TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 18

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

■* ■ - ;HISR MAJESTY’S INFLugg^V Lord Roberts’s intervkv 'U;V' v ’ : - Majesty before leaving for SoSUfK has recalled an account 0 f 7„ ..r tr jc a interview Lord Clyde had wif Queen after she had received rk • 9 news of the Indian Mutiny awfa] able commander-in-chief Wk -77 and Sir Colin Campbell (as he wH ed ( was asked to go out in that', £* . en ) But Sir Colin considered tbat he passed over in the Crimea „ a be<!a declined to go to India for the ;? be winch had been alleged in of the con™ token % ■ two or three years previously the Queen sent for him. ArmiA , : the Palace, Sir Colin was ta£'Siu t Queen’s presence, and after her iL-- e • ty- had talked to him for a short r-'/ about the horrors of the the terrible sufferings of fend children in India, the evesitfuv veteran became moist, and Queen asked him if he would « % she desired. “Yes, ma’am,” waA iv prompt reply. “When will y ott ready?” was the Queen’s next question “To-morrow morning, emphatic response! * Was .

MAGISTRATE AND M'.H.R-^lv At a sitting _of the Magistral* Court on Saturday morning Mr * - Haselden, S.M., had occasion to ! to an unpleasant incident curred on the previous clay, ]!; s Vf&it ft’ : ship was taking evidencelac a ~ in which Messrs Olere and: litwwnSi Vwere plaintiffs and Mr George son, M.H.8., the defendant. The tion was for £lO, return of a to a contractor,-which defendant dak- ’ ed had been forfeited, Mr Haselden"'" : 1 before proceeding with the’ daw -gjagjfeif he had always-treated with..contempt any suggestion of undue the ground that, one of the -parties’'conU?.“ cerned in an action *- ’ : member of Parliament, b-nt iafirivG ter the public •' threat' i riacAfro£&[ : Court on the previous ■ day member of Parliament, there did.'sseltW to fe9 some danger, unlesssuch or attempts to terrorise met with' stern disapprobation hy-tkri’ri" public and those to’ whom the" poftilpl interests were entrusted. ' The was then proceeded with. ""’’r.'f,’

A NOTABLE AMERICAN GENERAL- : The _ Americans have just lost in the Philippines a great scldier. MajorGeneral Lawton, having returned from his arduous and successful 'campaign in Northern Luzon, was shot through the heart while assisting one of his wonnded officers on -the firing line in a little engagement only fourteen miles out of Manila. He was always on the firing line or in advance of it. An at-., terly fearless man, hardened by service in our civil war, by notable campaigns against our Indians, and bji the campaign at Santiago', his towering figure (6ft 3in), topped with a big white helmet, was always leading hnU meh, and it is a wonder that he was • not shot long ago. He was a tireless fighter. The cruel Apache Indians, who admired him, gave him' the name of “Man-Who-Gets-up-in-the-Night-to-.. Fight.” He was also' a man of excellent judgment, and he well knew whst .’ our policy in the islands should be. after the end of what he called "tbiß ••/ accursed war.” He had done the greater part of the fighting in Luzon,;ftnd if the incompetent Otis, comfortably housed in Manila, had not repeatedly restrained him at iritical moments fore the recent rainy season, he would v then have crushed Agninaldo’e forces and captured Aguinaldo himseffiy/IHo -H? chafed under the rule oi Otis,. 'Hd the latter was .compelled some weeks., ago, under the administration of the new Secretary of War, to give him a free hand. It is a great loss to the >- country, and to the poor widow and her children in Manila, for whom Cotgfiess aud citizen contributors are fiow making provision, because Lawton left scarcely anything for them except his noble record.

MRS CHAMBEBLAiNv’V; 1 Mrs Chamberlain, before the 'maf' .... ried our eminent politician “ 8 . writer in the “Woman at daughter of Senator Endicot, /". known Judge and. Secretary .of; War;.. - so.', as a matter of cduree,. 'she.hiadjiasS' .■ ed her life among politicians ahdi| ; pie of ability, generally appearance Mrs Chamberlain; is dec l8 * edly attractive. Her, features be called regular,, but they are and her colouring, fresh as » ~ June. Quietly dressed, there ah air cf delicacy and city about her which is yen' .■ tasw Airs Chamberlain is • one • of'. rican women, who . have thoroughly tiffed: themselves . with England^. with their husbands’ interests. It £ • without saying that ■ everybody ;;Ifand" respects' hbr,VJpr-, it ; . : with so. strong-an individuality^ undoubtedly, is, she must v- 0 - of all petty vanity to-so merge^n. - in- the pleasures and interests eU. ther. At" Highbury, (hear the Chamberlains’, lovely home Midlands, the fair American most hospitably, and her . - her own house has been voted essence of tact. *.»•