NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 220, 11 June 1921, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

There wns an echo of other days in Wellington yesterday, when the members of tho West Coasters’ Association placed a laurel wreath on the Seddon statue and tendered their respects io Mrs. Seddon on the fifteenth anniversary of her husband’s death. It is a long way back now to the hard-living, happy days of the West Coast of , which Inspector M'llveney spoke yesterday, and every year sees a further thinning of the few survivors who knew Kuniara and the diggings in their prime. Looking back after fifteen years, the more solid achievements of Mr. Seddon’s Premiership stand out, and the old party rancours are forgotten. At this moment, with the Empire’s Prime Ministers gathering for conference in London, it should be recalled that Mr. Seddon was the first of our Premiei'B to establish personal relations with Downing Street. He was first and foremost a citizen of the Empire, and he did a great work in creating a. sentiment of Imperial unity that reached far beyond the shores of New Zealand. On his initiative New Zealand made the first offer of all of a contingent for service in. the South African War, and the example set by Mr. Seddon was speedily followed throughout the Empire. That' was the .precedent which led fifteen .veal’s later to the prompt and world-wide participation of the Dominions in the Great War, and in tho course of that war it so befell that dead statesman’s eldest son gave his life for his country. It is a pity that such anniversaries as yesterday’s are so slightly remembered in New Zealand.

France is th© one nation in Europe, except Russia, which is maintaining an army in full strength, but whoever is joining in the rush for naval armaments, she is not. Her programme for the year as announced yesterday comprises only three scout cruisers and some small craft, while her uncompleted battleship, the Bearn, is to be converted into an aircraft carrier. People still unreconciled to considering themselves middle-aged can recall the days when British naval programmes were based on a close observation of what France and Russia were doing. In 1891 Britain had 17 battleships in commission and France 20. Germany had none. German building was inconsiderable until 1904, and since then the Gorman sun has reached its zenith and set asain. To-day the order is Britain, United States, Japan, with France a bad fourth, and Italy behind, while the Bolshevists bring up the rear with three battleships in more than doubtful condition. In a short time, on the basis of present programmes, the primacy will pass from Britain to the United States. Whether that passing will be deferred by the proposed disarmament conference has yet to bo disclosed. The pages of history are full of the rise and fall of nations, and even in the spau of the present generation the whirligig of time has brought more ups and downs of power than moat of us can remember. Pacifists and Socialists who imagine that their formulas will produce a stable world in the future have not read their history well. Each succeeding one of the score of centuries since Job has bitten home the words of that weary old man who told us that man is born to strife as the sparks fly upwards.

Quicker and more regular overseas mail services are an Imperial, necessity of the first importance. The scheme for an air mail is full of great possibilities and deserves every reasonable encouragement. It is a matter of the future, however and the immediate concern of us all is with the present most unsatisfactory inter-imperial ocean services. The work of tho committee which is going into this matter at the Imperial Conference will b« watched with the greatest interest ."""A report to-day is that a plan is under consideration for a combined ateand ship service. Unfortunately of late so much matter supplied by the cable services us authentic news is so promptly contradicted- by following messages that one is at a loss to know on what items reliance may be placed. This air and ship mail scheme looks a clumsy makeshift, entailing great expenditure and inconvenience for a saving in time that would not appear to be large. A very large and powerful machino would 'be required to lift an ocean mail entire oil' the deck of an Atlantic liner. The aeroplane would have to be housed backward* and forwards across the ocean, mid large clear deck spaces would be required. There may be something in il. but that, has to be demonstrated,

Tho partial collapse of the Unemployment Insurance Act adds another gloomy feature to the disastrous dislocation of industry occasioned by the coal strike in the United Kingdom. Although the reduction of benefits will intensify existing hardships, tho British Government in the present state of its finances obviously cannot continue to pay out two millions a week in unemployment relief while only £350,00(1 n week is coming into the fund. More than three-fifths of these contributions are paid by employers and the State, the Stalo’s proportion being approximately one-fifth of the total. Under the proposals now laid before the House of Commons, benefits are to be reduced by one-fourth—that is to say, they are to revert to the scale in operation before the, Insurance Act was amended this year—but: contributions are to be substantially increased. The present and proposed rates per week are, in tho case of adult male workers— Present Proposed <t. d. Worker 5 7 Employer 6 8 State 2J 4} These charges under existing conditions will fall far short of restoring the fund to solvency. Assuming that as many workers as at present continue to contribute, the income per week on the new scale can hardly exceed £jCfl£bO. and may be less. Until the industrial situation improves outgoing payments will amount on the ne.w scale to something over £1,300,000 per week. Tho best hope in sight, is I hat it may be possible to keep the fund going with temporary loans until the ratio of unemployment diminishes. Fortunately there are now some prospects of tho early settlement of the coal strike—the indispensable preliminary to any general improvement, in the industrial situation. ■ * * * *

Estimates of the commercial possibilities of airships are still of a somewhat speculative character, and the commercial risks of the Imperial scheme outlined in one of yesterday s cablegrams are perhaps indicated in the fact that the British Government is prepared to transfer to tho proposed Air Company airships, sheds, and other assets worth several millions. During the present period of financial stringency some difficulty may be experienced in promoting the enterprise even on these favourable terms. There does not: seem to be any doubt, however, that airships before long will be used extensively in conducting fast passenger and. express freight services over long distances, and the Empire can ill afford to be left behind by other nations in the development of such services. Germany ia building improved types of Zeppelins, America and Japan are both developing services, Italy recently conducted successful trials pf semi-rigid airships, and France lately voted a million sterling for this branch of aviation, in Britain the naval airship service has been abandoned for the time being, and the establishment of State-assisted commercial services possibly offers a means of keeping pace with other nations. It is claimed by experts that prospects of ultimate success in such a. venture have been improved greatly by the result of the mooringmast experiments lately conducted at Pulham. According to,one writer these tests “ensure commercial regularity (of airship services) equalling that of the surface liner; they dispense with the necessity for sheds (an exceedingly costly item), except as ‘dry docks,’ aud greatly reduce the number of personnel required. For instance, from eight to ten men are now needed to ‘land’ R. 33 to the Pnlhqin mast, replacing a handling party of over 300.” It is added tliat “R. 33 has been moored out since February 2, has ridden out 40-mile winds without any difficulty, and has accomplished flights io and from the mast both by day and night in all weathers. Refuelling, gassing, and. ballasting have also been carried out at the mast.”

The fact that the rowing championship of tho world is to be decided on the Wairau River to-day does nut appear to be occasioning any great excitement throughout the Dominion. Already New Zealand has had the eyes of the world focussed upon it on several previous occasions for a similar event. Webb, who first brought tho championship to Ngw Zealand, lost it to Arnst, another New Zealander, who in turn lost: it to Barry, and now holds it again after the lapse of several years through the Englishman deciding not to again defend the title. In to-day’s race Arnst, though not likely to lye back to his old-time form, should not have any great difficulty in beating his challenger, who, though a skilful oarsman, is not in -world championship class. New Zealand, for its population, has produced quite a strong array of world’s champions in the field of sport, and they have advertised its name and fame in almost all quarters of the globe. Amongst the earliest of its champions was the pugilist “80-b” Fitzsimmons, a Timaru blacksmith, who won tho world's middle-weight and heavyweight boxing championships. "Billy” Murphy, another pugilist, now a tailor in Auckland, went abroad and disposed of the best of the world’s feather-weights, ultimately gaining the championship in his class. Both these men were worldwonders amongst tho boxers of their day. Later, Anthony Wilding, of Christ, church, who is numbered amongst our honoured dead in France, brought the Dame of New Zealand into prominence In world tennis, winning the British Tennis Championship in several successive years, in face of the competition of the champions of all nationi. William Webb and Richard Arnst figured in the world’s sculling championship; and Hie record of our All Black football team will go down to fiistory as one of the gicatest triumphs known in the world oi sport. Certainly N.-w Zealand’s athletes Lave served as an excellent advertisement for these far-away i»le».

Is there such a thing as a thunderbolt? A few weeks ago this question was being discussed in London, in consequence of the tall into a suburban backyard at Edmonton of a "ball ol tire.'' which burst with a report like a Zeppelin bomb, and did about ns much damage. This happened al. 1 lie height of a violent storm of hail, sleet, and thunder. A climatological expert, in discussing the occurrence in the London "Times,” ruled out the I iiundei bolt, theory. No such thing »s known to meteorological science, he declared.

Meteorites, that is, shooting stars, occasionally reach our atmosphere, and fall to earth, but they are definitely solid substances. They do not “explode,” and they do not necessarily drop during thunderstorms. “Ball lightning,” in the form of luminous balls or masses, have time and again been observed during ■thunderstorms. Sometimes these have been seen travelling slowly and horizontally through the air, and have even passed right through the walls of a nouse. But again they do not explode. Personally he thought the tree at Edmonton torn out of the ground by its roots might have been struck by lightning, while a. thunderclap occurred simultaneously. However, that did not account for the broken windows and other damage done to 34 houses in the vicinity. In 1888 Mr. G. J. Symons, in a lecture before the Royal Society, said he had spent thirty years in an unsuccessful search for a “thunderbolt” in. England, but no reported instance could stand examination. What did the damage at Edmonton nobody knows, aud science cau vouchsafe only the cold comfort that it cannot have been a thunderbolt, because there are no such things.