LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 98, 2 May 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

.Tikati; the- .fish that precedes thefrost fish; are now fairly plentiful, on the Otaki-beach, and on Sunday several fine specimens were fofund. '

“Whatever are things coming to,” asked Mr Kenrick, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court this morning, in addressing the Court in a case where a Toko publican was charged with serving liquor to youths under 21. “We used to hear of these boys’ nipping shandies, but now it’s a whisky straight!”

A cat belonging to Mr E. Duffin, of Stoke llochford, Lines, after being missed for three weeks, has been found alive in a dry well, into which it had evidently fallen. It was very emaciated and weak, but it recovered.

Tli© rainfall at “Riversdale,” Inglewood, for April, 1913, as supplied by Miss N. Trimble, observer, is as follows; —April 1, nil; 2, .02; 3, .06; 4, nil; 5, .13; 6, .09; 7, .02; 8, .01; 9, 10, 11, nil; 12, .15; 13, 1.88; 14, .23; 15, nil; 16, .01; 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, nil; 26, .50; 27, 28, 29, nil; 30, .01. Total 3.11 inches.

When HALS. New Zealand was in Wellington the residents witnessed a brilliant electric illumination, no fewer than 3600 16-candle-power bulbs being used in the outlining of the vessel apart from those used in the composition of the crown. The warship was illuminated in the manner adopted by the fleet at the time of the important naval reviews at Spithead, and the sight was certainly the finest of its kind ever seen in the Wellington Harbour.

At Gore on Monday night the electric light was turned on after an absence of over four weeks, due to the damage to the generators-at Mataura by the flood. The “Ensign” has compiled a list of the houses, business premises, and factories that were inundated on March 29. It shows that 405 private dwellings, 172 business premises, churches, etc., were affected out of approximately 700 habitable buildings in the borough.

“The fear of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is very real with some people, and therefore very effective,” writes the Kaimiro correspondent of the Tara-

naki Herald. A man who had to drown some superfluous kittens got a tnh of warm water to drown them in, observing that no charge of cruelty could he laid against him, because tin' kittens would rather enjoy it.

At the Magistrate’s Court this morning, before Mr Kenrick, S.M., judgment by default was entered in the following eases: —1). Steven (Mr Thomson) v. E. E. Ritchie, claim J2s Cd and costs £1 9s; Mcßaiu and Childs (Mr Wright) v. H. Taylor, claim £ll 13s and costs £2 IGs Gd; Charlie Lockwood (Mr Thomson) v. Charles MePhee, claim £lO Is Gd, and costs £3; P, Hannah and Co. (Mr Spratt) v. Arthur John Hill, claim £1 Is lid, and costs los. In the judgment summons ease Scott and Jackson (Mr Thomson) v. William Sharrock, claim £3 19s, there was no appearance of the judgment debtor, who was ordered to pay the amount forthwith in default one week’s imprisonment,

Messers W. Secular and Co., of Dunedin, made a discovery when they opened a eas e which should have contained twelve bottles of whiskey. I iie case had been opened at toe other end of the world, the bottles extracted, and in their stead the thief had placed a large piece of rock, an old coat and two Glasgow newspapers. I lesumably the pilfering had taken place before the whisky was shipped at Glasgow. This is not the only Dunedin linn that has suffered lately at the hands of the pilferer.

At the Huntley Police Court on Monday, Thomas Tabrum was charged with having shot a pheasant out of season. The case was conducted by the police, who stated that Ladrum was seen to deliberately shoot a pheasant a few yards in front of the house of the man who had reared them. The birds were quite tame. The accused pleaded guilty, and was lined £G lbs, in default one month’s imprisonment. The presiding justice characterised the offence as a most contemptible one.

A remarkable natural phenomenon was observed by a golfer playing on Richmond Hill at Sumner the other day. The weather was foggy and the sun was not far from setting. The golfer was just about to play when, on glancing towards the Scarborough lighthouse, he beheld a life-like representation of himself standing in the foreground, encircled by a rain-bow-like halo. Motion on his part produced a corresponding motion by the figure on the opposite hill, and the golfer realised that it was really caused by the well-known effect of the sun, mist, and shadow, resulting in tire “Spectre of Broiken” phenomenon.

Mount Xgauruhoe, which has been very quiet for some time past, was very active early this week. From the Raurimu side the sight was a grand one. Dense volumes of smoke issued from the crater, and the rising sun tinted the edges of the clouds with crimson, giving the phenomenon the appearance of being the reflection from some great conflagration. The eruption continued for several hours, and the volcano was active for the greater part of the day. Passengers by the southward express were treated to some splendid views of the mountain in eruption, and the weather being beautifully fine’and clear, the sight was a grand one from variotis points along the 'line.

Perhaps the most colossal error that < has ever occurred iin the history of postage stamps ,has just happened- in tne United Estates, Xto commemorate ■ the opening of the Panama , Canal i a now series of four values was prepared, namely: Ic., green, portrait of Balboa, the first man to cross the isthmus to the Pacific, 1513; 2c., red, view of the Gatun locks in the new canal; 5c., blue, view of the Golden Gate; 10c., orange, picture depicting the discovery oJ San 1* rancisco Bay. The one, five;, and ten cents appeared, and it, was then found that the picture on .t|ie ; 2c. stamp was a view of San Pedro Miguel locks, instead of the Gatun locks, though the stamp was inscribed with the latter name. The Government immediately withdrew the whole printing consisting of more than 20,000,000 stamps, and destroyed them, and a new printing has been recently completed showing the view of San Pedro Miguel as on the error, but inscribed “Panama Canal.”

For some time past frequent complaints have been made by owners of local motor launches and pleasure boats regarding missing material (says the Southland News), and one of the culprits, a boy of about 16 years, who has evidently been carrying out the practice systematically, was brought to justice. No less than live separate charges were preferred against him, and as a result of his wrongdoing he was committed to the boys’ training home at Weraroa. It was explained that the value of the stolen goods was about £7 10s, and that the lot had been purchased by a second-hand dealer for about ss. The magistrate commented very strongly on the action of the dealer in question, ' and suggested that further inquiries should be made into the matter. Another juvenile case, heard at Invercargill, showed that two boys, one 10 and the other 11 years of age, had been influenced by moving pictures’ dramas. They had stolen from various stores good valued at £1 10s, and had apparently intended to build a hut on one of the reserves with a view to setting up a Red Indian camp.

A case of wanton destruction of property is (the Oamaru Mail reports) causing lively interest in Livingstone and the surrounding districts. The fluming for the water race supply, the property of the Mountain Hut Water* Pace Company, has been wilfully battered down by rolling heavy boulders upon a considerable section of it. The damage was done at the lowest point of a deep dip in the iron tubing, and four men have been endeavouring to repair the damage. The pipes are about 2ft Gin in diameter, and an ugly washout was caused on the hilside before the water could be cut off. In addition to the apparently objectless vandalism, the camp hut and outhouses upon the property have been burnt down, The hut was of unlined iron, and must have been most difficult to set alight. So far mystery surrounds the perpetrators of this outrage. It would appear, however, that it. was directed against the owners of the property through which the pine line passes, whose stock would ho seriously inconvenienced by the stoppage of water, and not against the Water Race Company.

We hold one sale each year. This is oar third, and it is our intention to make it eclipse all previous sales. Charles E. James,. Broadway.

There were no deaths in Stratford last month. Births totalled twentytwo, and marriages four.

The weather yesterday prevented all outdoor sports from being played, and also proved too turbulent for the devotees of the gun, though several local spotsmen secured good bags in the morning.

i traveller by the New Plymouth to Stratford yesterday has a complaint to make. He strenuously objects at having to sit in a seconded *i smoker along with nineteen Maoris, all eating dried shark.

For violent behaviour in a railway carriage, and breaking a window, Edward Flynn and Frank Davis were at the Stratford Court this morning, before Mr Kenrick, S.M., lined £2 5s and £3 5s respectively, with costs 14s in each case, in default fourteen days’ imprisonment in New Plymouth gaol.

The citizens ball in the Auckland Town Hall last night, in honour of the officers of H.M.S. New Zealand, was attended by fully 1000 people, of whom about 700 were dancing. The function was one of the most brilliant and successful here. The Earl and Countess of Liverpool, the Prime Minister (Mr Massey), the Hon. MiBell were present. The Press Association message adds: At noon to-day 250 men from the warship were entertained at luncheon in the Town Hall. •