From Home Papers.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXX, Issue 12396, 11 June 1904, Page 3 (Supplement)

From Home Papers.

The wife of a post office assistant in Leipzig has been sentenced to four months' imprisonment for lese-majeste. The curi=ous point about" this case is not" -that _the wom.in has been 'convicted but that the post office authorities have asked the woman's husbands to resign his situation on the ground that no servant of the Government should! be married to, a woman capable of .this offence.. The question -is naturally asked whether, if this woman had been found guilty of theft, her husband would Lave been asked to resign. "Petropavlovsk" will always stand for a Japanese victory, but, curiously enough, it was chosen as the name of a Russian warship to commemorate a British defeat. During the Crimean ,war half a dozen vessels—three British and three French—attacked the capital of Kamschatka, a place called Petropauloyski, Russia's chief foothold in the Pacific. A landing party of seven hundred men v was ambushed and forced to retire with heavy loss, while the ships fell back to their base at San Francisco, leaving the honours of the day with the Russians, who have not forgotten the incident even if wo • have.

Sir Henry Meysey who is retiring from puplio,'.life because an unofficial man of sixty/is of little use in the House-bf Commons,; and because the power of.the Member* has' been reduced to vanishing-point, 'has publicly echoed a' sentiment' that frequently finds expression in the lobbies; andl- corridors, of ■ Wesfminster. "What 'fools ye are to be wasting our time here.!", is van exclamation; that has repeatedly, beep,; heard • during the dreary dVudgery.-of the Parliamentary treadmill—sometimes .''with an emphatic adjective between''what",and "fools." For all, practical :p^i^p»M;. : iU^;'pTJvJite::'M«nber : ;--fa I now; merely, a- pawn* on: the Parlkraentiry chess-board.'".'• ■■•' ■■' '.'.•' - : Mr Austen Chamberlain is popularly supI posed to be in 'appearance almost the du; plicate of his fatherl I '. As umatter of fact, there is very .little facial 'resemblance between them, ahdari physiquethey are quite unlike. The QHwcellor of theJExchequer's most prominent feature is not the nose, ns in the case of Chamberlain- pere, but the eyes, which "are;- blue and with the prominence whicK'jj;ometimeg,,"but notyalways, -': denotes;;elpquence of Almost the only characteristic, physical or acquired, which: fijtber <ad' son have in common, is an eyeglass,', worn constantly^in 'the right eye, and-d' slight delve in the iwalk. Their manner of speaking has many ■points of difference. ' ' The Annual Import., on the British Airny shows an alarming shortage m the Militia, and Volunteers. '. The Militaa and Militia Beserve are over 80,000 short of thte normal ficures, while the Volunteers fail to reach their establishment by.the.eppmjous total of 92,223 men, or something like three Army Corps,,- The Yeomanrj are a'so. nearl/ 9000 'snort. .Wjese figure 'are alarming, because' %e have been, taught richtly or wrongly, to look to the Militia Volunteers and Yeomanry mainstay, of our Home defence, ah! if they are somethine like 200,000 : ,m<m below the estimated strength we 1 should 'suppose; there must be something,seriously wrong in our position. .'Of course if ore notto take any'ofthe.aux.lmy. forces seriously, that is a different matter. ...But in; that case ,why do we support them at-all-.-.

An incident occurred on the banks of the Seine showing, that even children wad the war new?. 'A waterman on the fjuai d'Austerlitz noticed, several boys dragging a biff box "attached to a string through, the water. He asked .'them what it was. One of them. answered : "A submarine, and little Julofc is inside." Unable to Relieve his ears, the waterman pulled the box ashore, opened'it, and found half-drowned and an infant of two and a half years, named Jules Tourette. -The boys had heard of submarines, and determined to 'malce one for themselves with a. crew of one. Their ingenious idea would shortly have proved fatal but for the waterman's watchfulness. The child recovered, und the boys were taken before a commissary, who gave them a severe lecture, and sent them home. The proceedings m the House of Commons on April 22nd were marked by two unurual incidents. • One was an apology 'by Mr Balfour to Sir Robert Reid for n petulant and seemingly rude retort, and the other was 1 . the unusual spectacle of Mr Wirston Churchill losing the thread of his discourse. Jrst as ho wa>s apparently abo'it tn conclude n short but vigorous spee;h. Mr Churchill hesitated, and Mien stopped. Ho. look od blankly at the floor, and then into, his hands, and finally it the House, b'it not a word did he add, ind it wa« apparent to tho amused assembly that thor usually fluent member for Oldham had lpgt the thread of his disI course. The House was much tickled, i and many sitting or the .benches on his i side smiled with uncharitable glee, but

..tlid Opposition, ciiteral loudly'.' .\u-Cu-u-eaij ukd again, aiid once again coxtic •;ui piv-asd. . 'Spiral suggestions. were minis by lie memoWs near .him; .finally ■iie pic's ad uj) applies of paper and looked eiii-iisstiy at it." But the niissiug.word >v:is -not to be recovered,'—and. finuHy the House, syuiijathising-. with the disconcerted orator; broke into more 'or less general cheers. Under cover, of this demonstration Mr Churchill stammered put his'gratiI tude to tie House for. its indulgence, and sank into his, seat., \ \ I' At present it is of interest to note that the Russian .rouble is worth 2s l£d par value, and that the poud is equal to 36ib. The Japanese yen represents 2s.o£d of our .money, the *icul weighs 133i1b., arid the kin :1.32511b.-: :, : ; : > ; i ; With favourable weather and tide the turbine steamer Queen made a record pas--sage; across the English Channel, steaming from'- Dover Pier .Jtead to Calais in 63J minutes. : President; Roosevelt, who is popiilarly known as the "Apostle of Strenuousness,'' made av speech at a banquet of periodical publishers, in which he advocated/the virtue of self-restraint, saying : "A free people merely substitutes self-restraint for external restraint. The permanence of our freedom as a people depends on the way we exercise self-restraint." The Rev. W. T. McCormick, of Bournemouth, is carrying on- a vigorous campaign for the suppression of the cigarette habit amongst the rising generation. "It is an appalling fact," says Mr McCormick. "that girls have, now taken to. the habit of smoking. Every right-minded man and woman in the country, one would think, ought to try and stamp out this evil amongst the. i gentler sex at once." Dissatisfaction is expressed on the part of British manufacturers with regard to the passing of the Japanese Government Tobacco Monopoly Bill. It is stated that, ip spite of the Japanese Foreign Secretary's i official assurances to Lord Lansdowne that manufacturers would be compensated to the extent of three years' profits, the Bill, as passed, gives British investors the equiv alent of only one year's profits. It is understood that Lord Lansdowne will be asked to intervene again. Mr Uriah Utter, the oldest citizen of the village of Amity, New York, has just purchased the ancient schoolhousein which he was educated. To do so has been the ambition of his life, the end to which every dollar- he could save. has been devoted. He has not presented it to the community as a free-gift in - a touching speech. " Directly he. got possession of it he called around him half a dozen stalwart friends, armed them with axes and crowbais, and headed a spirited assault on "the old building. In twenty minutes it was a heap of- kindling wood, and Uriah's ambition was satisfied. He always meant to make np for those early whippings somehow. Tne most remarkable artificial pearl in Jxistence i« now in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution. It is about an inch and a half in length, oval in form, and pink in colour. A period id two years was occupied in its formation. A small ball of wax was placed near the hinge of a fresh water mus<el, in a tank of water and earefunlly watched. The irritation of the wax, caused "the mollusc to protectitself by coating the foreign object with the same material as that which is used; in in lining the inner surface of its shell. The result was a pearl of enormous size. Ow T mg to pressure the small wax ball lost its globular shape, and became oval in form. At the end of the two years the mussel was taken out of the tank and opened and the pearl was removed. Owing to drycesß the waxen interior contracted, and ibis caused the pearl, unfortunately, to crack. This accident, has made -it possible to observe the tliicknes? of the nacreous covering which is somewhat greater than that of an ordinary sheet of letter paper. If it were not for the flaw, this extraordinary irtificial pearl would be worth an enormous 'um of money, "but even as it is, it is price-'e-s as a. curiosity _ - _. According to.recent telegrams from Seattle, {here is likely to be another enormous influx of pop-ilation into Yukon district of the Canadian North-West. The •.gold returns for the past,, year and the ipjospects.^or, the present, are considered to Sjt&fiffiSatisfabtory. ■',., ?Tneres'jJjv however, j ofe Gari-;: ada' : receive from prospectors for gold." This is the Saskatchewan River, in the; : North-West Territories, ;to the agricultural lands fringing which, the majority of new: settlers are beihg ; now "directed, and through which the Canadian j Northern Railway is this year extending | its main line from Grandviewon the west- j erh border of Manitoba to Edmonton ;m , .the •'Territories,., a distance of 620 miles.., •If as is ! anticipated, ' alluvial gold is'ibundi along the Saskatchewan,, it will | greater rapidity %an tlement would do. In the event of failure,, at goldWnining the PrespectorsWd find themselvesin the Jeart :°f ricultural land in the Canadian and alongside a raflway in eourse of jonSruction which'would; provide: them mfb work at high rates of pay. .ajaj M affatto. impostor ,has in hoaxing, the, military, authorities pi with a Completeness that hasr set uthorUies-laughing. *£«#£&'££: self to and an inspector of works, the impostor !?a well-dressed, WMnanPered mancalled 'on' March "31st at the Newry Barolee 3 plans of Se alterations at preset being carried out there &al builder. Never fte disthuruished stranger, was actually from Z X? Office, tSe Wtherlries received him with the utmost politeness. shown,the plans,-but they,did not alto-, geS -Sisfy: W critic eyerfpr,hemadc Fnumber of emendations, which were, deferentially accepted. Then, the^*£ irade was turned out for inspection by ?he who was pleased, to approval. He accepted an invitation to dtoe with the contractor for the, barracks improvement, and' stayed at his house for the night. Next day he is stated tr have from the same hospitable individual before startingfor Arnvagh, where/ it is reported; lie made, furthe? inspections. It has since come, as I rude shock to -Newry military; circles to learn that, the soi-disant . major is wanted by the" police on five : different charges of fraud. ~,.■'„+ . Addressing an Irish demonstration at Manchester the other day, Mr John Redmond, they were baft again upon the straight issue of Home Bufe between England and Ireland. They were upon the eve. of a General Election It was net necessary to allude even foi a moment to tbe ! evidence which was patent to everybody that the present Government could not last. The mass of the people ( of this country seemed to be labouring under a strange delusion. They seemed to think that the next election waygoing to be decided on fiscal reform or Chinese slavery, or Army reform. He took, the liberty of expressing the opinion that the issue would in all human probability oe decided by a body of men in Great, Bri-' tain who cared comparatively littlo about these matters, and who would cast their votes upon Home Rule for Ireland. Some simple-minded people seemed to be under Hie impression that,after the next election ■v Liberal party would com* into power with a majority independent of the Irish. Tt was a historical fact that every Liberal Government since the Reform Art, with one exception, had held office by Triah votes,: and the exceptional Government of Mr Gladstone from 1880,. to 1885 was driven out of office by Irish votes What-had happened in the past would happen in the future. Before any Li v bernl Government could hold, office bv virtue of Irish votes Home Rule must be its Trish policy. By Home • Rute he_ meant 'he right of governing and legislating for themselves in purely Irish affairs. FIGHT WITH FOUL AIR.

A tale of simple heroism during a life ind death struggle with ' the combined forces of poisonous gas and a violent gale at sea is' told by the crew of the Newcastle steamer Roman, which reached Shields Harbour after a stormy voyage from Barcelona. Two officers of the Roman, a Blue Cross Line steamer, lost their, lives in heroic-efforts to save others p f: the vessel's: hold, and a third'member of the crew, was washed overboard. In a tempestuous gale the vessel was washed fore and aft by heavy seas, and at 8 o'clock at night the ventilators'' were smashed in, and other havoc Was done. To prevent the water getting into the hold among the cargp, prompt action had to be taken to' repair theventilatore, and to accomplish the task No. 2 hatch had to be removed. While this was being done the vessel was struck

by a heavy, sea,' «n<l the cM-jsci-ter,■ Jo-.,: •:.':o.i.t, '.iiiv \Vui 3i.yage<i in uio work, v.-;-.-; s aaiir.-c into the hold, where he was ovc". iiowsved bj the foal air iind the gusts ■ aisiiig froai'the .cargo. -He h»y at the Wtoiu' Lelsiless,' and the chief mate, Mr j?. (J. Clench, promptly volunteered to go ! '.'.own to. Ms aid... He also -was quickly Tendered insensible, and to the consternation of the crew/the two men lay in the ship's hold apparently lifeless, while the raging gale made it every moment, more imperative that the ventilators of the ship should be repaired and the hatchway replaced to save the hold from being flooded. Another member of the crew, Mr Stanford, volunteered to, be lowered' into the l hold with a rops rbund his waist. He fastened the rope round the body of the carpenter, and gave the' signal for him to be hauled on« deck. ,'This wasj done promptly, but the carpenter was, found to be dead, and'all efforts to restore animation failed. By this time the foul air had overcome Stanford also, and he was perfectly helpless. The fourth volunteer to descend into the death trap was the second mate, Mr. R. Williams* who,; after, several attempts, succeeded in fastening the rope' round the first mate and Stanford. Both were quickly hauled on deck. The first mate was beyond' human aid, and Stanfoi'd was also thought to be dead, but after an hour's 'exertion the crew sue- i ceeded in restoring animation, and the patient recovered. On the following day the bodies of the two men were committed to the deep, the burial service taking place in a heavy sea. The steamer continued to face a succession of gales,, and only a few hours had elapsed when' athird member of the crew followed his ill-fated companions, being washed overboard. Nothing could be done to -save him. Heavy seas continued to break on board with disastrous results, and the lemainder of the crew who were" on deck at the time say that it was a miracle that anyone survived. BOYS', NOVEL DUEL,

y A duel which in some degree recalls the tournaments' of the Middle Ages 'was fought in Paris between two boys, aged 17," Henri Maltier and Gustave Larnort, apprentice rag-pickers and rivals for, the affections of Eugenie Parville, a winsome ! lass of 14. The boys met and quarrelled, the result being a decision that one frf • them must disappear: in other words, they were to fight to the death. difficulty was the choice of weapons. Maltier was the proud possessor of a .swordcane, and Larnort had a knife; but' the latter considered he. would be at too great disadvantage with this instrument. While the matter was being discussed in the presence of a number of other youths he had a happy thought—he would use' his bicycle. He explained his plan as ; follows : Maltier was to stand with his sword drawn at guard while Lamort, 100 yards (away, mounted his bicycle. At the word the latter was to ride at his best"- speed at his adversary and take his chance oT knocking him down or being wounded. The proposal was accepted, and the combat 'took place in the, Hue de la Convention, Gienelle, before a crowd of interested ragpickers. Preliminaries over, the word was given. ' Lamort rode at ibreakijeck speed, and succeeded in knocking down his opponent, but at the same time yfell himself. At that moment the police {appeared on the scene and found the two on the ground. The swordsman had ' received a perious cut on the head' from a pedal, while the cyclist was suffering from two severe cuts from the sword. Both are now lying in the, prison infirmary.

END OF THE ARMY CORPS, t It is only three years and a . month since Mr Brodrick's six Army Corps were born, and now (says the "Daily Chronicle") they are all buried. The Army Corps at Aldershot, united with the Anny Corps at Salfcbury, may perhaps continue to exist as a sort of Siamese twin. The rest were put to a rapid and painless death by Mr Arnold-Forster's brief statement' in Parliament that " the Army Corps organisation would not be continued." The unhappy beings die unregretted, and their obituary is brief. Two of them showed some signs of animation, and increased, a little in weight. Two of them remained ittle more than skeletons to the last. Jwo-were-jiever-rflalhr alivejit all, being. IffiTßoTlf —Tff*MdershcifOinder KeJCq}>»>French. and at Salisbury under Sir Evelyn Wood, there, were Army Corps of a sort. In Ireland, under the Duke of Connaught, •ind at Colchester under Lord QrenfeU, there were shadowy skeletons. At York and in Scotland thcie was not evenja -ommamler, much less anything to com mand. It is not so long ago since Mr Brodiiik, in answer to criticisms, boastfully dec'ared that his scheme "held field." It is underground now. With its ambitious talk of three Army Corps ilways ready for foreign service, and thrjee of regulars, militia, and for home, its fitful fever is over. All that remains as its memorial is an occasional half-fir ished barrack on which our income 'use? have been squandered. At the moment ■« e have no army system at _ all, 'tcepi- the old 67 regimental districts. I Whether we shall obey the great Trium- , rir.it e and gather up into 19 brigade districts, 8 administrative districts, and ;5 f-ommands. we cannot know as yet. Bjpt over the six Army Corps we pause to shfd i tear. They have died, and are buried without benefit of clergy: not even the chaplains were appointed. PAPER FROM COTTON STALKS. .' '

A despatch from Washington to a New Orleans paper says: —Through the efforts of Representative Howard, of Georgia, the Agricultural Department has started an investigation of a. new industry which pro■nises not only to break the paper t trust but add great profit to the/:ottonilanting industry in ,the South. Tt is the manufacture of white paper .from cotton stalks, and already successful experiments have been made in Atlanta and in Houston, Texas. It is said that white paper made in Atlanta from cotton stalks excels the usual product made from wood iulp, and it is believed the cost of mami'ncluie is considerably less. Mr Howard has been woiking for several weeeks to interest the department in thennetw t industry. He finally got Secretary Wilson and his assistants to look into the expert mental process already established, and' the lesnlt of that step was. xthe announcement made to-day that the department will make more complete investigation as tt> the cost and process of ; converting the stalks into paper, and issue a public buljletin containing all the information ob'ainable. Another featuie of the industry which is of particular interest to planners is the fact that the dreaded boll weevil ■vill find himself tinable to get a foothold on cotton plantations where the stalks ire sold to paper factories. The De; paitmenl of Agriculture has advised that the best plan for war on the weevil it to destroy the stalks, 'wherein the weevil mu-t live during the incubation period J This plan would involve an expense to' ths planter, but if the stalks are cut down and sold for paper manufacture the moth's power is destroyed, while at the same "time the planter profits thereby. It is no longer doubted that a splendid quality of white paper tan be made from cotton stalks, and the raw material is> in'such ibundance that it is impossible for the trust to control it. The only thing to be "loue is to bring the industry into general lot ice. and it will build itself. * Mr' How ard has been active in -the matter be"auso ho realised the advantage it would bring to the cotton planters of his State ind section.