Australian Cables.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 April 1913, Page 3

Australian Cables.

»r BUsCTItIC 1 KLECiltAl' U— 001'K HlUJtll'J

Ll'Ult I'KJCKJ AHSOUU'HON..,

(Received This Day, ( J. 30 a.m.)

Mr Wade, leader of the State opposition, has opened his campaign against the Federal Government's relerendiun proposals. Ho declared that it they were carriec? they would make such tremendous inroads on the activity of the State inent in dealing with their internal affairs that the residue of power would be too small to justify their

coutilined existence. Further widespread soaking rain is falling. Doctor iXesbit, of Townsville, declares that white people cannot permanently live in tropical Australia, without impairment to their health, He advocates the creation of the whole ol tropical Australia into a separato .State.

At the animal meeting of the Greater J. 1). Williamson's Company the report was adopted. It stated that the position was"much improved with tho introduction ol the substantial economy in both administration and capital expendituic. Ihe directors are confident that there will be a resumption of dividends as soon as tin; returns from the amalgamated concerns were foi thcoming. A vote of confidence in the directors wats carried, and they were re-elected. t.ipt.i in Cox. a well-known ox coastal manner, lia.s departed for .England to lav claim to two fortunes (of a million and four hundred thous-

and) respectively, left by a brother, Colonel Cox. and the other a portion of the estate of Lord Wolseley. of whom he was a nephew. It is also -stated as probable that he will succeed to Lord Wolseley s title.

Caj>tnin Cox is 6-1 years of - ' and was second mate on the steamei ''(■lira. He subsequently commanded several vessels on his own behalf. Before taking to the sea he was a captain in the Imperial Arniy. and

had' lor some time been in charge of the sheep station at Bunganderee. I ho solicitors of his brother's estate got in touch with his some months ngo, and he was preparing to depart when a cable arrive! announcing the fact that he had inherited a second fortune. Considerable difficulty was experienced in delivering the cable, Coxes were tried, but, eventually it was sent to the slieep station. nnrf the lucky owner located. The extent of the late Lord WolseIcy's estates is not stated, but he was known to be very wealthy. B\ a special remainder his daughter succeeded to the title. Captain s stiite it is to be contested on his behalf, and advices have been receivod that PX J,t to the conclusion that he will succeed. When Captain Cox's father died he hun a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds. This he invested '» flipping, and it «-as lost. In 'ate years the captain has earned a precarious living at storekeeping and other vocations. "

KRTSB.AXE. This Dnv. wroplf of tin- Mindom has Wn abandoned. The court found that flio loss w .. as onnsp(l ?i]) _ normal current, and exonerated the of tl lO vessel.

cablegram Iron, .[> ()11K , rec . e j Ved •it •'. [.) o dock tJI imorning stated 1 Uu; ll(,i,ltl1 of the I'opo had iiiiP- o\-( t!. and that In- had a good A Inter cablegram. i-'vcr. Mates that the Pope j s report>"l to be sinking.

Levin-Wanderers' Koot'jall C|»l. "'ill liold its annua! dance ami >s(;c----1:1' « ; 'tlifnng to-night, in the Town H ill. A goodly muster of footballers and their friends is being looked tor with confidence. A good Hoiir and good music are guaranteed by the management.

MAKE TJLLiy A LUCKY YJSAII. (London Daily Express). Nineteen hundred—and thirteen I And thirteen is an unlucky number 1 It is a thought at which many of us will instinctively shoudder. The thirteen superstition is one of tho oldest of them all. (Its orgin, of course, is the Last Supper, at which thirteon were present). Still, the idea grips the imagination alike of senstive and stolid people. He who announces, facetiously or in tones of horror, "There are thirteen at the table," sends a shudder round the table, and perhaps quite spoils the party. So often people have proved "there is something in it'—and this they have done as often as it has been proved there is nothing in it.

There is something in it..because 'Matthew Arnold defied the superstition, and died witTiin a year—and so on without end. There is nothing' in it because it is clearly shown in the "Theories of Probabilities" that, if the probability be required that out of thirteen persons of different age.s siting at a table, one of them at least, shall die within a year, it will be found that the chances are about, one to one that the one death will occur. further, "This calculation by moans of a false interpretation has given rise to the prejudice, no less ridiculous, that the danger will be avoided by inviting a greater number of guests, which can only have the effect of augmenting the probability of the event so much apprehended." then the life story of Richard "Wagner, as in many another, goes to 6 how there is nothing unlucky about thirteen. . Here is a story of his famous thirteen., as set down in the "Literary Curiosities.":— — Famous Thirtoons— Richard Wagner was born in 1813. Add the figures together thus, 1. 8. 1, 3, and you arrive at another thirteen. r I lie letters in his name numheir thirteen. He composed exactly thirteen groat works, and he always declared that it was from a certain thirteenth of the month that his career dated. "Tanuhauser" was completed on April 13—it was first performed at Paris on a March 13. He left Bavreuth on a September 13. September is the ninth month. Write 9, 13, and add the three figures together, thus, 9. 1. 3, and you have thirteen. And it was oil February 13 that his great soul received its order of discharge fix-im earthly imprisonment. But though philosophers and mathmaticians and life-stories such as "Wagner s may disprove the ill-omen ol thirteen, how few of us have the coinage to take a house numßored thirteen! And the uesf|uostion arises. Are we to remain all through this year j under the dread shadow of thirteen? a question to ask and answer today fi uo are all combined to convert thirteen from a symbol of ill-omen to a symbol of good fortune, surely j we intelligent ones of the twentieth ! century could succeed where our forefathers have failed through nineteen hundred years. Perhaps our forefathers failed because they defied the superstition in the wrong spirit. It does not do to flaunt a superstition. That way has been tried with number thirteen many times, and nothing has come of the efforts. Thirteen clubs have proved themselves futile. «nd some of them have covered themselves with ridicule. —Flaunting Thirteen.— We find in Sharper Knowlson's "Popular Superstitions" an amusing account of a groat effort to flaunt number thirteen made one winter by the members of the Thirteen Chil) in New York. They assembled to j dine thirteen to a table, and at intervals the diners counted up to thirteen as a chant, the number thirteen being hailed with cheers. To insult fate further, thirteen red randies were lighted in death's-head holders at each table, and he whose candle went out first was supposed ( to receive a sign. A new mirror was broken as the company sai i down, ices were shaped as skulls, a toast-master used a fore-arm Rone i to rap for order, and at fbe elo-o of • the banquet the waiters filed in to < tTie music of n funeral inarch, each ' hearing a cake with thirteen can- i dies burning upon it, .and a white i skull and crossbones in the centre. 1 At the head of each table an open i umbrella was set up to flaunt the superstition that it is unlucky to .< open an umbrella indoors, and it ( was in connection with one of these i umbrellas that the only sign \ V <is i vouchsafed that evening to show that 1 outraged superstition could take re- ] venge. A waiter 'became entangled with an umbrella, and showered the : hot contents of a soup tureen over 1 a group of the jesters. ] All sorts of jests are ill-conceiv- < ed. because by their levity they ' shock many sensitive and cultivated minds. Not by flouting a superstition can it be resisted. But there may be good hope in a reverent and universal attempt to convert an illomen into a good omen. The suggestion has never been tested, and it is a golden chance that is brought b.v the entrance of the year thirteen ] into our twentieth century, whose r mission is to war on shams. j —Honouring 13.— ( "Resolved!;.' lot us say. "1913 ] shall be a lucky year." ( Lucky let that child be considered < who is born on the thirteenth day | of any month this year. By all { _1 _ _ __ \ A SCEPTIC CONVINCED. in. N.i i "I was very bad with colic," writes Mr Joseph Ryan, Hotelkeeper, Pahi, N.Z., "and my wife was recommended to give me Chamberlain's Oolic v and Diarrhoea Remedy. I was i sceptical and refused to take it but 1 at last I got so bad that my wife t prevailed upon me to try it. After t two doses I was alright and havo e been so over since. I swoar by t Chamberlain's Colic and Diarrhoea < Remedy now." For sale everywhere s —Advt. '

means let it bo given names making up thirteen letters, oven let it be called little "Thirteen"—as good a name as Tertius. Lot all honour bo done to all manner of number thirteens. Seek out houses that bear that number, if any can be found. Dine often, reverently, not flauntingly, thirteen at table. .Back to win any horse or man ■who in a race is number thirteen. Bo wodded on the thirteenth —sign the contract , take out the new motor car, or sot sail on a voyage that day. Drink thirteen healths when tlio chanco of drinking comes. Give thirteen pence to the beggar at the door. Plant thirteen roses in the garden for a fragrant testimony—better still, plant thirteen oaks for an enduring monument of your faith in the good luck of thirteen. With faith all must be done. The whole matter is simply one of making up our minds that this year stands for fortune. One lucky year thirteen would make up abundantly for all cases of ill-luck foowing the number—begotten of fancy. But we must wak warily, setting out to reform thirteen in the right spirit, remembering what Francis Bacon said, how there is a superstition in avoiding superstition when men think to do best if they are furthest from the superstition formerly received; herefore, care must be taken With this reservation— AH honour to tho baker's dozen!