CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

We are exceedingly glad to obierva that -at j length the initiatory steps have jubilee been taken "ho commemorate the industrial Jubilee of Obago by holding an exhibition, industrial exhibition. The new ( - r 'Agricultural Bofildingh are eminently "suited for each a purpose — indeed withou 1 ; them the project would now have been hardly feasible. It is difficult to assign a limit j to the inte'iesfc which the exhibition might in- j yoke. The term " Indu-.trial " Govers an j extremely wide area. 'No doubj there are in the possession of old seltters throughout the ! length and breadth of Ofcago and Southland many curious mementoes reminiscent of the earlier days, and these wcu!d flad their most fitting place in a Jubilee exhibition. Probably their owners would gladly lend them if assured of their safety and duo return. Owners of j works of art, also, would uo d jubH,' as on pre- , vious occasions, skxre among the public the pleasure they feel in the possession of J art treasures, for the love of beautiful things is catholic' There could be also a v di*play of Jocal mumfVctures progressively 5 arranged to j show the progress which the province has made j in the first half ceutury of its t-xtsftenc9. In connection with the exhibition also there could ba arranged a fser;e3 of eisterbainnienfcs c»leulated to wile away the evening-", and uo'doubb interesting competitions of various kind* could 'be arranged. But the central idea of the exhibition ought to be the celebration of the Jubilee, and for that purpose the Agricultural j Buildings should, be made the pivot round I which other deßions'brx lions revolve. The ! exhibition could bs the recognised meet- j ing place and rallying poinl; of the . "Old Identities," who could thus renew, old I acquaintanceships and compare notes*/ of i the vicissitudes of the brave days of old, ' when the comforts of civilisation were not pr«sant, and when the sterling qualities of' determination, courage, and kindliness (had-j( had-j more scope thaii now. An- "Early Settlers" ■ Court,- or at the very least a meeting room, would add to the exhibition th 9 very piquancy it needs. The epidemic' of influenza in Wellington .has assumed alarming proportions,, sufferers from it being now numoered by __ huudreds.-^ A- ■.' representative of tbTe Evening Post has waited" upon two of the local doctors, with the usual result th»t ! they we're found to disagree. ' Dr Ewarfc. expressed the opinion that there were "no signs of an epidemic, but that the prevalent troubles were seasonable ones in the shapi of colds, for. which the time of the year would be sufficient ■to account. The tther medical gentleman, Dr Martin, was most emphatic in. his belief in the power of the influenz \ microbe. "He recalled the interest ng fact that he had for treatment the firs!; two cases of influenza subjects reported in the colony. That was in ' 1888, and the subj >cts w. re two storemen who 1 h*d. been ergag-.d in unpacking soft goods just received from England. Tha doctor was very much puzzled at the lime by the ; symptoms, and it was afterwards proved : that the microbes had besn imported . in cases of soft goods. He ,has noticed that almost annually since then we have had i more or less mild attacks of influenz \, and he does not think the colony will be rid of it until the microbe is destroyed, "_ He said in answer '. to a somewhat super fluous question after what he , had just stated that he certainly believed in tha presence of a microbe, and one that has in it all I the power of creating a dangerous epidemic- ' It attacks, he said, in variousforms, and there 1 is also the real danger that.it may get at the lungs. Influenza, therefore, demands respectful i consideration. The doctor doas not seem to i have referred to what mast have come under even lay observation — viz., the tendency of . influenza to seize upon any weak part in the . frame and precipitate a crisis. - There, is an 'opening here for colonial bacteriologists. [ Influenza has evidently come to stay. „It 3 periodicity point 3to some recurrent .cause, 1 which abould be demonstrated and the- antitoxin for it found. Dr Martin sajs wholesale 1 treatment cannot be recommended ; for the 1 different forms of the attack and the systems of sufferers must all be tiken into consideration. There if evidently a groat deal to be learned of the natholofur of this scourge.

tii. grippe IN WELLINGTON

- - THE ENTEItPRISIN< ~ 'YANKEE.

lutending visitors to the -Klondyke goldSeldi will do welUto wait-for the per*fectiou of the alleged invention of Colonel Mulkey. To geb ' to "Vancouver, or Victoria, or Juneau, or any qther objective point, en route for the Canadian EUJDorado is a matter of little concern, the journey being accomplished by steamer and rail. But excepting for very few month? in the year there >are -8ti.,1 formidable obslaoleu intervening between,, any of these points and Dawson 'Cty. The rivers ate frozen tight and- 'fchemonntaiu passes are full of soovr. Iv order to- negotiate the frozen River Yukon, Colonel Mulkey ling invented, a gasoline" locomotive, whioh works, by four 'driyiug wheel?, 1 ' the forward set being 3£fb in diameter, and having spurs or spikes which catch on the' ice, thus giv-' 1 ing the starting force. The second pair are 7ft' 6in in diameter, aud on the riraa are attached a .series, of knives like the blade of a skate. "These are put iv trausversely, and are what will ' furnish the bi&h rate of speed— from 80 to 100 miles an hour. The locomotive and cars ara all built with boat bottoms aud provided with rudders; the driving wheels beiug so arranged th*t if immersed in water they will act as paddle wheels This, provisioa^ retnovej »ny -duftgeHf -the ,ice should give way' wttile the train .is in .transit,, for tho' locomobire would at once be turned into a 'tug boat! . Tho . train will consist of an engine aud two „ cars. The engiho will contain quarters for* the crew and a kitchen. The cars will be .olose models of Pullman's, ,wilh berths and state rooms. "Bach car will carry 50 passengers and 7£,tous of freight. The train, when loaded with passengers and freight, will weigh 80' ions, and will cost 50,000d01.' Tha ttip between the Yukon mouth and Dawson. City c*n be made in threo and a-half days at an average spand of 20 miles an hour, though it U believed that from 80 to ' 100 can ba attained during more than half the route. ~~ This description is from a San Francisco newspaper, but it is obviously incomplete. The outfit ¥hould include guideß to show the enter- . pming • travellers where the gold in. The securing of a fortune eoirfd theu be obtained ab the cost of a indre pleasure trip. There are few who are nob familiar with the . woik cwried on, by Dr Barnardo in the reclamation of children in Without .any assured source of income other than the benevolenc9 of the public, and o££en reduced to the verge of absolute want of funds, from which posibion help invariably * vencue3 him in such a way as may almost be termed miraculous, Dr Barnardo has done, and is doing, a great work. We are aware that he has not done so without friction, and no doubt there are many who' deprecate his allusions to, and appeals because of, the alleged hostility of a section of the Christian church. j The doctor also undeniably uuderstand.a the nrfc of advertising, and his constant appeals are in some degree apt to lose their force because of the frequency of their repetition. Yet it cannot be denied that for 32. years the work has been carried out, and ' during that period - 33^407 boys and girls.-hata 'been redeemed from j! surroundings' that would" inevitably' have de« ! moralised them. La»t year 826 L passed through ' tha homes, and there are always, about 5000 in ' them,- - The testimony to Dr-Barnardo's work does nob all emanate from his< own advertise* J menls. In June last the late_Klr Muudellt, who was undoubtedly a practical politician, 1 was speaking ab the thirty-Gtst "annual meeting of the homes. He s.iid that for two years he • had presided over the departmental inquiry ' instituted by the Lineal Government Board ,for ■ the purpose of inveotigating the condition of * the Poor Law schools in.-, the metropolis.-. In !, the course of that inquiry the committee felt *that it was their duty to inquire, into Dr Barnardo's methods and to eetimato ■ his success. The right hon. gentleman said : I " We found, as our committee went on, that ' Dr B*rnardo was often boarding-out in his boarding-out department more children than the ' whole of the local' authorities of this kingdom, and frequently he wa3 emigrating more to ' the colonies than all our Poor Law B ards taken together. It is a marvellous work that he has done in the homes during the last 30 years, and 1 its growth is entirely due to his wonderful ' energy, determination, and character." After _ some further eulogistic remarks, Mr Mundell* concluded : " Now it is only fair to make this ' acknowledgment, and I do it all tho more heartily because I confess that when I started • upon tlie inquiri/ I ifai grave doubts about Dr i Barnardo's methods, _ .I.am here to say publicly 1 that I 'would to God the same methods were ■introduced into the system of the administration of the whole of the poor law children of the 'country I "