HERE AND THERE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3019, 24 January 1912, Page 88

HERE AND THERE.

Wealth of the Rothschilds. —

Ever since the battle of Waterloo, when a Rothschild was the first in England to obtain the news and profit by it on the Stock Exchange, the name of Rothschild (says the Paris correspondent of the Standard! has been synonymous with that of untold wealth. The recent death in Paris of Baron Gustave lias again drawn momentary attention to the fortune of the great house the extent of which it is by no means easy to calculate. Everybody knows that the brothers are partners, and that the bank lias establishments in London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfort, and Vienna. The French branch was founded by Baron James, whose son Edmond alone outlived him. W hen the Baron Solomon, the first of his four sons, died in 1864, ho left a widow and a daughter, Helen. At the marriage of Milo Helen with Baron van Zuylen do Nyevelt, the first idea was gained of the wealth of each, as her share of her father’s inheritance, which she brought with her as dowry amounted to £14,000.000. Consequently. Baron Solomon’s fortune was double this, and his throe brothers and his sister, who married Baron Nathaniel, • of London, having an equal sum, the total of the five was nearly £160,000,000 at that date. As there are four branches almost equally rich, the whole family must have been in possession of nearly £640.000,000. Xo one member, however, is probably as rich as Mr Beit, or oven Sir J. B. Robineon, both of whom are credited with over £30.000,000. France, which is certainly one of the richest countries in the world, heu; few extremely rich men, according to modern estimates. In his curious book, “ The Rich Men of the Last Seven Hundred Years,” M. Avenol states that he has mot been able to find any fortune before the French Revolution bringing in a revenue of over £120.000 a year. At present there are at least 50 in this class, and 120 men who can spend between £40.000 and £120,000 per annum. Before the beginning of the nineteenth century there were only about 15 capitals of over £1,200,000. These calculations, of course, _ exclude ancient times, for nobody has yet equalled tho wealth of Croesus. Unpunished Crimes.— In support of Mr Taft’s recent declaration that “ the administration of the criminal law in America is a disgrace to civilisation ” (says the New York correspondent of the Daily Telegraph), statistics have been published showing that in tho last 10 years 86,934 murders took place in the United States, and that the number of executions was only 1149—about one murderer in 75 suffering the death penalty. ExecuMurders tions. 1901 7852 113 1902 8834 144 1903 8976 123 1904 8-182 116 1905 8689 118 1906 9350 123 1907 8712 1 04 1908 8952 92 1909 8103 107 1910 8975 104

Figures also show that New York, while boasting “ the very finest police force or. the face of the earth,” has a greater number of murders yearly than any other civilised metropolis, and also a greater number of criminals who escape arrest. In defence of Now York, it is argued that this city has long boon the dumping-place of European refuse, and that only in recent years have the immigration laws been strict. The immigration rules are now extraordinarily severe, and the poll tax levied upon now arrivals alone suffices to pay for the upkeep of a big army of well-paid officials, and the machinery for sifting the good emigrants from the bad. The latter are deported to Europe “at the expense of the shipping company,” for which reason the shipping companies now try to prevent the embarkation of passengers who are unsuited for settlement in America.

The French Duel.— The French duel is taking on a more grotesque aspect at each encounter. In one of the latest bloodless encounters there figured M. Painleve, of the Institute, and a member of Parliament for Paris, with Professor Haller, who holds the Chair of Organic Science, as seconds to Dr Lungevin. Professor of Chemistry at the Sorbonne. The cause of the meeting was the publication by M. Tory of a pahmphlet which contained matter deemed offensive by Dr Langevin. Pistols wore chosen by the doctor, and M. Painleve was appointed director of tho duel. H e placed the adversaries at 25 paces distance from each other, and gave the word to fire. Dr Langevin made a gesture as if to raise his pistol, but, seeing that M. Tery remained motionless with his arms at his side, and his weapon pointing tho ground, dropped his hand also. For a moment everybody present looked at one another inquiringly. This was a circumstance that apparently is not provided for in tho duelling code, which, as everybody knows, is copious enough. M. Painleve hurried up to the other seconds, and engaged in earnest conversation, whilst the two combatants remained under arms at their posts for at least 10 minutes. Their seconds respectively questioner! thorn, and then learned first from M. Tory that he had no quarrel with Dr Langevin, for whoso scientific attainments ho had the greatest respect—so great that he could not think of shooting at him. He had only, he said, asked to have an adversary in front of him. and was satisfied. Dr Langevin, on his side, declared that ho would not fire at anybody who evidently refused to fire back. The seconds then solemnly fired the pistols in the air, and everybody mounted their cars and. returned to lunch. Scottish While Cattle. — Lanarkshire has the distinction of possessing in tho white cattle which inhabit the old forest park of Cadzow Castle, at Hamilton, the only anmals of the race now existing in Scotland. They are justly regarded with tho veneration which, descent from old times and present rarity deserve. From an interesting article in the Glasgow Herald we learn that up to the. beginning of last century herds or .small collections of white cattle existed elsewhere in Scotland, and one or other of those may have been drawn anon to restock Cadzow. Tho behaviour of white cattle as observed in modern times is sometimes held to support tho theory of their direct descent from the aboriginal wild ox ; but the conditions under which they are kept are sufficient to cause such wild traits ns they show. These seem to be chiefly forms of shyness and watchfulness, and a certain independence of movement due to tho comparative freedom and.

spaciousness of the largo enclosures in ( which they live. In England several herds are maintained, the best-know r n being that i at Chillingham (Northumberland). The only i others with any claim to be considered wild : wore long at Chartley (Staffordshire), but [ the small remnant were transported to Wo- ' burn Park (Bedfordshire) in 1905. Other herds can make little claim to unmixed or long descent; but under the name of park cattle are numerous enough, and of such interest to their owners as to have recently led to the proposal to establish a handbook. They were not always so much esteemed in England. When six heifers wore sent, about 1870. from the Kilmory herd to the Royal Farm, Windsor, they had to be given up “ owing to its getting wind that they were * Scotch wild cattle.’ and when the ladies wore walking in the park thoy looked after them with their black eves!”

Life on Threepence Halfpenny a Uav.—

Threepence halfpenny a day is sufficient to provide ample nourishment per person in Protectionist America. An official test has just been completed extending for a week, to determine the minimum sum sufficient to purchase necessitities of life, with the result that 2.s Ojd a wetik has been tixed as ami'li' to provide a good table for anyone. The experimenters were ; everal m?mOer» of tiie senior cias-s of the Cincinnati kindergarten training school. The Department of Education supplied the girls with a furnished flat, in which they lived for a week, doing all their own work, and keeping strict financial account, of their marketing. Their expenses for food varied he tween Sid and 6d per day, as they experimented with different kinds of provisions. The 3jd regime, which was voted the most successful, was composed of; —Breakfast : Corn meal mush and milk, brown bread or toast, coffee, or cocoa. Luncheon: Peanut sandwiches, bread and jelly squares, fruit. Dinner: Split pea .soup, creamed codfish on toast, apple dumplings with sauce, tea. The results of the experiments will be applied in connection with a model working girl apartment house which is being erected in Cincinnati. Victoria Cross Romance. — Some years ago a tearful hero burst into Sotheby’s auction room, London, and pleaded that his Victoria Cross should not be sold. Somehow or other it had loft his possession, and, until the announcement of its sale, he had completely lost trace of it. The chivalrous owner generously returned it to him. A pathetic story of another kind was revealed on November 28 at the same rooms —an heroic tragedy of father and son. First came a little group of Crimean medals awarded to Far-rier-sergeant Atkinson (it was an Atkinson who wrote up the Victory’s log-book), and he was one of that little band who captured the Russian cannon from which the Victoria Cross is made. Ho lived to realise in grief and pride what ho had done. For Fate willed it that at Pbardoborg his heroic son—Sergeant A. Atkinson. —of the Yorkshire Regiment, should win the Cross and die. By an army regulation it was banded over to the old farrier-sergetant after his boy’s death. The awards to father and son were not divided when sold by the order of Mrs Margaret Atkinson, of Armley. and in the end Mr Spank gave £7O for them. A Mexican Pompeii.—

An interesting discovery has been made in Mexico in iho valley of Toxcoco, where Professor Niven, of Now York, has found the remains of a town, buried like Pompeii by a volcanic eruption. A few feet below the surface ho has discovered streets and houses and a temple, with all its furniture and decoration unspoilt. In the courtyard of the temple 200 terra-cotta models have been unearthed, statues, vases, and ornaments. The workmanship points vo an unknown period /in, Mexican civilisation, and suggests an Oriental influence, for the heads of the statues are of the ancient Egyptian type, and other works recall the art of Western Asia, notably of Borneo and India'. Tho paintings on the walls of the temple are in admirable preservation. Tho excavation of this town should prove exceedingly interesting, for it seems to afford proof of the theory that America was colonised by an Eastern race. Progress of Japan.—

But u few years ago Japan manufactured neither iron nor cotton. Lately she has launched some Dreadnought of rnoro than 20,000 tons, built entirely by her own workmen. Not so long ago she manufactured no cotton at all. At present the consumption of raw cotton is, in round figures, as follows:—In Great Britain. 4,000,000 bales per voar; in Japan, 1,000,000 bales per year. 4 The 1,000.000 bales of cotton consumed by Japan are converted into yarns, cloth, etc., which are sold partly in Japan and partly in Asia, especially in China, Korea. Manchuria, and, lately, also in India. As it is impossible for British workers to compete on terms of equality with Japanese cotton workers, the loss of the Chinese market to the Japanese cotton ‘industry is merely a question of time.