The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1900.

Waikato Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 545, 11 January 1900, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1900.

On Wednesday night a mass meeting of the citizens of Auckland was held in the Drill Shed. About 2000 were present in the building, and our contemporaries report that probably an equal number was unable to gain admission. The object of the meeting was to give expression to the loyal and imperialistic sentiments which actuate the people at this critical stage in the history of, the Empire, and to afford thof citizens an opportunity to give tangible evidence of their sincerity by subscribing to the Patriotic Fund. The financial result has been that the Mayor’s Fund now amounts to the respectable sum of £4OOO.

It is, however, the resolution which was moved at the end of the meeting by Mr Fowlds, with which we have to do, as that involves a principle to be considered by the whole population of the colony. It reads : “ That this meeting of the citizens of Auckland, respectfully represents to the Government, thdt in its opinion, the arrangements in the colony are inadequate for its necessary defence, and would urge upon the Government the desirablity of providing a full supply of modern rifles, with quick-firing artillery and ammunition as quickly as pos--51 blc.” The speaker very tritely pointed out that Now Zealand was a link, and they believed a very material link, in the chain of the Empire that surrounded tho world, and that the strength of a chain was gauged by the strength of the weakest part. It behoved them, therefore, to see that in case of necessity New Zealand should be able to defend herself and not be a strain on the Mother Country. It is impossible after consideration to hold any other opinion than that New Zealand is not in that position at tho present time. It is to he wished, however, that Mr Eowlds had gone a stage further and called upon the Government to secure that there shall he a sufficiently large force trained to use the arms when imported! The war now raging has put a very serious strain upon the land forces of the Empire, and we must in considering our position, recognise the probability that we might become involved in hostilities with Powers of much greater strength. We might have been called upon to resist the advance of Russia upon India at this juncture. It appears to us, that if the imperialistic i lea is to be given effect to, every division of the Empire, in addition to maintaining a force to meet any probable attack u on its own territory, should support a mobile force, complete in itself, fully trained and ready to leave with little delay, for any part of the Empire, upon which the forces of an enemy might be concentrated. It is unnecessary to enter into details as to how this is to be brought about, that is the function of the Government. We are sure of this, that any reasonable and practicable scheme would meet with the approval of the people.

We have been requested to draw attention to the delapidated condition of a wooden culvert on the Waipa County Road, near the Whiitawbata Creamery. Several of the planks are loose, and one is broken, an accident might occur at any time.

A Southland settler, in sending some verses under the title of “The Empire’s Gill ” to an Invercargill contemporary, modestly remarks that “ colonial poets cannot hope to be appreelated like Kipling, though their work may he as good or even better than life.”

Rather a peculiar coincidence occurred at the second day’s meeting of the Rangitikci Jockey Club. The committee placed an extra race on the programme—The Transvaal Relief Welter—and by the irony fate the event was won by a horse named Boer! The army returns give some interesting particulars as to the nationality of our “ Tommy Atkinses." More than three fqurths of the number are English, 26,500 arc Irish, amlTibout 16,500 Sooth. Some 2500 arc given as unkovvu, and 142 are described as foreign.’

At a meeting of the Wellington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the inspector reported that poultry is being sent here in a shocking condition. He said fowls were cooped up 48 hours without food or water, and so closely packed that they died, or arrived with broken wings and legs. In one box, 4ft by 3ft by 2ft 41 fowls were packed. Marconi’s ambition is to establish communication between England and America. ‘Do you think,’ Marconi said, ‘it will create much surprise if I succeed in sending a message between England and America ? It is u very long distance, ’ Marconi went on, ‘ and 1 don’t say it will be done yet; but many thifgs which seemed impossible have been accomplished.’

An illustration of the danger of throwing dowc lighted matches is afforded by an incident which occurred on Lambton Quay, Wellington, a few days’iigo. A man who had just lit his pipe threw away the match, which fell into the pocket of a little girl’s mackintosh. In the pocket was her handkerchief, which she hastily pulled out, but not before it had caught fiie, and was practically destroyed.

A physician maintains that the use of artific’al troth is bad for old per sons, because it cnab’es them to eat meat. The teeth, he affirms, fall out naturally at a certain age, because Nature means that at this particular time of our life we should limit our.'elves to a vegetable diet. The doctor insists that his ideas on this point aic by no means as paradoxical as they may seem to some people.

The Gore Standard says :—“ We understand that an effort is about to be made to upset the recent licensing poll in the Clutha district. It appears that prohibition was only carried by five votes, and it is asserted that more than that number cm be struck off the roll owing to irregularities. The matter is now in the hands of the legal fraternity, and no effort will be spared to retain the public house at Pnkeran and the wholesale licenses at Tapauni. As mentioned in a previous issue, tile Ohrlatchu reii Press Company, with the object of ascertaining public opinion on the question of sending a third contingent to the Transvaal, inaugurated a “ More Men Fund,’’ each person in favour of the. proposal being required to contribute at least one shilling. The result has gone lo prove that the idea is a most popular one, as on Saturday last 7227 shillings had been received. The list was to have closed yesterday. Some errors occurred in our report of the Hautapu Drainage Board meeting in Tuesday’s issue. It got mixed up, and put words into the mouth of Mr Charles Roberts which he never uttered. The first nine lines of the paragraph, “ More Drains Wanted,’ were uttered by Mr Roberts. We then continued that he would give a donation in addition to paying rates to have the drain brought up to his land. The Chairman (Mr Forrest) then spoke, but his preliminary remarks were also omitted. We regret the error, as the report misrepresented both those gentlemen.

The meeting convened by Mr J. S. Edgecumbe last evening to arrange for a concert in aid of the Patriotic Fund was fairly well attended. Mr Edgecumbe, as convener, explained the obj-ct for which the meeting had been called, and Mr J. A. Young was voted to the chair. The matter of the date was discussed, and the 19th inst. was suggested, but it was eventually decided that the date should be Eiiday, January 26th, The following gent'emcn were-elected a committee to carry out the proposal: His Worship the Mayor and Messrs S. Adams, J. A. Young, A. E. Manning and R. J, Cwynne. At the conclusion of the meeting a capital practice was held under the baton of Mr S. Adams. Writing of the war tension a London correspondent says : There never was, since the Crimea and Indian mutiny, such a terrible tension as we are going through just now. Men hurry to their depots, mothers prepare striplings for the baptism of fire, tie down hardly grown Von the upper lip', and tho remembrance of sunny curls and the days of their babyhood strong upon them when the lads wore all their own. Boys bid their fathers good-bye like young stoics, though the eyes they look into arc wet. Lovers hasten their wedding prcparations, and are married to be patted immediately. Just as did their parents and relatives in the pressing limes of the Peninsular war. There are farewell dinner parties to men ordered to the front, at which sighs and tears are sternly suppressed. The Empire hath need of them, they crush gladly to the battlefield. Homes have been temporarily broken up, and the women and children., to save rent—that bugbear of the poor —have taken up their quarters with relatives who have somehow or other_.-made "room for them. Ido not 'think thkt’liiy family will be in actual need, because the money subscribed has come in such ample proportions that it is more than likely many will be better off for the time being.

A lamentable accident took place in Hobson-street, Auckland, on Tuesday evening, by which a little boy, aged four years, sou of Mr Robinson, boardinghouse keeper, of Hobson-street, lost his life. It appears that a tramcar driven by Charles Nankcrvis, who hears the reputation of being a careful driver, and who has boon live years in the Tramway Company’s service, was going up Hobsonstreet at the ordinary pice, when he noticed the little boy ahead, running with some dogs on the hit of the ear. One of the dogs swerved towards the horses, and tho little fellow followed the dog, not noticing the tramcar, his attention being absorbed, and suddenly swerved in front of the horses. The driver put on his brake as soon as he could, and endeavoured to pull the horses on their haunches, but being a small car he was unable to arrest its progress in time to save the child, the wheels going over its chest. The little sufferer was taken into Mr Hooper’s chemist’s shop, and eflorts made to get medical aid, but was ultimately taken to the hospital, where he died shortly before ten p.m. Mr Russsll, in the employ of Mr Fowler, butcher, was on the front of the car when the accident oceured, and he and Mr Hooper’s assistant, who was standing at the door of the shop, and saw the whole affair, it is understood are of opinion that no b'ame was attachable to tho driver Nankervis. At the inquest yesterday a verdict of “ Accidental death, no blame being attachable to anyone,” was returned.

A pick-pocket on a Wellington train was bowled out the other day. He had deftly removed a purse from a lady’s dress, and when the guard came round ihe lady found her purse missing. Foruuately another lady had observed the thief and promptly informed the guard. The light fingered individual expostulated and denied all knowledge of the affair, but the guard was obdurate and insisted on seeing the contents of his pockets, with the result that the purse was returned to its ou ner, and the thief dropped at the next station.

The following are the callings or professions of the members of the new Parliament just elected Farmers or innholders, 21; solicitors, 9 ; journalists, 7; storekeepers, 4; contractors, 3 ; schoolmasters, 3; merchants, 2; an.) one each of the following Native interpreter, livery stablekeoper, estate agent, clothier, tinsmith, mining agent, newspaper proprietor, sailmaker, clicker, bootmaker, stationer’s assistant, lecturer, gaafiUcr, bookseller, master mariner, sawmdler, salesman, auctioneer, and butcher.

As might have been anticipated, the Aberdeen cemetery scandal is likely to give an impetus to cremation in Scotland. The Scottish Burial Reform and Cremation Society have issued a circular appealing for support for the society on the grounds of sentiment as well as public health. The circular directs attention to the society’s crematorium in Glasgow, and states that cremation accomplishes in about an hour a process which otherwise occupied many years. The charge for each operation ranges from £2 2s to £5 ss. Up to date over 50 cremations have been carried out in G'a&gow.

A gentleman who has arrived in Biisbaue from the Birdsville district, about 1000 miles west of Brisbane, states that the effects of the drought within a radius of 300 miles of Birdsville will be ruinous to pastoralists. Waterholes never before known to be dry now contain but little water, and stock are dying in large numbers, and filling the waterholes with rotting carcases. Sandstorms are frequent, lasting sometimes over a week at a stretch. At the end of November and the beginning of December the the mometer at Birdsville registered 116 to 125 degrees in the shade.

A London paper of a recent date reports : The West Bam relieving ofiiccr has been inquiring into one of the most pathetic stories of poverty ever known in the district. The case was that of a Mr and Mis Manning, an old couple between 70 and 80 years of age, living close to the Brickfields Church, Stratford, and the Rev. Tom Warren at the guardians’ meeting stated that he knew for an absolute fact that the old people for three years had lived on nothing else but dry bread. With the little out-relief they got, after they paid the rent, there was only 3|d a day to provide food for the two, and they had endured all this hardship rather than go into the workhouse. The board decided to grant the old couple 8s per week.

The disease of “pink eye,” which is said to have attacked some of the horses of the forces in South Africa, is a parasitic disorder of atmospheric origin, attacking horses simultaneously in wet weather. The primary symptons, says a late authority, are loss of appetite, dulness, with perhaps fever, shown by elevation of temperature, varying from 104 to 107, or in bid cases to even 108 do greet, and acceleration of pulse in the animal from 05 to 100 beats per minu'e in severe cares. These symptoms are generally succeeded by swelling of the eyelids and redness of the eye, hence the term pink eye, together with pain and stiffness of the limbs and tumefaction, particularly round the joints. The swellings iucrea e and the digestive organs are disordered. Sometimes the pula < gradual'y becomes feeble, and the animal suddenly dies.