CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 21, 19 July 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

BEAUTY AND BRAINS. Where aiv Ihe best looking men? Of course even nation lias its own standard of beauty, but it is gratifying to learn that so distinguished and cosmopo':tßr. a judge as Lina Cavalieri, the Italian prima donna, declares that Englishman, an.) especially English officers, jri: Uii! haTiviKomest and the finest specimens of humanity in the world. As fie lady is famous both for her beauty and her voice from Milan to Sew Ycrk, slij ought to have had a good opportunity lor judging. Although we are not English we are British and close enough to the parent stock to feel that we should share in some of the fair critic's judgment. Though beauty may be only skin deep, it is an agreeable adjunct to good health and a good disposition. The mistake lies in exaggerating the importance and significance of looks, as is so often done by women. A man never considers whether another man may be good looking or not, though with a woman he will more, definitely recognise her appearance. A woman, however, always notices and appraises another person's looks, whether man or woman. As far as good looks are concerned, a New Zealand crowd bears a very favorable comparison with any other crowd in the world, and this is only natural, since the climate is good, l the conditions of life easy, and there is no hunger or privation to leave its ugly marks on parent or child. As regards a very high and perfect type of- beauty,, there are specimens to be found in fashionable gatherings in England which we cannot mach here, for all our bonny girls; but taking the people in the bulk, the standard here, as we said, is probably higher than it is in the Old Country. A Berlin lady journalist admits that Englishmen may be entitled to international laurels for beauty, "because," as Signorina Cavalieri says, "they bathe often than other men." For those of us who do not put forward any pretensions to beauty, there is the consolation that one practically never finds beauty and genius go together. Alexander the Great, Goethe and Byron were exceptions, but frequently one finds the genius appallingly plain. It is hardly, surprising. All the force and character and ability of the man's nature have been concentrated on his one particular subject, and it is only natural that the rest of him should be distorted a little; pressed out of shape by mental strains' and stresses. The Spartans tried consciously to make a race that would represent the highest development of physical comeliness and health, and to this end the feeble were ruthlessly sacrificed. Whatever they may have attained to in looks, it is on record that their mental powers deteriorated and earned them the reputation of being an exceedingly dull race. 'Perhaps in the course of ages the perfect human type will be developed and we shall all lie beautiful as well as brilliant—not to mention good, though unfortunately our imperfect human nature mostly would choose one of the two former qualities.

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. Some interesting facts and figures relative to this country and Australia appear in an article recently contributed to a Sydney journal. Everybody is aware of the vast extent of "the land of the golden fleece," as Sala called Australia, but probably few realise that out of 200,000,000 acres in the Commonwealth capable of growing wheat if scientifically treated, only 7,000,000 acres are actually under cultivation. Immense tracts of country now lying idle and unproductive in Australia are known to be suitable for the production of cotton and rice. Yet, the world is anxiously searching for new cotton fields, while rice is the staple food of 800,000,000 people, and Asia is wholly unable to supply their needs. The figures quoted relating to live stock in Australasia are noteworthy. There are about 115,000,000 sheep in the Commonwealth and New Zealand, 13,000,000 cattle and 3,000,000 horses. Australasian sheep produce yearly, on an average, '2,500,000 bales of wool, which, reckoned at £l2 per hale, represents £30,000,000. Both New Zealand and Australia have yielded vast quantities of gold, the former £80,000,000 worth and the latter £520,000,01)0, to say nothing of coal, iron, copper, etc. And there is good reason for believing that the gold discoveries in the past, in Australia more especially, will he eclipsed by those of the future. In common parlance, "there is plenty more where that came from." There are about 17,000 miles of railways open in the Commonwealth and New Zealand, worth £170,000,000, and yielding a gross revenue of £17,000,000'. Thr total amount standing to the credit of depositors in the Government savings banks of Australia is £53,000,000. In New Zealand, with is comparatively small population,! the savings bank deposits at the end of 1900 totalled £12.006,898, an average of upwards of £35 for every open ac- • count. It is satisfactory, too, to find that according to the latest statistics, while the death-rate in Australia per 1000 is 11, that of New Zealand is only 5.22. In this respect this country compares more than favorablv. also, with England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. The people of Australasia have every reason to be proud of their countries,' and, of course, they do not fail to exercise their rights in tlat respect.