LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 10, 8 January 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On dit that the new management o. the New Zealand Times’ has decider to discontinue the Political-La bon. column edited by Mr Walter T. Mills

Home-brewed beer has of late years largely displaced spirits as the na tional drink of the-Norwegians. i is so popular that it is used even a breakfast to wash down the steel; dish—fried pork, smothered in onions. “1 suppose drunkenness is a fairly common occurrence at Whangamoiiiona,” queried the presiding justice during the hearing of a case at the local court yesterday. The witness, a barman, gave the non-committal reply, “Oh, 1 don’t know.”

A sum of £2OO has been voted b the Legislative Council of Mauritius as a contribution towards the fund which Mr Austen Chamberlain if raising for the London School ol Tropical Medicine. The fund has now readied £50,000. Another sign of the times says tin Dunedin Star. There were only eight bankruptcies ir. Dunedin for the yeai ended last month, as against 27 foi the previous year. Invercargill, on the other hand, shows an increase foi the past year. There were I.G bank ruptcies there, as against 11 for 1911. The following composition on men is credited to a little girl:—“Men are what women marry. They drink and smoke and swear, but don't go to church. Perhaps if they wore bonnets they would. They are more logical than women, and also more zoological. Loth men and women sprung from monkeys, but the women sprung further than the men.” The first meeting of the New Year was held in the Foresters’ Hall last levelling, a fairly large number of members being present. Tim Secretary reported that in conjunction-with the other Lodges in the town, Drs. Cameron, Steven and Carbery had e: tered the Panel system, and members could now go on any doctor\s list they wished. After several other matters of business had been gone through, a quoit tournament was held for a trn phy presented by Pro. Ladd, Hro. C Joint!ston winning same after some exciting play. A very enjoyable evening terminated about 10.15 p.m.

The Chief of the Fire Brigade of the town of Klinguau, Switzerland, excused himself lor not sending an engine to a local lire on the ground thiit the weather was too bad.

A winged bicycle made a successful flight in Paris on Christinas Day. Planes were fixed to the Iront and back forks of an ordinary bicycle. The machine rose only six inches above the ground, but the experiment is considered to be most promising, jand will probably lead to a new development in aviation. The winged bicycle is expected to be of considerable use in providing fast locomotion over bad roads and even across rough country. The Government Insurance Office has issued little anmanac cards for 19115, upon the back of which are printed six reasons why every New Zealander should insure in the State Office and thus “support local industry.” But the Department had the cards printed in America, states a contemporary who was in receipt of one. As a member of the humble, and yet at times übiquitous printers of the Dominion, we want to know the reason why.

After a long discussion (writes a London correspondent) the Local Government Board has at length promulgated an order prohibiting the use on motor-cycles of cut-outs or other devices which will allow the exhaust gases from the engines to escape without first passing through a silencer suitable for “reducing, as far as may reasonably be practicable,” the noise which would be made by the free escape of the gas. An order applying to motor-cars was issued some months ago. Motor cyclists objected to the proposed restrictions on the wellknown ground that the power of tb© engine is reduced by the use of the silencer. The Local Government Board is now looking for a suitable and unobjectionable motor-horn.

Daily baths and massage given to a calf worth £IOOO with as much care as they might be given to babies made one of the interesting features of the National Dairy Show at the Stock Yards, says the Chicago correspondent of the “New York Herald.” Mr W. W. Marsh, of Waterloo, lowa, exhibited a Guernsey cow which returned him £l7O worth of milk last year. He also showed a cow which as a three-year-old animal produced 10301 b of butter and as a four-year-old produced 10701 b. A Jersey cow from Kentucky, mimed Golden Fern, was exhibited by the Elmendorf Farm, of Lexington, and is noted as being one of the few animals in the world carrying as much as £2OOO life insurance. She is valued at £IOOO, and her calf, born last June, has been sold for £I.OOO.

Synthetic milk has already been produced, and now we hear of the possibility of the synthetic steak and other articles of food. Laboratory-made foodstuffs having at their bases many of the waste products of present-day culinary routine are promised by experts. These foodstuffs may not reveal any of the physical characteristics of their components, but will nevertheless contain in concentrated form all the nutriments that are necessary for bodily health. A Belgian chemist, M. Effront, who has been conducting research, claims to have prepared a paste three times as nourishing as meat, and of similar taste, entirely from restaurant waste. This waste is sterilised to free it from any injurious germs and then treated chemically. The result is stated to be a product perfectly adapted to human consumption.

A party of lumberjacks camped on Lake Bemidji, near Brainerd, on the Mississippi River, turned the Christmas holiday into a period of brutal passion, states a cable message to the Sydney “Sun.” The men had been drinking wood alcohol, and had worked themselves into an insane fury. Two came to blows. They seized their lumber axes and hacked at each other like maniacs. The duel inflamed the onlookers, and they took sides, so that the struggle developed into a desperate hand-to-hand battle. Every man used his lumber axe, whirling it in his alcohol-maddened strength like a small stick. Every blow caused death or a frightful wound. The snow-covered ground was red with blood. Fourteen men were killed outright, their heads being split open by axe blows, and many others were seriously wounded.

There is little in the way of laughter to Ire derived frOra the tragic condition of Turkey. But the Pall Mall Gazette war correspondent tells a tale about the Ulster Covenant that will bear repetition:—“One amusing incident occrurcd to relieve the general atmosphere of tragedy which pervades the capital. An English Press photographer, in search of pictures, attempted to gain admittance into a sacrosanct mosque, hitherto unpolluted by the presence of an unbeliever. The Mollah in charge, who wore tho green hand round his turban denoting his direct descent from Mahomet, indignantly refused him admittance, whereupon the photographer put his hand in his pocket and produced acopy of the Ulster Covenant, which lie had carried away from Belfast as a souvenir of his photographic exploits during Sir Edward Carson’s campaign. The Covenant is printed in ancient characters on parchment, and stamped with a blood-red hand which is incidentially a sacred Mohammedan symbol. The Mollah was so impressed 'by this’ imposing document that he salaamed profoundly, and, after inviting the photographer to enter, personally conducted him round the mosque.”

Motueka, the port of one of Nelson’s most fruitful districts, has a trade which is steadily improving from year to year. The country is not much known to the tourist, notwithstanding its close rcserablance-to well-groomed English farming country. It is a solidly prosperous district. taking in Riwaka, and has none of that rough, nnkept appearance of some of the newer settlements of the North Island. For the year ended 31st December, Motueka’s exports showed substantial increases in almost every direction. It sent 086 cases of fruit, an increase for the year of 11,044 eases, 1064 bales of wool as against 803 bales b'st veer, and flax and tow and hops also showed large increases. Butter showed a decrease of 157 boxes, which is amply compensated for in 233 factory cans of cream-*-a new item of oxiwrt, and a good indication of the rapid growth of home-separation in the Motueka district. In from two to three years, judging by the greatly-increased acreage already down in fruit, the export of apples from Motueka should show an enormous increase. Sufferers from Die painful ■'fflietinno of Rheumatism, Gout, Sciatica, and Lumbago, freouently 6'- +n e' 1 :” which, of course, they fail to give t -o|->f, T T rie Arid in the Mood L rvrnctically the sole cause of RbuemaHsm, (louL and kindred diseases. RHETTMO ceres because it removes this cause. Chemists and stores, 2s Gd and 4s Td a bottle. $ fl2ii

Dr. Sidonie Weinmann, a young wo-l man physician at tho Mannheim City Hospital, has saved tlie life el a \vo- ( man patient by consenting to allow sufficient of her own blood to be taken! to arrest the anaemia from which thei patient was dying. Both the patient! and here benefactress are doing well. 1

Berlin is starting a campaign against women who persist in wearing dresses' with long trains, and the wearers are indignantly protesting. The police, have issued regulations prohibiting,! under heavy penalties, women’s dresses from .dragging along the' ground in such a way as to raise the dust.

Under the new Commomvealthi Electoral 'Act, if an eligible elector! fails to get his or her name on the. roll a fine of not exceeding £2 mayj be imposed. The Commonwealth authorities have brought the first case in Melbourne, where an elector on Tuesday was lined os as a warning to, others.' The Crown in this case ask-, ed for only a nominal penalty and no costs. But in future cases, now tha. publicity has been given to the fact, more severe penalties will be asked for.

The difficulties experienced by the postal authorities in delivering letters insufficiently addressed were exemplified recently (says the Southland News). A letter arrived at the Invercargill Post Office addressed to a name, “Church street, New Zealand.” The fact that there are 13 Church streets in various parts of the Dominion seemed an almost insurmountable obstacle, but the addressee for whom the missive was in-j tended was discovered in MastertonJ and the'letter promptly delivered. ! A new' marriage fashion was inaugu-{ rated in Paris at the wedding of Mile.l Jeanne Provost, the famous actress,! to M. Firpo. The wedding ring, in-, stead of being of gold, was. of plati-j num. In the Rue de la Paix platinum wedding rings are now offered for sale, and inquiry has elicited the explanation that platinum is a metal of better wearing qualities than gold, and therefore more appropriate for wedding rings. It is also more expensive.

Miss Dora Rodrigues, a Dutch girl of 19 years of age, daughter' of an Amsterdam diamond merchant, who is engaged ,in making a walking tour round the world, is now tramping through the United States on her way to Cuba. Her only companion is a big 38-calibre automatic revolver, which, up to the present time, however, she has had no occasion to use. Mies Rodrigues, upon her return to Holland, will probably publish her ex periences in the form of a book.

‘La Prensa,’ the leading newspapei of Buenos Ayres, has a noval and enterprising way of announcing its “extras” to the city. On the roof of ite building is a large steam siren, and whenever a startling piece ol news ie received at the office a blast ijr blown. The noise can be heard 2C miles, and because it constitutes a disturbance of the peace, the city authorities impose, a fine of £2OO fo each blast. The paper, however, con tiuues to announce its extras in thi;emphatic manner.

There were two quaint bequests h the will of John Dipple, a licensee, victualler of Leytonstone (Eng.), who died in October lajst leaving estate worth £25,799. He left two sums oi £250 each to the treasurers of Ley spring and Leyton Lodges of Freemasons, of which he had been a mem ber, on trust for investment, the pro ceeds to be applied in providing i silent toast to be proposed and drunk to memory at the annual installa r '. A\ of the worshipful master of eaci lodge. If for any reason the beques. shall be held to he'void or inoperative, then the money is to revert to tin lodges absolutely; and if or when th lodges are dissolved, then it is to hi divided equally between the Roya. Masonic Benevolent Institution, tin Royal Masonic School for Girls, ant the Royal Masonic School for Boys.

The question has been raised b} one of Sydney’s best known doctor; wnether it would not be advisable t prohibit the sale of disinfectants a. together in the interests of the lift of the community. At tUe first glance the idea seems preposterous, but ii. support it is pointed out tlpvt mam more lives are lost by disinfectant; than are saved. After all disinfectants are used in many cases to coyei a sin, and if there were no disinfectants and a more rigorous demand fo. cleanliness much better results wouk be obtained. As things now are then are dozens of deaths each year in Syd ney alone from lysol poisoning, am it is thought that if the popular _pm eon were put out of reach the suicide rate wotdd be reduced.

A Lyons designer named Marine Ohassin had to undergo an operatioi for appendicitis. After the anaesthetic had been administered the patient, according to the medical ritual, wai washed thrice with soap, with ether and with methylted spirit Whei on the point of operating the surgeor. noticed a small sore not far from tin spot where his incision had to hi made. He called for the platinun needle, as uncauterised the pimph might have infected the wound. I n fortunately, all trace of the methy lated spirits had not been remover by the compresses used for that pur pose, and the incandescent needle see the patient’s body on fire. Before the flames could be extinguished, sev eral of the vital organs were burner, to a cinder.

Sir Henry Lucy tells an anecdote about Lord Charles JBereeford’s Coin eee servant, Torn Fat. The gallant sailor brought back this ivory-coloured native from the Far East, and reposed complete confidence in his honesty, till he found that Tom had been forging cheques with his master’s sig nature and borrowing money in hit name from the club secretary. Then followed the woeful exposure of Tom Fat, and Lord Charles’s friends were wont to chaff him about the boasted fidelity of his impecable valet. '1 he sequel may best be told in Sir Henry’s own words:—One night in the House of Commons, shortly after Tom Fat’s incarceration, debate arose on tin eternal Irish Education question. Lord plunging in, confessed that he had a leaning towards denomina tional education; but the grounds o bis support of the system were no. entirely pleasing to sound Protestants. “The fact is, Mr Speaker,” he said, confidentially addressing the Chair, “it’s all a matter of birth. The majority of the Irieh people are born in the Roman Catholic faith, and they may as well be educated where its tenets are observed. If a Buddhist or Mohammedan runs straight,” he continued, “he has quite as much chance of going to heaven as I have.” There was, perhaps, something a little dubious about this way of putting it, but the House understood what Lord Charles, in his mood of large and "onerous catholicity, meant. “What about Tom Fat?” asked Mr Jimmy Lowther, seated on his corner bench below the gangway. “Fat,” Lord Charles promptly answered, “will certainly he ; n the firs.”

Before Mr Joseph McCluggage, J.P., at the Court this morning, a first offender for drunkenness was convicted and discharged. According to the Act, local land agents are carrying on an “illegal occupation.” As a matter of fact, lnnv-j ever, they have, ns yet, had no chancel of registering, and their applications cannot be heard before Friaay next. |

A petition is being circulated in the southern portion of the Borough praying that tne site of the diseased stock paddock be shifted. The petition will be presented to the Hospital Board at its next meeting to be forwarded on to the authorities.

“He’s as grey as a badger, but he can run like anything yet,” The question of whet tier a man can “come back” in the sporting sense is a moot one, but it is interesting to record the case of a man who never am come oacK, but kept at tire game. “Tommy” Taylor is well known throughout the Stratford district in the athletic world, this one-time speedy athlete having scooped many prizes in the past. Now, at an age| bordering on fifty, T.E.T. is still on the track, his name appearing in the prize list of the \V hangamomona sports as having won the 220yds handicap, and being third in the 440yds. To he able to run a decent quarter and appear as lively as a kitten on the track at the age of half a century is quite the exception. A soldier belonging to the 70th Regiment, quartered at Nitre (Ille-et-Vilaine) had a singular adventure. He came hack to barracks in a state of hilarity, and did not answer to hisj name at roll-call. As it was known that he had not gone out, a search, was instituted. While the, exploring parties were making a round of the, kitchen a soldier holding a torch I slipped and plunged his hand into a| mess caldron used for preparing thej regimental soup. With a cry he drew I it out. When his comrades came up they could hardly believe their eyes. There up to his neck in water, sitting surrounded by cabbages and potatoes, was the missing soldier. He suddenly arose, leapt over the side ol tho vat, and clashed out of the kitchen, adds the ‘Mail’ Paris correspondent. He was found later hiding in a cup board. Questioned regarding Ins adventure, he could not say whether he got into the caldron to take a hath or to hide himself.