LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 385, 5 March 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A pair of spectacles (in case) awaits an owner at this office. Summer ends on the 21st of this month, and then autumn be; gins. A Paris dentist has hit upon a scheme to relieve the feelings of the victims he operates upon. While he pulls teeth (The Daily Telegraph says) a phonograph in the next room sings the Jewel song from “ Faust,” or “ Lohengrin,” “Abschied,” or the last drawing ballad. The patients’ sleep is lulled by sweet music. When they awake they not only have been relieved of annoying molars, but carry melodious memories with them, and go away humming a tune.

Nominations of candidates for election to the Moutoa Drainage Board closed -yesterday.' Tlie names of candidates appear elsewhere in this issue.

A meeting of the local branch of the Anti-Asiatic League is advertised to take place in Manchester House, to-morrow (Friday) evening, at 8 o’clock.

Mr and Mrs T. Rimraer and four children, intend leaving on a visit to England, at the end of this month. It is nearly 30 years since Mr Riramer left the old country.

Messrs Gardner and Whibley, notify by advertisement that owing to a dissolution in partnership, all accounts owing to the firm up to February 29th, must be paid on or before the 14th inst. Messrs Tressider, Arnst, Fogwell and Floyd visited Foxton last night. To-day they inspected the rivt i and Tressider has promised to express an opinion on its suitability for sculling purposes. It is within the bounds of possibility that Arnst, who has challenged Webb for the championship of the world, will undergo preparation on the local river.

At last night’s School Committee meeting the Chairman asserted Ih it a late pupil in Standard IV., Foxtou, had gone to Napier, and obtained a proficiency certificate in Standard VI. Mr Mowatt corroborated Mr Baker’s assertion. Early this morning Mr Adams wired to the Secretary of the Hawke’s Bay Education Board, asking if this were the truth, and received a reply in the negative. The Sunday School annivesary in connection with the Methodist Church will be held on Sunday next. Special hymns will be rendered by the children. In the morning at 10 o’clock the services will be conducted by the Rev. G. K. Aitken, in the afternoon at 3 o’clock the prizes will - be distributed, at 7 o’clock the Rev. J. Southern will preach. His subject will be “ Tell the Children.” An ingenious gentleman of Mansfield, Ohio, has arranged a phonograph in his house so that it acts as an effective burglar alarm. All the doors and windows in the house are connected with the talking machine, and when the family retire at night it is set so that the opening of any window or door will start the machine with: “ Get out of here, or I’ll fill you with lead,” which is uttered in a gruff voice. Mr Richard Reilly, , the gentleman in question, has invited burglars to visit him, and give his invention a practical test. The ladies of the local Methodist Sewing Guild tendered an ‘‘At Home” on Tuesday afternoon in the school-room to Mrs Southern, During the proceedings Mrs McLean on behalf of the ladies, presented Mrs Southern, the President of the guild, with a beautiful set of silver mounted cut glass toilet requisites. Mrs Carter and Mrs Austin senr., also spoke regretting Mrs Southern’s removal from the district, and hoped that she would be as successful in her new sphere of labour as she had been in Foxton. Mr and Mrs Southern leave Foxtou next week for Granity. near Westport. In order to relieve the monotonous life of the convicts at Noumea, the capital of the French penal settlement in New Caledonia, the authorities have consented to the organisation of an orchestra, recruited from the ranks of such prisoners as are musically inclined. The conductor, who formally played at the Paris Opera House,, has thrice been convicted of murder, the first clarinet was an innkeeper who slew six of his customers, while the operator on the big drum made a way with his landlord. The solo cornet murdered his father, and the trombone his wife.

A band of marauders serenaded a newly-married couple at a late hour oil Tuesday night. The neighbourhood was aroused by the banging of tins—the orthodox preliminary. Then lights were flashed in the windows of the house occupied by the recently wedded couple, in order to awaken the hero. Rockets were set off, followed by refreshments and more rockets; startled by such weird, strange carryings -on at the unearthly hour of midnight, horses tore round in mad havoc, and all the neighbouring dogs assisted in the fray by keeping up a continuous barking accompaniment. However, the ultimate arrival of a nocturnal chariot effectively dispersed the mob, and once more silence reigned supreme, much to the relief of the inhabitants in the vicinity.

Application was made to His Honour Mr Justice Button, at Wellington, on Thursday, in Chambers, in respect of the will of the late Donald Mauson, of Edkinvale Park, Palmerston North, to review the report of the Registrar on the amount of commission to be paid to the trustees and executors. Mr Myers represented the trustees (Messrs Ernest Bell and Hugh McKenzie), in support of the Registrar’s report, and Mr Von Haast for the beneficiaries under the will —for the most part School Boards in Scotland. The total yalue of th v e estate in New Zealand was ,£9,000, on whiph the .commission amounted to ,£2204 ids rofl. It was admitted that the estate had been well and carefully adtninistered. His Honor adopted the Registrar’s report, with the exception of one item of 10s, which he disallowed. An order was made accordingly, with a proviso that the costs should come out of the estate. WOLFE’S SCHNAPPS.—A tonic that has stood the test of years,

Ah I/iug, a prominent Chinese student, is visiting Australia to inquire into the condition of the Chinese. He says the Chinese nation is awakening, and is taking into account all the little details in dealing with foreign nations, following the lead of Japan. It will not be long before Japan is surpassed, so far as the idea of advancement is concerned.

Mr Keir Hardie, M.P., addressing a private meeting at Johannesburg, advocated equal wages for whites and natives. He expressed a hope that simultaneously with the next Colonial Conference in Dondou, Eabour representatives of the world would also meet to discuss from the standpoint of labour the same problems as would occupy the attention of the Colonial Conference representatives. A retired sea captain named Pierre Letrat has just died near Bordeaux at the age of 103, after an adventurous career extending back 92 years. He wasonly eleven (says the Express) when he went to sea as a cabin boy, and later, when serving in a French barque, he was taken captive by Spanish pirates. He and his fellow prisoners succeeded in overpowering their captors, taking command of the vessel, and bringing it safely into a French port, where the pirates were handed over to the law.

Widespread sympathy is being expressed in England with General Booth in his latest physical difficulty. In more than one of his public utterances during the week (says the Loudon Christian World of January 9th) he has referred to the failure of his eyesight, which robs him of the great inspiration—real to platform speakers —that of witnessing the effect of his burning eloquence on the crowd before him. The General can now only see the front three or four rows of his audience—beyond that all is confusion. “ It is months since I read a newspaper,” he said gaily, “but I don’t think I am much the worse for that,” The General can read bold script better than type. The blindness may become more acute in a few weeks, and then it is hoped that the oculists will be able to remove the cataract.

Madame Isa Bell, a native of Victoria, and a resident of Albert Park, desires to put forward a sporting challenge that she will race any woman in Australia any stipulated distance, for tne gate money and a side stake up to a reasonable sum (says a Melbourne telegram to a Sydney paper). The challenger desires a race to carry with it the title of “champion woman runner of Australia,” and should her challenge not be taken up she will claim this title for herself without further to-do. Madame Isa Bell, who in private is Mrs Thos. Newman, and a mother of . five children, claims that she has never yet been beaten in a race.

A few weeks ago workmen on the Panama Canal discovered the remains of a buried village, and on further digging it turned out to. be an entire settlement which had been completely covered by dense jungle growth. It was a village built by the French near Caimito Mulato, when Count de Lesseps and his engineers were making their attempt to cut through the canal. The village has now been entirely uncovered and found to contain 20 barracks and mess halls and men’s quarters. A machine shop also has been discovered there in which a large quantity of machinery was found fairly well preserved. The shop is being repaired, and will be used by the American diggers.

Fishing in the Waitaki, Canterbury, an angler landed a trout of goodly dimensions, but in such poor condition that he decided it was not worthy the effort of his chef. He put it to other use, however, and gratified his humour and that of others by tethering it close in to the bank so that the stream lent sufficient motion to the fish to give it a verisimilitude of life. In but a few moments a fisherman came along and viewed the spotted beauty with longing eyes. So keen was his desire to have the fish that without regard for sport, he grabbed his gaff and made a cunning thrust. But his chagrin was unspeakable when he found that he was to be the butt of a good joke for some time to gome. He will not be alone in this respect, for he was himself a little later afforded an opportunity of seeing another ‘ 4 sport” similarly takep jo.

This serves to remind you that R. P. Edwards and Sons have opened a Retail Department in conjunction with the wholesale ironmongery business in the Clarendon Buildings, The Square, Palmerston North. Sterling value in Builders, Household, and Furnishing Ironmongery. Special display of bedsteads, Cutlery and carpenters tools. Every line imported direct from the Manufacterers.—Advt. Messrs C. M. Ross and Co., of the Bon Marche, Palmerston, announce in our advertising columns, the termination of their summer clearance on Saturday, 29th inst. Giving away prices will prevail during the last week of sale.— Advt. Have you tried Wqlfe’s Schnapps for kidney ailments. , WOLFE'S SCHNAPPS is absolutely invaluable to the traveller. He was the cotter’s only child, They called him Little Jim, And Death with scythe and hour-glass Had called round to wait on him ; The mother wept, the father sobbed, For death looked very sure, But Little Jim’s still in the swim through Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure,

By advertisement elesewhere hi this issue Mr F. S. Easton notifiei his candidature for election to the Moutoa Drainage Board.

Owing to the drying up ot lagoons and watercourses, in the northern suburbs of Syduey, snakes are making their appearance in close proximity to dwelling places. Instances are reported in which the reptiles have been discovered in underground' tanks, and two black snakes about sft in length were killed in a stable at Pymble, while seeking water in a bucket used by the horses for drinking purposes.

“When a man marries a woman, he marries her with all her faults,” was the reply of Mr Bishop, the Christchurch Magistrate, to a man who had complained of having to pay his wife’s extravagant debts. Mr Bishop added : “ You are not the first man who has had to pay for his wife’s idiosyncrasies and you should have used better discretion.

There was some fun at a surprise party near New Plymouth one night this week (says the Herald). The leading guests prepared supper without the assistance of the lady of the house. At supper those* who had asked for coffee were observed to somewhat shyly sip their drinks then look at each other and take, another sip, until one, more bold than the rest, made some reference to - the coffee having a .peculiar flavour Investigations followed, and it was discovered the friends had made the coffee (?) with the baby’s cough mixture, which had been put in a coffee essence bottle.

Locusts are proving a menace to orchardists in the King Country. At Ohura, a settlement which lies some 20 miles west of Taumarunui, this pest is causing much damage to the fruit trees. The locust comes out of the surrounding bush and, settling on the bough of a fruit tree, makes a scarf around it and,burrows a hole in the nearest fork, where it proceeds to lay its egg. In a little time the branch decays and drops off. This has been going on extensively in the Ohura district, and so far nothing appears to have been found to checkmate the pest, but it is hoped that as the bush is cleared away the nuisance will vanish.

It was the Moneyed Man’s first attempt to drive his own motor ear, and of course he had to kil something, so he killed a dog. Seeing a man on the footpath looking sadly on the poor departed dog and then glaring at himself, the motor man pulled out his purse and said : “ Will a quidsquare it for you?” “Oh, I s’poseso,” said the man, “.I've ’ad enough of the law. ” (He had just done six months in gaol). “Here y’are, then,” said the Moneyed Man handing over a nice new note, and then, as he drove off quickly, the other man looked wistfully at the corpse and said, sotto voce: “ Now, I wonder who owned that dorg, after all ? ”

It is our painful duty to have to record that our worthy and highly - esteemed townsman, Mr Jeuks, met with a rather serious accident on Tuesday afternoon last, when engaged in some work at Mr Perreau’s new block of buildings in Main Street, and is now confined to his house, where it is anticipated he will have to remain for some weeks. It appears that Mr Jenks had mounted a ladder, one of the rungs of which broke, and having both hands occupied at the unfortunate moment, he endeavoured to jump clear of the large window; this feat he accomplished, but with the result that he fell heavily to the ground, his head striking the pavement, while his right foot received the full weight of the fall, being doubled under the body. Mr Jenks was immediately conveyed to his residence in Clyde Street/ and Dr ;Mandl was at once called in. The sufferer is progressing; as well as can be expected, and we wish him a speedy recovery.