h»ve notic-ed-for a long time that in nearly all tfies-o* &nses for divorce" the children-have grand naifW-" It would be worth spe. SiaMnquiry to &®rtain if not exactly, wfiflt- {elation there is between the.- penchant.: fo* . fancy names and divorce. ; ■ .. - '••.'#, f :■■.*■ ■* The contest social distinction is a phase oi the battle of lite which -led Mr' George HotiStOfl Rsid," -.'the weltknown Australian . .politician), into : a homily upon snobbishness, ill a' recent lecture. When one of a long line- oi noble ancestry found himself & maTquls, said -Mr vSel'd, He : never^seemed to rest until- he was a- Alike, This little weakness of the marquis Wa* vei*V much in .evidence in the most deritocfaiic communities In the world, and :in :i the humW« classes of ""society. Hfjrevm :Attttrali-» they saw -a great (Jeal; of;it^v Oat ■■ fit the noblest things afeattt ■ the-Britislr peerage in* its best.. ««<*?■<«» tha* there" was !often a tibvof rea**ffection between the* castle and the. cottage an* no such, vast contempt, as would Vf. found in' this country* between the wn*' of the wholesale draper .-and the wife ofthe* retail draper. Leti-them ;jnst thinkof the awful chasm between those two ladies, or- bf '- the difference of 'social .position between the Vwif e'-'of the:Tetail*dra--. per and the wife of thc butcher, or ot the awful chasm between, the lady who did her own washing and the lady who went out to wash for other .people. This snobbishness --an right through . every, class of humanity, down tb the very humblest. If thev, instead ofwastink their. time about the iniquities of the British . peer, set themselves .to level: down the wretched distinction between one. man and;; another, they would do a "setter work. . •■ • • • .• • • As a word-picture of life, in a respectable, and lovingly united American working-class - family, no', better . has been written br published than .Giaca Donworfih's "Letters of Jebflie Allan to her Friend Miss Musgrove.". . "David A- "Harum" no contribution toAmerican -fictional literature has. been so rich in humour, commingled with fin* sentiment and .a- 'story .of unconscious' self -lessiiess - and love. : While goodness; without goody-goody -ness- is tho motif of the book, Jennie's notions of orthography and js^ymoiogy are screaminglyfunny, 'the characterisation, is ■ powerfully drawii. Blase as one may become from a shrfeit of American fiction, one turns to "Jennie Allan" as to something fresh and piquant and that .is saying a good deal in these days of novels tinned out by the cartload. • MOFUSSILITE..