NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10420, 19 April 1897, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

A wju«R> the St. Petersburg Viedommii gives the following interesting account'„| the towns of Crete:-" Candia, Rating; Canea, are of the 'Crete of the hundred towns' the only three cities existing, and in using the word city every attenuation " must be understood. Caqdia, situated at the mouth of a little river, the Geofito, was built in tho ninth century by the Saraoou* on the site of Heraklion, one of the pott* of Cno?sus. The distance between Cnqau, and Candia is under a „ hour's faW and in antiquity thji two places were eon,, nected by walls, , which re-called thaw between Piraeus and Athens. I„ $ time of Venetian sovereignty Gandia enjoyed great _ prosperity. To-day, "i'bj aspect is essentially Turkish on account of its houses, its mosques, its' minarets, and its bazaars, in which are exposed all the products of the East. It is surrounded by a bastioned wall, almost , triangular in shape. Within thorp is, another wall separating the old town from the new, the latter being nearer the river. The fortifi.' cations date from the Venetians, bub war and earthquakes have left little or nothing of the Cjty's ancient splendour. Tournefort has called it only the carcass of a city.' Its chief monuments are the remains of the church of St. Franojs and the old Latin cathedral to St. Titus. Its population is be', tween 13,000 and 14,000, mostly Mussulmans. The port is protected by two moles, bub the sand has been allowed to silt op to much that only very email vessels can enter. Its chief trade is with Trieste. which takes from it raisins and oil in return for soap. Canea comes next tq Candia with a population of 11,000, equally divided between Christians and Mohomei dans. Canea is the ancient Cydonia. Tfal modern town dates from 1252, and is the principal port of the island, the commercial capital, and the residence of the foreign Consuls. Not far from Canea is the admic able anchorage of Suda Bay. Ketimo, the third town, is 55 miles south-west of Can. dia. Its population is not above 3000.''

The Academy has unearthed and preserved a capital instance of American journalism. When tho rumour reached America that Mr. Stephen Crane was drowned, the editor of the Philistine, East Aurora, New York, penned his tribute :- "He is dead now— is dead. How he faced death the records do not say, hub I know, for I knew the soul of the lad. Within the breast of that pale youth there dwelt a lion's heart. He held his own life and reputation lightly. He sided with the weak, the ignorant, the unfortunate, and his purse and strengh and influence were ever given lavishly to those in need, He died trying to save others." When the news came that Mr. Crane was safe the editor had nob the heart to sacrifice his copy, but simply appended a postscript :— " Later.— to Providence and a hencoop, Steve Crane was not drowned afte: all—he swam ashore." We understood the) Mr. Crane was saved by one of the boats; but that is a minor detail.

The most expensive book ever publisbd in the world is said to be the official history of the War of Rebellion, which is now jieing issued by the Government of the Unfced States at a cost up to date of abqut £477,f00, Of this anount £236,858 has been (aid for printing and binding. The remainder was expended for salaries, rent, stationery, and other contingent and miscellaneous expenses, and for the purchase of records from priva(D individuals. It will require at least threavears longer to complete the work, and the total is expected to reach nearlj £600(000. It will consist, of 112 volumes, including an index, and an atlas which contain) 178 plates and maps illustrating the important battles of the war, campaigns, rouies of march, plans of forts, and photo, graphs of interesting scenes, places, and pertms. Only 51,000 copies of the book havt yet been sold.

Mr. Chamberlain, whose facial resemblance to the great: Pitt is, in profile, most remirkable, has (writes Mr. H. Lucy, the wellknown London correspondent) established another claim to the company of stattsmen in general, and Pitt in particular, by leveloping tendencies to gout. Hit attendance at the House through the week lias teen more than usually fitful, and fata face shows traces of the suffering accompanying a frailty usually regarded as the birthright of" the gentlemen of England.", Mr. Gladstone never had the gout, not was Mr. Disnoli subject to its inroad.'. But the late Lord Granville was a uartyr to it, tho closing years of he otherwise lovely life being primarily devoted to warding off the enemy. Ho had a natural and cultivated taste for wine, and to tie last his table was lavishly supplied with rare vintages. But they were for th« guea;s, the host being permitted only t« look on with his gracious smile, enjoying other people's pleasure, since participation in it was forbidden to himself. I remember his telling me that if he but wetted his lips with a glass of wine he felt the immediate effects, and would be chained by gout to hii chamber for several days.

Every new movement, Bays the Melbourne Age, is apt to have ridicule thrown upon il by the" crank?" who associate themielve!, with its progress. For example, tbf Women's Council of New Zealand has passed a resolution demanding the abolition of the present law of marriage—" founded on the old law of possession." Now, those very aggressive ladies ought to know thai the modification they ask for was made when thej Woman's Proporty Act w»J passed. The law does not now regard the wife as a chattel, but as a party to the contract, A husband nowadays does not become possessed of his wife's property along with hel person, and the question has been raised whether the wife is not unduly favoured by casting the burden of the family mainten' ance on the husband when the wife is I great deal the wealthier of the two But the Women's Council of New Zealand has even higher ambitions than tho equal isation of rights in marriage. The mem' ber9 claim that either half the earnings ol the husband shall be paid over to the separate account of the wife, or that she shall have a legal right to draw on her husband's banking account. It looks as if some of the New Zealand women are nob to be satisfied with equality, but want to be the predominant partners. Would a female Parliament follow the example of male legislators, and pass a Married Man's Property Act ? If not, it will appear as if the "advanced " woman does not so much object to our marriage laws being based on tho law of possession as that the possession is given to the wrong person, We may suspect that it is only the soparated wives and the disappointed spinsters who are clamouring for the right to reduce men to serfdomand to appropriate their possessions. Most sensible women will recognise that the promulgation oi such views can only tend to increase that disinclination to marriage which characterises a large class of men in our day, Probably the New Zealand conclave did not contemplate such an event as a general refusal of the bachelors to marry under their new regulations, unless, per*' haps, they were prepared to proscrik*. obstinate celibacy as a felony. ••• %