PASSING- NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 1797, 30 April 1886, Page 17

PASSING- NOTES

The international masquerade in Eastern Euiopc, to whirl) Greece, Tui key, Russia, anil certain other Powers are parties, woais at this moment a highly entertaining :uul even fxreieal aspect Greece, with a population only about four times that of New Zealand, is raging to make war on Turkey. Turkey, 10 times as strong as her would-be assailant, is imploring the rest of Europe to protect her and make the little 'an keep quiet. The rest of Europe accordingly orders its fleets to the Pirajus ami bullies, or tries to bully, puny but bellicose Greece into keeping the peace. Highly farcical all thin, on ti superficial view. It i-> impossible, however, not to suspect the face of Tragedy behind the comedy mask. Why is Greece so bent on an apparently unequal battle ? BeeauM; she is being egged on and .secretly promised support. Why does Turkey appeal lo the Powers instead, of throttling Greece straightway, as .she well might do? Because she knows that Greece has a backer stronger than hersoll". Fnrther, why does Greece brave it out so long against the threats of uuiw.il Europe ? Because, as I suspect, she believes that the iirst shot fired in the Pirreus would dissolve- the combination arrayed against her and set united Europe itself by the ears. Possibly united Europe believes that too, hence is more eager in appearance than in reality to proceed to extremities, llussia, unless she is grievously misinterpreted, is playing the double part of secretly urging Greece to war whilst ostensibly threatening her with fire and sword unless she keeps the peace. A comedy of this kind being difficult to keep up, a transformation scene in the drama cf Eastern Europe may be looked for any day.

Our own little demonstration, — the naval engagement at Oamaru last week — viewed in the light of an open-air theatrical performance — seems to hare been a groat .success. And it is principally as a theatrical performance that the large expenditure it involved is justifiable. It served to lend a little colour and variety to the dry work of drilling and manoeuvring, and it pleased the spectators, who flocked to the scene iv thousands. To the latter it provided noise anil smoke ; and given these two constituents of warfare, only a little exercise of the imagination ih needed to fill in a complete buttle piece. But in point of utility it is to be feared that sham lights rank very low. Do they test the coolness, courage, and discipline of the men? Not in the least. Everjone is aware that the valour even of Mr Robert Acres would never have oozed through h\h boots if he had received a confidential assurance from his second that the pistols were to be loaded with blank cartridges. No ! a sham fight tests nothing that could not be almost as satisfactorily tested without the expenditure of an ounce of gunpowder. It does not, like target practice, improve the men's markmanship ; it does not, like camp life, drill, and fatigue duty, instruct them much, in the real qualities of soldiers, It goes without saying that men can stand or lie and pull triggers, and that they can bear the noise of explosives known to be harmless, without flinching. The information really required is whether they can hear the whistling of shot aud s«<; their comrades falling around them aud yet preserve determination and discipline. No doubt our volunteers — or most of them — could ; but a sham fight does nothing at all to prove it. "Either give me blood— real blood and plenty of it," as a staunch English militiaman remarked, "or let the thing alone." This sentiment I re-echo ; and of the two alternatives, I should prefer to " let the thing alone."

Conscience will not allow mo to pretend that I huve r^id the latest volcanic outburst from tho Rev. John Lothian, of Alexandra. Twenty-eight pages of Apocalyptic fervours on the University Counrll, the Synod, Dr Salmond, and the Chair ! Thanks, no ! at Easter holiday time "life is too precious to waste on this sort of thing. I have not read Mr Lothian's pamphlet, but I have read his preface to it, where, to my joy, I find an affectionate reference to myself — "Our well kpown and clearly beloved Civis, the literary

clown of the Times and Witness establishment, whose jokes, whimsicalities, egotistical oddities, and ephemeral vanities render him a useful and harmless source of amusement to tho public, and who is altogether a xjrivileged porson boyond the notice of sane reasoning." Now — barring a tendency to sesquipedalia vcrba, Mr Lothian's besetting sin — this is very well put indeed, and had thu body of the pamphlet been as entertaining as this specimen from the preface verily I would have read the whole of it. But nti bono? Why write pamphlets to prove that the sky will fall if T)r Salmond be not appointed when Dr Salmond has been appointed already ? Dv Stuart's double vote has settled the whole business, and the worthy pastor of Knox church now enjoys the exquisite revenge of seeing the man who oppressed him in the Synod squirming and writhing under this coals of fire heaped upon his head. Why, then, when the wretched Salmond controversy is dead and ought to be buried, docs Mr Lothian let fall a supernumerary horror in the shape of this pamphlet ? Alas, the pamphlet consists of a series of letters addressed to the Daily Times and, for the most part, " refused insertion." Mr Lothian feels that in justice to mankind he ought not to let his rejected addresses perish, though they are no longer relevant to anything in heaven or earth ; hence he has rushed to the printer. Well, it is all good for trade, and the printer no doubt was glad to see him. Failing other available consolation, Mr Lothian must make the most of this.

Jt is easy to sue why the landlord question should ripen faster in old countries than in new onon. In new countries private land has only recently been bought from the State. " Nationalise, my land !" says the purchaser, — " why, you have only just now nationalised my money which 1 gave you in payment for it. You surely don't propose to nationalise both land and money.'' There being no very obvious reply to this, the private holder of land lias the best ol the argument, and the project of land nationalisation drops in the Colonies to the level of a mere fad. Very different is the casein Britain. There the land has been denationalised, yet its money valno has never been nationalised in return. That the stolid British Hodge is at last waking up to this fact there are .signs immistakeablo. Here ks au incidental illustration : on a recent Saturday, in Dorcester, there was a " demonstration " against landlordism by farm labourers, tho demonhtrafcors parading the streets, four deep, with bauds and banners, and singing a doggre.l ditty of which the following are two specimen verses :

Give back the land ! tho stolen land Ye know not how to hold ; To us it will yield tood and lite, To you it yields base K°ld. Ifeniember that ye cannot claim One acre or one sod ; (jivo. back the land, the wretched fry, Yo> stole it from your God ! The other side also makes its appeal to the Muses, with somewhat greater success, as might be expected. Here is a Conservative satire on the " three acres and a cow "' proposal ; 1 hear thee speak of that bit ot land. And a cow for every labouring hand ; . Tell me. dear mother, where is lhafc shoreWhere shall I Jind it, and work no more? Is it at home, this unoccupied ground, Wliure acres three and a cow are tound ? Is it wherf pheasant's and partridges breed, Or in the fields where the tanner is sowing his seed ? Is it on the moors so wild and grand, Shall I tind this bit of arable land ? Not there, n t there, my Giles. Poor Giles prosecutes his inquiries through another verse or two with the same negative result, till at last he is enlightened and disillusioned thus : —

Kye hath not seen that tair land, my i-hild ; Kar hath but heard an echo wiid— The nightmare ot an I'xciteil brain That dreamers have, like Chamberlain. Far away beyond the lyen Of sober, practical business men, Far away boyond ih6 sight Ot men whose heads are screwed on right. Where " castles in the air" do stand — Hehold the cow and the bit o' land ! "I'is there, 'tis theie, my OH lei. This is neat, but as revolutions are not made with rosewater, so neither can they be seriously discouraged by neat rhyming.

The Queen, God bless her ! We are all familiar with the words and with what follow? them, or rather, what used to follow them. For"' a change ominous to the English monarchy has taken place. The health of the Queen, proposed by Lord Hobhouse at a dinner to the English labour representatives on February 24, was received with a burst of hisses, and threefourths of the company kept their &eats and refused to drink the toast. A week before this at a liberal banquet a suggestion to close the proceedings with the National Anthem was rejected by a very large majority. Lord Hobhouse on the former occasion was afflicted with a convenient deafness and " did not hear " tho hisses, but they were heard distinctly enough by other people, and were even heard at the office of the Standard, the most stiffly-starched Conservative journal in England. This organ, too administers a dignified rebuke to her Majesty | and actually asserts that " there is no room in the English constitution for a sovereign who lives in almost complete seclusion." What do suoh words as these indicate coming from suoh a source? They indicate at the best some terribly wasted opportunities when it is remembered under what conditions Queen Victoria ascended the throne. No sovereign was ever followed by such affectionate loyalty as was bestowed upon Mrs Hemans.' maiden who "wept to wear a crown." " (rod save thee, weeping Queen," wrote Mrs Hemans; "thou shalt be well beloved" — and she was. And, later on, the whole nation keenly sympathised with their sovereign in the more bitter tears it fell to her lot to shod. But thirty years of weep- i ing and widowed solitude are luxuries which cannot be granted to a queen. So say the people;— and the people, depend upon it, are right. It has taken an inordinate time for Victoria by the Grace of God to alienate the affections of a large section of her sub-

jects, but thirty years of persistent neglect of public and social duties have done it. Tlv-tory will have something distinct to write consuming this reign, and it will not be written in the tone that once seemed probable. Hissing and groaning, wo are told, even mingled with the cheers that saluted the Queen when entering the House of Lorch to open the present session of Parliament, and now the Standard says there is no room for her Majesty in the Constitution. When to this is added the news that Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the first gentleman in Europe, is threatened with chronic dyspepsia, it will be seen that the English Monarchy is in a parlous slate. The editor hands me the following .- — To the Otago Witness office. — Would you kindly inform me through your Notes and Queries what steps could be taken with an obnoxious committeeman 'i There are seven in the committee, and one of the seven always tries to upset matters both in committee and out of committee. — Stjbschibeh. There are so many ways in which six men can sit upon one that the request for advice upon the subject has evidently taken the editor by surprise ; hence his appeal to me. In replying, I assume that the six coinmitteemen have already exhausted all the customary methods of bringing an " obnoxious " brother to reason — that is, they have interrupted his speeches, called him a liar, accused him of bigamy or arson, and threatened to punch his head. When these time-honoured remedies fail, there remains only one course to be taken with an obnoxious school cotnmitteeman : get him made a member of the Education Board. Seated in that Sanhedrim of wisdom, he will probably become at once " obnoxious " to Mr J. F. M. Fraser, who will thereupon provide him with sufficient occupation for the term of his public life. Either that, or Mr Fraser., recognising a kindred spirit, will take the new comer into partnership in the business — at present his own monopoly — of being obnoxious to the rest of the board. A man who on a school committee can reduce his six fellow committeemen to desperation and paralysis is thrown away in that contracted sphere. Put him on the Education Board, where he may neutralise, or run in a curricle with Mr J. P.M. Fraser. Civts.

The Union Company's steamer Taupo appears to have had a narrow escape while on her voyage South, having grounded on Wednesday morning on the reef which the Te Anau struck some time back about Tuahine Point, a short distance from Gisborne. Fortunately the sea was smooth at the time, and the vessel was floated off after discharging some cargo, having received no serious damage according to the advices received by tho company. The Taupo is of 766 tons gross register, and of 500 indicated horse-power, and is well known in the coastal and intercolonial trade. She is valued at £22,000, and is insured to about three-fourths of that amount. Tuahine Point on the north side, and Young Nick's Head on the south side, are the headlands of Poverty

The Timaru Herald learns that Mr Edwards, late of Ashbuiton, and late a partner with Mr Lee, of -the Crown Hotel, Temuka, was a passenger by the illfated Taiaroa. He went aboard at Wellington, and we are sorry to say was among the passengers that wero drowned. His name did not appear in the published list, as he did not take out a ticket previous to going on the vessel.

The session of the University of Otago for this year will be opened on the 3rd May. The inaugural lecture will be delivered in Old Knox Church on that evening by Dr Ogston, the newly-appointed lecturer on public health and medical jurisprudence, and all having an interest in the university are invited to attend. Professor Salmond will commence his course of lectures on mental science on the following evening. The preliminary medical examinations commence on the 1 sc, and are to be continued on thetwo followingdays. Mr F. B. de M. Gibbons, M.A., Cambridge, will conduct the senior mathematical classes this session.

The Benevolent Institution Trustees' weekly meeting held on Wednesday was attended by Messrs A. Rennie (chairman), J. Green, A. Scoullar, W. Hutchison, A. Solomon, Kirkpatrick, J. Carroll, and R. Wilson. About 20 applications for relief were dealt with, ami accounts amounting to £115 15s 10a were passed for payment. ,

A larl, 16 years of age, named William Henery, pleaded guilty at the City Police Court on Wednesday morning to three charges preferred against him of stealing tools from two shops in Princes street, and also three tents from another shop. The bench, in consideration of tbft fact that the lad made his first appearauco before the Court, sentenced him to only three weeks' imprisonment.

The Premier has telegraphed to the rector of the High School the acceptance by the Government of the services of the cadet corps recently enrolled at the High School. The corps is at present 70 strong, and have elected as their captain Mr E. E. Morrison, M.A., the English master at the school, and as lieutenants Messrs Hogg and Poison. The whole corps has for some time past been assiduously drilled by Instructor Hanna, and if tho movement is adequately supported, will become one of the finest and most efficient cadet corps in the colony,

The Taieri Advocate learns that Miss Will (tho only daughter of the Rev. William Will, of East Taieri) lias recently obtained tho degree of B.A. This, it believes, is tho second lao'y in Otago who has obtained this university honour. Miss Will studied lately in Ohristchurch, aod has therefore been considered a Oliristoburch student.

The Dunedin Engineers, under Oaptain Beal, seem to have done remarkably good work m their own special department at the Oamaru encampment. Besides working at tho sandbank battery, they successfully tapped the main telegraph line, erectod a station mljonnng, and from this established a connection with tho orderly tent by telephone. This work was done under tho special .supervision of Lieutenant May and Sergeant Seager, and it is the first time such a thing has been attempted by a corps in this colony. On Sunday, again, the Engineers undertook after dark to construct a bridge over a creek which could be used by the whole force, including field • artillery, on their way to the review ground next day. The men worked from 8.30 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. without a spell and completed a bridge, which was crossed

by the whole force next morning marching fours deep, and stood the strain without giving in the least. It may be mentioned that this corps has received very little encouragement from the Government, and the men have had to provide themselves with all the necessary tools and plant at their own expense.

A slight shock of earthquake was experienced in Riverton and surrounding districts about 2 p.m. on Monday.

Mr J. P. Joyce, M.H.R., addressed his constituents at. South Invercargill on Tuesday evening, and received a vote .of thanks and confidence. He stated that he had given his allegiance to the present Government, along with the other members of th» Grey party, on condition that Mr Tole was included in the Ministry. Replying to a question, he stated that he favoured the borrowing of ten millions, because it would restore confidence in the colony, but he would have the expenditure of that sum extend over five, six, or seven years.

The Christchurch Press states that James Calwell and William Tilfield and a boy named James Allen, of Ashbui ton, were on Tuesday placed in a predicament they are not likely soon to forget. They were out rabbit shooting along the banks of the Rakaia river and were riding in a vehicle which, with the horse that drew it, inexplicably got fixed in a hole or loose sandbed near the centre of the river, close to the Acton station. Unable to help the horse, or even themselves beyond remaining in the trap, the animal was drowned before their eyes, and the unlucky amateur sportsmen were detained for some hours, until in the afternoon they were discovered by a son of Mr William Cox, who was passing the scene. He carried the news to Constable Black, of Rakaia. The two went back with assistants and ropes, and succeeded in hauling the three unfortunates ashore.

The following, according to the report in the New Zealand Times,.are the terms in which the Colonial Treasurer, in his speech at Wellington, spoke of the present position of the East and West Coast railway :— " I believe there is v«ry little doubt now but that the construction of the railway has been taken * up' by powerful people well able to carry it out. The company is negotiated, sufficient shares underwritten, debentures and all points of concession arranged and guaranteed, and the Agent-general has undertaken on behalf of the Government that a bill shall be introduced to ratify it. Ido not think there will be any opposition shown to the company, and the coutract will be assigned and the caution money paid within a few days. The opinion of the Agent-general is that the undertaking is assured, even if the public did not participate in it." The resolution carried was not correctly telegraphed, and should have read that "the meeting approves generally of the policy of progress shadowed forth in the address.''

A most mystPrious robbery of £1000 is reported to have been committed at the private residence of Mr Nipper, owner of the Grand Hotel, Melbourne, and who lives at Fitzroy. Ib appears that Mr Nipper received 20 £50 notes from the Hon. James Munro as part of purchase money for the sale of the Grand Hotel, and it being after bank hours he took the money home and locked it up in a chest of drawers in his dining room at 8 o'clock, and on returning from a walk at midnight he found the money gone. The robbery is supposed to have been the work of someone living in the house.

The explosion at the Lithgow Valley Colliery has drawn forth universal sympathy for the survivors of the unfortunate accident in New South Wales. Subscriptions are being raised for the families. The Government are taking steps to inquire into the cause of the accident, which has been ascertained not to be firedamp as supposed. It is believed that a fall of rook from the roof in some part of the old working produced concussion and drove the accumulated choke-damp and carbonic acid gas into the mine where the men were working when the blast of wind struck them. It has been decided to close the mine. There was no complaint about bad air. When the blast came the men felt giddy and lost the use Of their legs, and the next thing was a rush for the shafts. The men heard some explosion, but thought it was a fall of earth, and some of them observed a light like red-hot coal. The men all kept together as well as they could. The funeral of the men on the 21st was most impressive; the shops were closed, and a general gloom was cast over the towusnip. All the coffins were brought out together, and one general procession was formed. The scene was most heartrending. The Minister of Mine* inspected the mine and examined the men, none of whom complained of any neglect.

Charles Harris, boatswain on board the ship Halcione.met his death by drowning on Monday night. The unfortunate man (says the Southland Times) was last seen at 9.30 p.m. making his way towards his ship, which was lying alongside the wharf. Captain Parker, master of the Halcione, states that about that time he heard a splash and a faint cry, and on running aft was just in time to see a dark object sink at the stern of the vessel. Harris had been drinking heavily that evening, and it is surmised that he tripped between a railway truck and the edge of the wharf and fell into the water. Search was at ones made, but only his hat was picked up. Harris was a native of London, aged 44 years, and had a wife and several children residing there. The body has not yet been recovered.

A man named Henry Horton was thrown from his horse at Waimate on Saturday afternoon last, and seriouslyinjured. He was taken to the hospital, where he lies in a somewhat precarious state. Till lately Horton was a shepherd in the Oamaru district, where he has a wife and family.

An elderly man named Robert M'Nae, one of the Christchurch unemployed working at the Sandhills there, died suddenly while at work on Wednesday.

One of the most unique episodes which has ever occurred in Auckland (writes our correspondent on the 22nd) was the presentation of the illuminated birthday address to Sir George Grey on his 74th birthday. The Opera House was one sea of faces, and on the platform were Maori chiefs ranged side by side with the Europeans desirous of doing honour to the guest of the evening. The address, when all the signatures have come in, will probably have appended to it 15,000 names— of these 2000 being Maoris. Art, song, and music were pressed into service to do homage to Sir George, and it was no wonder that he exhibited unusual emotion when the address was presented to him. With faltering voice he exhorted the youth of the colony to live and labour, to watch and wait for the opportunities of usefulness which lay before them, stimulated by the honours thus " showered upon an old man tottering to the grave." The speech of the evening was made by Mr Reader Wood, who, having witnessed Sir George Grey's landing on these shores, was peculiarly qualified to review the career of the great pro-consul. At the plose of the meeting, though late, Sir George

disdained to take a carriage, but trudged it on foot through the streets ; and as he looked around in. the moonlight on the surging thousands who formed his escort, and heard the band strike up the strains of " Auld Lang Syne," his face was a perfect picture, and would have been a study for Lavater.

A mild sensation was created in the House Commons on March 3 by the appearance of Sir Charles Dtlke. The London correspondent o the Sheffield Independent says : — "Sir Charles had the bench almost entirely to himself. Mr Chamberlain imme liabely jone.l Sir Charles Dilke, with whom he remained nearly an hour. As the interview proceeded it had a good effect on the right hon. baronet's spirits, for he gradually lost his .sombre aspect and indulged with Mr Chamberlnin in good humour and even merriment. The whole scene was witnessed by Mr Crawford from a seat almost directly behind Sir Charles, and only two benches further back. The hon. member evidently felt the painful nature of the position, for he kept hi? eyes upon the ceiling."

Of the prospects of socialism in England a London artisan in the Fortnightly Review writes : — " Mr Hyndman and his friends may possibly make some impression on the very poor aid the very ignorant by telling them that an e^ual distribution of wealth would mean for them higher wages, morn food, better homes, and a social position on a level with their fellow men ; but the very poor and the very ignorant are a small majority. The average artisan is so little iuclinedto socialism — in fact, is so insensible to all true social feeling — that he would strongly resent the idea of, say, v, costermonger being placed on the same level as himself. Among the women the spirit of snobbery is even more rampant ; and this, coupled with the fact that women of all classes are ever opposed to revolutionary theories, renders the growth of socialism still more difficult, for the workman's wife is not without her influence."

The Christchurch Press learns from a gentleman who recently went with M. Boss, who will be remembered as one of the guides who made the ascent of Mount Cook with the Rev. Mr Green, that he is as good as a whole immigration department. M. Boss keeps a palatial hotel now in Grindelwald, Bernese Oberland, and he considers his ascent of Mount Cook as his mai/iiuiti opus. He is full of New Zealand, and delights to talk of the time he spent here, not so much on account of Mount Cook — that ho remembers simply as an incidental feature of the landscape — but on account of the prodigious hospitality of the people, the prodigal manner in which in the back country they killed their sheep for them, and esteemed it a great favour if they would accept of them, and in the towns regaled thum at banquets with unlimited quantities of champagne. Talking of Mount Cook and the terrible night they spent on the ledge of ice, allusion was made to Mr Green's book " The High Alps of New Zealand," when oddly enough Boss confessed that he had not seen the book. He believed that Mr Green had written one, but felt no curiosity to &cc it. lie knew what most likely would be in it, for he wax there.

Some startling statements as io the prevalent use of opium in England are contained (says an English contemporary) in yearly report, just submitted to the Spennynioor Lo^al Board by Dr O'Hanlon, the medical officer, who has occupied that post for eight years. The medical officer thus writes : " Few people are aware of the enormous consumption of opium by miners' wives. They are left alone either a great part of the day or night, and one teaches another the habit. Women should be aware that in indulging in this practice while they are suckling children they are practically poisoning their offspring, as their milk imbibes the drug." From inquiries made of local experts in drugs by the Northern Echo, it would appear that the opium draughts which Dr O'Hanlon says are consumed in " enormous" quantities, though of so highly deleterious a nature, consist of about two and a-half ounces of opium diluted in a pint of proof spirit, and the necessary ingredients may be purchased of the chemists practically without let or hindrance.

Messrs Iloin and Anderson have a but-herj and bakery business at. Qnartzville for snle.

The nmiuiil licensing meeting of the Fortobcllo disl rict is to lie held on the nth June.

The Strath - Taieri coach will in future leave Oufernm at 8 a.m. instead ot 11.30 a.m.

X general meeting <if shareholders in the Undaunted Mining and Water Race Company. Tinkers, is to be held on the Bth inbt.

To meet the times, O. E. Dkrmeii has reduced the price of his popular Rhemnali Remedies to 5s. — [A.!)VT.]

Messrs Donald Reid and Co. will bell store sheep at the Henle yards on the 3rd pro\.

The Glenledi Ks ate, in the Akiitorc district, is offered tor lease in one or more lots.