ECHOES OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 3259, 16 October 1897, Page 1 (Supplement)

ECHOES OF THE WEEK.

Satire’s my weapon, but I’m too discreet l'o ran amuck and tilt at all I meet. Pope. BY " SCRUTATOR IN “ N.Z. MAIL." Nature's subterranean forces have of late been making things rather lively in the Taupo district, so lively in fact, that it has set people wondering whether the future of the North Island Trunk Railway will be afiected. The proposed route for the line passes within a few miles of the peaks of Tongariro and Ruapehu, and it seems possible that the constantly recurring activity of the craters, accompanied by numerous earthquake shocks, would deter many nervous people from travelling. On the other hand the prospect of watching several peaks in mild eruption, while comfortably seated in a railway’ carriage, would be a special inducement to many to visit the district. It may not be generally known that Tongariro consists of a gronp of volcanic cones welded together into a solid mass at the base by the flow of lava from the craters. The highest peak is Ngauruhoe, and the Red Crater (so called from its brilliant colour, every conceivable shade of red being represented) and To Mari are lofty peaks. These three cones, Ruapehu, the Hot Springs district, and White Island form a continuous line of volcanic activity.

It is no wonder that members of the Bavarian Diet have complained of the egotism of the Kaiser. Wilhelm believes as firmly in the doctrine of the divine right of kings as did the Stewart monarchs of England. Persistent adherence to that doctrine cost the Stuarts their succession; but it is unlikely that the Germans will dethrone their ruler as did freedom-loving Englishmen 200 years ago. Still there are signs of impatience among many German democrats. Speaking at a banquet to provincial nobles at Coblentz some weeks ago the Kaiser declared that his grandfather considered himself the chosen vessel of the Lord, and that the great Emperor had “ raised high a jewel whose rays he had helped to brighten, and which may we hold high and holy—kingdom by the grace of God, the kinghood with its weighty duties, its never-ending perpetual toil and labour, its fearful responsibility to the Creator alone; responsibility from which no man, no Minister, no House of Deputies, no nation, can release the Prince.”

It is not the first time that the Kaiser has publicly declared his belief in this doctrine. In 1890, in Kbnigsberg, at the dinner to the Provincial Diet, he said the Hohenzollerns had their crown from heaven. Again in 1894, in the same city, he stated that he, “like his Imperial grandfather, represented kinghood by the grace of God.” AH the same, his “kinghood by the grace of God” notwithstanding, he has found that he cannot work his own sweet will with the Reichstag, which has recently developed a -very nasty habit of throwing out proposals supposed to have emanated from the Kaiser. The latter thinks he has the army at his back, and no doubt laughs at the very idea of a revolution, but the Socialists increase every year, and sooner or later his Kingship “by the grace of God ” will have to reckon with a force greater than that of kings —namely, the Power of the People.

Apropos to the recent visit to Ireland of the Duke and Duchess of York, there has been a discussion in the Spectator and other English journals, as to the alleged Irish descent of the Boyal Family. One homo correspondent of the Spectator proved to his own satisfaction, if not to that of his readers, that Queen Victoria is a lineal descendant of King Peargus More, and to support his contention, drew up a lengthy genealogical table, for which I regret I have no room. Another Correspondent, of the same paper is perfectly convinced in his own mind that the Queen has a much more recent connection with the old Irish Kings .being, as he says, descended ; • ■■

“ From Eva MoMurrough, daughter, of King Dermot of Leinster, the wife of Strongbow. The line of descent is through Isabel Marshal, one of her five granddaughters, who married Gilbert doClare Earl of Gloucester, and perhaps through the families of Do Burgh Earls of Ulster, of Plantagenet Dukes of Clarence, of Mortimer Earls of March, to King Edward IV., who was probably the first English King of Celtic Irish descent. The line of descent is-very direct, being that in which the house of Clare or Clarence in Suffolk, which has occasionally given the title of Duke of Clarence to the Boyal Family, has descended, and the earldoms of March and Ulster have for a considerable period followed the same line. The home of Eva and her ancestors was in the province of Leinster, and this province would now probably furnish the most agreeable residence for the Boyal Family on their return to Ireland."

It is a pity that Her Majesty has not spent more time on the island from whoso ancient rulers it is claimed to be descended. Had she 'done so she and her rule might be more popular.

We in these colonies, who have so often suffered from the “Reminiscences of New Zealand" nuisance, inflicted upon us by more or less celebrated globe-trotters who have sojourned awhile amongst us, ought to be fully able to appreciate a recent witticism by Mr Anthony Hope Hawkins, the well-known author, of “ The Prisoner of Zenda" and “ Phroso." Mr Hawkins has recently gone to the States on a lecturing tour, and? as usual, one of the first queries put to him by the enterprising interviewer upon his arrival at New York was' whether the visitor intended to produce a book of impressions as the out • come of his tour. “No," replied the witty author of “ The Dolly Dialogues." “ I shall be there too long to record my impressions. I understand that no traveller over writes a book who stays in a country more than a week, and I shall be in America three months at least."

How to live to 100 is a problem which all —especially those who have reached the proverbial “ three score and ten ” are always anxious to solve. Lady Glenesk having set forth in a Home paper* that if we took care, of ourselves we ought to live to the age of 120, that veteran novelist and liveliest of gossipers, Mr James Payn, tells some very amusing stories, in an article in the current Nineteenth Century, of the advice so freely given to the old. “If prescriptions could cure us we shoulif be in rude health indeed. The materials are sometimes a little difficult to procure. I have seen a letter from New,Zealand recommending an old gentleman suffering from rheumatic gout to bathe in whales. In that island whales, it seems, are occasionally thrown up on the seashore, when rheumatic patients hasten to lie in them during the progress of their evisceration for purposes of commerce. The extreme rarity of whales upon the Thames Embankment seems to have been unknown to the writer. Some correspondents give most excellent sanitary advice, but too late for its practical application. An aged poet, who had lost the use of his limbs, was exhorted by an admirer to dig, “ even it were but in his back garden,” for an hour or two every morning before breakfast ; all that was wanted, he was assured, for complete recovery was ‘profuse perspiration followed by a healthy glow.’ ”

Mr Payn has certainly made an amusing paragraph out of the advice alleged to have been given “in a letter from New Zealand," but where, :I wonder, did his New Zealand correspondent • see 1 the- “ bathing- in whales " cure carried out—and when? Assuredly this is more an instance of .going from home to hear news. , ' Another and even more remarkable itewof »eW fff special interest ’ to New

Zealanders is conveyed in a recent Issue of the Neiv Yorh Herald. An enterprising reporter of the paper in question has recently been provided by “ a wealthy citizen of -Melbourne, Australia," with some “ very fine and large " “ copy," in the shape of a story of a certain Maori Princess, who rejoices in the name of “ Tono-Maroann," tvho is, we are told by the Herald, “ searching for an AngloSaxon husband in New Zealand," “ TonoMaroanu is represented by the Hendd as being “ worth 000,000 dollars in her own right," and as being “ the legal successor to King Paul or Lamu-Monosao ” whoever that mysteriously named potentate may be. The dusky princess wc are further informed is said to be highly educated and speaks English perfectly. Her father desired her to wed a Maori chief, buf she positively refused to consent to the marriage, and the chief W’ho was to be favoured had the good sense to declare that he would not accept the lady's hand unless she gave him her heart. Curious, isn’t it, that we never heard of this wealthy unattached princess Tono-Maraonu, and her aristocratic progenitor King Paul or Lumu Monosao before the interesting pair cropped up in the pages of a Yankee paper. It may be as heretical as doubting the existence of Mrs Harris was to the Sairey Gamp but I confess to believing “ their ain’t no such persons" as Tono-Maraonu and her kingly papa “ Lumu Monosao." .Can the Native Department enlighten one, eh, Mr Carroll ?

Several cyclists have lately attempted to ride across Australia, from Port Darwin to Adelaide, following the route of the trans-continental telegraph line. Most of them are paid by bicycle makers and are sent on their difficult journey simply as advertisements for the machine they ride. No exception can be taken to this, of course; but there seems to be a danger of the trips becoming a serious nuisance. Recently one of these cyclists, when in the never-never country, made a meal off tinned meat, which gave him such a bad stomache-ache that he thought his hours were numbered, and cut the telegraph wire to bring help. No doubt be was justified in so doing, it would be brutal to say he was not; but it must be remembered that ho went there entirely of his own accord, and for his own purposes. No fault can be found with explorers who did the same thing, for they were doing a work at once necessary and of the highest value to the country. On the contrary, the cyclist was influenced by selfish motives, ho went there because he was paid to do so, and if it is to become a regular practice for irresponsible wanderers to sever the connecting link between the north and south of Australia, they should be severely punished.

Some years ago a New Zealand politician—was it the late Mr Maoandrew ? aroused considerable discussion by stating it as his opinion that the consumption of crossbred mutton was leading to a serious increase of insanity, but until I read the report of a recent meeting of the Temuka Parliamentary Union I never imagined that the theory could be seriously put forward that “ a diet of flesh meat would in course cf time cause a disinclination on the part of the individual -to cultivate the intellect and relapse into savagery.” Yet such was the theory of a Mr "W. L. Duncan—one. of the members, of the Union above mentioned. It appears that a committee had been appointed to report on “ The apparent aversion of the young colonial to intellectual pursuits,” and Mr Duncan’s theory was promulgated in an individual report by him. He is evidently a vegetarian, for, in support of his theory, he gave instances, so I learn from a report in the local paper “of the wonderful mental activity and love of learning displayed by some native tribes in Africa, whose diet was mainly a vegetable one.” If there be anything in Mr Duncan’s theory, we have only to feed a New Zealand youth on “cabbages and lettuces," and so forth, and keep him free from the fleshly temptations of the chumpy chop, and the succulent steak, and he will at once begin to evince a taste for “intellectual pursuits.’ l But what are “ intellectual pursuits ?” The study of Hansard, a regular attendance at the meetings of the Philosophical Society, the perusal of verbatim reports of Sir Bobert Stout’s lectures, or what ? And what New Zealand youth could. be found to undergo a course of purely vegetarian “ grub ” without revolt. The truth is that while wo have a lot of lads whoso devotion to athletics may be.at times a trifle overdone, they grow up healthy, manly fellows, and it is by no means to bo inferred that because “a fellow goes in,” as youth puts it, for football and athletics generally, he is necessarily “averse to intellectual pursuits.” Some of our best scholars, university men and so forth, are ardent athletes. Indeed, the combination is a perfectly natural one. Mens sana etc., etc.

We have had just a trifle too much water in Wellington of late, but over in Western Australia they would' be glad of a little of our surplus moisture. Water is still scarce at Coolgardie, but Hannan’s is one of the worst places in the Great Thirst Land of the West. At Hannan’s, so the yarn goes, there was, in the later days of the fields, a tough old Scot named Macdonald, in who for some time had what practically amounted to a monopoly of the water supply. Somehow or otties the “Maos" genera'ly drop on to the good things on the goldfields as every thing else. Many are the stories told of his hard system of cash down. Poor devils, whose horses were dead beat, and who were themselves hardly able to crawl, have many a time had to pay Macdonald Is. to Is 6d per gallon for his condensed water. It must be three years since a crowd of boys, home from one of the rushes—all broke, and with their horses half dead from thirst, and themselves in no better plight—went to Macdonald’s condenser, and were told the price was Is 63. Water they must have, but not at Is 6d. There was a big row, and Macdonald, who is always very deaf when the question of price is discussed, was as hard as nnila A well-known lad, cadet of one of our best English families, stuck his pick into the tin tank and called upon the boys to water their horses at the gflshing stream. Men lay down in the mud and lapped like dogs.; Horses and men fought in the blackness of the Australian summer night for a drink. Macdonald’s water ran down Hannah's street all that night. It is characteristic of the goldfields that almost every man who had a drink paid “ Mao ” the next day.

What a wonderful fascination a goldfield possesses! I heard the other day of a miner, a Scotsman, who has gone to Klondike. He is over sixty, has a family, and enough to live on, made on the goldfields of Otago. His bump of caution is developed to a degree found only among those who hail “ frae North ayont the Tweed.” As an instance, here is a little story about him. Coming up from Otago he dropped across some miners on board the steamer, and they asked his opinion of some qnartz specimens they had. Our Scotsman examined the stone carefully, and gave judgment thus: “ Weel, there’s a time when it’s not expeedient to say what one thinks, and I dinna think I’ll express my opeenion.” Yes, he was decidedly a “ canny mon ’’; but even he has caught. the gold fever, and is on his way to North-west Canada. Let me add that ere he went he made his will and settled all his affairs in case “hedidna return.”