CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 195, 7 January 1913, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

TO VISIT TARANAKI. Thirty business men of Sydney will shortly be coming over to Now Zealand and spending their holidays in Taranaki, making New Plymouth their headquarters. This is another result of bringing the attractions of the district under the notice of outsiders by the Expansion and Tourist League. FIGURES THAT SPEAK. The export of dairy produce from New Plymouth continues to mount up. Reckoning butter at 110s per cwt, and cheese at GOs per cwt, 73,274 boxes of the former, valued at £201.503 10s, and 21.925 eases of cheese, valued at £90,000 were shipped from the New Plymouth Breakwater for export during the period from August to the end of December. The combined value of the exports of the two products alone for this period is £298,403 10s. In addition 50 kegs of butter;were exported. THE LOCAL POSTAL. SERVICE. The following 1 is a comparative return of the business transacted at the Chief Post Office, New Plymouth, during the four days previous to Christmas:—Number of mail bags handled, 1912, 1407; 1911, 1370; amount of stamp sales, 1912, £321 2s Id; 1911, £341 10s 4d; number of telegrams forwarded, 1912, 2500; 1911, 2224; number of telegrams received, 2521; 1911, 2304; number of telegrams transmitted, 1912, 3349; 1911, 3309. The apparent increase in the amount of the stamp sales for 1912 was caused by a difference in the periods in which bulkstamps were purchased by vendors.

OIL AS FUEL. "Oil as fuel is becoming more popular in the United States," said Mr. R. N. McLean, a member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, to a New Zealand Times reporter last week. "Oil looks as if it's going to be the coming •fuel. In the States they are buildiag •ships to run by oil, and tho United States naval authorities are building battleships that will be served solely by oil fuel. In America there is such ail abundance of oil. In the State of California alone there is a great output of it. Men who pegged off areas have become millionaires, though tho Government is now reserving its oil-boring lands to itself. California gets more out of its oilfields than out of its gold, silver and copper. A Japan trading company has just come over and taken a twenty years' contract .for so many million barrels of oil evory year."

HISTORICAL THIRTEEN. There is historical -as well as prophetic warrant for expecting that the present year will be a fateful one in the history of the nations. It is pointed out by a contemporary that in tho past, as the thirteenth year of a century recurred, Europe has seen a great turning point in her affairs. Four hundred years ago, 1513 saw a gallant King of Scotland and the flower of Scottish nobility perish on the stricken field of Flodden. Three hundred years ago, as the date came round, Germany was in the opening agonies of the Thirty Years' War. Two hundred years ago, 1713 witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, which put a period to the hard-contested war of the Spanish Succession, and proved conclusively to that theatrical "Grand Monarque." Iftuis, XIV., that the Pyrenees and many other obstacles to French ambition did after all exist. One hundred years ago, 1913, saw the Battle of Leipzig, and the deliverance of Europe fiom the domination of France, and the iron rule of Napoleon.

"THINGS MATRIMONIAL." 'Tie a fearsome thing this getting married. At least one would gather so from the manner in which some prospective bridegrooms seek to keep the world in ignorance of the fact that they are about to cross the Rubican. One would almost think that they were placing themselves within the arms of the law, bo dimly mysterious and cabalistic are they in seeking to avoid reference to the subject. Here is a case in point: At yesterday's meeting of the Taranaki County Council one of the Council employees wrote applying for leave of absence, explaining: "I wish to transact some business on my own account, which will require my absence for a week." "What name?" enquired a Councillor. ■ —"Oh, — so-and-so. Yes, he has buisiness, unusual business. He is going to get married." (Laughter). "Why couldn't he say go," remarked another member, "it would make his case all the better." It was moved by one Councillor that the Council extend its sympathy to the candidate for matrimonial honors, but Councillors contented themselves with granting the necessary leave. Members philosophised to the extent of a few puffs of full strength "plug" on the unbecoming modesty of youth.

AN AWAKENING. The New Plymouth Tourist and Expansion League are to be congratulated upon the success of their initial effort. Dozens of people were attracted to the district as a direct result, of the advertising campaign they conducted, whilst tho indirect return 'from their work "is hard to estimate. All the hotels and boarding-houses were filled, and for a time accommodation was at a premium. It- is satisfactory to know that extra accommodation will shortly be provided, whilst it is also on the cards that further transit facilities will be available to cope with the Mount Egmont, the Mokau and other traffic on future holidays. The League are just now busy arranging for the circulation of the illustrated folders they have had pVinted. 'Che preparation of a booklet defecribing and illustrating the scenic, historical and holiday spots of the district is also to be taken in hand, whilst the local Empire Film Company has come forward with an offer to take views of Mokau. the Mountain, etc., and have them shown throughout the Dominion, as well as in Australia and Europe. Evidently New Plymouth is not going to remain' hiding behind tho bushel any longer, but is, on the other hand, determined to make known throughout the length and breadth of the land the scenic assets which benoficient Providence has so plenteously bestowed upon tho district.

DISABILITIES OF THE COUNTRY. "If you want to experience tlie benefits of the country, you must live in the town," feelingly declared a country school teacher at the; conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute on Saturday. "You buy milk in the country, but there is a method of drawing off tlie milk to the .disappearance of the cream, which goes to the factory! If you want pood potatoes you don't get them in tlie country. You only get the culls; the selected tubers are sent to the market. In town you get meat certified to by a Government vet-erinary-surgeon; in the country you have the culled cows dished up to you, and 'SO on:" Enlarging oil the drawbacks of a country schoolteacher's life in the country, the speaker pointed out that owing to insufficient glebe manv o? them could not keep .a horse—in some cases almost indispensable. He told of meeting a fellow-teacher one day and remarking on the miserable condition of ihis steed. The reply came in the following pitiful strain: "Well, what can I do? Mv house is on a quarter-acre

section. .1 can't vent a section for love 01 money. All I can do is to occasionally stand out on the road and watch the animal while .he feeds on the long acie. His only compensation is that ho gets six weeks' holiday in the summer. (Laughter). It i s really dearer for teachers to live in the country than m the town. ' Delegates sympathised with the speaker, and unanimously passed a remit urging that suliicien't glebe be -provided in connection with country school-teachers' residences.

THE NEW VISCOUNT. The new Viscount, Sir Percy Scott, is a scientific '"handy man." Many years ago. when lie was in command of the he first attracted attention by reason of the superb gunnery of his men, and ever since he has been regarded with reason as one of the first of our authorities on this all-important branch ot naval science. The position which lie occupies to-day as Inspector of Target Practice constitutes the best tribute to his services, the post having been specially created for him to fill." The invaluable assistance which Sir Percv rendered with his naval guns a't the siege of Ladysmith will, of course, alway s be remembered, though he hiin»eli treats the matter lightly enough. Jt was a perfectly ea*y matter," he afterwards explained, "to get a few Cape waggon wheels, put a pit of wood on top of them, and on to that ship longrange 12-poiuulei's; and when heavier guns, such as 4.7 in and Gin, were required, it only meant a little more wood and stronger wheels." But that was only Ins way of putting it. The late f, n "®orge/White, at any rate, viewed tiie matter differently, and, as he wrote m a despatch, it was the arrival in the riiCk of time ofthese same guns—the only ones equalling in range those of the Boei s which sav&l the .situation. No fewer than forty-one guns on Captain bcotts mountings were used in South Afnca. And the Terrible's fine record m that country was supplemented by good work in China, where her guns, mounted on carriages of the same Ladysmith type, were despatched both to I Tientsin and Pekin.

GRAND DUKE'S ROMANCE. A recent cable stated that the Grand Duke Michael had been removed from the command of the Chevalier Guards, and given 11 months' leave. Many years ago the Grand Duke Michael of Russia married the beautiful Countess Sophie Merenborg, and. for thus following the dictates of his heart, instead of marrying someone who was his own equal in position, was banished from Russia by the late Czar and deprived of his military rank.. The present Czar, the Grand Duke's cousin, withdrew the order of exile, and, in recognition of his patriotism in setting up a hospital at Cannes for officers wounded in the late Russo-Japanese war, conferred on him the Imperial Red Cross of Russia. The marriage of the Grand Duke to the elder daughter of the late Prince Nicholas of Nassau, was quite a romance. When the Countess Tor,by, then Countess Sophie Merenberg, was a very young girl, she managed one day to • escape from her governess and to visit a certain fortune-teller at Wiesbaden, where her father then resided. The Sybil foretold some astonishing things, among them that the young Countess would marry far above her rank in life, and thereby would be forced to live in exile. The fulfilment of the prophecy came when the Grand Duke Michael -met the lovely young countess, fell madly in love with her, and married her in spite of the opposition of his uncle, the Emperor Alexander 111. of Russia. The Grand Duke was recently asked, in view of the serious illness of the Czarevitch, to consent to annul hig morganatic, marriage, and to consider the question of hia succession to the Russian throne. .It has been stilted, however, that all these efl'orts failed. And who will say ,he is, wrong?

IS IT A CURE? At the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court recently, the question was asked: "Does a sojourn in the Inebriates' Home at Rotoroa really cure its inmates of drunkenness?" Counsel affirmed that there was no curative treatment applied in the institution at all. The Salvation Army undertook the work in the hcpe of curing inebriates, 'but there was no medical attention .paid to the subjects whatever, and consequently if a person were sent there for a year it really amounted to imprisonment, because, while detained there, he could not carry on his occupation. The magistrate did not consider that to send a man to Rotoroa was in the light of a punishment. It was in reality simply to help the man himself and his family. Auckland Star reporter made enquiries locally about the matter, and learnt that the reason why a resident medical officer is not stationed there is purely a mattcsr of funds. The expense would be too heavy. It was pointed out, however, that when a chronic dnebriate came before the Court he was not committed to the island home if he had any other ailment. He was generally sent where medical treatment would l>e available. It was not desirable to send a man suffering from illhealth to Rotoroa, as he was too isolated in the event of urgent medical treatment being necessary. "Compulsory abstention," said one authority, "is practically medical treatment. It is a ■well-known scientific fact that alcohol creates an increased appetite for itself; consequently, in_ the converse ratio, it follows that taking away the liquor reduces the appetite, and if that abstention is of sufficiently long duration t'he desire dies rigiht out. The consensus of opinion among medical men who are engaged in grappling with the problem of what to do with 'dipsos,' seems to be that three_ years should be the mini, mum term of isolation, instead of twelve months. The obvious answer to that is that., while you can get a man to go voluntarily to Rotoroa for twelve months, there would be no voluntary patients for three years."