Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue XVII, 23 April 1904, Page 14

Here and There.

In is difficult in Germany for a professional rogue to enter a family as a domestic servant. There every servant has a character book, in which the mistress must enter the dates of the coining and leaving of the servant, with her character while in the service. This the girl is obliged to take to the nearest police-station and have it dated with the official stamp, thus preventing the manufacture of bogus recommendations.

Close to the grounds of the St. Louis Exposition a monster hotel for the accommodation of visitors has been erected. It is 500 ft. long and 210 ft. wide, •the great building contains 514 rooms, capable of accommodating 2000 people. An interesting feature will be the big dining-room, which will hold 1000 visitors.

As a result of the death of the late Airs. Thomas Reid, of Wanganui, the following bequests made in the will cf the late Thomas Reid become, payable to the respective institutions: —Wanganui Hospital. £5000: Wanganui Orphanage. £1000; Old Men’s Home, £500; St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, £400; and Wanganui Library, £2OO. Under the will of Mrs. Reid, tlie Presbyterian Church and the orphanage were also residuary legatees.

A most degrading system of slavery is being carried on in connection with the rubber industry on the Upper Congo. The British Consul on the Congo was deputed to investigate the rumours which were current regarding the treatment of natives; and after a personal investigation lasting two months he reported that slavery, and barbarism, in the most revolting forms, are in existence iii that district. A missionary who' is labouring in the Congo says: “No language could describe, the horrors of the system which allows the present treatment of natives. The traders do not attempt to hide this state of things-froin our gaze—it is done openly.”

The fashion in names alters greatly from year to year. The rush of Marjories and Dorotbys has given, place to Ruths, Joans, and Margarets. Some of the newest, smart girl babies are being christened Jane, Sarah, and Ellen, while the quainter names of Phillippa, Penelope, ami Euphemia are greatly in favour. The usual wish in choosing a name is to find something not too common and hackneyed, and it is a safe rule to follow to go back to the days of one's great-grandmother for a smart name. In some GO or 80 years, Maud, Mabel, May, and Ethel will be in the height of fashion again, and .such names will be described as “such dear, quaint, old-fashVncd names.” In those days all the fat babies in the gutter will answer to the names of Jane and'Sarah, as they now do to Dorothy, Myrtle, Ivy, and Muriel.

Much lias been said of “State aid for the theatre.” and Mr Henry Arthur Jones, in the current number of the “Nineteenth Century,” boldly demands from the State £ 10,000 a year to support the theatre. On the other side, Mis New march, a lady who has written an admirable Life of the famous Russian composer Tschaikowsky, and who understands the Russian language, says:— “State-aided schemes have not half the vitality of commercial enterprises. No one who has followed a history of Statesubsidised concerts and opera abroad can have failed to see how frequently they have failed in their main object—the popularising of the best art. How many composers’ lives have been embittered by the incompetence, prejudice, or sticbbery of a Hof-Intendant? In Russia — where 1 have followed the system most closely—it is a fact that some of the finest national masterpieces have only seen the light of publicity in spite and not because of this well-meaning official patronage. Tlie frankest commercialism would do less harm to the wider interests of art." -

Wagner’s literary and musical copyrights are worth / to his heirs about £ 30,000 a year. Last year “ Lohengrin ” was given a thousand times in the German countries, about four hundred times in the Latin countries, and three hundred times or so in Great Britain and the United states. “ Tannhauser,” in all countries, whs performed upwards -Of five hundred times, -the author’s royalties coming to about fifteen pounds per representation.

The nearest historical parallel to the tragic termination of the Whitaker Wright case is to be found in the pages Rev. William Jackson, who was tried of the “Annual Register” for 1795. The before the Court of King's Bench in Dublin on April 23 of that year for the crime of high treason died in the dock from the effects of poison before sentence was pronounced upon him. Though the Coroners jury found that there was no evidence as to how- or by whom the poison was administered, there is but little doubt that the prisoner’s life was ended by his own aet. He had been remanded for a week after the jury had found him guilty in order that his counsel might move an arrest of judgment, and he nad breakfasted With his. wife on the morning of his death. His suicide was perhaps prompted by consideration for his family, lor, had the sentence of the law been carried out, his property, which was considerable, would have been forfeited to the Crown. . . .

Mr Thomas Hardy has replied to tlie “dramatic critic” of “The Times,” who recently reviewed “The Dynasts,” his poetical drama. Possibly the reply is intended for other critics also;— “His view,” he says, “would seem to be based on an assumption that in no circumstances must an art borrow the methods of a neighbour art. Yet if there is one thing needful to the vitality of any art it is the freedom of the worker therein from the restraint of such scientific reasoning as would lay down this law, freedom from the rationale of every- development that he adopts. The artistic spirit is at bottom a spirit of caprice, and in some of its finest productions in the past it could have given no clear reason why they were run in this or that particular mould, and not in some more, obvious one. And if it could be proved that in ‘The Dynasts’ nothing is gained, but much lost, by its form, that attempt would still have been legitimate.' Charlotte Bronte’s sketch of the three curates in “Shirley” was not very flat, tering. It is interesting to hear (says “The Literary World”), that one of them is still alive, and, so far from being resentful, is inclined to be proud of the immortality given to him by the favourite novelist. The Rev. James C. Bradley Was the “David Sweeting” of the story, who played the flute and accompanied the young ladies at their music. To an interviewer he recently said: —“Charlotte was 21 or 22, and I must say 1 had no idea tha,t she was writing books or was likely to put me * into them. Our . conversation was always very 7 formal, and merely about the weather and small things of local interest. My- impression always was that the girls were rather prim, but then they lived a very quiet life. . . She (Charlotte Bronte) shows wonderful knowledge of character, and great power in working out the characters of men, and it is all the more wonderful because she never went anywhere, and could never have seen anyone,”

The attitude of the Opposition (says “Wellington Post”) in regard to land tenure was set forth by Mr Herdman, member for Mount Ida, in a recent address to his constituents. The Premier, he said, had stated that the Opposition desired to do away with the leasehold. That statement was unmitigated humbug. No member of the Opposition in the House or oil t of it had ever said so. The Opposition asserted and it recognised that to promote land settlcm'nt in

the country it was absolutely necessary to-retain the lands. The leasehold system enabled a poor man- to go upon thft lan<|, but the Opposition asserted that after a man, by thrift and industry, and by expenditure on fences and buildings, had made a home, and was desirous of obtaining a piece of freehold, by ail means let him have it, but restrict the area. They might hear it said that was impossible. It was not impossible. If the area in lease in perpetuity could be restricted, so it could in freehold.

An American lawyer who died not long ago was passionately fond of children, and made a collection of tlieir quaint sayings. One of the treasures of his library was a small manuscript -volume filled with definitions which children had composed. 'This volume was called a “child’s dictionary,” and here are some of the definitions ineluded in it: Dust—Mud with the juice squeezed out of it. — r Snoring—-Letting off sleep. Apples.—-The bubbles that apple trees blow. . i .

Backbiter.—A mosquito. Fan—A thing to brush the warm off with.

lee.—Water that went to sleep in the cold. :

Here are two other new stories of unconscious juvenile humour: The teacher in a grammar school was giving- an object lesson bn the “eat" “Who can tell me to what family the cat belongs?” she inquired. Seven or eiftht of the larger children were questioned, and could not tell ; so she asked one of the smaller pupils. “Can you tell us, Bobbie?” she inquired of a small, serious little chap. • “Yes’m,” piped up-Bobbie; “the eat belongs to the family what owns it.” ■ ■ >' A class of little girls at school was asked the meaning of the word “philosopher.” Most of the hands w-ere extended, -but one child seemed specially anxious to tell. - - > -“Well, Annie, what is a philosopher?” asked the teacher. “A man that rides a philosopede,”/was the little gill’s answer.

The following remarkable essay’ on ilia horse is said to be taken'from the pen of an. Indian student:; —“The horse is a very noble quadruped, but when he is angry he will not do so. He is ridden on the spinal cord by the bridle, and sadly’ the driver places his foots on the stirrups and divides his lower limbs across the saddle and drives his animal to the meadow. He has four legs; two are ou the front side and two are afterward. These are the weapons on which he runs. He also defends himself by, extending these in the rear in a parallel direction towards his foe, but this he does only when he is in aii aggravating mood. There is no animal like the horse. No sooner they- see their guardian or master than they’ always cry fox food, but it is always at the morning time. They have got tails, but not so long as -tlie cow and such other like animals.”

Before the members of the PlaygocrsClub, Mr. Arthur Diosy, when recently discoursing on stage pieces relating to Japan, said: Mr. George Edwardek objected to the title “The Geisha” because lie thought that, the public would pronounce. it “geesha.” Mr( Diosy undertook to make them say the word correctly by causing it to rhyme with. “Asia.” Hence the song “The Jewel of Asia.” In “The Geisha” one of the most successful .songs’is' “Polly Winked His Eye.” This was the national air of Hawaii, brought over in a gramophone. An effort was made in the production of the piece to introduce real Japanese costumes and effects, but Mr Monkhouse and Mr. Rutland Barrington were dressed as archbishops, because the manager wanted a splash of yellow and a splash of red on the stage, and a pilgrim was introduced for the'sake of a splash of white. The ladies in “The Geisha” were not content with the Japanese figure, so a fine of 5/ had to be imposed for wearing corsets. Miss Marie Tempest was asked not to wear an auburn wig, as Japanese ladies nearly always had black hair, and if they had not they dyed it so. But the actress said alia knew it was wrong, and she was going to wear it.

Mr Nesbit, who had painted a picture bf the noblc red man in war-paint and feathers, wanted, an unbiassed opinion of his work.' His wife said that the picture was the best thing of the kind that she had ever seen. Her dearest friend, too, was decidedly enthusiastic. Both declared, in short, that anyone would know at a glance that it was intended for an Indian. “To tell the truth,” said Nesbit, looking somewhat doubtfully at the picture, “I haven’t a great deal of confidence in either of you. You always praise everything I do. Now I’m going down to the street to sec if I can’t find some person who can be depended upon to give me. an absolutely unprejudiced opinion of this picture—a child, for instance. Children always tell the truth.”

Five minutes later Nesbit returned with three small boys whom he had found playing marbles. “Now, boys,” he said, “take a good look at this picture. I’ll give each of you sixpence if you’ll tell me just exactly ,what you seij.” “A rooster!” shouted the three boys, simultaneously.

The Chatham Islands, acording to Mr Florance, S.M., who has lived there for six years, are an ideal resort for a holiday. The weather, except during the currency of the equinox, which occurs towards the end of winter, is generally good, there is plenty of adventure for the adventurous, some of the best sea fishing probably to be obtained within the waters under the jurisdiction of the colonial Government, some river fishing, mostly for native trout, eels, and small fish, and plenty of game, both native an# imported. Ducks abound, and quail are plentiful. Deer ■were liberated on the main island several years back, but were apparently killed off before they had a chance of multiplying. The voyage-to the islands from Lyttelton at present occupies three nights and two days; it eould be accomplished in a day and a night by one vf the larger coastal vessels.

From New York to San Francisco by the Straits of Magellan, the present route for steamers, the distance is 13,714 nautical miles, and from New Orleans to San Francisco 14,114 miles. By way of the Panama Canal, the distance from New York will be 5299 miles, and from New Orleans 4698 miles, the route from New York being shortened 8415 miles, and from New Orleans 9416 miles. From New York to the principal nitrate of soda port of Chile, Iquique—the city having the heaviest export tonnage of any place on the west coast of South America—the present steamer route is 9221 nautical miles long; from Hamburg, the distance is 10,041 miles; whereas by the 'Panama Canal the figures for New York are 4021 (a saving of 5200 miles), and from Hamburg 7189 (a gain of 2852 miles). From San Francisco via Callao, the Straits of Magellan, and Pernambuco to Liverpool is 14,084 marine miles; via Panama, the distance is 8038 miles—--6046 miles less. The Panama Canal will bring New York nearly 4000 miles nearer Sydney, Australia, and about 6000 miles closer to Wellington, in New Zealand.

Surely laziness and not necessity is the mother of many present-day inventions, remarks the “Scientific American.” It describes, as an instance in point, the alarm-clock devised by a Pennsylvania man, which lights the kitchen fire, thus allowing him time for an extra nap in the morning. The fire-lighter comprises a friction-plate, on which a block is mounted. The block is secured to a bracket, which is fastened to the stove, A slot is cut in the side of the block to receive a spring arm extending from a coiled spring secured in the block. This arm, at its outer end, is provided with a holder for a match. The alarm clock is mounted on the block with legs secured in socket-pieces. A cord from the alarmkey of the clock stretches to a pin, which acts as a stop for the spring arm. When at the set time the alarm is sounded the alarm-key, as usual, rotates, winding up the cord and withdrawing the pin from engagement with the spring-arm. The latter then, under helion of the spring, lights the match by sweeping it over the friction-plate. At the end of its course the match comes 3nto contact with and ignites a fuse leading to the kindlings, thus lighting the fire.

In Germany a severe blow has just been dealt to hypnotists, magnetic healers, and other so-called occultists. A law has been passed prohibiting such persons from holding public seances, and heavy fines are prescribed as penalties in, case of disobedience. The reason why such a measure has been passed is curious. “ Seances given by magnetic healers and others,” says the law, “ are likely to arouse public prejudice against the persons who are use.d as mediums on such occasions, and, therefore, it is ordained that no meeting of this kind shall be held in future.” Moreover, the magistrates throughout Germany have received strict instructions to prosecute with The utmost vigour any persons who publicly practise hypnotism, magnetic healing, or any other of the so-called occult arts.

Why is the bull’s-eye of a target ss called’ This, says “Pearson’s,” is one of many instances in our language where words have gained a higher status than that with which they started, and have been promoted from the slang dictionary to the dictionary of words of respectacle and current use. Bull’s-eye is found in the dictionary of “The Canting Crew” so far back as 1690, and was the vulgar word for the central ring of the target used as a mark for archers, which was coloured differently from the other rings. This may have arisen from the. ancient rounded shields, cut out of oxhide, and strengthened with a spike or central boss for this shield or target—hence target was often used as a mark itself. When sheet glass began to bo manufactured, the thickened part, where, the tube had been attached, was called the bull’s-eye; then this term was successively applied to a lens of glass, especially in a ship’s side, to the lens of the lantern, to the lantern itself, and finally to the central boss of a target.

, Last month saw the last link of the Irving days cut at the Lyceum, when all its contents were sold by auction, fetching, curiously enough, very little as relics. Even the various articles in Sir Henry Irving’s and Miss Ellen Terry’s dressing-rooms were knocked down for a mere song, instead of falling to curiohunters at inflated prices, as many had anticipated. Now the work of dismantling the historic house begins, says a Home paper, and soon the Lyceum with all its many theatrical memories will be razed to the ground to make way for an entirely new form of entertainment. In the past, its tradition has been Shakespeare and serious drama under the aegis of Irving: but for the future it is to be devoted to variety entertainment under the tutelage of Mr. Thomas Barrasford. It is doubtless a very radical alteration, but in such hands it should prove a great success in every way. Financially nothing pays better nowadays than a music-hall with its isolated turns and freedom for the audience; and, although London is admirably supplied in this respect, there is surely room for another hall right at the top, as the new Lvceum is sure to be.

A Birmingham clockmaker recently found that a certain rival was doixm a large trade in cheap clocks sent 0111° to the wilds of Africa. He obtained a sample clock and found that there was a large profit in their manufacture. Investing a large sum in making a still better clock, he shipped thousands of them to the same market. Strange to say, his sales were very small, while his rival, turning out a cheap and inaccurate timepiece, was selling all he could make.

Finally he found the key to the mystery. Savages like noise. The clocks made by the original exporter had a particularly loud and aggressive tick. His imitator had made a better clock, and it was almost noiseless, and the savages would have none of it. The remedy was simple. The next shipment of clocks to the Guinea coast ticked louder than anything ever heard there, and all went well.

Another instance of the peculiar knowledge required for the foreign trade is that of a firm which had a large shipment of crackers returned to it from the Turkish port whither they had been sent. The reason was found to be that the crackers were decorated with picture of animals, and no true Mohammedan will buv the image of a living thing.

If a writer in the “County Gentleman” be correct, no country claiming rank as a Power is so badly off for horses as Japan. And perhaps of all the many questions agitating its Government, none from a military point of view is a more pressing one than that relating to the horsing of the Japanese Army, which is, without doubt, the very worst horsed army in existence. According to the very latest statistics compiled by the prefectural authorities for the information of the War Office, there were in the Empire of Japan at the end of last July 629,169 horses and 795,274 mares—by no means a sufficient allowance, according to this authority, for a country with a population of over 43 millions in round numbers.

“Lloyd's" inquire for:—Mac Harg (Ilobert) left Dumfries for New Zealand 23 years ago. Brother David asks. Moon (George) was in Honolulu. Sandwich Islands, in 1882. Brother Robert asks. Chapman (Ethol) seeks her father, who wrote in 1901 from Auckland, N.Z. Seaman (Frank), carpenter, left Stratford 29 years back for New Zealand. Brother Thomas inquires. Adams (William) left St. Ives. Hunts, in 1865 for New Zealand. Sisters inquire. Curry (Charles) left London for Akaroa, Canterbury, N.Z.; last heard from June, 1889. Uncle Alfred asks. Gazzaret (Mrs A.) used to live in Newtown, Wellington, N.Z. Mother asks. Stapley (Mary -Ann), nee Burnett, of Epsom, was supposed to sail for Australia or New Zealand about 1874. Brother Ben asks. Tavener (Mr and Mrs) had a farm at Masterton. Wellington, N.Z., 14 years ago. Nephew inquires.

The poor Japanese is the Halina of the East (writes Mr Douglas Sladen, in “Queer Things About Japan,” which has just been published). He lives on next to nothing, and thrives on it. He always has a smile. He works whenever he can get any work to do. They arc all week-days to him. Instead of a seventh day. Sunday, he has his festa, a national holiday or a temple-festival. In either case he goes a-fairing in some temple, and takes his children or a female friend. He is never too poor to have money to treat them. He only gives himself a holiday when lie is out of work, and his holidays are inexpensive. He just walks a hundred miles to see some famous garden in its glory, and when the last turn in the road shows him irises of Horikiri. or the thousand cherry trees of Yohino on the day of all the year, he would not change places with the King of England. Some of this Japanese world is extremely funny, and some quite pathetic. It is rather ftmny, for instance, to see prosperous tradesmen ami their fatfiil+es arrive from a distance with sufficient articles for a night or two done up in boxes wrapped in oil-paper, tied up with paper string; and quite pathetic to find paupers who have not enough to cat, ox - any employment, walking a couple of hundred miles to see some famous temple gardens in blossom.

There arc certain features common to most Japanese temple gardens—lo wit. water, stone pagodas, votive lanterns (ishidoro), lighthouses, cross-arches (torii), and endless terraces and stairways, fir-trees (Matsuji), trained into

alt manner of fantastic shapes, maples (Momi-ji) trained into all manner of fantastic colours, wistaria (Fuji) trailing four feet long, racemes of pale lilac blossom over arbours built at the edge of the water, grooves of blossoming trees, and a ridiculous stone or plaster travesty of Fujiyama.

‘•From Saranac to the Marquesas and Beyond,” just published, is a collection of letters written by Mrs M. I. Steveitaoii, mother of Robert Louis Stevenson, to her sister during a tour in America, and the South Seas. She was accompanied by her son. his wife, and his stepson, Mr Lloyd Osbourne. The tour in the South Seas led to the family selecting Samoa as their future abode, and there Mrs Stevenson, who, like her son, was in delicate health, became so much stronger that she went about barefoot, found no heat too great for her, and, at an age when her sisters at home were old ladies, learnt U» ride. She. survived her distinguished son two or three years, dying in May, 1897. Mrs Stevenson’s letters are well written, and contain some vivid and interesting sketches of life in the South Sea Islands, her impressions being those of a keen and unprejudiced observer. They show that, as far as it was hereditary, the famous writer derived his literary gift, from his mother. From another pointof view the letters are disappointing. There is very lit tie in them about Robert Ixmis Stevenson. He seems to have had bad health during the tour, and we arccontinually told that he has been in !>ed for one or more. days. At Tahiti of which Mrs Stevenson says, “Lt seems to me a sort of half-way house between savage life and civilisation, with the drawbacks of both and the advantages of neither.” Louis learnt a good deaf tke language, and hail long conversations with a native named Ori. 'The Tahitian asked Stevenson how much he made by his books, and when he was told what “Kidnapper” bad brought in w year he could not believe it, and went, for an interpreter to make sure. There are several portraits of Mrs Stevenson and members of her family, the Bab fours.

A rich and foolish American woman has been astonishin fashionable France by the absurd care and expense she lavishes upon her dog, a commonplace little thing of the terrier breed. The dog is how occupying a special apartment in a hotel frequented by millionaires, nobles and other persons of distinction, lie is attended by a maid who is compel cut to be a duchess's tire woman.

The animal has been coddled and pampered until he is sickly, and has an appetite as dainty as that of a spoiled child. His meals are ordered from the restaurant with painfully careful selection. A, portion of woodcock, or quail, or some ris de veau, is sent on a silver service to his canine highness’s apartment- with as much attention to daintiness as if he were an old-time peer of France. After the French fashion, hr is sometimes seen in the restaurant, devotedly watched by his superior attendant. Tie wears a collar set with jewels. Needless to say, the owner of the pampered brute is one of tin* new-rich; her husband is something in the oil trade.

When the history of the Russo Japanese war comes to be written, it will be found to have been the work oi one man—M. Bezobrazoff.

The rise of thia royal favourite is ol a mediaeval character. He began life as an insignificant member of the corps ul Imperial pages, then became an ottieer in the regiment of guards, and, being a man of energy, but penniless, went forth to the bar East to make his fortune.

He soon became possessed of immensely valuable trading concessions, and had the good fortune, through the influence of the Grand Duke Alexander Michaeloviteh, to be appointed manager of various mines, the private property of the Czar and the Dowager-Empress. Through his able administration immense sums .were remitted to the imperial proprietors. This proved a golden pathway to royal favour. A man capable of so increasing the revenues of private mines .was considered worthy to undertake the management of State affairs.

M. Bezobrazoff was appointed Secretary of State for the Far East. From that moment he exerted unbounded influence over his royal master, so far as those regions were concerned.

He criticised the defective management of the Manchurian railway, and he attacked the Siberian development policy of M. Witte as being over-cau-tious and imprudently economical, ilis intimate knowledge at first hand lent immense weight to bis arguments, and -M. Witte had to retire.

it was through his influence that Admiral Alexeieft was appointed Viceroy of the Far East, and it is known that the two men are partners in mines, forests and other trading concessions of immense value in Manchuria and Northern Korea. Had it only been possible to close these areas to the trade of the rest of the world, the little clique at the head of which stands M. Bezobrazoff would have amassed vast wealth, which would even have thrown into the shade the riches of John Rockefeller.

The war has been engineered for the sake of the private interests of M. Bezobrazoff and his friends. The official advisers of the Czar who were on the side of peace have been quietly shelved. The Czar himself, a devotee of peace, has been deluded into the policy which has had this disastrous ending.

M. Bezobrazoff is a shrewd business man, daring ami audacious. He has been sending despatches to the Far East, signed in his own name, and without any reference to the Czar or any other Ministers.

Tn connection with a newspaper paragraph recently published relative to the s.s. Taviuni calling at the French islands of Raiatea and Huahine, which, in the opinion of a Cook Island correspondent, would be detrimental to the trade of New Zealand’s island possessions, the Hon. Air. Mills, in reply to certain inquiries he made, has received the following reply from the Wellington manager of the company. "The writer of the paragraph on this subject has evidently quite misconceived the position. Our Eastern I’aeilic steamer has always called regularly at Raiatea and Huahine as often as there was any inducement, and usually she loads oranges at these islands seven «rr vogtst times a year. When our s.s. Mawhera was wrecked, we abandoned the inter-insular service, and the Tahiti Government then made other arrangements for carrying it on, but the contractor (Mr. Ballande, of Noumea), after running a steamer for a while, was forced to give it up on account of heavy losses. .French islands were thus deprived of regular inter-eommunication with each other, and as a result of this the French < lovcrnment asked us in January last to arrange for our Auckland steamer to call at Raiatea both ways every trip, thus giving a monthly service between Papeete and the principal outlying island. As the deviation is only some fifty miles, ami there is a fair trade, principally in passengers between Raiatea and Papeete, we agreed to the Government proposals. .Previous to this I may say that we had been debarred by the operation of French lavs from carrying either passengers or cargo locally between Pa|K?ete and Raia,lea, but in order to induce us to fall in ■with their proposals, the Government removed this restriction. The arrangement really makes no different in connection *\ith the shipment of oranges from the islands, as the steamer would in ally case during the orange season have called as

usual at the places mentioned, whereas, on the other hand, under present arrangements, regular calls from New Zealand are likely to develop trode from this colony to Raiatea.

In the “Engineering Magazine” the following description of the New York Bridge is given: “The new bridge is five feet greater in span than the Brooklyn bridge, but in capacity for traffic it exceeds the older structure threefold, and it is in this respect especially that the new bridge is notable. A few figures may be given to enable the old, or Brooklyn, bridge to be compared with the new, or Williamsburg, bridge. The Brooklyn bridge is of 1595.5 ft clear span, and a total length of 5989 ft. Its clear height of waterway beneath is 135 ft, and the width of the bridge structure proper is 85ft. The Williamsburg bridge has a span of 1600 ft, and a clear height of 140 ft 4Jin above mean high water, while the width is 118 ft. The traffic capacity of the Williamsburg bridge is increased by’ making a portion of the suspended structure double deck, there being two roadways and two tramways for electric trolleys on the lower deck, while above there are two foot walks, two bicycle paths, and a double track way for the elevated railway- This arrangement will provide fully triple the transport capacity for the new bridge over the old, and this will doubtless materially relieve the crowding of the Brooklyn bridge, besides aiding to develop the section more directly reached by the new structure. The principal differences in appearance between t he new bridge and the Brooklyn bridge are of the towers, which are of structural steel instead of masonry, and in the much greater depth and stiffness of the suspended structure, this latter being practically an immense truss bridge supported by the cables instead of by piers. This latter feature gives the new bridge a great degree of stiffness, and it is expeeetd that with even the greatest traffic of which the roadways are capable the deflection and vibration will be almost imperceptible. The new bridge was commenced in October, 1897, and opened in December, 1903, and the total cost, exclusive of the site, was about 11.000.OOOdols; inclusive of the land, however, the cost has exceeded 20,000, OOOdols. The chief engineer of the bridge was Mr. L. L. Buck, and the assistant chief engineer, Mr. O. F. Nichols.”

There are known to be 155 lady commercials on the road. One of the most successful among the sisterhood represents a high-class undertaker, and does remarkably well at it.

Her special mission is to call on bereaved widows, and to persuade them to put the entire funeral arrangements into her expert hands. She makes between £2OO and £3OO a year at this somewhat depressing business—but, “you soon get used to it,” she says. Another specialty of hers is to arrange for the funerals of babies and little children. In fact, the undertaker in question puts this entire branch of his establishment under her direction.

The births, marriages, and deaths columns of a daily newspaper keep several lady’ travellers busy’, bring them a very fair income, and grist to the mill of their employers. At least two women travellers earn a salary of 15/ a week and commissions on all business transacted for their firms in baby clothes, feeding bottles, and nursery requisites. Their clientele comes from the old maids’ corner of various newspapers. Other women commercials call on brides-to-be and arrange to furnish the wedding gown, or the entire trousseau, as the case may be- One does very’ well indeed as traveller for a famous firm of soap makers.

Within the last few weeks there have been reported several remarkable cases of the survival of the black art of witchcraft. and its practice in various parts of England even today. At Exeter, under the very’ shadow of the cathedral, a herbalist was convicted of obtaining money under false pretences. His fraud was the performance of incantations to free persons from the spells of evil spirits. In one case he was called upon to purge a bewitched room, which he did by scattering powder and repeating the Lord's Prayer. For this he charged and received £5. In a stabbing case at Essex Assizea last December it was

staled* in evidence that to quicken the healing of the wounds the knife with which they were inflicted was smeared with grease and put in the injured man’s bed. The knife was oiled to prevent it from rusting, for mortification of the wound is sup]>osed to follow the rusting of the instrument. At Blackburn, a month or two ago, a dog stealer pleaded in defence of his crime that the fat of a stolen dog was a cure for rheumatism. In this belief he had taken the animal and killed it to make an unguent. These recent cases occurring in widely separated parts of the kingdom show how strong is still the power of superstition over the minds of the people, despite the compulsory education of the last thirty years. In many an English village the wise woman is still more than a rival for the doctor, though he is skilled in the marvels of the X-rays and Finsen fight cure. About Multon the Yorkshire rustics still believe in the virtues of a baked mouse as a remedy for whooping-cough, though trained nurses of the district association tend the sick in their homes. The value of this cure is said not to be in the mouse, but the cheese it had eaten. Whooping-cough has many and strange folk-cures. Soup made from mice tails is one. The surest is to pass the suffering child three times under the belly and over the back of a donkey. A few years ago a correspondent stated in the "Lancet” that one donkey in the county Cork was so famous for its remedial virtues that its owner supported himself and a large family by the beast’s Gainings. He toured the district with his ass, crying, “Will any one come under my donkey for the chin cough?” When a Derbyshire clergyman’s children had whooping-cough his coachman’s wife brought little silk bags to be tied round the sufferers’ necks, each bag containing hair cut from the cross of a donkey’s baek. In Somersetshire, treacle, turpentine and other ingredients are mingled together, and the concoction rubbed into the whooping child’s palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and pit of the stomach four times a day. A mother, who had been a nurse in a large hospital, ironically tried this remedy. To her vast amazement her child’s cough actually ceased under the treatment.

At the Royal United Service Institution recently Lieutenant-Commander K. Sato, of the Imperial Japanese Navy, gave a very interesting account of the education of the Japanese naval officers. The tests are undoubtedly very severe. Out of 1995 applicants to enter the naval college at Yetajima last year the actual number selected was only 180. Once a cadet enters the college he is not allowed to change his mind. The Government pays for the whole course of his maintenance and education, and the State cannot afford to have negative results, cither by his withdrawal or by his continuing inefficient. In addition to a sound, general education, the future naval officer has to learn English thoroughly. The professional examination embraces everything, from making a knot to building a warship. Physical exercise includes battery drill, boat drill, swimming, wrestling, fencing, and infantry movements.

Having left the college as a “middy,” the student continues his quest of knowledge on the battleship, and when made a “sub” his practical fitness to remain on the quarterdeck is certified by his captain in a report, which is required to prove that he is diligent, quick to grasp facts, learned in naval essentials, types of ships, forts, and strategy.

There was a large attendance at the Napier Boys’ High School at the unveiling of the marble memorial tablet erected by the Old Boys’ Association in memory of two former scholars of the school who died while on active service in the South African war. Among those, present were Mr. S. Berry (father of

Lieutenant Berry), Dean Hove 11, the Rev. Dr. Sidey, Captain Hughes, and Messrs. T. Tanner, H. A. Cornfold, C. H. Edwards, J. L*. Westall (governors), members of the Old Beys’ Association, and a number of ladies. Apologies for non-attendanee were forwarded by Messrs. R. D. D. McLean, J. Vigor Brown (governors), and Captains Ringland and Hislop. Mr. Cornford presided in the unavoidable absence of Dr. Moore, chairman of the Board of Governors. In a stirring, patriotic speech, he explained the reason of the gathering, and was followed by Mr. G. White, president of the Old Boys’ Association. The shield was then unveiled, those present (including the cadet corps, who presented arms) standing while the Union Jack was lifted from the. shield and the “Last Post” was sounded by the buglers. The shield is of marble, and is erected in the largest room of the main building. It bears the following inscription in gold-painted indented letters: —“South African war, 1899-1902. In memoriam. Lieutenant ’W. J. Berry and TroopEr J. T. Anderson. Dulse et decorum est pro patria mori.” (“ It is sweet and becoming to die for one’s country.”) Captain Hughes, D. 5.0., and Dean Ilovell, then addressed those present at the request of the chairman, and the proceedings termiuated.

How is it that some people have more energy than others? Doctors declare that it is owing to differences in temperament, climate, constitution, and nourishment. Moralists, of course, lay chief stress on principles and high aims. The truth probably lies In a combination of all these things. There is no doubt that we ane half of us not so energetic as we might be, and it is so important that it is wonderful so few people take any pains to cultivate and increase it. When they do begin to think about it they generally adopt some absurd method of trying to obtain it.

A friend of mine on the Stock Exchange (says a London writer) informs me that quite a large number of the members, who are by no means deficient in ordinary sanity, are In the habit of wear in their boots two small discs of zine and copper, so thin that they are worn with case under the soles of the feet. The idea is that by their means a current of electricity is set going up the wearer’s legs, and the whole system is braced up and extra vigour results. In the recent troublous time on the Stock Exchange I am assured very many of our shrewdest financiers have derived benefit from this little arrangement. If they have it only shows the wondrous power of faith. Two or three years ago a Parisian doctor ran an “energising course,” and did a tremendous business among the jaded higher classes of the French capital. His treatment extended over three months, and the most wonderful results were claimed for it. In the first place, there was the daily inhalation of certain gases administered by him, and the constituents of which were a profound secret. In addition, there was a most careful prescription of food and drink, medicine, methods of life, and gymnastics. Lastly, there was what I may call a series of moral prescriptions as to the proper ideals to be cultivated with regard io work. He was declared to effect marvels with his patients, and a London physician informed me that the course was perfectly reasonable and undoubtedly calculated to effect its purpose, the only part of it which he considered open to adverse criticism being the mysterious gas inhalation.

“If people would only stand before' an open window first thing in the morning and take 20 deep breaths, filling their lungs through the nostrils, and exhaling the air by the mouth, they would add on an amount of energy which would surprise them,” he said. “But people have an aversion to what is easy and cheap. They prefer costly medicines.