CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11046, 25 February 1898, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

The'art of making wooden nufcmega and hickory hams, and converting "made to shoe pegs into seed oats, DECKiVte." is nos confined to the sharp traders of Connecticut. A practice has just been exposed in London which shows that the Cockney ismat above re■orting to tricks which h»rdly bear the light of day. The Junior Army and t Navy Stores-re-cently received a visitor, who blandly asked for a, small English ham. He received one which he was assured was a. genuine Irish one. In order that there should ba no dispute afterwards he caused the salesman to insert a description of the artiole in the invoice. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the visitor wag an inspector sent by the Bacon Curers' Association, and his mission was to ascertain whether the stores were selling foreign hams undar a fictitious name. The ham sold to him was, in fact, an American one, rubbed \yith oil and dusted with pea meal, and the salesman wag given a commission on all he could fraudulently dispose of in this manner. It was practically admitted during the hearing of the case that suitably-shaped Canadian hams wern treated as described and sold as Wiltshire or York hums, ' and it was stated that ah additional profit of 2da pound was so gained. The commiision given to the salesman was a paltry penny per ham. The magistrate who heard the caße marked his sense of the iniquity of the practice by a severe lecture from the bench and the imposition of fiuep, amounting to £21, with costs to the sum of £52 6s. Assuming that an average ham weighs 91b, the profit fraudulently made on 977 of them was thus swept away at ore stroke, and in addition the storcß must suffer from the exposure. No doubt the Canadians will be up in arms against this treatment of their haras, but th«y have the consolation of knowing that nt all events their hams have hitherto passed without question as prime English, with a little superficial manipulation with oil and psa meal.

The out-throat competition between the Government raihviys and that cougovhrxmext structed by the HanawAtu Ra.ilv. private way Company has produced a hailways. number of anomalies, some of which have evoked much condemnation. A committee of the Wellington Industrial Association recently to^k the matter under consideration, and the reiult is a trenchsnt report, which puts"the position in a nutshell and the Railway department in a dilemma. The Muniwatu routa is the shortest from Wellington to the principal northern towns— P.ilrnerston, Napiar, Wanganui, and New Plymouth. It is also the easiest route to travel, and the one least liable to interruption. The line was projected when a Royal commission reported adversely to the East and West Coast railway, and was constructed byacomp.iny consistiag largely of Wellington sh*rehulders. The cost was £850,000, and the s-hiireholderj have only received 2\ ptr cent, during the time their money has been invested, while the shares carry an uncalled liability of £285,000. During the 12£ years the railway his been ', in operation it has admittedly done good pioneer wotlc, and has materially aided the progress of the western districts of this North Island. The completion of the Government line to Napier brings two lisas into opposition, and' the Government has introduced cut-throat rates on the ground that its railway is entitled to ca.rry all traffic originating in the country through which tha line runs. The distances are as follow :—Government line to New Plymouth,'3ol miles; via M»uawatu, 251; Wangauui to Wellington, Government line, 201; via Mans.natu, 150; Napier to Wellington, Government line, 215 ; via Manawatu, 199 miles. The rates are so adjusted thai; the Government carries goods 51 miles further than the Manawatu Cumpaoy carries them for the same pi-ice; or in other word* it has constructed a rival line via Wairarapi with the apparent intention of forcing the company to sell the line, althoughit constructed a railway which the Government had no money for. This is characteristically shabby treatment. :

The " New Zealand Railway Review," the organ of the railway employees of the thebailway colony,, gives a few trenchant accidents, remarks on railway casualties, and suggests that the department cann6t expect that the sun of this tropical couutry can generally be brought in a* an excuse, as the idea'is too new and too nbvel to take. Our -contemporary alleges that the surprise is nob as. to the nuuaber of accidents that do.occuc, but rather at the low percentage of casualties compared'with the primitive, and ait .'times'' risky, niethed of railway operation suffered in New Zealand, .and. hints that if all the " narrow shaves " that occur in the coarse of a. year were made public it might.be advantageous as a | ; means towards the introduction of a system more in keeping with the necessities for safer working, as the natural development and expansion of tha Government railway ser. vice proceed*. The "Review" continues :— "Tha rate of casualties at the level crossings is abnormilly high,in. New Zealand when the small number of train. services is taken into account, andin the interests of human life tha departrnant should be compelled to adopt some more effective means for the prevention iof accident than exist at present. -The crossingkeeper is . apparently looked . upon by the management as of not very great concern,- if we may judge by the' small staff of that chss of labour compared with the large Dumber of comparatively busy.level crossings. Even what few crossing-keepers are employed -are not looked upon ,as of much importance, seeing that they are booked to work ' ssvendays a week for six day a' .pay, and that an attempt was recently m.\de to reduce them down in pay to a mere starvation rate. And yet all the dollar/ that the management has ever saved by its skinflint policy in this humane department of life-saving service would not condone for the sorrow and irreparable losb itflicted upon even.one solitary, family whose home has been rendered fatherless." Another source of danger is said to be the ■policy ofrthe management in working shorj^handed, for as traffic increases there is a lack of appointment of more labour to assist in. carrying out the work. It is alleged that excessively long hours of labour per week are common,, and that there is room for the employiaanbi.of many more hands were the Government disposed to engage them. ' Altogether the comments of the ''Review " throw a fierce light ou " Government " management. ,

An elementary knowledge of bacteriology would be of infinite service in longevity the saving of life, The city of germs by-law«, in a general kind of in ddst. way, recogaiae the po«»ibilitiej

of disease from germs in duafc, bub in pract:cj, alas! it 'completely ignores them.. For example, the , by-laws. say that footpiifihs shall be swept before 8 a.m., yat any morniag until half-past 9 o'clock shopkeepers may be seen raising clouds with impunity. : The dust carb nuisance also -is intolerable. The drivers seem to . enjoy the discomfiture of a, passer-by who receives on his person a cloud of ashei perfumed with all the odours that are attached to household refuse, aud when the cart is full they gaily drira off to the depot, ignoring the circumstance that their load is being gradually blown, away as the flying scraps o£ piper and clouds of dust testify. The street sweepers place the .dust in little heaps. At some indefinite future time, possibly when tho hoapa .. have, been - half blown away, the cart comes along and the men proceed to shovel in the due!;. Finally, what is left of the street and house refme is used; for the purpose ,of filling up building sites, in defiance of every known law oc health. In a recent numbsr of the Ana&les de Micrographie Dr Miquel gives the results of some interesting observations mado by him in respsci of the vitality of disease germs. In May, 1881, he took some earth from the Mont3ouris Park ab a depth of 10 inches bslosv ths turf. This he dried for two days at a temperature of 30deg Cent., and then ha placed th 2 dust iv herm?ticilly seated tubes, which he put aside in a dark corner/ of the laboratory. When taken, the soil contained an average of six and a-half million bacteria par gramme. After desiccation the number had fallen to rather less than four million. Sixteen years later—that is to say, list year—he still found three and a-half million per gramme, and he was enabled to isolate the specific microbe of tetanus. The inoculation of this soil in guinea pigs determined death from tetanus after an incubation period of two dajs, showing the remarkable vitality of p&thogen'c microbes under favourable conditions.

Mr H. W. Wilson, the editor of- the "Navy League Journal," reviews in th« the navy January number the progress league. made in attaining the objects of the league at the close of the third ye»r of its existence. He Bees every reason to be gratified with what has been done so far. The number of branches is'increasing, the membership is widening, the firmness are satisfactory, and although it cannot be hoped to achieve in an instant what must ba the work of a generation, the league is rapidly moving towards the goal aimed at. Unfortunately, from some unknown cause, the attempt to form a branch of the league in Dunedin was a failure, but despite this fact moat of our readers take 'a lively interett in matters relating to the navy, and every colonist has a personal interest in circumstances that seem to threaten the naval supremacy of Britain. Mr Wilson points out that Britain's progreis in naval armaments was checked by the disastrous engineers' strike, and if she is at present much stronger than France, and in certain respects stronger than Franco and Russia combined, there is little or no margin of safety iv such, au important class as that of battleships. Both France and Rutsia are increasing the speed of construction, aGd the Admiralty must exert themselves this year to keep pace with the continual additions to European navies. The tendency to turn more and more to maritime and colonial expulsion is distinctly perceptible in Europe, and Frenchmen are inclining to the policy which 50 years ago the French naval historian Lapeyreuse urged. "If we retain oar Continental aspirations," ha ssid, "we have Europe and England agaiu6t us; if wo become a naval Power of the first order we have Europs with us against England." With the

adoption of & great naval programme, the colonial activity of Francs is everywhere I crooi:ig the path of the Briti-h. The German Emperor is likely also to achieve his ambition to make Germany a naval Power, and the possibility of a war with Britain hag been pluinly 'hinted «t by the German Admiralty. Germany's naval activity will stimulate France, Russia, the United States, and Japiin to still further effort-, and Mr Wilson thinks the balance of naval power is tumbling. All things point to a fierce colonial and maritime rivalry in the twentieth csntury, and a coalition ag*ia»t Britain -is, possible such as she has | never bofore confronted. A navy is but the | instrument for carrying out and giviug effect to national policy. It is, therefore, considered necessary, that the league and its members shonld lose no opportnnity of instructing the masses of the permle as to the all-importarica of a sound policy. ■

TheR.MLS. Alameda, with the San Francisco mail, reached Auckland early yesterday morning. The Mahinapua, with the southern mails, left Oneb.unga early in the forenoon, and from New Plymouth the bags will be taken overland to Wellington, where they will be transhipped to the fenguin, leaving for Lyttclton at 11 o'clock tonight.

Mr Paulih telephoned at i 0.45 last evening : "S.E. to N.E. winds,.changing to S.W., and rain showers. ..Barometerfarther fall; .indications becoming stormy." x ■ A sitting of the Supreme Court in Chambers wilt ba held bj his Honor Mr Justice Williams to-day, at which several .matters connected' with the liquidation proceedings of the Ward Farmers' Association will coma up. There was a sitting of the court in Bancoyesterday, as the civil, sittings were adjourned. Portion of yesterday morning's session of the University Senate,was occupied with the consideration of the recommendations of a select committee'as to the course-to adopt in view of the loss io. the' wreck of the Malaara of the November examination papers. The suggestions were discussed in private, and after a few amendments had been made in them they were ordered to stand over j for adoption until.to-day. We understand th*t so far as the pass.work is concerned it will ba determined on the examinations already held in the various centres, and that ouly in a few. cases will: exitniaations require to be locally set.. These re-examinations will be conducted without.causing any delay, to-the students.

The valuation roll for the dity, which has how, feecn completed, shotvs an. jiicreasa this year over last year, of- £2912.- .The assessments for the various wards are as uuder:—South Ward, £35,128; High Ward, £92,753 ; Bell Ward, £56,146; Leitb. ■ : W*rd, ' £52,128 ; — total, £236,160. Tho amounts are subject, of course, to the revieion,of tha Assessment Cjurt. Last year the total was £233,24-8, and the assessments in the wards were as under : —South Ward, £34-, 180 ; High Ward,' £92,262.; Bell Ward, £55,706 ; Leith Ward, £51,100. ,

Afc the Psychological Hall, Moray place; l»st night, Dr Stordear. gave an. address on " The Origin of Evil." Viewing his subject from the natural, historic, mythological, and theological standpoints, he discoursed for over an hour in a manner that showed evidence of much research andstudy of : the ancient" religions and superstitions. He also dealt with various suggestions, ancient and modern, as to the cause of sin and evil in the world, o'neof which, he said, was th»t evil first arose through man's perversion; of,good and through, man's 6rror. His small audience demonstrated in the customary way their concurrence with many of his contentions. •.. ■"

Archbishop Redwood snd the Hon. Mr Rollestou, M.H.R.,-. members of the University Senate, arrived in ; town from the north last night. ■'■■■■■■■•■. ' ■'■ ■■'•:• ■■■'■""■■■■■ .-"■'■ ":

Mr .Justice Denniston, sitting in,^Banco. at Christchutch on Wednesday,. heard an application for the removal by certiordn of the procaedings of the Grey Licensing Committee inbo the Supreme Court. It appeared that one E. Sheedy had applied to the committee fora removal : of' his license • for the .Cosmopolitans Hotel, situate iu> the middle ward of the Borough of Greymouth, to a house known as the Steam Packet Restaurant, situats in the west ward of the borough, where it would be in the vicinity of three other hotels. Objection was taken to the application haiag granted, and the police also objected, but the Licensing Committee, by a majority, and againsj; the opinion of Mr Stratford, S.M., who presided, decided to>:grant the application; Mr Stratford refused to sign the certificate, but notwithstanding this the certificate was issued. His Honor, in making an order for the removal of the proceedings and'to quash the certificate as issued, said that it was perfectly clear that) the members of the Licendug Committee in acting as they had.done in defiance of the advice of their chairman, an experienced magistrate, had done so illegally. '

The monthly meeting of the St. Clair School Committea, held on Wednesday night, was attended by all'the members, Mr Thornton presiding. The insuring of the gymnasium for £300 with the Norwich Union office was approved of. Mrs Hendon was appointed caretaker. It.was reported that the Ladies' Guild had arranged.to procure through Mr Hanna a quantity of apparatus wherewith to complete the equipment of the gymnasium, and the committee re3olred; to apply- to the board for a share of Mr 'Hsnna's service* as instructor. The master (Mr Pop<2) reported that the number oh the roll was 107-r-a gain of 12 from the end of...last year—and the average attendance 93.- ■'..'■■'. •:'••' -■ :■ . y~-~r- ■',-.- ' •■

"One of the latest whims of the Parisian mondsune is to wear—;literally—& live tortoise, a small one, of course, and'jewelled according to the circumstances apd taste of the wearer. It has struck the French Society for the Protection of Animals that to have its shell set thickly with precious stones and to bs fastened by a gold chain to the corsage of the wearer must be distasteful, if not positively painful, to the tortoise. Legal steps ha^e therefore been taken to put a stop to the practice ; but the jewellers, and their fair clients will not yield without a fight. They assert that so far from being inoonveaiencad by carrying a few diamonds and -rabies on his carapace, the tortoise enjoys the distinction, and not being given to over-much locomotion the chain hae no terrors for it, while any little discomfort it suffers is than counterbalanced by dainty fare and good treatment.

The St.. Ciair School Committee has voted for Dr Brown, Messrs Green and Hurraway for the vacancies on. the Education Board ; the Wait&huna West and Totara Committees for Messrs" Hurraway, Mitchell, and Sim ; and the Ida Valley Committee.for Dr Brown, Messrs" Clark and Sim. •

Daring the course- 'of a case at the Central Criminal Court in Sydney last week; in which a tight-rope walker was charged with attempting t3 murder his wife, one of the witnesses stated that the accused's earnings varied from 7s 6d to 15s per week. It is thus evident that the daring performers who risk life and limb to amuse the public are not always so well paid as the majority of people imagine.

The Loudon Star is responsible for the statement that the world is about to witness * battle of the giants between the Rothschilds and Mr. Rockefeller, the American " multi-millionaire." It is a battle for the possession of the iniaeral oil market' of Great Britain. The Rockefeller combination,' by means of iti Standard Oil Trnst, has long controlled the oil market of America, and it now cherishes the lofty ambition of 1 giving light to the world. The Rothschilds would like to illuminate at least a corner of it, with the oil from Biku, in the Caspian ; and, in tho pursuit of thi6 modest aim, they have crossed the path of the American gi»nt. But most of the means of distribution in this, as iv other countries, are in his hands, and his presumptuous rivals have had to create & totally new system for .themselves. They are now, it is said, prepared to pub a new oil on the-market, white and pure, with a flash point of 103deg. And this is to be s»s cheap as the article with the flash point of 73, which so many public authorities consider to ba the oauae'of so many accidents with miaeral oil lamps. At this rate the close, of the. century wili witness a conflict unparalleled in the annals of war. We shall be lucky if the combatants forbear to set the world oh fire between them before they have done.

Orion Clemen*, brother of Mark Twain, died suddenly »t his home at Keokuk (U.S.A.) on December 12. His wife found him seated in a chair at a table, his head bowed over some writing at which ha had bsea working, death having euaued but a few minutes before he was found. Clemens came to Ksokuk during 1855, and, with his brother, the illustrious humorist, engaged in the job printing business. He served as Secretary aud Treasurer of Nevada Territory during Lincoln's first term. Nevadahad baen part of Idaho until the gold and silver discoveries which made the Comstock famous caused an influx of population into Nevada, and it was declared a Territory. Clemens held office until it became a Stste—lß6l to 186 S. During pare of that time he acted as Governor, wh'le ths Executive of the Territory was absent. Muck Twain was his private secretary during that time, and

it was this trip to Nevada that furnished tht material for '.' Roughing It" and huudreds of other shcrb works written in later years. The death robs Mark Twain of his . favourite companion. His life lines were drawn in so many different places, and so many influences h*d bsen at work on his gentle and humorously inclined nature, that the result was a man of a peculiarly wide fund of information and breadth of ideas.

The question of the travelling expenses ol members is an old bone of contention at the meetings of the Westport Harbouc Board, and

it cropped up again last week at the board's meeting, when.the Hon. R. H. J. Rteves lodged an account for £12 10s, expenses incurred io travelling from Wellington to attend the meeting of tho board. Mr Suisted was the only member of the Finance Committee present (Messrs Colvin and Jamiesoa being ill), and he refused to take the sple responsibility of certifying to the account.- He contended that Mr ' Reeves was only entitled to expenses from N«lsou—£lo 10s—except during tha session of Parliament. Mr Reeves replied that if Mr Suisted had his way he would get nothing. A good deal of sparring followed, and the matter eventually dropped, on the' understanding that the extra charge should go before the other two. members of the Finance Committee. ■ ■.',■'• Madame Amy Sherwin and har concert com* - pany, who since their appearances in the Princess Theatre last week have visited th« south and delighted crowded audiences at both Invercargilland Gore, will return to Dunedin by the express train from the south this afternoon, and.will,give this evening the first of. two farewell concerts in. the Garrison Hall. A perusal of the programme, which. appears elsewhere, is sufficient to show that an admirable entertainment is to bis provided ; and as popular prices are to be charged, and this will, it jg understood, absolutely be Madame Sherwin's last visit to Dunedin, it is not unreasonable to expect that there will be a full house to greet the accomplished cantatrice and her able coin? pany.