The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 1900.

Manawatu Herald, 15 February 1900, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 1900.

t_____iw_M-ww__*-__*_-_-_ww-i-_-_wr__w_r. Pickling cabbage, young, tender, with good hearts, are not to be picked j up everywhere, but Mr W. Nye ha? grown as good a sample as could be desired, this year. Messrs Smale and Hay are makinp a capital show of lace curtains, at all prices, in one of their windows.' Passers-bye should stop and examine them. In the Otaki Mail we notice that the partnership between J. R. G. Stansell and A. C. _ Popplewell, as flaxmillers, has been dissolved by mutual consent. Mr Stansell carries on the mill. It has been decided to have the school excursion to Wanganui, and next Wednesday is the day fixed. The Patriotic Concert on the 28th has been fixed unknowingly on Ash Wednesday, and this may in a manner interfere with its success. We trust, however, the deed may cover the error in the date. The Otaki Mail says that there is a lot of wild pigeon shooting being done. Of course it is illegal. The other day when visiting Mr James Coley's garden we were struck with the amount of work done by him and the quality of the vegetables hegrows. He has a fine lot of dewberries, delicious eating, for which he has ?. great demand. Quinces tljrive well with him, as the trees are loaded with fruit. Mr Greenfield,' S.M. , ruled the other day at Palmerston that a railway platform is not a public place within the meaning of " The Police Offences Act." If he is correct the Act decidedly need? amendment. Mr_ C. A. Deacon, a Wellington shipping agent, was found drowned a1 Jervois Quay on Tuesday morning. The fifty thousand yards of khaki which the Government is ordering from England is intended to be used itclothing the whole of the New Zealand volunteer force in field service uniform. The stuff is expected to reach the colony in May or June. The Foxton School Committee wrote to the Education Board complaining of school being understaffed, and stating that Miss Wanklyn had left the school. — It was decided to point out that the school was fully staffed according to the regulations. The second Canadian contingent for South Africa consists of four squadrons of mounted rifles and three batteries of field artillery, each equipped with six ia-pounder breach loading guns, in all 1,247 men - Two ofthe squadrons are composed of. North-West Mounted Police and cowboys or ranchmen, the other two comprising Royal Canadian Militia Cavalry. News froni the Solomon Islands states that the British Commissioner has punished a number of head-hunters at Rubiana. Two chiefs who were concerned in recent murders of traders have been killed. The French Government is pushing on with feverish haste the manufacture and equipment of quick-firing guns, the factories working day and night. _At the medical inspection of a colonial contingent one rejected mounted rifleman remarked, " How did you get on, Johnny ?" "Oh 1 They said I was no good because I had lost a tooth. I thought we were going to fight the Boers not eat them! How about you ?" " They Said I'd got bellicose veins 1" Everywhere but in Foxton. A poll taken at Pahiatua on Tuesday for raising a £5000 loan for borough improvements was carried, the voting being 149 for 9 against the proposals. Russia has prohibited the Chinese from settling or colonising in Manchuria, claiming that she has Russianised the territory. With the object of encouraging the breeding of " black-faced " lambs (says the Post), the Wellington Meat Export Company has instructed its buyers to next season give one farthing per lb more for these lambs than for other breeds. The Mayor of Christchurch has received intimation that the Presbyterian Churches of the city desire to present to each member of the third contingent a copy of the New Testament, specially bound and inscribed. Testaments to the nnmber of 250 will be delivered at the camp on Friday morning for distribute

An advertiser wants pullets in large or small quantities. The Chairman of the School Committee informs us that the excursion to Wanganui is deeded on, and will take place on Wednesday next. Last evening there was a meeting to consider the advisability of reviving the old Rifle Club. It was decided that the chairmun should write to the Defence Department to obtain all information. Messrs Hankins and Loughnan have issued a writ at the instance of Rev. W. Thompson claiming £1000 damages from Mr G. Grant on two alternative counts ; one for alleged lib_l, and the other for alleged slander. Th« case will be heard at the next sitting of the Supreme Court in Wanganui. Mr Innes has been retained for the defence. The case has arisen out of certain charges published in the Manawatu Standard on 25th May last, headed "The Wanganui Presbytery." The charges were formulated by the Kirk Session of St. Andrew's Church against their minister the Rev. W. Thomson, and the insertions in the Standard of the charges is alleged by plaintiff to be the act of tho defendant. — Times. The Post says a my .terious-looking craft may have been observed about the Wellington Harbour for the last few days, moving swiftly without either flap or paddle, whiff of steam or spread of sail : — She is the fir_t electro-motor yacht in'roduc d to Wellington, nnd her advent is due to the ingenuity of Mr E. Palmer of the Telegraph Department. The boat wa? built by Mr E. Whitman for a st°am yacht, but as the engines were found to leave little space in her for accommodating passengers she was dismantled and so -d t° Mr Palnier for the substitution of the new power. The storage cells which actuate the motor are packed underneath the side seals and the dynamo occupies a space little more than a foot square amidships. The electric motor works direct on to tbe h .ad of the propeller-shaft, and is governed by a simple switch placed on the face of a Jtal that indicates at once when the power applied is sufficient for full, half, or slow speed, either ahead or astern. The plant is of about two-horse power, and drives the little vessel, which is 28ft long over all, and 20ft on th£ water line, with sft beam — at a speed of eight knots an hour. Major Robin writes : — " Our horses are beginning to run down. The climate, heat sickness, and bad-fitting saddlery, with the hard work, are telling upon them. Tell the boys it is all nonsense you re?d about ' the trumpet's clarion call rings out.' We have not heard a trumpet or bugle call since we left Naauwpoort, over a month ago, yet we work along all qght. Yesterday morning we went into action, 800 cavalry and a section of the Royal Horse Artillery, and never a trumpet call. Never mind, a shell shriek comes. What a change !" Mr D. Fraser, veterinary surgeon, who is a son of Mr Donald Fraser, of Rangitikei, has joined the Rough Riders contingent. Mr Fraser passed through Palmerston with the Wanganui troopers on Saturday, having with him the racehorse Kawana. The latter will be used by Mr Fraser as a troop horse in South Africa. — Times. The " Monthly Messenger," the organ of the Australian Mutual Provident Society states that the board of directors has determined not to stand in tbe way of unmarried men, and has consequently given unlimited leave of absence to the following officers of the society who have expressed a desire to take part in the war :— Messrs W. R. Harriott (New South Wales), Leslie Donkin (Queensland), F. S. Broome (New Zealand), and Mr R. P. Smith (Tasmania). These will form a federal unit, so to speak, of the society's staff at the front.