LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 8, 6 January 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The promoters of the Whau Canal, from Onehunga to Auckland, estimate that the cut will shorten the distance from Auckland to Sydney by 78 miles (a reduction from 1281 to 1208). The run from Auckland to Wellington, via Fast Cape, Gisborne, and Napier h 500 miles. The Whau Canal will cut this mileage to 814. More than a hundred agriculture’ communities, according to the Manitoba Free Press, in the province ol Alberta will soon inaugurate the sin gle tax system. Land is to be ass essed at its actual cash value as it would he appraised in payment of a just debt from a solvent debtor, exclusive of the value oi any building erected thereon. Some startling revelations are made in the annual report of the British Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Clirildren. The report declares that during the past year no fever than 12do children of Kngland, Ireland and Wales have been killed as a result of ill-treatment. During the year complaints regarding to children numbered upwards of 50,000.

The Stratford County Council after much difficulty have at last obtained a driver for us new road roller, and it is hoped to put the machine into commission shortly. The Clerk of the Court (Mr W. J. Reeve) has received the official form for the registration of land agente, and applicants for registration can receive .same by applying to him. Motorists arc loud in their plaints against a stretch of heavily metalled road on the route to New' Plymouth, and within the Stratford County. The County Engineer told

a reporter this morning that a portion of the strip complained of had now been blinded, and the rest would be liuislied as soon as the weather permitted, after which the road would bo rolled by the new Aveling and Porter roader. The turnip crop will be benefitted considerably by to-day’s rainfall. In many instances a second sowing had to bo made. Owing to the long spell of dry weather, the turnip ground was sadly in need of moisture to keep the young plants sprouting, and the hot sun cut short their life. But now that the second family lias commenced to grow, the present downfall may be considered to have guaranteed a fine return, with, of course, anything like a fair run of weather for “the neeps,” as Scotchmen say. What is considered a very remarkable operation in surgery is the almost complete recovery of Airs Mary Mariano,', of Orange, New Jersey, whose back was broken more than

two months ago in a fall down a flight of stairs. Instead of using Hie plaster cast resorted to when' a spine is fractured, Dr. Edward Calvin Seibert performed an unusual operation by reinforcing the fractured vertebrae with fine wire. .The surgeons who are watching the case say that the woman’s nerves are regenerating, and that already she is able to move her legs and feet.

A South Canterbury fisher has been quite cured of a fancy, he is said to have possessed for “tickling” trout when flies failed him. The storygoes that he had his hand deftly working under a projecting bank ready to raise the first “spotted beauty” he might find reposing there, when suddenly a monster eel came along, and, taking the fingers of the man’s hand for a choice morsel of bait, snapped at one of them, and endeavoured to swallow it. A trial of strength ensued between the eel and the man, and, though the latter won, his finger still bears painful-looking marks of the encounter.

The passenger traffic at the Stratford railway station for the period, December 18 to January 2, was as fol-lows:—-Number of ordinary tickets issued in the same period in 1911-12, 1(586, returning £l4B IGs 2d; 1912-13, IoOS tickets, returning £122 5s lid Excursion tickets 1911-12, 1548 returning £513 17s Id; 1912-13, 1765, returning £543 18s Id. Totals 191112, 3234, returning £662 13s 3d; 191213, 3273, £666 4s. The number of excursionists who travelled to Eltham oq the occasion of the two-day carnival was 284, compared with 380 on the previous year. On the same dates 401 went to New Plymouth, in comparison with 346 last year. The figures for Hawera on Sports Day were 29, compared to 31 last year. . For Ngaere on Boxing Day and January Ist, 170 tickets were issued, being five more than last year. A little baby of two months has the recipient of a royal gift, 1 lie little mite was presented on Christmas Day- with a beautifullymade petticoat, an article knitted by Queen Mary in the Royal Palace. The present was brought to Sydney not long ago by the Misses Fairfax, for presentation to the youngest child in the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, and xvas officially handed over to the child by the matron. The child who has had this honour bestowed upon it was admitted to the institution a month ago, suffering from pneumonia (reports the Telegraph). The infant xvas cured of that, but contracted gastro-enteritis, and is in rather a serious condition. The doctors, however are in hopes of restoring the child to health again.

A Wellington party that climbed Xgaruhoe during the recent holiday's found the volcano in a very active condition. The crater had 'changed a good deal during the last eighteen months, ami there was a considerable amount of smoke and steam belching forth from the great chasm. The party were very fortunate in getting a splendid view right into the depths. After waiting some time for the steam to clear away, a wonderful spectacle was presented. There is a new hole on the eastern side at the bottom of the active crater, about two chains across, and this looked for all the world like a gigantic blacksmith’s blast. Tongues of fire were leaping up from the bottom with a tremendous roaring noise, sending forth red-hot stones to a height of about 50ft. All round the edge of the active crater there were recently thrown out stones which had the appearance of being subjected to a terrific heat. Altogether it was a magnificent spectacle (states a correspondent of the Taranaki Herald!.

The railway magazine tells the story of what is probably the smallest pay cheque ever issued by the Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. This cheque was made out by James Moore, paymaster on the Saute,Fe, to the order of William Spaulding. It is for the sum of five cents (2sd) in full payment of his wages for September, 1882, and has never been cashed. The five cents coming to Mr Spaulding was what remained after his board bill had been paid, as the agreement between the railroad company and the construction contractor was to the effect that the amount of the various board bills should be deducted from the men’s pay cheques. Spaulding apparently did not see that the cheque was in any way worth more than the five cents specified on the face of it, but Mr O’Rourke, the present holder, who had a penchant for collecting odd things of every kind, struck a bargain with him to secure the cheque in eJK change for 25 cents, plus a square meal.

A defendant who was charged fore the Hamilton Magistrate’s Court" on Friday last with offering lightweight bread for sale, raised the point that in order to satisfy the demand for well-baked bread he had allowed the bread to remain in the oven a little longer than us”al. in addition the day was a cold, windy (mo, which made a great deal of dirference in the amount of evaporation. The Magistrate, however, - said he refused to believe that a cold wind would make a difference of 2oz. At any rate baker® had to contend with all' sorts of weathers, and must make an average article to suit all atmospheric conditions. If his customers wanted well-baked bread, he must also supply that. Defendant said that when his customers asked for such bread he always told them that they would in that case have to take short weight. A tine of £1 10s, with costs, was imposed.

Less than an inch of rain was registered in Pahiatna dining the, month of December. t j Hawke’s Bay peaches are being soldi in the streets of Masterton at three-! pence and fourpence per pound. In! Stratford they are 6d a lb in the shops, j One old man who walks the streets' of Masterton is in receipt of three j different pensions for services rendered the King and country, states the __Wairarapa Age. It was estimated that up to the midde of November, the outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in England and Ireland had directly and indirectly involved a loss in six months of not less than £2,000,000. During the year 1913 there will bo three eclipses of the sun and two of the moon, the former not being visible in New Zealand. The lunar eclipses may be looked for on March 22nd and September 15th.

To advertise the State, the Weetralian Government is sending a fine collection of exhibits of West Australian agricultural, timber, minerakl, and industrial specimens for the A. 1 N.A. Exhibition in Melbourne and the Royal Show at Sydney. For brevity nothing can beat the correspondence between Victor Hugo and his publisher on the issue of “Les Miserables.” Very busy, but anxious to know how the book was selling, Hugo sent the publisher a card marked simply “?” The reply came back “I”

The wool dip of the Canterbury Agricultural College was a record in value this year. The clip was disposed of at the last sales, and realised, with skins, the price of £lO2l 9s 6d. The College flock numbers about 3200 sheep. A Masterton Native, of considerable

avoirdupois, purchased a motor car, for which he paid £250. He wrote to the vendor, soon after the purchase, as follows:—“Te motor you sellee me no goore. He keep te berry too klose to wheel. You come take him pack.” The majority of the coal miners of Otago and Southland, with the exception ot those employed by the Kaitangata, Company, are reported to be considering the questions of seceding from the Federation of Labour, and of joining forces with the United La-j hour party.

To give an idea of the large amount of canning that is done at Frimley,; it is .interesting to note that on Christmas Day one machine shelled no less than seven tons of peas. Men, 1 women, and children are engaged in large numbers at the present time in picking peas. Forty Russian immigrants were aboard the steamer Empire which ar-| rived at Darwin from Hong Kong re-1 cently. Several remained there under engagement to work on the Go-, vernment Demonstration Farms. Theyj are reported to be a sturdy type of j people for the most part. Theyj speak no English, and come from Siberia.

The Maoriland Worker, in announcing the publication of a version of the story of Waihi, states that it will be a production “to thrill us with admiration on the one hand and to shock Us with indignation on the other hand.” Even now we can picture the volume in the homes of the people, and, as the young curate said, “see the good wife rocking the cradle with one foot, and wiping away the tears from her eyes with the other!”

Nero fiddled whilst Rome was burning, and an Opunake Scotchman, indignant that no bagpipes or .dancing events 'figured on' the programme of the local Caledonian sports, was minded to emulate that renowned Roman. In the columns of the local paper, he stated that if he had known the programme was to have been so incomplete, “would havo attended the Seaside, and, with a Jew’s harp and a bottle of whisky, played and sang Auld Lang Syne whilst the waves danced the reel o’ Tulloch!” A nasty brush took place at Whangamomona (states the correspondent of the Taranaki Herald) between a resident and two machine agents. It was in the early part of the morning that the former noticed the two men force open his neighbour’s back door when the occupant was ill in the hospital, and the wife had just gone to see, him. The neighbour, on going to see what was the matter, discovered the pair ’had ransacked the sewing machine of its contents and were in the act of taking it from the house and there was a scuffle. Reinforcements soon arrived, and the two agents received a rough time, and were only too pleased to escape and leave the machine to its absent owner. It has been suggested to the Commonwealth Minister for External Affairs by the Secretary to the / Peace Society that Australia should take a practical share by way of contribution in the question of the proposed peacehall at The Hague. The Minister regards the idea as a good one (states the Sydney Daily Telegraph), but thinks that Australia, in return tor her philanthropy, might secure some business advantages. lor instance, Australia might, he considers, furnish the room in which the conferences were held. It would show the world not only what she could produce, but what her workmen were capable of doing. The Federal Government might, he suggests, ' contribute £SOO, the States might make up £SOO among them, and private benefactions might supply another £SOO. In connection with the printing of “Hansard,” the New South Wales Government Printer (Mr W. A. Gullick) makes some comments of especial interest to New Zealanders. He says;—“lt is a peculiar fact that, ior its size, New South Wales prints less Hansards than any other State or the Dominion of New Zealand. -The Dominion is abnormally prolific in this respect. Where we turn out 1700 copies they print 9500. Where we give each member of Parliament 6 copies daily, New Zealand gives them 75, while Victoria gives its members 20, Queensland a dozen, and South Australia and Western Australia one

each.” Mr Gullick humorously accounts for the difference in the I)oVrtinion with the remark: “They must eat Hansards in New Zealand.” There was much consternation

3' amongst the managers of a Napier • church on a recent Sunday, when it was discovered that the collection plates were missing. The presiding clergyman announced the collection, hut, alas! there were no plates to gather in the shekels. Vestrymen turned corners inside out, looked under seats, ransacked adjacent rooms, hut without success. The collection plates had either been stolen or had walked away, and, with a congregation fidgeting with threepenny hits and other small coins, the collection collectors were in a sorry plight. However, one of them struck a happy thought, and it was not long before the usual Sunday sum had been gathered in on dinner plates, covered with cake d’oyles. and handed over to the controller of the church funds. Tonking’s Linseed Emulsion removes all the misery of sneeze and sniffle, x

j Doctor: “You admit that I curec I you of insomnia. Then why don’t yor j pay my bill?” Patient: “Sorry, doc., I but 1 sleep so soundly now that my ! wife goes , through my pockets at j nights and takes every shilling.” West Coasters in various parts ot I the Dominion are taking keen interest i in the Hokitika Goldfields Jubilee, to Ibe held in 1911. There promises to i be a great gathering of the clan j Westland, Inland parcel post rates arc nowreduced to 3d for the first pound and lid for each succeeding pound. For a fee of Id, a receipt will he obtained from the addressee and forwarded to the sender of any inland parcel who desires an acknowledgment. At Granity a lady standing a hundred yards from the cricket field (where a match was in progress) was struck on the head by a cricket ball. She was rendered temporarily unconscious and received a wound demanding surgical attention. The North Otago Times states that a fisherman at the Oarnaru breakwater the other day hauled in a groper weighing 901 b. This is the largest groper caught this season. The deep-sea fishermen have to go out about twenty miles fo rfish of a much less weight than this. Some dealers in wax matches contend that all the matches, excepting the bird-eye kind (with white tip on head), are made of poisonous phosphorous, and that the only matches that can now be legally- sold are the ordinary safeties and the bird-eye match. Farmers and others interested in. the Defence scheme are reminded of the visit of General Godley to Stratford. The General arrives in Strat-j ford to-night by the mail train, and will be present at the Council Chambers to-morrow at 11 o’clock, when matters relative to the scheme will be discussed. The car which was left with a broken axle at Whangamomona,’was driven into Stratford yesterday afternoon. The trip back, owing to tiie recent heavy rain, was an arduous one, mud being over the ancles in places. Ropes, twisted round the tyres, had to be freely used to obtain a gripping surface. That’s Out East, for you! The French Courts have just decided that when an automobile tyre “bursts'” it is in the influence of a “higher power” in the sense of the French law, which frees the perpetrator of any injury from responsibility for damages caused. A touring car, “burst” a tyre and crashed into aj store window. A lawsuit followed, j and the storekeeper lost, because the “higher power” clause was applied. A recent traveller by the Napier-j Wellington express informs thei Hawke’s Bay Herald that it is rum-, cured that the rails on some of tlie j curves between Dannevirke and Taka-, pan require attention, and that a driver has resigned because, although he had reported the fact, no notice was taken, and nothing was done to put them in proper order. Over fifty holiday-makers spent the, New Year at the Dawson’s Falls Mountain House, among the number, being Mr G. V. Pearce, M.P. (Patea),j and party. There was one big Strut-, ford party of twenty, the majority of whom arrived back in town on Saturday afternoon. “There was only one shower,” said a facetious member of the party to a reporter this morning; “it started raining on Wednesday at noon and hasn’t left off since.” “I wouldn’t mind having a go at that myself,” said a new arrival on the steamer Mamari at Dunedin on. Christmas Day, when he unsuccessfully attempted to tip a waterside work-, er who was busily engaged getting passengers’ belongings ashore, and who, in declining the tip, said ho was paid for working by his employer, j and that the pay—being Sunday, work—was at the rate of 4s 4d per hour. Vanity Fair tells the following story: “A well known Irish baronet j recently employed a man to take an inventory of his house. He conducted, him to the dining-room telling him to commence there; he would join him later and show him the other, rooms. Returning in about an hour the owner found an empty whisky decanter on the table and the man stretched at full length on the floor.! A hook was found with the following! notes; 1. One empty decanter. 2. One large revolving carpet.” Little doubt is felt in German' medical circles that the Czar’s only son is suffering from tuberculosis. There is a current report that Professor Israel, of Berlin, recently went, to St. Petersburg and performed an operation on the Czarevitch for tlie removal of a tuberculous kidney. The Czar paid the surgeon £SOOO. It is, also said that the Russian immigration laws were suspended to allow Professor Isreal, who is a Jew, to enter Russia. “Who was the earliest Wellington settler?” asks the journal of the Early Settlers’ Association in that centre. “When the Tory arrived at Port Nicholson on September 20th, 1839, with the pioneer officers of the New Zealand Land Company, it was found that Port Nicholson possessed one solitary European settler, a man named Robinson, who was living with the natives in a village at the mouth of the Hutt river. He had settled there about two years before and had a Maori wife and one child. . . . But apparently the first genuine settler at this port was the late Mr J. C. Crawford, who arrived from Sydney, via Kapiti, Mana, and the old PoriruaKorokoj’o trail, in 1839, but just after, the Tory bad left for the north, and

prior to the arrival of the first lot of immigrants. He found both Robinson and a man named Smith, whom

Colonel Wakefield had located there

in order to look after the company’s interests.” |

Mr Beere, the local Inspector of Stock, is at present fully occupied with the inoculation of calves against blackleg. This highly contagious 'trouble amongst calves is not completely eradicated from the district, we learn, and the cause to a great extent lies with the farmer. The Department of Agriculture has for a few seasons fought a systematic battle with this disease, hut some owners of young stock ne-

glect to come forward with their calves for vaccination, thus undoing

the good work that the more sensible farmers are inclined to help to a suc-

cessful issue. There is practically no excuse for this laxity, as every inducement is given in the shape of conveni-

ently-situated depots to overcome any possible unconvenience. As the disease is now present in this district,

it is the duty of all owners of young

calves, over the age of three months and under eighteen months, to get them inocculated. hading this, the authorities are. it is understood, determined to make an example of some

of the offenders, and as the maximum

penalty is substantial, viz., £2OO, it would be the better policy to aid the Government in the suppression of the

trouble. It should bo widely known that the same penalty applies to any person not reporting a case of blackleg.