LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 821, 2 April 1910, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A cotton warehouse was burnt in Bombay on Thuisday, and twenty-five women and children killed.

A vicious swan, which lately attacked several men on the Trent at Nottingham, England, assailed and drowned a boy of six years who was playing on the bank ot the river.

Tommy Burns has accepted a challenge to fight Sam Eaugford at Richmond, near Oaklands, California, on September 25, for 25,000 dollars (,£5000).

The vital statistics for Foxton for the quarter ended March 31st, 1910, were : Births, 22 ; deaths, S ; marriages 5. The figures for the mouth of March were : Births, 10 ; deaths, 3 ; marriages 4. Germany is tranferring her battleships from the Baltic to the North Sea, and is making Wilhelmshaveu the new base, with Borkum and Heligoland as advanced positions. The N.Z. Hemp Process and By-Products Co. Ltd., are considering the tenders received lor the erection of buildings at Foxton, and it is expected a commencement will be made with the work at an early date. Mr J. A. McKenzie, who has been in charge of the Presbyterian Church at Shannon for the past twelve mouths, left on Thursday for Wellington, to take ship for an extended trip through America and the Continent of Europe. The services at the Presbyterian Church to-morrow will be conducted morning and evening by the Rev CL K. Ailken. In the evening Mr Aitken will have for his subject “The Gospel—what it is, and what it does."

The Machine-builders’ and Metal-workers’ Unions ot Germany, representing; several million consumers, have organised a butter boycott. The boycotters allege that the price is kept up by the hoarding of butter in cold storage.

Andrew Thaw, aged 70, is alleged to have attempted to commit suicide at Hastings on Wednesday by cutting his throat. He had been suffering from rheumatism, and was despondent. He was removed in a precarious condition to Napier Hospital. In Spain no one enters or leaves a railway carriage without bowing politely to the occupants, and the person who enters a shop and asks for what he wants without first greeting the shopkeeper is considered very ill-mannered. The man, Herbert Higgs, reported as missing from Bulls, appeared yesterday morning attending to his usual avocations. Being his own master, and not answerable to anybody, he had simply taken a holiday without deeming it necessary to apprise the public of his movements. The services in the local Methodist Church to-morrow will be conducted by the Rev P. J, Mairs. His subject for the morniug will be “Riving Epistles’’ and in the evening “ Spiritual Stumbling Blocks.” The anthem from Curvven “There wilt keep him in perfect peace” will be rendered. Prayer meeting 7 a.m.

Several cases of typhoid fever have been reported in Wellington during the last week. The figures are not alarming, but they indicate a condition of things that is not strictly normal. There are half a dozeu cases in the hospital at present, but a great many more typhoid patients are being treated privately. ‘ 1 The wedge of country between Palmerston and Paekakariki is pre-eminently suited to be Wellington’s fruit and vegetable garden,” reported the Director of Orchards, Gardens, and Apiaries recently to the Minister for Agriculture, who had brought under his notice a communication from Mr W. H. Field, M.P., pointing out the suitability of the Manawatu district for fruitgrowing. Mr R. Craig, of Invercargill, is the possessor ol a remarkable cow. She is of the Ayrshire breed, is 17 years old, and has given birth to 14 calves. When still a heifer, 14 days before calving, she gave three buckets of milk daily. Before calving this season she had to be milked three times a day, and is now yielding eight gallons of milk daily. The animal brings in a monthly return of xos.

Messrs Millar and Giorgi, of Palmerston North, have a replace advertisement in this issue.

It is stated that bad sovereigns and half-crowns are in circulation in Palmerston North.

A female patient of Mount View Mental Hospital died on Sunday, aged 92 years. She had been an inmate of the hospital since ISSS. Train arrangements in connection with the Wellington Races, to be held on April 6th and 9th, are advertised in this issue.

Mr J. G. Wilson, of Bulls, was yesterday re-elected chairman of the Palmerston North Hospital and Charitable Aid Board.

During the quarter ended March 31, 1910, six old age pensions were granted at the local Magistrate’s Court. During the month of February last, 2659 persons arrived in the Dominion from overseas, and 2843 departed. In February 1909, arrivals numbered 4141 and departures 2557. The harvest festival will be held at All Saints Church to-morrow. The gifts of fruit and vegetables will be forwarded to the two diocesan homes, Karori and Palmerston North.

The tender of C. Martin, has been accepted by the Manawalu County Council for contract No 100, grading and claying hill <?n Nos 1 and 6 Lines, and that of S. E. Algar for contracts 98 and 99, cleaning drains, at is 8d and is 1 id per chain respectively. There are four cases of typhoid fever amongst the natives of the village of Jerusalem, on the Wanganui River. Two experienced nurses are attending the cases, and visits to the sufferers are made by a medical officer. During the Hon. J. A. Millars absence in Australia, the major portion of his Ministerial duties connected with the Railway, Labour, and Marine Departments, will be dealt with by the Prime Minister.

An instance of the increasing number of rabbits in the Orepuki district was recorded last Wednesday, when (says the Advocate) a local trapper with 170 traps succeeded in obtaining 230 rabbits, which must be a satisfactory state of affairs for those engaged in the pursuit. The Moana landed at the Bluff, on Monday, a transhipment from Canada consisting of ten moose (lour bulls and six cows). The animals are reported to be in splendid condition. This must he considered satisfactory, seeing that they were transplanted from a climate xodeg. below zero in winter and passed through the tropics. From the Bluff (says the Bluff correspondent of the Otago Daily Times) they will be shipped per Hinemoa to Dusky Sound, where they will be liberated at Supper Cove. This is at the end of the track leading through to the south arm of Lake Mauapouri, so that the moose will have a capital opportunity of spreading along the country heading the eastern branch of the fiords system and inland amongst the cold lakes.

Before the Paris Courts last mouth Mr Clayton Strawbridge, a Philadelphian millionaire, was awarded £6OOO damages against a local automobile company. Last year Mr Strawbridge, accompanied by his wife and his step-daughter, hired an automobile from the defendants, with the intention of taking a trip to Biarritz. He was to pay £7 a day. On the way thither a portion of the steering-gear gave way. The car becoming uncontrollable, ran into a ditch and capsized. The millionaire had both his legs broken, and his wife and stepdaughter received severe injuries. The defendants sought to shirk responsibility, pleading that if there was a defect in the car, it was due to carelessness on the part of the manufacturer. The court refused to admit the plea, and held that the chauffeur, who was a servant ot the detending company, should have satisfied himself that everything was in order previous to setcing out on his journey. Writing from Honolulu to friends in Palmerston North, Mrs F. W. Frankland, of Foxton, who left with her husband on a visit to America recently, states that the party had an excellent trip from Auckland to Suva, but a stay of three days in the latter place in intensely hot weather was very depressing. Honolulu, however, proved a welcome change. Being winter time, the air was deliciously cool and bracing, and the travellers were soon set on their feet again- Mrs Frankland says the beauties of Honolulu are difficult to describe. Although it was the worst season for flowers, there was a fine show of hisbiscus and other tropical flowering vines and shrubs. While out driving one day they passed a stone wall covered a full mile with a white cactus, which opens out in a white flower after sunset—one of the most lovely sights in this beautiful island of the Pacific. During their stay at Honolulu the “ Cleveland,” from New York, with 700 tourists on a trip round the world, called, and the sight at the wharf when the steamer departed for Yokohama was very interesting. Mr and Mrs Frankland were embarking on thes.s. Korea fromjapan, which would take them to San Francisco. Mrs Frankland stated that her, husband had considerable business to transact in America, and upon the length of time occupied in the work would depend whether they would visit Europe. They expect to have their longest stay in New York.

For Influenza take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. Never fails, is 6d, and 2s 6d,

Further additions are made to the Himatangi stock sale list. The monthly sitting of the Magistrate’s Court will be held on Wednesday next. , The local school was yesterday thoroughly disinfected under the supervision of the district health officer, and will re-open on Monday.

According to the Town Clerk of Gisborne, the Gisborne Borough Council has not, for the past eighteen years, suffered any loss at all in the matter of unpaid rates.

The school concert in aid of the picnic fund, to have been held in the Public Hall on Wednesday evening next has been postponed until Wednesday, the 13th instant. The sculling match for the championship of the world between Arnst and Whelch was rowed at Akaroa this atternoon. Up to the time of going to press the result had not come to band, but it will be posted up outside the office as soon as received.

The Hon. N. J. Moore, Premier of Western Australia, speaking at a gathering of intending emigrants, stated that he had received a message from his State: “Send us as many girls as possible. Our farmers want wives ” Mr Ramsay Macdonald, Socialist M.F., is arranging for Mr Moore to address 4000 people at Leicester upon emigration.

The French Parliament has passed the Old Age Pensions Bill, The taxpayers contribute £ 5,520,000 during the flist year. The Government’s critics complain that Germany pays only ,£2,600,000 for a system including pensions and allowances tor incapacity to work. The Bill will be the chief political asset of the Republican party at the coming elections, for which there are 5000 candidates.

An amusing instance of anomaly in railway charges is furnished by an Auckland correspondent. A Pukekohe correspondent discloses to one of the Auckland dailies a curious railway anomaly. He writes as follows : “ Until just recently I always paid 5s 4d for a second-class return from Pukekohe to Auckland, which is at the rate of id per mile, together with the usual terminal charge for issuing a ticket; but a friend of mine informed me that by taking a return to Papakura from Pukekohe, and then another return from Papakura (which is within the suburban area) to Auckland, I would save is 2d, so I determined to try the experiment, and after putting the Railway Department to the extra trouble of issuing two tickets instead of one, I found that I was carried to the city and back for 4s 2d, as against the usual charge of 5s 4d. I will, therefore, advise all my friends in the Waikato to take advantage of the sub-fares as far as Papakura, and thus save is 2d on a secondclass and 2s 4d on a first-class ticket.