THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14302, 23 February 1910, Page 9

THINGS IN GENERAL.

COMING OF KITCHENER. ' ' >„,• coming of Kitchener of Khartoum ' ■ ,vt week will be an . event of wide po- ' ■ tentialities. We are just on: the verge .'■■'f a new scheme of defence, and, before : "],is is in working order, the great soldier •:"..;. Y •ill 'almost inevitably have pointed out '': -i • weaknesses, and will have - advised ,'upon its improvement. . One cannot:fail '■"■••-'to'have"' been struck with the masterly ' ' niiiiiner in which Lord Kitchener has sum- : med up the position in Australia. He, is a ■'.'.: man quick'to size up men and facts, and • ■is speedy in coining to a decision. It will have been noticed that ho lays more stress ' upon the training of recruits than on the ■C cadet movement. His message to Aus- ; tralia to "take 'a pride in (he country's V "defenders, to make defence organisation ... real, and designed for war. purposes," - : will, one would say, apply to New Zealand also. There is no doubt that, apart -from the •comparatively small band . of volunteers, the people of the Dominion •■■■ "--..js*a whole have not, up to now, taken jur defence organisation as real. We have '.ill been i\ifher prone to look upon volun-

- teering as "playing at war," without ■)':■ realising the practical utility of training "' : for the fight. Now that wo Tire to have Compulsory military service, we may hope to acquire that sense of the reality of if .:* all 'arid, if we are wise, and listen well ■'.'■ to what Lord Kitchener will have to say, - : r - we shall once and for all put aside

our levity. and fashion ourselves to the ''* making of offensive, as well as defensive, ' war. 'We : are to have our navy, but, as the hero of Khartoum .will surely tell us, •'v."-' naval strength is worse than incomplete '". ~ and unconvincing, unless, behind it;,there ■']: '. be a strong, alert, and well-trained land :, force. All of us should be eager, then/ ':''• not only, to behold Lord Kitchener in our' ': ; midst, but to hear what he has- to .say, - and to digest and profit by his., words. '..■•'■;■■.-'■- ..-■.■ ■ ".,-.''■.. ■ • .'.' '■ ''. .V .. * ■■ ■' ' ' ROYAL AILMENTS. :/ The entire adult residing .population of ';,•.;.''.•' tlio Dominion must have' been shocked (be- ; ■ yond measure on, perusal of the cable from Berlin a day or two ago about the Kaiser's ■ indisposition. Emperor William.contracted ■;:'■'.• "a-slight chill, was confined to his. room, '"•' ■'■'"' and had cancelled all engagements. The \ h news was instantly flashed by electricity • to every civilised corner of the earth. It • is only right that the smallest detail in the '\ lives of the great should be made known, .!.V f therefore the cableman* was well advised: in " j•>spending the': money he .did 'on';-this; mo-' y ,;.., mentous message. 'Think,': for, instance, of •\. the effect' it might have had in Auckland ■. had .the information . been withheld. It is ■ '. quite* likely that, had it not' been known that the Kaiser had a cold, trade might ;'' 'have J been paralysed when the truth was j, eventually revealed. I always' think these cables are bo important. • Indeed, Ave ;do

;";. .not have enough of them. What I should / '■"' like to see in every 'newspaper would be a -i& -special column devoted to "Court Casualk 'ties and Royal Ailments." /As thus, ; by ' way of example, "His Majesty Che King J:! of Spain was noticed to-day to be wearing ■'' a pimple on tho side of his nose. It is not s*: -thought- that an operation will .be necesV'leary/' Or, again, "Influenza is jprevalent ?i%iin London. The Prince of! Vales; whilst ■ out driving, is believed to: inhaled one in London. The Prince of Vales, whilst out driving, is believed to haip inhaled one Wof the microbes of the fell disease. .This ''. '■■>■'. theory' is supported .by. the.fact His '■".- ■ Highness-. was seen to blov his nose in " Piccadilly."; Another item that would be •.agerly read might run, "Sis Majesty the ■ ,',. ; King of Portugal, whils undergoing;, a ... ihave'at the hands 'of .the.Court barber, re- • ' vived a slight scratch. lis Majesty will, ' ,i. In .consequence, .'.be/unaleto attend any . -j> •■.■ . jublic functions .for. a iw'nth/: The funeral X.' A the barber takes plao to-night." • Yet ■ \'" more of ■ the like nature as, " The Sultan /■ ' of Turkey sneezed thre 1 times to-day, and \ /'/■ is' feared ;to" bo sickening;forthe mumps," /<Y. and "The Shah of Brsia sat on a pin, ; '' ■■ surreptitiously placed in. a cushion on a -: /- divan.- Fortunately, the business end of jJffMthejpm was turned downwards." .' < , t THE <" KNOW-NOTHING" POLICY. What a very dry /umour the Hon. Goo. r \ Towldsmust be poised; of. Auckland's one Minster was most entertaining last v :.'- week ■ii his . reply to the Knyvett deputa- ■ "'■. tion, - feme people refer to his attitude on ' the tuning question of justice to ; Captain 'i.'. ;: ■;■':';KnyVi" as "hedging." The term eeems •, ■ . apt erugh when r you: consider the circum- • stance, Here we have a Minister, elected in first place by the people of Auck- ' 1 , landjrho, when Aucklauders go to. him ,;.'..'■ with ■ grievance to redress,/naively confeasslhat he does not know the whole : of . the fcts. He could not be : expected, he • ; Vpleadl, to : know. all the details of a case "' that ame under a brother Minister's De- " partent. Droll Mr. Fowlds! As Minis- . ter V Education he i« to know nothing " ; ; r/'-Aof flat the Minister. for Defence is doing. 'Con/iuehtly when Cabinet ;.recommended .' -tote Governor that Captain Knyvett be - iisrsscd, it is to be assumed, that Mr. If^^lpvls, 1 /knowing not "■ the . whole .facts, ', - Willy voted with the rest of the /• Mistry. And, if the • principle be '■■■'•■ folwed out, presumably the other //./inebers of Cabinet knew not the facts, - : baiise the matter was not in their De- ' • ' . lament, and they . too, I suppose, voted . .bWly on the issue. Mr. Fowlds said he '.'/,.re prepared to answer to his constituents /-/ '..'■{' the way he had acted in connection ;•;/ •■ /th the' Knyvett injustice. I am. glad, of ;'.;,■ •at, because his constituents are - sure to / ;■:'. jk^thoMinister a few pertinent questions :.- .. ;.i due course. It will be so much niceri : '.,_{ the member for : Grey Lynn is prepared ; ; ;',o reply, as he says ho wilt be. : When Mr. .:., Massey becomes Prime Minister, the first . ;/. -..'.'thing he will have to do will be -to let the /-.- members ,of his Cabinet understand that , , not to know things, whilst it may be con- '•; venient in a,pinch, will not be the most successful way of pleasing . the people. , : J. -iinisters should be above "hedging," even ■■/*|^. that quality'does tend to bring out their ;. Gilbertian propensities. i; - v > -' ...' ->" 'v -.-'■ ■.•'•'■■■!. '.:> '--'. '

THE CURFEW BELL. H ■■{ The Rev. ■ Canon Bevan, at ■ Goulbum ;;'; J (X.S.W.), speaking recently on "Tho Do- :,;;| cay of. Home Life," is reported to have advocated tho revival of the curfew bell. At J 4 the risk of being considered an old cur-, r lj mudgeon, I must say that, to a certain ex-. H tent, I agree with Mr. Bevan. There should :.5 be.some means of keeping young girls and M boys off , the streets after a certain early H hour at night, and most of us know it. In Auckland the main thorough faros are p? crowded on Saturday nights with promem naders, a great many of whom are mere H children, who ought to be in bed at eight ■| p.m., 'instead of being allowed to prowl | about the city until 10 p.m. and later. ;.'j Cirls in their teens parade Queen-street in g twos and threes, and are ogled and '.accosti:l ed : by boys in their teens, by youths whoso .J-, Voices are breaking, and who consequently 1 • imagine they are in tho full years of ■ man-' ||~: v hood, and by men who ought to know t% welter. The consequence is that■ these girls || ;mu many instances become bold and " know- ■ ; mg' at an age when they should; be culti- » . l?ting modesty and the womanly qualities. r,K •They affect airs, and imbibe, desires for if' forbidden pleasures; they grow cheeky, $. *nd commence to throw'off . with, .tesenU

rrienfc the . influence of guardianship : and home. . In a percentage 'of-, sad cases this is the first step to vice, and the sequel is written in the hearts of many, a sorrowing parent. And, as with the girls, bo with tho boys, who are permitted to roam abroad at night without control. ..How often do we see such lack of 'restraint on the part of those Who : .ought. to restrain them leading ;to ■ looseness 'of . character? Smoking, the use of a vivid vocabulary, and .a " saucy way with the girls," are amongst the, desideratum of the lad who is on the streets by night, to the neglect.of his. physical and moral health. These are some of my reasons for believing that' the curfew law; or some enactment having a similar effect, would not be a bad one to bring into operation here. It would be a step, in the direction of, character-building, at any, rate, and other steps might easily be devised to follow. .

• THE WILY MOSQUITO. , Poor, old Father (who, as \ observed "on a previous occasion, is always in the wars, and terribly fond of '." growling"), has another grievance. This time it is the wily mosquito. Father bad me to himself in a corner, and. was bewailing ".hit* fate. " 1 can stand the heat,' he remarked, "though I prefer the cold, but' these angelic and beatific mosquitoes are the penultimate straw that breaks the eye of the needle." : (Father sometimes mixes metaphors.) "They're fearfully plentiful this summer," ..ho . lamented.' "I'm certain they've imbibed the teaching of the.late Mr. Scddon, and,are keeping their cradles: full with a; vengeance.";' "Do they bite 'you' very much':" I inquired., "Bite me?" ejaculated Father, "no, they stab mo; they spring at me'and: hit me; they gorge upon me; they . revel in' my gore. * The vampires! Look; at; this, and that, and those." baring his arms and' his legs, and opening his vest in front. '." There you.. see monuments to their iniquity. These, sir, are bumps, not bites, they arc mountains in the tracks of endless * troops of marauding ' zuz/ers,' ' whose tusks—l.': say tusks, sir, not stings—have penetrated: my suffering flesh. It is scandalous ; it ought/ not to be : allowed. Remedy? No, there is no -remedy, - rave death and, hang me. if I can ever, hit one of the brutes.:. I have tried mosquito nets, oh y yes. The unprincipled beasts, of prey, however, thought I was offering them a new competitive; game .At" all events, they competed with each other for the honour of being the first through, ami my devoted physiognomy was .their goal. ; They swarmed '•.'through that net in their thousands, : and,their tens of .thousands. Then ,I tried kerosene. That was no good. They drank it with gusto,. and it made r them more thirsty '.for my blood.' I used.so much kerosene that Mrs. Father would not sleep in the room, and "I. had to go to bed in the dark, afraid that if I struck a match the oil-steeped atmosphere would -catch fire. Eucalyptus oil was my next resort in my misery. Sir, I have bathed in eucalyptus oil until I am impervious to coughs, colds or any other lung troubles, but the 'mosquitoes \ still flock to my bedside, and grow fat upon me." One of his arch enemies at that-moment fastened upon poor old Father's eyelid, and. as I am no lover of violent scenes, nor unbecoming language, I took mv departure.' : At • the. same > time my sympathies^are^ with Father. The, mosquito pest is really "very bad this year. 1 * Tub Gen-erai.