LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 72, 30 July 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ Mr W. Say we! I, well-known throughout this district, has commenced business as a land agent at Midhirst.

The Fire Brigade at its meeting last night left in the hands of Captain Grubb the placing of the United Fire Brigades’ Association shield for Taranaki provincial district in some suitable window for exhibition.

At the annual meeting of the Taranaki Jockey Club it was stated in the Committee’s report that the stakes for'the last season had increased by £265. It had been decided to inaugurate a weight-for-age race to be styled “The First Taranaki Stakes” for which £SOO had been allotted. This race would be included in the 1915 Cup meeting, and would be raced on the second day.

Three trophies are to be competed for on August 7th by members of the Fire Brigade—Hallenstein Bros’, barometer, the Bishara Cup and the Burgess Cup. Captain Grubb and ExCaptain Kivell have been appointed judges. To date the following entires have been received:—Lieut. Wilson, Foreman Burgess, Branchmen Boon, Evans, and Davis, Firemen A. E. Gorton, T. J. Gorton, Bradley, Crossan, Milner, and Bennett and Secretary Drake.

“Sand your shoes, kid, in case you ( slip,” is the comment of one of a I party of Americans in the Christchurch I Tourist Bureau visitors* book. The I visitors come from Portland City, which is in Oregon. One of them thinks Christchurch, is just “the main squeeze,” whilst another characterises I it as “the real guy.” “Pleasant memo- ' rids” come to an Englishwoman when f she thinks of this city, but a Sydneyite considers Christchurch is a “very slow business place,” whilst another visitor from the New South Wales capital bewails the fact that the “glad eye is a stranger here.” Those intending to attend the Fire Brigade social to-morrow evening can rest easy as regards the condition of the floor, as the whole Brigade has been instructed to muster at the Town Hall this evening to attend to the matter of putting the floor in firstclass condition. It was at first intended to auction the supper baskets, but this course has now been decided against. The following gentlemen have been appointed to carry out the duties of MX. : Lieut- Wilson, Foreman Burgess, Firemen Davis and A. E. Gorton and Secretary Drake.

[ Mr Gallichan, secretary of the New Zealand Poultry Championships, Ltd., passed through Stratford last night and had a short conference with members of the local Poultry Society. He stated that the body ho represented was making good progress. He intends shortly to publish in pamphlet form a report of his connection with the recent meeting of tho North Island Poultry Association, at which he was the central figure in some stormy scenes. At an early date Mr Gallichan intends to spend an evening in Stratford to thoroughly discuss j tin' championships question with local i

The crew of H.M.S. New Zealand suffered tremendously from the heat

during that vessel’s recent visit to Fiji. “Sweltering in it,” was the cxp res si on used to describe the position. An indication of the difficulty being experienced at this time of the year by many people to “make both ends meet,” was given a Christchurch Press reporter by a city clergyman, who remarked that he was just now standing between eight people and their landlords. A Woodville resident was an applicant for one of the sections at the ballot for the Mangatainoka Block The Land Board rejected his application because he was the possessor of 120 acres of land. The applicant us a married man, and is the father cf 12 children, most of whom are pretty well grown up.

The irresponsible inquisitiveness of

a small boy the other day succeeded in placing the public vaccinator at Gisborne in an embarrassing position. With some companions, the lad was loitering about the shop whero vaccination was being carried out, and he sauntered in to the scene of operations, with the result that lie was treated as a free patient and went home with a lanced arm. The parents, who are consistent objectors to

vaccination under any circumstances, were considerably aggrieved, and it was some time before the medical man was able to explain the error which he had unwittingly committed.

The need for exercising the most extreme caution with regard to poisonous liquids was proved on Tuesday tsays the Ashburton Guardian), when an Ashburton resident had a narrow escape from death by poisoning. It appeal’s that he had several bottles of medicine, included in the collection being a bottle of similar size and shape containing a virulent poison. While hurriedly taking a dose of what he thought was a tonic, he very soon began to feel very queer, and acquainted the lady of the house as to his condition ; she quickly adminsitercd an emetic, which, fortunately, had the desired effect. A medical man was called in, and soon discovered symptoms of poisoning. Subsequent investigations proved that the sufferer bad taken a dose of poison large enough to kill four men.

A Stratford resident lias received the following interesting details of the work at the Lake Coleridge hydroelectric works in a letter from a Canterbury resident. • The Lake Coleridge job is not nearly finished yet, and I think it will take a long time to complete it. There are ten engines hauling material and coal up there at, present, so things are p-ectv lively. It will be a great . concern u hen finished. There is a mile and a quaiter of tunnel eight feet square which taps the lake twenty Let !im!>w the surface. There is a double line of four and a half foot pipes leading from the outlet to the power-house (about sixty chains) with a fall of 450 ft into the turbines, so it should give some power, i lie tunnel is not nearly finished. They are just starting to get into position the pipes, some of which weigh three tons. A start has been made on the walls of the power-house, which is in reinforced concrete. There are a thousand transmission poles at Coalgate, but more are distributed along the line, so it can be seen that thcSfe is a lot of work to do yet.”

It was announced the other day that A\ illiamsons had arranged to have a “revue” brought to Australia. The revue is a late development of London Music Hall programmes and is of a ' sufficiently elastic type to allow of almost anything being brought into the compass of an evening’s entertainment. On it<fe topical side many aspects of Londo* life have been cleverly hit off—the impostance of being an actormanager, tlie suffragists, hotel life, street scenes, the London • County Council, and what not. Perhaps the funniest thing of all in a recent revue was a rehearsal before the censor of a new play, with all the leading dramatists of the day in anxious attendance, and Mr Hall Caine amongst them, murmuring at intervals, “There have only been two great men; the other was Shakespeare.” The author of the play, one of the advanced type, of course, explains to the censor that lie has been careful to engage only music hall artists to appear in it whereupon the leading lady protests against her connection with suefi a dialogue on the ground that she is really a respectable acrobat. The rehearsal itself, most cleverly played, is a shriek from beginning to end. At critical situations one or other actor searches frantically for the manuscript, the clock which gives a “1 a.m.” cue to the villain strikes 14, the dramatist meanwhile gestulating violently, while the other great playwrights sit round agreeing that a splendid situation would be secured by the husband’s unexpected return home. This he obligingly achieves?, and is on the point of strangling his wife when he, too, forgets Ids part, and has to look it up; Tn the end the censor condemns the play on the ground that although he knows nothing about the drama, he is an architect, and he does know that (lie erring wife’s bedroom could not possibly stand upright where the author has placed it. If all the revues are ns good as this one, the gaiety of London is assured for a while longer.

The Ngaere factory will open to receive milk on Friday.

It is understood (says the Wymlham (Southland) Herald) that the Wyndham Dairy Factory Company has sold its cheese output for bid on trucks, • Wyndham. This is the best local price so far.

The Roman Catholics of Eltharn have purchased a section in Stunners street (in which the Town Hall stands) and on it will bo erected the proposed Convent. The Argus states that the church and schorl will also in' removed

from Jur.l p.'C j r. i»,i-v.n i.> lies site.

Mr P. Skoglund has been selected as referee for the Taranaki A. v. B. match to be played on the Showgrounds tomorrow afternoon. A good game can be looked for as the B. touring team is to be picked on the day’s play.

The Rev. P. Clarkson, official lecturer to the Bible-in-Schools League was in Stratford yesterday arranging

for a campaign in tue Stratford dis--0 trict, which he will commence on behalf of the League on August 9th. In the following week a public meeting will be held, of .which particulars will be duly announced.

A satisfactory trial of benzine from the New Plymouth oilfields was made yesterday morning, when Mr C. A. Wilkinson, in his motor car, charged with Taranaki benzine, picked up Mr H. Okey, M.P., at Aramoho, and, leaving there at the same time as the train arrived in Wellington fifty minutes ahead of it.

The superintendent of the AntiCruelty to Animals’ Society in Chicago is endeavouring to remove the popular prejudice against horse flesh as an article of diet. One way in which he hopes to achieve this object is by means of a banquet at which horse flesh will be the principal dish. The superintendent points out that the popularising of horse meat will prevent much cruelty. Chicago, he says, has 250,000 horses which will last on an average five years before disabled. In his opinion the horses, after five years, should be butchered for food instead of being worked longer.

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year at the annual meetting of the Eltham Chamber of Commerce : President, Mr J. McVeagh; Vice-president, Mr G. H. Buckeridge; secretary and treasurer, Mr )l Ci Carman; council:—Messrs J. L. Weir, Jj. Hill, E. C. Goldstone, R* J. Carter, H. W. Bovis, G. D. Gow. 0. E. Flyger, H. Burdekin, and the Hon. W. Carncross M.L.C.; auditor, Mr Burdekin. The Chamber ban now a membership of 46, and the funds in hand amount to £4.

Owing to the effects of vaccination, the attendance at the Stratford High School has fallen off very considerably, ae many as 160 to 200 being absent each day. The chairman of the School Committee (Mr P. Skoglund), and Mr R. 'Masters (member of the Edu cation Board) conferred on the matter this morning and , decided that the primary school be closed till Monday next so as to give the children a few days in which to get over the vaccination trouble.