NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18657, 13 March 1924, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA. An impressive record of a romance of the mission field is contained in an article by the Bishop of Egypt and the Sudan in the Empire Review. The Bishop describes an experience he had last summer in Central Africa. He was taken to see work done by a certain tribe by the Africans themselves.. In a clearing in the long grass on the occasion of a special visit over six hundred ' were gathered together, clad in beautiful white garments. The church was so packed that many stood under the verandahs. Seventy-two were confirmed, and two hundred and twenty attended the Holy Communion. " Fifteen teachers had brought their flpeks from the hamlets round, and a native clergyman superintended' the whole district. The teachers were all young fellows, who, in the other tribes, were the young sparks, the huntsmen of the tribe. Here they had a passion for learning. The building in which we worshipped, the clergy and teachers, the schools in the hamlets and the teachers, were all provided by the people themselves. If the British were to leave the country to-morrow, the writer was assured on the highest authority that these people would not only preserve their faith, but would train and equip missionaries from among themselves to spread the Faith of Christ in that part of Africa. This was only, one of many centres in that country. Here was an instance of a living African Church, a proof that where the eternal Gospel is preached by men and women filled with the Spirit of Godwhether in Britain in the early days, or in India or Africa in these latter . —vigorous Christian Churches spring up and become indigenous with powers of propagation." THE SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE. The view that the younger generation of to-day are more ignorant than their fathers has been challenged by Dean Inge. "We often hear that our newspapers have fallen off—that they are vulgar and superficial compared, with the Olympian , deliverances of . the Times fifty years ago." he wrote recently. "In a sense, this is undoubtedly true. The Times used to be written for a comparatively small; circle of educated people. Now all the papers are written for the great mass of the half-educated, who require a different kind of mental food. But the half-ignorant of to-day, who call the tune and pay the piper, were then wholly ignorant; there has . been a gain here, not a loss. Nor do I think that the articles in our best journals and reviews are in any way inferior to those of half a century ago. ' The great quarterlies of that date seem on the whole rather thin compared with what they are now. It is the characteristic of our age to produce a vast amount of very good second-class work. We have hardly any genius, but the absence of genius is not ignorance. An'd if it is still possible to accuse our younger men of ignorance, it is impossible to dispute the increase of knowledge and intelligence among women. It seems to me that the level of conversation in London society, or j- in such sections of it as. I frequent, has been ' steadily rising. Forty years ago j there were some women as brilliant as any who adorn the drawing-rooms of [ to-day; but there were also a great many I whose crass and unashamed ignorance made it difficult to talk' with them on any interesting subject. The war, or the vote, or the women's colleges, have altered all that, and a dull dinner-party has become the exception." WORLD-WID® PROHIBITION. The effect of prohibition in America has been discussed in the Century Magazine by Mr. C. E., Russell, looking at the question purely from the economic standpoint, without reference to the moral side. "The theory of prohibition may be good or bad it is to the physical fact of prohibition' that we chiefly owe the strangely placid economic waters in which we now navigate," he declares. "By exactly how much American prohibition has increased American productive efficiency is still to be put into figures, but we know enough about it to know that it is an increase of momentous importance in the world-wide market arena. "One thing that is clear is that it has put America into a position she never before occupied in these contests. For years previous to the war, international distribution was adjusted to a certain well-known balance of producing conditions. The admittedly superior intelligence and skill of the American workingman were offset by the high American wage scale; otherwise, American production would' have flooded the world. Prohibition in America has dislocated this adjustment. That this is so Americans who with impartial minds have lately studied European , conditions know well enough. Early in 1923 the Department of Commerce in Washington sent one of its skilled observers to note the state and prospects of' European trade. On his return he said he had found the master producers in all countries looking with wry faces at the new figures of American production and production costs. It was his conclusion, as it was theirs, that competition would drive Europe in selfdefence to adopt prohibition. The only escape from it would be a miracle that would restore the saloon in America, and no imagination can suggest a thing more ■ improbable. Such are the present aspects of the • prohibitionist's dream. While he .is , urging his favourite reform as the moral salvation of the world, economic pressure, which - bothers little about morals, but has greater power, is for quite other reasons driving forward the prohibitionist's . idea of automatic virtaa," *

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS. * . - ■ ', Prices for beef at the Westfield fat stock sales yesterday 'shewed ft slight improvement' compared with last week s rates. Extra choice 01 realised £1 6s per 1001b., other grades bringing from 12s to £1 ss, according to quality. Sheep prices improved on recent rates owipg to a rather restricted offering. Wethers brought from £1 6s 3d to £2 6s, ewes £1 to £1 10s 6d, lambs £1 Is to £1 8s 6d. Pig values showed an improvement on last week's prices, choppers and bacon pigs realising from £3 10s to £4 12s. An unusually heavy list of by-law cases was called in the Police Court yesterday, over 60 charges being set down for hearing. Many were of a minor nature. Though a considerable number of cases were adjourned for various reasons, proceedings were not concluded until late in the afternoon.. ' Tho job of assessment officer, as a general thing, is probably almost as unpopular as that of tax collector in many communities, but" apparently the people of Newmarket are very well contented with the official's assessments in that borough. The town clerk reported to the council last evening that only two objections had been lodged to the valuation list, and as these had both been withdrawn, there would be no sitting of the Assessment Court. This was the second year in succession in which a sitting of the Court had not been necessary, and it indicated the very satisfactory nature of assessments. The valuation ' figures now stood at £62,225, and this total would probably be increased at the end of the year by at least four or five per cent. The proper training of constables employed in traffic control in Auckland was strongly urged by Mr. G. Henning at a meeting of the Auckland Automobile Association last evening. He said he considered constables should specialise in this particular work. Young and inexperienced constables only added to the trouble at busy intersections. Tho consensus of opinion was that constables rapidly improved by experience of traffic at particular corners— learned their job. Those new to the work, on the other hand, were a positive menace to traffic. . It . was decided to bring this view to the notice of' the superintendent of police with a request that as far as possible the same constables be engaged constantly on traffic control. Consideration of the Glass Bottle Workers' dispute by the Disputes Investigation Committee, which was appointed as the result of a conciliation council failing to arrive at a settlement, has been deferred until to-morrow. A preliminary meeting of the committee was held yesterday, the chairman, Mr. E. C. Cutten, prosiding, and it was decided that the meeting should be adjourned as stated. ' A petition in bankruptcy has been filed by Samuel Joseph Thocnally, garage pro- . prietor, of 2-4, Dominion Road, Auckland. The amount due to unsecured creditors is £477 18s 4d, and to secured creditors £40. The assets total £282 9s 4d, leaving a deficiency of £195 9s. A meeting of creditors will be held next Wednesday at 11 a-m. A Whakatane storekeeper,, William Allan Traill, has filed a petition in bankruptcy with the official assignee. The creditors will meet at Whakatane on March 25.

A sum of £40,000 is being divided among wheatgrowers in Canterbury by the' Wheat Control Board. This represents the surplus , fronf" the equalisation fund. Millers were required to pay twopence . a bushel into, this fund above the amount paid to growers, to cover the cost of 'administration and possible losses on 1 operations. The cost of administration worked out at one-fifth of a penny per bushel, and no losses ■ were incurred. Thus growers get a dividend of 1 4-sd. .- A , motor-car : filled with passengers crashed into a cyclist on the Kaiti side of the William Pettie bridge, says a Gisborne paper, and as; a result Mr. Fred Jeune now lies in a private hospital severely injured. Both the front and rear wheels passed over his chest. He IS suffering from a broken collarbone and is badly cut about the face and bruised about the body. " What we want," said Mr. Justice Frazer, in the Arbitration Court in Wellington, "is a disputes oommittee -of • practical men who can go into a question and settle it without troubling about too many formalities. We do not want anybody who will, bother too much about the interpretation of clauses. If we got a lawyer on a job like this, he might wander off into all sorts of sid'e lines." V" ' ' ' . *1 1 , . Approximately 400 rabbits fell victims to strychnine-poisoned carrots at one of the Winslow plantations on Friday night, states an Ashburton correspondent. During the week good bait was laid regularly, and the rabbits fed well. On Friday the time arrived for poisoning the bait, with the result as stated. The breeding season is now on, and beside the number of rabbits killed, many hundreds of young, yet unable to shift for themselves, must perish An inspection of the plantation on Saturday revealed the efficiency of the method adopted. The great majority of the rabbits must have perished within a few seconds of taking the bait, for they dropped, on, or within inches of, the bait line. Some, no doubt, made for their burrrows, but death overtook them on the way. One of the men who witnessed a rabbit taking poisoned carrot said .that death occurred within a very few seconds. To see one woman administer a sound thrashing to another woman is not a usual sight,; but such a happening occurred in Wellington on Monday. And thereby hangs a tale, says a Wellington paper, for the parties interested are a husband and wife and a young lady shop assistant. As the young lady will possibly not be content to allow the matter, to remain where it is, further interesting developments are to be expected. " " The amount of wool -which has come down from the Wairarapa this year, and from beyond that, has been tearing tip our roads in open competition with the railways," remarked the Mayor of Lower Hutt, Mr. W. T. Strand, when advocating a substantial tax,;'on - all heavy motor vehicles. As taxpayers, he declared, me railways should be our ooncern, as interest and sinking fund had to be provided in that connection. At present the heavy motor vehicles had not to meet anything in the way of a substantial tax, although the roads were admittedly suffering. A number of sharks have been seen lately swimming in the inner harbour at Napier. At the breakwater a fishing enthusiast had an .experience which ; lie is not likely to forget in a hurry. He was cray-fishing with a net which became entangled. In order to free the net he put his arm in the water. As he did so a shark suddenly appeared and made a snap at his arm, but fortunately for himself he managed to withdraw his limb in time. The fishermen estimated the : • shark to be about v Bft. or Bft, in length* ■