LOCAL, AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1938, 22 December 1913, Page 4

LOCAL, AND GENERAL.

T;ie."j.t.M.S. : Makura,' v-iiiciialeft SydThursday -.last for Vancouver, via'/Auckland,-.lms on board an Ausira.liaii '-niail;? the portion of ivhich. is due! to arrive;in AVelJiiicrton by ' tho \Jlaur Trunk'. train "to-morrow after--110011;;' ° .'.'Do"you"'swear absolutely to the identity ■ of.sUiesL>;n\on,''. asked Mr. A. K. Skelton' of a/witness at tins Auckland Police'Court'oil Friday. "To tho "best of .my - belief. they are the ■ men," replied the,, witness. Mr. Skelton took exception to tho. answerj stating that there was ;i difference between such a statement and swearing definitely, but Sir. K. C. Ciitten, S.Si., held the. opposite. view. "No man in this world," lie said, "can swear absolutely to anything. Tho utmost bo can do is to swear .to the best- of his belief. Counsel have a habit of asking witnesses to absolutely,' but it is merely a question." A Maori was before the Hawera Court last,.,.week.;cisargeit with leaving his hnrse.jand? trap unattended or without haying : ,,tSie wheels:- locked. It appears tho : :ho'rse;!,bolted..' "Do you want an iiiterpretei'H'-'i-asked '. the : Magistrate. 1."0h,-.n0!", /'replied the Maori. ' "I just say" no'/'nb," yesV yes, and pay,the firio." The: clerk --.ot;:. th-o ; . Court:., then ' carefully explaii\ed-. : ' th'j icharge;- and tiuv, Slaori remarked, tl'at.-he;-.had bad this horse, three .voars-.-"this to lii'st time.lie run. To motor-bike push him away."-- .Upon the line antl costs (2:25. Gd.) being announced to the defendant.-. lie-remarked: "I'y golly, he too much!" - * It: tho Supremo Court this morning aigiunent is to be.concluded in the case of Joseph D. Kobertson v. Siv Kenneth Douglas and others, ri clnim for specific performance of a contract for the sals of a section of land. The Slinister of Public Health an* nounccs, says a Press Association tele-, gram, that all requirements of vaccination imposed during tli-e recent smallpox epidemic upon persons travelling within and from affected districts, also upon persons arriving in New Zealand from Sydney, are to bo removed as from to-day. Tiio Slinister hopes that tho Commonwealth authorities will soon announce that similar action lists been taken in regard to persons arriving in Australia,from New Zealand. No ease of smallpox has occurred in the Dominion since November 4, ftnd the last convalescent has been discharged.

Mr. Furkert, Inspeeting-Engineer for tho Public Works Department, who has just returned from a tour abroad, had ■ something to say on Saturday on the: advertising ingenuity of the Amerieans; 'snd Canadians,' hut thought that a''number of the former were inclined to do ''.'a ; little' work, and a lot of advertising." ' A scheme of advertising that could 'be commended to Now Zealand country districts, however, existed in British Columbia. At one station their train was delayed for a little time, and those aboard were able to view ihe town. It was named "Mission City." but is little bigger than, say, Otaki, and tho pavements were raised on stilts, to lwep them atiovo the shot. Vet at the station was a large and wellappointed glass show-case, filled artistically with all tho products of the surrounding country. There .was an immense pumpkin in the eiise, pcaches preserved with hardly tho bloom oil them, and apples looking as if they had been picked the day before. it was a clover, neat, and effective advertisement, and showed how anxious the settlers were to make others realise the possibilities of the district.

At Friday's meeting of the. Wairar.ipa Automobile Association tho secretary reported that in conjunction with the treasurer and Mr. Toogood ho ind ordered four 6 •; G posts painted whito and lettered W.A.A., to be placed at the dangerous corners on the Rimutnka Road so that the lights of approaching ears would-shine upon them in the night, and indicate to drivers where tho edge of tho road was, Without some such system, it 'ran the easiest tiling in tho world to drive straight off the road on a dark night and into dec-p ravines.

Between Saturday evening and yesterday morning two verv large plat.o-glass windows of Messrs. Smith and Smith's warehouse in Wakefield Street (near Hit; Town Ilall) were smashed. In tin; nm> instance a.■ large pirec of glass was badly smashed, and in the other a hole was pierced right through, as though by a bullet, cracks extending in all directions from the Iwlo made. Seeing that two panes of glass wero smashed some feet away from one another, it would seem as though the. occurrenco was rnore than accident. This •'■' i not the only c.tsi of smashed windows that has occurred during the last night, Or two. More than one ease has been placed' in the hands of tiie police, who are making inquiries in the matter.

Representatives of the committee of the Wo'lington Musie.il Union .approached Mr. Bernard F. Page, City Organist, on Saturday, and offered him the conductorship of the union. Mr. Pago promised to givo the matter his consideration, and to giro the Musical Union a. reply in the. course of a fen- 'tys.

Forty tons of coal have been arranged for b.v the Wellington Hospital Board, and this will relieve the hoard from all anxiety as to the immediate supply for the institutions under its charge, The coal is to lie delivered by the Blackball Coal. Company at the earliest possible date.

On Boxing Day the first of tho three motor-buses being niada for tho ICel-hurnc-Karori Motor-bus Company will make its appearanco on the streets of Wellington, the directors having decided to run sight-seeing trips from tho General Post Office round the Queen's Drive, and back to the starting point throughout- the day. The other two buses aro not yet completed, and until they aro ready for the road a regular service beta-pen Kelburne and Knrori will not be instituted. Tho Company hopes to bo in a position to mnko a start early next month.

A performance which is probably without parallel in the history of any school since the institution of proficiency examinatiws has been put tip by j Mr. Andrew JSain, first assistant at the Invorcargill South School. Lnsi year lie sent forward sixty-one- pupils. Of these sixty gained proficiency and one eompclonc.v. At the recent examination Sir. Bain's contingent numbered sixtyfive, and once again everyone s««pecd» cu in passing .: sixty-four gain proficiency and ano a competency certificate.

"Since the nrticlo headed 'Soi-Disant Hypnotists' appeared in yotir issue of Friday," writes Mr. M. H. Norwood, "I have had a great many hinuiries ns to who tlio '.' 'Professors' • were who attempted to givo a hypnotic demonstration in Upper Hint on Wednesday last. Tni'.smueh as T was advertised to appear in Lower Hutt on Saturday, December 20,' and did appear there, some peoplu have come to think it. was nio lit Upper Hutfc on Wednesday. I wish to make it,known through (he columns of your paper (hat the - 'Professors' were "two young men .from (ho .country, and on the nijiht in question I was in Levin, and had nothing to do with the affair whatever'.. Since I li.-ivo been giving hypnotic entertainments in New Zealand, (here has been a number of men springing up both in iho North and South Island, who'claim to bo Americans, and have attempted (o imitnto my work. . They are not. Americans, neither are they hypnotists, and eati only be classed ns 'imitators.' Xo one '.who lias over seen my entertainment has ask«l for his money buck, nv.d T_tnisl (lmt hereafter no one will conflict me'"and -my entertainment with 'those who fry to imitate.' "'