LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6, 7 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Two nests containing 172 and 283 young vipers respectively were discovered inside one of the pipes of the organ oi' a parish church at Moulins, Normandy.

A party of Boy Scouts left this morning for Waitara by.train. They intend to spend about three weeks on trek, the route commencing; through Urenui and continuing on through tlie Mokau country. Thereafter, the route has not yet been definitely fixed.

Now is a good time to spend a restful holiday at the Stratford Mountain House. The road is in splendid order right up to the house- and the total distance is only nine miles from town. thus making it infinitely the shortest route. Good accommodation at moderate charges is offered, Visitors should.ring up Mr.or Mrs Williams, who are the managers.

Freiich servants have recently discovered a nearly complete skeleton of the most prodigious creature that has ever come to light. America no longer has the distinction' of ; being the home of the largest pro-historic animals, for the newly-discovered land-dragon was found at Tendagaru, iu 'German' East Africa. ' Gigantosaurus Afrioa'nus, as he has been 'named, was probably no 'le*ss than 160 ft,, long'and 22ft.-tall. He lived million:-; of years before the birth of man, during the foundation "of the lower cretaceous rocks. Gigantosanrus was [undoubtedly amphibious, like a hippopotamus, his pigmy descendant of tin 1 present day.

A sweated workers' exhibition was recently opened in London under the auspices of the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association. Among the workers present were:—An expert maker of brushes, who had to thread lOQOholes to earn

6.W1; clever maker of artificial flowers, whose earnings were about 8s a week; maker of rounder boots, v. ho received 3Jd a pair, and had to 'my her own rivets; worker in black braid, who was paid at the rate of ~'l a dozen yards, and who earned about os a week; makers of'children's coats at 2}d each, shirts at 6kl to Is 11 kl a dozen, and children's knickers at 8d a dozen. Mr E. A. Goulding; M.P., sa.id that the goods they saw were products of avarice and greed. It was a very striking exhibition of sweating under all its hideous conditions in tha-t land of wealth. Jt was discreditable to the country, a disgrace to the nation, a disgrace to civilisation, and it was more than ever a slur on this generation.

From the commencement of the present season to tho mid of the old year no less than nearly 80,000 eases of cheese have been exported from Taranaki, or over 12,000 eases more than thai shipped during the corresponding period of last season. A gentleman who considered that these figures would not adequately impress the lay mind with the large amount represented, has discovered that compared with so familiar an object as Taranaki's lonely seal;'! I. as Sit. Kgiuont is often termed, they can be much better appreciated. He says that if they wore placed one on top of another they would form a column more than twenty-four times as high as Mt. Rgmont, or otherwise, placed in a lint" they would reach further than from Kltliam to New Plymouth. This, together with the fa t that the value is well over a quarter of a million gives one some idea of what the dairy industry represents in this province. i

The late Captain Oates's estate is valued at £23,828, the whole of which is bequeathed to his brother, states a London cablegram. A warning to burgesses, issued by the .Mayor, regarding the electric light position, appears in another part of this issue. The survey party engaged on the railway rout,' trom Opunake to New Plymouth is making good progress with the work, having now worked northwards to Okato. In the Salvation Army citadel on Friday evening ;. "..;'!'. tree" will be hcUl and co;-.;>; . . ..ill bo taken to distribute priz, .-. to the Sunday School children, wno will have their annua! picnic at Xgaere to-morrow. Excellent entries and exciting competitions in tiic running, chopping, and genera! events are guaranteed, and jf (as seems highly probable) theweather keeps tine, an enjoyable day tor spectators and a satisfactory day from the view of the committee should be enjoyed at Whangamomona on Thursday on the occasion of the an-

nual sports gathering under the auspices of the Whangamomona-Kohura-tahi Sports Club. Special arrangements have been made to enable Stratford visitors to get right through to Whangamomona in the train leaving Stratford at 7 p.m. this evening. In reference to the statement of the Mayor in his letter on the electric light position in yesterday's "Post" to the effect that "the Minister for Public Works did not know the terms-of the Deed of Concession or that it ever existed." the manager of the Electrical Supply Company points out that the agreement with the Bprougii Council and the Company was forwarded to the Public Works Department on June 10th, 1913, while the deputation did not wait on the Public Works Department till October 28th. Mr Newton adds that it is no concern of the Company's if the failed to see it.

Romance lies behind a legacy of £SOOO left Mme. Sarah Bernhardt by -Miss Scorer, a London lady. For years the testatrix had cherished unusual admiration for the great actress. Every Friday she would forward her a bouquet of Malinaison carnations, no matter where she was appearing, while on the rare occasions upon which sbo was privileged to take tea with Mme. Bernhardt, she would don a costume of original white, though every other day in.the year black would be the rule. Miss Scorer received fatal injuries in a fall downstairs at her villa while setting out to visit the actress.

It has been decided that the annual seaside picnic at New Plymouth in connection with the Stratford school will lie held on Thursday, January 29th. This date has been chosen because the Railway Department has notified that special trains" connot be run on any Thursday in February or on the first Thursday in March. On January 29th special trains will leave Stratford, at 8 a.m. and 9.5 a.m., returning at 5 "p.m. and 6.10 p.m. The picnic-is to be hold on the East End reserve. The fires have heen-fixed as follows:—' Children Is. teachers and senior scholars Is 7d, adults 2s 3d. The Railway Department stipulates that the number of adults' tickets issued shall not exceed the number of children's tickets issued.