LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 77, 8 April 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

German subjects are vaccinated during the first few months of life, again on reaching the age of 12, and all males a third time on commencing their term of compulsory military scr-

The Royal Agricultural Society of England has arranged for a milking machine competition, to start on April 22nd, and has voted £4OO to cover the cost. Seventeen machines have been entered, including Australian and New Zealand makes.

A rare coin has been unearthed in an old stone house, once an hotel, at West End (states the Mudgee correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph). It is a Wellington coin, and the reverse side is engraved with the following inscription: “Born May Ist, 1769; died September 14th, 1852.”

Characteristic Russian proverbs quoted in the Petite Republique are reproduced in the Mail as follows: Choose a woman with your ears, not with your eyes. Heaven sends us walnuts, but does not crack them. The man capable of making a fortune in a year deserves to be hung twelve months earlier. ' You should not sow seeds if you are afraid of sparrows.

It is usual for balance-sheets of sporting organisations to show a deficit, and for the annual report to pull a very poor mouth thereon. In the face of this, the report of the Stratfoixl Football Club makes refreshing reading. “Financially the Club is in a very strong position, having cash in hand and in the bank amounting to £62 6s 9d.”

The Federal Government recently asked, through the usual official sources, if the King would lay the foundation stone of the new Commonwealth Offices in London, and a cable message has been received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies that fhe King had intimated that it would give him much pleasure to perform the ceremony. The date has not yet been fixed.

At Meadi, a suburb of Cairo, is a sunpower plant of unusual interest. It consist of five refletcors each 204 feet long, the cross-section of which is, in the form of a parabola, with the generator units at the focus. The lastnamed are of zinc, built of rectangular sections 14in wide. To render them efficient they are painted with a black paint-, of high heat-absorbing capacity. The water is introduced at the lower end, ajid the generator at ; its upper end is provided with a steam connection 4jn .in diameter. The reflectors arq, Jined with' silvered glass mirrors. The plant works best at a pressure slightly below' the atmosphere!

, | .The Southland. County Council are repairing the roads and bridges destroyed by the recent disastrous floods. Forty-eight teams are engaged between Lumsden and Mataura. By the end of last week it was hoped that the Oreti river, where it has encroached on the western side of Lumsden, would, be induced to return to the old course, thus .obviating the danger of flooding. f}ie town in the meantime. Mr G. ,J. Anderson, M.P., received a telegram, from the Prime Minister in response to a request for a special loan of £SOOO to repair the flood damage in the principal streets of the town of Mataura, stating that, considering the special circumstances, the loan would be granted.

The report that the scarlet fulldress uniform is shortly to be abolished for the whole of the British Army tineluding the Marines, but excepting the Guards), and that the khaki fieldservice dress will bo made to do service upon all occasions in future, raises (says the military correspondent of the Standard) a few very important questions. At a time when all Euro pean nations were still in favour oi the ordinary visible uniforms—that is. at the close of the South African campaign—the British Army made the first essay in the direction of nvisibility by adopting kharki. Now, when a decided reaction is commencing (as a result of the Balkan campaign) in favour of the old system, and when the most progressive of modern armies —that of France—seems likely to pronounce in favour of retaining the conspicuous blue coat and red breeches of tradition, we are proceeding yet further in the direction of invisibility, and abolishing even such ornamental conspicuousness as remained to us. *

'At Lord Rothschild’s sale of Shire horses at Tring, England, in February, 32 colts and fillies were disposed of for the remarkable total of 13,839 guineas. The record price for a Shire horse was likewise obtained. Says the Mark Lane Express:—“The two-year-old stallions, of which there were nine, included the plum of the sale, Champion’s Goalkeeper; This two-year-old horse has grown on wonderfully since last year, when he was first and reserve champion at the Doncaster Royal Show. He is a big impressive colt with a sufficiency of hair of the right type and plenty of bone. Started at 1000 guineas, bids came fast amid cheers, and exceeded the 2000, 3000, and 4000 guinea mark, and following upon this, Sir W. Greenwell bid 4100 guineas, with the result that he became the purchaser. The figure is a record for any Shire horse sold either publicly or privately. The previous best was 3700 guineas, paid for Tatton Dray King by Messrs Whitley. It must, however, be borne in mind that the latter was a matured horse, and one with several lucrative engagements for the season. Champion’s Goalkeeper, on the other hand, is but two years old, and should have a great future as a sire.” Ladies! Warner’s Corsets are comfortable—guaranteed so—they shape fashionably. The bones cannot rust or can the fabric tear. Order now. Local drapers, a

The supplementary district electors’ list for the Stratford borough closes definitely at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 16th instant.

At the weight-guessing competition on the first day of the East Road Dog Trials, Mr O'Neill, of Te Wera guessed the exact weight, 1141 b.

The annual meeting of householders will be held in the several school districts on Monday, April 28th, at 7 p.m., for the purpose of electing duly nominated persons as members of school committees for the ensuing year. Particulars in connection with the election appear in another column.

The sale of the late Dr Harrison’s furniture on Saturday was attended by people from all parts of Taranaki, and Messrs Gillies and Nalder had a most successful sale. Messrs Hobbs and Nailer wielded the hammer alternately. The bidding was spirited and, taking the.average, the prices realised were wonderfully good. I

The Hawera Sports and Pastimes Club has decided to hold Boxing and Wrestling competitions on May 14th and loth (under the rules of the N.Z.A.B.A. An .excellent programme has been arranged and entries will close on May 9th with Mr E. Gallagher, the Club’s lion, secretary.

Visitors to the East Road Sheep Dog Trial Chib’s meeting last week speak in high praise of the excellence of all the arrangements and of the good sport provided by this flourishing young club. It is only fair to say that Mr B. Boyle’s excellent work as secretary had much to do with the success attained. - All the members of the club, however, are enthusiasts, and none of them begrudge the time devoted to the Club’s affairs. Enraged over something the local newspaper had printed about him, a ■subscriber hurst into the editor’s office in search of the responsible reporter. “Who are you?” he demanded, glaring at th 6 editor, who was also the main stockholder. “I’m the newspaper,” was the calm reply. “And who are you?” he next inquired, turning his resentful gaze, on the choco-late-colored devil clearing out the waste basket. “Me?” replied the darky, grinning from ear to ear, “Ah guess ah’s the cul’ud supplement.” At the close ,-f tie fot’.nightly me bring of the Oddfellows Lodge in ■ the Foresters’ Hall last- night, the turned euchre party took plaice,when there was r fair muster present colli-bring the very cold night. 1W ladies’ prizd was won by Mis d Scott, with Miss M. O’Connor secon i after the play off. The gentleman’s prize was annexed ■ by Mr J. Mcßride, Messrs Tocker, Bu rgess and Scoft tying for second place; and the play-off resulted in fav- / pur, of, the: latter. ‘ ’'The %ooby prizes were annexed by ,Mrs McQuay arid Mr T. Lawson. A capital supper was provided by Mrs Brooking, and was much appreciated.

The absurdity of the harbour regulations affecting craft in ‘rivers was demonstrated at the Dunedin Police Court on Friday during the hearing of * charges against John A. Kharstbn And Samucd for -having cairfi'M r ~ ! more passengers on their'launches than their licenses 1 permitted. It was staf- 1 ‘ ed on behalf of the Marine Department (says the Star) that on craft such as ths launches that ply on the Taieri river it was necessary for each boat to carry lifebelts for one-third of the number of passengers. Mr Widdowson, S.M., queried as to what the two-thirds who could not get lifebelts would do if a serious accident occurred. None of the numerous Cufc- ■ toms and Marine Department officials in court proffered a reply. The obvious answer was “sink or swim,” or “the law’s a hass.”

A peculiar case in connection with seed oats has occurred at Orangeville (N.S.W.) Twelve months ago two farmers, Messrs C. Duck and Hoskisson, sowed about ten bags of Algerian oats, which was said to have come from New Zealand (says the Daily Telegraph). The season at the time was favourable, but the sowing was a total failure, merely a grain at intervals of yards coming up. The land was reploughed and sown again. A crop of hay was harvested in due course in the spring. Idle land was again ploughed last month, and to the amazement of the two farmers, after the rains of a fortnight ago, the seed that was sown a year ago came up thick enough for a crop. The hay that was harvested in the spring was cut green, and no seed fell from it. Besides, a part of Mr Hoskisson’s crop was eaten bare by rabbits, and in this particular place the seed is now up as thick as anywhere else.

The purchase by the Government of land for closer settlement at Tariki is being made the subject of newspaper correspondence, and the ‘Tariki deal” is likely to be given as much publicity as the “railway deal.” A Stratford land agent this morning told a reporter that although ho was of the opinion that too much had been paid for the railway section, he faded to see that the Government Had made anything but a very good bargain over the Tariki property. He had on his books land which adjoined this property, and for which £25 an acre was offered; he had sold a farm within a few chains of the property at £25 an acre. In paying £l4 an acre, the Government had made an excellent deal. With regard to the noxious weeds on the property, the land agent remarked that the blackberry was growing for the most part on level land, where it could be mme easily removed, and was therefore no very great detriment to the value of the property. For children’s hacking cough at night Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure, U Cd, 2s Od.

The isolation ward of the Stratford Hospital received its first patient the other day, and now there are three patients in the new building--two cases of measles, and one or suspected scarlet fever.

Adjutant McCaulay, who has done service in the Salvation Army as an oificei for over 20 years, will conduct a special meeting in the Salvation Armv Barracks to-morrow night.

; The pianola is probably the most ;■ wonderful modern invention the musiI; CI<I 4>‘orkl has seen, and it will be interesting to our readers to learn that Mr L. E. Hoffmann has arranged to ‘ give Pianola Recitals' at Mr T. G. Grubbbs music warehouse all day on Tuesday next, April 15th. HkL . The Stratford Municipal Band is 1 practising assiduously for the hand 1 competitions to be held in Auckland at Exhibition time, the band having entered for the B grade. Funds will bo necessary, and it has been decided to hold a big concert in the middle of next month. Captain La in pen has very kindly consented to assist the band with the concert programme and something really good can consequently bo expected. Captain J. C. T. Glossop has been ■elected to command the cruiser Sydney, the second of the cruisers for the Australian fleet unit. Captain Glossop was in Sydney on H.M.S. CalHope after she had passed through the destructive storm which swept over Apia, Samoa, in 1889. Of all the ships in the Samoan Harbour at the time, the Calliope was the only one to weather the gale. Captain Glossop was a midshipman at the time. Afterwards he served on H.M.S. Royalist as lieutenant, and was in Samoa during the complications of 1899. He attained his seniority as captain in June, 1911.

Mr N. J. King, whose accident was reported in yesterday’s issue, was more badly injured than it was at first thought. Mr King was bicycling against a’ strong head wind, and did not. notice an approaching milk eart, with the result that the shaft of the cart struck him in the ribs, and threw him clear of the wheels. On examination, Dr. Steven found that one rib had been badly injured, and it will be some , time, before Mr King will be completely recovered from the effects

ojf the accident. In the meantime, southern ratepayers are asking if Mr King is still of the opinion that the bridge should not be widened! As one ratepayer remarked: “We must have our little joke, although we regreat to hear Mr King’s accident, | , and trust he >yill soon be about , again as actjyp gs ever.” ( , Four Stratford young men who stopped a runaway horse in Fenton Street 'are determined tha.i 'in future they will leave such acts to the police arid the Boy Scouts, whose uniform protect them from being mistaken for “horse rustlers,” The facts as related to a representative of this papfir, were that the 'Stratfordians noticed a ! horse tethered to a verandah post, I and a little later encountered the same horse hqmewm|; ,bound, but without i, Jts rider. Q,ne of then? mounted trie r apimal, andj was, returning it to where [ ,it had when he was met I by the owner, vyho qccnsed him of taking a free ride, • and expressed the hope, that disaster, would befall the ' v man who; dared to take liberties /with iiis* steed; It was in vain that the four .young men protested that they were doing the "“good Samaritan” act. Thus is virtue, rewarded ! It seems almost certain that, from the position as disclosed there will be no poll ih Stratford- on tire , half-holiday question., The solicitor to the Stratford Borough Council (Mr T. C. Fookes) has given it as his opinion that the new roll, closed on February 15th, and certified to by the Council on March 10th of this year, should have been used as the basis of calculation for the Saturday petition. Notwithstanding this, however, Mr P. Skoglund (Town Clerk) this morning told a reporter that there were not sufficient names on the petition to make it valid, owing to the fact that many of those people who had signed the petition only applied for enrolment since the main roll was certified to by the Council, and that these names have not yet been taken into consideration, as the supplementary roll has not yet been compiled. The matter will be finally decided by the Stratford Borough Council on Monday evening next. v** i" Writing editorially on the question of the Opunake railway, the Taranaki Daily News says; “What appeals to us as being the right thing to do is to make the junction at Stratford (which is already the junction for the Main Trunk line), carry the line through Kaponga to Kapuni, thence westward, following the route of the proposed Te Roti line to Opunake. Fron Kapuni ,the line could be continued so.uth to Manaia. The proposal as set out would serve the whole of the country from Stratford downward through the plains, and the only departure from the Commissioners’ recommendations would be the elimination of about eight miles of i 3 proposed T© Roti rout© westwara from the main line, and the country through which this portion of the line would run would be well served by the present main line in conjunction with the Stratford deviation. Furthermore, the suggested junctions as suggested by the Commissioners, and would have the added, merit of not disturbing the continuity of the line round the mountain to Moturoa.” Two Guineas for four lines of poe-j try! Read Tonking’s Linseed Emulsion intimation ©very Saturday! amoxigit news items. x