Manawatu Herald. [Established ,Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, OCT., 22, 1904.

Manawatu Herald, 22 October 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established ,Aug. 27, 1878.] SATURDAY, OCT., 22, 1904.

The D.O.A. notifies to-day that tenders, to close on Saturday next, are wanted for the unpaid book debts in I estate of R. T. Betty, bootmaker,

The Foxton Athletic sports nominations, which closed yesterday will appear in a later issue. We are sorry to report that Mrs S. M. Baker is lying seriously indisposed at her residence, The Pines. Owing to sickness at her residence Mrs Howarth wishes to inform her customers that her dressmaking establishment will be closed for a few days. Several of the trophies to be competed lor at the forthcoming sports arc on view in the window of Mr E. E. Smith, Main street. They comprise both useful and ornamental articles of beautiful design. Professor Bickerton, of Christchurch, stated in a lecture on Sundaj? evening that when he first went to Canterbury he was frequently offered enormous briber to supply favourable reports on mining ventures. On one occasion, he was offered a third of £ IOO,OOO worth of shares. He declined the offer, say ing that his tee was a guinea, and that he would report things as he found them to be. On three occasions he had exposed attempted frauds.' A uniquefeatherguessingcontest was recently conducted by a prominent company manufacturing feed for poultry. Five hundred dollars in prizes was offered for best estimates, or guesses, as to the number of feathers on a hen. Thousands of guesses were received, including several in the millions, the highest being 660,600,017. The correct number was found to be Sl2O, The company says; “We feel a pardonable pride in having contributed to poultry science an item of information actually new.” “ What did you say your occupation is ?" inquired the magistrate at the London South Western Police Court the other day of a witness. “ A dealer in second-hand current seeds,” was the reply. The magistrate looked puzzled, but the witness obligingly explained that he made his living by purchasing the waste seeds from the manufacturers of currant jelly, and then resold them to jam makers, who counterfeited certain fruits with turnips, dye, and sugar, and who needed the seeds to make the fraudulent resemblance of their wares to genuine fruit jam complete. It is remarked that Palliser Bay, where the Addenda was wrecked on October 13th, has probably been the scene of more shipwrecks than any other part of the New Zealand coast. The spot where the vessel went ashore is some ( iniles from where the ship Zuleika was wrecked, with the logs of twelve of her. crew, during a great gale in April, 1897, and at which the barque Ben Avon was stranded in November last. Palliser Bay is exposed to the full force of a southerly gale, and the Cape has often been mistaken in thick weather for Wellington Heads. A youth 14 years of age, secreted himself underneath a Victorian railway carriage and rode in that uncomfortable position a distance of over igo miles. On arrival ot the train at a Victorian station a waggon examiner, who was going along tapping the axle boxes, discovered the lad curled up underneath one of the waggons, and removed him from his dangerous position. The hoy said his tnitid was a complete blank for 36 hours previously, and he had absolutely no recollection of anything that transpired during the day, and Could give, no explanation of how he came to be on the train,

The other everting a number of local residents were engaged in playing cricket (or trying to). Amongst them was a lawyer. Another lawyer who happened to be passing, urged no doubt by the love of WAT which is sometimes found in followers of the calling, promptly took part, and in a few minutes succeeded in bowling his opponent out. He then went away satisfied. Before leaving he was seen to handbills friend certain documents. In consequence of the secrecy ot legal dealings, our reporter cannot state with any certainty whether this was a bill of costs for the" job, or merely a legal opinion as to the mode of keeping one’s wickets. Mrs Grace SnelbCoffin WalkerCoffin, says the San Francisco correspondent of the New York Herald, is preparing to divorce her latest husband. She has obtained a divorce four times already. Three of these divorces were from her first husband, Frank Coffin. She is now about bringing a suit against Perkins A. Layman, whom she married a little more than a year ago, on the ground of desertion. Mrs Layman is the daughter of the late Mr A. J. Snell, the Chicago millionaire, who was mysteriously murdered in that city 12 years ago. The Dead Sea has been navigated by a motor boat, and the.engineer who made the passage sends an account of his experiences to the Jewish Chronicle. He saw a number of dead fishes, killed by the salt water of the lake, but sas surprised to find that the water had no peculiar colour of its own, though it was extremely heavy. Although travellers have alleged that birds cannot exist around the Dead Sea, he saw a great number of soaring swallows. The monotony, he writes was intense. “ Before me I saw the wilderness of Judea, and on the right a green spot marking the banks of the Jordan, There was not the slightest sign of life, A deathlike silence prevailed in that strange region, scarcely disturbed by. the heavy motions of the waves, feebly beating against the beach.”

Dowio, the self-styled “Apostle,” addressing his disciples, declared that Zion city is worth £6,000,000. Biblical precedent, he says, entitles him to 10 per cent on Zion’s earnings, but he is individually content with 5 per cent. He prayed for rain lately. Rain came. “ I could make it rain money if 1 wanted,” said Dowie, “ could not I P ” “Yes, yes,” shouted his followers, rising to’ their feet. Gladstone Dowie is also claiming attention. A Chicago lady publicly announces that she is sick of hearing of the “ unkissed son,” and that to win a wager she is proceeding to Zion City, where she proposes to accost Gladstone. “ When we meet,” she declares, “ there will be a kiss heard around the world.”

Readers are reminded that the first meeting of the committee of the Manawatn Rowing Club for this season, will be held in the secretary’s office on Tuesday, the 25th inst., at S p.m. Any intending new members are requested to send their names to the secretary.

A practical joke, attended with tragic consequences, was played lately by a man named Jean Kalt, of St. small town on the eastern side of Paris, A workman on his way to the fields found a stick fixed in the ground, and on the top was a hat, to which was printed a paper bearing the following notice “ Whoever reads this may, it he be so inclined, find a small fortunes Let him walk to the end of this field, turn to the left, and proceed to the fourteenth tree on the right. At the foot of this tree, by removing a little earth, he will discover a purse containing £2OO in gold.” The wofkmaff followed the directions, and Wa9 horrified on reaching there to find the dead man, with terribly distorted features, swinging from the tree. It was found; to be that of Jean Kalt, who had been known as a practical joker in the district for many years, and who had lately shown signs of mental disturbance.

Only once in a while (says a New York paper) you hear of a man who has held a place for many years to the satisfaction of his employers and himself, but there are few who can touch the record of otle rttatl of p years. For more than 50 years he has been working in a box factory as a nailer, standing at the same bench on the same floor oi the same building, dnd driving nails in the same old way with the same old hammer. He declares he is perfectly satisfied, and wouldn.t exchange his job for any .other, in .the place. At 72 he is still afele* tb Stand on his feet ten hours a day and drive nails with a deftness at which the younger men around him wonder. At the most modest calculation, he has driven about 900,000,000 nails—enough to reach round the world about seven times,-if placed end on end. The monotony of it all has never touched him.