HERE AND THERE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10043, 11 January 1909, Page 4

HERE AND THERE.

China's Createst Man. The dismissal of Yuan-shi-kai, the great Chinese ex-Viceroy 'aiid' Councillor of State and reorganiser of the army, is contrary to the predictions of the most • of the people who are supposed to know. It was thought that the Manchu rulers —the Regent (Piince Chun) and the Grand Councillors Prince Ching and; Shihsur—would have to rely_ on the aid of Yuan-shi-kai in governing. More than that, most of the hopes of Teform were coupled with this eminent Chinese. For instance, the Pekin correspondent of the Times wrote after the death of the Emperor and the Empress-Dowager:—"The best men in China realise that there must be reform at the head, that the country can never take a place among civilised nations so long as the -palace is polluted by the presence of eunuchs corrupting the Sovereign from infancy to manhood. Confidence is expressed that, under the Prince Regent, who has seen something of foreign Courts, has knowledge of foreign civilisation, and is supported by Yuan-shi-kai, there will be a genuine attempt at reform. At tie present moment the question of palace reform is under consideration. Foreign influence and progressive influence are urging that advantage be taken of this opportunity to begin anew. We shall soon know what has been the outcome and how long the influence of the Court reactionaries will continue unimpaired." Another writer refers to Ynan-shi-kai as "t-he leading statesman of China," and' expresses satisfaction in that "the well-drilled army, controlled; by Ynan-shi-kai ought to be able to conquer any undisciplined force that might arise.''

Illiterate Millionaire. Mr Solomon Andrews, of Cardiff, one of the most remarkable business men in the Kingdom, died recently, at the age of 73, in his native town, where he had accumulated a fortune which is estimated at a million. He_ could neither read nor write, and he had started by hawking on a tray pies and; tarts...thab he had baked himself, but his energy "knew no" bounds. He has left a variety of businesses, such as have seldom before been controlled! by one man. His properties consisted of :—Lines of; omnibuses in Cardiff, London, Manchester, Plymouth, and Portsmouth, tramways in various Welsh towns, builder's business in Cardiff, coachbuilding factory, cab : yard, furniture removing establishment," nndertakcr's business, Testaurants, thirty coffee tavfcrns, confectionery shops, grocery 6hdps, iron-

mongery shops drapery shops, mines and quarries in North Wales, mueV landed property, half the town of Bftttnoutii, the greater- part of PwllheU. iJeSfiv all his numerous- speculations turned out Well. His first important business was a cab-yawl. Then he launched 6&t as 3ft' onWibns proprietor and fought the Cardiff Corpdratjoh tramways to keenly that they had to come to terms with him and' buy i,- the greater gaxt of -bfcbusineas for £65,000. He.invaded London in 18E8, and started the Star line of omnibuses, which took passengers from the Elephant and Castle to the Angel for a penny. _ Russian §«c*ets Stoierl.

Sefirei dpcumeiits dealing With Russia s policy to the" Balkiai fiertinsuiit .have been stolen from a retired Russian diptotnSt.Bjr a clever ruse. The victim, whose name is carefully concealed, was for many years in the Russian diplomatic service, and was stationed in different Balkan, capitals, where he took a prominent part in many of the most ejacitiog .©vents in Balkan politics of the last quarter of a century. During the period of his official activity lie kept a. detailed diary, recording all his experiences and registering many diplomatic secrets. Apart from this the diary placed on record many documents of surpassing interest. The fact that the diplomat possessed all this valuable materia! appears to have become kiloWn either to some Government which desires to learn the innermost secrets of the Russian Balkan polrey; <ir some enterprising publisher who wishes to reap a large profit from the sal© of a book dealing with these questions. The ex-diplomat, who now resides on extensive estates in Poland, was at the beginning of October at Koenig&berg, where he made the acquaintance of a fascinating young lady who pretended to be the daughter of. a wealthy Russian magnate. She stated that she was a student in Geneva. She gave the impression of 'being highly educated and refined. For a time she lived in the ex-diplomat' 6 country house in Russia, and afterwards travelled! with him to Berlin, where she disappeared; . Soon.after her disappearance the ex-"dip'iomat.foujrid to-.fcis Jiorror that his diary and all other political d6cumeiits which he possessed had" disappeared. He has entrusted the German firm of detectives, Gruetzmacher and Mueller, with the task of tracking the mysterious lady, who was known to him as Jutta Maximoff. The detectives oner a reward of £IOOO for any information, leading to her discovery. She is described as of medium height and slender, and delicate complexion. ' She dressed with extreme elegance, and ia apparently about twenty-eight years Of >age ;

Astounding Operations Performed. Some astounding surgical operations hay© been described by Dr Alexis Carrel, of the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, in an address before the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. He said : —"We have supplied the kidneys of . a dead cat to a live cat, which after three week's convalescence was quite well. We have grafted the leg of a dead fox terrier on a live fox terrier, and three months later the dog had complete control of the new limb. I have used with complete success the knee-joint, of a dead man to replace the injured joint of a living person. We have replaced the abdominal arteries of a cat with the carotid arteries Of ;a dog, and we have taken arteries from a human leg and put them into a dog. In my experiments the greatest difficulty was to preserve the organs of dead animals against decay. I finally found a way by keeping them hermetically sealed in a temperature slightly above freezing- point. We kept am artery alive in this way for sixty days. There is no scientific obstacle to the application of these operations to the human species. In fact, human operation would be simpler, because the organs in man are larger than those in cats and dogs, and do not therefore require such fine surgical technique. We have already begun to transplant human organs in cases of arteries." Mr W. W. Keen, who presided at the society's meeting, endorsed Dr Carrel's report, and stated that the chief obstacle of the newsurgery would be finding healthy organs when wanted. He said: "Perhaps when a healthy man is killed 1 it will be possible to extract the kidneys and keep them in cold storage until they are wanted. What has been done in the case of kidneys it is reasonable to believe will be found feasible in other organs. There is a wonderful new era of medical science now dawning. One thing Dr Carrel has done is to join the artery of a husband with the artery of the man's wdfe, who was compelled to undergo a serious operation. She would have died if she had relied on her own etrength for the operation. Her husband's blood gave her the requisite power. After the operation the arteries were separated, and the woman is now well again." Dr Carrel's announcement is attracting national attention.