GENERAL NEWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 574, 7 June 1913, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

♦ "There is an Act in force in New Zealand, the benefit of which is not sufficiently realized by the people at large," said the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr H. Holland), in proposing the toast of "Parliament," at a function in that city. By this Act, he continued, a boy, by contributing nine-i pence per week, could build up a pension for himself and his family, so that no matter what adversity overtook him he would be provided for in his old age. These provisions he felt sure, were not sufficiently known, for if they were they would be more taken advantage of, and more would be heard of the measure. A peculiar position has arisen in connection with the proposed erection of the new public hospital in New Plymouth, says the Taranaki Herald. With other local bodies the Taranaki County Council received a demand from the Hospital Board for its share of the cost of the new building, and forthwith applied to the State Guaranteed ■ Advances Office for the money. The superintendent of that Department has now replied that the office is not empowered, according to sections 6 and 7 of the State Guaranteed Advances Act of 1912, to advance moneys for such a purpose, and consequently the application for the loan must be refused. Under the Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act (adds the Herald) local bodies were allowed to borrow for new hospitals and similar undertakings, but last year's legislation distinctly contradicts this. It is a peculiar position, in which all the other contributing bodies of the district will find themselves placed. The new General Manager of New Zealand Railways (Mr E. H. Hiley) is expected to arrive in the Dominion in September next. On his way out from Great Britain, he will spend some weeks in inspecting various railway systems in the United States and in Canada. "These people were .married in March, and the woman says that she was deserted in June : that is rather quick." So remarked Mr Justice Sim in the Supreme Court. "That is nothing to a case I have coming on," said counsel. "The parties to this other action were married in the morning, and the woman went off by the afternoon boat to Sydney and has not been heard of since." Elizabeth Barfoot, who was born on February 28, 1825, and entered the service of Mr and Mrs Dennis, of London and Kingscliffe, Northamptonshire, when 18 years old, was in the service of the same family when she died on April 12 at Kingscliffe at the age of 88 years. Her mistress regarded her as "an old friend," and the members of the family were present at her death. Her last words to those who were nursing her were, "I am afraid you will never get to bed."

Many travellers on the Main Trunk line must have noticed at intervals along the route, huge accumulations of sawdust, the remains of a former vast forest. The best crop which the land will ever produce has been harvested, the sawmill has been at work, and after an area lias been cleared has gone further into the bush, leaving the sawdust hills behind it. How to utilise this waste is a problem that has puzzled many people, but it seems to have been solved successfully in the United States, where a company is converting sawdust into wood for fuel by means of a simple machine. The material is compressed by plungers in steel cylinders three inches in diameter, and a pressure of thirty tons forces the particles together so that no tar or oil is needed to make a solid mass. The machine turns out daily five tons of fuel, which sells readily at 37s 8d a ton, representing an average net profit of lßs 6d a ton from a material that used to be regarded as useless. There may be money in the sawdust mountains in the North Island after all. A Waihi resident and his wife had rather a sensational experience on Sunday when returning from a drive to Waihi beach. They were entering the town about dusk, when a woman suddenly rushed to the trap. She had a revolver in her right hand, and she ordered the man to stop, threatening to shoot if he did not pull up. The man immediately pulled his horses up, and the woman called out: "Is that you, Norman?" The reply was in the negative, and the woman immediately rushed off. Where was Norman.? The plan for the negotiation of treaties of peace between the United Statea and other nations, and the abolition of war by means of a international non-arbitrating court on similar lines to that pr>poaed by exPresident Taft has been submitted tentatively to the Great Powers which are favourably disposed to the scheme. Some of the Powers are asking for longer time for consideration. For the fourth time Harold H. Hilton (Royal Liverpool) has won the English amateur golf championship. In the final match at St. Andrew's on Saturday, Hilton beat F. Harris, the ex-Carnustie player decisively by 6 and 5.