NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11734, 16 August 1901, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Mr. Justin- McCarthy does not think that my good literary work can be dune in the House of Commons. "I am well convinced," lie writes, "that no literary work of any real importance has been mainly composed by a member of Parliament during his attendance in the House of Commons. Of course, there have been successful booksbooks destined to live—which were written by members of the House, but I believe it will be found that the best part, and by far the greater part, of these masterpieces must have been constructed while the House was in recess, or, at all events, while. the author was not working on the parliamentary premises. Most men find it impossible even to carry on continuous reading in the House of Commons library. It is a cherished legend among officials of the House that Macaulay was the only member who really studied books in the library Men write letters in the library to their constituents and their friends, but no man attempts a literary essay or a scientific treatise there if he can possibly find time to try it somewhere else. There are, of course, however, some members of the House who have to make a living, or try to make a living, by literature or journalism, or both, and these men do undoubtedly get much of their work done within the precincts of the House. The writer of leading articles, for instance, has to get much of his daily work done while he is still watching and following the debates of the House— an article, very likely, on the debate then going forward. My friend, Mr. T. P. O'Connor, J

has, I daresay, bitten an article or two i. this way. Alother friend-Mr ill ! P-d-whenhehadaseatintheHout? representative « one of the Edinburgh visions must h* e done some work J * kind and und P like difficulties v? another friend-Sir Edward Russell-J he sat for anotier Scottish < constituent* , , , Scottish constituent used to be seen sllgagcd in th( , •.° *' -".i" o bu m tiie writino t leading articles fa the Liverpool Daily pL/ I may say for „ Vself that during •gS »-7 Tears I,- articles for aLo B n ; a daily paper while endeavouring at the same time to keep my Mention fixed on the d? bate which was oc<upyi n g the House T h member of Parliament, however, whoss de sire it is. or wbosebusiness it is, to write novels is strongly recommended by ffle no to cherish any fond lopes of doing'his wort satisfactorily for hiuself or his readers "if he attempts to aeconplish it in the House of Commons. I may venture to speak rom some personal experence. I have tried again and again to write parts of my novels amid those historic su-roundinsrs hot I ca " answer for it that the effort is not likely to be successful.'' v v xo

The alleged inferiority of the Mediter. ranean squadron, ss compared with tha French squadron, is being discussed in some of the English papers in a rather disquieting tone. The writer of an article in the London Daily Mail says:—"lf War broke out this morning what would our position lie: At Gibraltar it. self the British have the ancient Devastation and a couple 0: smaller craft. Ilia equally obsolete Rupert lies at Alexandria '" at the other end of the ' great lake.' T n Red Sea there are generally a couple of cruisers and a battleship, and two more, cruisers in the Levant. Not counting the above, the total available force, if the Ad- > miral has the rest of the squadron at Malt/ ■' and between there and Sardinia, is nine battleships (counting the Orion), 11 cruisers and 25 torpedo-boat destroyers and torpedoboats that can be counted seaworthy. Between the main British squadron and Gibraltar lies at this moment the French Channel squadron, which it at Oram It consists of nine battleships, five .cruisers, and eight torpedo craft. At Toulon are gathered tie French Mediterranean fleet of seven battleships, eight cruisers, and 50 torpedo craft, with one or two vessels, including i battle- ' ship, cruising off Bizerta, Tunis, and other French ports on that coast. The British squadron is thus practically cutoff and bottled up in the narrow seas, and there would be ample time for the largely superior French force to destroy or cripple it, and then, after recoaling and refitting, proceed to sea to meet the British Channel fleet which, with depleted bunkers, and probably convoying belated colliers, store ships, and other necessary auxiliaries for the Mediterranean squadron, would be in no condition to fight on equal terms even with a diminished and damaged French force. Nor would it be of any use for Admiral Fisher to withdraw his squadron eastward until he knew the Channel fleet was near Gibraltar, and then try to catch the French betwten two fires. At the east end of the Mediter- ." ranean—in the Black Sea—waiting only for - the first shot, in order to force the Dardanelles, lie seven Russian battleships and 20 torpedo-boats, while off Lenmos, ready to seize that place, cruises another Russim battleship, and three torpedo craft. Egypt is undefended, . and at the first sound of battle Russia is prepared to throw 30,00) invaders into that country, and then to join the French in bottling up and destroying oar nine battleships at Malta, which, she alone is capable of meeting on nearly equal terms without the aid of France. For the purpose of these figures battleships on each side are considered to include coast-defence ves-' sels, and cruisers include gunboats, and no account is taken of the superiority of some of the French and Russian vessels in 'anna*'./' ment and speed. If war broke out, the ' Man in the Street' would have a shock, compared with which the early defeats of the' Boer war would hardly be worth noticing."

At Vesinet, on the Saint Germain-en-Laye Road, experiments have been made with a new kind of wireless telegraphy. The experimenters are Colonel Pilsoudski, an engineer officer in the Russian army, and M. Victor Popp, a well-known French electrical engineer and inventor, and it is claimed for the new system that it is a great improvement on that of Signor Marconi, in that if; is more simple. No tall masts are required,; and the electric waves follow the surface of the earth. The apparatus consists of two electrodes separated by a distance that varies according to the distance of the place with which it is desired to communicate. The negative is placed on a sheet of glass, as isolator, on the surface, the positive is buried in the earth at a depth of from three and ahalf to four metres. These two electrodes are connected to the transmitting apparatus.,' The same arrangement is followed at the receiving station. This is all that is necessary for the despatch and registration ofmessages. With this new system it is claimed that wireless telegraphy with America will be a simple matter. The experimenters further state that four men can establish a telegraph station within an hour anywhere.