The Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1898. NOTES AND NOTIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6120, 5 March 1898, Page 4

The Star. SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1898. NOTES AND NOTIONS.

on3 of the characteristics of the present ago is a sniall-hiinded curiosity concerning truth in respect to unimportant details. One man deems it a matter of vital importance to show or suggest that Shakspere's plays were not written by Shakspere, and another that Homer's Odyssey was written by a •woman. Dante, the great poet of Italy, is now being subjected to this kind of -treatment, and Mrs Mulhall, the wife of the well-known statistician, has undertaken to disclose the extent to which tho famouV Florentine picked the minds of his contemporaries and predecessors. The theory under examination is this : Did Dante receive his inspiration from the legend of the Irish St Euvsey, which the Venerable Bedo had done into Latin and rendered popular throughout Europe ? Bede is certainly the only Englishman mentioned in the Divine Comedy, and Mrs Mulhall conjectures that Danle was familial' with his works. This academical trifling would be amusing were it not pitiful as an exhibition of misdirected labour. The people who carry it on are supported by the community, though they may not think so, and surely they might do something more useful, or even academically more interesting, by way \of return. Besides, all such inquiries are intellectually amateurish in the extreme, unless they are made as studies in the science of mind and the organic genesis of works of genius This, however, is, as> a rule, altogether beyond tho bnsybodies who concern themselves with such matters. -In any case it is just about as useful to inquire into what a man of genius owes to his predecessors and contemporaries as to try to find out how much a rose or an oak derives from the atmosphere breathed by its leaves or the earth penetrated by its roots In the ease of the man, the flower and the tree the individual has a vitality of its own, and the only things that concern some men and women arc the completeness, beauty, and vi£it C lntegl>ifcy of the vaults of that wlS E , s °- calle ?,' modern anti-Semitism, which during these lasb decades of the mneteenth century disgraces and d iV HZ ]T a 8 J° tW France *>** more S™ l^; 8 " 1 " mto a period worse savs the 2l TSf glorious Evolution, is, Princt Bi m iclc 'm^' an invention °* Khan iwS- f tx hIS modern Djenghis

ardent admirers and disciples of Bismarck, we are now enabled to see almost before our own eyes the Sav, Hatz (boar hunt) — ipsissima verba. — which the terrible German Chancellor had undertaken against the National Liberals, and their leaders, Delbrueck, Camphausen, Bamberger, Benigsen, Lasker and others. As long as Bismarck was, or at least preteiided to be, National Liberal, and made use of the National Liberal party in Parliament for his own purposes and aims, he favoured the Jews who formed the backbone of that party. But when the Chancellor turned Conservative, when he " went over" to the Junkers and reactionaries again because it suited his policy and not from conviction, and when Lasker, Bamoei'Ser, and other Jewish leaders of the National Liberal party would not follow his perversion, but remained true Liberals, then Bismarck becamo the fiercest, most violent enemy of the Jews,, and invented anti-Semitism, the worst disgrace of the nineteenth century, as the noble Emperor Frederick publicly declared. The Japanese laws now prohibit a theatrical performance lasting more than eight hours. Plays in first-class theatres begin at 10 or 11 a.m., and are not ended until after sunset. There are intervals of course for refreshment, and a recent innovation is a theatre yard for exercise, lined with eating booths and fancy stalls. Boxes are secured three or four days beforehand from a neighbouring teahouse, where arrangements are made for attendance and refreshments during the day. Pull dress is never worn. The following articles, unless otherwise ordered, are brought to each patron : — A programme, a cushion, a tobacco firebox, a pot of tea, fruit cakes, fruit and sushi (a sort of rice dumpling flavoured with vinegar and topped with a piece of fish). Valuables may be left at the teahouse. The gallery is the most aristocratic place, but the space unreserved, occupied by the Japanese " gods," is quaintly called the. " deaf gallery." At a conference held recently, at Bradford, resolutions were carried declaring the true basis of national and local taxation to be the value of land, and demanding the assessment of taxes on the full true annual value of land, whether used or held idle. The devil knows how to quote the scripture of the hour and the gospel cf the day to suit his own purposes. A notable recent instan.ee of this aptness happened in connection with the Tammany triumph at the New York mayoral election, which was probably won through the dexterous manner in which Tammany Hall and its candidate wooed the cyclists. In his letter accepting the Democratic nomination, Judge Van Wyck said : "In your platform there is, I am pleased to see, a comprehensive appreciation shown of the directions in which the general well-being, 1 not less than the material interests, of the people ought to be promoted by the administration. It is there felicitously said : • Subject to the limitations of reasonable, but not parsimonious expenditure, the municipality should provide all needed facilities for the open-air recreation of the people. Good roads, bicycle paths, improved pavements, open-air playgrounds, small parks and pier gardens are improvements in this direction.' 1 deem it proper to make special mention ic this relation of the pressing necessity for proper bicycle paths, and to add that, if elected, I shall make it my duty to have them constructed." As the world knows, Judge Van Wyck is now the "Tammany" Mayor of New York. Eecentlt in London Dr T. M. Maguirft delivered a lecture on " War and Commerce; or, Trade Follows the Flag." Dr Maguire said that at present the British Empire was in the midst of an international crisis not equalled by anything which had occurred since the years 1492 to 1500. The action of the various Powers afforded us a convincing reason for putting our naval and military house in order. It must be patent to all that the great nations of the world were desirous of expanding 1 . But there was also some good reason for that desire. The United States desired Hawaii simply because it was an important strategic point between Vancouver and Australia, and would be still more important strategically were a canal through Central America ever carried out The recent operations o': the Germans at Kiao-chau wero not to be lost sight of, and even France, with a diminishing population, was getting a firm hold in Further India and Africa. The fact that Russia, Germany and France were all touching us by land and were making determined efforts tosecure|l;he future trade of the world should teach us that wo alone had not risen to the occasion. Dr Maguire quoted statistics to prove that trade followod the flag, aud said that history showed that any nice that forgot itself on the field of battle and was defeated lost its commerce. Trade, literature, honour and self-respect always followed the flag. The commerce of England started simultaneously with our victory over the Armada. Here is a pretty idyllic story taken from a London newspaper to hand by the last mail : — Eosina Slatev, a woman thinly clad, who lives with her husband ab 40, Moye Street, Haggerston, has had to go before a coroner because her baby died. She said it had been suffering from whooping cough, but they were too poor to havo a doctor. She kept it warm, but on Wednesday morning it died. The •' oroner: What does your husband do ? Witnes3: He mases slippers. How much does ho earn ? — We both work at it, bub we cannot earn much. The Coroner's officer : They get 3£d a pair, but they have to pay M for grindei-y — that is, the cardboard stilfeuingused forthe soles. The Coroner : And how many pairs can they make in a day ? Witness : Well, if we sit at it for eighteen hours a day, we can do a dozen. A juror : Shameful ; why, that's not 2d an hour for the two of j r ou. Witness : I was not always able to help, as I had to look after the baby. It took up a lot of my time when it was ill. The Coroner's officer: They are hard-workiug people, but I know they have not had enough to eat. The occupy a small garret, where they lived, worked and slept. The Coroner : It is a very sad-case, and as I have 8s in my poor box, I will hand it to them ; it will assist them a little way. The Foreman of the Jury : I am only a poor man, but I will give my bit and make that up to 103. The Coroner's officer :Itis a most deserving case. They spent the last 2d they had in the world in brandy to moisten the child's lips. A Juror : Their life must be worse, than slavery. They wear their fingers to the bones to lot other people roll iu wealth. To this the Coroner added that it was a true saying that one-half of the world didn't know how the other half lived ; which we may further supplement with the remark that it does not care either, judging by what goes on, so long as it enjoyu its own selfish satisfactions. Yet we are -living at the close of the ninetenth century of the Christian era.