LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 51, 24 October 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Auckland-grown new potatoes are selling at 2id per lb. in Wellington. ■ A poll of Xormanby Town Hoard ratepayers is to bo taken on the question of merging into the Hawera County Council. A mushroom measuring about 13in. in diameter and with a stem about 2in. thick, was picked up at Waimarama (Hawke’s Bay) last week. Hansom cabs are apparently at a discount in Invercargill, as one of this variety of vehicle changed hands the other day for a monetary consideration of ten shillings! Pigeon racing, though known to the ancient Greeks, did not commence in modern times until 1818, when a match for one hundred miles was flown in Belgium. While in a state of somnambulism a girl living in Monmouth, Wales, walked in her night attire and barefooted four miles before being awakened by the shock of falling in the roadway. At a recent reception a young lad introduced to Signor Marconi mistook him for Signor Mascagni, and begged him to play ‘his lovely Intermezzo.’’ “With pleasure,” replied Marconi, “but I shall have to do it on a wireless piano.” ’ Last week the borough foreman at Picton, with a staff of six men, left for Ship Cove, where they will be engaged in erecting the Captain Cook Memorial. The monument will be built of stone and cement, and will bo 15ft. square at the base, 9ft. at the top and loft.- high. One night last week a foolish freak was performed in Tapanui, when a man employed in a stable took out Mr. James O’Dowd’s thoroughbred horse to race in the streets at midnight with a farmer’s horse. The race startecHn the dark, and Legion fell in the gutter, near the National Bank, and was severely cut about and ruined. The offender will be prosecuted (says the ‘Courier’).

A strange custom prevails among the Indians or Alaska. When a difference arises ■ between two of them, and a friendly settlement seems impossible one of them threatens the other with dishonour. He executes his threat by tearing up a. certain number of ins own blankets. The only way his antag; n ist can get even with him is by tearing up a greater number of his own. The one who destroys the most blankets is regarded as having won the fight. Cardinal Callcgari, the Patriarch of Venice, created a sensation by a violent discourse delivered by him in the pulpit at St. Mark’s Basilica agains-present-day female fashions. The pa triarch vividly contrasted the professing . Christian women of to-day with those of the Primitive Church, whom ho depicted as faultless models of mo desty, coyness, and simplicity, where as in this sad ago they strut about, reeking in pestilential perfumes, and clad in such shameless, frippery tha 1 oven hardly, irreligious males stand aghast. Cardinal Callegari concluded by apologising to his hearers for having failed to find words strong enough to stigmatise the infamous customs of the modern society woman.

“Ho. said, ‘Not me: 1 WoulckrVl lie A fool to kill the goose that lays the golden egg?’ ” said the president of the Invercargill Acclimatisation Society at the meeting of the Invercargill Council on Thursday evening when he was relating a story of a man who knew of a shag rookery in a country district, and had made this reply to a query as to why he did not visit the rookery and kill’the young shags before they did any damage. The council (says the ‘Southland Times’) had before it a proposal from the Otago Society to raise the royalty on shags’ heads'to 3s, and it was on the ground of the assumption that the shooting of shags would become a commercial activity that the council decided not to favour the advance.

A new fad has come to London. Almost auv afternoon, about 5 o’clock-, many fashionably dressed women can be seen in the West End tea rooms drinking tea through a straw. The col l weather this summer is perhaps responsible, for it has compelled women to wear strong veils to keep their big hats and their hair in place., These veils, which cover the face, and come down over the chin and fasten at the hack of the neck, cannot be lifted from over the mouth. They can, of course, be unfastened, but this not easy, and with the present style of dress the hack of the neck is difficult to reach. The meshes of these veils are wide, and tea-time brings a prompt demand for straws. The straws are inserted through the meshes of the veils, and the tea is imbibed like lemon squash.

The smallest of European Sovereign States, Liechstenstein, which is preparing to celebrate the second century of its independence, has a monarch and a Parliament, but no taxes and no fumy, its finances are provided by its Prince, John It., who, in return, nominates three of its fifteen M.P.’s. At the time of the Austro-Prussian war the principality sided with Austria and mobilised an army of 100 of all ranks to share in the fighting. But Liechsten stein’s army never smelt fire, and Liechstenstein itself was Quite overlooked in the peace negotiations at the end of the war. Fifteen years later Bismarck discovered that his country was still technically at war with this miniature State, and in strict accordance with the etiquette of such things, pourparlers took place, and a formal treaty of peace was signed between the two countries.

Some of the women who wore unprotected hatpins, while forming a portion of the crowd which viewed the Labour procession in Sydney, received a rude shock when they were gravely asked for their names and addresses by a constable, who moved amongst them with a discerning eye, and arrived with a pencil and a notebook. The feminine law-breakers were present in large numbers, and the constable very soon found the job so arduous that beads of perspiration stood out on his good-humoured face. Hatpins bristled in front of him, at the side of him, and behind him, notwithstanding the fact that as ho inscribed each name and address he peremptorily women to sheath her hatpin, and time after time he had to pause and rest in his clerical task. Some of the women expressed themselves in language vigorous enough for the sister suffrag ettes in England, and this, added to the good-humoured badinage of the sterner sex, made the life of the constable not altogether a happy one. Before long his notebook was just about filled, and he heaved a big sigh of relief as the last banner passed, and the crowd began to melt away. The Sydney authorities are. evidently detent inod to prosecute the anti-hatpin campaign vigorously.

A well known American scientist is credited with the statement that if the English people want to regain their supremacy in athletics the most important step they must take in that direction is to educate the average English housewife in the line art of cookerv.

“Labour Day” is being celebrated on Monday next. At piesent indicati in it looks as if the banks, and prsdbly the legal firms, will he the only participants in the holiday. The school is being closed, but the holiday is in corn nection with the annual exanrna io>aL of the primary department, which taka place to-day and to-morrow. A railway official had a marvellous escape from injury near Balclutha on Sunday. He was proceeding along the line on a motor trolly near Kakapuaka, a stone caught in the flange of the wheel. Both trollv and driver shot up in the air, turned a few somersaults, and landed by the cattle stops. The motorist, to the surprise of the spectators, instantly picked himself up, righted his machine, and set cff. The following resolution was carried at a meeting of the Stratford Progressive Liberal League last evening: “That this meeting of Liberals urges upon Sir Joseph Ward the desirability of again taking the leadership of the Liberal Party, recognising that his ability as a statesman and politician warrants the party throughout this Dominion leaving no stone unturned in securing Sir Joseph Ward as its leader.”

The utilitarian potato hath charms just now for others besides housewives. While the latter’s views he in the direction of the domestic saucepan, at least two local residents, judging by their movements, have an eye for utility, but quite opposed to all the principles, of homo management. Their point of view is the high price ruling at present, and the idea of getting about £2O a ton for “spuds” has induced them to go in for planting about 25 acres with the tubers. Jokes played a part in the proceedings of welcome to the delegates ao the Baptist Union at Christchurch the other night. The president, the Rev. R. H. K. Kempton, said that he was reminded of a tale he had heard when lie looked about him. An English divine had said that there were two occasions when he remembered that beauty was not inevitable; one was when he looked in the glass, and tho other when ho looked about him at a gathering of Baptist clergymen. An ingenious transatlantic journal, ‘The American Tailor and Cutter,’ proposes to celebrate the Centenary of Trousers a couple of years hence, basing its choice of date on the fact that in 1814—the year before Waterloo—Wellington was refused admission to Almack’s because he wore trousers instead of the conventional kneebreeches, silk stockings, and pumps. As a matter of fact (says an exchange) trousers came into very general use for day wear at least ten years before that date, as contemporary meiqoirs amply show.

It now seems very likely that the big slip still blocking a cutting where the deviation has been made' (says the ‘Auckland Herald’) will not be cleared at all. The extraordinary heavy rain last week brought down a huge mass of sloppy earth and boulders, and the difficulty and expense likely to be, met in: shifting it, and restoring the line to good order, would probably exceed by a large margin the work of making a sound permanent deviation. The new line made round the slip, while it is not yet in a solid enough state to carry the full traffic, is very likely to become part of the main line. A somewhat peculiar occurrence took place in the! store-room of a local groncen’ts shop;-theiicother day tsays the ‘Southland News’). A cat had been shut in the room for the purpose of catching rate. On entering the apartment later the occupier was,surprised to find his cat with its head jammed in-

side' a jam bottle, and on closer examination was somewhat startled to notice that there was also in the bottle a* young rodent. The matter of extricating the cat, a valuable one, was accomplished without breaking the bottle. The rat, when cut off by his natural enemy from his only means of escape, sought refuge in the empty bottle, the mouth of which was just sufficiently large to allow the cat’s head to enter. Yesterday the social side of the celebrations in connection with the anniversary of the Stratford Methodist Church eventuated, a tea and concert being the order of the day. in the evening a most enjoyable musical programme was rendered. Miss H. Bayly contributed two excellent items—a pianoforte solo and a song. Miss Hop-' kins (violin solo), Miss Moon (solo), Miss Wade (recitation), and Mr. Lamason (song), contributed much to the success of the evening. _ The Misses Everiss and Messrs. Everiss and Russ proved a delightful quartette, and the anthems by the choir were much appreciated. ' Addresses suitable to the occasion were delivered bv the Revs. Bailey (chairman) and Liddle, and Mr. C. E. Bellringer. As illustrating the waywardness of fortune and the ups and downs of colonial towns, it may be of interest (says the ‘Hawera Star’) to mention that many years ago the Bank of New Zealand bought a corner site at Normanby, erected premises and installed a manager. After a few years it was found an unpayable proposition; and the manager was transferred and Norman by was made an agency under Hawera, whence it was visited by Mr. White, the then manager. Later the

agency was closed, and the premises removed to Stratford, where they were used as the bank’s first local banking premises. That was over twenty years since. The bank held on to the Normanby section and eventually sold it for a good deal.less than the cost px-ico (adds the ‘Star’). No doubt the cutting up of farms, the consequent increase in dairying, and of population, have combined to render banking facilities again necessary at Normanby. A youth named Hugh Davis, 18 oily years of age, and a new arrival from the- United Kingdom, who told the police that his home was in Stratford, has had a wild career down the country during the last week or two (says the ‘Oamaru Mail’). Staiting from North Canterbury early last week, ho rode on a stolen bicycle to Ashburton. There he discarded the machine to take a better one on which to ride to Timaru. Evidently til Aik one did not suit him, for it was fomicrab-

andoned in Timaru, and the loss of another was reported to the--police. At the end of the week the bicycle missing from Timaru was found at the Oamaru Railway Station. Davis had left it there, as he had decided to conceal himself on a train going south. His free ride on the railway terminated at Hampden, where he was det ined a week in custody for travelling, without authority, at the expense of the State. At the end of the week spent at Hampden, he stole another bicycle to continue his journey southward, and got as far as Waitati before tie was again taken in charge by the police. A constable took Davis back to Hampden to be arraigned before the ■lustico of the Peace, who sentenced him to one month’s imprisonment in Oamaru Cl/ml, without hard la iour—to give him time to meditate on Lis misdeeds ho was told.

The date of taking agricultural and pastoral statistics nas «con uxed oy the Government at October 20, 19i2. (Sunday). Feilding ratepayers yesterday carried a poll for completing the reticulation of water in the borough and asphalting the footpaths over the residential area. —Press Association. An inquest was held at Waipahu today, before Mr. C. 13. Sole, J.P., act-ing-Coroner, touching the sudden death of Mr. George Blanchaid, a verdict of death from natural causes being returned. Deceased was 72 years ot \ age. 'f The incident which occurred in a Parliamentary .Committee on hrdav night, resulting in Sir Joseph Ward complaining of Mr Hine s “impertinence” and leaving the room after refusing to withdraw, recalls a small page in Parliamentary annals, says the Now Zealand Times. Hon. John Bryco <l©clcir6d. in Psirliiwnoiii; tluit vdii (then Mr) John McKenzie “ougnt to he ashamed of himself.’ He refused to withdraw, and left the House and politics for ever. The weaving of mats, sowing of large crops of potatoes and kumeras, and the fattening of pigs and poultry, is in full swing at To Aral just now (,says the ‘Poverty Bay Herald’), in Haration for a big hui that is to be there next March. It is expected to bo tbe largest gathering of natives ever hold in the district, and some ten thousand will probably assemble, including natives from all parts of New Zealand. The main object of the gathering is to be the opening of the now Te Arai Church, which has been erected in place of the previous historic chapel that was destroyed by fire. In connection with the new church, an effort has been made to reinstate seme of the fine Maori carving that was such, a centre of attraction in the old >’ church. For twelve months or more special carvers from Rotorua and TJri-| wera have been at work, with the_re-| suit that the new chapel will contain a| large collection of productions. The carving, however, will he less of the ancient class than the former collection, as the tools are entirely different, and of a more modern type than those used in the olden days, and t.ic representations are not so grotesque. Advantage of so large an assemblage of natives will be taken to hold tbe yearly Maori Parliament, when numerous matters will be considered.