Minor Matters.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXV, Issue IV, 28 July 1900, Page 156

Minor Matters.

A Marvellous Rescue. It is rarely that a man falls overboard in mid-ocean and after eleven hours of torturing- doubt is picked up by his ship after all hope has tied. Such happened in the ease of an apprentice on board the ship Barfillan. a well known visitor to Australian ports. 'l'he youth, whose name is Harry Warner. was out on the bowsprit when he slip])ed ami fell into the sea. Writingof his rescue to his brother, he says that had it not been for Captain Arthur, of the Barfillan. who persisted in keeping up a search after almost every man had given him up for dead, he would never again have been heard from. The ship was on a voyage to Santa Rosalio from Cardiff, and was near her destination when the accident happened. After the cry “Man overboard!’’ was raised a. life buoy was thrown, yards were backed, and a boat left in search. In three* hours she returned, only to report having been unsuccessful. Captain Arthur determined to work his ship back on the zig-zag principle. After eight hours of persistent searching with men aloft scanning the ocean, the life buoy with Warner hanging on it was sighted, picked up and two days later the rescued apprentice was himself again.

Patriotic Fund Squabbles. 'l'he Pict-on City Fathers have (says a correspondent) decided —in spite of the protests of the collectors—to keep the money subscribed for the patriotic funds in their own hands, and use it as they think fit. Some of it belongs to the “more men” fund, having been thrown on the stage during the singing of “'l'he Absent-minded Beggar.” and collected by the sale of poems, and all of it was subscribed in a patriotic spirit to be devoted to one country and its needs, and therefore should be utilised for that purpose alone. ♦ ♦ 4* Russia and Corea. The articles of a secret convention, said to have been recently concluded between Russia and Corea, have been published by a Corean newspaper as follows:—1. There shall be perpetual peace between Russia and Corea. 2 Corea shall be under the protection of Russia and Japan. 3 Limits shall be set to the right and privileges enjoyed "-by the Japanese in Corea. 4 The Empress of Corea shall be chosen from among the Russian princesses. 5 The Creek Church shall be the Stale religion of Corea. 6 A Russian subject shall be employed in Hie .capacity of adviser to the: Corean •’Finance Department; and, 7. .a Russian subject shall be similarly appointed to the War Department. S 'rhe consent of the Russian Minister in Seoul shall be obtained with respect to all appointments, removals or changes of Corean officials. 9 'l'he settlement of Russian subjects in Corea shall be encouraged. 10 Ail mining ami forestry concessions in Corea shall be given to Russian subjects. II Russia shall have a naval port in Corea. 12 All Corean subjects shall remove their top-knots. 'l'he correctness of this delightful little arrangement has. however, been denied by the Corean authorities.

A Good Sign. 'l’he Waikawa (Picton) natives have issued the following proclamation subsequent to the tangi held over the death of Annie Xianga:—“We. the Elect of Te Arohn Xni. Waikawi, hereby gi\e notice that. under the Seventh Rule of Jehovah, men. women, and children have strictly agreed not to take spirits of any kind; also, that any person, or persons intoxicated, or having bottles of spir ts on them, shall not be allowed to enter within our gates, or round about.” At the close of the tangi the following resolution ’was proposed and carried: “That the purchase of spirituous liquors should be strict I v abolished among the natives now residing at Waikaua. and Wairau.” The consumption of drink* hT'these native functions has hitherto been appalling, and the degradation consequent on these scenes of debauchery has been a sore stumbling-blo<*k to the native race and their ciwifiliation. It is a step in the right direction for native missionaries .to clear, the way to a higher slinidard of Maori life by showing them the erils of drink.

Treatment of Sailors. The New Zealand “Tinies" says that during the hearing of the case against the Paparoa firemen, who refused duty as a protest against the fare provided them, Mr. Haselden, S.M., referred to the frequent complaint that British sailors were becoming an unknown quantity, and pointed out the paramount necessity of feeding an Englishman well if it were desired that he should be kept in a seafaring life. His Worship said this was the first case that had come under his notice in which a New Zealand-owned company had been accused of providing its crews with inferior or insufficient food. + + ♦ A Cat Who Fishes. A Pieton cat has developed an extraordinary talent for fishing, and the facts show that this particular cat has reasoning powers, which are the supposed attributes of mankind. She sits on the beach when hungry, and watches her opportunity to catch a small “tiddler.” She doesn't eat the "tiddler," but she kills it, and forthwith places it carefully in the water. She then lies down alongside on the beach. Other fish, larger and altogether more to be desired, come up to feast on the tempting bait. Puss darts in a paw and out comes a fish. This little game goes on till puss has a sufficient supply to satisfy her delicate appetite for the time being. She indulges in her little feast, and then basks in the sunshine till hunger tempts her to repeat the performance. Her owner vouches for the truth of this story. + + * What the Nations Drink. A report recently rendered to the British Parliament contains matter which ought to lead to a searching of hearts by the people of many nations. The report deals with the production and consumption of aJcoholic beverages in Europe, the United States and the British colonies. In such a publication stupendous figures, although melancholy, are to be expected; but some of the facts here disclosed are astounding. Take, for instance, the consumption iifi wine. In Great Britain each person consumes, on an average, less than halt a gallon a year; in Germany, a little more than three-fourths of a gal'lon; in the United States, less than a quarter of a gallon; in France, more than twenty-four gallons! The total amount consumed in France, which lias a population of thirty-eight millions, is more than nine hundred and forty million gallons a year—eight limes as much as is used by the one hundred and sixty million people of Great Britain. Germany, and the United States taken together. It is often said, the French drink wine while other nations drink beer or spirituous liquors. Of beer alone the statement is, indeed, partially true. The annual consumption per capita in Great Britain is about thirty-one gallons. in Germany twenty.-seven gallons, in the United States thirteen galons, and in Era nee five and one-half gallons. But the French people consume more spirits per inhabitant than any of *the other countries. The figures

are: For Great Britain one gallon, the United States less than one gallon, Germany a gallon and three-quarters, and France more than two gallons for each person. The report also shows the interesting fact that the consumption of alcoholic beverages in Canada is smaller than in any other country from which statistics are obtainable.

Our own showing is not a bad one, but every earnest iover of his country will wish that it were better. + ♦ ♦ An Illiterate Letter. Illiterate letters are not always amusing, but this one, forwarded to me from the north of Queensland, contains a curious conglomeration of orders:— “Dear Sir, — Let the boy have 10 pound of sugar one botole of castroil and tow sheep or if you could let. us have beefe I would sooner have it one bag of oatmeal tow tins of gam 2 lb currins would you kindly send for a redigest form for to redigest the baby or would you see if Mr paticon has eny and you would kindyl oblige me yours humble.” + + + Our Treeless Streets. Mr. C. L. Wragge, the Queensland Meteorologist, says that in all the thir-ty-two countries he has visited he was nowhere more struck by the absence of the aesthetic taste than in Australia. This remark, says the New Zealand “Tinies." was occasioned by a comment on the rarity of good avenues of trees in the streets and public places. In Europe properly-plant-ed avenues are very common, and the Avenue of Liberty in Lisbon is one of the most, beautiful Mr. Wragge has seen. He strongly advocates the beautifying of colonial cities by means of trees, and expressed his pleasure on learning of the existence of a City Beautifying Society in Christchurch. + + + Generous. A very gracious speech is that recorded of a certain Scottish official, quoted by the London “Outlook." When the Queen, during a stay in Scotland, visited the Tay Bridge, one feature of the attendant ceremony was the presentation of a beautiful basket of flowers. The Queen smiled as she took it, but Dundee was not yet satisfied that it had done all in its power. -The Provost stepped forward with a low bow. “And, Your Majesty," said he. “you need not return the basket.” + + + Old-Time College Life. Mr Hashdall, a fellow of New College, Oxford, has lately written the history of this college. In it we find some curious facts, which can hardly fail to be of interest to Colonial ’varsity men. New College was built a hundred years before the discovery of America, by Lord William de Wykeham, and was an expression of the most advanced ideas of education entertained in his day. So far as the architecture and plan of the buildings are concerned, the five centuries which have since elapsed have suggested but little that is better. English ond American college builders still follow De Wykeham’s model. But there is no better .measure of the difference between the old time and the new than the contrast between the “thorough education" which he sought to give and that which boys now receive. The undergraduate in De Wykeham’s time, in order to obtain his B.A. de-

gree, studied the logic of Porphyry and Boethius, something of Aristotle, and enough of arithmetic to enable him to find Easter. Three years more were usually spent in studying Aristotle, Boethius, geometry, astronomy, and astrology. He lived in college. His allowance of money was one shilling a week. His breakfast was a piece of bread, and a pot of beer at dawn. His dinner was eaten at ten in the morning. He was given one suit of clothes yearly. Three times a year each student was required secretly to tell the masters of all the misbehaviour of his fellows, who then "received competent castigation.” The rules laid down by He Wykehani prohibited visits to taverns or “spectacles,” the keeping of dogs, the playing of chess and other “noxious and illicit sports, shooting with arrows, or other missiles, dancing. running, wrestling, or other incautious and inordinate amusements.” The only reerention permitted was the assembling around the fire on winter nights to indulge in “singing, or the reading of poems and chronicles of the realm, and of the wonders of the world.” The college was summoned to dinner by two poor scholars who ran around the quadrangles shouting in bad Latin and worse French, "Tempos est voeandi a manger, () seigneurs!” But the seigneurs were obliged to eat in absolute silence. How would the American college boy like the undergraduate life of De Wykeham's day? 4- 4- + A Visitor from tire Pole. The township of Opunake was honoured last week by n visit from a distinguished stranger from a far-off country (the South Pole, to wit). Whether he had seen anything of M. Borehgrevinck or not, the visitor did not say. His stay here was short, as he had business, I understand, in the vicinity, of the equator, and was most anxious to be off. His name is Halichoerus Grypus, or Grey' Seal, and he is a very true specimen of that family. His entertainer, the Maori, took the liberty of measuring hint, when he was found to measure 7ft, while his weight was estimated at 3cwt. He took his departure at a pace that literally astonished the natives, through the surf without waiting to say good-bye. The school children had an opportunity’ of inspecting this rare visitor, and they made the most of it. 4- 4? 4 Appropriate Music. The Opotiki “Herald" tells the following, which comes from the Maori settlement of Kuatoki, inland from Whakatane. It reminds one of Mark Twain’s piano man, who, when the picture of Adam and Eve was thrown on the screen, played “There’s Only One Girl in the World For Me.” A native girl had died, and after the customary tangi the funeral party started for the grave, headed by a native band playing the no doubt inspiriting. but scarcely appropriate a'r, “Ta-ra-ra-ra-bbom-de-ay!” The ceremony' over, the mourners started for home, again led by the band, which doubtless, with a view to recompense for its previous inappropriateness, startled the echoes with the strains of “The Girl I Left Behind Me.” 4’4’4' The Need for Cycle Paths. A number of prominent citizens of Timaru were prosecuted yesterday for cycling on footpaths, contrary to a borough by-law. They pleaded guilty, and were fined 5/ each and costs. One of those who were summoned, Mr W. Marchant, pleaded "Not "iiilty,” ami raised the defence that the Borough Council had appointed two members of the police to see that the by-law was respected, and that he was not prosecuted by’ one of these officers. This was over-ruled. He then pleaded that the street at a certain spot was unfit to ride on. and it was unfair for the Council to make o street unfit for cycling, and to then prosecute people for avoiding it. The constable said he thought that the road was passable, and defendant was fined 5/ and costs. The Magistrate remarked that cyclists were now a numerous and influential body, and if they made proper representations on the subject, the Borough Council would probably form proper tracks for them, and thus do away with riding on footpaths.

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