How a Surgeon won the Victoria Cross.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3383, 11 December 1889, Page 2

How a Surgeon won the Victoria Cross.

Ike London Gazette announces tlmttlieQueen Ims been pleased h signify her intention to confer' tub decoration of the' Victoria Cross upon SiirsjCDn John Cummin, of the Bombay Medical, Servico, whose claim has been submitted for ller. Majesty's approval,'for his conspicuous bravery in the action near Lwekaw,, Eastern Karonni, Burma, on January ■ Ist, 188!),, as recorded against his name, The following is' the act of : bravery for which he was recommend?d:.-; Lieutenant Tighe, 27th Bombay Infantry (to the Mounted Infantry of which corps Surgeon Crimmin. was attached), states that in the action Lwokaw, Eastern Kaienui, on Ist January last, four men charged with him into tho midst of a large'body of theenomy, whowere'movingbfffrom the Kareu left Sauk, and two men fell to the ground rounded. He say

Surgeon Ciimuiin attending one of the men about a huudred yards to the rear. Karens were round the party in every direction, and he saw several fire at Surgeon Crimmin and tbo wounded man. A Sepoy then galloped up to Surgeon Ciimmin, and the latter joined tbetighting line which then came up. Lieutenant. Tighe further-states-thakyery. shortly afterwards thoy vvcro engaged in driving ( lhe 'eiiciuy frpm.small clumps of ti'ees andbauihb'o'i'n which the'Ka'reatfook shelter. "Near * one of' these llmips he saw Surgeon Crimmin attending a jinan, / Sovenil, Karens? rushed'out at him,' Sjirgeon'CrimmTn-. thrust his sword _tbjrpugh one. of them and' aVtackerl 'a ■wind,'"a : '''third Karen then droppedfrom the. fire of a Sepo.v upon which the remaiiiipj; Karens fled.

.lord ,T'he • beej; description; ■.oAJArd" Randolph'•'Churchill we havtJHS'of late is the following from an Eflflisk publication:-"H«! 'tis well! I am observed," said Punch the other day of Lord 'Randolph, From this point of view things have gone very; well with hiin of late, in spite of/ appearances to, the contrary. His sudden; 'resignation' at Christmas,' 1886, of tho post of Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of tho House of Commons was for many months the'main topic of- political; -interest,'' and era now lyou'eau find people: still ready to discuss whethefc^ t- was really those coaling statists thjt caused his resignation, and not differences of.opinion with 'Lord;Salisbury on Bulgaria and other affairs, Lord Randolph's recent visit -to Russia,, which for some weeks divided with tho'Crown Princess's illness the " European Intelligence" of a dozen capitals, has generally been accepted as making for the latter interpretation. Lord Randolph, (Henry , Spencer) Churchill has anotbor advantage over other priminent men in,tbe House of Commons besides tho curiosity he excites; be is the youngest of (hem all, being only 40. The sccif rapid Buccess is very simple I . i M?bns always known what timo of day it is. He was born politically undor Mr Dißraeli'a star and learned at once what the -era of domocracy means. As for the public at large there are, he saw, only two sure ways of bringing down the House; ono is to appeal to tho higher moral sentiments the other to use a great many" big bigD's," Lord Randolph wenf iu for the big D's, and his perforraancos:are dictated.by a constant desire to meet a demand to''give it 'em hot Band.!". It is quite a mistake, however, to suppose that there is nothing else in him,, He does not exactly scorn delights, but lie is quite as capable as ? other public men of living laborious days, Besides his inuate. quickness to ; seize points of controversy and appreciate the significance of facts, he has acquired strong habits of industry, and has nono of that incapacity for detail which was ■the weakness of his great exemplar, Lord Beaconsfield. During the seven months he was at the Indian Office inlßßs-8G ho left behind him a distinct impression for the industry, decision, and grasp, which'go to make a successful administrator. : His exposuro of the waste and niutfe prevalent at the War Office, the Admiralty, and the Board of Works showed much ability in detective work, But Lord Randolph has by no means kicked down the ladder by which he loao to notoriety, and his/lotion address of'lßßo even surpassed all oarlier attempts for extravaganco and brutality. The habit of blasphemy soon becomes a second nature, Lord Randolph Churchill is the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of modern politics, At Oxford he, was ; as boisterous in academic, as he'is now in ; political circles, Lady Randolph is tno daughter of Mr Jerome, of New York, and, is' a "dame of high degree "in Primrose League and other political societies,

( • Early Potatoes. ■'.,,.,. i A Homo paper publishes the fol- , lowing :-'• Growers of early potatoes r aro threatened with competition | from. a fresh quarter, The Agent- , General for Tasmania advocates the , shipment of tubers from that. Colony from January to' April, when they are abundant thoro and very dear .in , England, Australia, of course, could equally well send supplies during the season which is Summer at the . Antipodes, and there is rea*awk> ' believe that the shipment woiiSfpay; it the potatoes could be' kept from rotting, It could scarcely be expected, •however, that cargoes:sent from so great a distance as Australia would realise the full prices given in this country for now potatoes, as thoy would have to be matured to stand tho voyage, and would have lost the freshness which is so 'highly prized Mora they could be delivered, In connection with this subject it is worth while to notico the results of an'acpident- pepped 'Jrqin fineries', which may indjente' a inotjiod' bf growing early potatoes, whore tho soil is too heavy and wet to suit them, .Some, tubers were by chance covered up in!.a 'heap of coal ashes. They, grew with great! vigour, tha tops being of a dark greeh colour, and when they wo dug uji 'the tubers wpyo found to ho largo ano) smooth.' It is wejl'-'lcnown (hit (in't) cinder dirt retains, moisture roraar £ ably well, and' that "grass otijawiia prepared V/jth a vory thio coveftg of Soil oyer these ashes through tho fiercest .of summer di'()!jghts, ; Indeed, tho grass (% well if on; tpp, ex4ft . that tho lawn iq thaVoiso' will npt stand mup|i trafijp over it. But. up analysis shows vc'vy. little nianurial valuo in the ashes, it' would scarcely have boen supposed that potatoes would flourish'* in 'them; and the implication from the success reported it it/may lieac'Ci^d is. (hat inosUf typ fertilising elements must havo been obtained J'rotfi rain Pf tho atmosphere, At any rate jt \voiilp! be wovtU'wliilelto try a;row or two of early potatoes in tho contents of the .cinder nit, sifted and mixed with a little soil,''

Better than a Jfaritomirae- • 'Tho •Auckland 'News the following;-One .would naturally think that a day at the Charitable Aid Hoard doling out relief would be a sorrowful task. Quite trary,, More real fun imd,llang goes on among rjierubers of the board, the applicants especially being greatly tickled -at a good joke,, than you could getat'a pantomime. At the meeting of tho board this week an oldiiian "had" tho board properly. Thoy wero enquiring as to his antecedents, and ho said he had for many years worked hard for tho Government. The p chairman's fico brightenod up at thiaA but gotas loiig'as' a fiddle whonTT uudor cross-examination, the ap: plicant bad to'explain that it was at Mount Eden he had been working

iv ncl liia daily experiences were of it strictly geological character, asDe-. toctivo Strntherii tvell know! It is needless to say the chairman collapsed, A further difficulty, howover awaited him. This timo tho Board was called upon to sottlo tho racial difficulty. Badly told it is this:—A coloured gentleman was anxious to practice miscegenation, and desired to wed himsolf to a damsel who belonged to tho" foinosi. peasantry under tho sun. I '' Her possession of a hostage to fortune proved no bar to the union, and he took the lady with tho child thrown in. In due time the sun of Ham (though ho was not a hash-slinger) found his housohold enlarged, On booking at the new arrival, he saw to his astonishment that it was not even piebald, but positively white. Then the trouble commenced and Africanus waltzed round. Ho put down his foot squarely, refused to maintain his wife any longer, and referred her to the Charitable Aid Board as lie failed to soo the heaven born lineaments of Africanus No i in that child. Tho Board suggested that it might be a freak of nature—a hum niilinv'; so to speak. Africanus did not know anything about tho " blooming " htsus natura:, but though . he was willing to pay for anything as black as tho Ace of Spades or Erebus, he " draw the lino" at white! The Board declined to do anything for tho lady's relief, but recommended her to sue Africanus for maintenance, and then Dr Giles would Rive an autborative decision ro lum nuturm.