HERE AND THERE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4313, 23 March 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

HERE AND THERE

Manxkml L strong in superstitions, one nf the most curious being current ;:t Peel, Win re the ill-luck of the third bout is held in great awe. None of the fishermen, when the fishing season is ou, will leave the; harbour third. The law of nature, which insists that among many to leave a plaoo some one must bo third, is got over by No. 2 and 3 being lashed side by side and moving into open water in company. If remonstrated with, tho Pool fishermen simply quote tho case of a captain who deflect this bit of folk-lore. Ho lost two men from fover, broke his own leg, and the cabin. boy fell overboard. He would never go out again in tho third boat. Mr Mealy has begun as the “funny man'’ of the present Parliament., Ho started with a “bull” when ho told the House that, as si consequence of the war, be “saw men walking the streets of Dublin without their limbs,” and then when tho members had calmed themselves, ho spoilt the gravity of the assembly again by adding:—“Tho only thing Ireland has got out of tho war is a lot of wooden legs.” Presumably the irrepressible Irishman meant to bo serious.

Pope Benedict XIV., wishing to punish on one occasion the neglect of a cardinal entrusted with the sanitation of the streets of Home, repaired to ono of the narrowest and most unsavory thoroughfares. He knew that the prolate concerned had to pass there, and waited for him. tho custom in those days requiring the members of the Sacred College to alight from their carriages on meeting that of tho Tope and to kneel down for his blessing. Benedict protended to bo engaged in serious conversation with one of his attendants, and kept the delinquent priest for full half an hour on his knees in the mud. There was, after all, some good in the temporal power of the successors of St. Peter.

Writing to a contributor of the “Southern Cross,” an Adelaide Roman Catholio paper, Rudyard Kipling says: —“I have had the nonour of meeting a good few Australians, and some of them I have seen at work. The Boers do not lovo them in the least, but we all do. There is a very nice story going the rounds of some of your men who were surrounded by Boers with, rifles and artillery for several days, weeks almost, when they wore relieved 1 . They had fought like demons. Someone asked a trooper what had happened, ‘Well,’ said the man, 'there was any amount of firing, so we dug trenches. About 2ft down wo got on the colour of gold, and after that we just went to work sinking a shaft. Some of us are coming back to form a company, and I think we ought to take in a few leading Boers, because wo should never have prospected as we did if it hadn’t been for them,’ ”

Mr Bryan, the defeated candidate, gives an amusing instance of the bitterness of the recent Federal campaign in the States. A distinguished member of the Republican .party, when asked whether ho would vote the Democratic ticket, gave vent to his partisanship, anti said; “No; a thousand times no! I’d rather go to sea in a boat of stone, with sails of iron, and oars of lead, the wrath of God for a gale, and hell for a port!” ***** Tommy Atkins thus retorts on some of his critics: —“There are those who say that the officers are not' to blame for our failures, but that it’s poor me, because I’m ‘bovine.’ All I know is that I’ve served for the last five years, and woo betide me, whether on. the parade ground or at manoeuvreSj if I didn’t stick out my chest and stand like an automatons, with my "head and eyes straight to the front”; in v a word,.if I didn’t look thoroughly smart and ‘bovine.’ Just fancy me being allowed to lie down and look about me and dirty my precious uniform! If he spends five a years in training me. to look and behave like a stuffed cow, how can ho expect me to develop at a moment’s notice the watchfulness and cunning of a lynx ?”,

11l Mexico the popular drink is pulque, best known in this country as an important factor in the traffic of the Mexican Railway Company. It is a heavy, highly-alcoholio beverage, and the paternal Government thinks the people would bo wiser to drink something lighter. So the manufacture of beer is being fostered by every reasonable means. In particular, the best varieties of hops are being acclimatised; for tho Mexican Government does not wish substitutes for pulque to get the sinister character that malt and hop substitutes have attained in England. ' » ■ * *■■■». *

"With reference to the labour question in Rhodesia, a correspondent writes to the “Mining World'’ suggesting that as the Matabele, Mashona, and qtber native races are unwilling to work in sufficient numbers to supply the wants of the mining industry, “the deficiency could easily be supplied” by importing coolies from India, where the population is so much in excess of the means of subsistence. He recalls the fact that the Indian mines are well and cheaply worked by these men, besides which the climate of Rhodesia is suitable to them, and there are already a great many Indians in South Africa. He guards himself, however, by saying that “perhaps there are difficulties of which I am not aware.” It would be interesting to know if there are serious difficulties. • • • * .• #

In tho light, of the recent controversy concerning the alleged! inefficiency of English scouting service in South Africa, a letter on the subject that appears in a recent number of a military paper is of considerable interest at the present moment. It contains the following highly instructive story : —An Australian Bushman was on one occasion instructed by the Imperial officer commanding the force to which he was attached to ascertain if the enemy were anywhere in the vicinity of tho British camp. For this purpose, accordingly, in company with another colonial, he proceeded to reconnoitre a suspected range of hills a few miles away. While thus engaged they observed a springbok rush, in evident alarm, towards them from the summit of a neighbouring ridge. To the colonial, trained in veldt-craft, this was sufficient evidence that the cause of the animal’s flight was human. They accordingly returned to headquarters, and! reported that a party of Boors was concealed behind one of the kopjes to their front. The camp commandant, however, declined to accept this view-, ingeniously observing that he only believed in Boers when he saw them. Tho march was accordingly continued, with the not unnatural result that another “regrettable incident” was promptly to the long list chronicled.

Without any fuss some of thp most powerful, guns of tho time are being prepared for the British navy- The new 9.2 inch, which is to be carried by] the armoured cruisers, are now being: 'built- A feature of the gun is that it is placed on an hydraulic mounting,: this in itself being a big advance upon older methods. A big steel hood also

i encloses the gun’s crew, who work in an impenetrable shell of armour. When (mounted, no part of it below the bottom of the hood will bo seen above deck. This hood is six inches thick in front, and four and a half inches thick in tho rear. Admission to its interior is obtained through a narrow door which closes an aperture only just wide enough for a man to squeeze through. Tho hood weighs about 50 tons, the gun and mounting some 100 tons more. The gun is 31 feet long, has a range of fifteen miles, ana will also bo used in coast defences.

****** Recently a workman employed in digging on the Kom-il-Shogafah, a hill in a most isolated quarter of the town, noticed that the blows of his pick produced a hollow sound. He informed the Museum authorities (says the Cairo correspondent of the “Express”) and under their direction excavations wore made which resulted in the finding of a. warren of Egyptian antiquities. The find consists of four tiers. In the lowermost is a chapel, in which thousands of camel skulls were found—the camels wore, it is supposed, sacrificial—and some hundreds of human skeletons were discovered'placed in niches. The tier immediately above this contains a great quantity of hieroglyphics of the Greek period, and some scattered pieces of statuary. A rotunda on the third tier gives a view of an acropolis. The fourth tier has not yet been examined. * » • * *

“Engineering,” in the course of an article, narrates some interesting and curious phenomena in connection with tho molecular structure of metals, in which “competing crystals” struggle for existence and eat up one another during the process of annealing. A series of specimens of lead illustrates this; one aggressive crystal gradually invading another, until the first was in a fair way of being absorbed. Tho same thing happens in cadmium. The explanation of the invasion of each other’s territory by crystals was interesting. The theory was suggested by Mr Rosenheim, and Professor Ewing expresses his agreement with it. It was concluded that tho envelope of alloy which surrounded a crystal, and made the boundary wall which separated one adjacent, would be broken by the strain to which the. metal had been subjected in cold rolling. A difference in potential between tho metal and tho alloy would set up electrolytic action, and this would cause the rearrangement of particles, or change in circulation, of one crystal to correspond with that of what j was formerly a separate adjoining crystal. Two pieces of lead, welded by be. ing scraped perfectly clean, and then pressed together with great force, will, when cut in sections, show a straight line of demarcation, the crystals of either one piece not intruding oVer the boundary into the other part of the specimen. When, however, powdered tin is sprinkled on the scraped surfaces befor squeezing them together, the crystals grew across the plane of the weld, those of the formerly two seperate pieces intruding amongst each other. * * *

A pretty story is told of the English philanthropist) the late Yore Foster. Having lost a Valuable watch whilst walking through the back streets of New York, he gave out that on its return to him’he'would pay a stiff reward, “no questions asked.” A day or two later a man turned up at'the humble hotel where Vere Foster was staying, and asked to see him alone. His request was granted, the watch wasm restored, the reward given, and the thief about to depart, when Vere Foster stopped him, saying apologetically, “I should like to know—it. you don’t mind telling mc~exactly how and when you stole my watch.” “Certainly, sir,” replied the thief, “if you will stand just there; I’ll show you. Do you remember one day last week stopping at the comer of street,, to look at a Punch and Judy show ? ) Well) I brushed by you then—like this—and it was then I took your watoh. ; Good morning, sir.” And the pickpocket bowed himself out. A little later, Vere Foster had occasion to consult his watch, when he discovered that it had again been taken. And it was not again restored! • • • • •

Professor Elisha Gray, of Boston, has scored the first important scientific discovery of the. century. We are told that ho has perfected an apparatus by which he can transmit the sound of a bell under water for a distance of 12 miles. Such an invention would, if developed, be of great practical utility. It would go far to counteract the danger from submarine boats, whoso approach might be signalled in ample time for precautions to be taken; and it W'quld probably be of great assistance in protecting; navigation from the perils arising from fog. * • « « *

Scotland, according to the latest files of newspapers, is discussing a question of great interest to eaters of marmalade. Mr Thomas Jamieson, public analyst of Aberdeen, on examining twelve samples found, that while eleven were genuine, nearly ■ one-half of the twelfth consisted of apples, and the person who sold this'mixture contended that ho had a perfect right to describe it as marmalade. He quoted the dictionary in support' of his contention, and declared that, he was perfectly entitled to use any bitter, fruit in the manufacture of marmalade. It seems that the term “marmalade” originated in Portugal’. In that country marmalade was generally made from oranges, but sometimes quinces were used. Extending this view certain dictionaries define marmalade as being made from any kind of sour fruit. 1

Apropos of titles, and the way in I winch they are regarded by their holders, it is interesting to recall the case of the young hereditary Prince of Isenburg Boedingen-Birstein, who, succeeded last year to his father’s estates, in Austria. He found theni so hopelessly onr cumbered that' there was nothing left for him when he had paid all the creditors. The Prince thereupon decided 1 to abandon his title} and registering, himself legally as 'plain. Charles•-Isenbnrg, ho applied for a situation as a bank clerk. Ho will ■bo satisfied with his share of the good things of this world if ho rises to be manager of his bqpk at three or four hundred pounds a year. It will bo better, at any rate, to be a bank manager with an income than a Prince with none.' * ♦ * * *

A true story from Ireland; A newly gazetted subaltern, fresh from the city, hid just joined his militia regiment for the first time. 1 His great ambition was to buy,a horse ana learn to ride; and hearing this a local dealer called at the barracks to clfer a four-year-old he had for sale,; He met the would-be horseman coining out of mess with several brother officers; and proceeded with Irish eloquence to descant on his animal’s points. “Come round, and see him, sorr,” he ended; “sure, he’s the very patthern ye want, if yer honor doesn’t object to a green one.’’ “Ob, I don’t mind about the colour, thanks,” was the quite serious reply that was drowned in roars of. laughter. There was a painful . monotony about that young subaltern’s Christmas presents. . He got oyer a. dozen,horses from various ■ kind'ftlehds- i &lPbf i them-pi , een. 1 * * * * * At Leavenworth, in Kansas, a negro \

named Fred Alexander, charged with an I attempted assault on a white woman, I and who was also suspected of the xnur!der of a white girl in November last, [was taken from gaol on January 15, and in the presence of 6000 spectators, bumJed at the stake, despite his protesta- . tions of innocence. The Government of Kansas has offered 1 a reward for the j arrest and conviction of any who/ took part in tho affair. •• a ® * * * Groat# Britain is not the only country in want of army horses just now. Japan has of late years greatly increased her cavalry, and still more recently added nearly forty field batteries to her ar-, tillery, and as the country itself pro- j duces practically no horses suitable for I this purpose, the necessity for importing them is nrgent. A dozen years ago pretty nearly the only decent horses in Japan were those from China, and occasionally from Australia, which took part in the races at Yokohama and Tokio. Since then, however, mainly for army requirements, the importations have been numerous. The Emperor has just dispatched his Master of the Horse to Europe in order to gain information. i

Respecting our note, writes the London “Daily Chronicle,” on the burial of Sir John Moore, a correspondent, reminds us that tho strict accuracy of another line was once challenged, namely : “The sods with our bayonets turning.” Soon after tho Rev. Charles Wolfe's verses were anonymously published in 1817, an ex-officer, who tod no idea of poetical license, wrote to an American paper asserting that the statement was wrong. He himself had seen tho hero’s grave dug by pioneers provided with spades. He also expressed the opinion that it would have taken a week" to excavate a moderately deep grave with bayonets! Wolfe’s versos, during his life,' were popularly ascribed to either Byron or Campbell. Then the authorship was boldly claimed by a Midlothian schoolmaster. This compelled Mr Wolfe to doff the cloak of anonymity, with the result that the fraudulent dominie was promptly turned out of his school.

I have just heard another splendid story of the way things are done, even now, in Pall Mall, writes the military critic of the- “Westminster Gazette.” The commandant of a most important military establishment received an official letter the other day from the War Office asldng how the new buildings were getting on. As he had heard nothing whatever of any new buildings being even in contemplation, beyond tho merest gossip, ho was naturally somewhat taken aback. It turned out subsequently that the authorities in Pall Mall, had quite overlooked the fact that no orders had been issued for the commencement of these buildings, for which the site even had not been chosen; they somehow imagined that the buildings were growing rapidly. However, matters have now been put right. But the, blunder is instructive all the same. a

“I never was in debt,” the late Dr Creighton told an interviewer recently, “until I became Bishop of London.” It would seem that, with) £IO,OOO a year, even the Bishop of a great diocese ought to bo able to make ends meet; but incumbents of the See of London are saddled with two houses to keep up. The town residence in St. James’s square is distinctly a white elephant, especially since, by the Act of Parliament of 1819, under which it was rebuilt, the Bishops are forbidden to let it. Recent Bishops have practically shut it up ; but Dr Creighton used it a good deal. When Fulham was, comparatively speaking, a journey from town, London House no doubt served a useful purpose; but now that it lies only half an hour by train from Charing-cross, there is very little heed to maintain it, the more especially since it adds heavily to- the sum that has to be paid by the executors of each Bishop for dilapidations.

' Tho “Crider triplets” are justly New York’s social sensation. These three young ladies, handsome, rich, indistinguishable the one from the other, have just made their debut, floating into ballrooms dressed; alike always, save for a tiny ribbon on the arm. Red, White or Blue Crider is the entry the puzzled partner makes in his programme. They dare not go in the streets together, for they are mobbed, as were the Gunnings in London, and the professional beauties of twenty years ago. Not yet accepting calmly a public homage which they deplore, they have declined to be photographed—bub this stern resolution cannot survive more than one season. Beauty, triplicated, must recognise its obligation to pose as’the Graces. «** * * ,

; King Alfred the Great is not only one of our national heroes, he is also one of the heroes of our childhood. The King who burnt the cakes is an ever present reality at an age when many a more important historical. personage makes no appeal to the imagination. It is, therefore, quite fitting that his millenary celebration should be made an affair of national concern. It would bo, perhaps, more in keeping with his best-remembered, if net most momentous, act that a hut rather than a castle should be dedicated to his- memory. But Wolvesey Castle, England, has special claims to attention as being intimately associated with King Alfred. It is there he is said to have been educated, and there he held his Court for many years as King. It is there that he edited! the Saxon Chronicles. Failing the hut, which has no doubt long since crumbled into dust, Wolvesey Castle is the most appropriate memorial that can be consecrated to his fame.

Adimral Sir Clements Markham presided at a meeting at the Royal Colonial Institute, London, when a paper on “Arctic Exploration” was read by Captain Bernier, of Quebec. Captain Bernier discussed tho plans he has made for his forthcoming expedition to the North Pole. . Polar expeditions, the lecturer pointed out, were promoted by tho desire to lift aside the veil which enshrouded the Arctic and Antarctic regions. A geographical problem of great importance and interest would be solved by completing the circuit from the Straits of Behring towards the Pole via Greenland and Spitzhergen towards the Atlantic. In dealing with other scientific problems. Captain Bernier said that the study of the Aurora' Borealis would be possible; and the geographical position of certain islands seen by Dr Nansen should bo ascertained. He also explained his views of the Polar Basin, and the stationary and moveable ice, and stated his opinion that the wind problem would favour a ship going by the Behring route. * . *■ *

The United States Consul-General at San Domingo has telegraphed that the Dominican Minister for Foreign Affairs will visit Washington to explain the .difficulty arising out of the attempt to ‘ terminate the _ engagement with the American Syndicate. The State Department regards this cablegram as sufficient warrant for refraining from intervention, at any ; rate ponding the arrival of the Minister. The Dominican authorities assert that; the agreement with- the syndicate was never fully ratified by the bondholders, who, hy tho derms of the agreement,, had a voice in the matter. :

Some years ago Mr Crockett became a stickit minister, finding fiction more profitable than the cure of souls at Penicuik. But he has been ever since then an elder of the congregation. Within the last few days we learn that he has ent tho painter which bound him to his old church. For he has sent a letter to the United Free Church Session resigning his office as elder, giving as reason that “owing to his frequent ! absence from homo and, other duties” he had nob been able to devote so much time to the work as he would have liked. Mr Crockett has always been notable for his adaptation, of fact to fiction.

I The “John o’ Groat Journal,” publishes tho following extract from a letter just received by a friend in Caithness from Dr Clark, who is at present in the Riviera:—The war is net over yet. There will bo hell in South Africa for many years. Chamberlain has no conception of the evil ho has done in that unfortunate country, and the great British public are as ignorant as they can be. The war is degenerating into barI barism. We are going to make a des- | ert and call it peace, but it will cost ua a pretty penny to rule the country, and the poor deluded taxpayer will soon got tired or it when he realises the burden he has taken upon himself, which he will before long. He still thinks the gold mines will pay everything, but that delusion will go the way of the others, and he will find that he (John Bull) has to pay the piper, as he has called the tune. War is terribly demoralising. This is why I am, strongly for arbitration and against war.”

According to Mr Stopford Brooke, Browning was not content to collect a few,- types of women like Tennyson, or to bring to light certain universal elements in the sex like Wordsworth or Byron, but rather to describe and know what distinguished each from the rest. The individuality, impulsiveness, unconventionality of women attracted Browning. He treated women as a vital and important part cl humanity, standing side by side with men. There was nothing he loved more than life above all in men and ■women, and not so much steady growth, as what was sudden and unexpected, breaking through the conventions into new forms of life. ■ Browning was the archangel of reality. Tho lecturer pointed out in eloquent language, and with many* quotations, the special characteristics of Browning’s poems in which women were depicted. The modem woman read Browning with more pleasure than any other poet, because he was the only poet who had understood her.

According to a telegram from St. Petersburg, M. Verestcbagin, the celebrated -Russian artist, has left for China —doubtless with a commission: from the Czar—to paint number of war-pictures illustrative of the campaign of the Allies ■ against the Boxers. M. Verestcbagin is at tbe head 1 of a school of battle-paint-ers, the very opposite of that represented by artists like Oaton Woodville and' Do Neuville. The tendency of the latter is to glorify war ; that of their Russian colleague, who is of Tartar origin, by the way, is to show its brutalising side, and repel with his realism. His greatest achievements in this respect refer to the Russo-Turkish Campaign of 1877-78, some of the most harrowing scenes of which ho transferred 1 to canvas in a manner which makes one shudder to look at them. Once when Verestdhagjn.exhibitod those pictures at Berlin, in>' Kroll’-*! establishment, the old Emperor issued an order -forbidding any of this guards to go and look at them’ on the* ground that they were calculated to inspire his soldiers with disgust, instead of a passion, for war; on which occasion the artist remarked to an English friend! that no critic of his realistic art ever paid him such a high! compliment before. ' 1

As Mrs Sain Lewis, the wife of the late money-lender, will have so large a sum of money to distribute the musical charities naturally hope to he remembered, for she is a most devoted and talented musician and exceedingly fond of opera. She is a sister of Madame Messager, better-known perhaps as Hope Temple, and, like her, was horn in Dublin. The house ini the corner of the “wealthiest square in London,” was the‘refuge of many an uncescessful instrumentalist and composer, and practical help was never refused in a deserving case. Mrs Lewis’s brother-in-law, M. Andre Messenger, is the new manager at the Covent Garden Opera House.

Mr Chamberlain has just been petitioned by St. Kitts, in the West Indies, to send it the myna, or Indian starling, to devour the local scourge of grasshoppers. In Rhodesia the naturalisation of English starlings has abolished the locust, yet the Colonial Office, frightened by previous disastrous ©Sects in the manufacture of the flora and fauna of the colonies, hesitates. The people of Australia are still searching for the posterity of the man who introduced rabbits, gorse, and sparrows into that 'Country, with a view to lynching them on sight. Ferrets were introduced to exterminate the rabbits, and in districts i became a greater, pest themselves. In all these tropical or sub-tropical countries animals increase at such an enormous pace that it is dangerous to introduce anything, until certain that it can bo exported for food, and, moreover, can be easily killed, and brought to the freezing works—which the rabbit, for instance, cannot'. Mr Chamberlain’s caution is fully justified.

The French Marquis, • Delastic 'de Saint. Jol, has been sentenced to five years’ , hard labour for swindling a cabman of his sayings, amounting torSOOOf. This is a sad example of the social degradation which swiftly fallows a career of gambling and d'ebauohery. Descended from an ancient family, he chose the profession of. Qi soldier, and became a lieutenant in the Foreign'Legion. He was decorated with-the Legion ,of Hdiv our for distinguished bravery on the field! of battle; Soon his disorderly life brought him into unfavourable notice, which ended in'his cross being taken from him. Abandoned by friends, his fortune squandered, he was reduced to live by expedients, and became a common adventurer. Maitro Comby made an eloquent appeal to the Court, pointing ouo the . services which his client had formerly rendered France, ■ but the judge nevertheless inflicted 1 the maxi, mumi term of; imprisonment.

i Mr Bourassa, the French Liberal member of Parliament whoso opposition, to the participation of a Canadian; contingent in tho Smith African war created sbmo controversy about a year ago, has how declared that, the- fusion of the French and English races in Canada is impossible.- . .He desired, however, a close tiniony as the two races could have mutual agreeable relations without the one attempting to absorb tho _ other. The true obstacle to closer union, 'he contended, was insincerity,. The great enemies of t-h p. French of Canada were not the’ English or England,,, but the English of the,-American colonies. "While English ■■ and ‘French in Europe,' the speaker added, were becoming more and more estranged, in Canada, they were becoming more united.