LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 69, 16 March 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A special meeting of the Borough Council will bo bold on Tuesday evening next. In reference to the cable announcing that the steamer Mannganni, thcUnion Company’s most recent addition to its fleet, had done the trip from Wellington to Sydney in three days and two and a half hours, it may be mentioned that this is not the 'best on record. On December 19, 1900. the Maheno made the trip from "Wellington to Sydney in three days one hour and thirty-sis minutes. However, it is quite on the cards that the Maungamii will shortly improve on her figures, ns her steaming capabilities have been already well proved. On. her trials on the'Clyde she developed a speed of over 18 knots an hour without undue pressure, and a good 17 knots an hour can ho got out of her when required. On the run out from London to Melbourne, the Mannganni 1 accomplished the fastest “non-stop” I voyage ever made between the two ports. She out out the distance in ,34. V days, and would have done much hotter had it .not been for rough weather encountered oil' the Capo of Good Hope.

Two statutory first offenders were convicted and discharged for drunkenness at the Magistrate’s Court this morning. Mr. C. I). Sole, J.P., uas on the bench. On Monday next all the local banks will be closed. St. Patrick’s Day this year falls on a Sunday, and consequently these institutions are observing the day following. As in past years, the day will be celebrated by a social in the Town Hall. All arrangements in connection with the Catholic social to he held in the Town Hall on Monday evening (St. Patrick’s night) are now well in hand, and the social promises to he a great success. A programme of songs, quartettes, solos, and Irish jigs_ has also lieon included in the evening s amusement. Thomas Campbell, for riding on a railway carriage without paying Ins faro, came un before Mr. C. D. Sole. J.P., th’s morning, and was convicted and discharged. He had been too drunk to get off at Eltham, and was carried on by the mail train to Stratford, where the police took him in charge, on two counts, for both of which a night in the “cooler,” and a conviction, were considered sufficient punishment. “He’s a thoroughly decent, hardworking old man. but I’m sorry to say he’s a drunkard.” This was a remark made by Sergeant McNeely in prosecuting a statutory first • offender at the Magistrate’s Court tins morning. On learning that accused was working up the line, Mr. C. D. Sole, J.P., remarked: “It seems to be the home of all the drunkards in Mew Zealand.” The cattle stops at the rear of Mr. Newton King’s were the scene of an incident this morning that would not have disgraced Foolshead himself. Two men were endeavouring to cross on to the station platform. One safely negotiated the crossing, but the ot’i'er slipoed half-way and fell back on to the footpath. The fact that the pavement was ■ muddy and the stops full of water added somewhat to the humour of the situation—for the spectators! His second attempt was a very near thing, but, like Horatius, “in' the brave old days of_ old,” he eventually succeeded in getting to the other side. At the New South Wales Methodist Conference some statements were made which showed how Germany is extending its sphere in the South i acilic. The Rev. W. H. Cox, .a missionary from New Britain, submitted a recommendation that as New Britain was a German colony the Methodist mission there should be transferred to the Methodist -Episcopal Church of Germany. He said the German question in New Britain was a most important one, for there was a strong German population, and it was necessary to bring the work into line with the genius of the German people. In the near future, because of probable official changes, they were likely to be face to face'with a purely German sot of circumstances., A noticeable tact was that the British hold on trade was diminishing. One of the largest firms a British one—had just sold out/ The Germans made no secret that they were, glad to see it. go; it was always looked upon as an .intruder. The position of Hid church was an acute one, 1 and definite steps should be takeirto settle it;. , r : i A case of'“giants’ disease,” or .acromegaly,- is reported from Low Moor, Bradford. The, patient, Mr. Harry Faulkner, a man of thirty, states that he was a‘normal boy’up to the age oh fourteen, when his toes and jaw began to grow very large. He continued his employment on the railway at Bradford, but at twenty-one he had to cease work, as his frame had giounso much and he had become weak, lie was then seven feet tall and weighed over seventeen stone. The utmost caution had to be-taken m walking, ■as his limbs 'came but of joint easily. He is -still growing, land bis left hip has become so large as to prevent him from standipg .upright. He is able to sit mi for only a few- hours each day,' and fs provided with a special chair of largo proportions. He says that he is never free from pain, and has lost the sight of one eye. Mr. ’Faulknei’s parents are both about .medium height, as are his brother and sister. “Giants’ disease,” an uncommon and as yet little understood disease, writes our medical correspondent, usually shows symptoms like the above at about the age of twenty-five. So far as is known there is no cure, and .the usual treatment, with thyroid extract, appears to have no influence on the progress of the disease. Persons exhibited as giants and strong men have sometimes become acromegalic. The first aeroplane flight from the deck of a British warship was accomplished in Sheerness (England) last month, the experiment proving a great -success. The aviator was Lieutenant Charles Ruraney Samson, of H.M.S. Actaeon, one of four officers who recently went through a course of instruction at the Royal Aero Club’s grounds, Eastchurch, and he used a Short biplane. He first of all flow from the Aero Club’s grounds and landed on the Isle of -Grain on the west side of the Medway, whence the biplane was taken aboard H.M.S. Africa and placed on a special platform over the Lows. When the signal was given to “let go” the machine ran down the staging and quickly rose to a height of 100 ft. The biplane was piloted over a destroyer, and then, making a graceful curve, the pilot circled round the battleship at an altitude of some yards below her top-masts. He next ‘ gradually rose to a height of 3Coft., and after flying up the Medway for a short distance, steered the machine back to the aerodrome at Eastchurch. The intrepid pTot has since been promoted to the rank of acting-commander, and has been detailed for duty in airmanship at the Roval Aero Club.

Tin; Invercargill correspondent of the “Lyttelton Times” writes that owing to the hump of locality not being too prominent a feature in the mental equipment of a stranger from the country the household of a well-known South Invercargill resident was thrown into a state of confusion the other night. Arriving by the late express, the gentleman in question was met by his women folk with the startling announcement that a man had taken up his quarters in a spare bedroom. The intruder’s boots were carefully upended in front of the kitchen range, his tie adorned the plate-rack, on the drawing-room carpet were found his coat and vest, while his nether garments and socks adorned the coalhouse. The unwelcome visitor had evidently begun to disrobe in the eoalhousp when he found the furnishings not strictly in accord with the proper appo’ii tments of a sleeping ■apartment. The man himself, having for his solo attire a shirt, was found serenely renosing in the front bedroom. On his being aroused, hasty explanations followed. It appeared that the man had lodgings which he was wont to locate by a lamp-post. Exhilaration following a vis : t to a licensed district had shortened the journey by several lamp posts. In the rain the mistaken one betook himself in the right direction, doubtless feeling pleased that no more serious consequences had folio,ved his innocent intrusion.

A meeting of those interested in the formation of a branch of the North Taranaki Hunt Club at Stratford will be held in Messrs. C. and E. Jackson’s office, Broadway, on Tuesday evening, the 19th inst. A burst occurred in the water main at the junction of Broadway and Romeo Streets at 11 p.m. last night. By 2 a.in. the Borougn Overseer and his men had repaired the damage. With the high pressure that is on the mains at night, when the water supply is practically not in use, such an accident is not altogether unexpected. A resident of Singapore, writing to a member of our staff, remarks: “Nearly all the Chows have their queues off now, and it looks very strange.” The letter is elated February 7th, so Mr. Johnny Chinaman has not been slow in consulting his barber, and following the new order of things in his native land.