ON THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12546, 13 April 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

ON THINGS IN GENERAL.

OFF TO THE POLE. We had hardly finished welcoming the Discovery expedition back from the South Pole before a cable message appeared in the Herald announcing that a Canadian party is about to make a dash for the North Pole. Curiosity is one of the chief characteristics of civilised man, and nowhere is this characteristic more conspicuous than in the persistent efforts that have been made to discover the poles. The explorers will never be happy till they get there, though what they will do with the poles when they find them remains to be seen. Yet this fondness which some people have for ice is surely misplaced, for a recent scientist of tho sensational type has assured us that "some day " the world ill be almost entirely destroyed by the vast mass of ice which is collecting round the South Pole, and which will "some day" break across tho Equator and give us a good hard knock. It is to be hoped that the man , who gets there will not tamper with the " vast mass." for there is no sense in hurrving up that awful " some day, when terrible things will happen. When the poles have been captured we will know all about every nook and comer of the globe. What will man's curiosity do then It will turn its attention to, the moon and Mars, and will never be satisfied till periodica] excursions are running to these neighbours of the earth. AN ESKIMELODRAMA. Even the ice and snow of the Arctic regions i c-unot kill sentiment, and, as the Canadian explorers will no doubt find out, the i " Eskimo " and the " Eskimaid " have their ! loves and hates even as people of warmer \ climes. In proof of this I give the following charming story taken from an American paper: — 'A?id Greenland's polar ice and snow. Where watermelons seldom sjrow £lt's far too cold up there, you know). There dwelt a bold young Eskimo. Beneath the self-same iceberg's shade, In far of seal and bear arrayed (Not over cleanly, I'm afraid). There lived a charming' Etlsiniaid. Yhro'oat- the six months' night they'd spoon (Ah. je of sag#, think what a boon). To stop at ten is much too soon Beneath the silvery Eskimoou. The hated rival now we see! (You spy the coming tragedy. But I can't help it-; don't blame me.! An Eskimncher vile was he. He found the lovers there alone. He killed them with his axe of bone. (Von see how fierce the tale has grown;— The fond pair died with an Eskimeau. Two graTes were dug, deep in the ice, %Vcre lined with furs, moth halls, and spice; The two were buried in a trice. Quite safe from all the Eskhnice. Now Fido comes, alas, too late' (1 hope it's not indelicate These little incidents to state)— The Eskimurderer he ate. "Upon an Eskimo to sup Wat "too much tor an Eskipny— He died. His Bskireesnory I* thus kept green in verse by me. TIBETAN RULES OF WAR. In view of the British expedition which is bow paying a visit to the people of Tibet, the following amusing extracts from the Tibetan cod® of rules for warfare are of interest, and some of them are specially instructive in the light- of recent visits: —" Before going to war," says-the Tibetan strategist, "the I strength of the enemy should be carefully ascertained, and diplomacy is to be exhausted before a campaign is undertaken. Anyone coming with overtures of peace should be well received." Another rale laid down is: "If a sentry kills a messenger coming to make peace, he shall be sent to his home in disgrace, mounted on some old useless horse with broken harness." Humanity to the vanquished foe is enjoined by the following directions: —" you be defeated you must give up your arms, and those who give these up must not be killed. Should anyone kill one who has given up his arms, he must be derided and scoffed at as a coward." A general or officer who is taken prisoner should be well treated. " so that in the event of your ever falling into his hands he may also treat you well. Should an army be defeated and obliged to fly, nothing should be said to them, but they should not be rewarded or receive any presents, even though the leader be a great man." ANCIENT AND MODERN CITIES. The latest United States census shows that New York city has a population of no less than 3,716,000. This means that within the bounds of one city live four times as many people as the whole of New Zealand contains. And yet New York is still a good way behind London as regards population. It would be interesting to know how the great cities of the ancient world compare, a.* regards population, with such places as London. New York, Paris, and Berlin. How large, for instance, was ancient Rome"' 'A writer in Blackwood's Magazine recently states: "After carefully examining all the ; data we. have, all the statements of the various ancient writers who allude to it, and all the facts which seem to bear on the question. I am convinced that in estimating the number at 4,000,000, 1 am rather understating than overstating it. It >s much more probable that it was laiger than that it was smaller. De Quincy also estimates the inhabitants of Rome at 4,000,000. I will onlv cite one fact, and then leave this question. The Circus Maximus was constructed to hold 250,000- or, according to Victor, at a later period probably. 565,000 spectators. Taking the smaller number, then, it would be 1 in 16 of all the inhabitants if there were 4,000,000. But as one-half the population was composed of slaves, who must be struck, out of the spectators, when the. circus was built there would be accommodation then iov one in eight of total population, excluding slaves. Reducing again the number one-half by striking out.the women, there v.ould be room for one in four. Again striking out the old men and the sick and impotent, you would Lave accommodation for nearlv the whole population. Is it possible to believe that the Romans constructed a, circus .to hold" the entire population of Rome capable of going to it?—for such must have been the case were there only 4,000,000 inhabitants. But -suppose there were only 1,000,000 inhabitants, it- is plain from the mere figures that it would never have been possible to half 311 the circus." PRETTY STORY ABOUT LORD KELVIN. There is a romantic and pretty little story about the second marriage of Lord Kelvin, whose election as Chancellor of Glasgow University, was announced in last Saturday's Hebali>. In the early seventies he", then Sir William , Thomson, was in West Indian waters, on board his schooner yacht, the Lalla Rookh. His nrs^ wife, the daughter of Mr. Walter Crtim, of Thornlie Bank, had been dead about two or three years, and he had been absorbed in electrical"engineering in connection with the Atlantic cable, the Brazilian and River 1 late cables, ana, lastly, with the West Indian cables. As a light recreation he took up <he question of simplifying the method of signals at sea. To Lord Kelvin it mignt have been. light work, but it was pretty puzzling to the minds of ordinary landsmen. He had been talking of it.at the dinner-tabus ol o friend in Madeira, and the only apprehension that seemed able to grasp it was that of bis host's daughtei, a lady he greatly, but silently, admired. "I quite understand it, Sir William," she said. " Are you sure. he questioned, half doubtfully. I ■ . you a signal from rny yacht do you think you could read i* and could answei inef " Well, I would try," she responded. i believe I should succeed in making it out. The signal war sent; and she did succeed in making it out, and in transmitting the reply. The question was : " W«l J tj ou »•** ice?" and the answer «as: Yes. The General.