HERE AND THERE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1208, 26 April 1895, Page 8

HERE AND THERE.

CLIPPINGS, CONDENSATIONS, AND COMMENTS. Stables, M.D., an English doetot 4 Who Writes., Seightio atid Nature Notes " for some , bl the leading provincial papers, has been having a determined tilt at the growing evil of systematic indulgence in morphia and similar narcotics. He says, inter alia: —"The drugs mostly used are stimulating 1 narcotics and the drunkards are moitlv women.

Db Gordon

Many Of belong to the,hi§fte£. r'4iiks 6f society—wonie'n who Arid, iri tlVese darigerous drugs an 'easfer, arid riWr'e genteel j of Wetting l jil'e&saii'tly intoxicated than ojr dririMii* brandy. Some years ago the SyS'up of the hydrate of chloral usea tr> be a favourite narcotic and intoxicant. The 1 deadly stuff slew its thousands, and helped to fill inebriate homes and.private asylums. It is not at jjreseiit, I believe, "in such high repute. Laudanum and solution of riiu'riate of morphia still hold sway, bowever. A lady began taking a few drops of the latter in tea of au afternoon when about twenty-fivo years of age. She is now thirty-five and prematurely old, arid no wonder she never has less than seven ounces of launanum a . day-. A favourite tipple with some ladi'ei—especially, I think, on long sea voyages—is eau de Cologne. Those who drink it hardly know the danger they incur. It is only the rectified spirits in it that stimulate ; the other ingredients or oils are -very deleterious, if not poisonous. But one of the most deadly drugs a woman can drink is ehlorodyrie. When she takes to this she has sold herself body arid BOiil to the devil, and at a very low price indeed. CBlorodyne contains not only capsicum and peppermint, but Indian hemp, morphia, chloroform, and pru3sic acid.

An American writer, Mr J. M. Hubbard, baa a somewhat notable article in the, Aitdnti'c l&dhkhly on " Russia as a civilizing Force/' Mr, Hubbard contends that Russia's conquests in Central Asia have been for the ultimate benefit of the native races brought under" subjection. For instance, he says, "a Russian colonel, with eight native assistants, now administers a district containing thirty thousand people ' who quite recently were robbers and thieves by profession.' Another officer, Colonel Alikhanoff, himself an Asiatic Moslem, has in a surprisingly short time reduced to order the most turbulent and bloodthirsty.,'of the Turcoman tribes. He has extirpated slavery among them, liberating seven hundred slaves held by a single tribe. The Russian has accomplished in twenty years what the Frenchman has failed to secure in Algeria in sixty years. The conditions are very similar. Yet the Asiatic Moslem lives in content under his Russian ruler, while the African Moslem would rise against his French master tomorrow, if he dared." The Siberian railway, Mr Hubbard also alleges, does not mean military aggression but economic progress.

RUSSIA. IK ABIAv

The contemptible character of a certain section of the Parisian press has recently found expression in the comments passed on the Elbe-Crathie collision. Mr Joseph H#tton, in his "Cigarette Papers "in the London Globe writes as follows : —" The Autorite, the Figaro, and the Lanterne have found sufficient warrant in the Elbe incident, to denounce the British sailor as ' brutal' and. an English captain wilfully deserting a sinking ship in its highest need as 'just what might be expected from an English sailor/ It is not very long since Berlin, with the fullest justificaapplauded the gallantry of the English life-bOatmen who saved all the crew and passengers of a steamer belonging to the German line that was wrecked off the Isle Of Wight, and the history of the sea bristles .with acts of gallantry and selfsacrifice of the British tar. There is no Government under the sun that has not paid honourable tribute to him for saving their subjects at sea. Never was a grosser or more gratuitous libel on the British mercantile and Royal naval marine than the bitter assaults of the French press. If they would turn to the story of English victories in the days of Napoleon they might find ample evidence of Jack's humanity. Many a British tar has risked his life to save the defeated French when they hurled themselves into the sea from their burning ships or were struggling to save themselves from battered wrecks. 'The Story of the Sea* is a tragic story, but if English courage and humanity needed any defence from French aspersions it would be found on every page of its romantic annals."

THE , ;: RENCH ' PRESS ON ENGLISH SAILORS.

Longman's > Magazine continues to publish the late Mr Froude's lectures on " English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century/' A brilliant picture is that drawn by the deceased historian of Drake's famous onslaught on Cadiz. Here is an extract: —On the 18th (April) he had the white houses of Cadiz right in front of him, and could see for himself the forests of masts ©n the ships and transports with which the harbour was choked. Here was a chance for a piece of service if there was courage for the venture. He signalled for his officers to come on board the Buonaventura. There before their eyes was, if not the Armada itself, the materials which were to fit the Armada for the seas. Did they dare to go in with him and destroy them ? There were batteries at the harbour mouth, but Drake's mariners had faced Spanish batteries at San Domingo and Carthagena, and had not found them very formidable. G-o in? Of course they would. Where Drake would lead the corsairs of Plymouth were never afraid to

drake's DASH ON CADIZ.

follow. . . It was not the business of an English fleet to be particular about danger. Straight in they went with a fair wind and a flood tide, ran past the batteries and under a storm of shot, to which they did not trouble themselves to wait to reply. > all,this re'St.da&tie'd ttiij gaiik the" j jf Hardship— a large galleon—and sent flying a fleet of galleys which ventured too near them and were never seen again. Further I resistance there was none—absolutely none. The crews of the store ships escaped in their boats to land. . . Drake had no j of landing; . At,. \ii feitreble i leistire h'e toßk 'of the .Spanish shipping, searched eyery vessel, and carried sfl; everything that he could rise'. He detained as prisoners the few nien that he found oh board, and then, after doing his work deliberately and completely, ( he set the hulls on fire, cut the cables, and ieft them to drive oh the rising tide tinder the walla of the town—a confused mass of blazing ruin. On the 12th of April he had sailed from Plymouth; on the 19fch he entered Cadiz harbour j on the Ist of May he passed out again without the loss of a boat or a man. He said in jest that he had singed the King of Spain's beard for him. In sober prose, he had done the King of Spain an amount of damage which a million ducat 3 and a year's labdur Would imperfectly replace.

The Misses Alta and Edith Rockefeller, of New York, are the wealthiest heiresses in existence, says CasselVs Saturday Journal ; each will inherit 37, 00 0,000 at her father's death. The former is just 25, of medium height, plump figure, with bright eyes, dark golden hair, and a very pleasant expression. Her sister, although only 23 yesrs of age, is more matronly in look, act, and speech. But there is a marked family likeness between the two. Both are reserved, self-contained girls, who never " gush.' They are not in any fashionable clique. They wear the plainest of gowns—rilade at home".

GIRL dILLIONAIBES

Home Eule for Ireland looms up big in the National Review for February, which contains several articles discussing this question. One writer, Lord utauiuuic, wuuld solve the Irish problem by the establishment of Provincial Councils. He says :— *• The only form of compromise which could hope for any general acceptance would therefore appear to be the creation of Provincial Councils for Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, empowered to deal legislatively with certain subjects, strictly denned by Parliament, and armed with large powers, but, like all local institutions in Great Britain, BUbject to the direct control of the Imperial Government and the Imperial Parliament—a Government in which Irishmen usually find a place, and a Parliament in which Ireland is, proportionately to its population, laigely over-repre-sented."

THE IRISH QUESTION.

Another write*, Sir John Leng, M.P., who was for " Home Kule all round,'' and therefore was not satisfied with Ml? Glad* stone's scheme, makes the following sugges* tion.:—" That before another attempt is made to settle the question of Home Rule for Ireland, a National Convention should be held in Ireland to determine the heads of a measure that would satisfy Ireland itself. Let the great majority of patriotic Irishmen come to an agreement among: themselves as as to their proposals for Home Rule, and such an agreement would carry immense weight with all who are anxious, as I am, to give every part of the kingdom the fullest degree of Home Rule, consistent with the maintenance of Imperial unity, and the Imperial Parliament. I believe that all the difficulties of the question will be best solved by devolving on the subordinate Legislature in each country the duty of legislating for the local and domestic requirements of that country; but reserving for the Imperial Parliament all Imperial questions and all matters of comm -n interest very much as they are reserved to the Congress of the United States or the Dominion Government of Canada."

Carlylb wrote to his sister Jean an account of his interview with the Qaeen. It is published for the first time in a recent issue of the Athenceum. The interview, .it will be remembered, took place at the house of Daan Stanley. Carlyle sayp : —'• The. Stanleys and we were all in a flow of talk, and some flunkeys had done setting coffee pots and tea cups of a sublime pattern, when her Majesty, punctual to the minute, glided in, escorted by her Dame-in waiting (a Duchess Dowager of Athol), and by the Princess Louise, decidedly a vrry pretty young lady, and clever, too, ns I form I "nt in talking to her afterward*. TS; (.Vwn i*am«softly forward, a kindly l".l,. -.juilc :.,-> her face, gently shook hands wtih ail iho three women, gently acknowledged with a nod the silent bows of us male monsters ; and directly in her presence everyone was at ease again. She is a comely little lady, with a pair of kind, clear, and intelligent grey eyes; still looks almost young (in spite of one broad wrinkle which shows on each cheek occasionally) ; is still plump ; has a fine low voice, soft; indeed, her whole manner-is melodiously perfect. It is impossible to imagine a politer little woman ; nothing the least imperious ; all gentle, all sincere, looking unembarrassing—rather attractive even ; makes you feel, too (if you have any sense in you), that she is Queen.

C VRI-Yuß AND HE QUEEK

Ous old {friend, Mr A. J. Wilson, of the Investors' Review, is apparently giving New Zealand a rest just now. His latest pessimistic onslaught is on Italy, which he considers is hopelessly insolvent. He sums up the present position of Italy in the following unsparing terms :—" Weighted as Italy is by a crushing German-aping militarism, by the expense of a forward colonial policy, by a vile system of Protection which accentuates at every point the ruthlessnees of her natural poverty, there is nothing to hold the antipathetic forces at work within her borders in checkj

DANGERS AHBAD IN ITALY.

unless it be a consciousness that her rulers are upright and anxious to do their duty. The Fcandals of the Banca Romana and other bank failures—scandals which even the innocent and trusting Mr Stilhnan cannot deny or explain away—gave the first deadly blow tu the; present f Crispi before his accasefs, the' dddility df th§ feeble-minded king in his hands, the mere 1 fact that such vile accusations can be formulated with even a show of probability, may finish the business, and smash up Italy as a united kingdom:"

A i>i?A3UTid sUicide has bcc : tir ; red in Lyonsf, A joiing soldier resolved bri self-destruction; arid sug- : gested to ; his sweetheart thai she should kill herself with 1 him. She assented. On the : approach o£ evening the couple shut thimselves tip in a room, atid after taking a light supper, they wrote a letter saying that they had resolved to de rather than be separated, and then they laid themselves dressed on a bed. It was agreed that the soldier should shoot the girl and then kill himself, and that if her wound were not mortal she should finish h3rself with a revolver. The man shot his companion and then blew out his own brains, and as the girl was not Berioualy injured she took up' the fevdive'r', arid, firing, fell batik in a swoon. When she recovefed conscipushesß she was unable to move. The soldier's arms were drawn tightly round her in a rigd embrace, and lor twelve hours she lay thus by the side of the corpse. In the morning, when the door,,of the rddrri was broken open, the utmost difficulty was e&p , er t ienfcbd in freeing the girl, who was then removed to the hospital in a very precarious state.

:ri:E EMBRACJE

* es have hit the western American farmer terribly r; hard. In the North American Review G-overnoi* JJewellyn, of Kansas, says that in that State 1 'Hhere ig A total mortgage arid othfei? indebtedness of one hundred dollars per head for every man, woman and child, and the rates of interest continue as high as ever, while the value of the farm product steadily falls. 10,000 farmers in Kansas are every year evicted by the foreclosure of mortgages and the number is increasing. Twenty-five to twenty-eight years ago, with one bale of cotton a Southern farmer could buy nearly five hundred dollars, and with one sack of wheat (two bushels) a Northern farmer could buy five dollars. Now it requires seventeen bales of cotton and more than six sacks of wheat to bring these respective amounts. What is true of cotton and wheat is also true of other products of the farm." The Kansas Governor thinks that the remonetisation of silver would have a salutary effect in rescuing the farmers from their difficulties.

7HE SAD CASE OF THE AMERICAN FABMER.

In accordance with Siamese custom, the

THE duatotj FTJNEBAi BITES OF A I*BfNCS.

body of the late Prince of 3 Siam, after being- very tightly bound up, with the knees brought up under the" chin, was introduced into an iron urn, which again was put into a magnificent urn of gold, studded with precious stones. This has been placed on a golden, foursided, truncated pyramid, about 9ft high and 12ft square at the base, in a small room in a building adjoining the grand palace. A large body of Buddhist priests chant appropriate prayers in an adjoining room night and day, and several of the king's brothers ar« in constant attendance round the catafalque. And there the body will remain, probably for a whole year, to be then consigned to the flames with extraordinary pomp on an enormous funeral pile.

' a Clyde steamship lias hit upon rather a novel, if unwise mode of navigating his vessel during foggy weather. He got two of his men to stand by on the bridge deck with a supply of small coals, which they threw from either side of the vessel from time to time to ascertain the distance they were from the river banks. This expedient is said to have proved eminently successful, and the master had the credit of " breaking the fog," which had blocked the river for 53 hours to all vessels between Greenock and Glasgow.

PLEASANT FOR THOSE ON THE BANK.

In the leading French review, the Revue des Deux Mondes, there is an interesting article descriptive of the French banking system. The writer says that of banking, in the English sense of the word, the average Frenchman has no notion whatever. Not one in ten among the men belonging fco the moneyed classes has a banking account, and the Bank of France itself can only boast of fifteen thousand cheque-using clients. In G-reat Britain, an honest man's five-pound cheque is to all intents and purposes as good as a fivepound note; in France, a cheque signed by a Rothschild would be looked on with suspicion, and probably banked within an hour. This state of things has both its advantages and its disadvantages; it is far more difficult to raise money on a bill in Paris than it is in London, where almost anyone boasting of a good-natured friend, whose financial condition is better than his own, can "fly a kite" with comparative ease. In Paris, three, rather than two signatures are often required, and a bill which runs any risk of being dishonoured rarely finds its way into the market. It is pleasant to learn that over a hundred women are employed in French banks, there being generally seventy single women, twenty married women and ten widows. These ladies' earnings average the not very splendid sum of £5 a month each.

THE FRENCH BANKING SYSTEM.