Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

20 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

-I TOWN TOPICS,

NEWS NOTES. I

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

NEWS NOTES. The death of Admiral Makaroff in theainking of his flagship at Port Arthur must be reckoned as something in the nature of catastrophe to the Russian Navy, in which he was doubtless the most distinguished personage. There died with the illustrious commander several hundreds of his comrades, many of them being officers of much promise. Russia lost also another of her most prominent sons in this same disaster, for with the ill-fated battleship M. Verestchagin, the greatest painter of war of our day, who was with the fleet in search of new subjects, went down. No wonder that the latest blow to the Czar's prestige in the Far East has created consternation in St. Petersburg. Admiral Togo makes his reports to the Mikado in a leisurely and apparently unemo- tional way, or., at any rate, this is their characterisation when published. There is nothing of elation or deviation from cool calcu- lation in the announcements given out to the Press in Tokio; neither is. there anything suggestive of suppression or minimisation of losses to Japan when a check is received. Russia gives her official version of any happening as soon as possible, censoring thereafter if not re- pressing any other account, while the Japanese err on the side of reticence and ingenuousness. The real truth of the camp aign will take a lot of sifting when the gag is off. Meanwhile a lot of wild and unfounded rumours are constantly coming into circulation, by reason of the absence of reliable information. We know the strategic reasons for withholding the truth, whicli might be used to the disadvantage of those permitting its disclosure; but authorita- tive statements might very well be officially made, without avoidable delay, for the re-assurance of the public mind, and for the prevention of false impressions. It seems ridiculous on the part of the Lama- ridden Tibetans to try and stop the British Mission to that mysterious land by means of old matchlocks and leathern cannon; and it is clear that .Colonel Younghusband must ,now complete his task of showing the hill and country folk of mid-Asia that it is to their interest to accept the friendship and counsel of Britain. The Tibetans have been wrought upon by deception from inte- rested neighbours, and brought to a wrongful belief that we mean them ill. This misunderstanding must now be removed, once for all; and the. only regretful thing about the whole business is that dissipation of ignorant prejudice is costing the deaths of misguided natives. Let us hope that ere long both the priestly rulers in Lhasa and the Chinese Ambans who advise them, sometimes under a good deal of Muscovite influence, will be in- duced to see that our true intent in forcing them to give us a hearing is all for their good. The late veteran Dr. Samuel Smiles published quite a little library of books inciting his contem- poraries to laudable action by the presentment of exemplary instances. Of course his Self- Help was the most important of the invalu- able series from his pen, and he himself has stated how it came to be printed. About the year 1844 he was invited to deliver an address before the members of some evening classes, formed by a group of young men at Leeds—Dr. Smiles was then a journalist in that town-for the purposes of mutual improvement, a disused cholera hospital being rented by them as a meeting-place. The invitation took the form of a request made through a deputation that he would talk to them a bit," and he was so struck by the admirable self-helping sprit" they had displayed that he consented. He addressed them on several occasions, "citing examples of what other men had done as illus- trations of what each might, in a greater or less degree, do for himself," and pointing out the necessity for diligent self-culture, self- discipline, and self-control. He recognised the fact that there was nothing new or original in this counsel, but it stimulated the youths to fresh energy, and he found afterwards that some of them even attributed their success in life to the inspiration they had derived from the illustrations he had put before them. Interested in the subject of Self- Help, he kept adding to the memoranda he had used in his addresses, and thus, in course of time, he had sufficient materials for the volume which made its appearance under that title in 1859, further additions being made in 1866. In all more than a quarter of a mil- lion copies of Self-Help have been printed in this country; it has had an extensive appre- ciation in America and the Colonies, and it has been translated into something like a score of foreign languages. The old man, eloquent, in his quiet way., has exercised an incalculably beneficent influence upon our time, and he will speak through his books sagely to generations yet to come. The report from the Labour Department of the Board of Trade on the state of trade in the Colonies is hardly as satisfactoryas is desirable. As to South Africa, it is pointed out that in Cape Colony aided passages at t.3 a head are given to male and female domestic servants, but otherwise there is no demand for more labour. No one is allowed to land unless possessed oft20 on arrival and has secured definite employment. In Natal there is no demand for more labour, and people are warned not to go there at the present time in search of work unless nomi- nated by friends in the Colony. As to the Transvaal, no one is allowed to enter without a permit. There is no demand whatever for mechanics or labourers of any kind, but there is a slight opening for female servants. The cost of living, it should be remembered, is two or three times as high in the Transvaal as it is in England. Permits are required to enter the Orange River Colony, where the trade out- look is bad, there being no demand for labour, and many being out of work. Let us hope that things will be better after a while in our new Colonies, respecting which we were bidden to hope go much.

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EIGHT YEARS IN A CONSUMPTION.

I LI HUNG CHANG'S FORECAST.

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RETURN OF WARNER'S TEAM,

DEATH OF DR. SMILES. I

! CATARRH AND INFLUENZA. !

BURIED ALIVE.

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! PROBLEM OF THE INEBRIATES.

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ITO BE GROWN AND SHOWN. <

WM HOSPITALS LOOK BARE. |

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AN EXECUTOR'S LIABILITY.

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