CURRENT TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 20

CURRENT TOPICS.

fflie scientific expedition which has just returned to Sydney from Funafuti has X scientific almost incontestably proved the deduction correctness of the inferenca vindicated, drawn by Darwin that a continual subsidence of the earth is going on in certain parls of the surface, and that the coral reefs have come from the persistent efforts of.'the insect to keep its head, if not above water, ' at least as near the surface as postible. It was originally believed that the reef was raised from tho great depths by the exertions of the polypes themselves, but tfce extremely limited batbyroefcrical range of these animals renders tLia view wholly untenable. The , reef-building corals flourish most vigorously in depths up to 10 fathom?, and appear to be incapable of existing at "all at depths 25 or at the' utmost 30 faAhomp. It follows that no coral reef can bo formed or sea bottom covered by more than 30 fathoms of water. There are three kinds of coral reefs— fringing reefs, barrier reefs, andatolls. The first are shallowwater reefs, fcund in the immeiiate neighbourhood of land, either surrounding islands or skirting the shores of continents. These shore reefs haveno channel of any gr£at depth of water , intervening b3tween them and the land, and the soundings on their sfiaward edge indicate-that they rest-upon a gently eloping surface. Barrier reefs are diftinguished from fringing reefs by the fact- that they are-, placed at a""'much greater distance from land, that there intervenes a channel of- comparatively deep water between thtrn and the shore, and that, sounditjgs taken close to their seaward margin indicate profound depths of water out- ' side them. Let us suppose an islnnd surrounded by a barrier reef. The island gr&dunlly mbsides, but the polypes industriously ke^p their wall at or near sea level. Eventually the, last peak of the island is submerged, and the circular .or oval ring of coral becomes an atoll, with a lagoon of pure water ' in the centre which lias percolated through the coral. The polypes cannot live above levels higher than "extreme low water ; therefore tbey cannot build ree^ above thab kvtl. Tho sea detacbes"pieccß of dead coral and deposits the ni . fct particular, spats. These become compacted together and agglu iuated by the percolation of water through them holding carbonate of lime in solution, till ultimately they become conrerted into a hard, compact litne&tono. The atmosphere prepared the surface. The birds or the winds and - '.<vss carry eee3, aad thus is formed an tqu- -ial paradise.

We have recaived a booklet entitled " Christian t . Martyrdom in Russia," which SUFFBRING gives appalling details of the FOR persecution of the Spirit Wre»tcossciekce lets (or Doukhobortsi) in the sake. Csiacasus. It is edifctd by Vladimir* Tchcrtkoff, and cvillains a concludiug chapter and a letter by Com t Tolstoi. The Spirit Wrtstleis first appeared in the middle of last century. The foundation Df their teaching consists iv the belief that the »pirifc of God i* present ia the soul of man, and - lirects him-by its word within him. They con- • lider murder, violence, and in general all re- *' tations to living being* not based on love, as « opposed to the will of God. Entertaining these - opinions they cannot eater the army, end when drawn in the conscription refuse to carry arms. For • thii they" are imprisoned and banished, and^he rigour. of» .their imprisonment is- intensified by the circumstance that ,they fare-sko vegetarian?, and not beiDg willing '.to partake of the soup provided, are compelled ' to, live' on bread. Of course, the Russian Government 'cannot roipec'o scruples such as these. If they were universal there would be no army. Nor is it likely any other Government •would respect them. Suppose for a moment the Militia Act w*s enforced in New Zealand, -what would be the treat raent accorded to one •who refused to bear arms even to defend his country ? The Spirit Wrestlers absolutely decline to oppose force with force, aad one of them literally obeyed the injunction about giving away his cloak to a robber who had taken his coat. The relations of the qonscripts who have retused duty have been punished also. Cossacks plunder their vill&gec and violate their women. The cemmunifcy numbers 4000 persons, and they are djing from hunger, disease, exhaustion, tortures, and other perjecutious' at the hands of the Russian authorities because their religious convictions do not allow them to fulfil those demands of the State wh'.cb are connected directly or indirectly with the killing of or violence to thtir fellow men. Their friends ask for help for them, and any donation may te sent to the writer of the pamph'e I}.1 }.

The little Republic of Switzerland can boast of & post office which in point of A model convenience to the public is f <tr post ahead 1 of* similar institutions in office, any. other country. It undertakes to forward persons and r luggage by diligence.- It, collect) -money against the delivery of letters and parcels. It ccl'eols '. draft*.' ~ls colltcis subscriptions to new»p<*pers. It delivers 'books and music on approval. Fur ', five Cintinies it •will deliver a- letter up to , kalf a pound'^n weight to any distance .within 10 kilometre 3, and for 10 to any part of Switzerland. There are no limitations to the size or weight of parcels. In adtdition to' this the S>vis3 Post Office accepts full responsibility for loss or damage where the value is declared, the "extra charge for declaration being oerely nominal. It also accepts liability within certain limits, even without de.claration of value, where a registered letter or p&ckage has been lost, damaged, or even delayed transit. Another point worth notice is that ithe system of fining the addressee where a letter is unstamped or insufficiently stamped is not in force in Switzerland, where all that is charged to the addretsce is the deficiency in the postage. ISTewZealxnders are accustomed to plume themlelves on the efficiency of their postal syitem. It seems that New Zealand officials have still something to learn.

Dean Hole, of Rochester, has been addressing i himself to the question of "How

the does commerce square with the church Gospel ? " and, as usual with and that vivacious divine, the subcomherce. ject was treated in no uncertain manner. < He bsgan by saying that the clergy did not take sides with Capital against Labour, nor with the employed against the employer. It is not assumed as a matter of

course that the masters are always in the right «. »nd the servants always in the wrong ; nor are , they to obtrude^theriiselves'ai cnimpions of th« working classes, as though" every rich man was a glutton-. an<T a Winc-bibVer, and every poor man a Lazarus at'Tiis.gaf'e; nor do they regard them as' though they had "a monopoly of work, as" if there were not sweat of brain as well as sweat of browl Dealing with the question jof what should be the attitude of the clergy towards trades which may be held injurious to mankind, the derm ■ays : "It does not become ns to denounce any fljccial trade because the article which it pro*

daces may be abused. Men may eat too much, drink too much, smoke too much ; bub the blame is for them and not for the purveyors of fish and flesh and fowl, for the distiller of whisky and tho brewer of beor, or the importer of tobacco. Sheffield ia not responsible when a poor madman cuts his throat with a razor' instead of shaving his chin. We can practically acknowledge our responsibility as purchasers for the conditions under which the goods we buy are produced, aud resolutely avoid the pursuit of cheap bargains, which too often represent sweated labour." But as no one can positively ascertain the conditions for himself he asks what is to be done, and submits this suggestion: "Now, what can we do? From the pulpit and the plaform, in the newspapers and magazines, in society aud in private conversation, we can maintain those great principles which all acknowledge to be true, which many forsake bub none can deny — industry and honesty, temperance and purity, justice, generosity, and brotherly love."

The "Australasian Medical Gazette" protests

strongly against the imposition irregular which is practised on tho publio sirdicai, with impunity by numerous practice, irregular practitioners. ' And if the specimen cases quoted by it are a fair sample of the rest, New Soatb Wales must be the happy hunting ground of scores of . unlicensed and therefore irresponsible quacks. This colony is tolerably free fram these gentry, the utmost extent of the practice usually being the operations of a travelliug quack, who rushes meteor-like from end to end of the colony and vanishes into the obscurity whence he emsrged ; or the prowling of soina -pertson, . half mendicant; and half swindler, who pretends that he has an infallible cure for some complaiot. Bub in Australia the quack flourishes uumolested. He has palatial premises aud indulges iv expensive advertisements. Says our contemporary,: "An advertisement which calls atleution to tho great skill and experience of the medical practitioner la whom it ref«ra now appears almost daily, and .has douo so for many year* past, notwithstanding the fact th\t he stayed m the colony bub a very short'Aimp, leaving it more thau niuß years ago, and dying a few months after he did so. Another, which laudts, in the most exaggerated I terras, the high character and great professional knowleige of another individual, ie!atas to a man who occup : e3 a placa in the book entitled • The' Proftsuonai Ci'im naln oi" America,' the author of which is ' Tnc-mas Byrnes, luepeelor of Police and Chief of Dstectivs*, New York City.' The history given of Lira ahowa him lo have been a repeatedlj-couvicitd criminal. Athitd, whose advertisement coolly claims that he stands at the head of the medical profession, is by tr&dji a compositor, but he gave this up and without any training commeacei to practise as a doctor in the country districts, eventually setbin g in the capital city oi' a neighbouring colony, wkich he loft to come to Svuuey after aa exUv in ily narrow esdape of conviction for murder, a charge on which he was arraigned as a result of his style of practice This mm advertisaa on a vast scale, and a3 the result has baen so successful that when proposing to dispose, of hia.bnfiiuess he stated that he was prepared to givo proof of profits to tb/3 extent of soma thoussnda of pounds a. year." Ettinples cjuld 'be prolonged a'.mosb iadtfiaitely, and, iudeed, the traps for the ignorant aud unwary are legion. Thay thrive on ignorance aad batten on, credulity. The Americans* are ever in the forefront with economical devices, and the A nkw latest we have etea is oue by tramway. Y?llich iron or steel rails cau be laid down -041 a common roadway without "Klfic-pers n or 'longitudiu&l beams. It is thus possible to construct a practical tramway at mu«h' less than the usual expense. Tho ra?h are specially made with a flit sole, and are simply embedded in the macadam. They are titd together at intervals to prevent them from spreading. We have takea the description from one of the leading American scientific journals. The track itself in an inverted channel, provided on one side with a small lip intended to serve as a guide for tho wheVls. The tread is Bin wide, aboufc 7-16 in thick, and it weighs about 851b to. the yard — so that about 100 tons per miio will be required. The joint is of a somewhat peculiar form. The shoulders are shown oa the side, a«d are intended to nerve a. doub!© purpose — stiffening the joint plate itself, and also furnishing an inclined way by which waggon wheels can be guided back to the track in cisc they have ■lipped off it. This is considered a poiut of some importance. Simple roads have been laid down in several d'stricts. In practice it has been found that little attention need be paid to the suggested objection that the rails would bacoma baried in the mud or would tip up and become uneven. ' The coat is estimated at about £700 a mile.

The newly-incorporated City of New York comes into official existence on " greater January 1. The local Governkew YORK." ment journal says that the chtrter divides the city into five natural districts or boroughs, these being : (L) Manhattan (New York . City proper), (2) the Bronx (consisting of all that pirt ot New YorkCibj north of Harlem River), (3) Brooklyn, (4) Queen's (consisting of that' part of Queen's County to be brought iv), (5) Richmond (Staten Island). Eich of these districts will have a president of iba own sslectioD, who will occupy the officss of its present mayor, and he will then have charge of the administrative officers of the division. The mayor of the city has an amount of patronage hardly ■squalled in the world ; iv fact, in power and patronage combined he is only second in the United Sfcate3 to the President himself. He is given power to call out the State militia within the city, and has an extra enlarged veto power over the acts of* the municipal assembly. The. only department which is independent of the mayor's appointment is that of the comptrol'er, who is elected every fourth year. It is to the head of this vasb administrative machine that the Tammany nominee has been elected. During the mayoral contest Henry George, who was a candidate, died with dramatic suddenness. Thus perished, says a contemporary, one who was " a gentle but obstinate dreamer, half literary , man, half agitator, firm in his faith, upright in his conduct, an honest apostle of a dishonest gospel— a product of the disorganised social conditions of tho New World : the stormy petrel of that huge and seething mass of discontent which underlies the brilliant surface of American life." He never gained the confidence of any considerable section of hi a couutrjimn ; yet " Progress and Poverty " caused a sens vtion on both sides of the ■ Atlantic. Though he was not a Socialist in the stricter application of the term, he gave an impetus to the Socialist movement which no other cause could have imparted. He was emphatically a clean-handed man, and even his strongest opponents recognised this. If he had survived and beea elected— which was within the bounds of probability despite Tammany organisation— New York would have had as its chief citizen a man

who would certainly have carried ou to its fullest extent the raign of purity in the administration of its affurs inaugurated at the last election.

On January 22, 1879, Rorke's Drift witnessed a

deed which added another laurel the hrro to British arms. Eighty British of korke's soldiers, led by two young DRirr. officers, neither of whom was

much more than 30 years oi age, held the fort against bebween three and four thousand Zulus, the most formidable savage foes that ever stood up to battle against B-ithh arms. The holders of the little fort knew that their comrades had beea defeated and slaughtered. In such wars the savages give no quarter, and the frail defence was hungrily surrounded by dußky wamors only half-sated with blood. Oae of the officers who commanded this gallant little band — Culonel Chard, V.C. — has just passed away, not full of years, for he was but 50, but full of honours, and ever after that dreadful night and morning known as " The Hero of Rorke's Drift." It was after IsauduU, where the British were oatnumbered and massacred, and the deed whim followed almost atoned for that disaster. The Zulus began the onslaught as soon as darkacs3 had fallen, and they succeeded in invading the hastily improvised fort no less thSt) six times. They left no fewer than 351 of their -number dead in front of the frail barrier of baggage, and this is thought to have been little more than a third of the numberi actually slain. With morning came Lord Chelunford's force to the relief, an! tha beleiguering forces fled with precipitation. For this action Lieutcuant Ohard was deservedly deorated with that ba'lge of valour — bhat coveted little bit of bropz-; — the Victoria Cross, which rests as proudly on the breast of the marshal as on that of the private. The D*ily Telegraph aays -.-y" Dafeuces and resources of a groat State may be purchased or manufactured, but not this great ingrained passion to do one's duty, which was Nelson's watchword and the dying joy of Moore, and the last comfort of John Nicol<on, and the secret and hidden greatness of Jobn Chard. Such mea must not be mourned if they pass away in what aeema to love aud afixefciou an untimely hoac, for their career ia parfect already. Their work is grandly do'ie, aad ia the lesson which they teach that nations are maintained by virlufs and noble qualities they bequeath to us all a legacy more precious than could bi estimated in any equivalent of natural wealth."