GENERAL NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2020, 4 March 1907, Page 1

GENERAL NEWS.

The Taranaki Nows understands that about £SOOO will ho expended on the “tangi” over tho late Parijiaka prophet, Toliu. Tho money is to 1)0 paid from tlie lao chief’s hoard at Parilmka. It is stated that in tho strong room in the marao over £27,000 is stored in gold. The room is guarded by a rommitteo of twenty natives, some ball-dozen being told off each week for tjje. work. Tho lock of the strong room is worked with throe keys, so that tlie throe key-lmldors have to be present when the door is opened. Up to the time of his death Tolm hold one of the keys. Tlie money is stored in jars, each jar holding three thousand sovereigns. It is stated that when the money was being collected, each £IOO was changed into gold before being placed in tlio jars. For many years the levy for cacli native entering Parilmka was £1 per head. In the last ten years 4500 miles of railway have been constructed ill China, and it is instructive to observe bow little of this total is due to .British enterprise. Of the railway mileage actually completed m China, Russia is responsible for 125 miles, and, in conjunction with China, for 1515 miles. Franco owns 280 miles, and, in conjunction with Belgium, 750 miles. Belgium possesses, in addition to her joint proprietary, 130 miles. Germain’ lias 250 miles of independently-controlled railway, and China herself administers 1502 miles, while Great Britain, in association with China, under a loan agreement of July, 1903, concludes the list with miles. The future of China depends much upon the development of railways ill China. Her resources may not be tapped without means of communication, and the price of her products rests upon her ability to convc- them to tlie markets at the coast. Under tho heading “Too much responsibility,” Christchurch Truth states:—Wo don’t think there is much chance of tho Minister acceding to the request of Mr. Hoggs that senior schoolgirls be allowed to accompany school cadets on their visit to the Exhibition, There arc several objections to tlie proposal, the chief of which is that a girl barely in her teens can’t bo expected to endure the hardships and inconveniences which a boy of the .same age can. In spite of Mr Hogg’s assurance that the girls will bo prepared to be treated exactly tlie same as tlio cadets, we'doubt whether the average mother would feel inclined to allow her daughters to put up with tho trials and tribulations of sleeping on straw and being herded together like a lot .of sheep. But even if this difficulty were surmounted, there is the question of responsibility, which is calculated to strike terror into the heart of the bravest teacher. The task of looking after a squad of romping, inquisitive, schoolgirls who have no longer any tear of the stern cane of correction of the harsh strap of rectitude is appalling to think of, and it wouldn't be a fair thing to impose it on any teacher, male or female, in existence. No wonder tho Minister is taking time to consider the proposal.

“Provided this electrical cleansing is followed by auxiliary treatment in expelling from our bodies the morbid waste caused by electricity there ig no longer any internal reason foi growing old or even dying.” This js the promise held ‘out by the Matin iftcr a lengthy explanation of Professor d’ArsQiiyaPf? high frequency current electric treatment. The discoverer, who is one of the most eminent memborr of the Academy of sciences, says tho majority of people die of arterio sclerosis. He uses v sphygmometer to measure tlio tension of the blood in the arteries. If tlie mercury of the instrument marks 15 or 16 centimetres it shows a normal tension. If the tengiqn is higher ar lower Professor d’Ai.youval states that six baths of the high frequency current will bring it to tlie normal, where it will remain, all danger of arterio sclerosis being removed, Those baths of five t° ten minutes each may bo taken throe times a week. They give the patient absolutely no sensation. It only remains to find a method of checkmating microbes from without, and the Matin believes tlie world will possess the means of perpetual health. Tho Wellington Post states:—The Egmont Racing Club’s summer meeting was responsible for an incident which has created a good deal of comment, and is not without features which prima facie appear to demand a stricter investigation. Tho Inalin Hack Handicap, run on the second day, afforded an opportunity for two of the competitors being made tlie medium of an extensive starting price commission, and tlie general impression seems to be that several of the starters were not fired with ambition to attain that coveted goal—the winning post but preferred rather' to blush unseen. The interests of those who back horses by means of the totalisator require the fullest protection, and in a case of this kind all the circumstances pointed to need for all exhaustive investigation by the stewards of the Egmont Racing Club. It is to bo regretted that whatever action they took has not apparently had tho effect of completely removing a feeling of disquietude in connection with the control of racecourses, at some of which the executives have failed to display that firmness so imperative if the high standard of New Zealand racing is to be maintained, and our deservedly good reputation must not l}e permitted to bo besmirched by happenings of his nature. One of tlie greatest feats in towing which lias over been achieved (says an exchange) is that accomplished by Captain John McMillan, of the Bucknal liner Bulawayo. Useless for present-day purposes, tlie gunboat Pearl, of some 2500 tons, was purchased \y]iei| lying at bey anchorage in Sinionstown by a shipbreaking firm in London. Her towage home was undertaken b~ tlie Bncknall. line, who selected their Bulawayo for the task. The methods adopted in ensuring the success of .Captain McMillan’s tow are reported as follows:—The tQW rope was made fast to the mainmast, anil around this mast, about five or six feet above the deck, a length of ship’s cable was passed round in tho form of a clove-hitch. The two ends were at the foreside of the mast, ail'd then connected with the port and starhpaiitl bltis by" lengths of steel hawser sot up taut by rigging screws and other ingenious devices were adopted to case off- tlie strain of the towing hawser and the chafing which was likely to arise. It was also Captain McMillan’s lot to appoint the crew of the Pearl, and lie placed in charge of her Mr. Budkitt, liis extra chief officer, whilst the others composing the crew were an engineer, bo’swain, carpontor, four A.B.’s, two donkeytnen, and a cook. The tow was successfully accomplished without any untoward incident happening, and the sliipbreakers are now performing their last offices over the Pearl. This protracted towage for a distance of some 6U- miles occupied over thirty-three days, mid die efficiency signalling both by day and niglifc which existed on both vessels is not tlie first time Captain McMillan lias himself, for he is the posessor of Lloyd's medal for meritorious services rendered in connection with tlie loss of tho propeller of the s.s. Titania in the Sutli Atlantic.