OUR LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5583, 5 June 1896, Page 2

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO - COLONIAL NOTES. [From Our Correspondent.] LONDON, April 23. THE AGENT-GENERAL. The Agent-General was^he guest of the Salters Company at a large banquet in St Swithin's Lane on Wednesday evening, and replied to the toast of " The Visitors." The average of post-prandial eloquence at these huge s feeds is not great, and Mr Reeves easily carried away the palm for the best speech. It was, of course, an impromptu and chiefly in the vein of gentle banter -which men enjoy most after a good dinner. On Thursday afternoon Mr Reeves spent some time in tho House listening to the debate on Sir John Gorst's Education Bill, and in the evening he dined with the Fishmongers' Company. The AgentGeneral being an abstemious eater, and confining his potations to a single whisky and soda, finds these prodigious city company banquets, lasting two or three hours, not a little tiresome. But it is necessary to attend a certain number for many reasons. To-night Mr Eeeves will be present at the annual dinner of the Colonial Institute unless, a summons to Bristol may, as seems possible, oblige him to hurry off there to see an aged relative of his wife's. The Agent-General's lecture at the Colonial Institute on May 12 will be in the nature of a new departure, as he does not purpose reading a solemn paper in the conventional fashion. His idea is rather to talk pleasantly and brightly of picturesque New Zealand, illustrating his remarks with some of the newest and best lantern slides. The address will»probably be called " The Fortunate Isles." TARANAKI IROnSAND. The display of Taranaki ironsand (both raw and in manufactured form) now on view at Westminster Chambers fills me with admiration, not only for that extraordinary compound itself, but for Mr E. M. Smith's resourcefulness. To hear this eminent legislator lay down the law .about his mission is a valuable lesson in dialectics. After he had expounded to me the possibilities of the sand for twenty minutes, I readily agreed that there was more in it than in all the Thames goldmines. As for the paltry .£300,000 which thehonorable member demands for development purposes, I felt confident the public would be eager to supply it. Why the New Zealanders themselves were not tumbling over one another to pick up the fortune awaiting them on Taranaki beach I could not imagine. Jesting apart, 'Mr Smith makes a capital advocate, and really if the ironsand has half the useful qualities he claims for it, a company of some kind may be floated. But .£300,000! No wonder Taranaki's mouth waters! "You mean to make the fortune of the place, Mr Smith," I observed. " I mean to do great things for all New Zealand," responded E. M. bravely. And, indeed, he may achieve even this. There is — if I may take in vain the name of another great man — a Withefordian energy and resolution (not ,to. say cheek) about this little man which will not be daunted by trifles. He has already interviewed several experts, including Mr Harvey of Siemens and Co. This authority, after spending a long time inspecting the sand in various forms, deliberately declared it " was the best in the world for making iron and steel," and that Mr Smith's process and formulae are " indisputable and well-known to everyone in tho trade." Regarding these points the firm permit Mr Smith to refer all interested parties to them. So far so good, so far indeed — very good. I mean, However, to see this Mr Harvey, for enthusiasts one knows are somewhat apt to overestimate tho value of a civil word. Siemens and Co. aro the biggest steel manufacturers, perhaps, in the world. Their good word, backed by an investment of a few thousand pounds, would make the reputation of the iron sand of Mr Smith's venture. Mr E. M. Smith is being assisted in his exploiting efforts by Mr HenryWane, erstwhile of Devon House.. Taranaki, and now of Wildash Road, East Dulwich. : TOO MUCH MONEY. One often hears nowadays an expression of surprise at the fact that, though Australian and New Zealand gold-mines are being floated every day with large capitals, the pile of money awaiting investment shows no sign of diminishing. If the matter is looked into carefully there is no justification for amazement, the truth being that tho very large majority of the gold-mining promotions are utter failures from the public subscription point of view. What the vast mass of people with money are looking for nowadays are safe investments, and for security they are content to pay a very high price and receive a very small annual return. The speculative spirit seems confined to the few. Fancy Consols at 114, Indian Three Per Cents at the same price and the Egyptian Guaranteed Threes at 8 over par! English Municipal Bonds are equally beyond the reach of the man who wants a 3 per cent return on his capital, and Colonial Government securities are rapidly approaching that point. Canadian Threes, indeed, stand a shade over 104 and the Cape Consolidated Fours have, for somo time past, figured over 117, whilst New South Wales (1924) 3i per cents have gone to lOd-h and South Australian 3A per cents llOi. Victorian Fours at 110 and 3J per cents at 107 are by the way of being cheap stocks in the Australian galley. In English railway shares the investor has to put up with a very meagre return for the risk of dividends being diminished through industrial warfare or decadence of trade. At present there is no apparent sign of a check to this extraordinary advancement of prices. It was expected that as trade improved its increased monetary requirements would relieve ..the . market of the. incubus of excessive capital. So far, however, the commercial attack on the accumulation had proved ineffective. It is estimated that at the present moment the English Government could, if occasion arose, raise a hundred million sterling at 2 per cent on a' guarantee of. perpetuity being given, as in the case of French Threes. The position at present seems to justify 'this calculation, but personally I believe the desire for " gilt-edged " securities at such prices as now obtain must soon bo satisfied. Then a reaction will set in, and tho speculative spirit which is more or less inherited by every Englishman will speedily be given free rein. Everybody is playing for safety now, but in a little while the majority will be going ' for everything on the board. MISCELLANEOUS. Your late Governor, Lord Orislow is a delightfully practical person even in the matter of exorcising ghosts. His house at Clandon has for some time past borne the reputation of being haunted by several spectres of unruly habits, and with a turn for practical joking. The Marquess of Bute and the Psychical Research Society wished to investigate the appearances on the approved Psychical Research Society's method, but Lord Onslbw courteously but emphatically declined. He has given out that he is not going to stand any fool tricks being played at Clandon whilst his family are in residence there, and notifies all whom it ruay concern that all the adult members of his household sleep with loaded revolvers handy to their bedsidei and will not hesitate to plug on sight any ghost which disturbs their slumbers. Of course the orthodox ghost should not be materially disturbed by the passage of a bullet through its middle-piece, but somehow I fancy the nocturnal visitors will steer clear of Clandon now that Lord Onslow has taken possession. Still one would rather not live in his lordship's house just at present. Ghosts are tolerable enough as a rule, but six-cham-bered revolvers, coupled with the injunction, " Don't hesitate to shoot," must occasionally murder sleep, even if they do no greater damage. And here you must pardon me for dragging in the tragic story of a young officer, who, professing a wholesome contempt for ghosts, retired to bed in a haunted room with a loaded pistol. A practical joking friend abstracted tho bullet ; from the charge, and, in the dead of night, entered the room in a sheet and took his stand at the foot of the bed. The officer I awoke, bade him begone, and receiving no .

answer, threatened to shoot. No answer coming, he shot. The figure, unflinching, laughed, and made as though he extracted a bullet from his breast, and threw it on the bed. The officer sank back motionless. When the joker would have explained the jest, he found his friend a dead man. The fright — the belief that his visitor really was of another world — had killed him. Owing to the detention of the Kimutaka at Eio, Mrs W. P. Reeves and family will not reach London till the second week of next month. Others delayed by this mishap" are Professor and Mrs Macmillan Brown (of Christchurch), the Hon W. C. Smith, Mr and Mrs Boyle (of Christchurch), and Mr and Mrs Markham (of Wellington). Mr Hutchison, M.H.E., and Mr Harry Bell, M.H.R., leave' to-day for New Zealand, via America. Mrs Baker has, I am sorry to hear, been ill again, and was recently confined to the house for six weeks. The Christian World is publishing articles of hers on such subjects as " The Dramatic in Children," and the Christian Pictorial has purchased the serial rights of her story "A. Child of the Pakehas." Mrs and Miss Baker have removed from Bayswater to the " salubrious and fashionable " suburb of West Hampstead. The most recent development of the Imperialist " boom " is a proposal to form an Anglo-Colonial volunteer corps in London for the benefit of " returned wanderers "as the Telegraph calls them. As we have our London Scottish and our London Irish, why (asks a correspondent of the leading journal) should we not have our London colonial regiment, each company to be composed of and officered by men from one colony? A thousand men on these lines can easily be got together in our vast metropolis, of the class, I apprehend, who would gladly pay. their, guinea per annum. This, with the capitation grant, would soon enable them to have their drill-hall and club attached, and what a jolly lot of fellows they would be. The corps would be unique and would contain the experiences of that empire on which the sun never sets. It could send companies to Aldershot to instruct a regiment in the best method' of jungle warfare, to demonstrate fighting in the bush, to show the utili ty of snow-shoes, how to laager up, how to fence the Naga's spear, the Kamptee's dhar, or detect the Looshai's crawl, another how to dodge the lasso, and so forth. This class of man has already served with Indian and colonial vohinteers. His training has been more serious than any English corps, inasmuch as he had invariably been in close proximity to immediate danger. It requires very little effort to get together such a body of men as this in London, and if some distinguished Indian or colonial officer will move in the matter I for one will be " ou the job."