LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 43, 15 February 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

ii. !)es Forges, a clerk at Iho Bleu iieim Gasworks, lias been _ missing since Monday, and the oolite r. ade sen roll all dav Tuesday and tins n orn-

ill <v, ljut .saw no signs of the missing man, who is 50 years of ag” and has a wife and two children. Des ]'o v gcs lias I >ooll suffering from dl-headth lately. and his illness was accentuated by insomnia. He resigned Ins position last Friday. His office accounts were found in good order.

Ms England becoming more sober f The question is suggested hy the puh11mheel statistics of the large decrease

in the consumption of beer. In the year 1900 Britain consumed' 328,060, 000 imnerial gallons of beer, while in 1909 with an increased population. The beer taste had altered to the extent of less consumption by 138,203, 000 gallons. In 1900 the number of gallons of beer drank per head oi the population per annum was 30.8; in 1909 it fell to 25.9. While the consumption of beer shows such a large decrease, the nation now uses about 111), of tea per bead more than ten years ago. East year the British Chancellor of the Exchequer derived £6,000,000 from the duty on the imported tea chests from the Far East. Exacly what is the legal position oi a woman who smokes cigarettes is to lie determined hy the Chicago Courts, before which Miss Katherine Scott has begun a suit for £SOOO for breach of promise on the part of Colonel Harry Scfton, a theatreowner, who broke his engagement when he learned that his financee occasionally’ soothed her nerves with nicotine. American women are divided in opinion whether Miss Scott should win (says the New York correspondent of the “Standard”), and the case brings to a head a question which has been agitating American feminity for several years. The question started when a New’ York policeman arrested a woman for smoking a ‘ cigarette in a motor-car as she was driving through the streets. This attempt at discipline on the part of the policeman failed, and then women began to smoke in restuavants, the proprietors of which handed together and agreed not to allow the practice, in only one fashionable restaurant m New York can women enjoy cigarettes with coffee, hut it is significant that this is always the most crowded. “Collier’s Weekly” states that America is the most murderous nation in the world. This accusation is based on recent compiled statistics, w Inch show that murder is committed in the United States every hour of the clay and nigiit throughtont the yeaix _ Tin murderers in 1910 totalled 8975, or 93 per million of the population, while the latest statistics, available show that the rate in Great Britain is less

than nine per million. There were only 104 executions following on last year’s American murders, and a table shows that for any one committing murder in the United States it is rather better than a three to one chance that ho will never be brought to trial, and better than ten to one that lie will never see the inside of a prison, that is, that the trial will result tither in acquittal or in sentence, like that of Tinny, of confinement in an asylum;. As to execution, the chances are 80 to 1 against. Further investigation showed that in 24 hours the murders aggregated 72,• being citing' different murders, accusations of mprder, or minder trials. It, is, impossible to attribute this astonishing murderous tendency to aliens, for for-eign-horn murderers constitute only 16 per cent, of the total. “CoNieUs Weekly” makes no attempt to ‘ xplain the reason of these numerous homicides other than to suggest, that Ihe laxity of justice is an imporfant contributory cause.

Most people are under the impression that even if slums do exist in London, the old days of the rampant Hooligan and the “knocked ’em in the Old Kent Road”' times have long vanished. A few'of them have, probably read Morrison’s “Hole in the Wall,” vaguely considered it a singularly bloodthirtsy novel, and dismissed it from their minds. But, as a matter gf fact, the “Hole in the Wall*’ is one of the liuost description of life ir London East that has ever been written. Perhaps the Ratcliffitc of to-dav is not quite so murderous :is ho was in those of which Mr. Morrison treats, but he is a tough customer notwithstanding the efforts of the philanthropist and the reformer. Those who hold the opinion of the superiority of the Englishman over the rest of creation as a hny-loving citizen must have received a severe shock when they read in their dailies of the deeds (or, rather, misdeeds) of a gang; of roughs who have been terrorising the East End for years, and have only just received their lawful punishment. Threatening witnesses, fighting outside the very walls of a police court, savage assaults, menacing with revolvers—those were a few of the items on the indictments against them, and the scenes of violence in which they took part read like a bit of apache life in Paris. Well, they have just got their deserts by lengthy sentences in gaol, and they have probably done one good thing—in awakening the ordinary citizen to a realisation of the extraordinary state of affairs that prevails in the mean streets. One talks grandiloquently about the battle of life. Slum Tfe more often than not means physical battle.

The multitude of persons who boliove in Professor Lowell and his pleasant account of Mars will be interested to know that the famous astronomer claims to have discovered that the Martians are suffering from an early winter, and probably are, at this moment crouching around fires in their efforts to live through the cold spell. Professor Lowell’s suspicions that a ' Martian winter had set in wore aroused by the appearance of what ho assumed to lie the frost of the planet. He noticed a large patch ol white, and became convinced that no mass of anything could lie so conspicuously large unless it was frost Professor Lowell explains the phenomenon in language that nay be understood by* thu-e not scientific nor even tochinaily educated. He says “ft (the frost) was seen as a bright spots on the planet’s sunrise edge and only there, not continuing on the disc as the planet turned. It was evident that this bright area was hoar frost, from the fact that it gradually disappeared as it was br-nudit into sunlight by the planet’s daily revolution. Its whiteness rivalled tlie planets south polar eap, and must have lasted for an hour an a half to two hours after the sun had risen on that part of the planet to be thus visible. Calculations show that it lay in latitude /h’gs to Go deg. south, and longtitude LOjJog. to 200 deg. It had l;een | seen on uth, 6th, and 7th November, and photographed on several plates. Ino repetition ol the 1 phenomenon j night after night, combined with its restriction to certain Martian hours, shows that it was a diurnal matter and the first steps of what is soon to he the snow covering throughout the day tiiose lat'tur'es. This is the l.rst turn lids particular {•! eiiotm m n i a; (H i-x observed.

The children attending the Holy Trinity Sunday-school went hy the 10 o'clock train to the Ngaire Gardens, where the annual school picnic is to i.o held.

Mr. P. Beoro, inspector of stock, will vaccinate calves at Messrs. Voting, Hobbs and Co.’s sale yards on Monday next, February 19th, commencing at 9.30 o’clock.

At Blacks (Otago) yesterday, Eyran Charles Donnelly, alias Robert Pieston. was fined £25 on a charge of practising as a medical practitioner without having the necessary’ qua ’lira lions.

Timber for the additions to the East Mountain House was carted up by Mr. J. A. Thompson on Tuesday, and hy the end of tiie week everything should be on the ground, thus enabling a start to he made with the building. The Stratford Orchestral Society 'will dispense a programme of instrumental music on both nights of the Horticultural Show, on Thursday and Friday next. The bright music adds greatly to the attractiveness of the exhibition, and is alone worth the price of admission. John Smith, aged 24, formerly a fireman oh the Mararoa, was reported missing after the vessel arrived at Lyttelton yesterday. He had been discharged on account of an altercation with a butcher, and was return- > iag to Lyttelton as a steerage passenger. His berth .was not occupied last night.

At Timaru yesterday a girl of nineteen, belonging to Christchurch, was convicted of stealing a watch and wristband from.a draper’s shop. She pleaded guilty’. She had been convicted of theft at Wellington. She was offered the alternative of returning to the Salvation Army Home. Accused sa : d she would rather go to gaol. Sentence was deferred.

The Feilding annual ram fair yesterday comprised mostly Romneys, for which there was a very poor demand. The highest price was 15 guineas for one shear ram, sold hy E. Short. The flock Romneys did not average four guineas. Southdowns were in much better demand, averaging five guineas. Lincolns were also in good demand, bringing up to Bjf' guineas, with ah average of four guineas.

Last night travellers by the trains had a pleasant time executing a variety of jumping events over a pump which was lying near the edge of the verandah at the south end of the olatform. The pump was a nice fne, the maker’s name was very prominent on it, and the address ticket showed that the maker was well known in far-away places; but what advertisement might have been gained by allowing it to remain was, no doubt, largely discounted by the fact of its tripping up so many residents.

New Zealand is still importing valuable pure-bred stock in considerable numbers. There are at present on Sonnies Island, in quarantine, s : x Ayrshire cows and one pedigree ■ bu v l purchased by the Department of Agriculture by Mr. Dunlop, the greatest authority of Ayrshires in the world, in England. Mr. Dunlop was a. member of the British Agricultural Commission which visited New Zealand recentlyi. The animals are all of the . deepest .milking strain and the strong- ~ est' coiistitutioned. The. bull comes, from a , breeder whose name ,is the',, guarantee of the. highest, quality.;

The New Zealand correspondent of • of Dalgety’s Review affirms that 'not for fifteen years past has there been a r.pring similar to last one, the climatic condition^. having been wet, cold and boisterous The milk yield, he mentions, shows a considerable shrinkage as confirmed by the butter exports to the United Kingdom. Comparing this season’s exports with the corresponding period of last year, the decrease is 56.000, boxes of butter, .equal to 1400 tons. From this shrinkage there, must, of course, be deducted the quan-. tity sent to the West Coast of America, but even when that is taken into account it'does not materially, affect the point at issue. Cheese on the other hand, has increased by nearly 15,000 crates.

Italian airmen are a feature in the present campaign between Italy and Turkey. Although the Turks have taken numberless pot shots at the Italian airmen none of these attempts to bring down the birdmeh succeeded until recently. Captain Monte is the first of the aviators to come to grief. He was making an aerial reconnaissance and was flying over the Arab’s camp near the city of Tripoli, when a shot was fired at Him. The bullet hit its intended mark, and the airman, finding himself rather severly wounded, had to make a hurried descent. He managed to bring his machine to earth inside the Italian lines. The Dannevirke District A. and P. Show was held yesterday in fine weather. There was a large attendance from Southern Hawke’s Bay and the adjoining districts. Special features were the large entries of dairy cattle, fat cattle, sheep and lambs. The judges were especially eulogistic of the quality in Jerseys, Ayrshires, and Holsteins. Major-General Godley visited the Show. Championships: Romney ram J. H. Morrison, ewe J. A. Buick; Border Leicester ewe, J. A. Welch; Southdown ram and ewe H. B. Stuckey; Lincoln ram and ewe D. McDonald; Holstein bull and cow Jas. Hart; Jersey bull and cow W. H, and A. E. Booth; Polled Angus cow F. Armstrong; Hereford cow H. B. Stuckey; Ayrshire bull J. Bowden, cow 'l'. H. Chapman. The Open Hunters’ Competition was won by G. Buchanan’s Skylark, McLaren’s Comrade being second, and Hart’s Playboy third.

The first cost on Transatlantic passenger stgamers has been increased enormously during the last forty veavs. In 1871 a 15-kuot steamer cost £20Q,000; in 1889 a 20-knot steamer cost £375,000; in 1893 a 22knot steamer cost about £550,000; in 1899 the Oceanic of 20.75 knots with relatively good cargo capacity, cost £700,000; four years later a 23-knot steamer of about the same dimensions as the Oceanic, cost -£BOO,OOO. For later ships authoritative figures have not been published, but certain statements indicate approximately the sums which have been spent upon them. The British Government granted to the Cnnard Company a loan of £2,600, 000 towards the construction of the Lusitania and Mauretania, and it is understood that the actual cost of the two vessels exceeded that amount. The outlay on the Olympic has been put at about one and a-half million pounds sterling by men who had exactknowledge of what she has cost. The

H.unhnrg-American and Cunard steamships now building wmfld, on this basis, represent an expenditure of about one and three-quarter million pounds per old]). ’There can be no doubt that experienced men who guide the policy of these three steamship companies have reached the conclusion that even such huge expenditures as these figures indicate wall, on the whole, prove advantageous to the owners, and !«ad to increased i\ venue.

Constable Mackintosh arrived back in Stratford by last mbit's mad tram irom a holiday trip to Christchurch. England's oldest medical man. Dr. Edgar Jones, of Little Burstead, near Billericay, Essex, entered on hrs Kjdrd year recently, and his Gist as a Justice of the Peace.

To-day is the festival of St. \ alentine, but the custom of .sending valentines has practically died out. In 1870 a million and a half of these tokens of affection passed through the British post office.

Parliament will Be opened by commission to-day. After tire election of a Breaker, an adjournment will be made till Friday afternoon, when the Governor’s speech will bo delivered. Mr R. H. Rhodes has been appointed senior Opposition whip.

Proceedings have been taken by the Government against the Colonial Sugar Co. and several leading-mer-chants of Wellington for an allegeu breach of the Commercial Trusts Act. The proceedings are based upon an alleged arrangement whereby it is stated the price of sugar is increased by methods Which point to a monopoly within the meaning of the Act.

Owing to the partial derailing of a truck of pigs somewhere in the neighbourhood of Inglewood, last night, the race train returning from -New I lymoutli was very considerably delayed, and the horrors of the long-drawn-out journey extended from b. 25 p.m. to y. 40 p.m., before Stratford, residents were landed in the pouring rain on tne local platform. Those for stations further south were still wearily waiting and hoping to reach their destinations.

In reference to the drowning fatality in the big Wanganui river, Westland, on Wednesday, Locks came to the Christchurch diocese only six months ago. Although he was a native of Cornwall, he had recently been engaged in work at Bermondsey, London. ° Bishop Julius received news of the sad accident from the West Coast to-day, and sent a cable message to Locke’s relatives at Home. Locke and his sister were young people, and were enthusiastic workers in the service of the church.

For a long time Wellington and Wairarapa Presbyterians have walked and worshipped together- under the one moderator and presbytery, but with the advance of times and growth of congregations in the Wairarapa that district has felt itself competent to walk alone, and with the hearty good wishes of the Wellington Presbytery, has appointed a governing body of its own to administer the affairs appertaining to a district presbytery. A letter was received by the Hey. W. Douglas (Moderator of the Wellington Presbytery) from the Rev. A. 1. Thompson, clerk of the sessions of the Waiarapa Presbytery, informing him of the constitution of the Wairarapa Presbytery. In reply, the PresbyfeLV, at Tuesday’s meeting, resolved to* send a telegram conveying fraternal greetings to the newly-form-ed body in the Wairarapa.

Professor, Gilruth, of the Melbourne University, has been appointed Administrator Of the Northern Territory. The ex-New Zealander who has obtained this' extremely important appointment recently undertook the exploration of much of the vast territory which he is'to administer. His reports disproved all former contentions, and he showed that an enormous proportion'of the great land was fertile and Splendidly watered, full‘of minerals, and abounding in 1 every conceivable kinji of f wealth., ( _ The _ terr - tory is 523,620 square miles big, or about seven times the size of New Zealand. It is practically uninhabited, except .that there are minor settlements of,.white; people-most of whom are hunters, small groups of Chinese (who consort with the blacks) and an unknown population of blacks, estimated variously at from 50,000 to 100,000. .b . • v, :,, ,

The following officers were elected by the Congregation mission conference At Palmerston “yesterday:— Chairman, Rev. ,A. M. Aspland (Courtenay Place, Wellington)';''secretary, Rev. J. H. McKenzie (Onehunga); treasurer, Mr W. H. Lyons (Mt. Eden); registrar, Mr G. B. Gregory (Wlelington) ; auditor, Mr C. E. Campbell (Auckland); committee, Auckland: Revs. H. Steele Craik, C. Griffiths, and E. A. Bndgcr, Hon. G. Fowlds, Messrs C. E. Campbell, A. T. .Craig, J. P. Hocton, W. Mitchell, J. E. Moore, J. Lakmg, S. W. Smeeton and A. G. Lee; Canterbury: Revs. J. Sarginson, W. J. L. Gloss, and A. E. Hunt, Messrs W. Bull, W. Congreve and E. W. Wade; Dunedin, Revs. W. Saunders, W. M. Grant, and G. Heighway, Messrs W. Coull, C. G. Y. Leijon and J. H. Wilkinson; Wellington, Revs. J. RGlasson, A. Hodge, and D. Hird, Messrs A. M. Lewis, W. W. Knowles, and F, Medowcroft ; preacher, Rev. J. R. Glasson.