OMNIUM GATHERUM

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 4

OMNIUM GATHERUM

The Government of Japan has erected tombstones on the gra\es of 180 Russian •oldiers who died there during the war. One ounce of eggs produces 39,000 silkworms, which consume \ early one ton of mulberry leaves, and yield silk worth £8. In many factories in America they have only four holidays a year. They work nine hours a day, and eight hours on Saturday, A Chatham • Islands resident complains that the inhabitants there have no representation in the Parliament of New ZeaIt^a #jiuajce issued by the F>o>al M.nt

during the pa 3 t year was: — Gold, £12,165,000; silver, £1,705,070; and bronze, £184,520. It is notified in the Gazette that Mr "vV. M'Dougall has been appointed a tiustee of the Waikouaiti Athenseum in place of Mr Joseph Bates, resinned. Messrs B. W. Fell and D. W. Malloch have been gazetted members of the Hawksbury Domain Board to succeed the late Mr H. Buckland and Mr T. Smith. Letters of naturalisation have been issued in favour of Iver Johnsen and I'eter Lawsoa, mi lcrs, of Luggate, and of Joseph Renrne, p'^-'ceman, of Port Chalmers.

According to the method which is now adopted for reckoning leap years in England, December, Januai3-, and February will be the summer months about 720 COO years hence. Mr and Mrs Venn, of Bridge street. Uffculmc, celebrated their golden wedding and recenod tho King's oongratuatioiis. The couple wore the clothes in which they v>eio man ied. Il has beon suggested that the Go\ eminent should assist to establish n National , Zoo at Wellington. There is already a I considerable collection of animals at Newtown Park. A cat went to sleep over the face of the infant daughter of Mr Potter, of Matlock. England, and suffocated her. At the inquest the jury returned a verdict of accidental death. At Ilford, near London, a woman who used petrol to cleanse her hair exhibited all the signs of intoxication shortly afterwards, and was under medical treatment for some days. The Grimsby Wellow Waits, who l^e (his season earned £230 for the local hospital by carol singing, ha^e since their formation 20 %ears ago handed £2000 to the tieasurer of that institution. The Stewart Ifcldr.d bush ha* within the last few dajs broken out into a magnificent bloom. In fiohne*? and variet\ of colouring it is said to surpass anything within ttie rneicory of the ole'ost inhabitant.. It was 6ho\vn at a Leeds inquest that when eating some rabbit pie in Leeds infirmary. Arthur Mulley, aged 16. swallowed a bone which caused a wound in his throat. Death resulted from hemorrhage. In the sa\ings bank established by the Nouh-Easlern Railway Company for its employees, the annual report shows a sum of £554.662, standing to the oredit of the 10,532 depositors, ghing an average of £31 each. Tbo Foveaux Strait mutton bird season is approaching and if coming e\ents ca=t their shadow* befoie. then the forthcoming reason will be a good one. Old t>altt> say that, the Foveaux Straits are simply flecked with birds. The Dunmow Guardians ascertained recently that, out of 600 persons in receipt of out-relief, 300 were more than 70 years of ago, 203 more than 75. 105 more than 80, j 27 more than 85. and four maie than 90, w ln!o ono was 97. V\ inle -uffering fiom pneumonia and del 1t ioi.-. a Belfast caiter named Stewart leaped fiom a second floor window and. dieted only in a ;hirt. ran for two mile* j m the snow. He was caught by a cyclist, and is lecovering. Chailes E. Dawes. of Brooklyn. who had bought laffle tickets for a lifetime without ' saining a prize, became so annoyed at hie i ill Kick that he threw away his last pur- j rhase. He now learns that he was entitled 1 to a £200 motor car. . Twenty years ago the watte.s of Nottingham laceinakers were as Ingh as £6 and £7 a week, and the profits of the employers ranged up to 100 per cent. To-day, if a man is working full time, he may earn from £2 10s to £4- a week. Propoiak will be submitted to Parliament by the Minister of Education (the Hon. G-. | Fowlds) next session for the remedying of tho inequalities of tho salaries of school (eaoher- e&peoially in the case of the sole icaeber in .small country schools. The American wood-duck and dirake >\hich were some time ago placed in the Canterbury Aoolimatisation Society's gardens have recently bred, and four young ducklings have been added to the society's co'leotion of acclimatised birds. Reports of sheep-staaJing are rife in the Tokomaiiiio district. One farmer wae said to be 200 short in his tally one da\ , while another, who lost 80. had 40 returned to him by a farmer living four miles away who found them in his paddock. Owing to the drought and the drain on the wafer supply permission to use the hose for gardens, etc., has been absolutely prohibited at Nelson. This is the first time that total prohibition, has been resorted to in that city for very ma-ny years. During the visit of H.M.S. Prometheus at Greymouth Commander Bentinok said that the Admiralty was storing considerable quantities of coal at various points in the South Paoific. Most of those supplies, he said, would be taken from the West Coast. Hop-picking in tne Waimea gardens has commenced. Owing to the drought oropa

f are exceedingly light, and consequently v is expected that picking will not la^t longer than three weeks. The schools m the hop districts have closed for the u>ual holid*i\s. Before I wrote "The Christian" no\el and plaj'. the newspapers were moie kind to me than to almost any other win ing man of my generation. Since then they 1 have been less fair 1o me than to almost j any scribbler of the century. — Mr H»ll I Game, in the Play. I A union organiser told a Lyttelton Times reporter that his experience had taught him that the workeis had a far better <hance of obtaining conceptions and im-pi-o\ed labour conditions in conference with their employers than if they went before the Arbitration Court. Fifty-five yea.is ago, on New Year's Day, 1E53. Lord Roberts sat down — one of a party of 12 — to dinner at Peshawar. Ele\en years later not one of those 13 had died, though most of them had taken part \n the eupptession of the Indian mutiny and five or six had been wounded. A \erv large starfish was caught at Waiheke la«t week by Captain E. Parris. who took it to Auckland, and intends handing it over to the Museum. The fish is 13in in circumference, an-d has 10 points. It is stated to bo the largest of its kind ever found in Auckland waters. I Canon J. W. Willink. vicar of Yarmouth, England, having been offered the rectory of Bishopswearmouth, and the j Archdeaconry of Auckland, yielding a 1 joint income of £1600 per annum, declined ■ the offer, because he folt tha,t his work in Yarmouth was not 5 - et completed. I An interesting feature of the anniversary 1 church ser-\ ices at Waiweia was a statement 1 by the Rev. J. U. Spence (.says the Clutha, ' Leader) thai he held in his hand a little book containing the name of every member j of the church within the parish when the church was fiist opened 26 jeais ago. The Lord Provost of Glasgow, presiding at the annual meeting of the Glasgow Savings Bank, said that last year £330,000 was 6pent on thea.tre-going in that city, of which more than one-half (£178,000) I wa6 demoted to admission to music halls. j He described this as a growing e^il. A curiously-marked stone has been found in the middle of a wheat rick by Mr H. Pearce, of Colebrook (England). Geologists have agreed with Mr Pearcc's suggestion rhat the mat kings on the stone were caused by rate using it to grind their tcerh, which j otherwise grew to an inordinate length. j Jimmy Roche, an inmate of the Sunderland workhouse, astonished the guardians at the annual Christmas gathering by claiming to be 112 years old. He state* ! that his father fought at the battle of I Waterloo. and that ho himself went through the Indian Mutiny and the Ciimean war. The Bank of England is to be asked to repay a sum lodged about 1722, which at compound interest would amount to £80,000.000. Though the receipt, was, it is said, made payable at sight, the money was never claimed. It was deposited by a hetman, or little governor, in Little Russia, thp district nor. h of Kieff. Four cases of the new pattern short riffe armed for the Clutha Mounted Rifles this week (says the Clutha Leader). They are unwioldv-lookinpr weapons. the barrels boing encased in wood. There are 80 of them. This makes tho third pattern of rifle the C M.R. have had on issue since they were formed 10 veai-5 ago. The Minister of Lands is preparing for issue a second and improved edition of his book on early Now Zealand. "Munhuku." He is atao compiling the volumes of documents relating to the early histcrv of the Dominion, wliieh the Government is is«uincr each year. Alternately his own work and the Government volumes will be issued. Racial feeling rune high in Carterton. At a recent Volunteer meeting a townsman of foreign birth — a representative of a race of classic antiquity — was proposed and seconded a3 an honorary member of the Carterton corps. On the nomination beinar nut to tho vote a chorus o* "Noes" drowned the small minority of the affirmatives. Since the beginning of the present year typhoid has been very prevalent throughout the metropolitan district of Sydney, and considerable strain has consequently been placed on the accommodation of the various hospitals. It is thought that the extended

period of dry weather has boon largely r©. sponsible for the unusually heavy list o£ patients. A purple altar cloth bearing the date 1617 has been "found at the bottom of an old chest at St Giles's Church, Colchester. It had evidently been used on the alter i» the Lucas Chapel, and was probably hidden when the Roundheads besieged Colchester, in 1648, and executed Sir Charles Lucas. Tw a £1 notes closely 6tuck together passed through several hands recently as a single note. They were first of all paid in ALisrerton to a Carterton reeidont, and! to both partioa they appeared aa one piece of scrip. They changed hands several limes until at length an honest shopkeeper made the discovery and returned the surplus note. Nuggets fioheimen nave had to contend 1 with stormy weather of late, although in< Balclutha the residents enjoyed the pleasantest of atmospherical conditions. We (Clutha Leader) received a mesmgo from the Nuggets yesterday that during three days the fishing fleet haa been unable to get out owing to the stormy state of the soa. The Scottish Society for Prevention of Ciuelty to Animals has presented awards to several miners and a policeman for having taken part in the rescue of a terrier dog fom the Bottom of the ehaffc of an old coalpit at Rosewell. BallinprySmith, on© of the miners, was lowered by ropes and chains, and rescued the dog a€ . the risk of his life. The Thaw trial haa had the effect o£ closing the school at whioh Mrs Thaw was educated. The principal, Mrs Demjlle, has just failed. Until the famous trial Mrs Demille'e school was orte of the most successful and fashionable institutions in the State, but when ono of its pupils gained world-fame in so dramatic a. manner ifc spoedilv lost favour. A consumptive man, alleged to be incurable, was a few months ago refused admission to the Otaki Sanatorium. He \va«, therefore, taken in by a sympathising settlor, who erocted a shelter shed for his accommodation. His stay at Otaki, it is leportod, has benefited him to euch en pxtont that ho is now well enough to start in business for himself at Foxton. An infiuentiallv-6i)fned protest is being sent to a number of public bodies against ' the plague of flashing electrio-u'frht adver-ti-emonto and skv-eigns," whioh, the memorial says, "eeriouslv threaten the boautv and impressivencss of London." It is suKKested that a continuance of the allied evil may result in the public actually screw ins "to like these dazzling deformities." A country business man duns his subhcubers in the following novel manner: — '" All persons lenowinsr themselves indebted to this office are requeted- to call and «ettle. All those indebted to this office, and to tliib office are requested to oall andi find ou(. Those knowing themselves to bo indebted, and not r wiehina to call, aro requested to stay at one place long enough for us to catcli them." Picture books for the benefit of travellers are kept in the Paris police stations. Ib fiequentlv occurs that foreigners lose things w_hioh they aro unable to desoribe, becawo I of their unfamilianty with the French | language. The picture books contain rei presentations of various articles, and the j inquirer has only to turn the leaves and point out tho illustrations which resemble the property he has lost A witness giving evidence at the Conciliation Board at Culverden stated that he receh ed Ss a dozon for rabbitskins, and it was suggested that this was contract; work. Mr Kennedy, one of the farm labourers' representatives, asked : " Ifc ia > not a contract in the ordinary meaning of the woidV" "You would find it a contract if you had to catch them," was the witness's prompt and apt reply. " Hoist with their own petard " was the* fate of a former Picton school, committee. I The committee wanted to get rid of ita teacher, and so gave him a splendid testimonial to assist him to get another position. The device failed, so the committee asked the Education Board to get rid of | him. The teacher confronted the committee with its own glowing account of his •virtue^. He was allowed to remain. Eight tree«p are being senl round to Milford by Mr Reginald Day. of Invercarprilf, i for liberation at Lake Ada. While on his I trip overland to Milfo-rd, Mr Day was J struck with the suitability of the plare for j wild geese and the abunt'^nco of food, and he has made arrangements with the Tourist Department, that Mr Sutherland, of Milfoid. shall iake charge of the birds on arivval and set thorn free. The Hinemoa took the G:c o^e from the Bluff on Monday. Tho Wyndham Herald is informed by a. Mokoreta resident that he saw a weasel , ohmb a tree and take from one of the i highest branches a fledgling sparrow. It, took a second bird, and returned for a third ; time, when the onlooker's presence caused , the creature to go into hiding up the tree. I No doubt the weasel was taking the birds to feed its young. This direct observation shows what the imported vermin will do ' amoncrst- th<* defenceless native game oc New Zealand. l "* __„., One of the chief aims of the Wellington. Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society is to find work for those who, after leaving gaol, a,pply to it for assistance in getting on their feet, again. And there l^ no_ dot.bb that in this respect it has l>een signally successful, one man now holding a position as manager of a West Coast mill at a salary of £5 per week. Another is now an officer on boaid a shio in the mercantile marinp, while a third has iust received a position on the staff of a London daily In a certain church on a recent faunday evening the gas was not turned full on duiinsr the carlv part of the seivico. and the official who was expected, as the shadei of darkness succeeded day. to switch on. the light had dropped into a _ gentle slumber In the eour«p of the minister's peroration he used Goethe's words, " More light, more light." Whereupon, to the sifppres«ed amusement of the congregation, the caretaker 6tarted up. rushed to the gas meter, and flooded the church in a. blase of light. Some little time ago 0 northern harbour board wrote to the Westnort Harbour Board asking how much free coal ■waa given to the .officials by the companies supplying coal to th© board. The inquiry oame as a surprise, and led to correspondence, from which it was elicited that", the ooa 1 suppliers to the inquiring board had been in the habit of presenting certain, of the officials with all the coal they required in lots of about half a ton at a time. Those officials were informed that the practice was considered unde6irab!o and must be discontinued.