TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4394, 27 June 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

MILITARISM. There are people in the community who believe that if Colonel Peuton had been provided with an adequate staff the Newtown Park ombrqglio would not have occurred. They little knew th. real facts of the case. They cannot b* aware that whereas at the beginning of the Boer war Colonel Penton and vlajor Madocks at salaries (and horse allowances) of just under £2OOO a yearwith perhaps a temporary clerk or two thrown in—controlled our military destinies, at th© present time the Commandant of the Forces has no fewer than seven staff officers, thirteen clerks and three messengers under his immediate control; while billets are being, found, it is said, for returned officer, in the various centres. The extra amount of money being expended in salaries and expenses for officers, clerks, orderlies and messengers taken on since the commencement of the war should make an interesting return /'for Parliament, if some member oares to call for it. It must b© rather discouraging to the Commandant that with all this embarrassment of riches, there is not one amongst the lot who is capable of taking charge of an encampment of one thousand men in the matter of catering. Of course, it must not bo forgotten that two or three of the brightest of the staff officers are required to attend on the Commandant himself, which limits the selection for other and mere useful purposes to four or five.- ' But surely one of these, if put on his mettle, could hav® taken charge of the camp. BANK OF NEW ZEALAND. The handsome new building erected at- the corner of Lambtou quay . and Customhouse quav for the Bank of Now Zealand is to bo opened on. Monday. This will be one of the best-appointed banking-houses south of the line. The banking hall on the ground floor is a long avenue 17ft wide ' and 81ft deep, flanked by the public counters and the . desks of the tellers and other officials'. Entrance to this room, said to be one of the largest of its kind in the colonies, is gained at the angle facing Willis street, one door being on Lambton quay and the other, on Customhouse quay. The counters are in a style different from that with which banking easterners are familiar. They are only 4ft in height, surmounted by a high screen of polished brass, ana thus are on a plan now followed in the more modern banking premises in England and America. The accountants’ room is at the side of the banking chamber opposite the main entrance, and near by are the rooms of the manager and assistant manager. The ceiling pf the public hall is of a beautiful pattern of stamped zinc from Wunderlich Brothers, The whole of the first floor is to be de. voted to' the general manager and his staff. The entrance to this part of the building is from the Lambton quay frontage, at the end opposite the en. trance. The board room and directors room will also be on the nrst floor, ine floor above will b# occupied by the Uting rooms of the custodian, stationery rooms, etc. In the basement are the treasury vaults, the safe deposit vaul's, a fireproof chamber for tho storage or documents, and a note-burning chamber. The building is lighted throughout by gas. VICTORIA COLLEGE SITE. If the Victoria College students would parade the principal streets of Wellington city for two or three days a week for a month or two to come, exhibiting their Qfdiva-liko nakedness (in a Pickwickian sense, of course) to an indignant populace they might hurry on the site question, much in the same way as the Volunteers recently by agitation in tho North, secured advantages for themselves in '•he South which they never dreamt possible under the existing regime. Yesterday the students again exhibited their banner declaring them to bo homeles and site-less; and tbe pi olessors made pathetic references to the sad plight of their students and themselves. Even' Victoria College Council at its meeting last night showed signs of an awakening interest in the perennial site question. Mr Graham, M H R who, when the question was last being agitated, maintained an attitude of masterly inactivity which: was then the subject of comment by the profane, last night asserted himself as one who was likely to endeavour to push matters- in this connection during the coming session, by moving the appointment of a Special Committee to deal with the whole question. The committee is as follows :—Mpssrs Blair. Graham, Guinness, Hogg and Dr rmdlay. This is. in sporting parlance, a “likely team,” and it will be interesting to watch their operations during the next few weeks. Mr Blair is brewing a scheme for making a “ deal with th® City Council for a portion of Kelburne Park, by which the City Council will receive a fair equivalent. OUR VOLUNTEERS. The Volunteers who have returned from Christchurch are agreed that the arrangements in the South for fbe accommodation q,f those who‘attended the review were incomparably better than those which made life miserable for the men at Newtown Park the previous week. Although th G caterer at Christchurch only got 2s 4d per day per man in comparison with 2s 6d whioh was to be paid in Wellington, the food provided was superior in quality and in quantity to that doled out locally. Officers and men are of opinion that the promised inquiry—which Mr Scddon has_ asserted with vehenjence shall be as thorough and searching as it can be madeshould largely concern itsoif with th® Wellington catering. It is agreed on all hands that the company system (in which the officer of each corps is made responsible for the catering of his men) should supersede tb- regime’ - 'I catering sj-stem at all future encampments. The intense cold experienced in Christchurch had a marked effect on Volunteers and cadets alike. It was not an uncommon thing, apparently, to sc® men and boys fainting in the lines (deficient circulation through frozen extrciniiies being the cause) and it is said that in one company of Navals from tha

North .'is many as eighteen men in one corps were placed hors do coml.at nf ono time. In faot, it is recorded that the Naval companies, both from Auckland and Wellington, were sicker at sea and sicker on land than any other corps which “went to the front.l), was a matter for comment amongst the Wellington. men that little or no allusion was mado to their presence at Jlagley Park by the Southern papers, one of the most prominent of whom omitted to even mention that the Wellington Malta) ion was present, though it went ;>ain* fully into details anent the Southern corps. Jt is freely asserted that it was cnnlty to take the, cadets to Christchurch, besides being a great waste of money. ■ “The plain fact is,” said ono officer, "that fh o poor little beggars had a very bad time, and their parents were very ill-advised to let them go.” INSECTS AND THEIR SENSES. Some very interesting facts and deductions in regard to the habits and attributes of insects were atforded to Uio members of the Wellington Philosophical Society by its president, .Mr G. V, Hudson, F.E.S., in the course of an in. foresting address on Tuesday night. The researches of Mr Hudson (and authorities whom lie, ((noted) have gone to show that the majority of insects have no conception of sound, cither normal or abnormal, anil a great many of them arc deficient in the sense of smell. In .somo a souse of smell can bo conveyed by tlio removal of the antennae, ui others hy the removal of the palpi, liuttwllu-s, ants, bees and wasps are impervious to oven the most discordant noise i. Careful experiments have proved I hat hoes have no special horning ii:.sti:K;t. and point to the probability that: keenness of sight rather than in* tuition enables them to hive from long distances. The extraordinary fact scorns to liavo been established that while many insects are deaf to din and clatter mado by human beings they respond at once to the peculiar noises mado by their own species. It has been proved that bees and other insects have a keen sense of colour, and tho tendency of experiments goes to show that tho world has a very diherent colour_ scheme in their eyes to what it has in ours: that they hear music that wo cannot hoar, see sights that we cannot sec, and are possessed of senses of ■which wo have no conception. SETTLEMENT AT THE iiUTX. Eleven persons applied this week for sections in. tho Epuui hamlet. Hud. On© of tbeso was a married woman, tho ■wifo of ono of the other applicants. The applicants included carpenters, fellmongers, a bookbinder and a dork. Alter examining tho applicants, tho Crown Lands Commissioner camo to the conclusion that they were in every way suitable and eligible for tho class of settlement concerned. Forty-four, suctions wero ollb.Ti cl as workmen s homes. Mr Marchunt attributes the small number of applicants to the fact that a road laid off through the laud has not yet been made. Ho I hat as soon as tho road is constructed most of the remaining sections will readdy bo taken, tip by persons desirous of making homos for thomsolvos. Tho sou is good, and tho land is above flood level, in alloting tho sections preference is being given to those applicants who arc married men. Tho allotment will probably h 0 ns follows; —Section, 79, Mr H. M. Douglas; 80, Mr F. Pocknall; 91, Air J Powrio; 102, Mr H. McGuire;' 106, Mr W. AVeston; 108, Air G. Howard; 115 (with buildings), Mr H. Cook: 117, Mr .M. E. Lawson ; 118, Miss M. E. Burn. The final allotment will bo mad e this morning.