NEWS AND NOTES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4806, 8 November 1902, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS AND NOTES.

XiiO Hotel Bristol at Paris lias always boon our King’s favourite resort in Paris. His rooms arc not largo, but cheerful, commanding the Place Vonciomo, on the ground floor. Some time ago an American lady, who has often occupied them, proposed to giro a little dinner, but thought the space hardly largo enough for those she desired to ask, "Oh, I assure madam.” exclaimed the major domo, •‘there is of room. Why, when the Prince of Wales •was last hero ho had just as many. Tho Czar sat there, the Czarina here, the King of this nr, that corner, the Empress of that at that corner,” etc. “Oh, well,” she said, quite overwhelmed, “if all these crowned heads squeezed in so well, I suppose my people can manage it.”

Tho possession of a. “unique honour” in 11 10 English army is rare—in fact is, perhaps, itself “unique.” Lord M olseioy hugs such a one, and it is well worth the hugging. It is not paraded by anv modai. nor is '.t entered on any knightly roll. All the same, it is tho one which gratifies him more than any other.’ His health was cncn proposed by Queen Victoria. That was nearly twenty years ago. on his return as the victor of Tel-el-Kehir. Lord Wolsolcy went to Balmoral to make his report, and the reward for his long journey a canipaipn v/as ini* mediator At the first dinner the Queen, wi'li appropriate praises, proposed his health, and then drank it, a distinction which Dor:! Wolsolcy has been “our only Cltncral” to receive.

"Whatever else may bo said of er.President Kroger’s politics, Ids male tiers and customs liavo always been unconventional. In 1803 tlio Kaiser conferred on him the Order of the Rod Ragle, wiucii was accoiupani ed by the usual sort of official notification. Xiio ordinary man would bare treated this document with proper respect—he might, for example, have had it adorned with a gilt frame and hung up in the front parlour. Not so Mr Kruger. V, r hon, after his wife’s death, his house at Pretoria was searched by the o-jeors of the secret service, the document, was discovered on a file among a number of old receipted bills. A possible explanation, of course, of its curious resting place may be that Mr Kroger regarded it in tlio light of a receipt for a debt paid and disdiargcd. However that may be, the officer who found tho document was allowed to retain it, and il now hangs on tlio wall of a drawingroom in Scotland.

Tlio Bishop cf Bristol tells a good story of how ho has been accused of “ritualism.” On one occasion,” ho says, “at tho pulpit stops of Clifton parish church, I bowed in acknowledgment of tho proper courtesy of the clergyman who conducted mo. Soon after I received a written accusation, from a gentleman not present at the time, that I had bowed to some small crosses which, bo told mo, wore to bo found in tho pattern of the carpot!”

When Mr Kipling was a younger man and merely a journalist, his editor sent him round tho world mi a reporting tour. In the course of. bis wanderings bo paid a visit to Mark Twain. Pa was shown into the great humorist’s study, and left there for a time alone. Looking about him, tho first object that caught his attention was Mark Twain’s corn-cob. And tho Evil Olio took possession of Mr Kinx>!ing, who never felt more like stealing in his life. To possess such a memento of tho author of “Hueklobnry Finn” seemed to him worth any amount of crime! However, conscientious seruplcs, or the arrival of Mark Twain in tho nick of time, iron the day—a victory Mr Kipling has since, no doubt, regretted.

The Shah, who appreciated the Empire on his London visit, is veil qualified to appear on the music hall stago as a performer. His interesting turn mould he double-barrelled. First the Light of tho "World mould rapidly sketch on a blackboard tho features of any celebrity named by tho audience, for the Shah is an excellent cartoonist, and devotes much, of liifj leisure to caricature and sketching. The second item in his performance mould ho marksmanship". With pistol 1 and rifle the Shah is alike an export, snuffing candles at a hundred paces, hitting coins thrown into tho air, and plagiarising William Tell by shooting apples, off tho head of an attendant.

Rowland Hill, the celebrated preacher, was able to make a smart retort. One Sunday, a fanatic, or a fool, sent in the following request:—“The prayers of tho congregation are desired for tho Rev. Rowland Hill, that ho will not go riding about in his carriage on Sundays.” Having read this request, Mr Hill looked up and said with gravity: “If the writer of this piece of folly and impertinence is in the congregation, and will go into the vestry after service, and let me put a saddle on his back. I will ride him home, instead of going in mv carriage.” Mr Sidney asked Rowland Hill if it wore true. Quite true; said'Rowland : I could not call him a donkey in plain terms. *****

Mr Santloy has just completed his fiftieth year as a public vocalist. "It was not merely a great voice that Charles Santloy brought to the culture of tho vocal art when ho started his career half a century ago. It was also a great personality. Neither is it tho least part of his personal genius that his personal example has helped greatly to elc.vate and to ennoble the art that ho adopted.

Admiral the Earl of Clanwilliam, ■who is about to retire after fifty-seven years’ service, has been through hot work in many parts of the world, and bears a proud record. He was badly knocked about in the Baltic, and the scrambling fight up the Canton river in 1857 ho went within an ace of losing the number of his mess. Lord Clanwilliam has held squadron commands both at Home and in the colonies, and he married the daughter of Sir Arthur Kennedy, a former popular Governor of Queensland, who lost his life in the Red Sea on his way home from Brisbane. The Admiral served as a Lord in tho Admiralty under the Beaccmsfiold regime in the eighties, and, in fact, has had a turn at every branch of tho service, political and administrative.

P. C. Wilson, of Boaconsfield (England), had a remarkable experience in tho early hours of one day last month. As he was going off duty he noticed a man asleep on tho side of the road, and struck a match to see who he was. To the constable’s surprise, the first thing ho saw was his own dark lantern, and cm searching the man found his children’s money-boxes and several other articles which had been taken from his house. Ho arrested the ■ man, and on going to his residence fonnd that during his absence on duty it had been forcibly entered and robbed.

It is difficult to realise that the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria has lived seventy-tivo years wheii one sees liis tall, upright figure and fine soldierly bearing. Winter and summer tho Emperor is up at fir*' in tho morning. At six his aide do camps have to be ready in caso they aro wanted, and State business of all kinds is conducted before breakfast. Tho Kmperor is devoured by a sense of duty. Everything clso gives way to it. His Majesty at the most trying and even tragic moments of his life has always attended just as usual to tho business of the State, and those about him wore startled on tho day of tho funeral of his only son to find tho Emperor ready to sign tho orders for the day exactly as usual. The Emperor is curiously indifferent to his personal comfort.

Great Britain (says a writer in “Britain at Work”) builds in a year about double the tonnage produced by the rest of tho world. One British river tho Clyde—excels the output, including warships, of the United States, and a - most equals tho total production or both Germany and France. Wo continue to bo tho world’s shipbuilders, n the faco oven of subsidised opposition. Tho value of tho shipping launched m this country in a fairly prosperous year is, roughly, £27,000,000, and no loss than £9,000.000 of that sum is expended in wages. Machinery is included in the estimate of tho value, and engine shop pay-rolls in tho wages bill. Tho figures refer to the finished ship. Tho number of men employed in shipyards and engine shops is, off and on, about 13:),000, and nearly a score of trades go to make tho muster.

Mr Seddon has said and done many things, but before his visit to tho Com Exhibition at 'the close of August in was not on record that ho had tested tho influence of tho climate and conditions of “the poor old Mother Country’ on his weight. A ponny-in-tho-slot weighing machine at the Cork Exhibition afforded an means ».t satisfying him on this point. Tho Premier of Now Zealand mounted the little platform, put his penny in the slot provided for it, and saw boom up on the dial in front of him the majestic total of l9st 101 b. A few pounds more and Mr Sodden would have exhausted tno capacity of tho machine. If be really did lose flesh over his disappointment at tho results of the conference, it can have done him no harm. —“Daily News” for September 2nd.

Mr Wakeling Dry, in a lively, sympathetic 4 little article in “Cassel’s Magazine” for September on “Kubelik tha°Wonderful.” says this of the musical prodigy :—Few players have flashed into prominence in the musical world with greater swiftness than Jan Kubelik. It is but throe seasons ago that ho came to London and-took his turn in tho many recitals, good, bad and indifferent, which went to make up a very busy, if uneventful, season. He was a pale-faced youth of nineteen, with a wealth of hair that seemed the fitting frame for a soulful countenance. No one Itnew.of him, no preliminary trumpets sounded his arrival, no accounts of wonders achieved _ filled the papers. He came, and lie smiled at his listeners —modest and shy, _ not from nervousness, but from humility—and be played. Here was his triumph. The very magic of his simplicity was his success, and no one has earned greater applause at the end of a second season than this divinely gifted Bohemian, who is now acclaimed as one of the mostwonderful violinists the-world has over seen. On© may not look into the future and soo what bo will be ten years hence; but to know him and to hear him now, at the gate of manhood, is to wish him long life for the delight of his fellow-creatures, and the rich reward of undying fame for his perseverance. his charming personality, and his heaven-sent genius. • • » •» • '*

Tho belief in tho hereditary transmission of cancer has a deep-seated foothold in the popular mind, but most careful observations have failed to give it sufficient support. A well-known physician has come to the contusion, after carefully looking into the history of hundreds of cases, that the children of cancerous parents have no special susceptibility to the disease, unless the same causes that favoured its development in the first place continue to operate to tho third and fourth generations. Whether an individual shall become a victim to cancer, tuberculosis, or rheumatism depends largely upon which of these his vicious habits of life have specially trained and prepared him for. Another doctor calls attention to tho fact that the cancer death rate has kept pace with the consumption of meat. "While fifty years ago cancer was responsible for but one death in 127, it now claims one victim for every 22 deaths. So long, ho says, as the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, flesh, tea. coffee and spices continues to increase among men. just so long will cancer specialists become more and more numerous.

A Birmingham man has patented an invention for tho application' of ball bearings to railway rolling stock. His principle is nob to work the balls round the axle, but on the inside of the wheel’s rim. The effect of this will be that the wheel itself will ho stationary while tho vehicle is running, the rim only revolving. Wheels thus constructed will carry 1000 tons, and, it is contended, will permit of trains travelling at 150 miles an hour without extra risk or additional motive power.

Mrs Campbell Praed’s latest book, “Dwellers by tho River,” has been extensively and appreciatively noticed by tho press of this country. The least complimentary of the criticisms is that of the “Morning Post,” whose reviewer is evidently deeply imbued with the national egotism and the self-sufficiency which in tho eyes of foreigners are so obnoxious a characteristic of Englishmen :—“Australia is politically very interesting, but it has not yet sufficient history to make it fascinating as the scene for a love 'story. Somehow bushmen and farmers do ■ not quite strike us as highly romantic, _ especially as they have a veneer of civilisation which deprives them of all originality without conferring any advantages that we can see. Mrs Campbell Praed can tell a story charmingly, and she makes the most of tho ‘Dwellers by tho River.’ But she has very poor material to work with, and the result is npt particularly successful. Of course, it is cleverly written. Mrs Praed could not bo dull if she tried. But there is somehow a groat difference between not being dull «nd net being interesting, and that difference distinguishes ‘Dwellers by the Riveri from _ other books by the same charming writer. Marge, the heroine, is a sweet little thing, and the men behave well. But next time we hope Mrs Campbell Praed will give ns a story of life _in the Mother Country.” Is it possible to conceive a more offensive display of "Litrie Englandism,” and that in a newspaper which professes to bo controlled by the broadest spirit of [lmperialism?

Mr George Dow writes to the “Times” from “10. Jiasinghall street, City, E.C., August 29” :—“Sir, —On April 12, 1873, X posted a letter to a resident in Church street, Camberwell. On August 27, 1902, this letter was returned to mo marked ‘Not known,’ from the dead letter office, after slumbering in the post office for upwards of twenty-nine years —a notable example of the care which the post office authorities bestow on tho correspondence committed to their charge.” »

A romantic elopment is reported from Annan, where, it seems, a young girl fell in love with an actor who was acting at a portable theatre, and ultimately ran off with the man. It is supposed they went to Wales. * .... w *

Talleyrand, when asked one day by a lady noted for her beauty and her stupidity how she could rid herself of a troublesome admirer, replied: “You. have only to open your month, raadame.” “It was your father, then, who was not so good-looking,” was his retort to a young man who had boasted of his mother's beauty. When told that Chateaubriand. the vainest of men. whose celebrity was waning, complained of hia deafness, tho cynic said: “Since people have ceased talking of him. ho thinks ho is deaf.” When asked by a person who squinted. “How are things going in the political world?” the wit replied “As you see.” Rivarol said of Miraheau that “he would do anything for money, oven a virtuous deed.” When asked what he thought of Madame do Genlis, he replied: “I like only the pronounced sexes.” When told that the Archbishop of Toulouse had poisoned himself, “Then.” said ho. “he must have swallowed one of his own maxims.” One of tho most celebrated English wits of

the eighteenth century was'George Selwyn. When one Foley crossed the Channel to avoid his creditors, Selwyn said : “It is a pass over that will not be relished by the Jews.” Ho was fond of attending public executions.” Being asked by Charles J. Fox if he had witnessed the hanging of a namesake of tho groat orator. “No,” he replied, “I make a point of never attending rehearsals.” Walpole, alluding to the monotonous similarity in the system of politics continued in the reign of George ILL, observed: “But there is nothing now under the sun.” “No,” said Selwyn, “nor under the grandson.” A gentleman who had been twice cut by the wit. in London, stopped up and:reminded him that they had been acquainted at Bath. “I remember it very well, and when we next meet at Bath I shall be happy to be acquainted with you again.” Thurlow.once made a witty reply to tho youthful William Pitt, whose constant tone of conscious superiority ho could not endure. Pitt, expatiating on the superiority of the Latin language to the English, cited as an instance the fact that in the former two negatives make a thing more positive than could one affirmative. “Then your father and mother,” exclaimed Thurlow gruffly, “must have been two negatives, to make such a positive fellow as you.” Plunkett, the celebrated Irish statesman, advocate and scholar, caused many a merry laugh. A violent storm having sprung up on the day when Lord Campbell, who had superseded him as Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was expected to arrive from England, a friend of Plunkett said that tho passage across the Channel would make Campbell sick of his promotion. tr Yes,” ruefully rejoined Plunkett, “but it won’t make him throw up the seals.” • • A train consisting of an engine, wo

crowded passenger carriages and some luggage vans, which was running on tho Chicago and North-Western Railway at a speed of 35 miles an hour, was struck by a tornado when near Monden, Minnesota, and was hurled 18 feet down an embankment. Tho train was wrecked, and three passengers were killed and about 20 others fatally injured. The brakesman, who was also hurt, was lighting his lamps at the time, and tho wreckage was set on fire, but tho flames were extinguished.

At tae village of Catherine Slack, on the outskirts of Halifax, Job Taylor (3J i, a stoneminer. who was to have been married next morning, shot himself with a Pistol in the bedroom of his mother’s* house. All the arrangements had been made for the wedding, and the cause of the suicide is a mystery, Tho bride resides at Illingworth, a couple of miles away.

Mr C. A. Hanna, in his work on the racial origins of the intellects which laid’ down the broad constitutional principles of the Republican Government, points out tho influence of the ScotoCelt on tho American State. Eleven of the 50 signatories of tho declaration of independence were Scots, five Welsh and two Irish; of the 54 members ot the Constitutional Convention which met in 1787 twelve wore Scots and half of the educated members were either Scots or had been educated under Scottish influences. When the constitution passed from the hands of the convention into the custody of administrators, these first administrators were even more Scottish than tho framers. Of tho four members of Washingtons Cabinet, Knox, of Massachusetts, the only New Englander, was a Scotch-

Irishman; Alexander Hamilton, of New York, was a Scotch-Frenchman; Thomas Jefferson was of Welsh descent; and the fourth, Edmund Randolph, claimed among his ancestors the Scotch Earls of Murray. New York also furnished the first Chief Justice of the United States, John Jay, who was a descendant of French Huguenots; whilst the second Chief Justice, John Rutledge, was Scotph-Irish, as were also Wilson and Iredell, two of the original associate justices; a third, Blair, was of Scottish origin. John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, was, like Jefferson, of Scotch and Welsh descent. ••• • . • The i arm out h Council are in a state of delighted amusement. An old maid living on the Front wrote to them about ten days ago complaining of a man who bathed just opposite her window at 6 o’clock every morning. The Council wrote to the man, who replied that as it was so early in the day he had hoped no one could take exception to his bathing off the Front. But that he would, gladly go a mile higher up. Later on, however, the Council received another letter of complaint from the lady:— “The man I wrote to you about has gone higher up the beach, hut I can still see him with a telescope.” An old joke revived. * • • • • Heavy rainstorms have occurred in Lower Austria and Bohemia, which it is feared will severely damage crops. At Meran, in the South Tyrol, in con- ! sequence of the torrential rains, the River Naif overflowed its hanks, bringing with it large deposits of mud. At one point this pressed with such force against the walls of a boarding-house that it caused the collapse of two floors. Two persons were killed and eight severely injured.

Of a box-tortoise. Dr Abbott writes, says a correspondent in “at. Nicholas”; —“I followed and found him still travelling in a direct course, and was just in time to witness a funny scene. The steep hank of a deep uitch had been reached, and the tortoise was contemplating tho outlook. It was too aorupt a descent for ordinary crawling, and to go in search of a more easy crossing seems not to have been thought of. At last, leaning over tho edge as far as possible, tho creature withdrew into his shell, and sent himself, by a sudden push with his hind feet, head over heels down the incline, and landed on liis back. Was this accidental or intentional? I think the latter. The whole manner of the tortoise seemed to indicate it.” * * » • * . How Mr Chamberlain met his present wife is told by a Baltimore lady, writing to “M.A.P.” Calling on a lady who happened to he giving a girls’ luncheon, he was asked to take the place of a guest who was absent. Anyone else might have shrunk from such a “conference,” but, as the correspondent says, “Timidity has never been a weakness of your Mr Chamberlain.” Without stipulating for conditions, ho accepted the invitation, and found himself seated beside Miss Endicott, daughter of the Secretary for War. As the world knows, this lady is now Mrs Chamberlain. • » * * * Mr John B. Horreshoff. the wellknown yacht designer, has been blind since his fifteenth year. Ho is eminently gifted with the intensified faculties of touch and memory for which blind men are remarkable. He can discuss an intricate specification that has been once read to him as accurately as though he saw it in print he-

fore him. and hy running his finger over a model he can tell its lines to a nicety. He has for years been one of the leading shipbuilders in the States,- having designed- many yachts and torpedo boats for the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Lieut.-Colonel Herbert E. . J. Brake, C. 8., D. 5.0., of the King’s African Rifles, has accepted the appointment of Inspector-General and Commandant of the local forces in Trinidad, in succession to the late Major-General Sir Francis Scott, K.C.M.G., K.C.B. Colonel Brake was born in 1866, and entered the Royal Artillery at the age of 20. He has been employed with the local forces in the British Central Africa Protectorate for some time past, has seen a considerable amount of active service both in East and West Africa, and has been three times mentioned in despatches. Lord Charles Beresford has now been brought to the head of the Rear-Ad-mirals’ list hy the retirement of ViceAdmiral Rodney Lloyd. One of the first results of this will, of course, be the extension of Lord Charles’s retirement age. It is 43 years since he joined the Britannia, at the age of 13. Naval actions have happily been scarce during the period of his service. Lord Charles Beresford was one of the fortunate winners of laurels when, at the bombardment of Alexandria, his ship helped the Temeraire out of difficulties and so severely handled the puns of the fort as to earn the signal j “Well done. Condor.” . • * „ • • • Marie Henriette, Queen of the Belgians, who is ;ying seriously ill at Spa, might almost bo called the most accomplished sovereign lady in Europe—now that the Empress Frederick is no more. Queen Marie was at on** tune

one of the most accomplished horsewomen in Europe, like the late Empress of Austria. Bhc is a brilliant musician and a composer of no ordinary merit. Among her other accomplishments are painting, photography, and first-aid, and in the latter she has taken a certificate. She once saved the life of the demented widow of the Emperor Maximilian at the risk of her own. A few years ago the Pope sent her the “Golden Rose.” The Admiralty hare given instructions for the armour-plated battleship Ajax, which was first commissioned for active service in April, Iboo, to be prepared for being sold out of the Royal Navy. The Ajax, which cost £635,133 to build and equip, has not been employed on sea-going duties for several years, having been utilised for a depot ship at Chatham. She was a 13-knot battleship when built, and hey armament included four 38-ton muzzle-load-ing guns. * * • « • ; At Colchester William George Toll, a tailor, of Kansas City, hut who has bean serving as lance-corporal in the ! Bedfordshire Regiment under the name of Eloyd, was clxarged on his own confession with the murder of an unknown | man in Kansas City, on January 14 last. 1 He admitted having written a letter to the Kansas authorities confessing the crime. In the letter he said he killed the man to get some money, and the crime liad preyed on his mind ever since. Ho feared it would drive him insane unless he did something to atone for it. He added:—“l went (down to West Bottom, Kansas, and waited by the railway yard until I. saw a man coming along. I hit him on the head with a coupling pin and killed him. I was on my knees searching him when I heard

someone coming, so I only got 4J dollars and ran home for all I was worth. I gave my wife two dollars. I could not rest in Kansas, so I went to St. Louis, but deserted my wife there, came to England, and joined the service. My real name is Toll. I worked at a good many places in Kansas, and always boro a good character, but my wife was about to be laid up, and I had no money otherwise I would have been still a respected citizen, able to work beside honest men.”