Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue XXI, 21 November 1903, Page 12

Here and There.

Philip Mowbray, alias "Scotty th* X\ rinkler,” a well-known identity all over Australia, and contributor to khkL of the Australian new-paperv and journals. died recently in the Narrandera Hospital.

The stereotyped "both doing well” sounds tamer than ever after this racy description of an interesting domestic event which auneared in a \\ ellington paper:—"Holmes.—Arrived, all well, 30th October, 1903. a daughter, consigned to Mr and Mrs J. L. Holmes, Wadestown, Wellington.”

A new prospect is opened Hp bt* an advertisement in a recent issue of the London "Times.” Not only does it inform the public of the union of Mr. Blank and Miss Blank, but it proceeds to give the names of the bridesmaids and the best man. and mentions coyly in conclusion: "The honeymoon is netng spent on the Rhine.” By some apparent oversight, however, no description is given of the bride’s dress, nor any details about the wedding breakfast.

Fire insurance rates in Auckland were reduced last week. The reduction was conceded by the insurance companies on account of the increased efficiency of the fire brigades and the completion of the eleetrie alarm system. The reduction will not be retrospective, but will apply to all renewals and new policies. It varies from 10 to 25 per cent., according to the nature of the property insured. and restores the scale of charges which was in operation before the recent rise in premiums. „

A Chinese paper is responsible for the statement that the quality of nervelessness distinguishes the Chinaman from the European. The Chinaman can write al! day. work all day. stand in one_position all day. weave, beat gold, carve ivory, do infinitely tedious jobs for ever and ever, and discover no more weariness and irritation than if he were a machine. This quality appears in early life. The C hinaman can do without exercise also. Sport and play seem to him so much waste labour. He can sleep anywhere, amid rattling machinery and deafening uproar. He can sleep on the ground, on the floor, on a chair, er in anv position.

That I.or-l Salisbury possessed a'decided gift for repartee may- be gathered from the fellowing:—A heated discussion having been carried on for some time in his presence relating to a current topic, one of the most emphatic of the party remarked: "I shan't get any of you to agree with me, you are such a complete set of Philistines.” Lord Salisbury quietly asked whether he recollected, what happened to the Philistines! The reply was “Certainly not.” "They , were smitten by the jawbone of-an ass.” .was the caustic rejoinder, on which the contending party utterly collapsed.

Considerable improvements are to be effected at the Railway Wharf by the Auckland Harbour Board. Alternative tenders are to be called for sheds on the wharf with frames and roof in wood and steel respectively. Provision is to be made for rails and turn-table on the north and south sides, of the wharf. Amended plans are to be submitted by the engineer for sections P. and Q of the wharf. Pending the,letting of tenders for the sheds, provision is to be made for filling coal on the western end of the wharf, and the accommodation for carts is to be improved al:*

Addressing a big congregation of men at Blackburn. England, recently, on social delusions. Bishop Thornton, vicar of Blackburn, and formerly Bishop of Baliarat. referring to the submerged masses, said it was inconceivable that God —. nt men into the world to exist under such conditions. A great shaking of the social system was impending, but no remedy would last which divorced sacred from secular things. No

wise man could possibly help being Ixjtli a socialist and a Christian. He wanted the possession of land and money treated as a trust, the gradual taxation of wealth for the common good, and municipal life slowly and wisely extended, particularly in regard to intemperance and the housing of the people.

Most people have heard of the superstition that it is unlucky to cross knives at table, but probably few know either its origin or its antiquity. The story goes that when St. Columbia preached Christianity in Scotland, about the year 560, the story of the Cross sank deep into the hearts of the Scotch, and in memory of the Redemption knives and farm implements of al! descriptions were crossed when not in use. For hundreds of years the practice was continued, and the children were taught this simple form of adoration just as they learnt to make the sign of the Cross. But when the ±.efermation set in it became indiscreet, if not dangerous, to show any sign of adherence to the unreformed religion. Consequently when any one crossed his knives be was warned that by so doing he might render himself liable to some punishment. The feeling of uneasiness remained long after the cause nad been forgotten, and gave rise to the wellknown superstition.

The habit of bathing on the foreshore, so extensively practised in Auckland, moved the Legal and Finance Committee of the Auckland Harbour Board to submit the following proposed by-law to the Board yesterday:—"That no person shall bathe in the harbour where shipping may be lying or where buildings have been eree'ed on the frontage of the harbour, or within 300yds of any public wharf or bridge, except within the hours of 8 p-m- and 7 a.m-, nor shall any person bathe in any portion of the harbour from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless clothed in jersey and trunks.” The proposal opened out a lengthy discussion, the upshot of which was that the by-law was referred back to the committee for revision. Mr Napier thought bathing should be encouraged rather than hindered. and foresaw that the by-law would be needlessly drastic as it stood He wanted the hours altered so as to make it legal to bathe at any hour provided proper clothing was used. The by-law will probably come up in an amended form at the next meeting.

A few years ago Paris was the city where athletic sports were least in honouh; now every possible form of sport that is, and .» good many that are not, to be found elsewhere are represented in the French capital. One of the latest importations is Pelote Basque, which is played at the "fronton” at Neuilly, just outside the fortifications. The Spanish colony in Paris is very strong and very wealthy. It has made propaganda for the Basque national game, with the result that the “fronton” in the Rue Borghese has become a fashionable rendezvous. The game is played by driving a hall against a wall, the propulsion being given by a long-shaped wicker basket, held in the right hand. W hen the bail rebounds it must be returned by the opposition camp. The skill shown is marvellous, and Pelote Basque is a most exciting game to witness. The players are Claudio, Marquina, Chjquita de Berastequi, Pepe. Emilio, and Salazar. In the few months they have been playing in Paris th>y have become popular heroes. jj

Most of us have been amused at the efforts of th-? well-intentioned, but clumsy, friend, who turns over the music of the unfortunate pianist at some amateur concert, and all of us who arc musical and have felt the need for some genius who would invent something to get over the difficulty will welcome the device of an Auckland inventor, Mr Geo. Symons Budge, who comes to the rescue. His automatic device for turning the leaves of music is a little piece of mechanism placed on the music rest or desk or near the key board if on a piano,

and is operated by the player simply touching a small ivory key with one finger, or the thumb of the left hand preferably. the required leaf being thus turned in the most simple manner. The two Mr Bvdge has perfected are made cf “eoiupo” metal, one being eleetro-plated. They may be made to turn pages of bound books or sheet music of any kind. In the device is a very clevc.- little movement for repeating any pages or sheets.

From Paris comes the persistent rumour that the fashion of the crinoline is to be revived; ami anxious speculation is inevitable, for the trouble is not so much that the garment is ungainly as •that the hurried and crowded conditions of twentieth century life have made no adequate provision for it. The average drawingroom in the average modern flat would hardly hold three properly crinolined ladies at once; while if lady derks ami typists were not to be deprived of their in-lut:able right to follow- the fashions, most offices would have to bo enlarged. The modern weman, moreover, scrambles cn to roofs of omnibuses, and engages in athletic sports; and for cither of these purposes crinolines are about as suitable as chain armour. Perhaps, therefore, the attempt to restore th tai to favour will fail for the same reasons for which an attempt to make chain armour onee more the fashion would be doomed to failure. The proceedings of those who set the fashion are not. however. so habitually rational that one can have perfect confidence in the prediction: and ‘ Paris models” in the dressmakers' windows will be watched with' closer interest than usual during rhe next few months.

Our American cousins at last possess a National Anthem. Hitherto thev have had only national sengs, but an order has been issued by their Navy Department which raises "The Star-spangled Banner” shove the rest. Of the other patriotic tunes only three have been serious rivals for the first place—- " Yankee Doodle,” which is rather to flippant for lofty purposes; “America,** the tune of which has the disadvantage of being identical with our “God Save the King”; and "Hail Columbia,” which, niusicallj- speaking, is a poor production. During the Spanish war it was "The Star-spangled Banner” last the people generally chose to express the exultation of the hour, and which—a novel custom at that time in the United States—they greeted by rising to their feet in the theatres and publie resorts. Englishmen will be interested in noting that the melody of their National Xnthem is one of the things that Americans owe to England. It was the setting of a drinking song that was popular in London towards the end of the eighteenth century. When it crossed the Atlantie it had a varied history, until, in 1814, if was wedded by Francis Scott Key to the words with which it has ever since been associated. It is pleasant to reflect that in those days the British origin of the new anthem will cause no great dissatisfaction to those Americana who happen to be aware of it.

The Rosy G«>d and the Flowing Bowl are the subject of the new fantastic ballet. “Vineland,” which was produced at the Empire Theatre, London, last month. The costumes are, as always, brilliant and beautiful; the result of all is the success which is a foregone conclusion at this house, where the fantastic ballet has been brought to so higii a pitch of perfection. "Vineland” is in four scenes—the first in England, in the spacious wine cellar of Aiderman Brand, where many guests are assembled to drink good luck to his daughter and her affianced husband—a position to which: Simon the Cellarer has vainly aspired. Simon, who naturally knows his way to the choicest bins, drowns his sorrows in wine, instigated by Vino, and Bacchus appears, the great wine casks being suddenly metamorphosed into bowers of vine, with nymphs on the appearance of the

miracle-working god. The second scene takes us to Rhineland and the Lorelei. The Spirit of Rhine -Wine is the genius of the scene, and sets right a little drama of jealousy which has been enacted; The audience is next transported to Oporto, and here the Spirit of Port Wine brings harmony into a quarrel. Fjnallv, the fields of Champagne, with the lancurers at work among the glowing dusters bi grapes, are displayed in a scene of remarkable beauty; and here

fittingly takes place a grand Bacchanalian rpoce«ion to accelerate the triumph of champagne and of the vine in general. The whole of these scenes are bright with a series of varied dances, sometimes intricate, sometimes simple, but all done with the precision and rhythm of a thoroughly trained corps de bullet.

Forty years ago the Victorian legislative Assembly members, under Cuppin's impulse, furnished the east of SI akespeare’s "Merchant of Venice." at Melbourne Royal. Coppiu, AI.LC.. acted Launcelot Gobbo. and King, M.L.A.. was .Shylock. 1-atter had been a professional tragedian, under the ■tame of Morton King, enacting Hamlet. Othello, and other parts, with applause, at the Queen's Theatre, under the ownership of John Thomas Smith. Afterwards King, whose right name was Mark Last, be tame au auctioneer in the firm of Gibbon and King. Old Gobbo, of the ‘•Merchant of Venice," found a legislative representative in Tom Carpenter. ALL-A, the well-known mining man. A Bungaree visitor, at the Melbourne Publie Library, saw the bust of Socrates, and said, "Hallo, here's old Tom Carpenter!” The characters of Bassanio. Antonio, Gratiano, Tubal and the rest were distributed amongst Howard. Lock, W ilkie, Hedley and other politicians.

Lord Rosebery has been giving his ideas about the reorganisation of the army to an English paper, and he names Lord Kitchener as “the man for the crisis.” After dealing with the state of affairs disclosed by Lord Elgin's Commission, he goes on to say: "What is the practical remedy? As to that I have never had the slightest doubt, and have urged the proper course in season and. if that were possible in this case, out of season. The present system of military management is doomed. The time has come for a new departtire. We must place the War Office for a time under an expert. Wb are » Tj/inmite an to possess a great soldier Tn the prime and vig- , our of life, who unites high capacity for business, finance, and administration with ripe and recent military experience. We should entrust. or ask the King to entrust, the War Office to Lord Kitchener with the fullest authority to reorganise our present system, with a view probably to its being administered by a board, as in the case of the Admiralty. His relations to the Cabinet would easily be settled by more methods than one. Whether they should be with the present Cabinet or another is a question beyond my province. That is for the nation to decide. But of this I am sure, that by singular fortune we possess a man for the crisis, and that none of the flimsy formulas which have been urged should be allowed to prevail against his appointment. ■’ - —

Considerable interest was manifested at Portsmouth last month in the sale by auction of the house in Commercialroad, Landport, in which Charles Dickens was born. There was a large attendance, including Sir William Dupree, Mayor of Portsmouth, and Alderman Power, officially representing the Corporation. Bidding was started by the Mayor at £4oo,'and rapidly rose until at length the property was knocked down, amid •oud applause, to the Mayor for £1125. Mr Kitton. on behalf of the the Dickens Fellowship, congratulated the Mayor and Corporation on the publie spirit they had displayed in acquiring the historic house, adding that in all probability arrangements would be made to establish a Dickens Museum on the premises. Sir William Dupree, replying. remarked that it might be thought it was a long pricy to give, but he felt sure that future events would justify his purchase on behalf of the town in which the great novelist spent the earliest days of his life. Subsequently the corporation addressed the following letter to the various journals in England:—"l have the honour to inform you that the Corporacion of Portsmouth have acquired the birthplace of Charles Dickens with the intention of maintaining it as a permanent museum of the relies, manuscripts and writings of the great author. May I be allowed through the medium of your paper to appeal to those who may be in possession of such objects of interest to place them at the disposal of the corporation by way of loan or gift!* «

,A funny incident (that might have ended seriously) happened recently at a picnic at Cliftou-gardene, half an hour down Sydney Harbour. The steamer Lady Manning was just going to leave the wharf, when one of the "picnickers,” in trying to get on board, fell into the water. A friend of his jumped is to save him. and while the people on the steamer were jostling "to see the fun," a mau's hat fell overboard. Another man saw the hat. and thought that someone else had fallen in, so he jumped in to help. As he coukln’t swim, “another” man went in after him. Then everyone on the steamer got very excited about the four bad swimmer’ struggling in the water, and thinking some of them would lie drowned, several more began to undress for the rescue, and others on shore tried to launch a boat from the beach. However, three men on board were too agitated to wait, and in they went, clothes and all. Then the captain threw life-buoys to four of the men, and a little raft to the others, which kept them afloat till they were hauled on board by lines passed out to them. Though some of the wet ones were pretty exhausted they were well enough to go home when the steamer got back to Fort Macquarie.

“AH coons,” says the song- "look alike to rue.” In San Francisco the great difficulty is to distinguish one Chinaman from another. Queer frauds frequently result. Not long ago a police officer, who had arrested several Chinamen, and managed to lose one on the wav to the station, calmly restored the original number by seizing the first "Chink” he came across, with a calm assurance equal to that of Handy Andy in his adventure at the post office. Fortunately for the lil-used Mongolian, circumstances enabled him to establish his captor’s leritr and his own innocence, from whici it may Ire seen that schemes based on these yellow resemblances are occasionally pushed too far. This has been the ease in an affair which has recently stimulated San Franciscan interest and risibility. Six young Chinese, offenders were ordered to be sent out of the country, and were sorely reluctant to go. Presently it was found that their places had been mysteriously taken on board ship by half a dozen decrepit old Chinamen, presumably anxious to return to the Flowery Land to lay their bones in a Chinese grave. The extraordinary contrast between the ages of the two sets of prisoners led in this instance to the detection of a trick which is believed to have been frequently practised with impunity. Bribery, of course, had lieen resorted to, and the leading Californian newspaper announces that “at least one white attorney has helped to divide a sum of fire hundred pounds. In more ways than one the story is curiously illustrative of the variegated life that meu lead in the Golden West.

Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne ean always be depended upon for stories full of life, action, and the spirit of the seas—in every sense of the term spirit. His engineer hero. Neil Angus MeTodd, whose name has cropped up again and again in the adventures of the illustrious Kettle, is the subject of Mr. Hyne’s latest volume, “MeTodd.” MeTodd is the same man of resource as Kettle, and has adventures in the track of the author's travels a% Kettle did. But lietween the two men there is an ocean of difference. Mae is below with . his engines, and the fine work of the unseen men who drive the ship from shore to shore is told in all its poetry and grimy grandeur. The greater portion of the story lies in the Arctic regions, where MeTodd becomes the bosom friend of an Eskimo chief with the euphonic name of Amatikita. Here, eating their blubber food and their seal stakes with soups of seal blood. MeTodd passes to and fro in quest of adventure and that siller which is to supply his unquenchable thirst for whisky and support his mother away in Balliudroebater, in Scotland. Divers after golden treasure off the Canary Islands, scientists after Greenland mammoths, coffin ships that hie to the bottom with their human freight, whalers, ju-ju worshippers on the West Coast of Africa—these give an indication of the world in which MeTodd moves in this volume. Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne’s power of depicting realities is based on his own real’;? knowledge. Persons who know their .West Coast know that Mr. Hyne has

been on the ’]*'t, as well as ’undry Belgian officials found to their dismay that he knew it. He knows his Arctic Circle as well as many a professional explorer. And in the seven seas of the world he i< known by the men who have sailed them to be at home. The result of this intimate acquaintance with the wastes of the world is reflected in all Mr. Cutcliffe Hyne's books, and this, combined with his fine faculty for spinning a yarn, accounts for much of his well-merited success.

The influence of that remarkable man. Dowie. who has been creating a stir iu New York, is very well exemplified in a case that occurred last month at Manchester. England. At the Quarter Sessions Frank Knowles Butterworth, a member of the Christian Catholic Church of Zion, wasT-harged with cruelty to his little girL When she broke her collarbone he refused to call in a doctor, saying that the doctors were “maimers and thieves,” and declared his belief iu Dr. Dowie's doctrine of faith-healing. He took her to Chorlton to be “prayed over” by his sect, and cabled to Dr. Dowie at Chicago. Dr. Dowie did not reply. Butterworth elected to give evidence, and said he firmly believed that all cures were effected by means of faith and prayer.

"If you fell down in the witness-box and broke your leg."’ asked the counsel for the prosecution, "you would not send for a doctor?” "I would not,” emphatically answered Butterworth. "You would pray and send a telegram to Dr. Dowie. and believe that you would get well?”- —"Yes.” "But if you did not get well?" —"My faith does not take that in. 1 would uot get healed if I doubted.” "You would go to church, and people would pray, and you would get better i” —"Yes; but principally I should telegraph to Dr. Dowie, having fai in his prayers, others having received benefits from them.” "In consequence of Dr. Dowie's prayers this child has recovered somewhat?”—"My own, the Church’s, and Dr. Dowie's prayers, according to the promise of Christ that where two or three are gathered together in His name He would be with them.” Dora Whiteley, another member of the faith-healing sect, said she believed God was the only healer. If she broke her leg she would not send for a doctor. "Trust in God,” she added, "is better than confidence in princes or doctors. When I am ill I trust in God, and He always pulls me through.” "Do you also believe in the telegram to Dr. Dowie?”—"Yes. God has answered Dr. Dowie’s prayers in thousands of Emily Huhne, who said she was not a member of the Church of Zion, stated that she was present on one occasion when the child put up her arm. Someone said: "The child is healed: there is no doubt about it. Let us sing the Doxology.” Then they all sang "Praise God from Whom,all blessings flow.” The Recorder sentenced Butterworth to a month’s imprisonment with hard labour.

Mr Haddon Chambers, whose new edy. "The Golden Silence,” was produced at the Garrick last mouth, is a dramatist with a reputation, and the audience went to his play with great expectations, says a Loudon paper. Unhappily, the Mr Haddon Lambers of “The Golden Silence” is not the Mr Haddon Chambers of "The Tyranny of Tears.” and the "boos that greeted the author when he appeared before the curtain at the end were probably the result cf disappointment. "The Golden Silence” is certainly amusing in streaks, but the characters for the most part are unconvincing, and the plot hackneyed. Curiously enough, the story is oddly like that of "The Bishop’s More," which had just l>een taken from the Garrick bills. A sculptor (Mr Frank Mills) i. loved by two women—one. a married woman of fnirty or so, the Countess of Arlington (Miss Violet Vanbrugh), and the other a young girl. Olivia Mills (Miss Jessie Bateman). The sculptor is quite sure he loves Olivia, to whom he will not propose l>ecause she is very rich, but he is uncertain about the Countess. Olivia’s married sister tricks him into thinking that the objectionable money has disappeared with an absconding solicitor; the Countess very properl v gives him up, and the play ends happily to the sound of wedding bells. Even the Countess professes to be happy, but as she is left alone on a darkened stage it is presumed that her happiness is chastened. Truth to tell, the sculptor is a sad prig and the Countess a rather tiresome lady, who excuses an intrigue by lengthy references to art and beauty. As for Olivia, she is delightful to look upon, and a charming cake-walk she dances in the second act entirely excuses any shallowness in her character. Incidentally Air Chambers has introduced two exceedingly humorous characters tiiat may save the fortune of his play. Charlie M alford is a delicious character sketch of a vacuous young man about town, and the scene in which he tells his severe mother over the telephone that he is engaged to a music-hall singer, is as humorous as it is original. The part was capitally acted by Mr Kenneth Douglas. The other part is the sculptor’s servant, and ex-prize-fighter, with a fancy for singing comic songs. The character is admirably individualised, and played by Mr Webb Darleigh with an entirely successful understanding. Mr Darleigh scored the acting success of the evening. Air Arthur Bourchier. with exceedingly rare modesty in an aetor-manager, reserved for himself the subsidiary character of Augustus Mapes, an American painter friend of the .sculptor’s, whose principal business in the play is to make love to a little Cockney model, prettily acted by Miss Nellie Bowman. Mr Bourehier wisely restrained the American accent, and did the little lie had to •io as well as one expects of him. Miss Vanburgh and Air Mills struggled valiantlv with the countess and the sculptor, but it was a sheer impossibility to make them in the least interesting. Judging it by its main theme. "The Golden Silence,” an entirely enigmatie title, by the way. is not up to Air Haddon Chambers' standard, but the prize-fighter, the cake-walk, and an admirable gramophone combine to make a good deal of it quite entertaining.

The King has just conferred the decoration of the Victoria Cross on a British officer for one of the moat conspicua •us and thrilling acta of personal bravery recorded in modern military annals. The gallant recipient of the much-covet-ed award is Lieutenant (now Captain) Wallace Duffield Wright, of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) and Northern Nigeria Regiment, and the act of courage for which the V.C. was reOom mended was performed during the Kano->okoto expedition in West Africa. The "London Gazette” contains the following short and striking official description of the gallant deed:—“On March 24, 1903, Lieutenant Wright, with only one officer and forty-four men, took tip a position in the path of the advancing enemy, and sustained the determined charges of 1000 horse and 2000 foot for two hours, and when the enemy, after heavy losses, fell baek in good order. Lieutenant Wright continued to follow them up till they were in full retreat. The personal example of this officer, as well as his skiful leadership, contributed largely to the brilliant, success of this affair. He in no wav infringed bis orders by his daring initiative, though warned of the possibility of meeting Luge bodies of the enemy, he had purposely been left a free hand.”

Some alarm was occasioned on the first night of “King Richard II.” at His Majesty’s, London, by the unruly behaviour of the horse ridden by Mr Oscar Asche. as “Henry of Hereford, surnamed Bolingbroke.” Real horses, of course, carry great weight in spectacular drama, but they are not used to Mr Oscar Asche’s, and the animal in question showed his objection to it by performing an ingenious feat of muscle by which the burly Bolingbroke, “plated in habilaments of war,” found himself sitting on the stage, with Ihr following cruelly interesting line yet to deliver: “Then, England’s ground, farewell: sweet soil, adieu!” The fall looked such a bad one from the front that the humour of the situation was lost for the time being in the concern for this brilliant actor's safety ; but when poor Bolingbroke. looking terribly angry, had picked himself up from the “sweet soil.” and proved by a healthy delivery of his little farewell speech that no bones were broken, it must be confessed that in many parts of the house an exchange of smiles look place. This wicked horse was not the first in His Majesty’s stables that kicked against carrying Mr Oscar Asche’s weight to “The Lists at Coventry.” At rehearsals there was great trouble among Mr Tree’s stud, and more than one ironclad steed, dissatisfied with his part, threw it down and pranced out of the theatre. A handsome light bay was the first to size up Mr Asche with a suspicious eye, and to inform the management, in a manner peculiar to horses, that it wished to baek out of its engagement at once. The second that felt itself a bit overweighted with the part was a tall and powerful-looking grey. In an experimental spirit it allowed the actor to get into the saddle, and to recite therefrom most of his warlike lines in file third scene of Act I.: but when the banished Bolingbroke came to “0, who can hold a tire in his hand,” etc., the wretched animal bucked the gigantic son of John of Gaunt out of his seat, as if by way of answering. “I’m sure I cannot say; but I do know that I for one cannot hold you on my baek.” Whereupon Mr Tree engaged another horse for the part, with what result, first-nighters at His Majesty’s (and Mr Oscar Asche'; already know, savs an “M.A.l’.” correspondent.

A few years ago the hopes of engineers ran high with the expeet.il ion of being able io harness the tides and make them yield unlimited power for the service of man. Some experiments were made on the Pacific coast ami elsewhere. but these only demonstrated that while in theory the power of the tides is unlimited, the utilisation of this power is exceedingly difficult. It is this difficulty which has hitherto stood in the way of the more general application of tidal power, which is truly enormous. Tides of a height readih available are local in occurrence and they are also essentially periodic, so that their direct power is available only in two short daily periods in each part of the twenty-four hours. By the use of multiple reservoirs it is possible to extend the use of the tides throughout the twenty-four hours, but this can only be

done a>t very great cost. There is also great variation in the rate of flow of -.lie tides in different localities, the most favourable condition being that in which the tide rises and falls most rapidly. The main trouble in the economic utilisation of the tides is that the rise and fall is comparatively small, making it necessary to deal with low as well as with variable heads, and to provide enormous reservoirs to store even i n ugh water for use in tn o daily five hour runs. In a very few places it is possible to rely on more than six feet mem working head, which means that if the storageponds were six feet deep each s piare mile of reservoir would store water for about 5000 h.p. for a live-hour run. The only tidal [lowers to be taken seriously as able to count in large work are such as exist in exceptional spots, like the Bay of l-'undy, where the tides run forty feet high under normal conditions, and where it would be possible to obtain, for two five-hour runs, more than 50,000 h.p. per square mile of reservoir. At the outer extremity of the Bay of Fundy nise two great headlands less than three miles apart, and within these peaks is what is practically a tidal lake covering an area of more than 400 square miles. Through the narrow gap more more than 200.000,000 horse-power per hour runs to waste daily, but to harness this great force for the service of man would lie an engineering feat far beyond anything yet attempted.

Hie cables told us the other day that the use of the electrophone had enabled the London "Daily Mail” to beat all the other dailies in reporting Mr Chamberlain's Liverpool speech, copies of the paper being sold in the streets twenty minutes after the speaker had sat down. Referring to this remarkable instrument, the London "Daily Graphic” of a recent date says:— By special arrangement with the authorities of the Post Office telephone system and the National Telephone Company’s system, the Electrophone Company in Gerrard-st veot held a special electrophone seanee last evening, to which they invited many representatives of the London and provincial press, to listen, seated in comfortable velvet armchairs, with long-handled receivers held to their ears, to the proceedings in progress at the Cutlers’ Hall. Sheffield, some 220 miles away. The receptionroom of the Electrophone Company is a luxuriant -apartment, Turkey carpeted, electric lighted, and decorated with fantastic eartoons of death and the devil and pretty ladies. The room presented a strange and interesting spectacle when, all the chairs being occupied and the appointed time for the meeting being near, the guests put lip their receivers and found themselves, though bodily in Gerrard-street. Soho, mentally and orally in Sheffield. Present to all as though they were there in body were the familiar incidents which precede a great political meeting. The busy hum of conversation, an occasional jest, with its reward of approving laughter; cries of “Sit down in front!”; cheers as some well-known local magnate appeared on the platform; singing patriotic songs, “Rule Britannia” and the “Death of Nelson”; then, evidently at the entrance of Mr Balfpur into the hall, a tempest of cheers; the chairman’s speech, loud and clear; and a renewed tempest of cheers and the singing of "He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” when the Prime Minister rose to deliver his address: then a hush and complete silence. Every word of Mr Balfour’s opening remarks came through distinct and clear, then we heard his voice break, and his apologv that his “voice was not all he could wish.” It was quite possible to take down in shorthand the whole of Mr Balfour’s speech, with a very small percentage of doubtfully heard words, the fault in such few eases being, perhaps, not that of the electrophone, but of the speaker. It is quite possible that some of the audience actually present in the back of the hall may have missed some of Mr Balfour’s words. But the address was delivered with his usual clear and deliberate utterance, and it was quite amusing io hear, as he worked himself up, his sounding thwacks upon the tabic or desk, or whatever it was, in front of him. The experience was a most interesting one. and amply proved that it is now possible for a shorthand writer to sit in a chair in London and take a verbatim note of a speech delivered two hundred miles away.”

Everyone who heard him when he was through New Zealand, knows the fun that Mark Twain got out of the agonising repetition of the lines beginning— Conductor. when you receive a fare. Punch in the presence of the passinjare! But bow many people know who first wrote the jingle. A writer in the “New York Lamp.” in the course of an article on Noah Brooks, a distinguished American journalist, tells us how the rhyme came into existence. It appears that Mr Brooks, then on the “Times.” and Mr Bromley, of the “Tribune,” were riding in a Fourth Avenue care one evening on their way to work. Mr Brooks was thinking over an editorial which he intended towrite, when he was startled bv Mr Bromley's exclamation: “It’s poetry. Brooks, it’s poetry!" pointing meantime to this familiar notice in the cars: — “The conductor, when he receives a fare, will immediately punch in the presence of the passenger, A blue trip slip for an 8-cent fare. A buff trip slip for a 6-eent fare, A pink trip slip for a 3-cent fare.” By this time Mr Brooks was thoroughly aroused, and he and Bromley amused themselves by repeating the jingle again and again on their way to their work. The thing haunted them all that night, and again on their way down town the following night. Finally, Brooks reduced it to the following form:— The conductor when he receives a fare Will punch in the presence of the passinjare, A blue trip slip for an 8-cent fare, A buff trip slip for a 6-eent fare, A pink trip slip for a 3-cent fare. All in the presence of the passinjare. Then Mr Wyckoff, scientific editoi' of the “Tribune.” and Moses P. Handy, then of the “Tribune” staff, took their turn at the poem, with the result that the first two lines were changed to read— Punch, boys, punch! Punch with care! Punch in the presence of the passinjare, etc. The deadly jingle was set to music, and it ran through the country like a pestilence. And in its course Mark Twain heard it-

The British Consul at Stuttgart has compiled an interesting report on forestry in Germany, from which it appears that the annual revenue of the German Empire from forests amounts to from £15,000.000 to £IBIOOO,OOO. He adds that although the example of the German Empire shows that it is possible to reap a substantial annual benefit from instruction in forestry and the consequent rational cultivation of forests, mere pecuniary gain is by no means the sole factor which ought to justify the solicitude displayed on their behalf by far-seeing Governments, as there exist many other reasons, dictated by other motives and considerations, for the cultivation and preservation of forests. An empire of the inland extent of Germany requires for social, hygienic, and climatological reasons a larger extent of forest land than countries with a less extent of in-land and longer coast lines. The proximity of forests acts upon those who dwell in or near them in a similar manner as the proximity of the sea aets upon those who dwell on or near the coasts, and it may be asserted that, to some extent, a country without forests resembles a country without a coast. The inhabitants of the forests are. as regards health, strength, and a certain native shrewdness and sagacity, as superior io the peasants of the plain as these, again, are superior to the major-

ity of the inhabitants of towns. From a climatological and hygienic point of view the value of forests cannot lie too highly estimated. The presence of large forests supplies the air with moist it re, and probably exercises influen.e upon the regularity and extent of the rainfall. Heavy and protracted rainfall, which might cause serious inundations. is regulated to a great extent by forests, which act as natural reservoirs for water storage and gradual supply. Air vitiated with impurities passes into forests to undergo filtration and chemical transformation, and issues forth again purified and revivified with healthgiving constituents. The fate of parts of Italy, which, under rational conditions of forestry and agriculture, might have been the paradise of Europe, is a warning example among others of the dangers of reckless deforestation, and the conclusions to be drawn therefrom have not been overlooked in Germany, where unruly rivers are now being rendered amenable to control by afforestation at their sources. In Switzerland, where the floods have wrought much damage during the rainy summer of this year, an influential party is advocating the diminution or prevention of floods by afforestation instead of by engineering works for the regulation and correction of courses of rivers, to which latter the preference has hitherto been given. Between 1871 and 1901 the Swiss Government has spent about £2.000,000 on the regulation of rivers by engineering works and only about £ 125,000 on afforestation work for the same purpose.

The eastern portion of a churchyard is always regarded as the most favoured; next comes the south, then the west, and lastly the north. According to popular belief, the bodies will rise in the foregoing order. On this account the faithful dead are buried with their feet towards the east to meet the Saviour when he appears a second time. In Wales the east wind is known as “the wind of the dead men’s feet.” The north was the part assigned to those who had suffered at the hands of the public executioner, those who had committed suicide, the poor and friendless. Here rank weeds and nettles grew, and here rubbish was deposited. Not a few notable people have chosen this side of the graveyard to try and put an end to the belief in their own particular districts. Southey, for example, is buried in a grave on the north side of Crosthwaite churchyard in a spot selected by himself, to break down the old superstitious ideas that this side of the church was only fit for the outcast and the wicked. Here the poet rests with several members of his family, and a plain gravestone is raised to their memory. It is in harmony with the simple life of Southey, who desired neither pomp nor show. He passed his days as a prolific worker in the charming Lakeland which he loved so well, and even the offered editorship of the “Times” could not induce him to leave Greta Hall with its literary treasures and peaceful life. In many of the villages of Yorkshire the inhabitants have a superstitious dislike to burial on the north side of a church. In several churchyards the plot of ground immediately in the shadow of the church north wall is not used for burial, but is generally rank with nettles and rubbish.