CURRENT TOPICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4613, 8 April 1893, Page 3

CURRENT TOPICS.

Following in the wake of the boxing kangaroo comes a wrestling lion, who ia to be seen at the Oxford Music Hall. The lion "Prince" is a very fine specimen; strong, well-developed, exceedingly lively in disposition, and wonderfully good tempered. The performance takes place in a moveable cage on tbe stage, ia which the lion is already placed when the curtain is raised. His antagonist, Alicamanser, is a native of St Vincent, standing sft lOin and weighing 14at 7ib. The lion is. in his seventh year. His trainer estimates his fighting weight at f ally 20st. Prince has been four years in the country, and Alicamanser has known him for two years, during which time he haß performed the customary feats expected of, lions in cages, but it is only three months ago since first he was taught the art of wreatling. As it i?, he does not know the trick of tripping. He relies upon his brute strength. Sometimes he clasps his trainer round the back, under the shoulders, in Westmoreland fashion; but more frequently he throws his paws about his neck and pulls the nigger downwards. But Alicamanser fears him most when he bears him backwards; it is then that his superior weight tells.

One of the alterations quietly made in the internal regulations of the House of Commons this session will be a cause of tribulation to lady visitors. For years it has been the custom to allow two ladies at a time, accompanied by a member, to pass through the main door leading from the lobby to the Legislative Chamber, and to stand upon a stool in a corner by the inner door, and thence scan the appearance of the representatives of the country through a pane of glass. As long as only a few took advantage of the privilege it worked smoothly enough, though even then impulsive damsels have been known to endeavour to get a better view by thrusting open the swing doors ; while there are traditional stories of how .upon occasions of a suddenly called division, some ladieß, hidden in the corner, had been inadvertently locked in, to the confounding of all rules of procedure and to the perturbation of the attendants. But during the last two or three sessions the number of ladie3 who have availed themselves of this easy method of seeing our legislators had so greatly increased that upon summer evenings almost a queue had to be formed in the inner lobby ; and, as this was a hindrance to business, the practice has this year been stopped, and is not likely to be revived.

An interesting table has been compiled by a writer in Cycling, showing the " world's records for a mile " by twentyfive methods of progression. The most remarkable figures, perhaps, are those which point to the eclipse of the trotting horse hy the cycle, the famous Nancy Hanks' record; of 2min 4aec having been lowered on a safety bicycle by J. S. Johnson in September laßt, and by W. W. Windle in October, their times, with a flying start, being lmin 56f see asd 2min 2|sec, respectively. The other records are as follows : — Railway train, 49|see ; ice yacht, lmin lOaec; running horse, lmin 35£ sec; torpedo boat (with tide), lmin 50sec ; torpedo-boat (still water), 2min s£sec; safety bicycle (standing start), 2min 5f sec j tandem triplet safety, 2min 7|aec; steam yacht, 2min 12£ sec; skating (ice with wind), 2min 12|secj tandem safety, 2min 14f sec ; ocean liner, 2min 20aec j ordinary high bicycle, 2min 23f sec ; tricycle, 2min 28§sec ; tandem tricycle, 2min 31f sec ; 6kating (ice), 2min 39sec; skating (rollers), 2min 50f sec ; running, 4min 12f3ec; rowing (single sculls), smin 43sec ; snow-shoes (running), smin42a3ec; walking, 6min 23sec; snowshoes (walking), 9min 14sec ; canoe, 9min i 29aeo ; swimming, 28min 18|sec.

A case of great importance, not only to the volunteer force but to the whole nation, came before Mr. Justice Lawrance and Mr Justice Collins in the Court of Queen's Bench the other day. The plaintiff was Colonel Pearson (commanding the 2ad Middlesex Artillery Volunteers) ; the defendants the Holborn Union Assessment Committee. The questions raised concerned the rateability of certain premises in Leonard street, E.C,, used as a storehouse, drill-hall, &c, by the 2nd Middlesex Artillery Volunteers. Certain rooms are set apart, it Beems, for officers, men's canteen, &s;, and the appellant contended .that tlie whole premises were exempt from rateability, as being in the occupation of the Crown for the puxposeß of the Crown. The Court was asked to decide whether the whole of the premises were exempt from the rates or whether the portions neceseary and proper for storehouses were alone exempt. Mr Justice Lawrance, in delivering judgment, said the whole question depended upon the real position occupied by the volunteers. Were they the servants of the Crown, or a number of persons banded together for a particular purpose ? He was of opinion that the premises were used in precisely the same way and for the same purpose as if they were Crown premises, and were occupied by servants of the Crown. To quote the judge's words : " Under section 2of the Volunteer Act, 1863, Her Majesty is empowered to accept their services. She may aleo constitute a permanent Btaff and may, at her discretion, disband the volunteers; Vol-

unteers are not paid liko member"" of the regular army, but thtro is a grant annually for them. By another section they may , be called out in case of iminent national danger. The volunteers' are, therefore, very much like militia." .'-"."

" A clergyman at one of the local churches," says the Birmingham Mail, "caused t,he more alert members of his congregation to smile on Sunda.r cveuing, by gravely and earnest'*j|»liciug that 'the bruised reed shall* m|§&. queached, neither shall the sniokirigsjf ifc&e broken/ This was, of course, a verjj Simple slip of the tongue, and one of a^fcind to which even very distinguished speakers are subject. Tn. one of my note-books I have & record of Borne of the most amusing blunders of this kind that have been made by well-known public men. It was Lord Derby, for example, who, when in the House of Commons, described a pension as a ' nest egg upon which a soldier might take his stand in his old age;' while no less a peraonage than Mr Gladstone, in response to an opponent's sign of dissent, declared that it was of no use for the 'honourable and gallant member to shake his head in the teeth of his own words.' Slips of this sort are confined to no one political party, for Sir Stafford Northcote once proclaimed that it wa3 ' just because the Government had strained at gnats that they were now obliged to swallow camels/ After these illustrious examples no one would be surprised at the warning of a well-known Conservative member that L it ' needed but a spark to let slip the d'oga of war ' ; or at the assertion of the late 'Sir Dwyer Gray that of the alleged outrages in Ireland 'three-quarters were exaggerated and half had no foundation in fact/ Few little trip 3of this kind find their way into the newspaper report?, but they ara eagerly caught up by the hearers; and the tedium of Parliamentary debates Hs relieved by these flashes of unconscious humonr with greater frequency than might "be imagined." -