LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 450, 27 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Prizes to the value of ,£48,000 are offered by the International Aeronautic Federation for aviation.

A French countess is earning her living by appearing on the Paris boulevard as a “ sandwichman,’'

The practice of taking the oath by kissing the Testament has been practically abolished in the Divorce Court in Dondon.

Great bargains in drapery, millinery, and sunshades are announced for this week at the Bon March 2, Palmerston. It will pay buyers to see these parting prices.*

The services in the Methodist Church to-morrow morning and evening will be conducted by the Rev P. J. Mairs, whose subject will be “ Believing.” Veitchaud Allan, “Wellington’s Busiest Store,” advertise that purchasing from them means money in your pocket. There are some special bargains in to-day’s announcement which are worth reading.* Speaking of the decision ol the Government to retire all Civil Servants of 65 years and over, the Prime Minister states that it will lead to a saving of many thousands of pounds. Those who were promoted to fill the consequent vacancies would not begin with salaries equal to those of their predecessors, and in some instances it would not be necessary to fill the offices at all. A somewhat unusual form of cruelty to a horse was described in the Magistrate’s Court atTimaru, on Monday, a man named Thomas Doacli being charjged' with illtreating a horse by tying the halter of a draught horse to the tail of the hack which he was riding. It was stated that every time the draught horse pulled back, the other horse suffered considerable pain. The defendant was discharged with a caution.

Our attention has been called to the fact that last Sunday several individuals were noticed in the town under the influence ot liquorIn fairness to the hotelkeepers we are informed, on good authority, that the liquor was purchased on Saturday night, and was not obtained on Sunday. Our informant states that the language used by one of the merry party was anything but choice. In cases ot this kind it would be as well to communicate at once with the police.

Elsewhere in this issue is an announcement from the Manawatu Auctioneering Company, of Cuba Street, Palmerston. Messrs Graham and’ Munro, principals of this company, are thoroughly experienced business men of well-known character and ability, and clients are perfectly safe in entrusting their business to this company. The company is prepared to undertake auction sales in any part of the district, and Mr F. D. Whibley has been appointed local agent. Mr Whibley will be pleased to meet anyone thinking of having a sale, when full particulars of the company’s rates of commission and methods of doing business may be learnt, or at the company’s rooms in Palmerston. They also call attention to their Saturday mart sale. According to a West Coast exchange, stoats and weasels are becoming rather numerous in the neighbourhood of Hokitika, and many people complain of the loss of poultry through the depredations of the pest. The weasels, it is believed, have already accounted pretty well for the native birds along the West Coast, and that supply giving out, a descent is being made on the poultry yards. It is said that the native' birds are now growing rather wary of their introduced foes, and that there is some hope of bird life being saved from total extiction. To save the poultry yard, however, it will probably be necessary to exterminate the weasels. These pests, it is stated, are also numerous in the Buller district, and numerous residents complain of the loss of poultry by the vermin.

Says the Kltham Argus:—An esteemed Stratford correspondent i sends us a very interesting letter in which he comments upon the floatation and the floaters of a certain gold-mining company. The freedom with which he treats his subject is admirable. The ingenious manner in which, without mentioning names, he indicates individuals is beyond all praise. It a is lovely letter, just the sort to bring joy to the heart of an editor. Tibel oozes from every pore. We calculate that it would cost us (if we had a lenient jury) about to publish it, and as we are not in search of luxuries just now, we have decided not to print the contribution. But we have a suggestion to make. As Stratford people are largely interested in the matter our correspondent should send his contribution to the Stratford Post, and if the editor of our contemporary is looking for excitement he will probably get all he wants if he publishes the letter. Many people in Stratford would be delighted to see it in print and we don’t think it would cost more than we estimate, Dirt cheap at the money.' WOLFE’S SUiiNAPPS stands pre eminent among stimulants and cordials. ~

The first meeting of the Foxton Harbout Board will be held in the local Council Chambers at 2 p.m., on Tuesday next, when the first Chairman will be elected and other routine business transacted. The Methodist sale of work held in the Sunday school, was brought to a close last night, when most of the goods unsold in the stalls were disposed of by Dutch auction. The affair was a success, both from a social and financial point of view. A party of Invercargill motorists, states the Daily Times, who happened to get stuck up on the road between Branxholm and Wallacetown through the supply of petrol giving out, got out of their awkward position in a peculiar manner. One of them had thoughtfully procured a bottle of whisky earlier in the journey, and the genius of the party suggested emptying this liquid treasure into the petrol tank for use as fuel. This desperate course was reluctantly adopted, and the party motored cheerfully on, the whisky carrying them almost into town.

It is a notorious fact that the credit system is responsible for a large number of the bad debts made by doctors and dentists. This undesirable state of affairs, especially in relation to molar experts, was emphasised by Mr John Jamieson, at a meeting of creditors in the estate of a dental surgeon at Christchurch. Mr Jamieson stated it was very annoying for a dentist to walk down the street and meet people who had no thought of paying for the professional services he had rendered them, but who smiled benignly on him “with their mouths full of his good gold.” The credit system was the worst curse of a man in any line of business.

A most extraordinary operation on a lunatic was recently reported by the Mhdical officer of the Richmond (Dublin) Asylum. A male patient, on transference to the institution, complained of internal pain, and stated that he had swallowed a knife and fork. On examination the presence of a foreign substance was detected in his stomach. To clear up all doubt the medical superintendent of the asylum had the patient placed under Rontgen rays. The result of this confirmed the first diagnosis, and by an operation a knife, a fork, some rags, and a woollen muffler were removed from the man’s stomach. Strange i' to say the patient “ made|a good recovery.” The guard Eecourt, of the Cote d’Azur express, France; told an amazing story of a fight with an eagle on January sth (says the newspaper Ee Temps). The train, he says, was travelling at over sixty miles an hour, when near Fontaines he saw through the look - out a great bird hovering over the train. A moment later an eagle dashed against the train. It smashed the glass of the lookout and fell into the van. It straightway attacked the guard savagely with beak and claws, and a fierce fight between the man and bird followed. The guard was badly scratched, but finally managed to seize the eagle round the neck. He kept it a prisoner till the train stopped at Dijon, where he left the express, taking the eagle with him. Its wings measured over six feet from tip to tip.

Speaking at the Medical Conference at Napier on Monday last, Dr. T. C. Moore said thatSwhereas Hastings, when he came to it, was a village with only one doctor, it was now an important town with five medical practitioners'. All the country districts between Napier and Woodville were now well supplied with medical aid, while at Meanee there was one of the best equipped astronomical and meteorological observatories in New Zealand : that ot the Very Rev. Dr. Kennedy. Dr, Kennedy has kept a careful record of the climate of the Dominion, and his tables drawn up, comparing it with those of the leading health resorts of Europe and America, demonstrated that we compared favourably with such places as Nice and San Francisco. We had more sunshine than Nice, and our mean midwinter temperature is almost 5 degrees higher. The Gore Borough Council had a brief heart-to-heart task last night, says the Mataura Ensign of the 15th inst. An enterprising ratepayer offered to supply road metal on exceptional terms—he would deliver ‘.£looo to .£13,000 worth, his rates for two years could go against the amount, and the balance he would leave for a term of per cent interest. This offer (presuming the price for the metal to be right) was a very seductive one to a council which has to all intents and purposes mortgaged its available aud prospective cash for some time to carry out the electric light improvements. “We can't have the streets go to wreck and ruin,” said one civic father; metal was infinitely preferable to gravel in the view of another; and there was a general concensus of opinion that the proposition was worth considering. The still, small voice of conscience, however, was not to be denied, one councillor .pointing out that this was a way of getting behind the ratepayers, who had refused the council loans, and he for one would not favour the proposal, at least until legal advice on the position was forth-coming. It was also pointed out that the ratepayer who made the offer contributed a very large amount to the exchequer, and the loss of this sum might seriously cripple the finance for the electric S£h£Uie. Finally the Finance Committee was requested to review the position and report. . - . •V . • '•.'s':

Messrs Durward’s, Palmerston North, publish an advertisement in reference to soaps and perfumes.

Elsewhere in this issue the Minister of Internal Affairs publishes a notice respecting alteration in boundaries of Foxton borough. Objectors thereto must lodge their complaints within one month from date of publication of notice. Says the Free Lance:-—“lt is extremely difficult to say just what it means, but the following paragraph appeared at the bottom of the Inspector of Nuisances’ report, presented at the last Borough Council meeting, at Foxton “One donkey dangerous.’’ We presume it does not refer to anyone in the Council.”

The proudest man in the district this week ( says the Bay of Plenty' Times) is a Maori, who secured a fine specimen of the rainbow trout to his rod and line in the river Kailuna. This wily fish has been the desire of anglers for a long time and has been often fished for, and when finally hooked was only brought to land after a long struggle. His captor exhibited his prize to many, and his weight was found to be no less than 271 b. From London Town to Wellington, it has been a hard race between the Athenic and Tongariro, which dropped anchor in Wellington harbour on Saturday evening and Sunday morning respectively. The Tongariro left London on a Tuesday and the Athenic on the following Saturday. The lead was much reduced at Hobart where the Tongariro arrived at 9.30 p-m., and the Athenic at daybreak the next morning. From Hobart the Athenic got away first, and though neither vessel was expected in Wellington till Sunday morning, the Athenic put her best foot foremost and arrived late on Saturday afternoon, being alongside the wharf about 7 p.m. The fertility of the soil of No. 2 Line has been previously mentioned in this journal, and is further exemplified by the growth of gigantic potatoes, free from blight. Mr D. Purcell left some Up-to-date varieties of potatoes at our office this morning, the heaviest tuber turning the scales at 2% pounds —a splendid specimen. Mr Purcell anticipates -a crop of at least 15 tons to the acre. Fruit and vegetables are not the only product of the soil from this fertile strip of country, as proof of which Miss Satherly handed us this afternoon a magnificent bunch of cut blooms which flourish to perfection in the open—No. 2 Line every time! At the spot where the last spike was driven on the Main Trunk line, there has just been erected an obelisk bearing the following inscription : * ‘ This obelisk is erected on the spot where the Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward, P.C., K.C.M.G., premier of the Dominion, drove the last spike of the North Island Main Trunk Railway on the 6th November, 1908, Hon. HallJones, Minister for Public Works and Railways,” The pillar is 6ft high and measures 4ft at the base ; the lettering is black on a white marble slab. The situation of the monument is about 20ft off the line on the western side, between Makatote and Manganui-o-te-au, miles from Aukland and a similar distance from Wellington. Speaking at a reception held at Auckland on Thursday night, Bishop Neligan said that he wished to thank Bishop Lenihan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, for his kindly act on the previous day in calling for cheers for the Anglican Bishop of the diocese. “We are both Irishmen,” he said, “but we have never showed our coats for oue another. We are always glad to have the opportunity to give each other a hand. The Bishop of the Roman communion has signified his intention to devote the sum of money banded to him towards religious education for children. I am keen, and shall be till I die, and it is the intention of both of us by all in our means and by all possible acts of denial, to do all in our power to secure that all children have the same opportunity to learn about God as about their arithmetic tables,”