LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3765, 9 May 1907, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS

The School Committee meet at the .Borough Council Chambers this evening at S o’clock. The Paris Chamber of Commerce desires to entertain the colonial Premiers. To-day being Ascension Day there will be a special evening service at 7.30 p.m. in All Saints Church and short address. The Council of the Chamber of Commerce meets to-morrow night at the Council Chambers. It is probable that a deputation will wait on the Chamber re river bank protection. The many friends of the Rev. R. Young in this district will regret to hear of the death of his devoted wife, which took place at Carterton on Monday last. - The Rev. R. Young was in charge of the local Anglican Church for some time. The nest section of the North Island Main Trunk railway, from Taihape to Mataroa, will be handed over to the Railway Department and opened for Traffic on the Ist prox: The length is about seven miles. Colonel Stanley Lewis, a wealthy retired array officer of New York, has entered into a contract with a specialist by which he has agreed to pay for an operation to reshape the face of a baboon, and if this is successful he agreed to undergo a similar operation himself, for which he will pay another ,£6OO.

• A consignment of Stewart Island oysters has just been received at the Silver Grid. A number of local footballers turned up to practice on the racecourse yesterday afternoon. In our report of the inquest held on Monday, we referred to Mr AlfFraser as “ Acting Coroner.” Mr Fraser is one of His Majesty’s full blown coroners.

The first practice of the newly formed hockey club took place yesterday afternoon in Mr Symons’s paddock, when a fair number of players put in an appearance and were coached by Mr Woods. Mr Dunn, of the Avenue, captured a large stoat, after considerable difficulty yesterday. The animal measured 11 inches in length. It had been visiting the poultry yards in the vinicity. Owing to the recent heavy floods, the coal boats which were to have come to the local port have been advised to delay their visits. This will mean another shortage of coal.

A smart piece of work was effected by Messrs Fevin and Co’s staff yesterday. They unloaded at the Heads the s.s. Himatangi, and reloaded her with 400 bales of hemp and she sailed for Wellington at 6.30 p.m. She is expected back to-morrow. The Health Department notified the Borough Council at its last meeting that Dr Frengley had been appointed Health Officer for the Wellington province. We don’t know whether his duties include inspection of dwellings. If it does then it is about time he paid a visit to Foxton. We have it on good authority that rents are being charged for certain dwellings that are unfit for human habitation

Cr Coley suggested at the last meeting of the Borough Council that the street lamps at the corner of Johnston street should be abolished, as it was rarely lit and was therefore a needless expense to the borough. The Mayor referred to a lamp in his locality that seldom sent forth its guiding rays. Cr Baker also referred to similar neglect of the lamp at Sullivan’s corner.

The Prince ol Wales is a man of many hobbies. He keeps pigeons and he has a wonderful collection of postage stamp and of advertisement posters, but his queerest hobby is a collection of babies’ photographs. The more comical the face of the baby the better its portrait pleases His Royal Highness, and his collection includes pictures of babies published as advertisements by the proprietors of infants’ foods.

A pretty girl of seventeen was recently attacked in the streets of Davos by a butcher’s dog, which bit her severely in the face. The girl, through her father, brought an action for damages against the owner of the dog, and the court awarded her whereupon the butcher appealed. The case was tried by the Swiss Federal Tribunal, and the judges increased the damage to holding that the girl deserved the sum for the “ diminution of her beauty.” Mr R. O. Jarrett’s local physical culture classes were attended by a record number of pupils last night. The lady pupils numbered 21 and the gentlemen 34, making a total of 55. Already a number of the pupils are feeling the benefit of the course of instruction and are making excellent progress with the exercises. The ladies are doing remarkably well. Mr Jarrett is justified in feeling proud of his Foxton classes, which, on a population basis, constitute a record for New Zealand. General Louis Botha, the new Prime Minister of the Transvaal, comes of Natal and Dutch family, and speaks English perfectly. In his home the Boer leader is a model husband and father, possessed of a charming and highlycultivated wife, with whom Lord and Lady Roberts exchanged, while at Pretoria, many pleasant courtesies. Unlike many of the old Volksraad members, Botha is not at all loquacious and seldom spoke in the Rand, An Association known as the Order ot Nebuchadnezzarites has been formed at Chicago, the members of which will emulate the example of the famous Babylonian monarch who spent some years of his life on all fours amongst the beasts of the field. The object of the fraternity is to reduce weight and promote bodily health, for which exercise on all fours is said to be much more efficient than dieting and medicine. Enthusiasts of the new cure declare that man in his upright position suffers ills from which dogs and horses are free. Strict Nebuchadnezzarites read their paper, eat their meals, and take all exercise on their hands and knees. Mr Treweek, the Inspector of Permanent Way, paid a visit to the site of the recent flood on the Foxton railway line on Tuesday. He found it badly washed out in parts, the metal being swept into the adjoining ditch and covered with logs. He cannot yet gauge the full extent of the damage, as the flood has not completely subsided. The worst wash-out is at Rangitane, but the line for some distance is in a bad condition. Until the line is repaired passengers will be trolleyed through. No serious damage has been done along the Manawatu line, as all the flood did was to • sweep up a certain amount of driftwood, etc. Watchorn Stiles and Co* can supply you with linoleums, floors cloths, carpets hearthrugs and vM house furnishing at lowest tO'jß prices-* Woods’ Great Peppermint Coughs and Colds never fails, and 2/6.

Fight per cent more widowers than widows re-marry.

A woman in a Fondon Court, accused of being drunk and incapable, explained that she was “ subject to electric fits.”

An American professor says that we can depend on the sun for another 30,000,000 years., It will then be showing signs of decay. Robert George Crighton, carpenter, of Foxton, has been adjudged bankrupt. The meeting of creditors is called for Friday, 7th May, at Palmerston. The New York Herald reports that Miss Ellen Terry has been secretly married to Mr James Carew, aged thirty-two years, a member of her company. The Acting-Poslmaster-General, Hon. Dr Findlay, opened the Johnsonville Post Office yesterday afternoon, in the presence of numerous •spectators.

The Borough Council invite applications for the combined position of poundkeeper and hightsoilman, and for the position, separately. Applications close on the 20th inst. at 7 p.m. Mr Alzdorf returns thanks, in another column, on behalf of himself and family, to all those who so kindly assisted them and sent sympathetic messages during their recent sad bereavement.

Reuter . reports that a second attempt was made to assassinate the Presidentof Guatemala, Manuel Cabrera. A mine was laid within a few yards of President Cabrera’s house.

Some person has remarked that illness was like a struggle between two people, and that the doctor resembled the third man who intervened to separate them with a club. Sometimes he hit the disease on the head and sometimes the patient. The funeral of the late Mrs Bell, the victim of the Wellington tramway fatality, took place at Richmond, Nelson, on Monday. Three Methodist clergymen assisted and there was a record attendance, including Murchison and the Upper Buller.

Mr W. P. Reeves, High Commissioner for New Zealand, gave a brilliant reception at the Imperial Institute in honour of Sir Joseph Ward, Lady Ward, and Miss Eileen Ward. A thousand persons were present, chiefly New Zealanders resident in London.

Statistics of life insurance show that in the last twenty-five' years the average woman’s life has increased from about forty-two years to nearly forty-five, or more than eight per cent. In the same period the average man’s life has increased from nearly forty-two years to about forty-four, or five per cent. Says the Wairarpa Standard: — ‘‘ It does not pay always to ignore the tin kettlers. The other night a band of young fellows sallied forth bent upon tin kettling a newly-married couple in the district, and very thoughtfully provided themselves with a silver teapot which they intended presenting to the newly-wedded pair. Not receiving the customary response to the ‘‘music ’’supplied, the young men returned to their homes with the gift which it is said is being reserved—for the next occasion.”

“ Now, you’re getting at me because you think I’m an old maid. Well, I am an old maid, and I’m proud of it!” In this manner was a question by Mr Wilford neatly parried recently in the Magistrate’s Court (says the New Zealand Times), when he sought to know if a witness who had made a present of some jewellery to a neice had not also given her a kitten. The self-possession of this witness was not shared by another lady who had seen fewer summers pass, and who was evidently not au fait with Court procedure. On being called she came timidly forward and took a seat at the Press table. Having been induced by the orderly to leave that refuge and enter the witness box, and having been sworn, the lady seemed to think the ordeal was over, for she at once quitted the stand and made for the door. Blushingly she returned to the box to undergo examination.