CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2260, 24 June 1897, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

The courage of the local branch of the Salvation Army in instituting a zesane salvation home on such a sumptuous scale army rkscue at Cavoiaham is uuquastionable. hojik. And it will most probably be found Ihat the audacity of the promoters -will be atrsply rewarded. It is by such works as tfoess thst the Array disarm the hostility with which their methods would other- , wise be regarded. Their social and philanthropic work is fur «ver extending, and the good which thay do is immense. Even if it I be granted Uiat inanr of the emotional conversions which they make are not permanent, |it is undeniable that others are so. The Dun- ; edin Army contains men and wouien who joined it on its firat appearauca here, and who have remained faifchful to it, and i have in consequence lived better lives. Whatevor the spiritual gain may be, the material I gain is undoubted, acd no doubt the example is nol, without its influence. It is true that the Army do~not hide their light under a bushel. They make abundance of noise, and their operations do not suffer from want of publicity. But the philanthropic work they do is so beneficent that it atones for the clamour and the suspicion of selflaudation. To have successfully dealt in one year with 47 girls who had en'ierpd upon a life of vice, and that in a small place like Dunedio, is gratifying proof of the efficacy of the Arm'y'g methods, though it ia a, melancholy illustration of the need for such reforming agencies. We wish the Army every success in their bold venture and recommend their enterprise to the consideration of those who are able to help them iv a cause so noble and so disinterested. The making of a aaint is nowadays a matter of rare occurrence, and in concakonisa- nection with the cablegram of tion. yesterday a few particulars concerning the ceremony may be of interest. In 1170 Alexander 111 pronounced canonisation to be the exclusive privilege of the Papal chair. Tho ceremony is one of the most so'emn in the Roman Church. The Pope institutes a formal investigation into the qualifications of the deceased person recommsuded for canonisation in which the manner of life and the genuineness of the miracles ascribed to him arc strictly examined, and an advocate of the Dovil (Advacatui Diaboli) is appointed to assail his memory. This functionary rakes up all the evil he can think of about the deceased, but' of course always losag his case. He is opposed by the Advocatvs Dei. If the examination is 8&t:sfuctory, the Pope pronounces the beatification. This admits the saint to provisional canonisation, and no one can be beatified until 50 years after his death. Sometimes the examination lasts for years. After beaffication new proofs of merit are collected, so that canonisation may not take placa for m^iny years. At canonisation the saiat's name is inserted in fcbe "G.uioo," or Litany of the Saints, in the Mass, and a day is set apart to his honour. Churches' and altars are consecrated to him, and hi* remains are preserved as holy relic?. It is a ceremony into which the church throws all its power of display, and the persons who saw it in Rome on Piiday last witnessed a spectacle which c»n never be forgotten. A trial of a new Hotchkiss machine gun was made recently at Erith. The maxim inventor has for some time v. tried to produce a gun in which hotchkiss. regulation cartridges can be mcd. It has been found also that the new explosives which have coma into use give the gun no recoil, co that the automatic appliances by means of which the gun was reloaded tended to become useless. Instead of utilising ths recoil, therefore, in the new gun, use is made of the gases generated by the explosion, which escape by a valve into a chamber parallel with the barrel, and the3e actuate the necessary loading machinery. It has further been found that water was not always available for the water jacket, so that tha automatic machine frequently became hot and useless in action. In the new gun there is no water jacket, but there are round the barrel four rings of metal which, by means of radiation, keep the breech cool, though the muzzle gets so hot that the operator is compelled to use an asbesto3 glove. The trial was not satisfactory because, from using second-hand cartridge cases, one of them j got jammed at the entrance to the chamber. In I The Time 3 report of the trial it was stated that the new weapon would probably be adopted by

Franse and Euisia, but Mr Hiram Maxim wrote to The Times next day pointing out that so far hack as 1884- ho had, anticipate* all the features oE the new weapon, and that some of them are in actual use in Maxim guns used for various purposes, such as reviews and theatrical performances, where blank cartridge is used. It has been f ouud that in the larger elementary schools at Homo a consider*blo backward number of children, some of whom children, are nearly 10 years of sge, wer« at the time oi their admission almost wholly ignorant and quite without school habits. The subject forms the basis of a circular from the Education department to Her Majostj's inspectors of schools. The circular alleges as the cause of this deplorable condition of. thing*, tot*! negleot or irregularity of school attendance in early childhood ; she migratory character of some families and their consequent evasion o? the attendance officer ; an abnormally slow development of iutellcctnal power — in some cases bordering on inSbectlity ; and delicacy of health in early childhood — due often to bad nutrition. Such children cannot be taught witU ordinary children ; and when it is attempted it results in slow progress, with & great strain upon tho teacher, and not seldom the habit of truancy is created. The children are *a a rule o£ a mental typo above that suited to the special classes for those of dett-ctive intellect, and separate organisation is therefore necessary. Various plans for this purpose are suggested to tho inspectors, who are instructed that if these or some other suitable methods are net adopted for the instruction of very backward scholars, it will be their duty to recommend the lower discipline and organisation grant, and in some casts it may be necessary to withhold ifc altogether. Such rigorous methods indicate that & determination exiita that none shall escapa the educational net. In 1874 the King of the Belgians instituted a special prize of 25,000fr for tho A encouragement of intellectual competition, studies. It i 3 international in its scope, and therefore' open i or competition by New Zealanders. The prizs foe 1901 is to be awarded to the writer of the best essay on the military history of the Belgian* from the Roman invasion until the present day. The author must briefly describe the wars of which Belgium was the theatre, and indicate the influence of these wars on the destinies of th* country. He must relate the military exploits accomplished out of the country by Belgir.n troops on foreign service, and describe thft methods of recruiting, the organisation, this rights smd duties of the commuuaL militia, as well as the sfcata of the armaments and fortiQc&tions at various periods. The work must then be completed by a study on the development of the army and the defensive system of Belgium since 1830. Competitors may send in either manuscript or printed books, bun a new edition of a printed book may be submitted only if it contains alterations and considerable additions made during the period of the compptitiow — viz., in one of the years 1897,f ( 1898, 1899, or 1900. Essays may be written iv French. English, German, Italian, ov Spanish. The works are to be sent before January 1 1901, to the Minister of the Interior and Public Instruction at Brussels. The judging will be conducted by a jury appointed by the King, and 1 composed of aeven members, three Belgians and four of other nationalities. Mr Dibdin, chemist to the London CounijCouncil, has made ft discovery sewerage, which, if genuine, will revolutionise the treatment of sewage. and enable even Dunedin to compass something better than the primitive system presently in. use. Mr Dibdin found that the organism Micrococcus candicctns thrives on tha matter in sewage which it is desired to eliminate, and fchr> idea occurred to him to charge a filter bed witli these germs, and then filling the bed with sewage, allow the germ-i to feed upon tbe letter. Ha obtained permission from the Subton Urban Council to make the experiment. He experimented in a settling tank, and laid down a b^d of burnt ballast 4-fo thick. Then water which contained the microbes was pumped on. Next 25,000 gallons of sewage, the full capacity o? the tank, were let in. No chemicals or lima were used. The sewage was left there for a couple of hours, and, so far as could ba judged, the experiment was highly successful. The process differs from the old plan of. passing the sewage through burnt ballast, coke breezs, &c, in that the bed is charged with bacteria before the sewage is turned on, and instead of continuously flowing through, is allowed to rest till the bacteria do tho desired work. A period of about two hours is also necessary for aeration in order to prevent the bed * from becoming clogged. The effluent is colourless and odourless, and can be turned into «. river or on land with perfect impunity. While all theee experiments elsewhere are rapidly bringing within reach a perfect system of sanitation, Dunedin is content to endure fch* methods of thousands of years ago. \