PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2722, 16 May 1906, Page 5

PASSING NOTES.

(From Saturday's Daily Times.)

"An ultimatum"! — the British Government has addressed to Turkey an ultimatum ! It is refreshing to learn that a Ministry the chief of which was not so long ago a howling pro-Boer, and which includes in its voting strength a solid squad of Little-Englanders, is capable of addressing an ultimatum to anybody. But, as we continually remind ourselves for our comfort, responsibility sobers. Mr John Burns in office is not Mr John Burns the Socialist — at least you will not easily discover that he is; nor will Sir H. C-8., when occasion requires him to take the Grand Turk by the beard, show any real distaste for " methods of barbarism." The Ministry, together with the heterogeneous mob at their back, are in the last analysis all Britishers, and we have no reason as yet to be ashamed of British blood or the British name. An ultimatum is the last word of argument, remonstrance, warning. The Irishman at the wake when he had issued an ultimatum proceeded to business with scant delay ; said he, "Me next word was a blow." As to the right or wrong of our quarrel, it is not supposable that we could allow to any foreign Power facilities for sowing mines in the Gulf of Suez, the long and narrow 1 gut through which must pass all our eastern argosies. If the Turks are to hold one shore of the gulf they might as well be conceded one bank of the canal. The position would be no worse. I suppose nobody in Europe doubts that in this matter the Turks have been egged on by the Germans. All that was wanted for confirmation was an uninvited denial from Germany, — which has just been supplied. Qui s'excuse s'accuse. It might have been the precise case for which this saying was invented.

The Rev. Mr North of Wellington has been lifting up his testimony against gambling, and in so doing is well within his rights, no doubt. If Mr North should be collecting the anti-gambling vote, he may, if he chooses, count me in. But, as an opponent of gambling, I have a complaint against the Rev. Mr North, also against his ally the Rev. Mr Gibb, and not less against the Council of Churches to which these two serve as mouthpiece. I complain that they give away the cause we equally have at heart by refusing to discriminate between the innocent and the guilty. Thus Mr North :

The difficulty of the gambling question was much heightened by the patronage given it by royalty, tho aristocracy, and high ecclesiastical authority. Xow the highest ecclesiastical authority on record for tossing up to decide a contingency is that of the Apostles when "they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias." Being so near the beginning of things this is a peculiarly bad case, tending to justify not only the totalisator but bazaar raffles, which latter Messrs North and Gibb in their Puritan souls consider one of the most peculiarly pernicious forms of gambling now extant. By the way, I have just come across an example of "high ecclesiastical puthority" for billiard playing, which \ ice is not uncommonly associated with " gambling."

Th? lato Bishop Ellicott had a great love for the game of billiards. Once on a Saturday night he was playing billiards at a famous country house not very far froni Gloucester, with a peer who is now dead, but who in hig lifetime was celebrated for his practical jot/is.

The contest had reached its most, interesting point, when the clock struck 12, and the Bishop somewhat reluctantly laid down his cue, saying, "It is Sunday morning ; we must «top." " Oh, never mind, Bishop,'' said his host, with a laugh; "it makes no difference now, as I put back the clock for an hour?* Here then there is certainly billiard playing, possibly betting, presumptively Sab-bath-breaking. And all this under " high ecclesiastical authority " ! But it is not my own hands that I am lifting up in holy horror. I am describing things from the point of view of Messrs North and Gibb. I complain that reformers of their type are the chief hindrance to reform. They say that -art unions and bazaar raffles a~e no better than racecourse betting. And in that they say that racecourse betting is no worse than art unions and bazaar raffles. , For talking which preposterous nonsense there has fallen upon them the curse of barrenness, — they are totally unable to touch the conscience of the people.

To persons who would cleanse from taint of gambling our indoor games of chance and skill I am able to offer a- tip. A Mr A. M. Chance set up a billiard table in his own "house that his sons and their friends might enjoy a game amongst themselves. Mr Ghance is not, as his name might suggest, a personified abstraction borrowed Bunyan, but a citizen of Birmingham, chairman of the Licensing Justices arid a "patron" of the local V.M.C.A. Having set' up his private billiard table Mr Chance was urged by specious arguments* to allow betting. ' ' A small bet on" the game added to its interest; but nobody desired to play for money for the sake of money, oh dear, no ! — the' idea was scorned/

" Very well," said Mr Chance, '' you may play for money if yon like. You can have shilling, pound, or even five-pound note points, if you like; I only make cne stipulation. I haee here a box for the Children's Hospital, and as you are not playing For the money itself, all the winnings can be dropped iu v that box. The man who wins will not, of course, begrudge putting the money there, because he is not playing for the money itself, and the man who loses will have the satisfaction of knowing that he has done some good to a deserving institution." It is melancholy to add that a billiard room money box 6et up on these conditions collects no money. Says Mr Chance, "There has not been a single penny put into that box up to this day." I should like to see a similar experiment tried at some of our Dunedin bridge parties.

An arithmetical- conundrum wilich, in an evil hour, I admitted- .to this .column some weeks ago has since been the ,bane of my life. Here it is again : . .

Three Dutchmen, with their wives, bought liogs at a fair. Each bought as many hogs as he, (or she) gave .shillings for one hog.Hendrik bought 23 hogs more than Catrin, and Claas 11 more than Gertruij; also each man of the three laid out 63 ' shillings more than his wife. The other two names were Cornelius and Anna. Which was married to which? I offered no solution nor asked for any, my purpose in quoting the thing being of another kind. Nevertheless solutions were sent to me, and, unhappily, I gave a result in which two amateur mathematicians had concurred, and- which seemed, as I glanced over it, to satisfy the conditions. Therein p X was wrong, and they were wrong, — as I have since been admonished by a bombardment of protests from puzzled objectors. Here is this faulty result a trifle expanded : Gertruij (wife) bought 1 hog at Is, equal 1/ Hendrik (husband) bought 8 hogs at I Bs, equal 64/ Anna (wife) bought 9 hogs at 9s, equal.. 81/ Claas (husband) bought 12 hogs at 12s, equal 144/ Catrin (wife) bought 31 hogs at 31s, equal 961/ \ Cornelius (husband) bought 32 hogs at 325, equal „ 1024/ In this scheme each man spends 63 shillings more than the wife assigned him, which is right ; but then Hendrik's hogs are fewer by 23 than Catrin's, which is wrong. The proportion should be the other way about. At this stage I, personalty, should be for dismissing the Dutchmen and their alleged wives with the formula used at certain Lancashire marriages /when six or eight couples are turned off at the same time — " Sort yourselves outside." But two of my correspondents — T. P. X., Tapanui, and D. A. A.. Cargill street, Dunedin — are in time with the correct canonical' coupling, which is Hendrik and Anna, Claas and Catrin, Cornelius and Gertruij. How and why it is correct I proceed to show.

For yielding to importunity, I must give the working out. And here, as the linotype is not good at algebraic symbols, we are shut up to arithmetic. Neater than any arithmetical workine out offered me by my correspondents is the following :

1. Each purchaser paid in shillings the square of the number of hogs purchased. 2. There are, therefore, three pairs of square numbers, each pair differing by the number 63.

3. The difference between the squares of two numbers is equal to the difference between these two numbers multiplied by their sum.

4. The number 63 must therefore have three such differences and sums in terms of the problem. 5. The number 63 has six divisors — viz., I, 3, 7, 9. 21, 63. 6. Therefore the number in par. 5 must >>- identical with the required numbers in per. 4.

7. The numbers, whereof the above are the differences and sums, must be as follows :•-

8. Conclusion f Hendrik bought 32 hogs. Apna. his wife. 31 Claas bought 12 hogs, Catrin, his wife, » Corn-elius bought 8 hogs, Gertruij, his wife, 1 Any one who fails to see that the conclusion follows from the premises, and, in particular, that paragraph 8 is merely paragraph 7 stated in another way, may be assured that his forte is not mathematics. One correspondent, a lady, who sends me a correct solution, has the exorbitant appetite of Oliver Twi6t;

I shall be glad if you have any more. X enjoy them so much. I may say I am an old woman of 53, and learnt my algebra under Professor Kelland. of the Edinburgh University in 1872, when the higher education of women was first commenced in ScotlI commend this lady's taste for .ct science but deny that it need make her an old woman at 53. Several delightful young women. of my acquaintance could count moreT^years than that. As for mathematical problems,., for the moment at -least I have, done with them. My natural vocation . is . for philosophical politics, high art,- Shakespeare, and tne musical r glasses. _. . - \- 1

All, of which may -be said to meet in the' person of our respected Premier. On his~iestive occasions;' at any rate; especially when banqueting' among his am folk. Somebody sendVnie thievery day "The Premier Jubilee Song and Prayer : Sung at the Banquet -given to the Right Hon. B. -J. • Seddon, P.C.; LL.D., at . Greymouth, 17th January, 1898." My excuse for not noticing earlier- a of merit already eight years old is that I -have on ly. ti u st madfr; its acquaintance. The " Prayer" I reluctantly, pass over as unsuited to thft-ievity- of this column. Foli losing' this -HJevotiotta^ effort — whibh, , a 8 each line [begins witlfa 'capital letter, I take to be .poetry-^is the staple piece/ 1 mbnody in 12 stanzas. EicHAtto Hxksfe&F Again. •'" • Song. [Tune: "The "Wearing of the Green."] Our Premier's , landed right ' Honourable you~fcnow, To celebrate the: "Jubilee -V . . Our ' Dick He 1 had to go, - - And when he lands home again. He'll have "lots "to relate— ' Of all the sights he has seen And how he rode in state. Chorus — Oh, how he drove in state, He'll have lots to relate, Grand sights he has seen There is no mistake. Tune — "The Wearing of the Green";— did he sing it himself? Tha,^ pleasant notion seems denied us, though naturally suggested by Mr Seddon's notorious liking, for, the rebel melody and his habit of intoning it at banquets over the wine and walnuts. Included in the Greymouth menu was another inspired composition "What would we do without him?" Who helped our sons to get a place, Irrespective of their creed or race, And meet ..those' fellows face "to face?» Dick Seddon Who helped the little Cockney through, ■. With money that gave, him hopes anew, - Which caused displeasure to a few? ' Dick Seddon. These are not disclosures; they are con^ fidential ,winks, — nods and becks „ and , wreathed smiles, looking- back to something that Had passed between the parties; At some time or other the situation had^ been that in Tarn o' Shariter when" The landlady and Tarn grew gracious , Wi' secret favours, sweet and precious.

But to understand these mystic allusions one would need to be a West Coaster. Civis.

We have been requested to state that some misapprehension apparently exists with regard to the bank rate of interest in the colony. The recent intimation that the rate of interest on 12 months' deposits has been reduced to 2£ per cent, applies only to the Bank of Australasia. ' The other banks doing business in the colony — the Bank of New Zealand, the National Bank, the Union Bank of Australia, and the Bank of New South Wales— have maintained the rates which have obtained for some time, and include the payment' of interest at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum on 12 months' deposits.

Work at the new Dunedin railway station is now drawing to a close. The laying o£ the Mosaic tiling and flooring of the main entrance hall is nearing completion, the platforms are assuming shape, the erection of the verandah will be started in about a week's time, and the work generally is progressing rapidly. As to the platforms, a considerable portion of the concrete .has' been completed, the filling-in is now in" hand, and asphalt for the surface is being prepared on the ground. The permanent way between the platforms is also being laid. Painting in the upstairs portion 81 tho building is completed, and the painters are now engaged downstairs.

The Meikle Commission concluded its sitting in Dunedin on Friday, and adjourned to meet in Wellington on Monday.

The Minister of Works, replying to a' Wellington deputation, declared that the rails on the North Island Main Trunk line would be connected by the end of £190?. Persons would be able, the Minister added, to go through to Auckland, before the end of next summer.

Dr Pomare, who visited the northern islands of the Cook Group in the Countess Ranfurly, and inquired into the alleged' cases of leprosy, states that there were, in two of the islands especially, many traces of the disease, which had its origir - ay years back. Three suspicious case «jre confirmed by Dr Pomare as true' leprosy. Another suspicious case was declared nob' to be leprous. The doctor states that there is no cause for alarm, as precautions are being taken to prevent the spread' of the disease. ' *" Under the will of "the late Mr -Keith' Ramsay the sum of £100 is donated to tha Deacons' Court of First Church, Dunedin;. towards the erection of a Sunday Scfiooll hall.

The police arrested a man named Darnell M'Donald at Morven Hills (near Cromwell)! on Friday on a charge of being implicated! in a case of breaking and enteno*t *M Matakanui.

Ijfl fference. 1 3 7 Sum. 63 21 9 Required 32 12 8 L X Ntimben 31 9 1