Sketcher.
WOMEN IN CONFERENCE
THE COAL WAR
A MUSICAL MARVEL
A GREAT STORM
(By Aurora.)
Influenza is once more raging in our right little, tight little island,” and has claimed me for its victim, hence my reason for not completing at an -earlier date my account of the Women’s Conference in Leeds.
Nothing has made a bigger stir in Leeds for some time than that conference ; the advent of over eight hundred ladies in addition to those already “holding the fort” caused considerable commotion. The men felt a little bit “ out of it,” and declared that if the Conference had gone on for another week they would have been ■entirey subdued (?) The two policemen who took advantage of their position to occasionally glance round the ball were the envy and admiration of the whole neighbourhood. They were besieged by “anxious enquirers,” but maintained a praiseworthy silence, ■carefully “looking” what they- did not feel at liberty to say. The third day of the Conference was devoted to the Indian question, especially with regard to the women. 1 had the pleasure of listening to Dr Scharheb, who is acknowledged by men doctors to be one of the greatest authorities on the question. She gave us in a most thrilling and interesting manner a brief skelch of her life and work amongst the little Hindoo wives. Nothing could possibly have been more touching than her description of the Avretched lives of these poor children. Her tender, sympathetic words moA-ed our hearts, and we felt that one of the world’s noblest women was standing before us. Lady HenrySomerset spoke strongly and energetically upon the same question, and succeeded in rousing her audience to a pitch of unAvonted enthusiasm by the earnest and forceful Avay in which she
spoke. The women of England are stretching out their hands eagerly for the light which has been conferred upon their liew Zealand sisters. Again and again during the Conference was our success referred to ; but they feel that the day of their liberation is still a long way off ! In the meantime such women as Lady Henry Somerset and thousands more equally intelligent and well read are to lie treated as “ lunatics and imbeciles !”
The great coal Avar is over, and not before it ought to be. Never, during the Avhole course of my life, have I ■seen such distress and misery as has been caused by this terrible struggle. The cry of little children for bread has been continually ringing in our ears, and our doors have scarcely ever been clear of the famished parents begging for bread for their little ones. But, though work has been resumed, the distress is not yet at an end. Many of the mines haA'e got into such ■u condition that it Avill be weeks before they can be got into proper Avorking order. In the meantime the cries for help continue, and the bitter cold is increasing that cry a thousandfold. Until February the men are going in ut the old rate of Avages ; then there is to be a conference and the Avhole matter is to be finally settled. Coals continue to be dear —in fact they •are sold at such a price that it is Avellmgh impossible for the poorer people to procure any. They have to burn coke and such pieces of Avood as they •can lay their hands on. This great ■conflict could not have taken place at ■a. Averse time of the year, and yet it is a great mercy that it came to an end .just Avhen it did. The musical Avorld of England is sroing mad over one of the greatest 'O o artistes that has ever stepped upon its shores —Paderewski. He is simply a marvellous musician, and has the poAver of holding his audience enraptured. He is fastidious, as most musicians often are. For in-
stance, Avhen he VA’as playing in Hull the people Avere unfortunately suffer, ing’ from a seA r ere attack of influenza, and so could scarcely help the continual run of suppressed coughing Avhich went on during the Avhole performance. But Paderewski couldn’t boar it, and in the middle of one of the most brilliant passages he calmly (?) got up and Avalked off the stage. In Leeds the audience—considering that it Avas the most fashionable audience that the town could produce — were completely frantic. The people, men and women, rose to their feet as one man, and cheered him to the echo. They shouted as though they had forgotten they Avere men and women and had suddenly become little children again. They persisted in a recall, and Paderewski, who has only once or twice before responded to an eucfire, graciously acknoAvledged their enthusiasm by re - appearing. The people ay ere packed “ like herrings in a box,” but listened breathlessly. For a second or tAvo after he ceased playing you could almost haa - c heard a pin drop; and then the applause AA-as so defeaning that a dynamite explosion Avas nothing to it. The charge for admission Avas a guinea to the dress circle —from that downwards to 3s 6d for “ standing-room !” The step from gay to grave is only a very short one. Last Aveek aa'C had raging round our coasts one of the most terrific storms known for years. The injury to life and property has been terrible. Hundreds of vessels have been wrecked and hundreds of homes haA r e been made desolate by the loss of those avlio Avere near and dear to them. One calamity seems to folloAV another in such quick succession that one almost voluntarily asks “ What next ?”
That yelloA\ r amber, Avhen rubbed, acquires the property of attracting light objects Avas knoAvn as long as 40 centuries ago. This first experiment in electricity Avas destined for a splendid future, but a distant one, since it isfrom yesterday only that date the truly serious applications of this science. We shall iioav endeavour to show how the fundamental experiments of electricity may be performed Avifh as reduced a material as possible. A sheet of paper av lll suffice us in the first place for a fe\A r interesting experiments. Heat a piece of ordinary paper in front of a brisk fire or over a lamp chimne}', until it begins to redden. Afterward rub it smartly with the band, or, better’, Avith a brush, and it Avill then bo capable of attracting small objects, such as fragments of thin paper and the AA r eb of feathers. If the sheet of paper be brought near a wall, table, or any stationary object Avhatever it Avill be strongly attracted. Finally, if one place it above bis head his hair Avill be attracted, Avhile at the same time he Avill experience a sensation comparable to a slight tickling. But more remarkable results still are reached upon im proving the apparatu s. Take a glass, expose it the fire so that it will be perfectly dry, and place it upside down upon a table. Afterward take a tray, perfectly dry, and place it upon the glass in such a Avay that it shall preserve its equilibrium. Finally, take a sheet of paper slightly smaller than the tray, heat it, and rub it rapidly Avith a brush and it will become quickly electrified. Then place it upon the tray. An electrical machine will
thus have been constructei without any expense. If the finger* be brought near the tray a spark will appear. This spark will be so much the brighter and the series of sparks will be so much the longer in proportion as the glass aud tray are drier. If, when the sparks are being drawn from the tray, the room in which the exjreriment is performed be darkened, these sparks will appear extremely brilliant. —Selected.
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Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 46, 10 February 1894, Page 6
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1,301Sketcher. Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 46, 10 February 1894, Page 6
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