Notes and Comments.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 116, 17 October 1901, Page 3

Notes and Comments.

'The A'chiaese, a people inhabiting a portion o* the north of a Sumatra, have probably hardy had more experience in back, warfare than any race On • earth. The hatred of foreign domination which led them to refuse English merchants' peraiUsion to settle in their country in the fourteenth century also led them to fight one European nation ■after atistfoer for nearly 500 years ; and there can be no better evidence •of their, tenacity and national •spirit than the fact ftiat theft country is 'still p-raetically independent and their' lighting men uriconquered. "When Java and Sumatra were returned by England to Holland, in 1819, the latter undertook not to conquer Achin. The lawlessness of the Achinese led to the repeal of this treaty in 1871, and since that time the Dutch have been fighting these warlike people. Their success has been at best indifferent, as,. though they "hold the coast, the guerilla war goes on in the interior and the issue is still doubtful. Many of the Dutch have Ijeen captured by the Achinese, who have always proved courteous and humane captors. On more than -one occasion during the past year, have Dutch soldiers bound for Achin, and - British soldiers bound for South Africa exchanged «heers in Southampton Harbour.

that American shortcomings in regard to manufactures are so apparent that efforts towards higher technical training may be looked upon as a national necessity. Tne liberal distribution of schools to suit the purposes of manufacturing industries is illustrated by the fact that North Staffordshire has an art school in each of the five towns that form the pottery district. The great benefit which local industries receive from this widely extended art teaching, supported by a wealth of objects of arts selected for 'their beauty, is clearlyshown in this'case. Minfcon, Doulton, Wedgwood and Royal Worcester wares are known the world over. If imitation is the* sincerest form of flattery, they cannot complain of lack of, appreciation. They are copied I extensively by German manufacturers, who, as is usual with imitators, leave out of the design the more expensive work, producing a very similar article at a considerably lower figure. The English do not seem to realise this kind of martyrdom, and yet it cannot be dissociated from the form of * originality.' It is evident from the foregoing that we are not so badly off as some people would like to inatfe out, the whole position being summed up in the words, "distant'hiUs are green."