TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8213, 17 August 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

The wonderful records in gunnery made by some of the ships in the Home seas last year seem likely to be exceeded by this year's practice. The full returns for the gunlayers' tests for 1906 are not yet known, but the performance of some of the ships of the Channel and Prince Louis of Batten berg's cruiser squadrons have been published, and they show some wonderful shooting. Firing with the 9.2 weapon, the Drake made 17 hits in 18 roundß. The Drake is Prince Loais' flagship, and as she can steam 24 knots an hour, in addition to dealing out destruction with fine aouuracy, she must be accounted a magnificent fighting machine. .The Hindustan did even better, getting 33 out of 34 rounds on the target. The King Edward VII. put on 30 hits in 33 rounds with her 9.2 weapon, and the New Zealand, which last year was I4tb on the list, made 21 hits in 26 rounds. Thus, out of these 111 rounds fired by the 9.2 guns, only 10 failed to hit the target. With the 12-inoh guns the weapon which is now of supreme importance, the E'xmouth maintained her proud position of last year with 16 hits from her two turrets in two and three-quarter minutes. The New Zealand ran her close with 15 hits in the same time. With the 6-inoh guns brilliant shooting was done. The Drake got home 17 hits in two minutes with two guns, and the Hindustan 33 hits with four guns. Admiral Sir Percy Soott, who is one of the reformers responsible for the improvement in gunnery, said recently that he had seen in the Atlanfcio five guns fire 56 shots, at the rato of 11 rounds per minute, and hit the target 55 times. The special correspondent of the Tribune with the defending fleet in the reoent manoeuvres, writing six weeks ago, said he believed that the Pverage percentage of hits of all tne ships that had firel their tests, was 70; a yesr or two back it was 30. The much more difficult battle practice bas yet to be gone through. It is interesting to note that the ships which did badly last year have been noted by the Admiralty, who have made it clear by their choice of offloers for decoration and preferment that in future neglect of gunnery will not be tolerated.

Mr Price, the South Australian Premier, is again in trouble through unguarded speech, and this time he has apologised. He has been holding "pleasant Sunday" fiee-and easy political meetings in which the auditors smoke tbuir pipes. At one of them he said, "I have been ordered olive oil for my throat. Do you know,that I am afraid of all the olive oil on the market. 1 am, indeed. 1, do not want to say that merchants are dishonest, but I find that most of it is charged very libeially with cotton oil. Consequently, I will have to go to the I Adelaide Gaol, where 1 can be sure of getting a pure artiolo." The South Australian olive oil. industry is of importance, and the product is growing in favour. The manufacturers are jealous of its reputation, and iu any case would have nocbing to gain by fraud. As is well known, in any case the adulteration of olive oil is usually practised by dealers after it has been placed on the j market. The competition of prison labour was already a sore point with the producers, and this depreciation of their produot apparently to advertise the prison product. Naturally, strong protests were made. Tlie publia mind is just now supersensitive on the adulteration question, and it wps held that so grave a charge from tho Premier himself would imperil it not ruin a productive industry. Mr Price, in his withdrawal, does not appear to advantage, as he appears to have spoken—as in a former case without the slightest warrant. He said that, as his words "might unfortunately do injury to the olive oil makers," ho wished to explain. "1 am glad to "at once take steps which may have the effect of removing any misunderstanding as to what 1 intended. I was speaking of olive oil as I knew it yeurs ago, and which 1 dranu under the name or salad oil, believing it to be pure olive oil. Now I know there is a distinction drawn on the market between what is called salad oil wbioh used to be sold as olive oil and pure olive oil as now bottled. Having received a sample of Sir Samuel Davenport's and gotber makers 1 manufaoturea, marked absolutely pure, and guaranteed that there is no cotton seed ingit, and with my further knowledge of what the State is doing to produce pure olive oil, and that they guarantee their goods to be pure, I withdraw any reflection my words may have oast upon these piodnotions, I would be sorry if any words of mine should in any way injure what is I euoh a promising industry."

Mr J. Ellis Barker describes, in the Nineteenth Century and After, the gradual processes of "Ibfl Absorption of Holland by Germany," laying stress principally upon the eoonomio pressure which Germany is applying to Holland with the object of eventually securing oojtrol of the mouths of the Rhine. One of the strongest eoonomio weapons in the German arsenal is the Dortmund-Ems Canal, which was opened in 1901 to oonnect the greatest coal and iron centre with Eraden, a little German coast town, which almost touches the German Dutch frontier line. Already a branob canal is projected to connect the Dortmund-Euis waterway with the Rhine, 35 miles away. And when that is completed the German through traffic, which now goes up and down the Rhine to and from Rotterdam and Amsterdam, will all be diverted to Emden—unless tLe Dutch buy a continuance of German oatronage by entering the German fold. Holland is to b« starved IntoJsurrender.J A sum of £1,000,000 is to be spent on the enlargement of the port of Emdeu, so as to make it a serious competitor for the vast trade whioih at present goea to Rotterdam and Antwerp.