LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 82, 2 December 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“Push ball,” a form'of sport popular in cavalry circles in tlie Old World, will bo a feature in tlio competitions at the Winter Show at Palmerston next year, Ihe ball already bavins arrived from England,

The fate of the pitcher that welit once too often to the water bcfel a woman whose aim it was to extend her patronage to the municipal organ recital at Christchurch, the otner night, without cost to herself. On the occasion of previous recitals, when the cash takings were being counted, the calculators were pained to discover in the heap of small coin contributed by the audience a leaden disc about the size of a threepenny-bit, and presumably intended to represent that humble but necessary coin. The doite attendants were accordingly this scheme to defraud the Council" and the dilinquent was caught redhanded, placing the dummy coin in the plate. She received a little homily on the virtue of honesty, and was then allowed to depart. A very good instance of how the beaches along the coast, and particularly between the mouths of the Wangahui and Wangaehu Rivers, are being built up from year to year is the wreck of the Wanganui-Australian trader Ururoa, which wept ashore a few miles south of the Wanganui Heads about four years ago. When the vessel went ashore it was almost low tide, and she quickly became embedded in the sand and was covered at high water, but now all that remains of the staunch vessel is high and dry against the sandhills, and is only reached by the sea alien it is exceptionally rough. The only parts of the Vinll that are now visible is the bow (says the ‘Manawatu Daily Times’), which is protruding upside down, from the sand, and several large pieces of her sides that are scattered among the driftwood higher up the coast.

What is perhaps the most extraordinary form in which the Bible has oyer been offered is that edition of the Scriptures in the language of Uganda. The volume is of great length, but only three inches in thickness and the same in width. A peculiar reason occasioned the adoption'of this form. In Central Africa the white ants and other insects rapidly destroy books unless they are well protected. The representatives of the Church Missionary Society accordingly recommended to the Bible Society that it should issue this edition in a form that would lit into the tin biscuit boxes of a certain (inn that is popular in Uganda lam lues. This was done, and the ant-' proof tin box is just large enough to hold this Bible, a small Bible history, a hymnal, and a prayer book. A tale that brings to mind (says the Tatea Press’) the old days of the wreckers on the Cornish coast is told in connection with our own beach, and some of the cases of kerosene that formed part of the cargo of the Hawora on its last voyage to the port. It appears that a certain devoted couple wore strolling towards the Heads m the moonlight recently, when they f noticed two figures ahead of them who, cuddenly catching sight of the lovers, bolted as if the Turks were after them!. Curiosity led the lovers to investigate, hud they found on visiting the spot from which the two figures had fled, three tins of kerosene, which the beachcombers had been endeavouring to smuggle 1 mme. The lovers continued their journey to the beach and on returning glanced round for the kerosene tins, but strange to say, in the meantime they had disappeared. Rumour hath it*that Nemesis, in the shape of the local representativc of the law, is now on the track of the beachcombers.' •

It was in a back country township not one thousand miles from Mount Egmont, with the usual “one store, one church, one pub.” In this case there hhppencd to be a bank also, and the manager was ope of those happy-go-lucky sorts one so often meets south ol the line. Ihe storekeeper was a young Now Zealander of a very similar temperament. It so happened that there was a slump in the money market and things were “tight,” so much so that the bank manager was forced to call upon the storekeeper and remind him that his overdraft was too large, and that as the half-yearly balance was near it would be necessary to reduce it forthwith. The storekeeper declared'with truth and vigour that he couldn’t raise another cent. “Give ns a bill,” said the hard case manager. “Bill?” replied the storekeeper, “Whom can I draw on?” “Oh, Lord, anyone yon like,” was the reply. “Draw on the Sultan of Turkey and I’ll credit you with the amount for the time • being until balance time is over.” “Right ho,” said the storekeeper, and the transaction was duly completed. By an accident the hill was sent'Home and presented through Rothschilds to the Sultan for acceptance. J ust at that time it so happened that Turkey was negotiating a very heavy loan with aid of British financiers, and the Turkish authorities, fearful of offending so great an authority as Rothschilds, honoured the draft without demur. Needless to say (continuing the Patea County ‘Press’) the jubilation of the storekeeper was great and the transaction was duly “wetted.”

At 11 10 Magistrate’s Court at Eltham on Wednesday last the S.M., Mr. Ken rick, was engaged hearing a case of considerable interest to cooperative dairy companies, to which reference was made in our columns on Saturday. The case was a test one, and a considerable sum of money is held by the Eltham Hairy Company dependent upon the decision. Robert Mehrtons sued the Eltham Dairy Co. for £ll 19s sd, balance of bonus cheque due to him for the year ending June 36th last, and held back by, defendant company. In May last, the company altered its articles to increase its share capital by providing that every shareholder should hold one share for every 1501 b of milk supplied during the yeaf, instead of 300 lb as previously, and that each shareholder should only participate in not profits (or bonus) proportionate* to the shares held by him. In June last the plaintiff held 65 shares, whereas on his supply he should have held 131 shares. He was asked to take up the extra 66 shares when he would get his bonus in full. He declined to do so. In fact, he left the company and sold his shares to his sou. The company ’ therefore paid plaintiff only 65-131st of the bonus, and it was for the balance of the bonus he now sued. Mr. MeVeagh, of Eltham, for the plaintiff, contended that as the article was altered after the plaintiff had ■ upplimfrf' practically all his milk for the jeaiNjjd he had a vested rigid to the bonus; and the company could not depritaV him of what he had earned. Mr. R ' Spence, of Stratford (instructed by Messrs, Syme and Weir, the company’s solicitors) argued that different considerations apply, this being a cooperative company. In any case, he contended that the article was not retrospective, as it applied only to the bonus which was to he declared after the article was altered. But even if the article did apply restrospectively, the company was within its rights. When a person took up shares he must know that at any time a threefourths majority of the company could alter the articles even retrospectively. It may seem a hardship, but such was the law, and each shareholder must to some extent rely upon the fairness and justice of his followshareholders. His Worship reserved his decision.

A tri-weekly newspaper is to lie started in Wavorley shortly. Mr. Daniel O’Brien, a centenarian, died at his residence, .Nelson Street, petonp, on Thursday. On! the arrival of the lonic in Wellington on Saturday night six stowaways' were handed over to the police. yiittl statistics for Stratford for the month of November were as foil i.vs : ’ Birth! 16, deaths 4, marriages 6. The, incident of a cat capturing a stoat 4 s somewhat unusual, Yesterday a catJpk nging to Mr. J. Hume caught one*ijMph-the house. Zealand Shipping Coms.s. Otaki will bo loadn:.' e , iul the Waitara roadstead on or about December 16th. Mr. W. Vincent, chairman of tho Dominions Commission, and Mr. Morley, are -retiring on account of illhealth, states a London cablegram Sir A. E. Bateman has been appointed a member. Mrs. Dunn,, at one time matron of the Addington Prison, died at Palmerston yesterday .Deceased came to the Dominion forty years ago in the Isle of the South, in charge of a number of immigrants. . During the hearing of a case in which two women ’were concerned at Yarmouth, each unrolled from a paper parcel a handful of. hair as evidence of the treatment received. Each said the hair was pulled from her head by the other-

It is reported that the New Ply|t mouth Amateur Operatic Society had an extremely successful season with “Th© Geisha,” and having disposed of tho dresses and properties, will have a credit balance of about £2OO as a result of the production. On board the Zealandic, an immigrant boat that arrived at Sydney a Fortnight ago, there were no fewer than 26 young women, brides-elect, - who have come out to meet the young men.who nominated them. One of the passengers said, “There’ll lie twenty--1 six weddings in Sydney before Satur- ' day.” \

The New Zealand Dairy Association paid its suppliers on November 21st the sum of. £57,990 4s lid. This represents payment for butter-fat supplied during the month of October. The payment for the corresponding period 'Hast year totalled £42,049 19s 3d. Thus the increase for this year represents the sum of £15,940 5s Bd. Mr. F. J. Mouat, solicitor, of the Dunedin Land Office staff, will be a candidate for election to the Civil Service Board of Appeal to be constituted under the new Public Service Act. Mr. Mouat was chairman of the sub-com-mittee ‘set up by the Dunedin Civil servants to revise the Hon. A. L. Herdman’s Public Service Bill when it was before Parliament.

It is noteworthy that the Hon. W. H, Hemes, Native Minister, did not attend the tangi held at Waahi in honour of the l,ath Chief Mahutu, the Maori “King.” The reason is understood to lie the retention by the Waikato tribe of the title of “lung.” Had the title been dropped as was'advocated by Sir James Carroll, the Native Minister would no doubt (says the ‘Dominion’) have attended the ceremony.

The case in which Mr. T. Walsh, Arbitration Union Organiser, and W. P. Black, of , Auckland, are suing the N.Z. Federation of Labour for £450 damages each for alleged libel in articles in ‘The Maoriland Worker,’ was to have come on for hearing at the present sitting of the Supreme Court in Auckland, but the Federation .was unable to proceed with the case, and on its application the J udgo granted adjournment until the next sessions, which does not take place till February, 1913.