LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1045, 31 December 1912, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

No fewer than ten race meeting were held iu the Dominion on Boxing Day. The Christmas mail despatched from London for Australia contained 16,574,000 letters and packets, and 30,000 parcels. Holy Communion will be celebrated at All Saints’ Church tomorrow (New Year’s Day) at 7.30 a.m.

The Minister of Public Woiks (Hon. W. Fraser) states that the Government is determined to push on with the construction of the North Trunk Railway without any delay. The talk of retrenchment iu regard to this line was, he said, all nonsense. A girl named Hobbs, getting into difficulties iu the surf at Southport, Brisbane, three young men, in turn, went to her rssistauce. All « ere drowned. The girl was rescued. The names of the drowned are William Wilson, Arthur Brookes, and Stanley Chapman. According to a North Island exchange the Government Insurance Office has issued little almanac cards for 1913, upon the back of which are printed six reasons why every New Zealander should insure in the State Office and thus “support local industry.” But the Department had the cards printed iu America !

A recent visitor to the South Island told a reporter that things there were prosperous to a degree. As an instance, he states that on one train on which he travelled there were six brides—also, of course, there were six bridegrooms —“and,” he added, “we suspected two or three others." Apart from the suspects, he reckoned that six brides, with bridegrooms, on one train afforded a very fair criterion of general prosperity.” The installation of the storage battery tramcars for Gisborne has advanced a further stage. The work of constructing the first car has been completed. The batteries are now all in position, and the wiring has been connected up. AH that remains to be done to the car is the painting and the screwing on of the various fillings. In the meanwhile the Council’s carbuilder is at work on the second car, the erection of which is well advanced.

Says Robert Blalchford iu the Clarion : The war iu the Balkans is one more example of the results of readiness and efficiency. The Allies were ready, and the Turks were not; the Allies were efficient, and the Turks were not, It is the story of Prussia and Austria, Germany and France, Russia and Japan, repeated. Now it is quite certain that whereas we spend an immense amount of money iu military preparations we are not ready and not efficient. The ruling classes have muddled the army and the reserves in the past, and are muddling yet.

People with weak digestive organs should not fail to take Perreau's Bermaline Bread. r

Ask to see the new low bust, longskirted models in “Warner’s” Rustproof Corsets, Every pnn gnaianteed. Local drapers The most attractive shop lor toy of every description js Mrs Hamer s Have you seen the window disr play

dry PERREAU’S steak and kidney pies, baked in dishes. They are delicious. Fresh daily.*

M. Poincare and M. Ribot will be candidates for the French Presidency. Canada's trade during 1912 has been a record, aggregating one thousand million dollars. A lad not out ot his teens has had a prohibition order taken out against him at Woodville,

In accordance with the usual custom, there will be no issue of the Herald on Thursday next, January 2nd. The Tasmanian Legislative Assembly has been dissolved. The elections will take place on January 23rd. Mr T. Henderson, piano tuner, ol Palmerston North, will be in Foxtou this week. Orders left at this office will receive prompt attention.

The next ordinary meeting of the Moutoa Drainage Board will be held at the Council Chambers on Friday, January 3rd, at 7.45 p.m. Business: General. Gisborne Borough Council has just accepted a ,£15,000 loau on the terms of paying 5 per cent, interest and x /i per cent, sinking fund. Councillors agree that it was the best that could be done uow.

Thus the Guudagai Independent : “ The locusts are plentiful ; the flies awful; the mosquitoes savage; the pumpkin beetle is ravaging vines ; the caterpillars still move on; the grasshoppers are hatching out; the money market continues tight; and Willis still runs the country. God save Australia !” Bombardier Wells meets Burns ou March 14th for a purse of ,£7400. Burns claims the championship since Johnson's enforced retirement. “Snowy” Baker, who recently purchased the Sydney Stadium from Mr H. D. Mclntosh, intends making a bid to have the Burns - Wells fight decided in Sydney.

The tomato blight, which is playing havoc with the plants at Petoue, has made its appearance In Hawke’s Bay, and in one instance a y-acre field is reported to be absolutely devoid of fruit. So far it is not known whether the cause of the trouble is a disease or a pest, or whether the failure of the blossom to fertilise was occasioned by peculiar weather conditions prev&i.iug at the moment. A successful rose-grower in the north was asked recently the kind of fertiliser he used. “I first of all dig a trench two feet deep,” he replied. Then 1 collect old bottled crockery and deposit them in the trench. Next I get my pea-rifle and bowl over as many cats as are about; shove them in the trench, cover them with a thick layer of earth, plant the vines, and hey, presto! magnificent champion roses ?”

Shearing on the East Coast is nearly over, most of the big stations having cut out. There has been (says the Poverty Bay Herald) an abnormal clip this year, the wool being, on the whole, of good quality. The nt the back of Tokomaru Bay is very dry, and the settlers are wanting rain. Nearer the coast abundance of rain has fallen, and there is plenty of feed. A Temora (N.S.W.) exchange chronicles a remarkable occurrence: “Avery peculiar accident happened to Mrs Pratt, wile of Mr T. Pratt, Temora, the other day. She was seated in her husband’s office at the foundry, reading a newspaper, whilst a storm was raging. The railway station was suddenly struck by lightning and Mrs Pratt was, at the same moment, hurled from her chair to the floor, and remained unconscious for an hour. The shock is attributed to wearing two steel hat pins,” The losses of sheep in Australia through the recent drought are much more serious than is generally considered. The Pastoralists’ Review says that Australia this year has passed through a terrible ordeal, and few, except the man on the land, know how terrible. One man who perhaps has more widely, spread interests in New South Wales stock than anyone else, informs us that he puts the loss Qt grown sheep down at 55 per cent,, or over x 0,000,000 in that one Std-te with the additional loss of over 40 per cent, of the lambs. His own losses* have exceeded these :pe rceuta S es -

The Rotorua Times, feeling possibly as if lit were awarding a Christmas present to New Zealand, exclaims in headlines ; “Monoplane for New Zealand. The Wimmera is Bringing It. A Treat in Store for New Zealanders. Sydney, Dec.^4— The Wimmera has sailed for/New Zealand with the mouopltaue Donquex on board,’' Very curiously the subeditorial imagination in all the other New Zealand papers saw no soaring airships in the cable skeleton, and so just headed the item Horses for Auckland. Sydney, December 4.—Monoplane and Don £)uex were shipped to Auckland by the s.s. Wimmera, which left to-day.” Which seems to fill the bill. It is a severe disappointment, however, that the Rotorua Times par. is not the true interpretation. A few airships wouldn't be unwelcome even if there were fewer racehorses. —Observer.

Wanted—The people of Foxton and the surrounding districts to know that A. de Luen, tailor, of Palmerston North, will call on anyone with samples upon the receipt of a postcard. Costumes from £4 4s, Suits from £4 10s.*

Mr Perreau has a bran tub in lull swing at bis shop. The childreu can rely upon getting full value lor their “ dips,”*

The local business premises will be closed to-morrow and Thursday. • j Robert Burgess has been charged with murdering Miss Zillmauu, the victim of the chocolatepoisoning case at Brisbane.

At Reeftou there has been experienced the hottest weather recorded for years, and a water famine is feared unless rain fal's soon. At the beginning of the year the Public Service Commissioners will enter on their new duties, but the Act does not come into operation till Ist April.

James Kelly, 62 years ol age, was found dead on the roadside at Te Kaianka, Gisborne, on Sunday. At the inquest the verdict was death from natural causes.

An exhaustive inquiry was held on Saturday regarding the racehorse fire at Reeftou. The police minutely examined every detail, but the evidence disclosed no sign of malice.

On the fourth page of this issue will be found a list of Australasian heirs wanted for funds in Chancery, monies and properties, supplied by Lloyd’s Next of Kin and Unclaimed Money Offices, Melbourne.

It has been decided by the Government to send Mr W. S. Short, Assistant Under-Secreeary jl for Public Works, to Australia, to 9 report upon the ■ public works systems of the various States, iu so far as they relate to roads and bridges. The dale of Mr Short’s leaving has not yet been fixed.

The Public Trust Commission, consisting of Messrs J. H. Hosking, K.C-, and A. MTntosh, is due to commence its departmental enquiry on the Ist hist. The holidays, however, extend to ■3rd January, and the active work of the commission will in all probability not commence till that date.

A Toudon city firm has caused consternation amongst its female assistants by issuing a notice stating : —“ All blouses must close to the throat, and must not have any lace on the front. No large bows on the shoes. No openwork stockings. A breach, of these rules will mean that the ladies will be relieved of their duties.” After all, it might have been worse. They might have been relieved of the offending articles. Although the German Government did not intend immediately to create a monopoly in the tobacco trade on the same lines as the monopoly in the petroleum industry, it is known that the Ministry of the Interior and the Saxon Government have begun a series of confidential conferences with the representatives of the tobacco trades in reference to the position brought about by the progress in Germany of the American Tobacco Trust, which already controls five big factories.

Clerical circles are exercised at a statement made by the Bishop of Lincoln to the effect that clergymen at sacramental services are likely to become intoxicated unless the wine is well diluted with water. Speaking at a temperance meeting the Bishop confessed that he had often been practically intoxicated during his 40 years of priesthood. When he had had to consume the remainder of the consecrated wine he had, on many occasions, been distressed by symptoms ot giddiness and a momentary eclipse of his usual strict sobriety. Such experiences ought to be avoided by the more liberal > dilution ol the wine with water. In an article on Mr Andrew Carnegie, the editor of the London Daily News writes: “ Having failed to get rid of his fortune by building 1500 libraries, 6000 church organs, palace and peace institutions, and by founding Scotch University schemes and hero funds, why doesn’t he try another method ? Why does he not spend the rest of his days and resources warring against the twelve-hour day and the sevenday week of the Steel Trust, which is the most colossal, monument to Mammon that modern industry has conceived.

An amusing story was told by Bishop Julius, in an address to the members ot the Commonwealth Club in Sydney. He said that a schoolmaster in Christchurch, who had a private schooA» of about 60 boys, had a habit ofT' taking a newspaper into th&.£ school every morning for the purpose of explaining to the boys the foreign cable news, in order to widen their horizon and to give them a better idea of the world in general. At the end of the term came the iuevitable examination in order to ascertain what the boys remembered concerning the cable news. One of the questions put was, “ What is the meaning of the All-red route?” Nobody seemed to know, and there was silence until one of the lads, with the light glistening in his eye, indicated that he knew. “What is it my boy ?” said the master, and the reply came, “Please, sir,: the beetropt.”

We have been appointed local agent for Star No. 1 Cocoa, lib tins 2/10, %lb tins 1/6, I4\h tins lod. We can recommend this. Thomas Rim* mer.*

“Warner’s” Rust-proof Corsets. Styles for all figures, at lowest prices consistent with good quality “Warner’s” 'are guaranteed, member. Wanted: 100 new customers drink Agragella Tea—the grade tea procurable. Call for free , sample. Thomas Rimraer.* 1

Mr and Mrs Parkes open their new premises pn Saturday witl) a large variety of ’Xmas novelties, cards 4»d toys. Holly Leaves and Pears Annual pow on sale. Inspection 4iyit«(,* *

The finder of a grey vest lost on the Beach Road ou Sunday is requested to leave same at this office.

The Queen of the South arrived from Wellington at mid-day on Sunday with a g-neral cargo and sailed last uight lor the same port with hemp The Gertie als brought gen merchandise fro Wellington, anCug last nip fraud sailed at one o’clock this afternoon with a cargo of hemp.

“Your land is no better than that

of the other farmers in your dis trict, yet you always produce better crops than we do,” remarked a Wairarapa farmer to another, the other day, “What is the secret of your success?” The

successful farmer replied, “I always tell my man to harrow the - land until he thinks it has been harrowed twice too much, aud then I tell him that it has not been done half enough.” At the instance of the New Zealand police, Walter Edmond Harvey has been arrested at Sydney ou a charge of perjury. It is

alleged that on December i tth, at Waihi, Harvey did falsely swear that he had no revolver in bis possession, and that he did not point a revolver at William Hunt at Karangahake ou November 10th. Harvey left by the Wimmera last week, aud was detained ou arrival at Sydney. Detective Sweeney left for Sydney yesterday to apply for extradition aud escort him back.

The death occurred at Oroua Downs this morning of the infant son of Mr and Mrs Alfred Smith. From the meagre particulars that are obtainable, it is understood that the child, which was only four months old, was suffocated, it being found this morning with its head face downwards in the pillow. The District Coroner is holding an inquest this afternoon.

Presents ! Christmas Presents ! You cannot do better than send your friends one of Perreau’s A.I. ’Xmas cakes.*