NEWS AND VIEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10901, 4 November 1898, Page 3

NEWS AND VIEWS.

THE "SOCIETY OF FRIENDS" ON THE CZAR'S MANIFESTO. Thk Society of Friends, or Quakers, at a recent meeting in London, had the Czar's peace manifesto before them, and issued the following minute:—"This meeting, representing the religions Society of Friends in Great Britain, desires to express its deep thankfulness for the proposal made by tha Czar of Russia, that a conference of the Powers should meet, with tlio object of ' seeking by way of international discussion the most effective means of assuring for all peoples tha blessings of real and lasting peace, and, above all things, for fixing a, limit to the progressive development of present armaments. This proposal is of vast importance to the best interests of the world, and we are confident that the practical difficulties, which may seem to impede action, will be overcome, as it if considered in a, spirit proper to the great purpose in view. We respectfully urgo the Queen's Government, in whose sympathy with the object proposed we have every confidence, to respond cordially to the invitation. We believe that our Heavenly Father is preparing the hearts of the nations for this proposal, and it is our prayer that He will guide their action upon it and direct, their counsels into issues of peace."

A NEW FRENCH FIELD GUN. French artillerymen are quite enthusiastic over the merits of the new field,gun, which is said to be giving the most marvellous results. Not only does the gun lire 24 shots a minute, but the accuracy of this almost continuous fire is reported to be perfect. With the old quick-firing guns, which required to be aimed after each shot, the men were inevitably disposed to lose tlieii heads in tlio excitement and rush of the moment, with the result that the firing quickly became wild. The new gun not requiring to he re-aimed, this drawback disappears. Once the direction is obtained, each shot gets home with infallible precision, while if it is required to alter the direction to either side of the range the change is effected with the utmost swiftness by an extremely simple mechanism. . . . The new guns are being turned out with great rapidity, and by the end of the year the army corps on the Eastern frontier will be armed with them. The expenditure of ammunition is, of course, enormous, and two ammunition waggons instead of one are now attached to each gun, which, though longer, is lighter than that it is to replace.

ORIGIN OP SEA 1 TERMS. SOME INTERESTING EXAMPLES. In the early days of English naval organic sation vessels of war had double crews, a military one for fighting purposes and another of marines for navigation duties. In consequence a largo number of English sea terms have a military origin. In early times the rank of admiral was unknown, and the chief officer of the squadron was called a constable of justice. The term admiral as now used is derived from the Arabic "amir" or "emir," a commander (as in " Amir-al-Bahr," commander of the seal). The title captain is not a naval but. a military one. Originallv the real captain of the ship was a " master. ' A military officer was placed on board, though he knew nothing of nautical matters. Gradually his importance increased, while that of the master diminished proportionately, till the present day the master's office is' becoming obsolete. Commodore comes from the Spanish " Comendador."

The title of lieutenant is borrowed directly from the French, and is meant as a placeholder, or one who took the place of the captain when absent. In former days there were no cadets, but volunteers, but with the gradual advance of politeness the term cadet was appropriated from the French. „ " Boatswain" is derived from the Saxon " sweiu"— servant. The term quartermaster, as used in both the army and navy, appears to be confusing and anomalous. In the army it is the title of a commissioned officer who performs important and responsible duties. In the navy he is simply a warrent officer, directing subordinate duties. In old ships and in olden times his position was a more important one, so much so that he was considered to be the fourth part of the master—hence the term quartermaster. The ship's cook was once a great man, and there are instances on record of his being promoted for efficient preparations of food. The stop's steward was originally the caterer. The terms larboard and starboard come/-'-from the Italian " quests borda" and " quel) a 5" borda, which, by rapid delivery, became starboard and larboard, but owing to the strong similiarity of sound they were changed into starboard and port (Latin porto, to carry), the use of the terms in the original form having been the cause of many accidents. • J

Gangway has been handed down from the days of the ancient galley of the Phoenicians Carthaginians, and Romans, it having been a board which ran along the whole length solving as a passage for the rowers to and from their seats. It was also used as a resting place for the mast and sail when not in use.

The cockpit, in the lowest part of the vessel below water, used during an action for the treatment of the wounded, is derived from the old days of the English sport of cock fighting, but this has been modernised and is now known as the " flats"— no one can explain. Lubber is from the Dutch, meaning a lazv cowardly fellow. •" Anchor comes from the Latin "anchors, " or " ancora," which up to 600 B.C. consisted simply of a large stone with a hole through i*. , . P ecu lia% of so manv portions of a ship s rigging bearing names derived from tho trappings of a horse can only be accounted tor from the fact that the early warships were manned by soldiers as well as sailors, the natural consequences being that they, the soldiers, adapted some of then terms to meet their fancy. Among the various ropes will be found bridles, whips, bits, stirrups ana the like. '

M. DE ROUGEMONT ON THE QUEEN' AND PRINCE OF WALES. Lord Duft'erin, on September 6, formally opened the Cabot Tower at Bristola tower erected by public subscription on Brandon Hill in memory of John Cabot and his sons A banquet was held ii> the evening, at which Louis de Rougemont (the hero of' the marvellous yarns in tho Wide-World Magazine) was present. He made a speech, which' was indeed clever in its way. He referred to the amazing set of circumstances that had placed him among the cannibal blacks of unexplored Australia as a kind of viceroy. Although not appointed by Downing-street his rule was, ho trusted, a wise one. At all events, it was based not upon the introduction of innovations, but upon the deeprooted beliefs of the strange people he governed. The savage tribes among whom h'j lived for nearly 30 years, far from looking upon him as a mere castaway among them, regarded him rather, and lie must say, ho led them to regard him, as a direct representative of the great White Queen who had sent him into their midst to convey some adequate idea of the majesty of her mighty Empire. To his dismay there was a wonderful falling off in the effect produced by his glowing descriptions of .Her Majesty, when it was found that the allpowerful ruler was a woman. Indeed, so strongly marked was the disappointment of the natives, that he had speedily to give them ocular demonstration of the great White Queen's wonderful powers. This demonstration took the form of a colossal drawing executed in the pigments with winch the savages decorated themselves, and it adorned the precipitous side of a huge rock Her Majesty's crown was composed of the feathers of the rare lyre bird, which only a redoubtable hunter could obtain. Her Majesty's biceps stood ou- f in a most pile-, nomenal manner, and hei sceptre was a mighty waddy or club, such as could bo wielded with deadly effect upon enemies., He pointed out to the natives that the great Queen's retinue was larger than the whole of the tribes put together, and that they lived in one enormous house such as ho could not build if he worked at it the whole of his lifetime. He then proceeded to tell his "people that the British Empire embraced the whole universe, because, of course, they could not follow the distinction between Scotland or France or England or Turkey. In order to remove any lingering disappointment there might be over this mighty rulei being a female, he pointed out that she had a much-beloved and most redoubtable son, the Prince of Wales, and his powers he epitomised by assuring his hearers that the Prince of Wales was a very great warrior and spear-thrower, and led his tribes into battles and strange places where the great Queen Mother could not venture. He even made a colossal clay statue of the Prince, representing him armed with many throwing spears.