LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 85, 14 August 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Brethren of the Mystic Craft entertain their friends at an invitation ball in the Town Hall to-night, under the auspices of Lodge Stratford, N.Z.C.

Owing to the visit of the Hon. W. Fraser to Whangamomona the Whangamomona bachelors plain and fancy dress ball has been postponed to Thursday, August 21st.

By speial order, at a special meeting of the Stratford County Council held yesterday, St. John’s wort was formally declared a noxious weed in the County.

The ink plant at New Granda is a curiosity. The juice of it can be used as ink without any preparation. At first the writing is red, but after a few hours it changes to black.

Despite the very wet weather on Monday night, there was a large number of members present at the newlyformed Lodge Triumph, J.0.0.F., A.C.. in the hall in Juliet Street, and the meeting was very successful.

Pelorns Jack, who has been missing from liis old hannbs, or a fish very lilco him, is reported to have been seen by the crew of tire steamer Rakiura last week, about four or five miles above the Nelson Lighthouse.

At a meeting of the Beautifying Society last night it was decided to plant the north hank of the Patea River below Victoria bridge, and Messrs Thomson and Morison were appointed a suh-eommittoe to act in coninnetion with the Borough Council committee in the matter of treeplanting in the streets.

It is not often that persons are met with exactly the same surname and initials, especially if the surname is not a common one hy any means. A Wellington establishment had occasion to sue a customer for an amount due. and the defendant’s name, even to the initials, was the same as that of a former manager of the concern, who is now in business for himself in Wellington and who had to publish a disclaimer under the somewhat peculiar circumstances.

A London cablegram states that the Commonwealth has engaged sixty picture theatres in the provinces to exclusively show Australian films during the winter months.

A case presenting some peculiar feature's came before Mr E. Page, 8.M.. at the Magistrate’s Court last week (writes the Whangarei correspondent of tlie New Zealand Herald). A man named illiam Conaghan was charged with causing the destruction wilfully of a valuable sporting dog, the property of James W. Burdctt, an hotelkeeper. From the evidence tendered it appeared that the accused took the dog to a chemist’s shop, and, on representing the animal to be his property, he induced the chemist to administer a fatal dose of prussic acid. The accused pleaded guilty to the charge, hut lie declined to disclose the motive of his action. He was sentenced to a month’s imprisonment without the option of a fine.