CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 188, 18 November 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

A NEW DEPARTURE. Speaker Cann, of the New South Wales Labour Parliament, has decided to appear without sartorial adornments of his office. He will not wear the wig or other embellishments pertaining to his high office, and his decision will be vigorously applauded by his Labor comrades, of course. Mr. Cann's niggeu decision is, if one understands the case, a mere advertisement of Mr. Cann's ruggedness. He desires to show that he is superior to the mere wearing of horsehair, and such indications ot a notable and noble position—and his decision will be unpopular. The Speaker of a House is distinguished from his confreres byoutward semblances, and, in our view, such semblances are sane and reasonable. It is as reasonable, for instance, for Mr. Cann to wear a Speaker's wig and robe as it would be for Mr. Cann to carry a Labor banner with the device, "Down with capital!" or "We want bread!" on it. If Mr. Cann is right it is also right for the policeman on the beat to wear civilian clothes, for the sailor and the soldier to jettison their uniforms, for the judges and lawyers to heave their wigs and gowns into the sea, and for the clericals to abandon the sartorial indications of their specific offices. One is unable to believe that the speakers of the Parliaments of the world will follow the lead of Mr. Cann, because the people generally are naturally and wonderfully influenced by symbols of power and authority. Such symbols are universal, and have always been so. The personal conceit of a man who gathers unexpected position and notoriety will not alter it. Five thousand years ago rank was indicated by specific ornamentations, and five thousand years hence, when Mr. Cann's rugged determination to gain advertisement has passed into the limbo of forgetfulness, power and rank and influence will still be indicated by symbols, and the next Speaker of the House Mr. Cann has the honor to control will wear a wig.

TROOP HORSES. New Zealand is a country of horses. It owes its pre-eminence as a producer of horseflesh to the Home Country, from whence it obtained the parent stock. The humid climate of this Dominion is as kind to bulk and bone and sinew as is the climate of the Homeland. No country under the sun has ever produced horses the equal of those Britain sends to the far corners of the earth to sire the troop horses for the armies of the Empire. New Zealand breeders of draught stock, influenced by the superiority of their splendid horses, send too many of their best beasts to Australia, and so diminish the utility of the parent stock. Australia concentrates more on the production of lighter ana more active sorts with bone, sinew, courage and activity. She has already shown the world that for troop horses, "coachers," "hunters," and strong mancarrying hacks she has no equal. In sober fact, she has an equal in New Zealand. The famous "walers" which win all the weight-carrying military races in India, South Africa, and Egypt are bred naturally and without man-handling on the great Australian stations, and ,the fact that they are not artificially reared is the sole reason of their excellence. The moment veterinary science interferes with the natural foal in Australia, the remount business of the Commonwealth will diminish. In New Zealand theorism in the production of animals easily leads to disaster, and if N.Z. is going into the business of breeding remounts for the armies of the world she needs to be chary in departing from natural methods. Britain is providing a sum of £40,000 to "improve" the breed _ of weight carriers, but the use of this sum by cranks who desire the production of artificialities is of no service whatever. New Zealand can produce active weight-carriers, fit for anywork, by choosing its sires and mares by commonsense selection, leaving the rest to nature. Every horseman knows the unknoAvn hack, the parentage of which remains a mystery, has Wten been the superior in heart' and courage to the carefully tended foal that was nurtured on mash in the home paddock. Next to the cow industry and pig raising, there is no proposition that provides better results in New Zealand than the breeding of active, natural man-carrying horses. But New Zealand has got to keep the hand-feeding crank out of the business and let nature have her own way. ,

MR. DOOLETTE'S LUCK. The story of Doram Doolette's lucky rise to wealth is one typical of many that take place on all goldfields. It is the hope of this luck which induces men to remain on and on, confident and trustful of some day "striking it rich." A few personal particulars about the fortunate promoter were given to an Otago Daily Times reporter by Mr. J. Laing, of Dunedin, who has gold-mining interests in Western Australia. Doram Doolette, he said, was the son of a tailor in Adelaide. In the early days ot the Western Australian boom—lß94, 1895, 1896—.Mr. Doolette, senr., became interested in Western Australian properties, and in the early part of 1895 sent his son Doram, who had been studying medicine, over from Adelaide on behalf of a small American syndicate to conduct prospecting operations. Here, on his first trip, owing to going off on his own line and not following the directions given, be just missed pegging out the great "Golden Horseshoe" mine. Brookman, the discoverer'of the Great Bouldgave him the hint to peg out the adjoining section, but Doolette became associated with the Octagon syndicate which was financed by Mr. W." R. Wilson, of St. Albans, near Geelong, and branched off up country as far as Niagara and Menzies instead of keeping witlnn the environs of the Golden Mile! Golden Mile is the original name given to the big reef upon which Coolgardio and Kalgoorlie are built. This reef "peters out" at each end, and it has been the aim of prospectors to discover where the breaks lead to. This has at length been discovered, evidently in the Bullfinch mine, which is proving so fabulously wealthy. Mr. Doolette found three prospectors with an interest in the discovery, and purchased at least one share for £IOOO. Subsequent!v, when it was discovered in a measure' how rich the mine. was, he allowed the original seller to repurchase one-sixteenth" interest for £IOOO. Now, it is interesting to note the Bullfinch Proprietary has refused the sum of £1,000.000 for the mine.