NEWS OF THE WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13876, 13 April 1907, Page 13

NEWS OF THE WORLD.

. THE SENIOR WRANGLER, By unexpectedly largo majorities Cambridge University voters have dcchirod in favour of reforming tho mathematical tripes, As a result of this decision tho order of merit, and consequently tho senior mangier, will disappear. Tlio reform does not affect undergraduates in residence, and for two more years tho order of mcfit will appear, but. those who come into residence next Ootobor will sit for an examination in whioh candidates will he simply arranged alphabetically in thrco olacses— namely, wranglers, senior, and junior optimes. By far tho larger proportion of those v.-ho polled were out-voters. All tho heads of houses who voted—the Masters of .Magdalen, Pembroke, St. Catherine's, Selwyn; and Christ's .Colleges—were Upon the placet side, and they hat! a flistinguished supporter in iVIr A. ,T. Balfour, who arrived early in tho evening and was received by tho Rogistrary, Mr J. W, Clark. The Director of Naval Education (Dr E. Effing), Professor Conway (Manchester), Professor Sherrington (Liverpool), the Bishop of "Ely, Professor Henry .Tackeon, and Professor W. G. Adams were among those who voted on the sanio side, and Prince Dulcop Singh, Sit Robert Romcr, and Archdeacon Bond were among the non-placets, and Lord Justice Moulton and Sir Evelyn Oakeley, two strong opponents of the scheme, were paired. The poll closed at 7 o'clock. There were three graces, all hearing unon tho same point, and amid much excitement the Senior Proctor declared the. results as follows:— GraeoNo. I.—Placet- 776 " Non-placet 6H Majority ■... 132 Grace No. 2.—Placet ~.. 780 Non-placet 638

Majority .... 142 Grace No, 3.—Placet 777 Non-placet 637 , Majority ... .... 140 After tho declaration of the poll leaders o£ the opposing forces were questioned, and, with tho exception of Dr Routh, tho wollkuown coach, all declared that the voto finally settled the question, Mr W. M. Coates, ;i member of the nan-placet committee, and the third .wrangler of 18EG, remarked The University has dccided, and as far as I know wo must lot the matter drop. It is quite an end of it, and I should, s&y an end of mathematics in the University." On tho othc.r hand, Professor Forsyth, the Senior Wrangler of 1881, expressed pleasure that the senate had ratified tho vole of last October, and hoped that now the matter was finally settled all would work together harmoniously under tho new scheme. PRIMATE AND MR BIRRELL. Tiie Archbishop' of Canterbury takes strong exception to certain allusions to the bishops made in a speech in tho debate on the address, and he has sent a letter to Mr Birrcll, in which he states:— "England is well accustomed to read and adequately to appraise tho facile and wholesale denunciations of bishops which are characteristic features of a certain kind of irresponsible oratory, but, when a statesman, whose work had required from him a special familiarity with contemporary facts, tells tho world that, in what ho calls the catise of humahity, the bishops Have usually kept silence in Parliament, I feel the charge to be one which I personally regard as one of the utmost possible gravity. This, • however,, is no personal matter. I- sit in tho House, of Lords in a public capacity, and on reading your words I asked myself what correspondence thov have wifli my recollection of the work which wc ha'vo there tried lo do. Will you pardon tho appearance of egotism if, talcing myself as a specimen, I mention some of tho subjects with which one bishop out, of many has endeavoured, however inadequately, to deal by voice and vote?" The Archbishop then quotes a long list of measures of social reform which he has, during tho 12 years he has had a scat in the House ol Lords, either introduced or supported. " With respect to our responsibilities in matters outside the British Isles," he adds, "it has fallen to me to initiate discussions in the House of Lords on the West African liquor traffic, and on the treatment of the aborigines of Western Australia, and to take part in the debates on tho administration of the Congo, on the treatment of tbe Jews in Russia, on the disorders in Macedonia, and on the introduction of Chinese labour into South Africa. On tho last-named subject I was, I believe, the first to call attention to the moral dangers attending the importation—dangers which I thought, and still think, to l;e even greater than tho other perils lo which attention has been more prominentlv direeted. On the various bills which have been introduced during the last decade for removing from those outside the Church of England any remaining vestige of disability or disadvantage I have felt it to bo a privilege to support bv voice and vote such measures as the Nonconformist Marriages Bill of 1893, tho Burial Grounds •Bill of 1900, and the Public Meetings Facilities Bill of 1905 and 1906."-

A WONDERFUL JOURNEY. Advices were received in Calcutta, on February 5 from Dr Svcn Iledin, 'tlio Swedish explorer, who last year started on a. journey of exploration into Thibet, goinp; by way ol Kashmir, and crossing into Thibet at (lie .White Desert from Chinese 'Im'koslaii, llio Brilish Imperial authorities having refused to allow him (o cross the frontier from British India. The explorer, who has travelled undor most, severe climatic conditions, was at Ngangon Tso on January 21, and hoped to reach Shißnts? by ihe cud of February. The geographical and geodetic results of Ihe expedition are exceptionally important. The following personal message was received :— " Eight hundred "and forty miles of unknown country hr.vo been explored. Wo bad a splendid journey diagonally through darkest Thibet. Wo lost Ihe whole caravan, but not a single man. All the maps and results wen! saved. We met the first Thibetans after 84- days of solitude. Thero has been an Arctic winter for five months, and now it is 31deg below zero (F.), and every day there is a gale or half a gale, I have discovered l many new lakes, rivers, mountain ranges, und ' goldfields, and Iho geographical results are extraordinarily l'ioh. A map has been made in 184 shcels. 1 have 634 panoramas, 230 specimens of rocks and geological profiles, many dozen photos, 20 astronomical points, and 1000 pages of annotations. Four lakes were sounded in a boat or on the ice. Wo had very narrow escapes in the stormy weather Oil the 'ak-os, and were onco attacked by a wild yak—a, picturesque adventure. Ail the Ladakis and my assistants were above praise. They are about the best men I over had. On January 11 we were stoptKxl by Thibetans at Ngangtso. On the 13th, for a. reason unknown, they changed their opinion, and let me continue. I have received a hearty postal welcome from Gyangtee. This is the most wonderful journey I have made in Asia in.22 years."

' "PROFESSOR" BERNHARDT. ' There was a groat meeting of reporters and photographers at the doors of tho Conservatoire, Paris, on February 19, and tlio .rooms, ivcro unusually crowded by pupils and their frionds in expectation of' a groat event, which was nothing less than tho "finjt lesson" to he given by tho new 'professor" of tho Conservatoire, Madame oarnh Bernhardt. Ten of Iter twclvo< pupils arrived not only punctually, but long beforo the time, and went about, prcrud and radiant, with tho idea that, thogreat ao,tress was to bo their teacher. Thoy were, perhaps, inclined to look down oil tlio other pupils, who had no such celebrated professor to preside over their class. The other two pupils wcro unable to attend owing to the grippe. At 10 o'clock sharp" Madame Sarah Bernhardt arrivedin-a coupe, which drove-up rapidly. Tlioro was a snapping of cameras as sho stepped out of tho .carriage, without looking round. As sho entered' the directors' room M. Fauro' received her. and her pupils presented her with a bouquet of violets. Madame Sarah wore a long olive-coloured cloak and a fur boa, a large hat trimmed with rosos. and'a vio'ct veil. Her pupils wcro then presented to.her one by one, and sho bad a pleasant word' for each, after which the whole company adlourned to the little theatre used as a classroom. Her first lesson would ho "placing the voice," sho said, and tho first pupil called up was Mdllc. Norma, who recited a part of " L'Etrangerc." Sho was followed by M. Leroy. who doqlaimcd a part of " Lcs Rantzau," and the other pupils each rcoited _ something. Madame Sarah Bernhardt listened attentively to each of them, but never made any remark. When it, was all. over, and sho was asked for her impression, she said: "Mv impressions are excellent. I am delighted with my pupils. We shall Iks doing somo good work. I already notico two remarkable pupils who will later on bo excellent artiste. This has boon merely an 'audition,' where I played. a silent role. Next Thursday wo shall, begin to work. If you know how pleased I am to ba able lo teach my art to others hero and to impart what little dramatic, scienco X possess to those who, like me, lovo tho stage!" SKATING FATALITIES. Skating was responsible for tliree deaths at Lancaster in February, while at Lisoard, a village in Cheshire, a young woman named Margaret Gibson was drowned. Sho was sliding on a sheet of ice covering a pit over 13ft deep when the ic-o broto, and sho went under. The victims of the disaster at Lancaster were Richard Jordan, compositor, Harry Btehells, labourer, and Alexander Harrison, their ages varying from 26 to 35 years. Jordan was only m&rried at, Christinas, but the other two •men wcro believed to bo unmarried. Tlio accident happened on the Luno. While a party of skaters wcro enjoying themselves the ice was hoard to crack, and Harrison was then seen to be in difficulties. He broke through tho ice just below Lancaster boat-house, and a splonditl attempt was made to rescue him by a motor engineer named Kitchen, who approached as near as pc«:iblo to him as ho struggled in tho icy water, and hold' out an oar to him. Harrison clutched at tho oar, but the ice about, him cracked still further. For fully 10 minutes ho struggled in tho water, but the effort told on him, and lie was too' exhausted to obtain any grip on tho oai', and sank 'beneath tho icc. Etchells lost his life in trying to save Jordan, and

another mm named Gibson;' who' also risked his lifo in a rain attempt to effect 11;o rescue of (lie two men, was brought out in an almost exhausted condition bv •means of a tail rope flung from a Midland railway van. Despite the shocking nat-uro. of the acoideiits, skating continued for somo tinio at t.h'w dangerous part. A skating fatality also occurred oil the Duchess pond at Staplcton, Bristol. Two lads, -Percy llolkdge, 11, and Arthur Thatcher, 16, fell through Ihn ice in the centre of tho pond, and on four men attempting their rcscuo the ice oil which they were lying broke, all bein» immersed. " One of tho men, named Slade, was fortunately able to swim, and he succeeded in getting all out alive, with tho exception of Golledgo. The last-named was unconscious when reached, and attempts at artificial respiration in his easo proved unavailing. TRADE UNION ARMIES. The United States War Department lias received a report of a rather sensational nature from Captain Henry W. Whitney, of tho Coast Artillery, who was_ one of tho Regular army inspectors sent' to Pennsylvania last year to inspect the NationalGuard organisation. Ho substantiates a charge which has been current as rumour, to the effect that union.labour men, especially mine-workers, have organised independent .military companies, which arc secretly armed aiid drilled, and whose purpose evidently is- to oppose tho National Guard regiments in case of strikes or other labour troubles. According to Captain Whitney, there are at least 37 of itheso independent military organisations, which aro animated by "intense antagonism" to tho National Guard. He believes that these labour union soWiere will eventually make war on tho State Militia.' 1 Tierce battles have occurred in tho past between striking miners and the constabulary. Finkcrlon detectives, and the Militia, in the region which came under Captain Whitney's inspection. On such occasions the ■ union labourers woro unorganised, acting ■ only under tho impromptu leadership of •suoh men as could enlist their obedienco -oil the spur of tho moment. Even under -such conditions, the forces of authority <havo had.'igreat difficulty in restoring order, 'and-there-have been occasions of considerable bloodshed. IE Captain Whitney's .observations are as correct' as tho War • Department thinks they aro, the next great striko in' Pennsylvania is likely to develop into a-condition analogous to civil war.

THE ORIGIN OP LIFE. It has how been demonstrated that Mr Butler Buike's investigations of tho action of ra<iium on gelatine an other culture media, by which it is was claimed about •two years ago that ho had thrown considerable light on the origin of life, woro not quite so far-reaching as somo pcoplo. .thought. Tho Standard says that Mr W. A. Douglas Ritdge has just published in tho papers of the Royal Society the ac-count-of a-series of most interesting experiments which he has made. Suspecting the causo to bo purely chemical, Mr Rudge subjected the gelatine to the action of tho other metallic salts. Barium, which is, of course, a. constant jmpurity in radium, gave, the effect even better than radium itself. Though from the outset tho majority of biologists refused to look on Mr Burke's " radiobbs" as being in any way connected with the origin of life, their refusal was based on purely biological considerations. They wero quito unable to suggest any explanation of the phenomenon. Mr. Iludge, lioweror, has settled the matter onco for all. There can bo no,-doubt that the " cells" aro nothing _ else than the insoluble sulplratcs yf certain metals which form about a core of, gelatino. The limits of tho precipitation of tho sulphates vary according to tho larger or smaller' area through which tho metallic salts are-able to diffuse. FATAL TOBOGGANING. At 10 a.m. on February 18 the Count do Bylandfc was instantaneously killed on the Crest; l . Run, in Switzerland, as lie was practising- -a sport iu which for several years ho had proved himself an . adopt. Though the couipo had been signalled clear, it appears that an attendant had neglected to removo the barrier usually placed during the night at a part of tho run known as tho Junction, where tho rider is generally travelling at a- speed of about 30 miles an hour, without tlio least anticipation .of danger. Into 'this barrier Count 'do Bylandt must havo crashed with appalling violence, and no doubt the heavy steel framework of his toboggan completed the mischief, already serious enough, for the walls of his chest were hopelessly fractured, and tho heart itself was ruptured. Death - must have been instantaneous .from such terrible injuries. Tlio whole community's saddened by tho sudden'loss of one of its most popular and respected members within, so short' an interval after the fatal accident at a different portion of the coursc.