LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 July 1911, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The vacancy in the Levin School Committee, occasioned ; by tho departure from Levin of .Mr W. Francis, senior, is to he tilled, we uiulcrstancl, by the appointment of Mr H. Cork" \y,ho stands next in. order on the list of the n'ou-eleeted candidates \\ h lk> .stood at the householders' meeting in April lash

A house-to-housp call is being in Levin this week by Mr U. T>. "Wallace, who is representing the "Registrar of Electors." As a result of his canvass a large number of names are being added to th-o electoral roll to be used at this year's General .Elections.

A big land slip,caused by the recent .heavy rains, blocked the main road from Shannon to Levin, in tlie vicinity of the cutting at Ihakara reserve. The county council rloadnien and the engineer were at work all day yesterday, and as a result of their labours through traffic was made practicable again, ibut it will be two or three days' time before the full width of the road will be cleared.

A writei- in this month's issue of the Gli'Urch Chronicle objects to dances being ihdd in connection with church gatherings. He asks: "Is this, or is it not, the coirrect way for us to give our offering towards tlie cost of building up altars for till© worship and adoration of the Lord of Hosts? Arc tlie young of tins country to lca.rn, 'this is "the way, walk yo in it?' or should they bo tauglit, from their earliest youtli, to give freely, willingly, according as God may prosper them. It was sa.ul a. short time ago by a Ohurch authority, that nominal Ohurcilinianship was the curse of our Gkirch and some people think a persecution would lessen the evil; but, in tho meantime, if we seek first for people s money and practically say, we want.not you but yours, we may °-et what we ask of them, and perhaps w> more, and the curse will tow andl floua-ish, while we comfort'ourselves with the census returns "

Sale post cards—se efche great display, mole stock reduced at I nompson's,.' Levin.— Advt,

A final romindor is given bo our readers, and especially to tftio cJiiltlren. of blio missiomary silver tea, wliicii is to bo held in the Methodist Church this evening.

A very .successful evening i.s assured at the Skating Rink 10-iugiht. 'I'he tuo hockey matches will be invested with an unusual interest, and the various attractions should draw a crowded house.

Dev. T>. G. Bates' forecast states that, present indications nre for cloudy and unsettled weather with rain in most parts of the country. The winds are variable, but will |iro'bably back into the North and West after about 2-1 ihotirs. when a fnrthor fall in tho ylas.s is due to ta.ko place.

To-day will be a busy and notable day Avitii tlio local M.cthodisfc Ohnr(?li. At '3.0 tho circuit quarterly mcotiiis is to bo lln-ld, Avlien. iT])resentatvie.s will be present from all parts of the circuit. At 5.0 tlie incmbers of the (piartorly meetiniij; an'd tlicir wiA r e.s will be entertained at tea. Then at 7..'50 the missionary silver te.a will beheld. This has lieen in tholiaiwls of ii youno; people's committee and it promises to be a. ojrpat success.

Friday morning next (in. Wellington), at 11. o'clock, has been iixed. by the Minister of the Interior as tho time for receiving the deputation from Levin which if. to make a protest against the recommendations of the Racing Commissioners', fn addition to the Horowihenua 'Racing Club, the Levin Borough Council and the Horowhenua, A. and P. Association will be represented on the deputation.

fn the course of a lecture on radium in Au'.'klandi on Tuesday Mr Clement Wragge delighted his audience with a speculative remark as to the possibilities of the element. "Tt has recently been proved," he said, "that by means of radium the life of a caterpilla,r mav be prolonged ; and why not the life of a mam? Think of a great and good man--one whom everybody respects, one who never thinks of himself first, hut always thinks of the interests of others such a man as his Worship the Mayor of Auckland! Think of it, ladies and gentlemen, what radium can do for us!"

At a. recent auction sale at Gisborne a. person nrcsont offered two sovereigns for salo without reserve. There were many misgivings as to tlio genuineness of tlie coins, although they wei'e handed round for inspection. Many refused to bid at all. remarking that thev liad, "cut ihoir oyo teeth." Finally, one bidder got the two foi , 19s fid oaeih. After tlie vendor had got his account sales and had ihis commission deducted; he remarked that he was quite satisfied, as ho had full value in the fun ■which the incident hod produced.

Payment of Parliamentary representatives will soon lie pretty nigh universal, but Paris appears to be the only city to pay ite municipal councillors. Xo oflicial salary is granted them, yet all tlie members of the Couseil Municipal receive an annual subsidv of C") 00. This is described in the estimates a.s "allowance for travelling expenses, carriage hire, eie." I'Vw councillors spend :is much as CIO n year on travelling I'm , niuiu'cipal purposes, and when tiny lake part in a deputation abroad a special grant is made, for their espouses. So their civic labours are liberally rewarded. This allowance was first granted 20 years ago, and ha- gone on unchallenged ever since. As fail , as is known, roller skaters made their appearance at tho latter part of the eighteenth century. A kind of wheel-skat; , mviiix to have been used on th-e brick-paved, roads of Holland more than 100 years ago, and a musical-instrument maker, named Merlin, appears to have been the first (o exhibit tlie.se contrivances in luigland. The real roller-skate, as we know it now. was patented in IBli.'Hiv Mr Piimton. of .Vow York. His wwo the first roller skates which enabled iho skater to do on wheels everything that he e mid r'o on the steel blade of an ice skate. In these days, when so much is being written and spoken on the subject, it is interesting to note that last month saw tin: , tercentenary of the fust creation of baronets. As the name implies, these new dignitaries \iw intended to form a class of minor barons, and they owe their cxisteree to a suggestion of the Earl of Salisbury. James f.. being desperately in need, of money, the earl proposed the creation of two hundred new peers on consideration of their contributing -'000 each to the Treasury. The King expressed some fear lost such a. ston might give offence to the existing peers, but Salisbury answered, "'Tush, sire; you want the money: it will th you good and if will do the gentry little barm." So the baronets were created, but it was taken care that they were all men with incomes of over a thousand a. year . A lady travelling on the Well-ington-AYairarapa train the other evening, Mas very badly frightened. A well-known Mastcrton man had purchased in Wellington a couple 'of little .Jamaican tortoises which he proposed to keep as curiosities, and <ni tho journey he put the creatures, in a comatose state, into his pocket. In tbe train he sat next to tho lady referred to. Tike warmth of his packet awakened one tortoise, and: sob him off on a tour of exploration. Rottlo-gioen in colour, as large as a man's hand, legs moving rytihmically, and ugly little bead well outstretched, the uncanny creature found tho mouth of ,the pocket, and proceeded to crawl up bis unconscious owner's coat. Just then, the eye of the lady traveller fell upon it. Needless to say. she had never before seen a Jamaican tortoise, and for one frozen moment (sa,v& tho Masterton Times), s,!i'e glared at the awful thing. Then she gave a. wild shriek, bounded from her seat, and tried to break through the side of the carriage. Ce/nsternation. excitement and explanation followed, and for some time afterwards the tortoise, now thoroughly awakened and anxious to test his legs, kept a carriageful of people airused.