CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11505, 18 August 1899, Page 5

CURRENT TOPICS.

'The fact that of the five test matches played

in England by the Australian TIIK '!T"T cricketers only one has resulted M.VTi'HE.s. ill a definite conclusion must be

regarded as very unsatisfactory and disappointing. The disappointment is no doubt tempered to Australian minds by the consideration, lli.it in the one match which was concluded victory rented with the colonial player.-, who have consequently won the rubber, and will receive all the credit lo which they aro entitled for having decisively defeated the flower of KngliVh cricket at Lords, and had nono the wor-l of the draw in at le;-.:-:t two of the other t'.-it engagements. It would have been mm;li more satisfactory, however, if all tt»:.-o matches had been played out. Two explanations may be offered for the circumstance i!■;»t !hey were not. The one which will find most favour in the old country is the .vloivnejo of the cricket adopted by the .Australians. "X was this which undoubtedly saved the Knglisbmen from defeat in the first of this season's test matches. The Australians, it will !«: remembered, went first lo the wicket* at Trent Bridge. The weather was glorious and I lie wicket fast, and yet the fire! d.i/,' pl.-iy yielded only 238 runs for the lo.« cf eight mop. Contrasted with this, the Plngli?!, f'n,im's showing of 435 for four wickets at the Cival on Monday last represents the very champagne of cricket. The .English cricketers take more risks with the bowling and score their runs much more

quickly than do the Aurtralians. Their batting is consequently the more attractive. Tho difference between the two styles is, however, merely the result of the different conditions under which the game is played in England and in Australia. In England three days only are allowed for a match, however important it may he. If a match is to be concluded in the time runs must bo scored quickly, and it does not pay a team to play for draws in the county championship contest, for in the reckoning up of points draws do not count. In Australia, on the other hand, an important match is played to a finish, even if it occupies a week, and a side, therefore, is under no necessity to "force" the ruin. The effect of this has been the

cultivation of a- steady style in baiting, and the most successful batsmen are those who are content to wait for their opportunities of scoring. The school is altogether different from that in England. There is no question as to which produces the more attractive results; but there is certainly considerable room ftu- doubt as to whether, while the object of the game is for each aide to score as many runs as possible, the Australian style is not tho sounder. Whatever may be said on that subject, there will be a consensus of opinion as to the desirability of the test matches beingplayed out. This year's experience in England will probably convert those in authority in cricket there to the idea that three days are not sufficient for contests to settle the cricket supremacy of England or Australia. The obstacle in tho way is the county championship contest, and the reluctance of leading counties to suffer the deprivation of the services of their best men when they have important engagements to keep. , As, however, the visits of Australian teams to England will never be made more frequently than once in two years, it does seem unfortunate that, when tho issue is, in the cricket world, so momentous, counties will not release a man or two—no county had more than two men in this week's English Eleven—to play in an All-England team five limes in eacli alternate year.

The Dreyfus ease has produced at least one comedy scene. This consists in hoaxing the complete discomfiture of AN ANTI- M. Qucsnay de Beaurepaire, deevfusite. who resigned from his position

as a judge of the Court of Cas-

sat ion-in order to embarrass his colleagues of the Criminal Court. He has been busy in collecting fresh evidence to prove that Cap-

tain Dreyfus wrote the bordereau which Este

hazy confesses to having written, and which the Court of Cassation proved him to have written. M. de Beaurepaire's activity in this direction exposed him to the hoax of which

he has been the victim. A mysterious individual, who gave his name as " Karl," but refused to disclose his identity, perceived his opportunity, and approached the ex-judge secretly with the information that he was in

.possession of complete proofs of Dreyfus's guilt—an annotated time-table, an annotated cycling map, and a letter from a distinguished personago, whose name he would not divulge. These documents, "Karl" affirmed, were at Basle, and it was arranged that be should go there to fetch thorn, receiving' 250 francs for his expenses. "Karl" took the precaution to ask for a secret* and safe address to which he might send letters for M. de Beaurepaire, and he induced the wife of a friend to play the part—indispensable in any affaire in France—of the veiled lady. "Karl," it is needless to say, did not leave Paris, but he did not neglect to ask for further advances. This, he did in a letter, delivered at the secret address by tho intermediary, in which he asked for 300 francs; He got 200 francs, but in a letter from M. de Beaurepaire,! who signed it "The Man on Whom'Karl Called Twice," he was promised "a fine reward" if he brought back the proofs. The most mysterious arrangements were made by "Karl" for roundabout routes from Basle, and lie proposed to leave tho documents in a safe place and bring photographs of them in his shoes, which wore yellow, and specially constructed for carrying photographs. Elaborate arrangements were suggested also for handing over the precious packet of proofs with every kind of secrecy. Finally there was another demand for money. Such business cannot be done without, money. "Karl" had already spent just 1383 francs, and required 300 francs more. The demand was an-incon-

venient one, for it was more difficult for M. de Beaurepaire, whom everyone knew, to be not rich, to send such a sum suddenly than it would have been for him to send 3000

francs after having seen his friends^ but the money was scraped together and forwarded to

'Karl." M. de Beaurepaire was impatient for the proofs. "Bring the documents to laivs to my house," he wrote, "or to the

neutral house whore you sent your messenger, or to a carnage, which is a good plan, "for I can wait for you anywhere you like in a closed cab." 'The last of these proposals evidently grew upon M. de Beaurepaire, and he proposed an arrangement of his own crca-

" Why do you not leave the train a

some station like Courcelles, for instance?" he asked. "I would wait for you in a closed carriage, with my arm carelessly protruding from the window. This wcjuld he very saieS' It was enough, at any rate, for " Karl," who, satisfied of M. de Beauropaire's gullibilt-yi sent him back the 750 franca he bad received from him, with excuses for his frivolity, and handed the ex-judge's letters to the Figaro, which reproduced them in fao simile.

An advertisement in the Melbourne papers for a bookkeeper at £2 per week clkuks' has led to" a flood of corresponSALAHIES. denco, in which the question of

tho remuneration that clerical work receives has been exhaustively discussed. In this instance it is pointed out that the bookkeeper, who would probably be expected to be capable of correctly drawing up a balance sheet, was to receive loss than the wages of a labourer. It is, it is to bo feared^ a typical example of the remuneration- of men of intelligence and business experience, who are paid on a miserable scale, and have yet to dress in such a way as to keep up their position. There would, however, in all probability be numerous applicants for the vacancy in Melbourne. Tho demand for situations in offices-seems continually to be greater than

the supply, and the tendency is to bring about a reduction in the salary list. In Great Britain the competition for employment is, of course, keener than in tho colonies, and it is quite painful to rend down tha pages of advertisements inserted in a paper like the London Chamber of Commerce Journal by persons in search of situations in mercantile offices. In the last issue of that publication,

instanco, there are a number of advertise

ments for bookkeepers' situations, raid in only one-fourth of these do the advertisers name a salary in excess of that offered in Melbourne. Among them, too, are men of ap-

■ently extensive experience and wide busi

ess knowledge. One advertiser, aged 35. laiming to bn a " thoroughly competent boot

keeper, used to balancing and auditing, with VI years' banking, mercantile, public company, and general business experience, and a Remington typist," offers bis services as bookkeeper for £100, per annum, and is willing to go abroad fm- employment. The question is tempted whether such a man lias not actually wasted 17 of the best years of bis life in obtaining his insight into commercial bushing, when, at the end of them, he is content to accept such a salary. Another advertiser, whoso age 'is 23, asks a salary of £SO, and is capable of undertaking bookkeeping by double entry, has .bad four years' experience in keeping stock, ledger, and other books of West African and general merchants, and has a good' knowledge of French and German, ami of the execution of indents for shipments of British mamifachire.- Another, who has had a thorough Mincing Lane experience of 20 years, is content, at tin? age of 42, to ask a salary of only £100. ]3ixn a sadder case is that of a man of 52, who has been recently in business on his own account—probably one of life's failures when thrown on his own esources,—and lias bad considerable expori£Bo is all that hv.

asks. In the same publication there aro junior clerks offering at salaries of £50 lo £90, .'hortlmnd clerks at from £65 to £160, and foreign correspondents at from £26 to £200. The majority of the candidates for positions as foreign correspondents arc young men of foreign origin, who have probably been educated and trained in one or other of the excellent technical schools on the Continent, and are highly qualified. The advertiser who would take the pittance of £26 is 23 years of age, and represents himself to be :i thorough German and It'rcnch correspondent, able to take down German in shorthand, and a single or douWe-cnlry bookkeeper with four years'

experience. When accomplishments such as these are to bo hired at so small a figure, the avenue to clerical employment docs not present an inviting prospect.

In die House of Representatives yesterday, the afternoon silting was taken up in replying to the questions which had accumulated on the Ordoi Paper. In the evening the debate on the Financial Statement was resumed. It is believed tho debate will be brought to a close this evening, so that next week may be devoted to business.

Tiie Telegraph department report that both cables between Jamaica and Porto Rica are interrupted; also the Iqueque-Valparaiso cable. Telegrams cannot be accepted for places beyond Iqueque.

5 An extraordinary meeting of tho New Zealand Refrigerating Company (Limited) was held nt the Board Room of'the Agricultural Hall yesterday afternoon, Mr J. Roberts being in the chair. There were 12 shareholders present, and the resolutions passed at a meeting of the company on August 2—increasing the capital of the company to £60,000, by the creation of 4000 preference shares of £5 each— were unanimously confirmed as special resolutions.

An unoccupied four-roomed house at Broadacres (between North-East Valley and Port Chalmers), owned by Mrs Johanna Collins, was burned clown about. 3 o'clock on Wedne3day afternoon. The building was covered by an insurance policy of £80, in the Standard office, and was valued at £20 more than that sum. No explanation is available to throw b'ght on the cause of the fire.

A special meeting of the Maori Hill Borough Council was held on Monday to consider the City Council's drainage scheme. It was decided to take do action in the matter, as,

in the opinion of the council, the proposa was premature.

A meeting of tho Standing-Committee of the Otago district M.C7.1.0.0.F. was held in tho District Chambers, Stuart street, last evening. Prov. (t.M. William Allan presided, and there was a fair number of delegates present. An application was received through the Loyal Caversham Lodge to have a dispensation granted to open a new lodge at Waikaka, to bo called the Loyal Waikaka Lodge. It was resolved that the application be granted, and that the district officers be empowered to make the necessary arrangements to open same during this month. The application was signed by 24- intending members, and, with the present dredging operations in the district, there is every likelihood of increasing numbers in a very short time.

The following councillors on the Maori Hill Borough Council retire from office next month:—Crs Frame, Mulholland, Early, and Butler, who represent South, East, West, and 'North Wards respectively." It was stated at the meeting of the Victoria College Council, Wellington, that the Premier bad declined to give the Mount Cook site to the university. The Premier said he had to safeguard the interests of the colony as a whole. Messrs Wilson and Hogg, M.H.R.'s, said they would bring the mailer up in the House.

It is stated by "The Medical Press and Circular " that Lord Salisbury has discovered and completed an important chemical process in his private laboratory at Hatfield, and that the results will be made known to the world on his behalf at a forthcoming meeting of one of tho learned societies. The scientific world has for long known that it had in the English Premier a devoted student of chemical science. Despite the arduous duties attached to his official post, be, nevertheless, snatches every available opportunity of prosecuting his favourite study.

Mr F. AY. Castle writes from San Francisco to the Auckland Star:—"l have lived in New Zealand, and know much of tho Maoris and their language. I also know many of tho Alaskan Indians, from Port Barrow and St. Michael, and it may be of some interest to you to know that many words in their language are similar; also in featuro and colour they much resemble the Maori. In physique they are not so fine, probably owing to the severe cold climate and poor food. The word ' wahino ' and many others are used exactly in the same sense and meaning as in Maori. Even the tatoo on the chin of the woman

is the same in form and colour. That the two are the same race lam positive. The Samoans may be a branch, but I doubt it very much. I will iry and collect from a missionary, who spent many years among the Alaskan natives, all the information I e;tn, and will forward you if it may interest. From seeing your paper and many queries of the Maori, I

louglit this note might help."

, "Nowhere, outside the 'Family Herald,' gentlemen," said his Honor Mr Justice Denniston, charging the jury in the Rollcston Hotel case, " does 'a man who wants a girl to act as bis amenuensis begin by giving her a glass of drugged schnapps." This referred

to a statement of the accused that she was asked to copy a letter from Mark Henley, jun., and that, he had drugged a glass of

hnapps before getting'her to do it.

is so truly feminine," added his Honor, at which the ladies in the court looked somewhat fierce.—Christchurch Press.

At the Invercargill Court on Wednesday a)rido of seven months sued her husband for naintenanee. She gave, inter alia, the fol-

lowing extraordinary testimony :—When they got married they had only two dinner plates, and she purchased six more, which he styled extravagance. He would not forgive her for buying them, and refused to pay more than 2s for a skirt, which, witness said, was an unreasonable price to oxpect such a garment for. Defendant frequently compelled her to leave the house, and did not provide her with sufficient food or medicine, though she had been, and still was, in failing health. The doctor ordered her a change, and ehe desired to go to Clinton, but he refused to let her owing to the expense, and recommended her to visit Waimahaka, as the railage would only cost two shillings and a penny. On one occasion when she drew attention to the want of meat in the house, Ire told her to get a sorenpemiy roast or threepence worth of

A new kind of mutual fund was started in St. Peterbnrg last spring-marriage insurance. It is now in successful operation. Single women are Use only members,'who are recruited from year to year in ceruirato classes. At their entry they pay one rouble, and when ever one of their number marries every member of that class pays an additional 'rouble. The assessment thus collected is offered to the bride to buy a trousseau. One restriction prevents new members from taking advantage of the older ovics. No dowry assessment is called unless the girl has been a member in good standing for one year. Eacli class is permitted to have not more than 300 members; after that admissions are refused until vacancies occur by marriage, when new member* arc taken in at the option of tin mem-

The Waxwork* wore well attended last evening. To-night is the last of the present programme. On. Saturday Mr W. M. Wallace, from Melbourne, will make his first ap-

The second of the series of organ recitals, entitled "Evenings with the Great Composers," will be given at St. Paul's Cathedral next Wednesday evening. Besides members of the choir, Miss Amy Murphy, Miss Lily Shand, Mr James Jago, and Mr G. Schacht will assist.

One hundred and forty-iour aim in tl.e Jancfteld settlement will be open for application for lease in perpetuity on September 15 at the District Land office, Dunedin.

All persons having claims against'the estate E the late Mrs Logan are requested to forard particulars to Messrs Jlonrlv and Sim )licitors.

Messrs Wright, Slophcnson, and Co will sell draught uncl light harness horses to-morrow it the IJunedin horse snleyards. On Tuesday next they will hold a clearing sale of stock, farming implements, etc., at Pleasunt Valley near Palmerston. >'

The place for watch and jewellery repairsG. and T. Young's, 88 Princes street; they thoroughly clean watches for six shillings, and execute nil other "repairs :it equally low rates. —Advt. John Htsi.op, oldest established "Watchmaker and Jeweller, 74 Princes street Good assortment Watches, Clocks, mid Jewellery Spectacles suit all sights.—Advt. Carter's Great Sale.—Last two weeks. Tremendous bargains, as they must make room lor a large shipment of New Season's Goods.—Advt AI-o-9-t ft-c l-i■ii-b-l-o! For punctual time try Pbtf.ii Dick, Watchmaker and Jeweller, opposite Coffee Palace, Moray place, Duncdiii. Cburges strictly moderate.—Advt. '• OKHEBOS NUTRITIVE SALT."