CURRENT TOPICS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6668, 14 December 1899, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

4> One of the most patriotic sir willtam offers made during the premaccormac. sent war emanated from Sir William MacCorniac, the eminent surgeon, who has gone out to South. Africa to superintend the arrangements for the wounded. He is one of the most popular men m Great Britain. A tremendous Irishman, sixty-three years of age, he stands 6ft 4in in height, and is broadshouldered, deep-chested, and huge-limbed in proportion. His face is massive, with a fine, strong nose, a large forehead, and a full beard, now turning white. He has always cherished a love for the army hospital, but it was not till the Franco-Prussian war broke out that he was able to labour on the battlefield. He was surgeon in charge of the Anglo-American ambulance in 1870---1, and followed the French troops through the war, being present at Sedan. He was one of the first great surgeons who realised the value of fresh air in the treatment of wounds, and it is said that his first order on taking charge of a ward of a military hospital was to throw open all the windows, notwithstanding the protests of both patients and nurses. In 1876 he went through the Turco-Russian . war, during which he saw nursing carried on under far less civilised conditions than had been the case in France. It was reported at the time that the Czar had made him a magnificent offer to take charge of the Army Medical Department at St Petersburg. Sir William has a large practice, but he is independent of professional income, for his wife brought him an extensive fortune. He is a personal friend of the Prince of Wales, whom he treated for the knee-cap accident, which happened some time ago. His services on that occasion naturally brought him honour, and a decoration, the latter being presented to him by the Queen as a personal gift. Sir William is president of the Boyal College of Surgeons, and in that capacity is, of course, an exceedingly busy man. He is devoted to outdoor sports and pastimes, and attributes his magnificent bodily and mental health to the fact that lie never allows himself to get "out of condition." Taking for his text the the art or death" of Mr Pilcher, who flying. was killed recently through an accident to a flying machine of his own construction, Mr Garrett Fisher has written for the "Fortnightly Review " a very interesting article on the arb of flying, which ihe seems to think will be a sport of the future. He deals only with flying through the air in a direction chosen at will, and excludes' ballooning. Until recent times the laws of flight were entirely unknown to would-be imitators of Daedalus, and the Duke of Argyll, describing "The Way of -the Eagle in the Air," in 1865, was the first to recognise that flying depends on the force cf gravitation. " Birds," he says, " are not lighter than the air, but immensely heavier. If they were lighter than the air, t they might float, but they could not fly. When a strong current of air strikes against the wings of a bird, the same sustaining effect is produced as when the wing strikes against the air." Basing his arguments on these facts, Mr Fisher prophesies that the flying machine of the twentieth century will be analogous to a sailing vessel with an auxiliary screw, rather than to a mastlesa steamer. "It is the effortlesy soaring of the condor," -he says, " not the fussy flapping of the sparrow, that must be taken as a model." The only successful machine is the "aerodrome" of Professor S. P. Langley, which has flown half a mile, coming down safejy when the motive power of its steam engine was exhausted* It is to Professor Langley that students owe their theoretical knowledge of the laws of flight, while to Lilienthal and Pilcher they are indebted for the practical investigation of the art of balancing in the air. Lilienthal met his death because his wings were not in thorough repair, and gave way in a squall, while Pilcher experimented in very unfavourable weather, rather than disappoint the crowd that had gathered to watch him. "We become perfectly at ease," says .Lilienthal, describing hL) experiences, " even when soaring high in the air, while i the indescribably beautiful and gentle gliding over the long sunny slope rekindles our ardour anew at every trial. It does not take very long before it is quite a matter of indifference whether ive are gliding along two or twenty yards above the ground ; we feel how safely the air is carrying us, even though we see diminutive men looking up at us in astonishment. Soon we pass over ravines as foigih as houses, and sail for several hundred yards through the air without any danger, parrying the force of the wind at every movement.", The difficulties to be overcome are the minor disturbances that occur in the air even in the calmest Aveather or the steadiest wind. Flying is like riding a bicycle over a plain convulsed by frequent earthquakes, and. it is only- by constant practice that one's balance can be maintained. But Mr Fisher regards Lilienthal's apparatus as the forerunner of a perfect flying machine, jusfc as the old hobbyhorse developed into the modern safety bicycle. A few weeks ago, Lord AN IMPERIAL- Rosebery visited the hißistic toric city of Bath, to unveil prophecy, a tablet in memory of the elder Pitt. He applied to the circumstances of to-day some words spoken in a moment of crisis by that great statesman. " This is no time for altercation and recrimination. The time has arrived when every Englishman should stand for his country. Be one people." Events have shown that this attitude is not too heroic for the present need. Tho war in South Africa is serious alike for the issues &t stake, for the sacrifices it entails and for the future liabilities it will involve. The unfriendliness -gf ■ tie larger, jjart. of Euro. ;

pean opinion suggested a striking figure to Lord Rosebery. He described " this little island, floating so lonely in these northern seas, viewed with such jealousy, with such hostility, with such jarred ambition by the great Empires of the world, so friendless among nations which count their armies by embattled millions." In drawing this picture, Lord Rosebery pointed the same moral as he found in the career of the elder Pitt, whose success was due to the fact that he had behind him a united nation. His advice to his countrymen in the present danger was to " trust the man at the helm when passing through a storm." The Boers, he said, are, politically speaking, tho Mormons of South Africa, The story of the Transvaal is the story of a nation which tries to put back the hands of.the clock. The "sublime experiment," as Lord Rosebery called it, which Mr Gladstone made after Majuba Hill, seemed to the Boers to give them the upper hand. The year after that disaster, General Joubert sought an alliance with the then mighty chief of the Matabeles. He recounted how the Boers had made the British let go of the Transvaal " like an ape with a handful of pumpkin seeds," by " beating him to death," and told Lobengula to "expect the time when the stink which the Englishman brought with him shall be. quite blown away." For many years Krugcr kept the inrush of foreigners in subjection, and turned the gold they discovered into guns. They protested against the measures of repression. "Protest! Protest!" exclaimed President Kruger. "What is the good of protesting? You have not the guns ; I have." If this view had prevailed, "we might," said Lord Rosebery, "have lost South Africa and a good deal more." A strong dissolvent would have been applied to the Imperial fabric of which Lord Rosebery declared the elder Pitt to have been the first Liberal founder. This Liberal Imperialism, he said, was destined again to control the fortunes of Britain. "In ten years' time^" he added, "perhaps you will remember my prophecy.'*^ "