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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 90, 16 December 1913, Page 4

Mr P. Beere, Inspector of Stock f

the Taranaki district, visited Durban Road yesterday and innoculated 53 chives against blackleg. To-day h is at Denbigh Road, to-morrow he wil visit Kahonri Bridge, and on Thursday he will be at Webster, Dobson am Co.’s yards, Stratford from 9.30 a.m

to 12.30 p.m. for the purpose of in noculation. In an advertisement ir another column Mr Beere draws attention to the penalty provided for bread of the blackleg regulations.

.! Among the cyclists competing at the Eltham Carnival will be “Jnni- ; ho” Wells, one of the world’s .; best, who holds the world’s i i tance of 15 miles unpaced in America. • besides holding several other good perj formances. He has held track records for distances •from 1 mile up to 100 miles. Wells, who is a New Zealander and well-known to the public, has raced in many big races in Australia, America, England and the Continent. Other i first class competitors who will be competing arc Jones, Donald, Hamm, Orillia, Danielson and Jamieson. A fashionably-dressed woman, ac- , companied by a male and a pet pig, to which was attached a pink ribbon ! used as a chain, caused amusement, disgust and indignation in Castlereagh j Street, Sydney, last week. Of the j three the pig was the only one to look ashamed. Ho appeared to feel his posi--1 tion keenly. He is a well-bred pig. When the woman was not addressing baby language to her pet, she was leading it through a crowd which increased in numbers. To it, she said, “Come along Fido.” “Am I blithered. Bill; it’s a pig, fair dinkum, ain’t it?” asked an onlooker anxiously of his companion. “You’re all right,” was the reassuring response. “Strike me fat, it’s a pig sure enough. If my Annie was to take one of ’em out with her I’d get work.” The woman, the pig, and her other companion were now receiving embarrassing attention. They disappeared in a cab. ~ ...

The sum of £25,000 appears iu the Supplementary Estimates as provision for the cost of coping with the smallpox epidemic. An allowance of £l4O is granted to Dr. et' Rangihiroa for services rendered amongst the natives. -«s On hoard H.M.S. Byramus, which is now in Lyttelton, is a leading seaman named Donald Becday, who is the champion wrestler iu the Hoot in Australasian waters. He has issued a challenge to anyone in New Zealand for a wrestling match, and is prepared to give a stone in the con-, test. A party of five gentlemen returning to Eltham from the direction of Stratford in Air Gower’s car on Sunday' evening met with an accident when ~ approaching the town. It is staff'd that the car skidded and one of the hack wheels broke and the front axle snapped. Fortunately (says the Argus) the party kept their seats and noone was injured.

The aim of the modern magazine publisher is to specialise, not to scatter. He does not, if lie is wise, try to cover all earth and sea and sky with its contents bill, or to appeal to every class and age. Two magazines that illustrate this point have arrived. They are “Life” and “Everylady’s •Journal” for December. The former appeals specially to busy men, and the latter to busy housewives.

For the destruction of flies a New Zealander has invented a novel method of utilising sunny windows for the trapping and killing of the insects. A small tin frame to fit in the frame of the windows is made, and it carries a little tray that fits close up to the glas§. Ihe tray is filled with kerosene, the fumes of which rise under the heat of the sun. Flies walking on the glass are overcome by the fumes of the kerosene and fall into the tray. The invention has been tried in Oamaru, and has been regarded as a success.

It is sometimes remarkable (says a Wairarapa paper), the lack of knowledge displayed by the average person in regard to bird species. A full-grown bird was picked up in the Masterton Park a day or two ago, and an argument cropped up as to what species it belonged. One was convinced that it was a thrush, ‘while another contended emphatically that it was a blackbird. An appeal to about a dozen passersby elicited various replies, embracing positive assertions that the bird was a thrush, starling, blackbird, yonng pheasant, sparrow, bull-finch, and robin. ; It was finally decided that the bird was a thrush: ■ i

The i Glut I) a Leader reports a re- 1 markable instance of sagacity in aim mals winch wasi evidenced, ih an dc-1 pi dent to ,a young man at Phi t Molyneus. 'i The. young, maim wasf pirtned" b,eni?ath a tree im which die-'ohtnbs' - of a pair of horses were entangled, and while one horse was steady the other was very restless, and plunged about a bit. After a while the restive animal turned round facing the man on the ground, and, on seeing him lying helpless, immediately became as quiet as a lamb, never even taking its eyes off him dor an hour f 'or :l ' more. 1 There could be no doubt the sagacious animal bad sized >up 1 the l situation. •* - ’ l ’i bn--.

What’s in a name? In the course ’ of the discussion at the Eltham County Council meeting on Saturday (states the Argus) on the new far compound for road-making introduced arid advocated bv Mr F. Basham, the County

Engineer,'that gentleman stated that he had had to give it a name and as it was very resilient, and as a certain

amount of resin was used in its production he had decided to call it “Restar.’’ Cr. Belcher, amid much laughter, expressed the opinion that the engineer might well have compounded the name by placing the last portion of his own name, viz., “sham” in front of the word tar, and called it “Shamtar.” The Engineer, however, said he had excused himself this honor.

Memories of the old days of the gold escorts may he aroused amongst pioneer diggers and settlers by a telegraphic report from the AYest Coast received in Christchurch last Friday. The Greymouth correspondent of the Lyttelton Times stated that fifteen boxes of West Coast gold containing 11,5930 z., valued at £46,074 19s Sd, were taken overland to Christchurch by special escort. These consignments are usually sent to AA’ellington by steamer, but owing to the blockage of the port of Greymouth the treasure had to bo taken across the Alps. to Lyttelton, to go thence by steamer to AVellington, and on to Australia for mintage.

Saturday last was the 271st anniversary of the discovery of Xew Zealand by Abel Jansen Tasman, the Dutch sea captain, who thought he had reached a part of South America. But the real discoverers, it should be remembered always, were navigators who had very few indeed of the advantages Tasman possessed. The Maori pilgrim fatliers left the mystic island of Hawaiki for Xew Zealand somewhere about the beginning of the fifteenth

century, and it is obvious that some pioneer of their race must have readied this country in an open canoe prior to the migration and taken back the news of the existence of a great fruitful land waiting to be colonised. Both Tasman and Cook raus; yield pride of place in Xew Zealand historjh to the unknown brown-skinned who first crossed the wide spaces of the South Pacific.

Same damage by fire from lightning affected the lions© occupied by Mr E. F. Browning, of Pembroke Road, on Wednesday evening last. Both Mr and Mrs Browning had retired to rest, and at 10.30 Mr Browning was awakened by, smoke, when it was discovered that portion of the side and roof of the house had been struck by lightning. With the assistance of a neighbour and the use of a force pump, the fire was overcome.

The crowd which congregates at the Courthouse every Friday is invariably of a varied nature, comprising persons of any occupation and persons of no occupation, but If everybody to whom His Majesty has recently presented a piece of blue paper answers to the calling of his name on Friday next by the production of his own good and proper person the turnout should be sometniug after this fashion: 2 parties to a civil action with the necessary string of witnesses, 4. judgment debtors, 6 erring Territorials, 1 bon vivre, 1 stock dealer, I M.D., 1 motor car owner, 1 Chinaman and 1 chemist —truly a varied lot. A list of the business set down for disposal is as follows: Civil: Twenty suits (one marked defended), four judgment summons suits; informations: Six for failing to htteud drill, one for excessive drinking, one for removing unvaccinated stock without a permit, one for using a building as a private hospital without a license,one for driving a motor in a dangerous manner, four for breaches of the Opium Act (against a Chinaman), and nine for breaches of the Opium Act (against a local chemist).