WELLINGTON ECHOES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 39, 26 May 1910, Page 7

WELLINGTON ECHOES.

(From Our Special Correspondent). May 23, 1910. THE GREAT FUNERAL SERVICE. The great funeral service in front of old Parliament House on Friday absorbed the week's attention. It was a most impressive function, and owing to the situation the display was very good. From the streets round the grass plot in front the ground rises gradually to the steps of the Parliament House. On 1 the level of the top of the steps the Go-1 vernor, the Prime Minister and the Cliiet Justice stood flanked by the members of both Houses and of the civil and military services, between the massed choirs, with the Garrison Band in front. The near half of the green was occupied by the selected representatives of the various corps of the Territorial A\ :r.\, the rest of the space being held 'by the crowd which likewise filled all the streets around. The photographer was everywhere, and the sight looking up from the streets outside to the dais within at the top of the stops was most impressive. The noble hymns, the grand old psalms and the fine excerpts from the burial service were all very toucntng, the people joining in all along the crowd. I refer to the hymns only, of course, ior the psalms were recited, as were the excerpts from the burial service, by single voices without any aid from the instruments of the Band. The hymns made each sonorous peal very touching, but the majority of the eight thousand had to take the psalms and funeral oration of the Rev. Kennedy Eliott, impressive as it "\va9, on trust. These things were to them a dumb show. But nothing could exceed the solemnity witli which they iwere listened to. At the close, the '"'Last Post," played by a single trumpeter 'to the hushed thousands, had a very weird effect, and the Funeral March by the Garrison Bandi was very sweet and stately. Very dignified, very solemn, very Imperial were we all, and when we separated we felt that Wellington ihad done its duty. Earlier in the day Young Wellington had its own service, and very solemn 'and dignified it was; nay, it would not be astonishing to learn that these boys and girls when it came to the Imperial part of the programme did their Imperial thinking an a far more thorough way than their elders. It makes one think

of .what they will <lo in the Empire when the world passes into their possession. # * * * A FITTING ENDING. A fitting ending to the day was the publication of the accounts of the funeral in London, which were done verywell by the news compilers—one of the best things they have done for .some time. In this connection the collapse of Mr. Hall-Jones has saddened the public considerably. It does not, however, appear to have been one of his usual seizures. These belong to the region of angina pectoris, whereas this appears to have been an ordinary fainting fit, due to the heat and crowding,, which seem to have been very great. As I write the cable (informs us that this is the case. The hon. gentleman has written to the Prime Minister mat it was only an ordinary fainting fit, and that lie has quite recovered. As a fatal termination would have been a bad omen, the Dominion will be glad not to have contributed it. It will also be glad because the sterling character of the High Commissioner is very greatly appreciated by all shades of political opinion. The Dominion has not forgotten the rare .honesty and striking loyalty of his short primacy. » * ♦ » THE COMET. The comet, of course, has been with us. On the nineteenth there was some expectation and a little excitement, owing to the certainty of contact with the tail and the uncertainty of what the re-i suit might be. During a remarkably fine lecture on the cdmet on the previous evening, the Rev. Dr. Kennedy, the wellknown astronomer, formerly of Meanee, said some very reassuring things under the main head, among *the rest that the ' substance of the tail is a gas so attenuated that its density is at least a hundred times less than the density of the atmosphere. If it had been a question of contact with the nucleus the look-out would not have .been so rosy; in proof of which statement the lecturer showed a ghastly picture of a meteor in full career—a great jagged rocky substance, which would have been sure to make havoc wherever it struck. A few of those might have wrecked much eoun try, many cities, and some big coilecj tions of farms well tilled. But as it was not a question of collision with the nucleus, which would not come nearer than fifteen million miles, the jagged meteorite seemed a negligible if ghastly quantity. Still, the certainty of contact with the gaseous substance of the tail persisted in some minds as a cause for alarm. This despite the scientific proof of the tenuity of the same gas, which was apparently irresistible. Briefly, it was a case of demonstration by the spectrum which had given pictures possible only in the case of gases of extreme tenuity. Nevertheless, these people were glad to learn the next day after the period of contact had expired that the observers teu failed all of them to ! notice any effects whatever from the ! contact. Whether there had been contact or not, one thing is certain, that the comet so far from giving us a esse or contact deferred is getting visibly further from us every day. The question of whether there was any sort 01 contact, now become academic, is the only result left behind by the comet of Hailey on this trip.

ITS HISTORY. j ■lts history and that of jiow it fl)as j .proved to ibe periodic by the famous astronomer who gave it .his name madej the doctor's lecture extremely interest-' ing. Not the least interesting of the many j facts incidental was the recognition of the appearance at various dates long, past of the appearance of this strange visitor. A big table set out on a black-1 board 'gave a list of those appearances, j Among the observers noted were some' Chinese astronomers of a remote anti-j quity. But the most thrilling was the I appearance of the comet just before the' Norman Conquest, as depicted in tne, famous Bayaux tapestry. On one .side; was the comet high in the upper air;| just below there was a knot of people in the costume of the period straining their 1 necks to see the same, and pointing with their hands, just as ever so many ot tne citizens of Wellington have been doing any morning for the past few weeKS. Tn the middle, Harold is shown on his throne; a servant having just rushed in is telling the news of the weird visitor. which as evidently »n a. condition of great splendor. Tne King is clearly pertnrbed, for tne artist has made him lean over at a dangerous angle, as if tottering and about to fall on the floor. A political squib of the time must have ■had a great vogue in the camp of the Conqueror. And it was quite five centuries later—think of it, five centuries! —that Shakespeare made one of his men refer to a comet as the thing which "with fear of change perplexes monarch*." Truly, the world is very Human. Is it any wonder o that even men

described as enlightened among our Indian subjects, -are ascribing tbe death of Edward VH. to the same comet which some of our ancestors regarded as responsible for the dire effects of the Norman Conquest? * # * * NOTEWORTHY INSCRIPTION. The inscription on this tapestry of tne comet was in one respect noteworthy. It rend, in reference to the people gazing at the .portent on the heavens, "Miraiit stella." The correct phase, 01 course would; be ''mirantur stellam. 1 ' Tbe absence of the "tur" irom the first j word ami the "m" from the second ma'ke the inscription the worst of '"dog Latin." Indeed, it is questionable whether such a mistake could have been possible at the Court of William of Normandy, where the clerics were in great force, and may be regarded as having been fairly acquainted with the Latin language. The lecturer's suggestion, therefore, that the error was probably due to the fact that in the matter of the Latin tongue—albeit that tongue was the language of tne learned—there were great irregularities, does not seem to ue convincing. Someone, be said, had suggested to .him a different explanation. It was this: 01o.se to the first word in the picture stands a tower, and near by the end of the second word the tail of the comet seems in its flapping—a liberty which comets can surely take on paper or tapestry—to take the shape of an "m." Now, the latin word for tower is •''turns," and if we add the first syiiaule, of that word •'tur" to the first word "mirant," and add the "m" of the tail to the second "stella; the mistake is rectified entirely. Now these plays on word* were common enough in those days, and, moreover, the tower has no other business in the picture. It is not part of any scheme of defence; it does not belong to any buildings in tne vicinity; it just stands by itself, and is, moreover, not a sort of tower that could fulfil any useful purpose whatever. Its only useful purpose is to stand for a syllable. The addition of the first syllable of its Latin equivalent would rectify the grammar of •'Mirant," making it "Mirantur," and the addition of "m" to the "stella" would convert that to the necessary, indispensable, usual accusative. It is a f;act that the "m" thus added is at right angles to the rest of the word, But that is a detail, and What are details when a fair tapestry worker wants to be facetious as well as patriotic? Altogether, mis,was a very interesting glimpse of the past. * » t * AN OBSERVATORY.

The outcome of this very fine lecture is a suggestion .oy the reverend doctor for tiie establishment here of an astronomical observatory. His idea is that a .public subscription would be the best method, as that would give the public opportunity of free entrance, with hours reserved for scientific work, and there would be no difficulty in finding a capable man to take charge honorarily, as has been actually done at Wanganui.. It transpired that the late Mr. Carter, of the Wairarapa, had left £IOOO some years ago.for tlm very purpose to wan until supplemented by other donations. It transpired, further, that the amount has now been supplemented 'by interest until it stands at double its, original figure. In the course of his investigation into the matter, a reporter interviewed a member of the "Philosophical Institute." who declared that nothing could be done under £70,000 or £BO,OOO, plus an endowment. Which is absurd, in the light of the fact that Dr. Kennedy is a practical astronomer who has -worked at his science on the financial lines he has laid down, and is supported by the experience at Wanganui, whereas the other merely details the expensive experience of other places bent on getting elaborate establishments beyond the requirements of absolute necessity. It further transpired that the Carter bequest has- found its way into the cotters of Victoria College, which institution has not complied with the conditions of the bequest, and is .hard up. The simple thing to do .is to blow away the presence of elaborate extravagance, make the College ])ay up, add to the amount as large a public subscription as possible, and establish the observatory.

GRAND OPERA. Grand opera 'has arrived not for the first time in the city, But it is the first time we have tasted the up-to-date article. So far as our experience has gone—it has only taken in the "Madam Butterfly" of 'Puccini—we are delighted. We realise, as one of the critics has pointed out. that in return for the weaving of the 'arias" and "scenas" of our old recollections into the orchestration, together with the recitatives in which we used to take such delight by reason of their stateliness and pomp of diction, we have gained a work more compact and of greater rapidity of action. Hence the Opera House is filled nightly. The prices are higher than usual, of course, •but whether they are going to pay the management remains to be seen. The orchestra is the mainstay of the show, for it is out of the question to get the I- artists of the first rank who have given the opera so much of its reputation. Nevertheless, the (performance and o.ie ■production are excellent. The public was very glad to hear Amy Castles and to know that she has turned out very well as an artiste, though she has not realised her ambition to take a place among the leading singers of the day.