TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2646, 30 October 1909, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The Korean worm has turned, and Prince Ito, the JaJapan and Korea panese Resident, in that misgoverned and onpressed corner of Asia, is dead —- assassinated ! The tragedy is a deplorable one, for murder, whether in the shape of assassination or legalised execution, has never ( yet benefited the cause for which" it was committed* though it may have served to draw attention to the policy of its perpetrators. When violence is met with violence the biggest brute wins; and the recent history of Korea would show that the Jap is the bigger brute of the two, and has, moreover, considerably more cunning and education. However, the sympathy of nations is always on the side of the. strong (unless it is that partisanship for the -weak is being made the excuse for profitable warfare) and the .attitude- of official Europe and its press over Ito’s murder.is widely different from the comparative apathy with which it viewed the recent death of Ferrer. Of course the expressions of sympathy represent an act of conciliatory courtesy to Japan rather than personal sorrow lor the Prince. The same conciliatory attitude characterised the Hague Conference a few years ago at .a former crisis in Korean affairs. Three patriots visited Europe to lay before', tile Conference a story of their country’s misgovernment by Japan, yet the Powers refused even to hear them and stood indifferent while the Japanese, through the puppet King of Korea, condemned the three to death in their absence. However, this last act of the assassin is-a sign that the Koreans are chafing more violently than ever under the yoke of their fellow Mongolians from the Land of the Rising Sun, and though the latter may have official sympathy from Europe, the white people are growing to regard the Japs in a less favorable light than they did at the time of the political yellow boom a few years hack. In the case of Japan and Korea there are many who side with the bottom dog.

One of the pleasantest features of a well-conducted raceAt the Races. meeting from the ordinary person’s point of view is afternoon tea, and no one visiting the Makaraka races yesterday could fail to be struck by the wretched facilities for- this popular social and gastronomic interlude. One is prepared to put up with a bit of a rough and ready scramble at lunch, but after- : noon tea is a function that one usually associates with a certain amount of comfort 'and refinement. As served at Makaraka it is a miserable parody of what it ought to be. To begin with, the vault, under the grandstand, with its rough plank walls, is a most depressing place. The proper place to serve afternoon tea would be on the lawn, and there is ample room for thirty small tables or so under the trees in the paddock to the right of the stand. Tho refreshments could be dispensed from a small marquee tent, and what is at present a second-rate bun and tea fight might be made-a really pleasurable adjunct to one of the most popular events of the year. • ,

Mr S/ F. Cody, -who has been engaged by the British Aeroplane Predic- War Office to tions. conduct a series

of experiments with the view of evolving an aeroplane calculated to 'meet modern military requirements, .has written an article for. tho London “Daily Chronicle,” in which he outlines his views as to the probable future of the aeroplane. The time is not far distant, lie says, wheh the aeroplane will riyal the motor-car as a means of rapid travelling, the aeroplane being less expensive than tho motor-car in regard both to first cost and to maintenance. While he admits that the necessity for a marine fighting force will continue, even after the perfection of aerial craft, Mr Cody expresses the opinion that tho value of both armies and navies for defence purposes will be subsidiary to that of aerial defences, provided that the dreadful possibilities of aerial warfare do. not frighten ..all. civilised nations into general disarmament. . The introduction of an. efficient aeroplane or airship, he tells us, would render no lino of attack secret, no position unknown, and.no fortress-safe from the prying eyes of enemies.. Another contingency, that will arise, according to Mr\Cody,is that, the Customs services of tho world will be baffled, unless the Customs departments are equipped with aeroplanes swifter than any which can •be obtained by smugglers. Commodities such as saccharine, Mr Cody says, are so light in proportion to their dutiable value that even modern: aeroplanes could easily transport them across frontiers find more than pay for their cost in a few trips. The darker

possibility of airships being employed by Anarchists and revolutionists as also dealt with. Mr Cody graphically .describes the sense of absolute powerlessness felt by people on land in the presence of airships overhead, and declares that at present the aviator holds in the hollow of his hand unprecedented powers of life and death. With the advent of the aerial era mankind must be prepared for the most radical changes m social and military conditions that have ever taken place in the world. 'No other invention has had it in its power so to revolutionise the general existing systems as has the aeroplane.

Shipping intelligence in. this morning’s issue will be found on page 3. The Wliataupoko Lawn Tennis Club will open its season at the club’s courts this afternoon. The committee of the bazaar recently held in aid of the Townlcy Maternity ; Home desire to thank all persons who assisted at the sale or .with donations or purchases. Borough -ratepayers are reminded that Monday is the last day for payment of borough rates in order to escape the imposition of the 10 per cent, additional charge. Mr. H. M. Iterter, secretary of the Poverty Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Association, estimates the attendance on People’s Dav at the Association s Show at about 7000 people or 800 more than on the corresponding daylast year. Mr. A. Graham, secretary of the Kia Ora Dairy Company, lias been advised by the Minister for Agriculture that Mr. Dempster has been appointed butter grader at Gisborne, and that he has been instructed to take up Ins duties at an early date. Mr. Henry Brett, an Auckland delegate to the Imperial Press Conferonce, who is still in London, lias decidM to present the Corporation of Auckland with a new organ for the Town Hall, at a cost exceeding £6OOO. This fine instrument is to be built by Norman and Beard, Ltd and is to be shipped to New Zelaand at the latter end of next year. A delegate who attended the annual conference of Societies for the Health of women and Children, held in Wei iington, informed a reporter that there was consensus of opinion among the delegates that an urgent protest should be made against the use of push carts, and several members gave striking instances of serious harm due to the use of them. The Superintendent of the Christchurch Fire Brigade arranged, one evening last week, that an. alarm should be given to test the smartness of the brigades in turning out. The occasion was also made an unpremeditated test of the smartness of the Telephone Exchange in answering the call. Mr. J. D. Hal! (chairman of the Fire Board) had to wait two minutes before he could get connected with the fire station. Ten thousand codlin moth grubs have been sent to .Auckland from the Manawatu district by the Government pomologist. The grubs are to be-used for food for the parasites Tor, .the. campaign against the destructive codlin. 'They are caught by means of bandages ■ placed round tree trunks, the, larvae taking refuge in the foids of the sacking From one orchard in the Feilding district, this week :3000' grubs were taken. - The following is the result of the judging in Class 164 at the Poverty Bay* Agricultural Show, for pen of five •fat lambs, suitable for London market, ■must be lambed since July Ist. —Ist prize £2 2s, 2nd prize £1 Is (both presented by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company): W. Jobson 1, Williamson Bros. 2, W. Jobson 3. The iudges, Messrs C. A. Fenwick and W. Roderick, declare _ that the lambs, although not many in number, were a very fine lot. A series of Australian bushranging stories, entitled ; •'Short-lived Bushrangers,” commences in this morning s literary 'supplement of the “Gisborne Times.” The tales, which are full of exciting situations, are written by Mr. Charles, White, author of “Australian Bushrangers,” “01(3 Convict Days, t etc. This well-known author lias an extensive knowledge of the old times in Australia, and with a pen inspired with the spirit of those times, he never lets the reader’s attention flag. The first of the series is entitled ‘ A Chinese Highwayman,” and tells graphically the exploits of the only Chinaman bushranger in Australia. The Right Rev. Bishop Lenilian is to hold a confirmation service at St. Mary’s Church to-morrow morning. On Monday evening lie will hold a similai service at St. Bede’s Church, Ormond and will afterwards be presented with an address of. welcome from the parishioners in the church. On Tuesday next His Lordship will be welcomed at a conversazione in St. Mary’s Hall, and on Wednesday he will eave Gisborne./ He is to open churches at Matamata and Te Awamutu, and will discharge some duties in connection with •the Mission of the Redemptorist Fathers. * He also purposes to pay a visit to Whangarei before Christmas. Speaking at a prize distribution to Sunday school scholars, at Christchurch, the Rev. T. Tait urged the desirability, both for teachers and scholars, of endeavoring to have' the work more thorough going than it sometimes appeared to -be. He had had to do with examinations of all sorts, he said, for the last fourteen or fifteen years, and he had been struck with the fact that oftener than not among young and old persons, students in the university and Sunday school scholars, there was a tendency to scrape on' the surface for facts, and just get up a few facts that they thought would enable them to edge their way through the examinations and scramble up to a high place. It was not worth while. They should take more time, for it was not fair to try to scrape through in a month what should take three of four months’ study. The new issue of stamps hearing the King’s head will be ready for sale on the afternoon before the King’s birthday, says the “Dominion.” The stamps of the new issue range from a halfpenny to one shilling, each value except the penny bearing the King’s head: The. penny stamp is of the same general -design as heretofore, except that “Dominion of New Zealand” is substituted, for “New Zealand,” wad the value appears in Arabic numerals in addition to the value in words. The halfpenny stamp is prepared for printing by the surface process, and bears an excellent portrait of His Majesty ■the King. The stamps of 2d, 3d, 4d, sd, :6d, Bd, and Is are engraved by the recess process printing, and. are spoci■mens of very -fin© workmciiisuip, cno portrait of the King being believed to be the best that lias yet appeared on any postage stamp. The plates for all the stanips were prepared in London, the printing being done- in New Zealand. The perforation, gumming, and general appearance of the sheets or stamps reflect credit 1 on the Government Printer and his staff.

Mrs E M. Dunlop, well known in literary circles, is visiting Gisborne at Pr ThTTelegraph Department not** that n telegraph olhce .will be openc on the l*t pro*, at Townsville Jo tty, a sub-office to Townsville. T+ te Avnected that a largo number et people whl be travelling South by the P Monowai to-morrow alternoon. !■ view of this fact passengeis ar vised to book before the U.b.fc '• office closes at 1 o clock this aftern Mr. Alan P. Day, secretary of the Opotiki Agricultural and 1 A soeiation and Jockey Club, bas been n Gisborne for Carnival Wedk. He ea-ves on the return journey to Opotiki -0 the early tram this lir T ne y Day, with Miss Day, made the journey into town on horseback.-

In connection with the new P r ° ■gramme to be submitted by tbe Path - Picture Company on Monday nod, t management intend holding a •> competition open to local * -n and 1 school children. Tl ’e subject lie- “Should Compulsory Military Tr..m ; ~ing be Established in New Zealand. .Full particulars of the competition be published 'later. The railway officials report that athough this is a slack time, Hie tra h is of a satisfactory volume and lia. been surprisingly good right tbrough the winter (says the Heiald ). - Main Trunk line continues to be « patronised by travellers. So far t*i • line lias been very satisfactory fi n the point of view of passenger tia ■ r J'ho volume-; of goods traffic kas, 1 ever, not been so satisfactory. A woman who was under cross-ex-amination in the x~nd Police Conr threw the Court into sudden confusion by abruptly leaving the box, ami declaring, in a hysterical manner, tna she would not be cross-examined any longer, she would rather be committed for contempt. Another witness was taken, and later on the woman recovered her equanimity sufficiently to make n reappearance. One of the vicitors to the races on Thursday must have backed a winner early on in tlie day, for he started celebrating his success so vigorously that before the end of the afternoon he was picked out of a ditch, dead drunk. Next morning be was so penitent that be took out a prohibition order against himself, and his penitence was doubtles augmented when he was ordered to pav 5s and costs by Mr. Barton, S.M., in the Police Court yesterday. In the course of his address at the Diocesan conversazione at Christchurch, the Rev. E. Iv. Mules (of Otira) told a story of the schoolmaster at Broken River who bad given a history lesson on the pilgrim fathers and who had got his pupils to write an essay on the subject afterwards. One or the essayists had written: “The pilgrim fathers left the Church of England to seek for God.” “I think,” commented the speaker, that tlie boy bad a grand imagination which ought to ho cultivated.” At the close of the practice of St. Andrew's choir last evening a pleasing little ceremony took . place, when a presentation was made to Miss Church, who is shortly to-be married. Mr. Hookey, in making a presentation of a piece of plate, expressed liis pleasure that the lady, was 'about to enter the matrimonial state, and wished her every happiness. He regretted losing a member who had been so useful and so regular in attendance. Mr. Redstone also added his good wishes. Mr. E. Church responded on behalf of his sister. Light refreshments, supplied by the ladies of the choir, were then handed round. At.the annual meeting of the Trustees of the Gisborne Methodist Church and parsonage property, a very satisfactory balance-sheet was submitted by the treasurer. Nine additional trustees have recently been appointed. A resolution of appreciation of _ the manner in which Messrs Jennings and Co. had carried out their contract in connection with the new schoolroom transept was carried, and also special votes of thanks were recorded to Mrs. Edwards and Mr. C. Bruce for their gifts of birthday chairs for the infant department, to Messrs Jennings and Vincent for a gift of a sand-table, to Mr. Geo. Bull for putting together the infants’ chairs, ana to Messrs Strong and East for their services as organists. Lord Kitchener has issued a circular letter, says the “Times” Simla correspondent, drawing attention to the great improvement in the health of the British and Indian troops during the past few years, and congratulating all concerned on the results of their strenuous efforts, in which he has always taken the deepest interest. The deatlirate of the British troops has fallen from 17.13 per thousand between the years 1904 and 1903 to 9 per thousand in 1908; and the consequently sick in hospital from. 5348ftt0 3139, This reduction means a saving of 2000 men to the fighting strength. The deathrate in the Indian Army has been reduced from 11.33 per thousand to 7.41, and the consequently sick from 3721 to 2749. A new and interesting piece of machinery has just been landed here to the order of Messrs Jas. J. Niven and Co., Ltd., engineers. It is a half-gap, sehacting sliding, surfacing, and screwcutting lathe, with 24ft bed, -complete with 2 face plates, 24 inches and 54 inches in diameter respectively, a 24 inch jaw chuck, an independent chuck with reversible jaws, and a set of patent face plate dogs. This lathe is fitted with all the latest improvements for speedy and accurate work, and will take eastings in the gap up to 5 feet in diameter. It is the largest lathe between Napier and - Auckland. The enterprising firm who imported it have /also installed a oewt steam hammer, by which they arc now able to work heavy forgings with comparative ease. They" expect to receive in the next few weeks other up-to-date appliances, including a machine saw for cutting steel girders and heavy iron bars. The Rev. Dr. Nesbit, of First Church, Dunedin, forwards the “Dominion the following paragraph from the Brisbane “Courier,” and states that hei has known Mr. Hey and Ins work for nearly twenty years, and can very heartily endorse the sentiments expressed by tlie Bishop of Carpentaria: —“Speaking at the Anglican Mission meeting the Bishop of Carpentaria paid a high tribute to Mr. Hoy, the superintendent of the Mapoon Mission Station. He said he wanted to say •liow glad lie was that- it had been found that Mr, Hey was not guilty of the conduct attributed, to lnm. ((Ileal, hear.) No man that knew Mr. Hey would ever believe for a single moment that he could have been guilty, of anything'of tlie sort. (Applause.) Mr. Hey had devoted the whole of Ins life for* the last .twenty .years with an absolute devotion to this work, and lie had the highest and noblest character. He (Dr White) had felt absolutely sure from the first that Mr. Hoy could never under any possible circumstances be.guilty of conduct which was unbeoomTng a Christian or a gentleman. ’ Tlie charge against the Rev. Mr. Hey was cruelly whipping a native girl named Ellen,

a VC rv perceptible shock of earth- , JU S& fit in Gisborne at 1.34 a.m. n u I! • The direction appeared te be from north to south. Robert Thelwall and 'Florence Thel-u-al who did not appear to defend term selves were each hued 10s and 7s the Police Court yesterday, for rvchnS on the footpath in Gladstone ifoad last Monday afternoon. The total number of passengers; car- • V on the Gisborne railway on WedWav and Thursday, counting return SK uach way, which is a record. Un ** - v number was 1560, and . on J hursday 5 The traffic was Handled by. Mr. Dav and his staff in a highly suisractorv manner. ...... The new vapor process of lighting is !,oing installed at the Nuggets lighthouse. It has proved very successful, savs the Balclutba “Free Press and eftects a great saving (estimated at one haft) in paraffin. A burner ot HJOO- - -no ver is used, and the light is a SfS one. '.The snmli school rv neat little building it attended S scholars. . The school is regarded as a boon by the lightxeepers. Counsel in the Court of Appeal, ted6ntrtoii: “I submit your Honors, -w-d venture to suggest that it is the privilege of the press to criticise all public men. Public comment on such lumi is to be encouraged so long as it "for tlie. good of the State; and inhrd public men like criticism when it is favorable to them.” Mr. Justice Ld-w-rds- “Perhaps so; but; in that -a~e ‘criticisin’ is called Mattery m the other case it is called libel.