NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2544, 17 February 1923, Page 4

NEWS AND NOTES.

Mr W. M. Hughes, ex-Common-wealth Premier, won his first election fight in 1894, when returned, for the Lang Division of Sydney—but (he joy of winning was somewhat damped liv the way he learned of his triumph. "The chairman of his committee, panting, hurried up and shouted: “Bill, you’re in; run like

——Mr Hughes look (lie advice and ran, being soon f filowed by a gang of wrathful political opponents but succeeded in reaching a chapel and took refuge in the pulpit. The enemy followed, but by that time : -ill’s supporters had heard of the : ursuit. They too, joined in, and the chapel was the scene of a serous battle. During a seeming tail ; declares a correspondent of the ■lanehester Guardian) “Bill” raised j is head above the pulpit ledge and ventured to utter a timid, “Gentlemen, this is the proudest .” At that instant an iron bar whizzed past his head and the oration went for ever unfinished.

There are many ways in which (lie oath is administered to witnesses in the Courts of Justice. Occasionally the oath, as required of flie average Christian, is varied when an adherent of the Jewish faith or a follower of Confucius goes into the witness box, but it is not aften that a Mohammedan is called upon to give evidence in the local Courts, says an Auckland exchange. This, however, happened on Friday during the murder trial af the Supreme Court, when an Arab fireman entered the witness box. The method adopted in impressing upon the man that he must speak 1 lie truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,,was that of placing a copy of the Koran on the desk and requiring the witness ,to place his right hand flat upon the book, while lie touched his forehead with the fingers of his left hand. lie (hen promised in quite good English to speak (he truth, and brought his forehead down until it rested upon (lie book. He was next asked whether he was hound by this ceremony to speak the truth, to which lie replied: “1 am.” “If I bad my way,” said Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, District Health Officer at Christchurch on Monday, “special glasses would lie established at the technical schools and all people who handled food which was supplied to the public in an eatable condition would be trained to understand the many ways in which the food could be infected with poisonous bacteria, and also the methods in which the infection could he avoided. Further, they could he (aught a little elementary chemistry so that they would know the effects of various acids and common chemical substances used in cookery.” These remarks were made when Dr Telford was talking on the poison- ' ing accidents which had been caus T ed through the consumption, of contaminatetd food, states the “Star.” “When one considers the multifarious ways in which food may become infected it is surprising that accidents of this sort are not very ! much more frequent,” he said. I