Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue XVI, 17 October 1903, Page 12

Here and There.

A postlpimoiiH |w|H-r l.y the late M. de Bic wit z, the famous Paris eovrenpoadent <>f the "Times.” appears m the August uur.il er of "Harrier’s.” Ji deals with the inside history of How Bismarck Retired, and is said to reveal for the first time the true story of that important event in German polities.

Jerome K. Jerouaa* is writing i new book of effort essays, similar t > "The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.’’ The book will contain numerous illustrations. It »s said to 's* the •ij.'.st finished book of its kind that has appeared for some time. The title will be "Tea-faille Talks.”

To illustrate the rapidity of thought, a famous a-ientist says tliat if the skin is touched rcjieateuiy with light blows from a small hammer the brain will distinguish the fact that the blows are separate, and not continuous pressure, even when they follow one another as rapidly as one thousand a second.

Louis 'fo-alir. a sculptor of Mo»;t--ret'on. in France, is sixty-eight years of age. anil n:s bean! measures a little over seven met. When he was -inly fourteen the heard was a foot and a halt long. lie wears inoq of it inside his waistcoat. and he asserts that his life-long exemption from colds and chilis is due to its protecting influence.

A strange tale lias shocked Melbourne society—the aimotmeeinent that the late Hon. Duncan Gillies (ex-l’reinier and exSpeaker) was not a bachelor, as the world had generally understood him to be. It transpires that the marriage took place in London during Mr. Gillies' term as Agent-General, and that the lady was well connected iit English society. Mr. Gillies left no will, and there, were no children of tire marriage.

A director of an American railway has a private car which is fitted up in a novel manner. All its chairs, cushions and bed mattresses are constructed on the pneumatic principle. At night r’s ■ seat cushion- are emptied of air. folded and packed . snugly away, and the larger cushions for the Iwds are brought out of their place of com ealment in the sides of the -ir. and pumped full. J'. is said that these pneumatic cushions greatly reduce the fatigue of a railway journey, and that in time they nr iy cause a .evolution in the building of palace ami sleeping ears.

Good progress is being made now with the North Island Main Trunk railway works. Men are now engaged erecting station houses and other buildings as far along as Piriaka. At this station several houses are to be built, and several carpenters are required. Mr H. Ferguson, of the Labour Bureau, states, however, that as the building trade is brisk locally it is hard to get carpenters. The Bureau is prepared to send a few carpenters up with free passes over the railway, and while they have to work under the co-operative system, eare will be taken that they do not receive less than union wages.

E. Phillips Oppenheim, author of ‘’The Traitors and other well-known books,is publishing a new novel. Il will be' called "The Yellow Crayon.” The author tells about the Order of The Yellow Crayon a secret society, composed of the nobles of the earth, and instituted for united action against Anarchists anil Socialists. Its titular head is the Emperor of Austria, while the real chief is an unprincipled scoundrel, in spite of his lofty title of PriScc. The members of the order were under oath to obey to the letter all commands written in yellow pencil of a peculiar shhde. A certain Due’s wife was ordered io take part in an attempt upon some high English Government officials, but her her husband notifies the Emperor of Austria and the order is crushed. - — ..j-.

At .White Clitfe, New South Wales, William Hicks, working by hanself on the open country, a few weeks ago made a splendid discovery of opal at fifteen feet from the surface. Hicks encountered a big vertical seam going down in the shaft. It opened out on beautiful opal, estin>ate«l to be worth £3OU. The opal was mostly in large stones of excellent quality. A rush set in as a result, and the ground lias l>eeu pegged out for some distance in every direction.

It was ri jiorted .it the meeting of the CoUJ-.cil of the New Zealand Wheelmen, held in < brisleliurch last week, that a suggestion had been made from Australia that .1. Arust. winner of the road race, should be' seilt by Australasian subscriptions to compete it, next year’s Paris-Bordeaux race, the leading road event in the Old World. It was decided to write to the Union Velocipedique de France, stating that if the Bor-deaux-Paris race were run unpaced New Zealand might be represented.

A provincial firm in England recently issued the following advertisement - — "Wai "ed, t bey wl-o never saw ’ game of football: one who does not know the difference lietween a drop-kick an<i a penalty. To sueh a treasure a liberal salary will be paid.” To this the following answer was printed:—“A bo.answering such requirements and specifications would not be worth his sal*. He wouldn’t be worth the powder to blow him up. He would be toe dead to bury. He would not nave life ■ tmugh to crawl oft and die.”

A return of religious instruction given in the schools- of the Auckland district mi sehool-days before or after school hours was presented to the Education Board last week. The return showed that such instruction was given -in 27 schools, and that in ten instances clergymen were the instructors. The denominations included in the return were Church of England. Presbyterian, Wesleyan. Methodist. Congregaliemal. Baptist. Church of Christ; ami Salvation Army, while in about half a <i<>ztn cases the instructors were." classed as ttfidenbniinational.

An old man who recently died in a London lodginghouse lived there for twentv years, never spoke to a fellowlodger, and was only heal* to speak there when paying the landlord sixpence for his bed. Evert morning he trudged away with a leather bag to the Houses of Parliament. Outside here he picked up all the cigar and cigarette ends. This process was repeated in the main West End streets, down the Strand, and through the Temple. He made his "find.” which usually weighed over 21bs, into Id packets, and sold them to the lads employed in Southwark and Blackfriars workshops as they left thenwork.

At Kotuku, on the West Coast of the South Island, the Cooper Oil Syndicate has started boring with the Harbour Board’s diamond drill, aud have now reached solid sandstone at a depth of 120 feet. Hot saline water geysers, struck in two of the other bores, at a little over 400 feet in depth, are still active, and sending up streams, one continuously and the other at hourly intervals. Thu sediment is" ol a faint pinkish white colour, encrusting the ground round about, and apparently will form in time something of the nature of the North Island terrace formation.

The competition of electric railways is being felt by the great steam trunk lines in Great Britain. The Great Western Railway, for example, has been forced in self defence to introduce motor cars to serve as feeders to the railway in the country districts. These will hereafter run between the stations and outlying towns and villages to. pick up the passenger traffic and connect with the regular trains. These motor cars are to I>e operated, however, by steam power. Each one will accommodate tiftj- -two passengers, all seated.

Mange in dogs is <lm» to the presence of a narasife in the skin, whit-fi should be i-b-ansed welt with soap and warm water An ointment made as follows is then applied to the affected parts; Vet, srilphurata. loz; prepared lard. Son.

A remarkable instance of a prayer promptly answered is told in the "Social Gazette” by Adjutant Pyudcu, who has charge of the Salvation Anuy Metro|hilc at Bethnal Green, England. When lie was in charge of the Army’s Leeds’ home he was anxious to make some alterations in the establishment. “.I was loth to do so without some tangible evidenee that the cost of these alterations would be forthcoming. After prayer, however, I decided to have the work Im* gun.. Next morning a gentleman called on me. and stated that a friend of his in America had scat him a sum of money to hand to the Salvation Army. He gave me the money, which was the exact amount required for the alteration.”

The Synod of VVaiapu considered the teaching of Maori among its clergy, and passed the following resolution: “That the Synod respectfully asks the Senate of the University of New Zealand to include Maori as one of the optional subjects for the matriculation examination of the University, as the Synod considers that such a subject should be fostered equally with subjects like Latin or Italian in connection with the education of the Maoris, who, in the preparation of English, have already to prepare wtiat to them is a foreign language.”

A missionary to a South African tribe has translated Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” into the language of the people. The illustrations have a modern and -unusual aspect, but serve to make the story plainer ■to the understanding of dwellers in that region. The “slough of despond” is the - mud hole of the "veld.” Christian starts from a “kraal.” A war danee feast serves to represent Vanity Fair. Apollyon is a formidable creature, having the head of a wolf, the scales and tail of a crocodile, and the eyes of an owl. Genius like Btinyan’s has the whole world for its sphere of influence, and the dullest intellect in the darkest portion may catch some gleam of that wonderful light. • 1

Information has reached the colony that some two hundred tourists from Canada, who have chartered two special steamers to convey them on a tour roimi the British colonies, will probably* arrive in Nev.- Zealand early next year. . Their movements are at present uncertain, but they are expected in Australia in November. Should the party visit Xew Zealand, as in all probability it will, ample opportunity will be afforded the Canadians of inspecting the varied and, iu many respects, absolutely unique scenery of both the North and South Islands, and, needless to say, a warm welcome will lie extended to them nv brother colonials.

Air- Humphrey Ward lately expressed her opinion that George Meredith, as a novelist, created by his genius his own public. To illustrate how this ean be done she told a story of Ludovic Halevy, and a drawing of a dancer by the impressionist, Degas. The artist gave the picture to Halevy, who proudly showed it to his wife, and presently they were disputing as to which was the head and which the feet of the dancer. Their friends, ’one by one. took part in the dispute, which was not settled" until study of the impressionist’s drawing resulted in comprehension. Then everybody could tell at a glance where the head was and where the feet, and wondered that he had ever been blind to the beauty of the sketch. So it was with Meredith, thought Mrs Ward; one must study him long enough to comprehend him before enjoying h s s books, but afterward the enjoyment was lasting. And because Meredith's books are now read by the thousand where they were once read by the score, Mrs Ward assumes that the multitude have learned to comprehend him. All of which, though kindly, seems to be dubious praise of a novelist. A writer in "The London Chronicle” strongly combats Mrs Ward’s view. “Lots of us,” he declares, “are true-blue Mereditlrians, but how many, were brought into the fold by conversion’ We are what we arc by abounding grace; but the others, so far as I have observed, remain unconscious of their forlorn condition.” '—

Bread made with sea water instead of fresh water is the newest eure for dvspepsia. Some people prefer the dyspepsia.

\ Christiania waiter, who occasionally contributes to the Swedish Academy of'Science, recently provided himself with a pedometer to measure the distance he covered while serving customers. He announces that from 8 a.m. to 12.30 midnight he took 99,199 steps backward and forward, equivalent to nearly eight miles a day.

The Kentucky distillers arc preparing to ship 20,000 barrels of- whisky to Hamburg and Bremen, to be stored there, as the charges for storage are lower than in America. This whisky is largely intended for California and cities in the Far West, and distillers have found that it will be cheaper to send it to German ports and from there ship to San Francisco than to pay the railway charges direct to the West.

The Countess Speneer, whose serious illness recently caused so much anxiety, is one of the few highly favoured persons who enjoy special and peculiar Court privileges, for Lady Spencer has the right to pass the Sovereign carrying her train over he: arm, which is a far more useful and comfortable exception than that accorded to a couple of noblemen, who are allowed to wear their hats in the presence of royalty if they are eccentric enough to assert their inherited rights.

"When England produces a Herreshotf I will rechallenge for the Cup. but it is evidently a question of brains. Herreshoff is a wizard, and Great Britain has no yacht designer who is his equal.” This was cabled out to the colonies, but the cableman omitted to mention that the plucky Irishman was ‘'visibly affected” when he gave vent to this frank admission. A London paper received by the last mail has the following additional interesting little bit of information:—‘‘Sir Thomas seemed the bluest man on earth while talking in the above despondent strain, and twice tears came into his eves.”

A strange story comes from China of a remarkable operation for appendicitis performed by Mrs William H. Logan, wife of a medical missionary in China. When living in the far interior of that vast country, eight hundred mites from the nearest doctor, her husband was stricken with appendicitis. Dr. Logan saw that his only chance of recovery lay in an operation, which he asked his wife to perform according to instructions which he gave her. A more appalmg position for a human being to be placed in could scarcely be imagined: but this heroic woman, who might, perhaps, have screamed if a mouse had run over her feet, placed her husband under an anaesthetic, and with her unskilled liand successfully removed his appendix. Afterward, when lie had rallied sufficiently to be moved, she took him eight hundred miles by waggon and rail to a physician, who completed the eure.

Interviewed in England with regard to theatrical life in Australia, Mr Chas. Arnold said: "The expenses of living in tnat country are very little in excess of those which prevail while touring in the Lnglish provinces. The salaries, hows' are much better, ranging from 50 to 75 pc r cent, more than are obtainable m the 1 nited Kingdom. There is a further distinct advantage in that the seasons are much longer in Australia; a manager never thinks of engaging a company for less than forty weeks, and 'er. little time is lost in travelling. We travelled our company for fifty-two weeks, of which period they only lost a fortnight in journeying from one place to another. The theatres in Melbourne and Sydney are up to date in every detail- The highest price is five shillings and the lowest one shilling; and with a successful play the receipts ran up to as “Jgh a figure as from £350 to £370 a ,l Onc " ee *L when presenting oio to Jones,” I played to •-.1913, which was the amount realised by seven performances. This piece ran or seven weeks in Melbourne and eight weeks in Sydney. There is no city of he size of Melbourne in England w here the same results could be obtained. ,

The projected edition of the work* of Dumas iu English will run into aeveMkyfive volumes. Even at that it will be far from complete. It is said that some thirty of these novels have never appeared in English before. There are legeuds that the works bearing the Dumas number 1099 volumes; that in one year he contracted to deliver, and did deliver, no fewer than forty volumes, and that, as a matter of course, many of these volumes were manufactured by his assistants, or even by young writers whose work he bought and put forth as his own. It is likely that the courageous publishers of the English edition have submitted them all to a careful sifting, and that the forthcoming seventy-five are all the real Dtunas.

Several American newspapers of good standing print, with seathing comments, accounts of the remarkable behaviour by many of the American recipients of Sir Thomas Lipton’s hospitality on board the Erin at the time of the sailing of the America Cup. Many of those invited for a single race attended every one, and brought their wives and relations with them, although these had not been included in the invitations. They practically ransacked the boat, pilfering spoons and other small things that could easily be taken as souvenirs. They helped themselves to wine by-the tumbler, and filled their pockets with cigars and cigarettes; even the matidtes were not spared, but were removed wholesale. They swarmed all over the boat to sueh an extent that the owner and his personal friends Were driven into narrow and exclusive quarters.

The 1903 session of the Auckland Diocesan Synod will commence on Wednesday, October 28th, at St. Paul’s Sun-day-school, Symonds-street. On tfr» evening of Tuesday, the 27 th, the Diocesan Choral Festival will be held at the Cathedral, and the sermon preached. There will be .Holy Communion and sermon at the Cathedral at halfpast ten op Wednesday, and the Synod will open in the afternoon at three, when the Bishop will deliver his charge. The Synod will sit on October 28, 29, and 30. ami November 2,3, and 4, from 4 to 6 in the afternoon, and from 7 to 10 in the evening. On Saturday evening, October 31, there "ill be a men’s mass meeting at the Choral Hall, and a woman’s mass meeting in the same place on November 4. at half-past two in the afternoon. Both these meetings are open to the public, as is the meeting at the Choral Hall on the evening of November 4, in connection with the Maori mission. There will also be a number of conferences of a private nature in connection with the meeting of the Synod.

Many Nonconformists in England have announced that they will not pay the tax levied to support the schools on the plan provided by the law passed last year. The law puts the Church of England schools and the other publie schools under one general management, supported by a local tax, or “rate,” as it is celled. The Nonconformists think that it is wrong that they should be taxed for a sectarian school. They are contending—at any rate, so it seems to them —for religious freedom and liberty of conscience. A similar problem was presented to English Nonconformists many years ago, when tithes were levied for the support of the State church. The Nonconformists objected to paying this rate on conscientious grounds, but usually paid it after what is now called “passive resistance.” The story is told of an Exeter Quaker, a dealer in umbrellas, who satisfied his conscience every year by a mild protest. When the liailiff called for the tax he would say, "Friend Morgan, thou knowest that my conscience will not allow me to pay the rate.” “Then, Mr. Prior, I must distrain.” Taking up a good umbrella, he would ask, “What is the price of this, Mr. Prior?” “Twentysix shillings.” “Then I will take this, and if it should realise more than the amount due I will return you the balance.” Before the bailiff reached the door Mr. Prior would calf him back with.

"Friend Morgan, I will buy that umbrella back from thee.” Then he put 17/, the amount of the rate, on the counter, which the bailiff took, and returned the umbrella, to the satisfaction of both parties. The protest was made and the tax wa< paid, aud the orders of Government and tlie rights of conscience were a.t the same time respected.

The Wellington “Post” remarks that recently the manager of a well-known New Zealand health resort was supplied with ammunition. to be used in providing game for the table. The other day. however, the Department which controls the sanatorium received a memorandum which began: **Re Cats,” and went on to explain that during recent severe weather the grounds and house had been over-run with wiki cats, and the nuisance caused by their nocturnal orgies became so serious that the manager had to start shooting them, with the result that 14 fell to one gun in 24 hours. 'Oie Government ammunition was used in the slaughter, but the manager confidently adds that “the carcases were used for manuring the apple trees, so that no loss need l»e anticipated.”

The term “cockatoo’* was formerly applied to small farmers, while in Tasmania they were called “cockatooers”. (says the “Town and Country .Journal’’ in answer to a request for the origin of this peculiarly Australian name). Che name was originally given in contempt by squatters, who disliked the small farmers buying up the best bits of their runs. The squatters said that, like a cockatoo, the small freeholder alighted on good ground, extracted all he could from it, and then flew away. “Cocky” is a common abbreviation, and it is now used by farmers themselves. Some people distinguish between a * cockatoo” or “cocky” and a “ground parrot,” the latter being the farmer on a very small scale. The first recorded use of 4he term was in Beveridge’s ‘‘Gatherings Among the Gum Trees”: “Oi’m going to married To what is termed a Cockatoo— Which manes a farmer.** The term was probably used in the first nstance as an expression of contempt, but it has now almost ceased to be employed in tha«t way.

On the occasion of a recent State dinner. the Kaiser, in a conversation with an officer of high rank, spoke of the report of the Commission on the South African war. “The revelations,” said he. “clearly prove to me that complete readiness is the fn>t and most important point in any war. Precious lives and enormous expenditure can bo saved if at the beginning of a war a nation is in absolute readiness. The times of the Seven Years’ War and the Thirty Years’ War have passed for ever. In -modern times a war will lie necessarily short and decisive.’’ The Kaiser further stated that the result of any war would also largely depend on the efficiency of the administrative department of the army. “Only a soldier,” he said, “with the highest military training, and with the best organising talents, ought to be vailed to the responsible position of chief control.” The Emperor spoke in terms of the greatest enthusiasm of the British officer and the British soldier, stating that he bail the profoumlest admiration for their courage and endurance.

When Melba was ia New Zealand she made the great mistake of singing above her audience. Judging from Miss Ada < rossicy’s programme*. in Australia, lue famous contralto <b*es Hot appear to be making the <»aiMe mistake as her fait compatriot. Here are a few of her items:—•Taro Mio Ben” (Giordano), on ewigvr 1 jebr ’ (Brahms), “The Silver King” H u.eitinado. “Philis and Corydou” i.Maitinii, “Oh. That We Two Were Maying” (Nevin). ami ‘ The Fourleaf (lover” (Willeby), “Love the Ped lar” (German). ’ Home Sweet Home.’ Haydn's “Spirit’.* Sons’.” Schubert’fl dramatic “Iler Tod mid das Madehvn. ’ Saint on-Dolby’s well-known “Out On the Kocks.” an I other favourite air; while she introduce* for th? fir-t tn a colonial audience a tielightfu! song by Willeby. “( liftin’ Rush?'.." and Mnllinson’s line composition. “Die Schon? Bea tris.” Referring to production of a dramatisation of “David Copperfield” in London. a writer in “M. \.P.” says: —“I shall never forget the indignation cans cd in London sonic years ago by the production at the Opera Coinique of an American adaptation of ‘The Old Curiosity shop,' where in (he most curious —but not the most treasured —article of ail. was a cheeky Little Nell in silks ami frills and high-heeled shoes, who cheered herself in her affliction with the worse affliction of a banjo, ami performed high-kick datives when she ought to have l»eeii saying her prayers! It. was a very -hocking business altogether, and the faces of the critics —those of Mr Moy Thomas and Mr William Archer especially—were set with the expression of insufferable gloom, to which there cam? no relieving light when Qui’p fell into th' Thames, and Tattle Nell, who arrived in time to witness his final struggles for life, picked his hat up from the wlkarf ami tossed it to him with the feeling remark: “Hi! You've left some of your luggage’.*'

At Dunedin Ihe other day Mr Edmund t ook, late chief postmaster at Dunedin, told bis staiY that when he first joined the service it was very small, and the work naturally was not very heavy. In fact, lie had known times when the offi cers had had io resort to a game of marbles to fill in the time. (Laughter.) In those days there was only one Eng Ji.sh mail a month, and it was very irregular. The v. hole mail would then consist of 30 or 40 bags two of letters and the rest of newspaper*. There wenno postage stamps and no receiving boxes. All matter to be transmitted was handed in at the post office, and tho officials weighed it and received the postage fee over the counter. With the. adwnt of the seat of Government at Wellington things underwent a change there, and when the Otago goldfields were discovered inward mails were also made up for Dunedin as well as Welling ton. Since then many alterations had taken place, and he foresaw’ the time when the Postal Department would absorb other branches. The public ha<l every confidence in the post office and in the faithful work of its officers.

The Teachers' Superannuation Bill will not be proceeded with this session. The bill was referred to the actuaries of the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, and their report showed that actuarily U>e proposed scheme is financially unenund. The proposal to grant superannuation to school teachers differs from the police and from the railway service, as in both of these services accumulated funds existed. The contribution fixed by the bill prepared last session is inadequate. The amount required according to the actuaries to be contributed to place the hind on a sound financial position is more than the teachers could well pay. The situation could be met (1) by contribution from the teachers for a given period without any benefits being derived, thus allowing a substantial fund to accumulate; (2) Government to subsidise such contributions; (3) Parliament to vote a sum of money sufficient to make the scheme financially sound, and to start with fair prospect of success.

Mr Baume, speaking in the House of Representatives, said the position was exceedingly unsatisfactory to the school teachers of the colony. They had asked for such a scheme, and were told it would be brought down. It would be a scandal if some attempt was not made, to meet the desires of the teachers, and to justify the confidence they had reposed in the Government.

Suprarenalin is a big product of the meat packinghouse industry, says the Duluth. U.S.A.. “News-Tribune.” It is one of the most precious articles in existence, being worth 7000dol. ( £ 1400) a pound, and is so powerful that one part of it dissolved in 100.000 parts of water will show its presence when tested with chloride of iron.

ft has been found that the suprarenal gland of the animal, which is found about the kidneys, tvhen reduced to a drug, possesses wonderful astringent properties; so powerful that operations on the eye and nose may be performed without the loss of any blood. With the addition,of cocaine such operations •re also painless. The great value of this to a surgeon will be appreciated when one realises that when cutting •round the eye he can have a perfectly clear field, and ean do his work much more quickly, as a flow of blood would not only obscure the operation, but would make it necessary to stop frequently and wipe it away in order that he might see where he is cutting. The active principle has been isolated at the Armour Packing Company’s Chicago Laboratory. and has been named “suprarenalin,” a word that has not yet got into the dictionary. It takes 7000 grains of fresh glandular substance to make one grain of the “suprarenalin.” However, it is very powerful, and solutions employed by surgeons in performing minor operations on the eye. ear, •nd throat vary from 1-10.000 to 1-1000 in strength. This “suprarenalin” is said also to bo the most powerful stimulant known. It may take the place of •tryehnia in the pharmacopoeia.

The Westchester Racing Association is building at Queens. Long Island, a racing plant, which will undoubtedly (says “Harper's Weekly”) 1> the most complete and luxurious in the world. It is to cost 1.500 000 dol. (£000.000), and will probably be finished before the opening of the racing season of 1904. Belmont Park, as the course will lie called, is io occupy over 600 acres. It will cover the territory lying to the north and south of the Hempstead Turnpike at Queens. on the south side of the line of the Long Island Railroad. Four hundred acres will lie to the north of the Turnpike, and 200 to the south of ft. On the larger portion to the north of the road will the racecourses. an exercising track, a grandstand. fields! and. club-house. jockeyhouse. jmddock. judges’ stand, timers’ stand, etc. On the south side it is proposed to build still another training track and additional stables. The plans provide for numerous round and straight tracks—the main one to be 100 ft. wide on the stretches, and 75ft. on the turns. Races will be run from right to left, after the English custom, instead of from left to right, as on most American courses. There will be a grandstand 750 ft. long, which will seat 11,000 people. Tn the rear will he a large lotting ring, easy of access from

the stand and lawn. Everything has been planned with a view to meeting the requirements of a great metropolitan race-track. The asoembling and dispersing of crowds will be elaborately cared for; and for their ocoommoda tion there are to be restaurants, cafes, and ladies’ diningrooms and parlours. The club-house—to be connected by a bridge with the grandstand—will be particularly complete in all its appointments. It will surpass in quality of construction ami magnificence any racing club-house in America, or, probably, in the world. The approach to it will be through groves of oak-trees between the Hempstead Turnpike and the rear of the grandstand. Trains from Long Island City will reach the park in 25 minutes, and visitors will pass from them through a covered walk elevated gradually to the level of the mezzanine floor of the grandstand.

Sir George White’s evidence before Lord Elgin’s Commission of Enquiry into the Boer War contains the following remarkable passages;— “I would like to submit to His Majesty’s Commissioners that my resolve to hold Ladysmith and its suecesssful accomplishment resulted in (the complete overthrow of the Boer plan of campaign.

“That plan was to overwhelm the British in Natal before their reinforcements could arrive and by a rapid coup conquer that province to the sea. The overthrow of that plan had been accomplished even before the reinforcements landed.

“During the time the Boers could have carried out their plan they were held at Ladysmith. The holding of Ladysmith, therefore, saved Natal. Aly task was thus fulfilled.

“If I could keep the Boers round Ladysmith, and thus preserve the integrity of Natal as a province, its capital city of Maritzburg and its seaport at Durban, during the interval when the Boers’ power of early mobilisation and concentration on Natal enabled them to attack with greatly superior numbers, I had every confidence that after that interval the greater resources of the British Empire would be put forth to help my force. I eannot justly be hold responsible for the losses incurred in the relief.”

Occupying the greater part of the crater was the new cone that had been built up since the first eruption, and from its summit rose in supreme grandeur—■ one might say in overwhelming grandeur—that which had been described as the “cork of the volcano,” an obelisk of rock towering upwards of eight hundred feet in height, with a thickness in its lower part of three hundred to three hundred and fifty feet, says a Professor Heilprin in an article describing a remarkable phenomenon in connection with the famous Mount Pele. The grandest monuments erected by man are insignificant when compared with this monument of nature, placed where it looks over cities of the dead. The volcano is corked, but the cork is being pushed out, and the entire eight hundred feet and more have been forced out bodily! The force that pushes out lava in other volcanoes is acting in the same way here, but in this case the lava hardens before it leaves the crater mouth, and instead of flowing over, is simply being pushed up higher and higher as a united mass. At the time of my visit the tip of the obelisk was five thousand and twenty feet, above the sea, and it was still going higher. Tn four days it had risen twenty-one feet. On one side, where the “cork” has pressed hardest against the encasing rocks, it is quite smooth, even polished, and grooved with parallel lines. The night preceding our ascent, the base of this mighty tower was fiery red, glowing with the molten lava that was being forced into it through passages and rifts that had remained open; and on the day that I left the island a faint line of steam was curling out from the very apex, showing that, although solid, the obelisk has channel-ways that go continuously to the top. From nearly all points of its base steam puffs were issuing and boiling; and whatever real eruption now takes place, the activity is confined to this position. Farts of the rock are blown to pieces, great avalanches descend into the valley below, but the monument continues io mount silently and majestically, its grey ind white surface standing out in brilliant relief against the

blue sky which occasionally encircles it. Compared with the other fair scenes of nature that it has been my fortune to see, I can perhaps truthfully say that the view of this new Mont Pele, as seen from the crater-rim, is the grandest of them all; certainly none of them surpasses it in imposing and picturesque quality. What is to be the end of all this? Thia question can be answered only in the future. For the present we must content ourselves with knowing that we have before us a structure new to the geologist, and one that has added a special feature to the remarkable activities which have made history for Mont Pele

The Government of Peru is endeavouring to attract immigration by means of pamphlets explaining the laws and resources of the country. The latest issue, copies of which have percolated through as far as Auckland, contains some interesting specimens of official Peruvian English. Extracts are quoted from the Constitution. Article 10 says that “Nobody is obliged to do whatever is not commanded by the law nor prevented from doing Whatever the law does not forbid.” Another article says;—“No one ean be arrested without a written order of the proper judiciary authority or of the one charged with the custody of public order except in case of infraganti deliquency.” Moreover, the “Forcing” office declares that “the practice of all trades, industries or professions not discordant with the morality safety and health of the people is entirely free All useful discoveries are exclusive property of their authors unless they agree to sell the secret or in case of forcible expropriation.” Article 26 of the Constitution says that “property, whether real estate, movable goods, intellectual, literary, or artistic is inviolable. No one can be despoiled of anything that belongs to him nor can be expropriated except the public benefit legally proved. .. .” “Cleanliness and public healthfulness, with the power of dictating the rules to be observed in hotels and private establishments for the sale of victuals, liquors, or medicines of bad quality” is within the jurisdiction of the common councils of provinces. Under the comprehensive heading “Higyene,” it is announced that “public healthfulness is protected by the common councils and by the phisieians appointed and paid for this special purpose.” There are no export duties “save a small one on gold and caoutchue in compensation of the gratuitous concession of property made by the Government.” The inhabitants of Peru are described as “healthy and strong, and are able to attain an old age through regular habits and careful higyene.” The "Forcing” office is not alone in its use of quaint English. In its pamphlet it proudly quotes the following sentence from the description of an enthusiastic writer on Peru:—“When it is considered that this generus soil answers so profusely to the slightest effort of the labourer; when its prodigal vegetation and its metallurgic treasures are reminded, an impression of astonishment prevails in the observer.”

“One of the strangest objects in the world,” says a traveller recently re , turned from China, “is the Imperial stone junk at Pekin. This stone barga stands in tlie middle of a lake in th e heart of the city. It lies at anchor waiting to take the Emperor, to whose use it is specially devoted, for a sail. As a matter of fact, hiwever, the vessel has never sailed a yard, and nerer will, because it is built on the bottom of the lake, and is only a boat in appearance. This is ihe sort of deception the Chinese delight in more than anythin". The Imperial junk is large, and magnificently built of the finest white marble! It has three covered decks, and is an admirable place fur an airing in hot weather.”

A writer in an English paper has recently entered a protest against the use of “former” an J “latter” in pure English. He allows the comic poets to see •their value as convenient rimes, as in the quatrain:— One night I saw him squeeze her baud; There was no doubt about the matte-' I said he must resign, or stand My vengeance—and he chose the latter. Then there was the punning poet who wrote of Xenophon’s retreat: — When over the land and the sea It behoved the Ten Thousand to scatter. There were some who cried, “The former for me!” But the rest cried, “ The latter! The latter!” The joke of this being the play on the Greek word “Thalatta” (the sea), the English one has legitimate excuse for its presence. Again in the “War Song of Dinas Vawr”;— The mountain sheep are sweeter, But the valley sheep are fatter; We therefore deemed it meettr To carry off the latter. This purist would have us repeat significant words, instead of using the awkward substitutes. He quotes this passage in proof of his theory that the sense is sometimes obscured by such verbal expedients: “The belief in God and another world is so interwoven with my moral nature that the former can no more vanish than the latter can ever be torn from me.” Huxley, that clear and unaffected writer, has said, “Locality is no more in the pin than pain is; of the former, as of the latter, it may be said that its existence apart from a thinking mind is not conceivable.” If we turn to the Bible, that treasure house of simple and robust English, we shall find that the translators were well able to dispense with sueh makeshifts. The words former and latter are used, to he sure, but invariably to denote succession in point of time, and never for the sake of avoiding repetition. “0 remember not against us former iniquities,” is a good example of this use. The chief objection to the modem way of employing the words is that it forces the reader to pause for an instant to recollect which is “former” and which is “latter.”