TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 452, 8 March 1890, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

(from our special correspondent.) London, January 17. THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC. During the past week the influenza epidemic (which long ago ceased to be a subject for joking) has laid low Mr Balfour, Lord Hartington, the Duchess of Teck, Lord Wimborne, Sir Donald Currie, Lord Belgrave, and Mr Ritchie ; and carried off poor young Earl Cairns and Lord Napier of Magdala. The latter was in his eightieth year and had long been infirm, so that his death occasioned libcle surprise ; but Earl Cairns, being a young man, should surely (one would think) have possessed sufficient stamina to withstand la grippe. ’Tis said the death of his aunt, Mrs McCalmont, occasioned him great concern, and that with the influenza already on him and against doctors’ orders, be insisted on attending her funeral. Inflammation of the lungs supervened, and in three days the second Earl Cairns lay dead. DEATH OF LORD NAPIER, The death of Lord Napier, of Magdala, recalls to memory the exciting events of the brief and brilliant campaign of which Sir Robert Napier was the hero. All England idolised him then, and had he been a poseur instead of a shy, blunt soldier, who hated speech-making, he might have be» come as permanent a popular hero as Wolseley or R iberts. Instead of that Lord Napier allowed himself to sink into something very like oblivion. He appeared seldom in public, and was scarcely' known, latterly', outside “ service ” circles. , The “ Times ” adds :—“ The feature of a career, thus completed with a brilliancy which never afterwards faded, is the conjunction, before the climax,of abundance of success and an absence of notoriety. Few i-oldiers who have finally obtained to his celebrity have been so constantly and worthily occupied, and yet been left so long in a dignified background. . . As soon as be had really been found out, and became imperially visible, bis claim to the nation’s confidence was seen to be founded upon a life of noble service. A long vista of strenuous labours and brave deeds could be perceived, leading- straight to an enterprise as astonishing as Suwarrow's in tho Alps, but better planned and more victorious. The Empire is fortunate, during the 22years which have passed since Magdala was stormed, in not having had to call upon him. It would be hard to exaggerate the worth to it of the sense that it possessed in him a loader ascertained, both in battle and in council, to have been most competent to lead the forces of England in a great European war.’ THE LATE LORD CAIRNS.

It must have been with mixed feelings that Miss Fortescue read of poor .young Lord Cairns’s death on Tuesday last from the cut rent epidemic. He was a goodnatured, kindly, well-meaning little man, but utterly wanting in nerve and backbone. Had he possessed the faintest will of his own, Miss Fortescue would now be his widow instead of a popular “ star ” actress, managing her own travelling company'. Lord “Gumboil” was proud of his fair fiancee at first, and the pair were to be seen together everywhere. Old Lord Cairns gave a reluctant assent to the engagement, and Miss Fortescue went to visit the family in Scotland. What she suffered during that time she now a days sometimes tells. The Cairnses were very Scotch and very serious. Miss Fortescue couldn’t geton with themaba’l, and her fiancee was unreasonably' vexed thereat. Then wily old I.ady Cairns took Garmoyle in hand, and ultimately persuaded him to jilt the frivolous young actress. A few people were furious on Miss Fortescue’s account. She herself, however, took the matter very calmly' (as far as anyone could see) and set to work to improve her acting. In this W. S. Gilbert materially assisted her, and now Mies Fontescue is a bona fide and successful leading lady, well up to the highest comedy roles. Lord Garmoyle, alter going round the world, and (it is fair to say') making friends everywhere, got engaged to tho American heiress Miss Chamberlain. Scarcely, however, had she accepted him before was a rupture, and a few months later the then Lord Cairns married Miss Berens, another unexceptionable partie. Since then little has been heard of Earl Cairns. Perhaps the best that can be said of him is that, though neither intellectually brilliant nor physically attractive, lie was universally popular both with men and women. Men invariably came to the conclusion that there was “ a good deal in the youngster,” and women ot all ages (a good sign) found him “charming.” His younger brother, who succeeds to the peerage, has the reputation of being “ serious,” and is a shining light amongst the , Bournemouth Nonconformists.

JOURNALISTIC NOTES. The decision of tire Court of Appeal ordering Mr Walter to answer Mr Parnell’s interrogations anent the circulation of the “Times,” has caused dismay in Printing House Square. Mr Walter’s counsel had the impudence to reply that he feared his clients could only answer the query in a very general way, as there were “ returns,” etc., to be considered. To this Mr A«quith (for Mr Parnell) said they would be content to know the number of copies which the “ Times ” machines turned out on the average per diem. Joe Hatton's reign at the London office of the New York “ Herald ” proved short if not very sweet, and he has now been succeeded by Mr Louis Jennings, M.P., an ajple and experienced journalist, and a successful novelist. Nothing, however, will make the “Herald” pay in Loudon in its present form, as everyone but Bennett has long ago recognised. He stiil swears he will make it a success or it shall break him. TBE NEXT LAUREATE.

Lord Tennyson never condescends to read the papers, or his feelings might be somewhat hurt at the free and easy manner in which a certain class of scribes jfre discussing his probable successor in the laureateship. As a matter of fact, of course, talk on the subject is futile, as everything will depend on who is in power when the appointment has to be made. If Gladstone were Premier he would certainly appoint either Swinburne or William Morris, whereas Lord Salisbury would probably prefer Alfred Austin to either. If the Queen herself were to be allowed to select the laureate, Sir Edwin Arnold would unquestionably be the lucky man. Lewis Morris seems quite out of the running, though in the opinion of dispassionate people his claim comes next to that of Swinburne. DEATH OF MRS GEORGE.

The death of Mrs Fitz George, the Duke of Cambridge s morganatic wife, has attracted but little attention, most of the newspapers passing over the event with a couple of lines. She was always a very quiet person, devoted to her husband and sons, and seldom going into society save in the quietest way. The Queen grew to like the old lady of late years and often sent kindly messages to inquire after her. She leaves several sons and grandsons, ail ot whom are in the army. The best known,

perhaps, is Major Fitz George, who so often I acts as his father’s A.D.C. I AN EXPLANATION. Mrs O'Shea’s friends explain Mr Parnell's frequent visits at one time to her house on the ground that he was a great admirer of Captain O’chea’s sister, a very lovely girl, whose sudden death not long ago was a severe shock to the family and their friends. THE KING OF EXCURSION AGENTS. Thomas Cook, the venerable founder of the famous firm of excursion agents, lies dangerously ill at his country seat in Leicestershire. Leicester is the King of Cheap Trippers’ native town, and ib was thence when quite a youth he despatched his first excursion, an eleven mile business only, to Loughborough. The success of this little venture set young Cook thinking, and he presently organised an excursion train from Leicester to Liverpool. About the same time (1845), the first of Cook’s cheap trips to Paris was triumphantly carried through, though it took ten years to perfect the i.oiv world-known system of circular tours. In 1861 Mr Cook personally conducted 1,500 people to Paris and back. In the first Exhibition year (1878), no fewer than 70,000 persons used the firm’s coupons. Between - these two dates Ml- Thomas Cook arranged tourist tickets through Switzerland and Italy. In 1865 Mr Cook went to America, and the next year sent his son with a large party for a tour of Canada and the States. In 1868 Mr Thos. Cook first visited the East (which is now completely in the firm’s hands so far as tourists are concerned), and very soon the difficulties of trips to the Nile and Palestine completely disappeared. Cooks “ boss ” the Nile now-a-days, in fact you can do nothing in Egypt without them. In 1870 Mr Jno. Si. Cook made a journey round the world, which was the precursor of his fitni’s annual conducted tours round the globe. Mr Thos. Cook retired from business several years ago. The present head of the firm, Jno. M. Cook, is a handsome man of fifbyfive (but looking younger), and bubbling over with indomitable energy. From 1865 to 1870 he travelled 42,000 miles each year, and in 1876 he did as much as 53,000 miler. No undertaking ever frightened him. When the Vesuvius Railway Company were in difficulties, and financiers fought shy of the venture, who should step in but Jno. M. Cook. His firm bought up the whole concern for an old song, and are now making pots of money out of it. In 1884, when Mr Cook guaranteed to convey our troops up the Nile to Khartoum, few believed he would ever carry out his contract. His firm did so, however, though not without encountering and overcoming appalling difficulties. Cook’s now make a lot of money personally conducting Mahommedan pilgrims from India to Mecca and home again. Special pilgrim boats sail from Calcutta every year loaded with pious Hindoos. Cooks undertake the whole business for them, supplying Mahommedan guides for the laud journey, etc., and arranging tilings so that what used to bo a dangerous and difficult, as well as a costly expedition, is now hardly more than a pleasure trip. The one European country which looks sourly at Cooks is Russia. Mr John M. Cook has made many attempts to conquer the Czar’s prejudices and effect an entree for tho firm’s coupons, but, so far, fruitlessly. THE WEST END SCANDALS. The reason the Government and the police have not proceeded against tho alleged habitues of the house in Cleveland* street, whose mimes are in their possession, is that the principal witnesses for the Crown would be the ineffable young scoundrels who gave evidence in the conspiracy case last week. The authoiities lightly considered that no jury could be empatinelled which would convict a person of position of a serious charge on these wretched lads’ unsupported testimony. Had Hammond turned Queen's evidence, the case would have been somewhat different. The Duke of Beaufort, I unde siand, complains bitterly it is most unfair that his son alone, out of all the culprits, should have been singled out for public ignominy and reproach. DRAMATIC NOTES. Arthur Roberts got roundly, soundly, and deservedly snubbed on the first night of the burlesque of “Tra La La Tosca. ’ He had not learnt a word of his part, and gagged from end to end, to the utter despair and distraction of Miss Ayrtoun and the other players. The friendly audience stood their privileged jester’s fooling for a time, till it got too wearisome for anything, when the stalls left the house and the gallery hissed. Miss Ayrtoun’s burlesque of Mrs Beeie in “ La Tosca ” is quite as good as her “ Airey Anne.” Poor girl! she luites the pieces she is condemned bo act in, having naturally a serious bent. Her sister, whom she supports, is dying of consumption, or she would nob have consented to parody Mrs Beere agaiu. “ The Gondoliers ’* has not made the same hit either in New York or in the English provinces that it has in London. In its way the Savoy Theatre is just now doing as bitr a business as Dru)y Lane. A friend of mine waited an hour and a-half outside the pit door on Wednesday evening, and then only obtained standing room. The stalls and circle are invariably marked “full ” before the doors open.

Mbs Amy Roselle, who was a clever and sympathetic actress in hei day (which has now somewhat overpast) is going to “ raise the tone of the music-halls” by giving dramatic recitations at the Empire. As usual, when a fairly well-know 7 nactress takesa step downward, w-e are told it is just the reverse. Thus Miss Roselle (according to report) will receive a larger salary than she ever before obtained, for reciting at the Empire. Following close on the death of the tenor Gayarre, comes that of the baritone Ronconi. The latter was a survival of the palmy days of Italian opera. He made bis debut- in “Lucia” with Persiani, Lablache, and Mario, and at once jumped into popularity. His voice was only moderate, but be could act wonderfully well, and in parts requiring a display ot mingled love and jealousy (like Kigoletto) he had few equals on the operatic boards. Between 1847 and 1866 Ronconi appeared regularly in London. Since then lie has lived in retirement in Madrid, where the influenza ended his career last Friday. The “ Little Lord Fauntleroy ” boom has come to an end in London. Mrs Beringer put the piece on again at the Opera Comique expecting a good three months’ run, but the revival didn’t draw at all, and now the theatre is closed. Poor old Madame Arabella Goddard is, I regret to learn, in sad straits for money. Her application for a Government pension has been refused, but Mr W. H. Smith offers to subscribe £2OO from the Bounty Fund to the testimonial which Messrs Chappell are organising. A benefit concert will also be given on March 11, at which Bach s triple concerto, performed by Mdle. Janotha, Herr Joachim, and Sig. Piatti, should draw all musical London. The hundredth night of “ Ruy Bias” was celebrated at the Gaiety on Monday evening, when portraits of the principal performers were given away as souvenirs, i coiiLsa I still think the piece very long and dull, .