NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11162, 7 September 1899, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

j " Wfi see dimly in the present what is small and what is great." A bluebottle fly at the I end of a telescope can conceal from the eye |of the astronomer a galaxy of stars. NothI ing is more certain than that the most imi portant epoch-making things are never those I which are most "en evidence." They are | usually invisible, always unnoticed. We | marvel (writes Mr. Stead in the Review of Reviews) at the blindness of our predecessors who busied themselves about pompous trifles which have long been swept into the dust-heap of oblivion, and imagine that we, at least, have keener eyes and truer appreciation of the comparative importance of things. But at the Hague the other day there arrived a letter from the director of one of the best news agencies, ordering the curtailing of the reports from the Peace Conference. "No one in London," so ran the missive, " cares for anything at present but the news from the Transvaal and the latest scores of the test matches with the Australians." Yet the Peace Conference was engaged in founding what everyone admits to be the most important of all international institutions. It was busy creating at last, at the close of the nineteen centuries of nominal Christianity, a Court which would at least give the nations a chance of appealing in their disputes to some other judgment seat than that of the God of War. But what does the man in the street care for suchthings? Nothing, and less than nothing. He never did, he probably never will. He does not- think. He only feels. And he does not understand.

At the annual distribution of prizes on board the Worcester recently, Mr. C. T. Ritchie, M.P., drew attention to the decline of British soainanship. He showed that the proportion of British seamen on board British ships, instead of increasing, as it ought to do, was diminishing year by year. In 1862 there were 5880 apprentices in the mercantile marine ; in the year 1898 there were only 1559. That diminution is sufficiently grave of itself, but when the tonnage of shipping in 1862 is compared with that of 1898, the figures show a most alarming state of things. The British tonnage in 1862 was 4,500,000, and in 1898 it was 9,000.000. Thus we find that while the tonnage of British shipping since that time has been doubled, the apprentices only number onefourth of what they were formerly, This state of things is evidently becoming y* ar by year more serious. Last year, for instance, there was a shrinkage between apprentices' indentures expiring, and new indentures entered, amounting to 500, or 25 per cent, on the whole. Mr. Ritchie pointed out that the substitution of steam for sail explained a part of the change. That , explanation may satisfy some people, but it does not throw any light on the fact that as the tonnage lias grown so has the numberof foreign sailors employed on our ships increased. 'lue person who has produced this state of affairs (says the London Echo) is the shipmaster. Foreigners are cheaper, it is therefore to his advantage to leave his own kin in foreign places, and to pick up in their place Norwegians and Lascars at low wages. Treatment of that character does not induce parents to send their sons to sea. This evil has existed for many years, and vet little has been done to mitigate it. It is true that the Mercantile Marine Act was pasced last year, but with the exception of a br'fce to shipowners, in the form of a reduction of 20 per cent, of the light dues for carrying apprentices, it did nothing to remove the evil. But this bribe is less in value than the difference in wages between Lascars and Englishmen; and, for that reason, shipowners are likely to ignore it. If Great Britain is to keep her supremacy on the sea, this question must soon be dealt with in all seriousness. The sailor has been too much neglected, his grievances too rudely ignored, and before the service can be made again popular a drastic alteration in the present system is required.

Dr. Fitchett, the now famous author of Deeds that Won the Empire," writes in the Review of Reviews for August—a maga-

zine, by the way, of which he is lagan editor—the first of a series of attiJ '• fi on "London Through Australian {foj : tacles." He sums up his Westminster Abbey in the following adJ?' able paragraph; —One charm of London &;> an Australian coming from a raw contuL anil half-hatched cities, is its antiqjjjM The city is scribbled over with literary jjjp historic characters. One stumbles them everywhere, and they make Londatj j sort of illuminated missal. At almost e&tft street-corner the chord of some classic irtory is struck Here Goldsmith I There Lamb lies buried. Though' window Charles I. stepped to his scaffo'i $ This is the g&rden where Shakespere the famous scene of the York and Lancastrian roses. There is no end to these,* sociations! New ones are discovered jpl the delighted visitor every day. He in an enchanted city of memories. This® pecfc of London reaches its climax in, ajfp the Abbey. For an Australian, indeed, 1 a reasonable equipment of literary kiioj. ; ledge and a touch of realising imagination,' the experience of sitting through a service 5 in the Abbey is very curious. ThepreacliJj voice flows in stately cadences over his hall ; He sees before him a stretch of common^!' modern heads, bonneted or bald. But ii jj'f; the other congregation— and onlyhjjf'! seen—that impresses the Australian! Xhs's : , three Cannings stand there, looking diiSf 01' the scene. Beaconslisld. with do\rnwai&f? hanging brow and cynical smile, as though lv sneering at the unconscious divine in tin]' pulpit. Peel, disguised in an absurd Roraarl] toga. , : n oratorical attitude with uplifted k hand, looks as though addressing the heeding audience 011 his own account.' ThV't elder Pitt, too, though speech is frozen on' |' his marble lips, is about to pour the thun-1 der of his eloquence on the startled air. A J life-size effigy of some Chancellor of the'] Tcdor times, with ruff and pointed beard,! lies near, brow on hand. The sermon has made him drowsy! The Australian imagji nation is busy with the unseen off other centuries which people the Abbeys, the kings, the warriors, and saints and > poets. There Ben Jonson might lift his ■ serene brow, unmoved by passion; or Gay f peep shyly from behind one of the pillars, f Many of the churches of London are tragic in their emptiness and coldness. They lie ''I like stranded ships while the stream of hti-. man life flows unheeding past them. They resemble electrical centres out of which somehow the electrical energy has slipped. But, from the purely picturesque point oil view—its power to affect the imagination— the service in Westminster Abbey is unique. Its congregation of dead kings and queens | and statesmen beneath the stone floor is in - such contrast with the living audience in ; fashionable attire above that same pavernent. j5 I Some unpublished stories of Carlyle am i told in the current number of "Saint An-/ drew. On one occasion Carlyle had been reading some of the Bible with a friend, and'! his voice thrilled at the passage which tells how those who desecrated the Temple with J their buying and selling were driven with a 5; scourge out of its precincts. Closing the?" book, he burst out in enthusiastic admin-! tion, "That was gran', man, gran'! 1 ' He was nane 0' ver saft puns 0' butter." Surely;? there was reverence even under the abrupt :; simplicity of the words. "I happened,' : 'S says the writer in Saint Andrew, "to enter J into conversation at Ecclefechan with two men of the drover or small farmer clasi To a remark of mine that I was surprised to sec the stone over Carlyle's grave looking s rather green, one of them replied in quite a. surly fashion: 'Ay maybe sae; but it'll be greener yet, for a' the Ecclefechan folk care.' ' But you are surely proud of Thom&s Carlyle?' I said. 1 Humph,' was the answer; ' I suppose he was muckle thocht 0' about London an' thae pairts, but what did he or his ever dae for Ecclefechan? I line kent the Carlvles a' my life, an' they were a* thrawn lot, the whole 0' them.' This other little story was told me by one who had* the pleasure of calling upon Carlyle, in London, not long before the great man died, The visitor was kindly received, for he had gone with introductions and messages from 1 hi me friends. During conversation, he asked Carlyle if he ever wrote anything now. ' No, no,' was the answer, as the helpless hands were lifted up rather pitifully,' these bands are useless now lam just waitingwaiting and wearying to go back to mj Maker.'" 'i.

The Transvaal situation has now assumed so serious an aspect that it is considered probable that at a meeting of the British Cabinet to-morrow it will be decided to send President lunger an ultimatum. The position of affairs lias been discussed in the Transvaal Yolksraad, and bitterly anti-Eng-lish speeches were made by members. Oni member asked if the troops massed on the frontier meant a fresh raid, another accused England of negotiating in order to unsheatlT the sword, while a third spoke of Mr. Chanberlain approaching the Transvaal with water in one hand and fire in the other. British subjects ill Cape Colony and Natal are becoming impatient, and urge prompt action,' while the exodus from the Transvaal is now ■ so great that the railways are unable to cope' with the traffic. The Boers, on the other hand, are said to be prevaricating till ft® rainy season sets in. A thousand Mausers have been sent by the Transvaal to tli? Orange Free State. The Swazis threaten,-; in the event of war, to attack the Boers. The preparations now being made in England indicate that the most serious view of the situation is being taken by the military., authorities. Everything is in readiness to despatch a strong force to South Africa.'

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS^i

Tire criminal sittings of the Supreme Court t. concluded yesterday, when the last case on j the list, a charge of breaking and entering, against a Drury resident, named Arthur Sutherland, was tried. In the aeigW"®':: hood where the prisoner resides the case dm caused an unusual amount of interest, ™ •. feeling was so pronounced that a titimaJr ? the residents contributed to a fund for '?i| defence. The jury returned a verdict of no * guilty, and the prisoner was discharge"At yesterday's meeting of the Education Board* Mi. Joseph Blades, on taking his se ? for the first time, was welcomed by thecniur man, who said that the experience gajnM PJ Mr. Blades as chairman of the City Stnoo § Committee for some years past should der him an acquisition to the Bo® ' Messrs. Muir, Farrell, and Luke also re :• ferred to the good feeling which had ex)*' between the Board and the committee dor , ing Mr. Blade's chairmanship. Mr. P' a ":r briefly acknowledged the compliment. The owners of the city trams are £ sirous of suppressing the disorder and • • rikinism which are alleged to have 1 - 01 ".. ,v in the last Ponsonbv tram on recent <& ;• sions. They have obtained a certain afflo gl; of information and evidence, and vroUW . obliged if Mr. 0. P. West, who or*fe drew attention to the subject, wouM._.;j at the office. ''S; At a meeting of the committee o! JJ j Auckland Horticultural Society it was ■ < cided to alter the date of the summer Wvg from November 17 to 24. This course ... determined on owing to the number of ter-attractions provided for the date-Pgjy viously arranged. | A petition is being signed in head and Northcote districts, to the JW-ii Tlios. Thompson, requesting the appo . ment of a constable to the above distn _.;| At present they are being worked • | Devonport. Some robberies in the have led to this step being taken. §$t||

Last year the cost to New Zealand of administering affairs in the Cook Islands was £884. The imports to New Zealand amounted to £17,969, and the exports to £6908. The latter is not, however, all New Zealand produce. The Free Public Library has been open 19 years to-day. Since its opening the library has increased from 5000 to 40,000 volumes. In connection with a resolution passed by the Executive of the North Auckland Railway League, regretting the small amount proposed to bo devoted to the North Auckland railway out of the proposed million loan, Mr. Fisher, secretary of the league, has received the following telegram from Mr. Monk "Pleased Railway League appealing to Premier. Hope will persist. Amends can be made on Supplementary Estimates. Better not to borrow 'if so scanted." The Stipendiary Magistrate had another batch of old age pension claims, numbering 35, to deal with yesterday. The corroborative proofs ill many instances were not forthcoming. and the petitioners had to submitto further adjournments. The cause list at the close of the proceedings disclosed the following results Adjournments, 1? ; rejections under age, 5; struck out, too much wealth, 2 ; unfavourable records, 2 ; applicant not in Eden County, 1 ; investigated by Mr. Hutchinson, 1. His Worship, after careful investigation, ordered pension warrants to issue to the following, viz. Emma Tibbuts, £18 ; Catherine Curry, £18: John Cronin, £17 ; Ann Maria Bannister. £12 ; Sarah Ann Postleweight, £18 ; Ami James. £18 ; David May, £18. The Court instructed the Deputy Registrai to make a few visits to invalid applicants. Several legal gentlemen and othe, friends were in attendance during the day, to help deserving claimants with necessary details. The Court sat till nearly six o'clock, and adjourned the cases not gone into until next Wednesday, at half-past ten a.m. Yesterday afternoon a Chinaman named Ah (Jin, otherwise Chun Lun, and stated to be known in Timaru as " Charley," market gardener, was arrested on warrant bv Constable Crawford, of Timaru, at a Chinese laundry. It appears that Mr. Rose, Collector of Customs, and Mr. Parker, of the same Department, had been looking in various places for Ah Gin, and after searching several places came to a certain Chinese laundry, where in their search they found one room locked, Tlio Chinese "did not seem disposed to open it, but keys were obtained, and on unlocking the apartment Ah Gin was discovered inside. It will be remembered that a Chinaman arrived from the Islands recently, and was arrested on the ground that his naturalisation papers were not satisfactory. It is alleged that the papers lie produced are belonging to Ah Gin. The case was remanded pending the service of a summons on Ah Gin, but Ah Gin could not be found. He is charged with evading service of a summons. The Rev. Father Kehoe, of St. John the Baptist Church, Parnell, is having executed a painting for the end wall of the church. It is 22ft in height by 30ft in width, the subject being "The Transfiguration of Our Lord," on the Mount of Transfiguration, introducing the figures of Moses and Elias, and of the apostles Peter, James, and John. The artist is Herr Dittmer, of Dusseldorf, Germany. The scene is painted on canvas, in the style of the old Italian fresco work. At some future date it is in contemplation to have two flanking paintings, 10ft by 7ft, by the same artist, the subjects of which will be," The Nativity," and "The Saviour between Two Saints" (framed in gold). The spaces between the altars will bo painted in imitation of the old Gobelin tapestry. The first-named painting will be placed in position in the church within a fortnight, and there will be special services in connection with the interesting event. Two warehouses are about to be erected on a block of land having e frontage of 100 ft to Darby-street and 45ft to Elliott-street, adjacent to the Strand Arcade, now in course of erection for Mr. Arthur Myers. The buildings will be of brick, four floors, including a half-basement. The facade will be of buff bricks, with cement dressings. Each warehouse will have a principal front entrance, and also a separate one for goods, with hydraulic lift. The basement is lift in the clear; ground floor, 16ft; first floor, lift; and 'he second 12i't. Ventilation and lighting has been specially provided for. The facade is broken up into bays, subdivided by pilasters, and surmounted by ornamental cornices and pediments. The warehouses are being erected for Mr. Herbert Thompson, warehouseman, one for his own occupation, and the other for letting. Contract time is four months, and the contractors are Ferguson and Malcolm. When completed the buildings will cost over £5000. The buildings will be erected from the plans and under the supervision of Mr. Arthur P. Wilson, architect, Victoria Arcade. An incipient fire took place early yesterday morning, at the premises of Mr. Lovett, contractor, Pollen-street, Grey Lynn. In a small building near the stables, one of Mr. Lovett'B sons was sleeping for the night, and which was customarily used by the men. The lad was awakened by the room being full of smoke. He called his father, and then ran to give the alarm to Superintendent Fcnton, of the Grey Lynn brigade. On the arrival oi Mr. Fenton, he found that Mr. Lovett and his son were striving to put out the fire with buckets of water. He aided them in their efforts, and the fire was soon suppressed. Apparently the fire owed its origin to some hot ashes having been placed in a box in the vard. The ashes had ignited the ash-box, and then communicated with the shed. It was fortunate the fire was noticed in its earlier stage, as otherwise it might have developed into a serious affair, the block being thickly built upon. At the Grafton District School Committee meeting some dissatisfaction was expressed at the practice of the Board of Education in employing qualified candidates as pupil teachers without pay, it being considered that they should be remunerated. The Dunedin Star gives the following as a specimen epistle from an up-country school committeeman : "i Disputed the Notice of 2 Boys adendence and also Mr. admitted it was wrong & i asked a meting of the Connnety to bee called but their was not enoughf members to lioald a meting and their has not been any Cmnmity meting since the members were elected and I asked as a member of the Commitey for the Roal Booek and i think that is Loinmety and truent Officer as well ior it is a wrongful charge against mee and I cannot get a Connnety nieetin to have it writcd and you woold oblidge if there was ann Enquiry into the workings of the school for i think there is sometliink cruicked in it children is not the worst adenders and hee is the only one that sominesed." A largely-attended social, which had for its object the' official welcome of the Rev. Scott West, the newly-appointed minister to St. James' Church, Burwood. was held (says the Sydney Telegraph), at the local School of Arts, on August 30. The proceedings took the form of a tea and social evening, the refreshments being provided by the ladies of the congregation, and served during an interval in an attractive programme of music and addresses. Among those on the platform were the Revs. G. Littlemore, T. Dunne, J. K. Bruce, C. J. I'rescott, M.A , Principal Aspinall (Scots' College), Dill Mackv (Moderator of the General Assembly), Canon Moreton, John Walton, W. H. Ash, W. J. Cuthbert, R. S. Pateson, John Ferguson, and Messrs. G. Rutherford, A. Smith, T. A. Murray, J. Stinson, J. Cameron, J. Gregg, G. A. Mackay, J. Walker, and S. Mailer. The Rev. J. Auld presided, and short addresses of welcome were delivered bv Mi. G. Rutherford (on behalf of the session), Mr. T. Murray (for the Church Committee), Mr. A. Smith, B.A. (for the congregation), Mr. John Cameron (superintendent of the Sunday-school), Mi. T. Rutherford (on behalf of the choir), and Mr, J. Inch (on behalf of the Literary and Debating Society). These were supplemented by speeches by the Moderator (the Rev. Dill Macky), the Rev, John Ferguson, the Rev. G. Littlemore (who offered the guest a hearty welcome on behalf of the local clergy), and Mr. William Wood (financial secretary of the Presbyterian Assembly). During the evening a telegram was received from the late pastor of the church, the Rev. J. A. Ewen, now at Chalmers' Church, Melbourne, complimenting the congregation on its choice and wishing his successor every success. At a later stage a presentation of a ministers gown (the gift of the congregation) wis made to the Rev. Scott West, and of a purse of sovereigns to the Rev. J. Auld (Ashfield), who, during the interval of the Rev, Mr. Ewen's departure and the arrival of the Rev, Scott West, has helped to fill the vacancy.

Last evening Dr. Partes gave the first lecture of the nursing course of the St. John Ambulance Association at the Municipal Buildings. About 40 ladies were present, all of whom seemed thoroughly to enjoy the lecture. ! Says the Otago Daily Times: Town clerks and others who have been called upon to make a study of the Municipal Franchise Reform Act, are finding that under the new law there are many anomalies. One town clerk on Thursday pointed out that the Act gave even- facility for the manufacture of faggot votes, and the names of a dozen persons might be placed on the roll for one property. Another town clerk pointed out that while the owner of a property who had not paid his rates was not eligible to vote, his tenants would be able to exercise that privilege even though their rent had not been paid to the landlord. The Victorian postal authorities have been cudgelling their brains to devise a means of checkmating the playful persons who endeavour to circumvent the automatic telephones by placing in the slot metal buttons or other valueless discs, instead of the necessary 6d. The people who do this do not get the best of the machines, which treat such trickery with silent contempt ; but the practice leads to the blocking of the machines, and thus causing exasperation to honest folk who follow the tricksters and pay their sixpences. Applications have recently been made to the Department for the refund of two sixpences which had failed to establish communication with the head office, and have in each case been granted. The other day it was found that some person— the evidence available the Department thought the offender to have been a Sunday-school scholar—had inserted a medal of about the same size as a sixpence, which was stamped with such mottoes as : "Thou seest me always," " Honest and true must I be to all men." The automatic machine refused to work even ior so goodly a token, and the next person who came 'along called at the office for the return of his sixpence. The majority of the machines have been placed at different business places, in charge of the occupiers, so that there will be little danger of blocking in these cases, and the Department hopes to perfect a device to counteract the spurious coin dodge. "If you want to know the time, ask a policeman," is the leading refrain in a once popular ditty *, and a constable who gave evidence in the Melbourne Criminal Court recently, showed that, in his case, the ability to speak with authority about the hours, and the minutes was especially conspicuous. The charge being inquired into was one of alleged perjury against the licensee of a Brunswick hotel, during the hearing of a prosecution for Sunday trading ; and the man in blue, who was prominent on that occasion, was emphatic in his statement to the Court as to the exact time on which he set foot in the bar parlour. "I dare say," observed Mr. Purves, Q.C.. who appeared for the defence, " you pulled out your watch as soon as you went in ?" And the witness replied, "Yes ; I always do that when Igo into a hotel." " Indeed," exclaimed counsel ; " and I suppose that if you saw a man pick a pocket, you would take the time ?" Again the answer was an affirmative, and the constable volunteered the addition. " I always take the time when I see an offence committed." " What !" said Mr. Purver, startled ; "look here, now, if you saw one man smack another on the nose, would you immediately take out your watch and see what time it was'!" There was laughter in Court as the witness replied, stolidly. " I expect I would." "Then," continued counsel, satirically. " having taken down the hour and the minute, you would go after the offender ?" The constable hesitated a moment before answering slowly, "That all depends ;" and the admission supplied the opportunity for the immediately forthcoming comment, "Yes, it would depend on whether he was a big or a little man." A youthiul, but well-developed specimen of the genus liar was revealed in tlio Melbourne Criminal Court recently, when a man who had been arraigned on a serious charge, was in some danger of having his liberty sworn away by a boy, who subsequently, upon his own admissions, was proved to be utterly untrustworthy. The lad in question first gave his name as Alexander Robertson, but on being directly questioned oil the point, said that his "real name" was Frederick Victor Smith, and dinned that, his reason for going under an alias was his fear of heme; " nicked," as he expressed it, to the apparent bewilderment of counsel interrogating him. Then, aftei admitting that he had run awav from the Salvation Army Home at Bayswater, the ingenuous youth confessed that the statements he had made in the Court below constituted a string of falsehoods. When, after this, Master Frederick Victor Smith unblusliingly declared that he was not in the habit of telling lies, Mr. Justice Hodges, who was on the Bench, lost all patience with the prevaricator in the wit-ness-box. "Go down." he commanded, imperatively, and when the youthful prevaricator had descended. His Honor, turning to the jury, said he would not trouble them to consider the case further, and the accused was thereupon discharged.