LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 31, 30 September 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Mount Cook guides i passed through Christchurch on Monday (says the "Press"), Onl their way down to the mountains. They are making a start much earlier than usual this year, and it is probable that, -should weather conditions and the other matters that count keep favourable, tho Hermitage will be opened early in October! , .... „ ■ .. .■. , ••:

"Some of those motorists only recognise two classes of people, the. quick and the* dead," epigramatically :i stated Sub-Inspector Heiioroy at the Auckland Police Court, when prosecut-V ing eight motorists whoso zeal and machines had exceeded the speed limit oil the day, and in the excitement of the llanfurly Shield, match 'between. Auckland and Wellington. The Sub- : | Inspector's manner of delivering his j bon mot indicated that if the quick were not 1 sufficiently quick enough,". they were quickly; put in the other, j class by the impatient motorist. -Each' .: was. fined, 20s and costs 13s 6d. .

Lord Kitchener's brief rule in Egypt is highly praised by. Sir George Arthur in an article in the "Fortnightly Relighted up the thoroughly human side view." It has, ho says, "already of. his. character," and restored the prestige of Great Britain in the eyes of all whom it may concern. The country has many, just causes of quarrel' with Mr. Asquith's Government, "but, no'fair-minded man," says the writer,' "can refuse to give full credit to the Prime Minister for the appointment of Lord Kitchener to the Agency in Cairo." It is noteworthy that Radical criticism of a type which quite recently hampered our ■' administration in Egypt has not been heard since Lord, Kitchener's appomtmen't.'' ;, Tt" seems to' be realised'that it would be futile.

~A, report on tlje, Teachers' Superannuation states .that at the end of 1911 the, number of .contributors was 3506, r The annual j jra'te, of '.contribution paid as at the .end,'of. the year was over £39,000.1 | Allowances.,in. fjorce at the the. year' 321), represent 7 ing an'annual' 'charge ,of £18,787; as follo\v,:—^Ordinary': retiring allowances, 194; represeiiting £15,349;' retiring al16wances*.in ntedically'iihnt cases, 30, £1875; allowances to", widows, 50, £913; allowances to children, 5Q £650. The balance at the credit of the fund and invested, by the Public Trustee at the end of. thevear was £183,117. The fund ■] i cbeives 4£ per cent? interest oh daily balances in the hands of the Public' Trustee, and• no charge is made for investment. Th 6 number of contributors increased from 3247, at the, end of 1910, to 3384 in 1911, CandpOrseiis: In'receipt of benefits increased from »270/to 324. ' l 'pi :

''Aid- exit minatioh I "'''of' 'tile" property > of: 1 ' : 1 ah; fold identity" of ■ 'Campbell's Creek (Victoria), named Stelismore, who died 5 recently at the age of 80 years, dis-; closed .that,in one corner of it, behind a thick hedge, was a'dog cemetery. He was fond of dogs/ and as each died he placed in a cofKn;'and then in a ce-; : ment vault, over_ which a headstone was placed, on which was inscribed the name of the dog, its age, and date* of. ' : , death. There were about a score of' , these vaults. Another discovery made wa,s that he had carefully kept*all the love-letters that he had received sinoe 1 the year 1839., They were from six different girls. 'The letters were in bundles of 50, and as there were 48 ,| of, these bundles, the letters number--:; ed 2400. Stensmore Jn§ed alone, and having no relatives, left his property : in trust for scholarships at the State ': ■school. ■. . i

' At last a real women's suffrage movement has come. It reached New York in the form of a bevy of attractive women, having; a correct idea of the way to capture adherents of. eith-, ' er .sex. The club is known as the Suf- " frage Literary Society. The slogan of Miss Geraldine Wingate, the president of the society, is: "Votes for women may be had by charm." s.The society marched through the city sticking vivid green, disc-shaped stickers everywhere. The stickers contain the slogan, and the notice of a meeting of the society, when Miss Wingate pro-,; raises to toll how easily charm can win :• over force, how sugar attracts better,,V than vinegar. Another paper to be w read is entitled ""We are not smash- ; ing windows." The society has made .y;. noticeable progress, exerting much ; political influence, because of the,; marked difference of the methods it \ employs to those of the militants;. These suffragists by persuasion are;', .' making headway. The members of the '..,.;* Literary . Society, realise what un- v'bounded influence Women exert who re* ' ' fraih from .masculine methods. They are working along those lines, having *,/"' as_ their motto: "Men work, women' , point the way to reward workers."

An incident that reveals too clearly ■> the pitiful waste of'life that goes on among the fine native race of this country occurred at Tawata last week;, (savs the Taumarunui correspondent.'i of the "Auckland Herald"). Dr. Howard, of Taumarunui, was directed by;,;,' the Health Department to go to Ta- t wata, near the House Boat on the 'Wangauui River, to visit a Maori kainga afflicted with sickness. Accompanied by the Rev. J. E. Ward (Maori ■ Missionary) as interpreter, he went down by special boat, ;\mt ''found a shocking state of affairs existing. * Three young natives, aged [ \ 5, 'ls, and 17, had already died, and. were buried, no burial certificate being necessary in the case of Maoris, and a , number of others were huddled together in a stifling whare, without a chimney, with, no ventilation, and with a fire in a kerosene tin to keep them warm. The first thing the visitors did was to knock a couple of boards off the roof to admit air; then they throw the kerosene tin with its contents out of. doors, the natives ! meanwhile offering no objection, but, ■ on the contrary, assisting them. After this the doctor treated the sick per-; nous with antiseptics, and gave tnem medicine. A. Native Council, established some years ago.- were expected to see to the health of. the Maori kaingas, and were permitted to collect certain taxes for the purpose. The."'». facts recorded above would show that their efforts, if they have ever made any, have met with little success.

Alanterr lecture will be given in the Parish Hall this evening by the organising secretary of the .New Zealand Church Missionary Society. The subject >will be the "Future of Africa. The attendance at the local school is gradually improving. The primary department, wnicli suffered most . through prevailing epidemics, is now hack to the 500 mark. , A Gisborne message this morning states that a heavy sea is raging along ''the.'coast. The Mokoia had a long 3 passage from Auckland, and was unt able to communicate with Gisborne this morning", but was signalled and reported that she would proceed;south. ' The storm Avas abating. ( \ v In most countries 13 is always spoken of as ''the baker's dozen," but in ' Italy it, is called "a cobbler's dozen. "There is a tradition in that land uiat • formerly there was a law compelling cobblers to put 12 -nails round the ' ". edge of a boot-heel, and that when nails were cheap a 13th was driven in the. cdntre. for luck. / : Saccharine is 300 times sweeter than ■ cane sugar, and when a piece of it is dissolved in 70,000 times its weight of Water the sweetness is not obi iterated..• Unlike sugar, saccharine is incapable df fermentation, neither can it undergb any change. Its sweetening 1 power is so great that, if, taken into the mouth in its pure" state, untl.lutcd it will ahnost destroy the sense of ' taste.

The cost of the recent English dockers' strike, which lasted just ten .weeks, has been stated statistically thus:—Number of men involved, number of working days lost, 5,530,000'; lost in wages, £1,582,000; paid'out in strike.benefits, £270,000; spent by charitable agencies in relief of' distress (approximately) £60,000; avorage weekly cost of the strike in lost wages, £161,000. The tendency'in Queensland is to 'abolish the State farms, and to try to do more with individual farmers. Arrangements are now being made to hold classes in various" agricultural : centres. Where at least 25 persons 'i can be got,to; attend, a lecturer is'to be'sent to give instruction, morning, afternoon," and evening. A number of districts are already collecting names ".with, a view, to starting classes. '■ '.All styles come round again if one only iyait long,endugh (says the Londoh "Daily Mail"). ; Incredible as it may sound, there is a movement towards'' the sidej-whisker as a, mark of dandyism. It is part of the craze for the costumes; of 1830. Mr. Max Beer- : &hnr set, this going, the fancy dress . balls helped it along.. Now it is not uncommon to see young men looking like the portraits of their great grandfatners. '. i;' r " ' i '

"■•■ Once .again an ;atte,mpt ; is to be V;, made. to .wrest from lonely Cocos Isi land the buried-treasure which .is generally*' supposed .to be hidden there. ' steamer,Melmore, wnich, has been chartered t/Kmake a voyage to Cocos, will (according to "Lloyds Shipping '>; List'') Cleave Plymouth for Barry, to 1 'take m coal ; preparatory to sailing' for ' ' nvhere shej will pick up two ;:;,K ladies who are said to h6ld;.the •key'Eo ' ; '•'' the! treasure.'' Tbdnqe she WilK go, to, ' ' - Co<Jos'flslaiid', }. which ! ik ' situated. :500. i miles' southwest of : Panama!, v, s . • \ ; ; .paper recently erceived •C : !' stages that' John. Hendry:'('lß) , ;: who : f: ■gafeMs address as'OnehungaVdiedin ''■',' Ayr. County HopitaL on Sunday, July 21','as the result of injuries received from; a motor car they previous even- >,'.'•■ ihg'.,; He had , been , walking on the Holmston Road, near Belston, two "* .iiiiles ffbni the toWn.jand v in trying to . c;et' out of the: way-"of ..a' horse, he . jumped in front of a motor-car, which ran over'hihi. It is surmised that Mr . l|endry, while on a visit to Scotland, had ;been enjoying a quiet, stroll in the ,''.jcoutitcy/,,when, he,,met his death. .. ■■■• : ! i .A : singular 'case was. decided fat the, ~, Palmerstpn .Magistrate's Court. ; ,'A ' (~,''motorist,',at ;'nignt''.lfcinie.-, ran down a ). ,■valuable cattle, dog and killed it. The ['. ,' owriei* of the dog claimed £l2 as.com* pensation, Which the motorist refused •; '• to , payi' /though,' offering■ ,£2, ■ .;Af ter hearing the.; plaintiffs case, counsel for , the motorist asked for,,and, obtained, a nonsuit,,on the ground chat the motorist Hvas! on his proper side of thie , road, : ;that'> he had'lights, and that it hndnot been prbved'that he was driving excessively' fast, but that, on the other hand r the dog was on ; his wrong side: of'the road, and carried no :" lights! '[■/'.

The'current issue of the "Trade Review" remarks:—'"The prospect for .'■ v'ttte; export season jlisb opening is'do- ' cidedly bright—a good clip of; wool is anticipated, generally, and the outlook i ,fW,'>piricfe£". is Considered very promising, While' the dairying season Jias also a particularly hopeful outlook, and contracts rh'ayp been- made for outputs .'• ■"■■s hemp" for,some months at very reniuneratiye prices. We may, therefore, expect ; to. 1 see our exports for the. sea- ■, son bring'in an excellent return, which will",ease the money market generally \ later oh, though the coming month or 'so will: witness the usual, demand for .. '. nibhoy to assist,in moving the season s t. produced Money is therefore harctly ' , likelyfl;6 be much easier till after, the end of the year." ""''A fire partially "destroyed a house in Gill Stredt," New Plymouth, about two o'clock yesterday morning. The build- '■'/ ing (savs the "News") was occupied by Mr." C. Robertson, and owned by : Mr. R. Coleman. The fire had a strong hold when the Brigade arrived on the scene, and ,by the time it was subdued /the. building was partially gutted, con■j '.ciderable damage/ being done. The -'•., house was insured in the South Brit- - is'h" Company for £450. There was no insurance on the furniture, the- bulk of which was destroyed, and the balance ;• 'damaged. Ifc is thought that a defective chimney was the cause of the out Jireaki Several bandsmen wore board in'g/in;the house* and they had th> ~ niisfortun,6 to lose their uniforms and

instruments, which also were riot in- '■'.' sured. Mr. Robertson is a heavy loser 'over the fire. /• •'' ■* ' j A well-attended meeting of the Ta~ ranaki'Teachers' Institute was held at Inglewood and was largely attended, : teachers from all parts of the district ,', being present. Delegates were appointed to attend the annual conference of , teaqhers, which is to be held at New . Plymouth 8n Ist January. A unanimous resolution was passed in favour , of allocating the holidays as_ in 1911. '■ It was arranged to circularise every in the district,' with the view of obtaining a unanimous approval of ... this resolution, and then present a ~ sighed-petition to the Board, in addiction to sending a to wait r upon that body. New regulations roncerning the administration of the Teachers' Defence Fund were ,dis-

, cussed. A paper on "English Ideals" Was read by Mr.-Curtain (Inglewood School]); the subject being nicely dealt with, and the paper much appreciated. ,V After the ordinary meeting closed, the executive dealt with a case in which a teacher' had come in conflict with /parents, of children attending her school.

For Influenza, take Woods' Great Cue. Never fails. Is 6d ,and 2s 6d. * A woman wearing a Warrior's Co'-set feels almost "uncorsetted'—so lightis the garment, so comfortable does it fit. anci beautifully shaped.

News comes from Kaitaia., in the far 'north, of a curious storm at a [dace called Ttlkepoto. 'I lie Kaitaia correspondent of tno Herald writes:— About three 'o'clock a whirlwind approached from the west with a deafening roar. It covered a sp'ace of from 150 to 200 yards wide, as it travelled along. A hundred pine trees were destroyed on Mr. Stuart Master's property. The wind passed close to the iSative School, levelling a large blue-gum tree ' in the .school ground, and the school was shaken as if by an earthquake. The children became momentarily panic-stricken, until' reassured by the master. The storm passed over the bush-clad mils southward,' and a well-defined mark shoAvs the track of the storm, bush trees being broken off, and some strippod of the top portions, others being levelled. The storm was followed by a heavy hail shower, this being especially severe between Pukepotb and the Herekino Gorge. Hail, as large as hens' eggs, fell in places, and at the Wainui Settlement several windows were broken. . One hailstone taken into the Ahiapara School measured four inches across. One at Takahua weighed two ounces, The demand is running strong • for Hoyle's Prints, Warner's Corsets, and Roslyn Unshrinkable Underwean r s