TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11505, 11 February 1903, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

•Mr *aMftw9H SettD &Q'«i -' who* • Above the Beth, nonaocd i ■-cm of two men who - aw*y from ,Mother E^h^.tijßSfm , ' hamaa being* twtora or i gnat balloon wcexrt. (■ withj : ; name in linked intbe nkW tf''W|9i®Hi|\ tioa, took plao* *t Wolveihawton tea&m Mb, 1868. • Xt mm fa*** *'S?§l|S| ' of Mcent* uxaertakcn by OMdur wall, onbeh*tf <rf , iib Aeocietioo, which fuoMcn cjiw|im( in 1869 to vmlka dbmetruiim ia.il» Wpgj ||1' ■t»Ui of Uμ jdtUHiptigim W *; tMiLooB. On *U* potießar oe^°«ijil| ' MtoatatM inttn&d «t ti/'ool**- /v «a wm pofiibJe, «MUb* £tt !^^^^3'-, nootd iwi vm*T b*« *>•/«« »> "" «rt limb of iwinmn liJ*/ A ' . mib« w— cwcbi»d in «j/hto<n .' leaving the wiith. i2ue* nUH ia.yWj .< ftve miiJKU*, four inlWln j fifth mile : #| .< later. At this etag/tbe tlwfflmwjtelljp|| dropped from 59 deg#« to two . low zero. Mr CHfl2ber'« eye«#» Mg ■ affected, w3ril Mr'CoxweU. ■. flcdWy in A Kttle '• OUblHr kwt the de of lea tuOT '- U *iiJffl '' &U on fan ehouldef, and wbea wWtig^^|. v fort ne-nirtd it, i/»t once feßOtt tide. Hβ couldfoniy juit «* r {Moion, and wiw maMe to epeak, yf nerve euddenly pet power, • vat [rSßssm If•Uackneas fell i#a ton, but tk to&gJSfflS*?: active w ev*r,ind be wae able calmly of appvochmg death, I/., loon wae by w time more *4*a I " l above the ««C «net Mr Qbainr *wijf^a 1 ! : i came mwoneokw, being ««* i **S^ , l { thirteen mhMta *Up«d u ** ,^'< ?i3sE4wl ing uoccßiacedie and naroming eencw and Aide. Jfa A* y^^V^^a^i He hod dinKd ftp into ti>* ctyff car to looai the nlve-Bne, eodl . w there bad f»t tiia u«e of hand» an* i §^^^ into the of. ■Hβ found M«*>» l ? l '? M fSiMH|P vslk AIK falfr wAftb JBMI '" WSB BWPWP^mB^HHE

ing insensible. The balloon wae etill Mcendinj; at the rate of a thousand feet per minute, and it was urgently necessary, if their lives w«re to be saved, that it ehould descend. Mr Cox■wefl could not get hold of the valve-line because of his ueelees hand*, but ultimately Ie managed to seize it in his teeth, and dipped his haid two or three times, until the escape of gits caused the balloon to descend rapidly. At its greatest height it had reached an" elevation of some 37 A oOOft, or seven males.

The "Practical Teacher" The makes an amusing find Old French in a French newspaper, BchoolmasUr. which reprints the duties of a schoolmaster, as scheduled by the little commune of Courlon, in the year 1768. Strange is the contrast between those good old times and to-day'e most secular France. The instructor of youth was bound to attend every service in the chnrch on week days or Sundays, including all burials and special guild services. '■ Hβ will have to mle and teach the young folk well and duly, and, as far as he can, with moderation without hatred or paasion." The "as far as he can" seems to allow some indulgence for human infirmity. "Twice * week he will catechiee in the school. On Baint days and Sundays he will take care that the children do not play in the neighbourhood of the church during catechkm, which will not prevent him from being alea in the church to compel the children to behave with proper decency." Bir Boyle Roche'rj bird, which was in two places at once, says the " Practical Teacher," cannot excel tliie dominie, "who is to drive away the noisy boys who insist upon playing in t!ie church yard, and yet be iiwide the church promoting decent behaviour with the aid of a willow wand." The schoolmaster might not' extend his valkw beyond the parish without the gear's express consent. This regulation naturally followed the injunction to act as clerk to the vicar, "in all his Junctions, by day or night." There were sumptuary laws also for the teaching profession. Schoolmasters must wear their hair "short" and "modest" (no flowing ringlets, love-locks, or other delusive attractions for this martyr of the good old times); and during his frequent service 'attendance must be dressed in cassock, iwplice, and square cap. Thus strictly clad, with serious duties to perform, the poor teachers were expected to walk etraitly. "It ie forbidden that they keep iiins, play. publicly on the violin or other instrument, or attend dances and evening aeNembliee." Teachers* socials or orchestral societies had no favour in ancient France. The chief recreation was evidently that of leading their flock—"two by two." il is expressly ordered—to the church, and, wfiile waiting for the church bell to cease, "reading aloud from some pious work." With the bells, by the way, is connected another curious item on this elaborately detailed municipal record. When tempeete ruled, there came the most urgent call tlpon a valuable member of society. "As it is recognised that the sound oi consecrated belle drives away storm:), as soon as one breaks out the eehoolmaater will go and ring a ful' peal, whether it be by day or night."

Of the three brothers of A Famous whom the late Hon. William Scientist Rolketon was one, the eldest, Profeesor George Roileston, lo whom we briefly referred yesterday, wae « scientist of high attainments and wide fame. He received 'Us early education from lu> father, und was not only able to Mad Homer at the age of ten, but was at that early age co accomplished a Greek •obcl&T that in after life he used to say he could then think in Greek. After passing through "Bart's," and becoming successively member and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, he was appointed one of the physicians to the British Civil Hospital, at Smyrna, in 1855, towards the close of the Crimean War. Hia work there was so highly appreciated that he and three other civil practianers were retained when the rest of the cUff were cent home at the end of the campaign. He returned to England in 1857, and after filling several other positions of importance with great credit, was given in 1860 the Linacre professorship of anatomy and physiology ab Oxford, retaining kibe profeßscriaJ chair with conspicuous uMlity until his death in 1881. He was present at the historical meeting of tihe British Association at Oxford in 1860, when Owen and Huxley discussed, with some heat, In reference to the Darwinian theory, tbe structural differences between the brains of men and monkeys. When the dispute was (renewed two years later, Profe&or Rolleston entered into the debate on Huxley's aide. The question of cerebral development and the classification of ckulle maintained their interest for him until the end of his life, and to hie suggestion is due the magnificent collection of human ekuHe in the Ozford Museum. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1862, and ft Fellow of Merton College in 1872- As a member of the Oxford local board he did much to promote' the study of sanitary science, and the town owes much to the aucDMB of his principles in practice. Among his ecientifio publications wuu "Tlie Forms of Animal Life," the first instance of instruction by the etudy of a series of types, a method which has since obtained general recognition in the teaching of biology. The "Dictionary of National Biography" eaye of him, "Roileston represented an admirable lype of University professor. On his pupils he impressed the love of knowledge for ite own sake, and not from any mere monetary benefit which might accrue from it. While deeply learned in his special branch of study, he wae well informed on All subjects. He was perhaps the last of a school of English natural historians or biologists in the widest sense of the term, lor with the training of a Francis Trevelyan Bnokland or of a William Kitchen Parker, he combined the culture of a classical scholar, the science of a professor, and the gift of speech which belongs to a trained Unquiet and student of men. . . Warmhearted and of sterling honesty, he was a good hater, und never abandoned , a losing cause after he had convinced himself that it ws right."

The Sultan of Morocco, Entertaining -who has been brought into » Sult&n. prominence of late by the effort* of the pretender, Bn-Hunara, to seize the throne, is noted for his partiality for modern inventions. When he sees anything ia the English illustrated weekly papers that takes hia fancy ke sends on order u> [England, and in this iray he has accumulated a. remarkable collection of bicycles, cameras, repeating watches, mechanical u>ys, billiard tables, ft steam launch, ekdtric bells and lighting pleat, fireworks and co forth. They ha.ye tor hie Majesty, apparently, all the faecicetian that a new toy has for a child. A WpKaentative of Messrs Maskelyne and Cooke, of Egyptian Hall fame, who was »*nt out from England to teach him ••jnagio," give* in the London '"Express" iv ttert interesting account of the isultan • t fatoa. The- ficab question he addressed to

the conjurer, Mr Warren by name, was "Can you ride a bicycle?" Warren answered in the affirmative, and was forthwith ordered to show his skill. "But," he says, "although a fairly competent, rider, I hod to confess tbe superiority ©f my Imperial host, who, although encumbered with the long, loose robes and surtout worn by all high-class Moors, would put a European trick rider to shame." The Sultan proceeded to overhaul the Englishman from top to toe, examining his clothes and the contents of bis pockets, and asking questions aiboufc everything. He would repeat the answers days afterwards like a child at iichooL and in nearly every case correct to a detail. He was greatly interested in the conjurer's illusions, and quickly grasnwd the explanation that they were produced, not by magic, but by ingenious mechanical contrivances. Nearly every evening the Sultan had a display of fireworks. On one occasion two shells exploded prematurely, making a tremendous report. The Sultan, unconscious of the danger, was highly d-e----lighted, and gave crders for that special effect to be repeated nightly.