LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 18, 4 January 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The rainfall in Hawora during Dember totalled 6.83 in.

In the majority of stables there is lothiiig to equal good wheat straw, which wears better than oat or barley draw, is easier laid, and looks better. Plenty of romance has been crowdJ into the 27 years of the life of lr B. Nevada Landino, who ten years .go was a New York newsboy, and is ■ow a grand opera tenor singer. ”lr. landino lias said that at Cleveland he died up his spare time by shoe-black-ng, wnile later on he worked side by ;de at cigarette-making with Hosa 'astor, of Whitechapel, who afterwards married a millionaire. To be •lapped on the back by Mascagni, who avid “Bravo!” is anotner incident that he tenor recalls with pride. Landino •peaks four languages—German, .•Touch, and Italian, in addition to English ; he has a repertoire of 200 .ongs, and knows 20 operas, 12 ot which he can sing without rehearsing.

A somewhat peculiar position has >ccurrcd in connection Avitli tlic inroduction of saleswomen into certain ■usiness departments in Sydney, .hid) hitherto have been controlled olely by males. Iji fact, the male ■hop assistant is finding the woman ; someAvhat thorny subject. The Simp assistant’ Union in Sydney is now aking up the cudgels, and demandng equal pay for men and women mop assistants. In one establishment wo women were introduced, with the esult that the male assistants forthvith ceased work until an agreement was entered into that the Avomen vere not to sell above the A’alue of threepence or sixpence. There is uoav • n agitation for increasing the rates )f pay for females in departments where formerly men only Avere employed. Charles Schuppel, a AvindoAV-washer. if Toledo, Ohio, is probably' the most nside-out and upside-doAvn man living says the Xcav York correspondent of the London “Standard”). His heart is m tiie right side, his stomach is too ar to the right, his liver is on the eft side, his kidneys have changed places, and his spleen is around to the right side instead of the left. Oc•asional cases have been knoAvn of leople Avitli right-sided hearts and ither displacements of organs, Imu schuppel holds the record, so far as ■an be traced, foi - one individual Avitli ,o many peculiar formations. Schup)cl maices considerable additions to lis regular income by exhibiting him;elf at clinics. Many X-ray photographs have been taken of him for he use of medical students. He i:: orty years old, and is in excellent icalth. Discovery of his numerous wganic peculiarities avus made Avhcn .e Avas eighteen.

1 1 may not he generally known that chimney soot is valuable as a manure and an insecticide. Its fertilising properties are particularly noted in gardens and meadows. In connection with the vineyard industry in S nithern France, it is stated that it kills tiie phylloxera with the rapidity of a stroke of lightning, and at the same time endows the vines with extraordinary energy of growth. A motor cyclist received a shock at the Foxton Heads on Sunday last. He was riding along the ocean beach “double hanked,” when his machine suddenly dropped into a quicksand, and the motorist had no say in the direction in which they found themselves going. The engine of the cycle was damaged slightly, hut repairs were soon effected, and the return journey was commenced without discussion.

Cordelia Street is at present unworthy of its fair name. The other day the county engineer, and a gentleman who is also a Borough Councillor, were to he seen “jacking” their motorear out of a deep rut. Fata undoubtedly showed discretion in selecting its victims, and it is quite likely that Cordelia Street will soon he attended to. The suggestion has been made that, meanwhile, the name be changed to Othello Street. A service believed to he the first of its kind in England was held at the Alan Road Wesleyan Chapel, Ipswich, on a recent Sunday afternoon. The whole of the service—with the exception of the Benediction, which was pronounced by the minister of the chapel—was conducted by commercial travellers, from the announcements of •the hymns to the singing of the solos and the delivering of the address. The wife of a commercial traveller was the organist.

Largely due to the influence of Queen Mary, there is an increased liking among women for knitting, crocheting, and lace-making. It is two generations since these truly womanly fads have been so much in vogue, and all the intervening years of fancy work failed to display as satisfactorily a well-shaped hand and pretty rounded wrist. There is nothing more fascinating to watch than the play of the fingers in knitting, and the pursuit has the advantage of not interfering with conversation. Rather, it gives exercise to the nervous hands which would otherwise be playing with objects on the table, or aimlessly tapping the arm of a chair.. There are still a few survivors of the celebrated “Charge of the Light Brigade,” which has been immortalised in verse by Tennyson. By a recent Home paper we learn that eleven unassuming old men, represent’ng the twenty-two survivors of the charge of the Light Brigade, at Balaclava, dined at the Holborn Restaurant, _London, on Wednesday, October 25, to celebrate the fifty-seventh anniversary of their world-famed ride. The dinner was organised by Mr. T. H. Roberts, the founder of the Balaclava Survivors’ Relief Fund. A telegram was received from the King thanking the survivors of the charge for the loyal sentiments conveyed in a message to His Majesty, and trusting that they would spend a pleasant evening together.

That there are more ways of fighting fire than by means of motor chemical or steam* engines was evidenced by an anecdote told by Superintendent Erck at the annual ; social of the Christchurch Fire , Brigade members recently.* Mr;! Erck stated that in a township which had only, a manual engine, a fire occurred on the .far side Of the valley .which divided the township.■! -The brigade promptly turned, out l with ; their engine, hut! owling to the steep gradient on.uthe far side .of. j., the valley, • had td leave their fire-id i fighting apparatus stranded _ in the gully. The prospect of saving the blazing building looked decidedly remote, until one of the brigadesmen was seized with a brilliant idea. He noticed that immediately above the building which was ablaze there was a large tank of water, and after borrowing a rifle die perforated the tank with, bullet , boles. The consequence \j was that ; several streams of water were directed on to the flames, and ~ the conflagration ,was thus suppressed. Mr. Erck remarked in conclusion that he only quoted this instance as showing what could he .done by the men “with the ladder and the hose” who displayed any degree of enterprise and originality.

Count de Noskowski, of Poland, is a visitor to Sydney, In the course of an interview ho said he could not understand why the whole eity goes to bed before midnight. In Warsaw, he says, they are just beginning to wake up at that time. “We go to grand opera at 8 o’clock, and then, when that is over, we have supper and begin to get merry. Then we visit the restaurants, and enjoy ourselves with refreshments, dancing, and s’nging. Wo keep that up till 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning, and then we retire. Wo get up early or late, just as it pleases us, and then we go shooting hears, riding or walking, or pay our calls. Your trams surprised me. They all stopped running on Sunday just because there was church service going on. That is very bad. I had to stop and wonder what is the matter. It did not make mo worry, because I ride in a motor-car—l Tke motors—but what does everybody who can’t hivva motors do?” Living in Poland is very cheap, and in comparison Sydney is terrible.” So says the Count. He informed an interviewer that in Poland everybody lias a servant. They are paid the enormous salary of ten shillings a month. Just picture the expression on an Australian servant’s face if he or she were offered ten shillings a month! It is his intention to visit New Zealand.

ZN;r. Goergo Rignold, the veteran actor, Avas the central figure of a picturesque incident at Middle Harbour yesterday (says the “Sy'dney Daily Telegranh” of the 18th inst.). The I. C. Williamson firm Avas entertaining the principals of the Melba Grand Opera Company at a harbour picnic. When opposite Mr. Rignold’s Middle Harbour retreat those on the launch espied “the king in exile” on his balcony, and Mine. Melba asked the most lusty-voiced of her company to convey her greetings. “Mme. Melba’s compliments,” shouted a basso, “and she hopes Mr. Rignold is enjoying good health.” The message reverberated in the hills. Then the retired actor called hack through a megaphone his appreciation of Mme. Melba’s kindness, folloAving it by the line, “Once more unto the breach,, dear friends!” A feAV minutes later he ran the old Henry V. banner up his flagstaff. Mine. Melba Avas so.delighted that she sent a boat off to ask Mr. Rignold aboard to take tea Avitli her. “I’m not dressed,” he megaphoned on receiving the invitation. “Come as you are,” he Avas encouraged. Doavu the hillside strode the sturdy old actor, and soon he Avas on deck. Mme. Melba entertained him, presenting each of the company in turn. She Avonld not rest until she persuaded him to recite in full the famous Shakespearean speech he started through tlie megaphone. This Mr. Rignold finely delivered, and provoked great enthusiasm.

lii every nay possible it is sought to render the education serv.ee of \ ictoria attractive to male teachers, so . that the department may not bo forced, as in Canada, to rely solely‘upon women. The proportion of males in the Victorian department has increased during the last 20 years. A rumour was current in Wanganui on Tuesday that Mr Veitch, M.P., had been offered the position of Minister of Labour in the Ward Government. Mr Veitch has resigned the presidency of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, because the rules provide that the president must be a member of the railway service. The keenness of newspaper selling was the subject of proceedings at the Alarcon Court. Four boys selling city journals—two representing each publication—were charged with quitting a train while in motion at Turakina station. Counsel appeared for two boys, and the other two wrote to the Magistrate admitting the offence. £wfciey pleaded extenuating circumstances, the keenness of competition at election time, and the necessity of transferring from the North to the South train. The Magistrate took a lenient view, and a fine of 2s each was imposed, with costs 7s. The story of the sea-serpent seen in the Tasman Sea by officers of the Strathardle will lie greeted with innumerable jokes atb their expense, says an exchange. The public lias got into its head that the sea-serpent is a joke. lint while scientists are not agreed that there is such a creature, the evidence for its existence is not to he despised. There is the story of the officers of H.AI.S. Daedalus, which encountered an enormous serpent in the South Atlantic in 1848. The creature, which resembled a snake or an cel, and showed about 60. feet of hotly, passed quite close to the ship, and those on hoard had a good look at it. In 1875 the British ship Paulino witnessed, off' the African coast, a struggle between a whale and a gigantic serpent, which wound itself round the whale and crushed it in boaconstrictor fashion. Two years later the officers of her yacht Osborne, a vessel which one would not expect to he >; the home of fishermen’s tales, saw a sea-serpent off the coast of Sicily. This creature was of immense length and, like the one seen by those on the Strathardle, had a head like that of a crocodile. . Many oth-y oases are on record in which mariners have reported with circumstantial detail having seen serpmt-lik? animals in the ocean.