NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1114, 26 June 1913, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

The death is announced of a noted British Methodist in the person of the Rev. W. D. Walters, for 21 years general secretary of the London Wesleyan Mission.

The request of the nurses at the Gisborne Hospital for an eight-hour day was considered in committee by the Hospital Board. It was decided to inform the nurses that the hours of duty were eight working hours in the wards. The German national insurance returns show that sickness is more prevalent among men than among women, and that the former are longer under the care of the doctors.

According to a cable message to the Sydney Sun last week, the fruit season in England has been disappointing. Nearly all varieties did badly, and pears were almost a complete failure.

The death is announced of Henry Sawtell, who was a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council in the early days, and was Mayor of Christchurch in 1872. Ho was 79 years of age. At a sale at Sotheby’s rooms, London, hist week a number of Napoleon and Nelson relics were put up for auction. Napoleon’s death mask fetched £B4, his gun £135, his hat £BS, while a portrait of the Emperor was sold for £360, and a marble bust for £l9O. The christening shirt worn by Lord Nelson was knocked down for £BO. It is probable that, in 1915, Mr Forbes Robertson and his wife (bettor known by her professional name of Miss Gertrude Elliott) will make a tour in New Zealand and Australia. Just now they are enjoying an excellent farewell season at Drury Lane Theatre, in a varied repertoire. Detective-Sergeant Cassells, of Wellington, has received news of the death of his brother, who passed away suddenly at Ashburton. Deceased, who was about 36 years of age, was familiarly known in the district as “Barney” Cassells. He was a member of the post office staff, and was well known in the world of sport, as he took a keen interest in football, rifle shooting, and coursing.

In an address at the Chemical Exhibition, held at Islington (England), Professor Nicalls. of Columbia (U.S.) University, said that the life of the* world would depend upon the work of the chemist. It would not be long, the Professor added, before the supply of nitrogen was exhausted, and something would then have to be found to conserve what was left

From inquiries made at various shipping offices in Auckland, it is ascertained that the passenger season next year will probably eclipse that of the past year. Bookings for steamers sailing as far ahead as March next have already been made. This is stated to bo tlic earliest period at which bookings have been made. The “cabins de luxe” on the steamers of one company have all been allotted.

A thirty-six weeks’ test of butter stored in an envelope of paraffine paper packed in an Oregon pine box has proved satisfactory to Melbourne experts. The cost of the envelope is about 4d and an Oregon box can bo made for about Is. Without the paper lining the Oregon emits an odour. It was also shown that the paper tended to prevent the evaporation of moisture; during the thirty-six weeks the loss was only 7ozs.

It is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good. The recent fierce storm at Hokitika removed the surface from large stretches of beach, and left exposed the black sand, which is nearly always goldbearing. Regardless of the heavy rain and the wild gale which had been blowing all day, parties of men wore at work on the beach skimming off the black sand and carting it out of the reach of the waves. So quickly does the beach formation change that the next tide may bury the black sand with several feet of ordinary sand.

In passing sentence on a prisoner at the Supreme Court at New Plymouth, Mr Justice Edwards gave some advice to a class of youth in Stratford which might very well bo taken to heart by young men in other towns in New Zealand. "There seems to bo in Stratford,” said His Honor, “a gang of young men who get together, drink, and keep late hours, getting up to mischief. It is a shocking thing to see Now Zealanders taking the course they appear to bo taking. My advice to them is to keep better • hours, and if they cannot take liquor in moderation, to leave it alone altogether.”—News. Captain Robert Falcon Scott left estate valued for probate of the gross value of £3231, “as far as at present cun bo ascertained.” The will has just been proved in London, ami he is said to have “died on 29th March, 1912, in the Antarctic legions.” His widow, Edith Agnes Kathleen Lady Scott, is the acting executor, and probate has been renounced by his bro-ther-in-law, the Right Hon. William Grey Ellison Macartney, Governor of Tasmania. The will is dated in London, July, 1910 (immediately before his departure on the expedition). Captain Scott left all his securities upon trust to his mother, Mrs Hannah Scott, for life, with remainder to his wife, and he left all other of his property to his wife absolutely. Mr Charles Robinson, chief of Bellamy’s, who returned by tho Tahiti from San Francisco last week, told a New Zealand Times representative that one of the most pleasant, and memorable incidents in his tour abroad was a private interview, lasting about a. quarter of an hour, with His Majesty tho King at Windsor Castle. Mr Robinson had previously met King George, when, as Prince of Wales, he visited New Zealand with the Ophir in 1901. “He remembered me at once,” said Mr Robinson, “and chatted in a most affable way of New Zealand, showing a very lively interest in tho people and affairs of the Dominion. His Majesty looked remarkably well, and his manner throughout, as he leisurely smoked a cigar, was most charming and gracious. He asked numerous questions about New Zealand, and had very clear recollections of the places he visited.” The general arrangements in connection with the Australasian Medical Congress to be held in Auckland next February are now well advanced. It is anticipated that at least 300 medical men will attend tho Congress. Amongst the visitors will be Mr William J. Mayo, of Rochester. Minnesota, U.S.A., one of the leading surgeons of the world. So vast is the clientele ot the Mayo Hospital that his brother, three relatives, and himself, assisted by a staff of twelve assistants, are required to carry it on. Between them they perform between twenty and thirty operations every morning. Mr Mayo is bringing with him Dr, Christopher Graham, his chief of staff, and both will bo accompanied by their wives. Other very probable visitors will bo Sir Frederick Treves and Sir Victor Horsley, the celebrated English surgeons, who, with several others, havo been invited to attend, and who, if they can get away, will come.

Mr C. A. do Lautour, chairman of the Gisborne Shecpfarmcrs’ Company, states that the company had no further news of the tug Taonui, which left Glasgow for New Zealand, via Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, on June 4, and is overdue at Gibraltar. It will bo remembered that four lifebelts, a piece of teak pannelling, a lifebuoy, and a piece of a boat were found on the coast near St. Just. “The continued delay in the reporting, of the Taonui, combined with the dangerous coast upon which wreckage undoubtedly from the boat has been found,” he said, “gives cause for the gravest anxiety. So far there has been no conclusive evidence of a total loss of the ship, nor any evidence at all as to the loss of the hands. The vessel is fully covered by insurance, but that is very poor satisfaction wliile it is pogs)b|e that there may, have been a very serious loss of life. The company’s agents are instructed to incur any expense which may determine the fate of the vessel or afford relief if relief is any longer possible,” The Shecpfarmcrs’ Company has received advice that a box containing personal effects has been picked up at Land’s End.