TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8259, 12 October 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Mr J. Ramsay Mac Donald, M.P., secretary of the British Indejendeot Labour party, baa arrived in 1 Australia just prior to the Federal elections. He comes nominally for his health, but incidentally to do bis best to persuade the Australians of the folly of favouring Imperial preference and of of Mr Joseph Chamberlain. It was. only a few weeks ago that British Parliamentary opponents of Tariff Reform addressed a manifesto to the Australian electors urging them not to interfere in British political questions, and particularly not to do anything which might interfere with the sacred Manchester Doctrine. This manifesto was immediately seized upon by the Australian anti-preferentialists as party mater ial, and we do not doubt that they will as eagerly seize upon the utterances of Mr MaoDjnald, who can baldly be said to ba abiding byap.licy of non-iuterf«rence. According to that gentleman Mr Chamberlion and his friends have advacrcpd the preferential proposal •imply to make party capital and only "mouth" about Empire, really wanting "arisiocral:io- government." It is a very old rule for those who have no case to abuse the other side and to assume for themselves the monopoly of nil the virtues; and Mr MacUonHlrl's prompt display of this style of attaok will hardly advance his purpose of influencing the Australian Labou" Party against preforeutialism. An ingenious device is at present •ill the rage in France, and bids fair to shortly become as popular in England aa it la there. It is neither more nor Jess than a talking postcard. The cards are about three times the thickness of an ordinary card, aDd are fitted with phonographio discs. Instead of writing your communication in the ordinary manner you make it verbally at the office where you purchase the card. It is recorded,the address is written cn the other side, and it is then posted. The recipient [places it in an ordiuary phonographic machine and hears the voice of hia or her friend. The coat, including taking the record of the vioee, i the card itself, and the postage to any part of France, iti half a franc. The inventor, or rather the adapter, of the phonographic disc to the uses of datly life through the cost claims that the aso of the phonograph ia only iu its infancy. He sees no reason why. in addition to a signature on a cheque, there should not be, fur the banker's protection, a phonographio record of the amount and the name in the voice of the sigaei. So far as (he English County Courts are concerned, trial by jury continues to decline in popular favour. While the business of those useful tribunals has enormously increased of late years, it appears from recently published statistics that the number of actions tried by juries has steadily diminished, falling from 1186 in 1895 to 843 in 1905. On circuit five, which includes such imporiant centres as Bolton, Oldham and Wigan, not a single case was so tried during the past year. The Law Journal at tributes tho ciroumstance uot so much to want of faith in the vener- | able "palladium of our liberties" on the part of litigants aa to the strong projudioe which some judges exhibit against it. The discretion of the judge is, however, limited to actions where th amount claimed does not exceed £5, aa to which he may order a jury on the application of either party. When the sum in dispute ia above that figure, either plaintiff or defendant can require a jury to be summoned,unless the oase is of the nature of obauoeiy business. When tar is üßed for waterproofing ordinary roads, says {Engineering, it has, to all intents, disappeared at the end of 12 months. At first it gives freedom from dust, but Jt results in a terribly greasy, slimy mud, sufficient tar to ruiu clothes or carpets. It ia also worse for side-slip than any mad which motor vehicles have yet encountered. At first inhabitant of houses bordeiiug ou tarred road#

rejoiced in the absence of dait, and it made all textile fabrios of a dirty hue, whioh could not be removed by any amount of washing. Examination shows that this is due to small particle of tar in the duet. It is said that the boat known waterproof coating is "tarmao." It oonsiste of blast-furnace sing, broken whilst hot, and immediately "immersed in hot tar. The tar:oils penetrate right through the slag, so that it will consolidate Into a homogeneous waterproof coating when .rolled. Much blastfurnace slag is, however, overlimed, so that 'the ftee lime will slake, and the coating be broken up. Forge-pig slag should, therefore, alone be used. On the Thames Embankment, tarred slag is now being laid, but a strong feeling exists that the material ia too soft for heavy traffic*