LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 45, 17 October 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“Sporting Notes,’ by “Cicero” appear on page 2 of to-day’s issue. Among the accounts passed for payment at the meeting of the Horowhenua County Council on Saturday, was one from a lad named Stern, of Shannon, who claimed £2 4s Sd fof birds’ eggs gathered. The total number of eggs was 2820—A stern chase was always a long one!

Jfrpak dinners have crept mfo London’s Bohemian society. At a dinner ■given by the Sthdio'Club, which lias’a 'membership of about 50 poets/ litdrate,ui;s^, sculptors, and 'so i on,i a wellknown woman novelist was dossed as an antediluvian monster, another lady represented a Teppaid, and ap-podi-ed aik a Chinese pig. Lmn-S, dogs;, donkeys, and many other animals were well reproseniedi luva; (

•* TvtofVidaVs. , c-xc / lidrige l d pulpits.pn a re’e'ent 1 ’Sunda'y’ in 1 the Mimawdtu district, says the ‘Herald.’ The congregation in one church were astonished to hear the visiting clergyman solemnly publish the banns of a Couple who had already been joined in holy wedlock. The newly married couple happened to be among the congregation, and their feelings can be^hotter im r . agined than described. The clergy map wps upside, to apypupt for the ijiqss jpf ,th ( e worshippers .until after the ■seryfwf j ~,, : j 0 ZVwyjor tin

’' : At Tuesday- night’ s meeting of "the Stratford' 'Druids the the’business through by nine O'clock, in'< order to hear 'an address Oh ‘Hhe ‘‘Magic of the East,” by- Bro;>TV-'J. Ladd. Mr. Ladd has been for a’ number of years in Egypt, India-, Ceylon, China, and other parts of-the eastern world, and has acquired a considerable knowledge of the methods employed by the “magicians” to attract and entertain the crowd. The speaker kept his audience interested in- the "way it is done,” agcl throw a considerable amount of light on what is at lirst sight looked on as superhuman.

At the last sitting of the S.M. Court at Kawhia, Mr. Loughnan, S.M.,was presented with a pair of white gloves —a time-honoured custom —in recognition of the fact that there were no criminal cases to bo heard. The Magistrate said the gift was a compliment to the district rather than to the Magistrate. He characterised the country districts of the Dominion as the best-behaved communities in the world. There was practically no crime, and he complimented the large area connected with the Kawhia Court on its clean sheet.

The Canadian Cadets will be up this way about the middle of next month. They are due to arrived at the Bluff on the 25th inst., ;uul_ will remain in the Dominion until November 18th. One who saw the boys gftor their arrival in Australia wrote about them to a friend in Dynediiu—“Any of your own friends who may he disposed to extend their hospitality to the lads can have confidence in them, because they are of a really good type, coming as they do from the King Edward High School at Vancouver, 8.C.” Further, a Dunedin resident, who saw a good deal of the lads while they were in Sydney, says that these Cadets are thoroughly typical of Canadian youths, and are thoroughly good “sports.”

Something in the. way of a sensation was caused in Fatea on Tuesday when it was known that Mr. and Mrs. W. Butler, together with the win le of the members of their family had been removed to the hospital suffering from some form of poisoning (says the local ‘Press’). As far as can be gathered, it appears that the family were taken ill on Friday night, showing what appeared to be symptoms of ptomaine poisoning. No doctor was, however, called in until yesterday, when, as there was no improvement in the condition of any member of the family, medical aid was sought. Upon Dr. Simmons arriving he at once ordered their removal to the hospital, where they now remain. Upon enquiry yesterday the ‘Press’ found that their condition showed little or no signs of improvement.

A sea-chest, which was the property of Lord Nelson, has been discovered in Sydney. Curio collectors had long known that Nelson possessed six chests and five had previously been traced. This valuable relic was found in a Sydney suburb by Mr. Burfict (hon. secretary of the Australian Historical Society). When Nelson died he was succeeded by his only surviving brother, William. This brother married Uilare. third daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Barlow, a sister cf Viscount Torrington. The chest is cf oak, and was originally fitted with trays. It bears on it a metal elate, on which is engraved, “Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte, etc.” On the reverse is engraved: “Uilare. Countess Nelson, etc.” It would appear that when the chest came into the countess’ possession she had the plate reversed and her own name and title engraved upon it.

A prize of twenty guineas is being offered by the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce for the best essay on the Poverty Bay district, to be descriptive, statistical, and historical. Hukanui is a fairly large dairying centre, the supply at the Ballanco Dairy Company’s creamery at the present time being about 1400 gallons a day. The tests for the last period ranged from 0.2 to 4.0 per cent, of butter-fat. A debtor in the Windsor (England) Bankruptcy Court told the GHjcml Receiver that he began trading

nothing; that when lie lost money/ho knew that he had something less than nothing; and that he started a third business with the idea of doing bettor, because he knew that he could not do worse.

Perambulator traffic in Opunako is noticeably increasing, and the local ‘limes states that supporters cf the Massey Government will say it is duo to the change of Government. On Monday night the Town Board, decided to have a promenade made on the Crescent for the ladies and their charges. It is to he hoped, adds tint paper, the Town Board will make the promenade worthy of the particular object.

Judging by remarks and events at the Opunake Town Board meeting, shipping rates must have gone up (states the local paper). The freight payable on the usual shipment of carbide was up nearly 50 per cent, on the ordinary charges, and the account was referred back. In this connection a member stated that he had imported some goods from England, which cost £l2 for freight and insurance, while the same goods cost £l7 in freight from Wellington to Opunako only.

In several German cities street washing machines driven and operated by storage batteries are in operation. Jiie machine employed is a .3f ton vo~ liicle equipped with a 40-cell battery giving 200 ampere hours at the fivehour discharge rate, with travelling speeds of four, six, and nine miles per hour. It carries a heavy tank of water, brushes, and rotating rubber scrapers. There are 21 of these machines at work in Berlin at present, with six special charging stations, and each machine covers 18 to miles per day, and costs less to operate than a horse drawn machine.

It has been proved that the blueness of sea water is in constant ratio to its saltness. In the tropics the tremendous evaporation induced by the blazing sun causes the water to bo much more salt than it is in higher latitudes. For about 30deg. both north and south of the equator the,.watei‘s of the world’s oceans are pf an exquisite azure. Beyond these latitudes the blue fades and changes to green,.and in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans the greens ar6'almost as vivid as the .tropical bines. l China’s Yellow 'SeJi 'is'usually’supposed to owe its origin to the Hood of muddy water'which its fffdat riven pours into 1 it. ' But 1 hbrh,’ ‘again, ’modern science has profed'thht HVihg organisms are responsible 1 Tor itfc’jiftSuliar tint. > mi *' I v Medical i authorities Hdtv clairtF-that /‘wrifbfs?• Icratap’d iaaida ’othef Similar (states >of apparent iiriuschlaT ! prfiAlssis ■are ndtnnllyi’ due,! HoL to? The oho muscles, but to brain fag'. It appears that the particular part of the brain which controls special combination of muscle-action, such as the movements of writing, or the working of a telegraph key, tends to become more quickly exhausted in some individuals than in others. Such exhaustion,. leads i fo,. a state in which the ; jis ( ,,p.ctpp]]y,'j upahlGidcq.sentj pjut | its necessary messages to the hands Ufnd ■ hUg|yi , s l< to : tvrite"' tapyHfte^,'hold 'ay violin ‘■ 1 ipW, ’'fpid' 'so fo'fth. ; 1 Fiifth’err iiiOre-,-' : bndfe ! the ; 'nerve cells’: 'f.'h’e ;o “hqtIJtaf thh. 1 bfhiny 'get’’ thoWh'hbly : rtln do\vh, ! ' it'is; ‘riqt ,: ,e'a‘sy 'to'lhdstbre their • eriergf: ° Heretofore'it r 'has ; lihfen ' Supposed that; 'aß/troubles of ! tHe%hd 'were simply due to' overtiring off {the I muscles concerned.

Quite the most important personage —in his own mind, at any'rate (jstates the ‘Whangarei Mail’)—at the football match between Bay of Islands and Hokianga at Kaikoho, i on , Saturday Week, Was a Maori armed with -a stock-whip, and who took upon himself to preventing dusky spectators from encroaching on the field of play. He was a man of action and few words. The appearance of fifty pairs of brown bare feet oyer the sacred boundary-line was an immediate invitation to execute a movement with the whip that a cow-boy might have envied. There would be a whirling motion in the air, a -sharp hissing crack, and next moment a group of bare-legged enthusiasts with one accord would jump convulsively into the air and yell in unison.. The Maori with the whip was most impartial in the carrying out of his self-imposed duty, and as the game went on he became a person who commanded great respect from his brown brethren. A resident of Half Moon Bay, Stewart Island, told a ‘Southland rimes’ reporter that opossums Jiad eaten up all his cauliflower plants the night after they were put in, and had also eaten a quantity of mangolds,. a vegetable which they were particularly fond of. As proof of the large number of marsupials of the island, ho mentioned that he had had a permit to trap them on his own property of 600 acres, and in a month he bagged 250 opossums. A report to the Acclimatisation Society which appeared in the ‘Southland -News’ recently stated: “The animal is blamed for marking apple trees, but the opossum does not hark a tree. He might scratch it with his teeth, hut does not strip it olf. It is the rabbit that pulls the bark right off and eats it.” The rival newspaper’s informant said that this was not correct. There were no rabbits on Slow-

art Island. When it was thought that rats might be the cause of the damage he set seven traps amongst the trees, and next morning caught no fewer than seven opossums} which fact eh.arly proved that these animals did strip the bark from the trees. “The City Council has been asked to stop tile Town Hall chimes from midnight till 7 a.m., gnd might very reasonably comply with the request,” remarks the ,Sydney. ‘Evening News.’ “Clock chimes date back to a period when watches were less common than they are nowadays, and the citizen derived some advantage from hearing the communal clock tell the time loinL* ly. But how many people really either the striking or the chiming of the public time-pieces nowaday? And of those who do hear, how many really need the information? In any case, there is no need to keep the noise up all night. There are modern cities, which apparently strive to turn night into day. New York has a bank tliat never shuts; Berlin is wide awake all through the twenty-four hours; there are coffee houses and restaurants in Vienna that are as thronged at 3 a.m. as they are at 3 p.m. But Sydney is a quiet and decorous city, that goes to bed bedtimes, and wants to go to sleep. The City Council, therefore, ought not to make a favour of stopping its clock at night; it ought to regard itself as a public nuisance if it does not do so. The Lord Mai or ought In add another maxim to his little list. ‘Keep your oitv clean’ is good advice. Whv not also ‘Keep your city quiet?’ ’?

y Tho Court list for to-morrow’s sitting of the Magistrate's court includes twenty-two civil cases, one defended, and thirty-five informations tor tailing to send children to sciiool, and one information for vagrancy. Jockeys who are at the top of their profession find it necessary to do a good deal of fast travelling nowadays. 0.-Emerson and B. Deeley, who were both riding at Randwick on Saturday, will be present at the Masterton meeting to-day. About 4000 signatures to the complimentary address to be presented to tnd Bruno Minister (Hon. W. F. Mason the occasion of hi r next visit to Auckland, have already been received by the secretary of me Reform League, and there are still many slioois to be returned. Details of tho time-table for tho double service of express trains on the Main Trunk line have not yet been completed. Efforts are being made to bring the new service into operation on November, Ist, but it is not jet certain whether this can be done. The English strikes delayed the delivery of the iron work required for some of the hew rolling'stock, and the cars have not been completed as soon as was expected. On Sunday next in the Broadway Church the twenty-second anniversary of Stratford Primitive Methodism w'II be celebrated. The Rev. S. Bailey, of Wanganui, an eloquent and forceful preacher, has been secured to conduct tho special services. A largo choir is carefully preparing appropaate music for the occasion, and tho- best loved hymns, well known by all, will be a feature of the day. Reports of a severe and double A shock of earthquake ar©_ stated to' nave been toit ail over the iNorth Is-1 land yesterday afternoon about naifpast three o’clock. Wellington, Hastings, Palmerston North, Masterton, Wanganui, Napier, Gisborne, and Now Plymouth all report the quake, Hast-1 ings people in particular born" con-i sidorably alarmed, but no damage is| reported. Stratford district seems to have been immune from tho shock; at least, wo have not heard of anyone having experienced it.