NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11314, 8 March 1900, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

It seehis hard to believe that Lord Strath' cona and Mount Royal, who has so "onerously offered to equip a corps of 400 Canadian rough riders at a cost of £200 000 began life as an errand boy to a Scotch village grocer. Yet such was the undoubted case and his great career has been moulded by bis own hands. Finding the delivery of sugar and tea monotonous, he took ship to America, whence he went 10 Canada, and gamed employment with the great Hudson life w°?w St ° ry of the rest of b'3 life would be too lpg to tell here. It is sufficient to say that he worked with unflinching determination until lie made his name felt throughout Canada. He was the creator of the Canadian-Pacific Railway, and ho is so rich to-day that lie can afford to *eep up no less than five separate establishments. Though Lord Strathcona is over 80, 18 sti " High Commissioner for Canada, a post, to which he was appointed in 1896. His peerage will die with him, for he has but one child, a daughter, who is, married to a London uhysftian. .

Any man who lias been in a modern fight,, ivaere men are being knocked over all round,:

fend gays he likes it, is (writes a war correspondent in the' Daily News) a liar. In for--sner days it must' have been different. The enemy could be seen, the smoke could bo seen, and rifle had to be reloaded after every shot. At 1000 yards you were in comparative safety. The infantry, after receiving one volley, could charge, knowing that until the enemy had' loaded again each man was practically safe. Nowadays that is all changed. Nothing is seen, no man, no smoke. The only thing seen is the dust thrown up by the bullets, like a rainstorm on the surface of the lake, the artillery throwing shells, and the shells bursting. In contrast'to this is the noise, which is infernal ; with occasional lulls it sounds as if a million kettledrums were being played—a constant tra»ra-rs-ra, with the boom, boom of the big guns and the harsher sound of the pumping of the Maxims, Hotchkiss, Maxim-Nordenfeldts, and machine guns in general. The discord is appalling, as every gun lias a different sound, and each shell going through the air hums or whistles according to its breed. After a time you can tell what is coming, or, if it is one of your own, what is going. The most terrifying of the enemy's guns, is a sort of Hotchkiss, which fires about five rounds a time and throws a lib shell which bursts. You are safe nowhere, as a bullet, fired at an object at 800 yards, which misses, hits and kills at 2000 or 5000. It practically means with these rifles that a bullet is never spent until it hits something and remains there. When a bullet strikes you hear nothing; it goes right through a man and probably travels on another 2000 yards. You hear a grunt or a gurgle, and the man collapses and doubles up; sometimes if hit in th 6 arm or leg he spins round and falls, and probably gets up again, as it is only the shock which knocks him down, and he hardly feels it. The worst thing is a bullet wound in the stomach below the navel, which is mortal. The pain is excruciating, and they howl like a shot hare; it sounds like a child screaming, and is horrible.

The influence of the imagination (says the Medical Press) is a factor with which physicians have to reckon very largely, and in the minor ailments of life, at any rate, the most successful practitioner is ho who possesses the faculty of inspiring confidence in himself to begin with, and then in the treatment he advises. A recent number of the Psychological Review relates an interesting experiment made by Mr. Slosson with the view of demonstrating how easily this faculty can be called into play. In the course of a popular lecture lie presented to his audience a bottle containing distilled water, which he uncorked with elaborate precautions, and then, watch in hand, he asked those present to indicate the exact moment, at which the peculiar odour was perceived by them. Within 15 seconds those immediately in front of him held up their hands, and within 40 seconds those at the other end of the room declared that they distinctly perceived the odour. There was an obstinate minority, largely composed of men, who stoutly declared their inability to detect any odour, but Mr. Slosson believes that many more would have given in had he not been compelled to bring the experiment to a close within a minute of opening the bottle, several persons in the front rank finding the odour so powerful that they hastily quitted the lectureroom. It would have been interesting to know the attitude of the audience on learning the liberty that had been taken with their imaginations, but on this ft, point, unfortunately, the report is silent.

The enemy fought stubborly at Dordrecht, in Northern Cape Colony. There were 30 British casualties. Colonel Brabant continues his successful movements. He has captured the Boers' main position, and is now attacking Aliwal North, on the border of the Free State. General Gatacre has entered Stormberg. The Boers occupy the kopjes on both sides of the Modder River, four miles from Osfontein. Their position is strongly entrenched, but can be easily turned. The enemy are mounting guns and extending their entrenchments. The relief of Ladysmith cost 5000 officers and men, out of an army of 25,000. General Buller states that Natal is now-clear of the enemy. There are 800 typhoid cases at Ladysmith. Mr. Hales, the captured Australian war correspondent who has just been released from Bloemfontein, states that the Boer forces are demoralised. He says the Boers are treating the British wounded splendidly. The Easutos are jubilant over the British victories. Britain's determination to subjugate the Boers has impressed the Berlin and Paris newspapers.' The Afrikander Bond proposes to send a deputation to the colonies to promote the maintenance of the independence of the Republics. Dr. Leyds states that the Cape Assembly will vote in favour of the Boers' independence, and if necessary all Afrikanders will revolt. Commenting on the Budget, the Times, Standard, and Morning Post express regret that the Government have not widened the basis of taxation, instead of persisting in the present inequalities. The fact that the Continental trade of Britain lias not been disturbed is appreciated in France and Germany. The Chancellor of the Exchequer says he looks to the Transvaal as the first source for the redemption of the war loan. The loan resolution was agreed to in the House of Commons, by 161 to 26. A colliery explosion in West Virginia, United States, entombed 100 men, only two being rescued. Fifty bodies have been recovered.