LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1605, 31 August 1916, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A young 1 married nnin, Edwin Parker, was killed by a i'all of earth in a shoeing claim at the Kyeburn diggings on Monday.

Scarlet fever has broken out in Otaki, while measles and whooping cough are very prevalent throughout that district.

Mi’ E. Newman, M.P. for Rangitikei, whose health has not been of the best, and whose public and other responsibilities prevent him from giving the full attention to company business that he considered necessary, has resigned his seat on the hoard of directors of the Wellington Meat Export Company. Regret at his resignation was expressed yesterday at the annual meeting of shareholders in the company.

A letter received in Masterton fi’om a soldier at the front says: “Six of us were sent to clean up a billet that some of our boys had been in. We found in the corner a couple of sacks of old mails. I had a look in them, and found three bundles of papers for myself, and one for my mate. That shows you how they look after our mails. I would take it as a favour if you would not send anything in the future hut letters. It is no game feeding thieves, and providing them with reading material as well.”

The power of observation was shown to he developed to an extraordinary degree in a girl of 12, who, in the Auckland Supremo Court, described a youth who appeared in the dock on a certain charge. She said the accused was wearing a slategrey hat, a grey shirt, a”grey coal, grey waistcoat, and brownish-grey trousers. The- grey of the waistcoat, she said, was lighter than that of the jacket, and the grey of the shirt was different from either. Accused, she said, wore black stockings with red stripes below the knee, his boots were black, and had a little mud on them. He wore two badges on his coal", and a tooth in (ha upper jaw was slightly decayed, and showed when he spoke.

An interesting and apparently not very widely-known point in connection with the war jumsions scheme was discussed at a recent sitting of the War Pensions Board. A soldier, in evidence, cited the tact that he was the sole support, of his aged parents. In reply the returned man was informed that all dependents have a claim to a pension on their own account irrespective of any granted to the breadwinners. A striking example was furnished later in the da.v, when a returned man with a wifi 1 and three children was allotted a pension of £1 a week, bis wife 10s a week, and each child 7s (id, or a total of £2 12s (id for the family, whereas the maximum pension payable to a disabled man is 35s a week.

“It was owing to the treachery of a German horn in New Zealand .that our casualties were heavy at the end of June and beginning of July (writes a New Zealand soldier from a London hospital). He was aeliug as a stretcher-hearer, and had obtained a good deal of information as to the location of batteries, etc. His ruse was rather clever. Looking over the parapet, he maile out, that he saw somebody lying in No Man’s Laud, and said that he would investigate. The members of his platoon thought, him the essence of gumeuess as he hopped 'over our parapet and crawled out. When about half-way between the lines, lie rose, and, waving a white Hag, bolted to the German line. Everyone was so surprised that lie was over the enemy’s parapet before a shot was fired. From then on wo wore bombarded with deadly effect. So much for a New Zealander born of German parents.”

Poor Solomon Stead lay sick in his bed,

’Twas a cold that he’d contracted. With lungs like lead, he was all but dead, And his wife was nigh distracted. Overcome with grief she shook like a leaf, But such anguish was premature, Her mother rushed in, replacing hot gin With Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. . 24

Mr W. H. Ferris, chief hemp grader, is at present in Foxton.

Mr Scolley, of Invereargill, has been appointed to Jill the vacancy in the hemp grading staff at Wellington. He took up his duties last week.

A social will be hold in the Salvation Army Hall to-night, commencing at 8 o’clock, when a miscellaneous programme arranged by Major and Mrs Toomer, of Palmerston N., will be submitted. Admission sixpence.

The increase in freights has had a corresponding effect upon the f.o.b. prices of hemp, which to-day are approximately as follow: — Good fair grade, £35 l()s per ton; high fair, £34 Ids; low, £33 Ids. Tow; No. 1, £ll per ton ; No. 2, £10; No. 3, £O.

Picture patrons are reminded of another attractive programme for Friday and Saturday at the Town Mall, the outstanding feature being a 5,()()0ft. comedy-drama with Clara Kimball Young in the leading role, “Marrying Money.” The supporting items are exceptionally good, one picture of (500 ft. depicting,a Zeppelin raid on Salonika.

The Health Inspector, Mr M. O’Brien, informed a Palmerston Standard reporter that except for an occasional odd case, the outbreak of diphtheria in Palmerston North had almost come to an end. There have been no cases of scarlet fever this winter, whereas during last winter and the previous one there were many eases of the disease, and very few of diphtheria. A peculiar feature of this winter’s outbreak has been the fact (hat last, summer there were more cases of diphtheria in Foxton borough than all the other parts of (he inspector’s district, whereas while the disease has been prevalent in these latter parts during the winter, Foxton borough has been practically immune from its ravages. Writing to a friend in Christchurch, an Anzac artilleryman now in France gave a graphic- description of tin* effects of the poisonous gas used by the Germans. He describes how the men were awakened by an awful din, the alarm being given by (he ringing of bells. “The men hastily donned their respirators,’’ he continues, “and stood by the horses. Within about five'minutes (he gas reached the men, but had little effect on them, thanks to the precautions taken. The next day the effects of the gas on the near crops of peas and onions were plainly seen, the vegetables being quite blackened and the peas also laid flat. The harness on the horses, too, which had previously been as bright as silver, was ‘covered with black rust. Yet, strange to say, the horses were not, apparently, affected in the least.” Some years ago, says the Auckland Star, an interesting case was before the Supreme Court at Auckland, in which damages were* claimed by the plaintiff against a medical man for having removed a large area of skin for the purpose of grafting on another girl suffering from wounds caused by burns, and which would not heal. Medical science has progressed since then, as their is a gentleman in Auckland who was grafted with skin taken from a sucking pig, and the operation proved completely successful. As the pig was chloroformed before the cuticle was removed, and was killed at the end of the operation, it was spared the after-suffering occasioned to the young lady in the case where damages were sought.

One of the oldest settlers of the Nelson district, Mrs .Joseph Primmer, who leaves over a hundred descendants, has Just died, in her ÜBth year. The deceased, who was a native of Hampshire, arrived at Nelson with her late husband in the ship Boston, on March loth, 1842, six weeks after the landing' of the first immigrants there. She has resided in the Nelson district ever since. Mrs Primmer, who died alter a three-weeks' illness, celebrated her 071 h birthday on July 10th. Site was then blind, and somewhat frail, but to the last she retained a clear recollection of incidents of her long life and the experiences and hardships of the early pioneers. She was for many years an active worker for the Methodist Church. Her husband died over 40 years ago. She had 17 children, 12 of whom are still living. There are also upwards of 00 grandchildren,' ,17 great-grandchildren —or' a total of over 100 descendants exclusive of her own children.

Most of us arc familiar (writes mil Australian correspondent) with rather surprising expressions of assumptions, of ignorance by Judges in our Courts in reJalion to the things that everyone is supposed to know of. However, lire veil of judicial ignorance is occasionally lifted. .For instance, a Queensland Judge has declared that what lie knows about the game of two-up satislies him that it a game of skill and science, and that undoubted skill is shown by manipulators in the concealment of the fact that they are using double-headed pennies! And now Judge Backhouse, ■at the Sydney Quarter Sessions, in dealing with a case of alleged fraud bv “confidence” tricksters, has stated that he himself has had experience of the ways of confidence trick men in Melbourne. An inquisitive solicitor asked: “Did they get your Honour’s money!” His Honour smiled a smile as of a happy little reminiscence, and replied: “They did not. I asked them about their rich uncle in Fiji.” One would like to know the complete story of the discomfiture of the men who mistook Judge Backhouse for a country “mug.”