HERE AND THERE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1201, 8 March 1895, Page 30

HERE AND THERE.

CLIPPINGS, CONDENSATIONS AND COMMENTS.

The Theosophists are making even more more mystery than ever they have done concerning those vory mysterions individuals, the Mahatamas. A writer in Lucifer , a theosophist-cttm-spiritualistic organ, describes the experiences of a recent pilgrim to Thibet, and says : —“ I have often been asked by the many tourists who come to Darjeeling, ‘ Have you seen a Mahatama V Well, my reply has invariably been that of the lamas themselves, The lamas all believe in such perfected Arhats, who, they say, watch over and protect them. But none but their highest know which of their number has reached such perfection. You may sit side by side with one of the ‘ Great Souls ’ and yet not know it ; for such 3ages never work directly, but always through a third party ; they benefit the order and the people by intermediaries, and their direct agency is as unseen as the track of birds in the air." Another Theosophist, writing in the Arena , says: —“The fact that there are to-day but thirty three living masters of the Inner Temple of the Mystic Brotherhood, that their lives are from necessity very exclusive, that there are so few who could be entrusted with the knowledge they possess, makes access to them most difficult." Commenting upon this Mr Stead, whose credulity apparently does not extend to Theosophy, somewhat pertinently remarks:— “lf these Indian brothers of ours can be counted to the number of thirty-three, it is a great pity, say, that the thiriy-third cannot be spared to furnish us with some indubitable evidence as to the existence of himself and his thirty-two brethren." Of course, the Mahatatnas and everything pertaining to them are just so much fudge ! I

THE MAHATAMAS.

Excepting the Sydney Morning Herald , colonial newspapers are not remarkable for their size. In America the papers “ run big.” The Newspaper Museum in Aix la-Chapelle, contains a copy of the .world’s largest newspaper —namely the Illuminated Quadruple Constellation, published in New York, in the year 1859. The paper is similar in form to the surface of a billiard table, and measures eight and one-half m height by six feet in width. It contains eight pages, each of thirteen columns, and these are forty-eight inches long. The paper on which it is printed is extremely durable and strong, and each ream weighed three hundredweight. Forty people were occupied continually for eight weeks in order to bring out the lirst issue of this remarkable newspaper, which it is proposed to publish once in one hundred years. Another large newspaper was the number recently issued by the New York World, on the occasion of its tenth birthday. It consisted of one hundred page 3 of the usual newspaper size, enclosed in a coloured wrapper, with a design that had been specially executed for the occasion.

THE world’s LARGEST NEWSPAPER.

The Bulletin’'s views on the “ colour line/' as proposed to be applied t<* labour on ocean mail boats, are original and interesting : —“ The P. and O. Co.’s local manager declares that Australiahas no right to demand the abolition of Lascar labour on board the State subsidised P. and. O. mail boats, because the Lascars are ‘just as much British subjects as are the Austra lians/ and are entitled to exactly the same privileges. Let them have the same privileges, then. As soon as the British authorities recognise the Indian’s equality by giving him a Parliament based on manhood suffrage, and a nigger Ministry to run the whole business of Government, and entirely withdraws the British armed forces, and as soon as the P. and O. Co. recognises the Lascar’s equality by tilling their boats with cheap nigger captains and officers, then the Bulletin will recognise that the Lascar is the same sort of British subject as the Englishman and the Australian. But for the present it states, on the authority of the British Government and the P. and O. Co., shat he isn’t, and acts accordingly."

THE COLOUR LINE.

Mr Jerome K. Jerome, the author of “ Three Men in a Boat," thus states the reasons (in his weekly paper To Day) for which ho would not not like to be the German Emperor “ During his recent visit to Thurn he received a deputation from the confectioners of the town. They pre sented him with a model of a house. It weighed 7cwt., and was made entirely of gingerbread and sugar. Now 7cwt. of gingerbread and sugar is no laughing matter. The Emperor was delighted with the present, and with great presence of mind had it sent to his sons at Pots dam. As long as they refrain from eating it, it may delight them as well. A couple of the aitics and a staircase out of that house would be too much for the ordinary digestion, and any attempt to eat the entire freehold would probably be dangerous to life. A doorstep or a mouthful out of the back kitchen is aa much as the Emperor’s sons should attempt. Probably the Emperor has

PITV THE TOOK EMTEKOR.

chosen the wiser p;irt in merely admiring the monstrosity and then passing it on to somebody else.

A French writer, Baron de Malortie, has just published a book of gossip, entitled “’Twixt Old Times and New," in which we find the following wicked little story of an English Prime Minister —identity not stated:—“ It is said that the statesmen (just then out of office) laughingly asked a certain lovely young D.ichess fora kiss, whereupon she dictated the following promissory note : ‘1 , Earl of X., etc., K G., hereby solemnly promise and undertake to appoint her Grace the Duchess of Z. Mistress of the Robes ( to Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen | Empress of the Waves, the next time 1 shall be entrusted with the formation of ja Cabinet, and this in exchange for a kiss, value received.’ Lord X. duly signed and sealed the document, and handed it back to the Shy lock in petticoats. The sequel declares that when Lord X. next returned from Windsor entrusted with the formation of a Minis try, he found the Duchess waiting for him to demand the fulfilment of the bond. The statesman said it wa3 impossible. ‘The Queen-Empress herself couldn’t do it, and I would never dare to propose you. Think of your youth, your origin ; why, you are a foreigner, and all ihe old duchesses would tear my eyes out.’ Lord X added that he would make her husband Master of the Buckhounds instead This proposal as an equivalent the duchess scouted. ‘As true as my name is Loo,’ she. said, ‘you will find this little document (the promissory note) in all the Opposition papers, and that not later than this evening, unless I receive my nomination as Mistress of the Robes before you leave this room. If lam not to have my appointment, I shall, at any rate, have the satisfaction of seeing you lose yours before we are twenty four hours older.’ The Earl was in despair, but finally gave way. He went to the castle and returned with the coveted patent."

THE VALUE OE A KISS.

-'I Uli V UJL I'll U WE WORLD'S t CARRYING 1 TRADE. I

I: English magazines for December, Mr Mulhall, 1 he celebrated statistician, las a fascinating article on ;he carrying trade of the world. Speaking of the mercantile marine, he says :—The main facts to be borne in mind in connection with the carrying trade on the high seas are these: (1) That we possess fifty-six per cent, of the carrying power of the world ; (2) that Tie trade between Great Britain and her Colonies is growing much more rapidly than the general commerce of the world ; (3) that our seamen carry more merchandise per man than those of other nations, and four times as much as the British seamen of 1860 ; )4) that our annual loss by shipwreck is only half that of other nations as compared with tonnage afloat. Passing on he considers the railways, in which L 6,350,000,000 of capital has been sunk, returning a dividend of an average of three per cent. Mr Mulhall says :—The life of a locomotive is fifteen years, during which time it will run 240,000 miles, carry 600,000 tons, or 1,000 000 passeng rs, and earn LOO,OOO ; its ordinary power is 300-horse, and its first cost L2OOO. The number of loco motives at work is 110,000 representing an approximate value of 200 millions sterling, while that of the shipping of all nations is about 220 millions. He calculates that the railways give employment to 2,394,000 people, while shipping only employs The gross receipts of the carrying trade in which the above men are employed amount to about 650 millions sterling per annum, which is equal to LIBO per man, or nearly L 2,000,000 per day.

Judges, says the Australasian in a recent/ issue, Dave to enquire into many curious things, and Mr Justice A’Beckett is at present enlarging his experience by a minute inspection of ladies’ co sets, an action having been commenced before him yesterday in which Mrs Flizabeth Merrillees, ofSwanston s reet, Melbourne, sued Mrs Hannah Rhodes, of Lonsdale street, claiming L 250 and an injunction in respect of an alleged infringement of a patent obtained by the plaintiff for “ an improved combined corset and abdominal belt." The corset was patented in Victoria in June, 1893, and plaintiff alleged that the defendant was now making and selling combined corsets which were only colourably different from the plaintiff’s. The defence was that there had been no infringement, and that British letters patent of the alleged invention had been granted to Madame Cave prior to the date of the plaintiff’s patent. Mr Hayes, instructed by Mr F. G. Smith, jun., was for the plaintiff, and Mr Kilpatrick, instructed by Messrs Lynch and M’Donald, for the defendant. The barristers’ table was covered with models of busts on which the various corsets were displayed, and these were handed backwards and forwards from counsel to the witnesses, and from the witnesses to the judge, as their points of agreement and difference were elaborately 'explained. Mr H. M O’Hara, who was a witness for the plaintiff, said it was difficult to explain the corsets excpt on the living model ; and it is likely that during the hearing an adjournment to chambers pioposed to enable the sugges-

A DELICATE CASE.

tion to be adopted. The case stands part heard.

An American writer, Mr Du Bois, has an article in the December Century on the subject. We make the following extract : —As we have defined science as the verification of the ideal in nature, so now we’would define religion as the verification of the spiritual in human life. Thus we see that faith, instead of being “no longer in contact with fact of any kind," is daily coming into line with the known facts of nature aud man. But however conflicting and diverse the views of theolo.-y, back of all lies the solid fact of human experience. This is the basis of religion—the verification of the spiritual in life. Doctrines of theology, like theories of science, have their day, and give place to better, but the basis ot both is the same Faith is thus not a dream ; it is r.ot merely the substance of things hoped for —it is the evidence of things unseen.

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Conan Doyle, the physician and novelist, thinks that brain paralysis will be the horror of the future. Scientists are learning how to tackle almost all the especially fatal diseases of the present and the past, but no one has made any progress worth speaking of in dealing with paralysis, which keeps steadily increasing as other horrors diminish, Paralysis is the disease that you get through long and agonising research after ways of curing other diseases. Nobody knows exactly what causes it, but it seems to arise from too much hustling as often as fr< m any other cause. Paralysis is one of the conse quences of success, and what shall it profit a man if he discovers a dozen entirely new microbes, or gets his paper to press in good time evety night for 20 years, when at last he finds his speech beginning to get thick, and he has to stop every now and then because he can’t find the word that he wants, and he has a sensation as if the top of his head was lighter than the lower part of it, and his tongue has an enlarged and helpless feeling in his mouth, and he begins to write “by sound,’’ so that .when he wants to set down “ beginning ” lie, as likely as not, writes “gehenna" simply because the two words have a faint resemblance to one another? Then if he has any one dependant upon him, about the only thing that is left for him to do is to insure his life as often its' possible, and to appoint a respectable trustees Co. as his executors, and sell his bank shares for whatever they will fetch to save his widow from calls. And after that he can lie back and reflect that he is going to end his days as a patient idiot smiling at all the world, with an attendant to wash him because he won’t know how to wash himself, and to prevent him wandeiing peacefully into the dust-bin, and to bring him in out of the wet.— Bulletin,

DRAIN PARALYSIS.

Mr F. H. Hardy discusses in the Forum the lessons of the recent American elections', over the practical results of which most of us New Zealanders are just a trifle foggy. Mr Hardy is a Freetrader, and parodioxically sees a good augury for his cause in t ie return of a Protectionist majority. He says : —“ While, however, we must consider the verdict of the polls as largely as the result of questions other than the Tariff, in face of its apparent Protection colour, yet it is a distinct gain for the cause of freer trade between Hnglaud and the United States—the first real step in a real progress toward freer trade than has yet been made. The election has gone a long way in the direction of removing these two great obstacles to the successful advocacy of freer trade. Tammany has received a heavy blow in New York, and the Solid South shows signs of breaking up. Bub the result of the election has done even more important work for the politicians ; for them it has cleared the air wonderfully. The recent elections opens a way for a reduction in national expenditure equal to one-third of Lire present appropriation. It also marks the beginning of a ref -rm movement in the States and municipal affairs which promises, when complete, to relieve the people of at least 50 per cent, of the direct taxation under which they new lie."

THE RECENT AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

One of the most costly crowns in existence is that of the King of Portugal. The jewels which ornament it are valued at £1,600,000. The crown which the Czar of Russia wears on special occasions is also one of the most precious in the world. The cross vs hich surmounts the crown is composed of live magnificent diamonds resting on a large uncut but polished ruby. The small crown of the Czarina contains, according to authorities, the finest stenes ever strung. The crown of the Queen of England, which is valued at £66,000, contains a great ruby, a large sapphire, sixteen small sapphires, eight emeralds, four small rubies, 1660 brilliants, .1276 rose diamonds, four pearformed pearls, and 260 of other shapes. In his state clothes, including the crown, the Sultan of Juhore wears diamonds worth £2,400,000. Mis collar, his epualettes, his girdle, and his cull’s sparkle with the precious stones. Mis bracelets are of massive gold, and his fingers are covered with rings which are

VALU 15 OF HOY A L OiiOWNS.

almost priceless. The handle and the blade of his 3\vord are covered with precious stones. The most costly insignia of princely dignity, however, are those of the Sultan or Maharajah of Baroda, in India. The chief ornament is a necklace of five strings containing 500 diamonds, some of which are as large as hazelnuts. The upper and lower rows ci nsists of emeralds of the same size.

One of the latest historical lectures delivered at Oxford by the late J. L. Froude is reprinted in a recent issue of Longman's Magazine. The subject is mainly the growth and strength of Protestantism, the period dealt; with, of course, that of the deceased historian’s favourite Elizabeth. Mr Froude strongly combats the frequently alleged theory that early Protestantism was nothing but dogmatical. On this subject he says:— “ The Reformation at its origin was no introduction of novel heresies. It was a revolt of the laity of Europe against the profligacy andavarice of the clergy. . The Popes and cardinals pretended to be the representatives of Heaven. Wiien called to account for abuse of their own powers, they had behaved precisely as mere corrupt human kings and aristocracies behave. They had intrigued ; they had excommunicated ; they had set nation against nation, sovereigns against their subjects ; they had encouraged assassi nation ; they had made themselves infamous by horrid massacres, and had taught one half of foolish Christendom to hate the other. The hearts of the poor English seamen w'hose comrades had been burnt at Seville to make a Spanish holiday thrilled with a sacred determination to end such scenes. The i urpose that was in them broke into a wild war music, as the wind harp swells and sciearns under the breath of the storm."

MR EROUDE ON PROTESTANTISM.

The young Czar Nicholas is to have a uner yacht than eveu the German Emperor or Mr Vanderbilt possess. Says Modern Society : ‘‘The most splendid yacht which has ever been built will be finished at Copenhagen in a few day in It is destined for the Czar Nicholas IL , and is called the Standard. It is 425 feet long (the Polar Star is only 350), and possesses two powerful machines of 10,000 horsepci.ver, which will''allow the vessel to make a speed of twenty miles an hour. The crew of the Standard will be composed of 20 officers and 350 nnn-commis-siolied officers and sailors. The interior, with the furniture of the saloons and cabins, will not have iis equal in the world. The vessel has coat ten millions of francs and was commenced during the late Czir’s visit to Denmark. The Standard will be launched, according to th.t rrrdeaa bf : the Emperor Nicholas, on tho'TOth of hext March, the birthday of hit'father."

MAGNIFICENI YACHT.

In the j Fornightly Review, Major-General ••-Sir Evelyn \Vood . con- = tinues his reminiscences of the Crimea. The British soldiers went through some terrible experiences in the trenches before Sebastopol. Here is a striking description of how Sir Evelyn was almost frozen to death: second week of December, I went to sleep in the 21 gun battery about 8 p. m. ? when it was freezing, and ,4.. was more anxious tp get out of the wind than into a dry spot. The wind dropped, and it rained about 2 am., when, although I felt I was getting wet, I was too tired to rise. When X, tried to do so just before daylight, 1 cotild not move, the water having frozen; around me, for with the coming day the temperature had fallen. My comrades carried me back and, putting hot bottles to my feet and_ around my body, with loving care and kttention saved me from frost-bite."

IN THE CRIMEAN - TRENCHES

“ Our armies swore terribly in Flanders,” said Sterne’s Uncle Toby, lie should have heard a colonial bullock - driver, who, we now read in an article in that excellent American magazine, the Cosmopolitan , is himself rivalled by the Mississippi river steamer “roustabout." The writer says : “So accustomed to authority are the roustabouts that they will do nothing without the word "of ; and even when they set about obeying an order, it is with such a total disregard for the result, and with such snail-paced motion, that they must be stimulated from time to time by repetitions of the command, interspersed with choice profanity. This may be shocking to the stranger, but it seems to be taken as a matter of course. It is not the same as profanity in polite society : it means nothing on the part of the mate except a peculiar way in which he emphasises his commands ; and the roustabout sees in it nothing but a measure o f the importance of the command. A command may bo given to haul in a line. Some of the men take hold of it and throw themselves bade lazily, exercising not a hundredth part of their power. After two or three ineffectual attempts to accomplish the task, the mate flies into a passion and lets go a volley of profanity that tints the atmosphere, and the men surge back on the line as though they had just awakened to consciousness. A small ferry, made of Choctaw logs, used fir carrying teams across the bayou, was left stranded on the bank by the falling

THE USES OF CROFANITV.

water. The planter asked the captain to have his men go out and carry it 4 ow n to the water. About forty roustabouts shuffled out and gathered about the raft. As if obeying the order, they took hold of the raft and pretended to lift, no one of them expending enough strength to carry a watermelon. After two or three attempts to move the raft, they straightened up and looked enquiringly at the boat, to see what was the next thing on the programme. Meantime, the mate, who had been bandying pleasantries with acquaintances on the bank, glanced up, took in the situation, and rushed ashore. Running up to the raft, he jumped upon it and, with a sharp, crisp oath, ordered the men to carry it to the water. The command hardly left his lips before the men seized the feriy and walked with it and the mate to the b.nk of the bavou.

The man, wheher statesman or parish pump orator, who sends on an advance or “ special" copy of his soeecli to a newspaper, makes a rod for his back. The poor slave has to drawl through every line and every word for fear the printed alfair should not agree with the spoken piece His audience yawn and gape till it is til e l with this imposition on its patience. The newspaper which gets the speech is placed in a quandary as to where the applause should come in. In a case that once came to our knowledge it was considered the wisest course to only allow an? app ause when the speaker sat down. The editor concluded that the audience would express its pleasure in that way when the end of the speaker’s jeremiad came to its weary end.—Exchange.

ADVANCE COPIES OF SPEECHES.

“Walter Gihsnp, 175 pieces; Milton Gibson, 250 ; John Drake, 300; Ficderick Ranney, 300 ; iShellmaii Stewan, 60 ; Langdon Howes, 75 ; Muriay Saunders, 40 ; Robert Henning, 60 ; Albert Wallace, 60." A boy at Montclair (New Jersey), named Griffith, was desperately burned, but the doctors informed his parents that if they cou'd could get a sufficient number of persons who would volunteer to contribute 5,000 pieces of their skin to graft on to the parts lefc bare by the burns, they might save his life. No lack of volunteers stood in the w.<y of , the experiment. The parents were the first to offer themselves, a score of healthy men in the neighbourhood followed suit, and the grafting process, which was begun on August, has been carried on ever since, with the result that Master Frederick Griffith has already 2,000 pieces of skin from other persons growing on his body. By February the doctors hoped to have entirely completed the upholstering of the little patient#' ihough many months must still elapse before he is able to quit his bed. The story* of course, comes America.

A COMPOSITE SKIN.

It is a pity that Macaulay is not living In review the Memoirs of Barras, whom the great historian declared to have beet) one of the wickedest men the world has ever known. The memoirs were to be published in Paris last March, and the Saturday Peview gives some extracts from an advance copy. The first account is of the dramatic overthrow of Robesperre, on IX Thermidor, from vhich some advance extracts are tianslated :—“ln the evening session of the IX. Thermidor (writes Barras), the Convention appointed me, in the place of Henriot, General in-chief of the armed forces of Paris. With my decree in my hand I left the hall exclaiming, ‘ I go to my post, remain at yours.’ Henriot was outside with his soldiers. I cried to them in , a loud voice, ‘ Leave this place wretches ; Henriot is an outlaw.’ Some soldiers and a few citizens who followed me exclaimed in their turn, ‘ Obey Barras, he.is the General-in-chief.’ At this, fear seized the insurgents and their cowardly commander ; all ran away in confusion towards the Hotel de Villo." Barras adds that having only 4000 men, he wished to avoid a combat, and feared having to fire on the Hotel de Ville. The building, however was taken without resistance, and xtr is noteworthy that Barras contradicts the statement that Robespierre’s jaw was broken by a pistol-shot from the Gendarme Mdda while the Dictator was in the act of writing. The memoir runs:—“l was on the staircase when the sound of several pistol-shots made me fear something serious had happened. And, indeed, on entering the hall I perceived that Robespierre had broken his jaw with one of Le Bas’ pistols ; Le Bas, with the other, had blown out his own brains, and Couthon was dead from a pistol-shot. Robespierre was carried to a small room, at the door of which was stretched L 9 Bas. SaintJust was caring for Robespierre, while Henriot had hidden in a closet. I could not witness this horrible spectacle. I went out and ordered that Robespierre be earned to the salon of the Committee of Public Safety and placed on a table. '’ It is further stated that eight days after wards the table around which the members of the committee sat was still red with the blood of Robespierre.

THE MEMOIRS OF BARRAS.