NEWS AND NOTES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1721, 22 February 1905, Page 16

NEWS AND NOTES

It •was Mark IV ain who, after a trip round tke globe, said lie was quite convinced that the British were the meek people referred to in the Sermon on the Mount —‘‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Sir Alfred Sharpe. Commissioner for the British Central African Protectorate, has presented the Empire with a Christmas box in the shape of Northern Angloniland, winch he has just annexed to the British Empire. It contains 4000 square miles of territory and about 200,000 natives. Tins makes the totals of our African possessions, dependencies, and protectorates up to 2,693,000 squaie miles, and millions of population. Canada comes first, Australasia, next, and Africa an excellent third. King Edward now rules over 11,760,000 square miles of territory, and a population well over 400,000,000.

Many wonderful cures are reported as having been performed by Mr H. A. Barker, a bonesetter who is now in London. Cases of spinal curvature, flat foot, displacement of bones, and other ailments have been successfully treated. At the bonesetters invitation two West End surgeons were asked to witness the operation; and, according to their report on the cases which they eaw —one of which was that of a footballer suffering from a displaced ankle caused, by a kick—equal relief could be given by any surgeon with much less pain. One of the surgeons speaks of the cruelty of bonesetting as it is carried on at present. The parents of children are totally ignorant of what is done; they are mostly poor people. Children are tortured in a manner which would not be allowed in any hospital. All operations are performed without an anaesthetic. Hie bonesetter, however, says that cases which have been unsuccessfully treated in hospitals shall be submitted to him in order that be may be proven either right or wrong in his theories. • * *

The Premier Diamond Company, of Pretoria, consisted originally of 80,000 £1 share. These were subsequently multiplied to, 100,000 preferred shares, now quoted at £9 2s 6d, and 320,000 “deferred,” quoted at £lB. Oh Saturmoramg Messrs Clarke and Co., of Grenfell street, received a cable message from. South Africa reporting the discovery in the properties of this company of a diamond “3032 carats in the rough.” The importance of this find may be better understood by comparing it with the six largest diamonds (cut) hitherto unearthed :—Kohinoor, 106 carats; Star of South, 125; Regent, 137 ; Austrian Yellow, 139; Orloff, 193; Rajah of Matan, 367. The value is nob regulated by size, but all the above were worth over £IOO,OOO.

It is a regrettable fact that every class or profession has its “black sheep,” and even the “cloth” is not exempt. But there are few cases as had as that of a notorious evildoer who flourished some years ago in South Dakota. This minister, the Rev Myron Hilgard, being a persuasive talker, with that rough eloquence that appealed to the farmers and cattlemen of the district, was welcomed with open arms by his flock of cowboys and their families. In fact, his preaching caused quite a wave of religious fervour, and his little mission house was crowded every Sunday. During t-ms enthusiasm the dread news went round that an expert cattle tiuef was in their midst. Night by night the flocks and herds diminished, and the farmers visited the mission to pray that ine thief might be caught. Imagine the surprise and horror of tlie duped men when one night after a long chase, cxugJit and “held up” the- robber, and proved him to be none other than their beloved minister. The false traitor waa imprisoned, and desperate but unsuccessful attempts were made by the angry men whom he had deceived to drag him from his fastness. At last, however, by the aid of a friend, he contrived to escape. Wherever lie now is, it is Hardly probable that he will ever preach again in America, as his description lias been forwarded to the churches of every township in the United States.

The British Medical Journal, in dealing with tlie report of the committee appointed to investigate M. Doyen’s claims regarding a cure for cancer, says:—“We are still, on M. Metchnikoff’s own showing, a long way from the final elucidation of the mystery of cancer. We are compelled to add that, with every wish to believe that a cure for this terrible scourge has been discovered. the evidence, so far as it has been disclosed, appears to us inadequate t<* warrant any confident hope that M. Doyen’s serum will prove to have any more thorough or more lasting effect than the various serums, toxin extracts, and other remedies having some kind of scientific basis whicli have in recent years been tried and found wanting.”

"Lord Roberts, in the “Nineteenth Century,” advocates tlie view that the State is bound to see that every ablebodied man, of whatever grade of

society, has some kind of military training in his youth, so that if ever his services are required for national defence lie may at least be able to shoot straight and carry out simple orders. A body of men so trained would only be required to be led by good officers. The trend of thoughtful opinion is tinning gradually but surely in the direction of national military training, and the declaration of so great an authority as the famous general is attracting much attention. His article contains a great deal mat should be studied by military men throughout the Elm pi re; hut especially valuable are bis re-marks on the high qualifications necessary to officers in the changed conditions of warfare, which conditions he contrasts with those obtaining half a century ago. * * *

A report comes from St Petersburg via Berlin that an English nurse charged with being a spy has been dismissed from the Czar’s household and banished from Russian territory. Two years ago a negro servant repudiated a similar charge, declaring that the same lady was the guilty party, but the Empress defended tho Englishwoman. * * *

During a case at Southwark County Court a ’bus-driver told Judge Addison that old horses were always put out to work at night. Judge Addison. —TV by ? Because you don’t like young horses to be out late at night for fear of corrupting their morals?—Yes, sir. Counsel. — Southwark, late at night, is a bad place for young horses’ morals- The Driver.— Well, the old ’uns can keep their feet better at night, when the roads are generally bad, than the young uns -just like us, sir, when the roads arc slippery.

At Sotheby’s during December there was an interesting sale of old Scots snuff mulls. They included a Mauchline snuff-box made from the wood of the tree under which John Knox preached, and “The Burns Box,'' on which are small paintings of scenes in the Burns country and a portrait of the poet. The Burns box was sold for £3 10s. A quaigh made from the bell of an old iron church which was burned to the ground by the Hell Fire Club was .sold ror 17s.

Tho Bishop of Kensington, at a prize distribution, told of a case in which a boy got the better of the examiner. •Suppose,” askea the examiner, “I offered you half an orange and twothirds of an orange, which piece would you take?” “Please, sir, the half!” shouted the lad. “Stupid boy!” exclaimed the examiner; “1 shall put a black mark against you for that.” Subsequently a deputation of scholars waited on the examiner to convince him hat he was wrong." Why am I wrong?” he inquired. “Because our comrade does not like oranges at all,” was the conclusive answer.

A copy of the Psalmorum Codex, the great Batin psalter of Just and S-choe-ffer, 1459, was sold at Sotheby’s on December 7. It is printed on vellum, and consists of 136 pages, and was, until lately, in the library of Count Wilhelm von Westerholt Gsenberg. It is computed that only twenty copies were printed at the expense of the Carthusian Monastery of St. James, outside Mentz, and only _ twelve copies are known to be in existence. The Syston Park copy of this remarkable book sold a few years ago for £4950. The present copy was well competed for. Mr Quaritch, the book-dealer, started with £IOOO as an opening hid. Mr Snowden, in competition, canned the sum to £2OOO, when Mr Quaritch had to contend with Mr Baer, representing a firm of dealers of Frankfort. Bid answered hid. Mr Quaritch called £3,800 and Mr Baer answered with £4OOO. The auctioneer asked Mr Quaritch to keep the hook in England, but Mr Baer became the purchaser at £4OOO.

Perhaps the forthcoming biography of Disraeli will explain the mystery as to Lady Beaconsfield’s identity, remarks the “St James’s Budget.” One version has it that she was a factory girl; that Mr Lewis saw her on her way barefooted to work, fell in love, educated her, and married her. Disraeli made love to her while her first husband was alive, she once, told Mrs Duncan Stewart. Sir Stafford North cote knew a shop in Exeter which Lady Beaconsfield pointed out to him as one hi which she had worked. Dizzy used to say of her, “She was a bright creature who lived wholly in the present-; she thought nothing of the future ; she cared nothing for the past. She never could remember whether the Greeks or the Romans cam© first.” One of the kindest of women, she had the oddest habit of saying awkward things. Once she and Disraeli met Lord and Lady Harding© at a country house. The bedrooms of the two couples were next each other. In the morning she said, “Oh, Lord Ilardinge, I consider myself the most fortunate of women. I said to myself when I woke this morning, 'What- a lucky woman I am ! Here I have- been sleeping between the greatest oratoi and the greatest warrior of the day!’” (Lord ITardingo was at the time com-mander-in-cliicf of the forces.)

The German Emperor received as a Christmas gift a handsomely bound volume entitled “Forest,” by “F. Hit gill,” who- is really Princess Feodora of Schleswig-Holstein, youngest sister of the Kaiserin. The hook contains four novels dealing with the poetry of nature in a way that testifies to- the Pnncess’s literary talent, and hooklovers have already exhausted the edition published in Berlin.

King Alfonso of Spain has recently expressed a desire to try ballooning, and in spite of all the pressure his advisers can command he has decided to make an ascent. Ho met with a slight motor car accident recently, when the wheel of his car broke and the motor was overturned, but fortunately His Majesty was not injured. The story of his determination to make a. tour of the courts of Europe in search of a suitable consort is now followed, by the report that lie is bethrothed to the Duchess Marie Antoinette of Meckl e n burg-Schverin.

Mr G. Wall, who- is well-known in London sporting circles, has, after 15 years of close study and experiment, produced a machine for calculating chances at the Monte Carlo gaining tables. Hie “Express” correspondent at that famous gambling centre states that for two days Air Wall has been winning, though he plays with only small stakes, preferring to thoroughly test me machine before plunging. His “system” is causing great excitement there, and he has refused £15,000 for the contrivance. Sir Hiram Mamim scouts the idea of his ultimate success, and says the “hank's” chance is 10 to 1 against the players, who- persist in closing their eyes to the fact that as soon as the hall has fallen into the pocket that transaction is closed for evei, and lias no influence upon any subsequent events. In this gamble pure chance alcne remains, with odds against the player. The best of the methods, which are all had, is to double on the even chance each time you lose, beginning With the smallest possible stake; and even then eleven successive lo sses will occasionally occur, and the player become barred by the limit. # * *

The marriage of Lord Suffolk and Miss Margaret Hyde (Daisy Leiter took place at St John’s Episcopal Church, Washington last week. The bride was attired in a white satin gown, with court train and orange spray, and carried a bouquet of orchids, hut dispensed with jewellery. In an interview with Lord Suffolk lie said his marriage was purely a love affair. The awful Yankee interviewer appears to have ex tracted from him the admission that during the past ten years £50,000,000 had gone from the United States to England with migrating brides, but he explained that he had some 10,000 acres of land and a comfortable income of his own. He is not fond of society, and expects to enter politics. * * *

Every reader of “Esmond” remembers tire doubly fatal duel of Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton, fought in Hyde Park early in the morning of Sunday, loth November, 1712. It was the last of many tragedies in which Mohun had been concerned. The version given by Swift, and adopted by Hairy Esmond, that “the Duke killed Mohun, and Maccartney came up and stabbed him,” is probably untrue; it is believed t-liat, as the Duke bent over the dying Mohun, Mohun stabbed him with his sword. Maccartney, Mohun’ 1 second, is wrongly said by Esmond never to have returned after fleeing the country. He did return in 1716, (st-ond his trial, *»nd afterwards rose to high military rank. ♦ ■3t* •

Mr Gladstone once- said of Lord Randolph Churchill in the House of Commons, “The noble lord has some striking qualities, and if half of them could be out out the other half would make a valuable public servant.” One is reminded of this saying by a French critic who has been forecasting the future of a lively young deputy, the Count de la Roohethulon. Before he took to politics the count was a gambler and a merry gossip. His political education lias apparently got no further than a duel with the son of General Andre. But the critic ha-s real hopes for him. “You will see that when he is utterly ruined, when he is little the worse for middle age, and ha-s a doubtful digestion, he will become an estimable Parliamentarian, full of intelligence, initiative and audacity.” But if indigestion and middle age are guarantees of statesmanship, the French Chamber would abound with wisdom. « * » *

Mr Andrew Lang, describing in “Longman’s Magazine” tlie decay of church going, points out that 'the Israelities, from whom we inherit the Sabbath, did not go to temple every Sabbath —Jerusalem was- too far away and in their palmy times they had no synagogues whither they could repair one© a week or often-er. merely did not work oil the Sabbath at least, they were forbidden to do so. The Decalogue -says nothing about not playing on the Sabbath; nothing about going to tabernacle on that day. The command not to ploy is a Piotestant

injunction, ‘a thing of human invention, <l, tlierefore, Knew ought, logically, to have deemed it ‘idolatrous.’ ”

A daring innovation was introduced at the Bartholomew Club dinner at Do Keyser’s Royal Hotel the week before Christmas. The speeches were printed with the menu, and taken as read. As tho president pointed out in the explanation prefixed to the booklet: —“Even if it is never attempted again, it will remain an interesting attempt to relieve the length and solidity which characterises many London City dinners.

An American millionaire, staying a.t Homburg, once gave the head waiter at an hotel 100 marks toi place him next to an English duke at dinner. Next day (so the story goes) he found himself at the other end of the table. “Didn’t I give you,” he remonstrated, “a Hundred marks to sit as near as possible to rhe duke?” “Yes, sir,” replied the waiter; “but the duke he gave me 250 marks to put you as far away as possible.”

A remarkable sea story was told at Hull Police Court on Dec c '-"her 14. A foreign seaman, named M\ .1, belonging to the London steamer Zillali, was charged with disobeying orders at sea. The captain’s evidence was to the effect that when his steamer was entering the Suez Canal they encountered the Russian Baltic fleet, which opened out all its searchlights on the steamer. The prisoner, who was at the wheel, appeared terrified, and wanted to alter the ship’s course. He had to be pulled from the wheel, and was placed in irons, but twice escaped. If he had altered the vessel's course she might have struck a rock. Prisoner was placed in his berth, but escaped, brandishing a knife. Eventually he was secured, and a special member of the crew set to guard lnm till the vessel reached Hull. He was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment.

Apropos of the tercentenary of the publication of “Don Quixote,” let me quote (says Air W. P. James in the “St Jamess "Gazette”) Air FitzmauriceLvelly’s account of the way “Don Quixote” found a publisher. In the first years of the seventeenth century it is certain, he says, Cervantes was scribbling in some naked garret, but his name seemed almost forgotten from the earth. In 1603 he was run to ground, and served with an Exchequer writ concerning some outstanding balances still unpaid after nearly eight years. He must appear in person at Vanadolid to offer what excuse he might. Light as his baggage was it contained one precious immediate jewel —the manuscript of “Don Quixote.” me Treasury soon found that to squeeze money from han was harder t<nan to draw blood from a stone. The debt remained unsettled. But his journey was not in wain. Oil liis way to Valladolid he found a publisher for ‘Don Quixote.”

M. Sardou tells a story which should send a shudder through the nursemaids who frequent the Parc Monceau. That trim little garden is the site of a quaver which used to be called “Poland,” for much the same reason that Wbitefriairs street was once known as “Alsata,” the haunt of adventurers and lightfingered gentry we never see there now. In “Poland” a friend of M. Sardou’s was accosted one evening by a native, who took him gently by +h© collar and demanded his money. “My friend was smoking a cigar. Cunning as the wise Ulysses, he made a show of dipping his left hand in his -waistcoat pocket, while with the right hand he took his cigar out of his mouth, knocked off the ash with his little finger, and thrust the lighted end right into the face of the scoundrel, who let go his hold, yelling like Polyphemus.” M. Sardon should give us this on the stage. The hero of a murder plot with no weapon but a cigar, would be eagerly “adapted” for London.

In 1890 Paderewski gave some Git-tings to Burne-Jones, and this is how the painter wrote of him in a letter to an ultimate friend: —“There’s a beautiful fellow in London named Paderewski—and I want to have a face like him, and look like him, and I can’t—there’s trouble. He looks so like Swinburne looked at 20 that I could ery over past t-liings, and has his ways, too —the pretty ways of him—courteous little tricks and low hows, and a hand that clings in shaking hands, and a face very like” Swinburne’s, only in better drawing but the expression the same, and little turns and looks and jerks so like the thing I - remember that it makes me fairly jump. I asked to draw from him and yesterday he came in the morning, and Henscliel brought him and played on the organ and.sang while I drew—which was good for the emotions, hut had for the drawing. And knowing people sa-y he is a great master in his art, which might well be, for he looks glorious. I praised Allah for making him, and felt myself a poor thing for several hours. Have got over it now.”