PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Volume 01, Issue 2123, 1 November 1894, Page 30

PASSING NOTES.

Okb would like fco know in what oharacter Messrs Seddon, Reeves, and M'Kenzie are about to vißit Samoa. Do they go officially, in Windsor uniform, cooked hatß, and side armß? or do they go disguised as private gentlemen 1 And with what object do they go, anyhow ? Is it to spy out the land with a Tiew to subsequent filibustering operations and annexation 1 The roice of Seddon has already been heard in the cabinets of kings and kaisers on the destiny of Samoa. The destiny of Samoa, we informed Europe a few months ago, is to repose under the sceptre of Richard the Rampagions ; to reoeive edncation from W. P. Reeves and land laws from John M'Kenzie ; to be inoome-taxed, land-taxed, propertytaxed, poll-taxed by J. Q. Ward, and financed by the Bank of New Zealand. Germany was anderstood to dissent from this view of Samoa's destiny, and Germany keeps a frigate or two in Samoan waters. Captain Fairchild is a cautious commander, and may be counted on not to precipitate hostilities, bnt the capacity of my faith will hare t« be enlarged before I oan trust in the diplomatic discretion of the Ministerial three. What if the German commodore claps them in ironi and carries them away to Europe ? Stranger things have happened. Was not Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, a bigger man than even the Premier of. New Zealand, kidnapped and carried off bodily at the instigation of Russia not so many years ago ? I counsel a strict incognito: R. Seddon, Etq., W. P. Reeves, Esq.. J. M'Kenzie, Esq., gentlemen of fortune travelling for pleasure. If the thickwitted Deutschers see through that, I am myself a Dutchman. Our local divines, regular and amateur, have had a word or two to say to theosophy and Mrs Besant. That is quite natural. A pnlpit controversialist knows as well as another man when he has got a " soft thing." Mr Neil, the herbalist, who is as deep in the secrets of the next world as most men, had the courage to challenge the lady theosophist to personal combat : " Mrs Besant invited to the platform tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the Oddfellows' Hall. Come, and let us sift this matter." But the paper containing this advertisement announoed in another column that Mrs Besant had departed from Dunedin by that morning's express. Whether it waß that she fled before the face of the theological herbalist or that arrangements previously made and incapable of being altered rendered it impossible for her to accept his kind invitation is not known. Anyhow, she was gone; there was no appearance for the defence, and Mr Neil doubtless gave judgment in his own favour by default. Bishop Oowie, of Auckland, seems to have thought i it preferable to take the bull by the horns, or xather Mrs Besant by the hand ; — calling at her hotel, asking the lady to breakfast, showing her over the episcopal library, &c—indicating by theje oourtesies hiß comfortable contempt for her theosophic machinations against the church. The bishop's discretion compares to advantage with Mr Neil's valour. I bad rather meet Mrs Beiaatat breakfast than meet her on the platform, any day. Dbab Cms,— What is the origin of the word "spook 1 '? I notice that if you believe in spirits you call them spirits, but that if you do not believe in them you call them "spooks." The proper name Snooks, we know, is from Sevenoaks; can "spooks" have anything to do with •pirit-ho&i P" I can't find it in Skeat.— l am, &c, Fhiloloq. "Spooks" from "spirit- hoax!" Well, welH Native philology is not always so happy as this. Needless to say, the word is Dutoh. A " spook "is a hobgoblin. The reason that we oall spirits "spooks" when we don't believe in 'em Is, I suppose, became " spooks" sounds slangy, and %o expresses goodhumoured contempt. All the spirits that I have ever been able to make the acquaintance of have turned out spooks. In Sydney, the other day, the spirit that materialised as a j little girl, bnt allowed |itself to be grabbed j as the medium, must have been a spook, and j an awkward spook too. There Is a good deal ; of spookery about Mrs Besant and her Mabafc- - mas. Mrs Besant evidently suspeots as { much herself, and has already warned her i theosopbical bosses in London that some- I thing U wrong. There have been sophistica- \ tlons of a painful kind ; the " well-known ■ soript of the master," — that is, I suppose, of the head Mah&tma — has been imitated by theosophisticators in America. Mrs Besant has jeceivedsuoh imitations ; she and seven others have in consequence " protested." A little rift within the lute, apparently I Spirits are not uncommon in Dunedin, but they are all spooks. I proposed in this column years ago a simple test which no alleged spirit has been able to abide — namely, that the alleged spirit should plaos a belltopper hat or other portable object o£ convenient ebapeon the top of Knox Church steeple, and leave it there. The spook that does this I will acknowledge to be a spirit. Although I have all the natural aversion of an inexaot writer for useful knowledge in the form of statistics, I am a good deal impressed by the figures of our annual "drink bill * as made out and presented by the New Zealand Alliance. Spite of the fact that year by year we seem to be getting simultaneously poorer and more prohibitionist, our drink bill year by year increases. We drank more gallons of beer, wine, and spirits in 1892 than in 1891, and more in 1893 than in 1892. If this progress continues we shall drink more gallons in 1891 than we drank in 1893. And yet we are shutting up publiohoueeft right and left ; I we support — in reasonable comfort, let us hope — a number of teetotal lecturers and agitators j we are supposed to have come well nigh within hall of the time when the Legislature will decree, in the words of a speaker at the annual meeting of the Alliance, that " the importation, manufacture, and said of alcoholic beverages be absolutely prohibited." Oan anybody explain to me how these faots consist ? The prohibition movement and the consumption of strong liquor appear to advance with equal steps. Is it that the prohibitionist hubbub is driving us to drink 1 Anyhow, there must be a good deal of hypoorisy about somewhere, We are not jget,tlDg motf djunken?dL esc fi&jggi

whatever of that, nor does the increased consumption imply it} we are getting more hypocrite. If there 1b any alternative explanation of the facts— which are facts sopplied by thft Alliance itself —l shall be glad to hear of it. To confront us annually with our " drink bill," and to suggest that we ought to feoi ashamed of It, is a work of charity undertaken by the Alliance without fee or reward. Our annual smoke bill will be the next thing. A society will arise to flout in our faces the amount we spend in tobacco, t suggest that after our smoke bill somebody should tabulate and publish our tea bill. It can easily be shown that tea is useless, costly, and of dyspeptic tendency. Why do we drink text Without either tea or tobacco the Romans oonqmered the world. Tea promotes indigestion, and indigestion promotes orime. Yean ago bii Honor Judge -Ward established the latter point triumphantly in a oeltbratod judgment on Leicester mutton. Tried by the Biblical test tea is in wotbb case than any other form of strong drink. No apoetle Is reported as saying, " Take a cjup of tea for thy stomach's sake," whereas an apostle did say "Take a little wine." I anticipate with confidence the appearance ere long of onr annual tea bill acoompanied by suitable moral reflections on the wickedness of spending money on a mishievous superfluity, together with statistics of persons in gaols and asylums who trace their ruin to " the cup that cheers bat not inebriates." By the way, this classic line, usually understood of tea, would equally well suit beer and whisky, exotpt that we don't drink the latter beverages out of a cup. In my experience both cheer and neither inebriates, j The seoret is that I don't drink too much. It is the too much that is fatal to virtue, whether the liquor be tea or treble X. People who have no real ailment yet are always complaining may read the following letter and feel rebuked. What are their imaginary pains and aches when compared with the complicated maladies of this unfortunate 1 — Sir,— About six or seven months ago the sight of my left eye became dim and blurred. The sight of my right eye is still perfect, and with both eyes my sight is perfect. I study five hours a day and two in the evening. Could you give me any directions to prevent it getting worse or the other eye becoming affected in the same way? lam going to study medicine. Would shortsightedness interfere with my becoming a doctor? My teeth also seem to be going all wrong. They are rather small, well madf, white, and are in perfect order. I have always avoided anything likely to injure them— such as sweets, nuts, biting hard objects. &c., and have always brushed them daily. Within the last 3 ear five of them have broken. 1 do not Buffer any toothache to speak of. They seem to be just falling to pieceß. Thpy are all back teeth th»t have broken. The dentine beneath the enamel seems to have broken, as it appears black. Can you tell me the reason of their breaking, and if I can do anything to Btop it ? I am 17 years and 9 months of age, 6ft £in in height, and scale ll^sb ; am very muscular and active for my »ge, and li^.ve never been ill, so it cannot result from debil'ty. I am a good swhnmer, and now I ythh to learn diving. Would keeping my eyes open under water injure them ? For the last 18 months my growth has diminished in rapidity and I have only added about 2in to my stature. Would a course of training for athletics stimulate my growth ? I •m addicted to no bad habits ; never touch tobacco or (spirits, lam an excellent wrestler, boxer, and swimmer, but an indifferent runner I and jumper. Latterly my shoulders, though broad and square, have become rounded, and jny chest has "been going in. Would dumbbell exercise daily counteraot this tendency f I have extremely strong lungs and chest. If I trained would »y running powers develop ? My limbs are long, large, and hard, but covered , with coarse hair. Is this unnatural P I am accustomed to give advice gratis, — bushels of It, but confess myself helpless here. The suffarer's limbs are long, large, hard, and oovered with coarse hair. This looks like a case of reversion. Snoh and no other was the condition of our ape-like ancestors of arboreal habits j tee Darwin's "Dascent of Man, ;> Are there any corroborative symptoms I F«r instance, can the patient flap his ears f Is, his rudimentary tail developing? Does he experience any inconvenience in riding ot sitting 1 Not that I o*n recommend anything) I merely inquire In the interests of scienoe. Then, although he is only 18 years old and not much over 6ft high, he notices that his growth has "much diminished In rapidity." He has added only 2ln to Ub stature during the last 18 months. At this rate, by the time he is 21 he will hardly be $ft 6ln, and probably not more than 7ft by the time he is 25. This is too painful to contemplate, and I pass on to notice the condition of his eyes and teeth. Here he seems to be suffering the consequences ot over-olvilisation. What is wanted li| a return to nature. Onr arboreal apelike ancestor had, no doubt, exoellent ejes and teeth ; but then be wag not reading fora profession. His habit was to bite all the nuts and other such-like hard objects that he came acroes, and he certainly did not brush his teeth daily. My unfortunate correspondent had better lose no time in justifying the hairy coat of his lanky limbs by getting back to nature. He would be a doctor, would he ? Fatal mistake ! What I recommend is bashtolling at Oatllne River. 01m A seven-roomed house, the country residence of Mr D. M 'Guinness, a well-known hotelkeeper, was destroyed by fire at midnight. The family are in town in connection with the death of e> daughter, with the exception of two sons, who escaped in their night clothe*. The insurances are not known, but Mr M'Ouinness is a considerable loser. A gathering organised by the Prohibition League to welcome Mr Q. J. Smith, M.H.R., on his return from Wellington, was held at Chrlstchuroh on Monday night. Admission was by " silver ooin," and about a thousand persons were present. The Rev. F. W. Isitt occupied the ohair. Mr H. D. Bell and several prominent prohibitionists were among the speakers. A resolution was carried congratulating Mr Smith on the action he had taken last session, and urging that the passing of legislation giving local and national control over the liquor traffic should be the dominant question next session, and that prohibition members should prevent farther SQtti&inff o&