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Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 312, 13 January 1902, Page 1

That the aquiline nose is requisite to a lull development of the human voice is the remarkable assertion of Dr

Louis Robinson, as reported by A. 11. Goerand in Popular Science. Says Mr Gouiand His (Dr Robinson’s) contention is that, through the long night of unrecorded time during which primitive man was slowly anu painfully prog>csiiing towards civilisation, the voice was the only rational means of exercising influence. Oratorical ability and a s. horous voice thus became of exceeding importance to the aspiring anj and itious, and the ultimate formation of a.i aquiline-nosed : ace would become the necessary result of the better assured survival of such favorably endowed individuals. '1 bus the longnosed would tend to become masterful, to form, first, an aristocracy, and idt aiately to leaven a'people as to insure their dominance, as was Ihe case wth the Romans. Dr.. Robinson cites the Nortli American Indian, the Maoris, and the Bantu negroes, among whom are the celebrated Zulus, as instances of large-nosed warlike and oratorical peoples. In further support of his theory lie adduces the fact that an examination of the skulls in the British Museum shows that the hollowsounding chamber in the upper jawbone, known as the autrim, is plainly of greater capacity in snubby-nosed peoples than in the skulls of such large nosed races as the North American aboiigine and the Maori. This larger development of the sounding-chamber supplies a measure of the resonance afforded by the passages of a large nose, and thus, for oratorical purposes, a nose voice is better than a cheek-bone voitc..” t

The Government evidently is no guided by the qualifications of tho officers it appoints, so much as by their political colour and supino acquiescence in Seddonian interference. Probably Colonel Davies’s successor will be found amongst one of such. Meanwhile, the colony is provided with an excellent illustration of the advantages of the spoils to the victorsystem as it. is worked by the present Administration. The Eighth Contingent has been deprived of the services of a well qualified commander, and many of its commissions are being handed over to the friends of the Seddon Government, irrespective of seniority or merit. Military rank has been prostituted to political claims. —Truth.

The Lokalanzeiger recently published an interview with Ur Leyds. He said he objeoted to being interviewed, but nevertheless he spoke quite freely. The war, he declared, might last for years. The Boers could hold out for years, and moreover they had eliminated the doubtful element from their ranks, and those now in the field had nothing more to lose. “ The brutal methods of conducting the war adopted by the British,” added Dr Leyds, " hardens our opposition.” He observed that peace could only emanate from England, and the Boers would never agree to a peace which did not grant them their independence. The interviewer referred to the eponomic crisis in Europe consequent on tho war. Dr Leyds retorted, “ What does Europe matter to us ? ” He denied that the Boers expected intervention, and declared that he was in no way connected with the proposal to boycott British ships. All agitations to induce the Boers to surrender would be useless. They were ready to conclude peace if their cause were submitted to the Court of Arbitration, or if their independence were granted. Tho report of the interview is probably genuine, as it is signed. Campbell-Bannerman and his pro-Boer backers, here and elsewhere, appear to think that the British should not only mind, feed, clothe, and medically attend the wives and children of the enemy, but leave their farmhouse resorts untouched also.—Sydney Sunday Times. Concerning the origin and the object of tattooing among the Maoris there is no very definite information. Tasman, the first visitor to New Zealand, makes no mention of tattooing, and Major-General liobley infers from this that it was unknown among tho IMaoris at that date (1642). In Captain Cook’s time (1769), however, moko was very much used in New Zealand. Native tradition has it that their first settlers used to mark their faces with charcoal, and that the lines on the face thus made were the beginning of tho tattoo. To save the troublo of thus constantly painting their war-like decorations on the face tho lines wore made permanent —an eloquent testimony, if true, to the frequency with which the New Zealanders went into battle. —Christchurch Press. Premier Jenkins, who came from America as a book agent twenty-five years a<»e, last week voted against any man getting work on the conversion of tramway lines until ho has lived in Adelaide for a year. What would have become of Premier Jenkins in his early days in Adelaide if a similar rule had been in force as to book agents ?—Adelaide Critic. “ Santos-Dumont’s flight means air I travel, air war! Such are tho words of Garrett P. Serviss, the accomplished astronomer, referring to the achievement at Paris of the ingenious young Brazilan recently. “In sailing through the air from St. Cloud into Paris around the Eiffel Tower and back to the point of beginning, in the time of half-an-hour, M. Santos-Dumont has made no new discovery, but he has done something which just at the present juncture of affairs is more important even than a discovery. He has produced a demonstration which uobody can gainsay of the fact that, with the means already at their command, men can travel in the atmosphere very much as fish travel in the sea. We have long guessed that this was possiblo ; now we know it.”

Atchison, Kan., Nov. 30.

Hard cider, in which is put essence of lemon, is proving the bane of rural Kansas. Many of the towns in the northern part of the State are prohibition, and the law against the sale of beer, wine and whiskey is strictly enforced. The desire for something to warm up with is met by the decoction of cidor and essence, and once a man is intoxicated with it he does not recover for several days. It has become a regular drink in Northern Kansas temperance townsi