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King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 637, 24 January 1914, Page 4

The Parramatta Council has adopted a scheme for utilising the sewer gas from the septic tanks for pumping the town water supply. A record fruit crop is expected in Tasmania. The prediction is made that the crop of apples will be the heaviest Tasmania has ever bad.

The Maori king, Rata, who was at Te Kuiti attending the tangi of the | late Mrs Pepene Eketone, left for Waikato yesterday morning. Four good bridge hands for emloyment on tho Waipa river bridge at Kawa are advertised for, and general farm hands are also required in the district. Train arrangements in connection with the Te Aroha Show on January 28th and 29th and the the Caledonian Bports at Frankton on the 29th appear in this issue. A Paris dancing master who considers that his business was affected by Cardinal Amette'a condemnation of the tango, is suing the prelate for £4OOO. Australia's first submarine has left Barrow for Portsmouth. Lieutennt Besant ia in command. The second submarine, will bo ready in a few weeks. They leave for Australia on February 28th. As an indication that the working season ia being taken advantage of by the local bodies it is interesting to note that at the last meeting of the Waitomo Countv Counsil accounts to the amount of £3667 were passed for payment. In consequence of the free-and-easy use of the Te Kuiti racecourse by unauthorised persona the committee of the Racing Club has appointed a caretaker, and any infringement in future will be folbwed by prompt legal action. It ia understood tho Ohura Show, Which taken place, on January 29th, will attract a number of visitors from Te Kuiti. A local party drove through to the show lust season and spent an enjoyable time, besides securing several prizes in the ompetitions. The Sportsman in an article on the recent billiard match in which George Gray again beat Keece, the English professional, suggests that there should bo a moderate limitation of the Australian's favourite stroke, a losing hazard off tho red. The Sporting Life Writes opposing any restriction of the stroke. It iB reported in several quarters that the old watewidorti are straining every point to got control of affairs in the new waterside workers' union at Wellington, and that some of the arbitrationiatu are returning from the country and rejoining the union with the intention of defeating their object. Matters in connection with tho reading of tho Kangitoto district are being pushed ahead by the tiottlora and the County Council. A special rating area hua been prepared within which to raise the money for the Ahuroa road, and the preliminaries with respect to the extension of the Kangitoto road are also well in hand. The dry spoil which had lasted fo,some weeks waa broken iv.rly yesterday morning when some good heavy showers were experienced, a fall of .68 being registered at Te Kuiti. Although the fall was not great it appears to have been fairly general, and will help to I'retilu-n tho grass which was beginning to show tho effects of the dry weather. It does not do to be sanguine concerning liquor mutters in a dry area, but it does a«im as though the vigorous efforts of the police at Te Kuiti had resulted in the suppresiion of the objectionable purveyor of illicit grog, and the town in comequenco has become more wholesome from a social point of view. Tho Milwaukee State law, providing for thG issue of marriage certificates only to those shewing n clean bill of health, hai bean declared unconstitutional by a judge si ting in the Circuit Court on a caao which involves a decision as to the legality of the so-called "eugenics law." The judgment will be appealed against in the United States Supreme Court. Tho annual general mooting of the Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce will be held in the Municipal Hall on Tuesday evening next at S o'clock, when the election of officers for the ensuing term will take place. The chamber haß employed its functions actively for the good of both town and district, and it is to be hoped a representa tive gathering will be seen at the annual meeting. Referring to tho trip of the cargo boat Opawa which loft on December 3rd from Wellington, Mew Zealand, during the wharf labourers' strike, the Daily Mail says the amateur stokers and trimmers performed excellently and maintained a fraction of a knot below tho norma! speed. There Was no shirking, though tho men suffered severely from tho heat in the tropictt. The Commonwealth authorities! are demanding payment of duty on a dredge borrowed from Now Zealand by the Victorian Government. The S'taate refuses to pay, as the dredge is only engaged for two yea's and then returns to New Zealand. The Premier of Victoria is addressing a letter to the Federal Prime Minister pointing out what he considers the absu.-dity of th'nfitiulo of the Commnwealth. The interesting fact was mentioned by the Commonwealth meteorologist | that two out of every three woMdshukes originated under the steeply sloping margins of the Pacific Ocean. It haß been ascertained that tho districts affected by earthquakes were those in which the earth's crust was undergoing variation. When tho seismic map of tho world was examined information might, bo gathered of the parts of the earth which were undergoing change, where, e.g , the straits wore growing wider and deeper,' the continents extending, and mountain ranges being built up or gradually disappearing. Such a map indicated clearly that earthquakes Wore on the whole most frequent and Violent in those regions in which the surface steeply inclined to the horizon There Was little doubt that the majority of tho shocks were due to juat such sudden slipping;! of the Earth's criU't along some line of fracture and these lines of fracture and movement were among the common eat of geological phenomena in any part of the world.

Three officers of the Masterton police force went on a fishing expeaition last Satu-day night. With the aid of lanterns and grappling Htickß, they succeeded in landing twenty-one bottles of sparkling ale from the Mnknra creek. These they conveyed to the police station, and a resident in the neighbourhood of the creek is to be called upon to explain why he allowed the watercourse to be obstructed.

Comment was made by members of th-i AucKland Education Board at last meeting on the excellent work being done at some schools in garden culture. The chairman expressed re gret that the prizes formerly given in connection with this department were done away with last year, said he thought that apart from the encouragement given in the shape of seed and other assistnce, in which about .£SO a year was expended, the award ing of prizes was a valuable incentive. Other members agreed with the chairman, but the Chief Inspector pointed out that agriculture formed a part of the curriculum, and it was considered by the inspectors, therefore, that garden work should not receive preferential treatment. In the matter of encouragement to say, arithmetic, certificates were awarded. and this it was agreed should be a sufficient incentive. Mr Purdie contended that as the instruction in agriculture was a comparatively new hut very important branch, the giving of prizes was a very desirable and real stimulant. It was ultimately agreed to allow the question to stand for the present as it is and watch results.

"You have also presided over the Arbitration Court," was a question put to Sir Joshu Williams by a press representative during the course of an interesting interview. His Honour replied: "Yes. I was the first judge of the Arbitration Court in New Zealand." Asked further if he would like to say anything relative to the Arbitration Court, his Honour said, "Well, this is bordering on politics. However I can tell you I am strongly of opinion that the judge of the Arbi tration Court should not be a judge of tho Supreme Court, and the Arbitration Court ahuuld be separate from the, Supreme Court, and have nothing to do'with it, except that the Supreme Court might decide questions of law referred to it hy the Arbitration Court. The Supremo Court ought, in my opinion, to ha kept as far as pnasihlc apart from social or political matters. Moreover, the qualifications for a judge of the Supreme Court and a judge of the Aroitration Court are not identical. A comparatively small amount of legal knowledge is sufficient for a judge of the Arbitration Court. The qualities chiefly required are of another sort from those required in the Supreme Court. A man who might make an admirable judge of the Arbitration Court might make a very indifferent Supreme Court judge."