LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The absence from his usual haunts; o|“ a local member of the grocery trade I is a subject of keen speculation among his friends and members of the trade ! generally. The holiday so eagerly | anticipated for some time lias, it is j alleged, developed into a trip across the “briny,” but whether the Argentine, Saknrashima, or the equally interesting Ambynu Island is to he the scene of his holiday-making, certain wholesale merchants are not yet quite satisfied.

To-morrow (Thursday, .law nary 29th), being Stratford’s annual holiday and outing to tin* seaside, the ford Evening 1’osl” will not ho pub- ( lished. it is expected that the recentlyfnrmed Motoring Club will take charge , of the motor cycle events at the forth-] coining Fire Brigade Garden I - etc. it is generally reported that Mr J. it. Hosking, K.C., of Dunedin, will he one of the new judges, amti Mr .). W. Salmond, Solicitor-General, j has been mentioned as likely to be the other. News of the beauty competition in connection with the Fire Brigade Gar-] don Fete lias apparently spread wide-j ly, as three applications for copies of conditions have been received from other Taranaki towns. The headmaster of the Stratford District High School will ho in the! school office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.j on Saturday next, when he will be) pleased to consult with parents of secondary schools on all matters.

.Messrs J. S. Commit and F. Watson j have been appointed to represent the] Taranaki Agricultural Society at a conference with delegates from the Stratford and Hawera societies, at which a! representative on the Board of Agriculture will he appointed. So far the Stratford A. and P. Association has received no notice of the conference.

Members of the Motoring Club will hold their first official run on Thursday, when it is expected that about fourteen will make the trip to New Plymouth. The party will leave the Loan and Mercantile corner at 8.30 a.m. and will leave Fitzroy on the return journey at 5.30 p.m.

Mr J antes Donald, the enterprising] proprietor of-the Crown Stables, is on] the eve of converting his premises into a thoroughly up-to-date motor garage, and intends to specially cater for this business. Mr Donald left for the-south this morning to complete necessary business arrangements, and is expected ta return at the end of this week. j

The man who quietly slips a button into the church collection on a Sunday is as nothing compared to a member of the audience at the Theatre Koval (says the Timaru Post) who, in the rush into the circle after the first interval, presented the doorkeeper with a totalisator ticket. He got in with

it too, but after he had settled down in his seat the doorkeeper returned the sport’s token and collected the legitimate pass.

There' were a dozen members of the Motoring Club present at last night’s meeting, Dr. .Robertson presiding. Twenty-nine new members were elected. The election of officers resulted: —President: Dr. Robertson; vicepresidents, Messrs E. Masters and A. Smith (Ratapiko); treasurer, Mr X. E. Tempter ; general committee, Messrs D. Finlay, H. Masters, C. Whittington, A. Songster and T. Grubb; club captain, Dr. Robertson. The question ‘ of holding a reliability trial at an early date was fully discussed. The new management at the East Egmont Mountain House is apparently leaving no stone unturned in order to 1 popularise the house. It is announced in this issue that next Sunday .the j Stratford band will render a programme of music at the house. Latest reports regarding the condition of ■the track have been of a most favorable nature, and the caretaker claims that push bicycles can he ridden right up to the door of the house. The track through to Curtis’ Falls has recently been re-hlazed, making it almost impossible for anybody to lose their way on the trip. With good weather it should be possible to spend a very pleasant day at the house on Sunday.

When the New Zealand cricketers return to Wellington to-day, they will bring with them Piki, the clever Rugby football half-back, Avho was ini jured in Australia last winter during the tour of the Maori team. He has spent 23 weeks in the Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, with his fractured leg, but is at last able to gef about with the aid of crutches. Mr W. W. H ill escortecr him to the Sydney Cricket Ground to see the Xew Zealand cricket match. During his long spell in the hospital, Piki has been looked after by Mr .1. R. Hen- ' derson and Mr T. H. Clayton. Piki bad a very bad time, as the bone was splintered, and a number of small pieces bad to be removed.

i The Mayor presided last night over a meeting of between thirty and forty , members of the general committee in charge of the Fire Brigade’s Garden Fete It was decided that the d'ete l)e held on March 12th. The Tariki flower show is being held on the same date, but nevertheless it was decided to hold the fete on that date, as no other was available, it being desired not to hold it too close to the A. and V. Association’s Gymkhana. The following wore appointed a committee to deal with the beauty competition: Dr., and -Airs Cameron. Mrs Hancock, and Messrs d. H. Thompson and T. Kirkwood. Messrs J. ,1. East, A'. Craw-' shaw, and H. Harris were appointed an advertising committee. It was decided that a few Scottish events he included in the programme. The secretary reports that he is kept busy, and that judging by the support from all quarters which has been promised the Fete should be a pronounced success, j Suffered from Rhen urtism, Ge t | Sciatica, and Lumbago, frequently; resort to cure-alls and laxatives forj relief—but in vain. Excess uric acid j in the blood is the cause of the trouble. RHETTMO is the one remedy because it is scientifically compounded to remove the cause. 2s 6d i uni Is Gd everywhere. 6S

At the Court this morning Norman McCalJender, a second-offending inebriate, was convicted and discharged.

A passenger by one of the expresses to Christchurch from Dunedin on Wednesday was in a very disturbed state of mind, consequent upon the loss of the greater part of his luggage. It seems that lie left Dunedin with seven bottles of draught beer in a sack, and somewhere on the journey the corks came out. It is hardly necessary to remind readers of the school picnic to the New Plymouth Beach tomorrow. The tickets have gone off very well, and there should be a record attendance. Train arrangements are as follows: Trains leave Stratford in the morning at 8 o'clock and 9.0, returning in the evening, leaving at o and 6.10. At the Magistrate’s Court. Hawera, yesterday, the Inspector of Awards claimed C2O damages from Cf. Velj lars for breach of a recommendation or i agreement made between the master | decorators and painters, and the Decor- | ators and Painters’ Union of Taranaki, j The Inspector did not press for a penI alty, stating that the case was brought jas a warning. Mr O’Dea, for defendj ant, explained that the case*arose out of two men, after a had week, asking j their employer if they might make | up lost time by working on Saturday I afternoon. The agreement was pecuj liar on account of the absence of any provision for overtime. The Magis-

irate said that while the law stood it could not be allowed to be broken, and he imposed a fine of £l, and 15s for the*lnspector’s expenses.

Xext to the depraved human being who stole the children's potatoes the other day comes the sneak-thief who sorted out the machinery of a local bicycle on Monday night This same bicycle lias stood the stress of wind and weather for years, leaning up against verandah posts at all hours, the while his owner visited the centres of conviviality—or the pictures!—but the Waterloo arrived when, strange to relate, the machine had been put snugly away in a stable at the rear of one of the hostelries. . “f found four punctures in the back tyre on Saturday night,” said the owner, “and thinking some one was playing a game on me I put the machine away—safely as I thought.” A diligent search next morning resulted in a find in the saleyards, where, with the exception of j the hind wheel, every part (pump and ! ail) was intact. The most interesting I part of the affair is the philosophical ' manner in which the owner accepts | his loss. He pictures himself convey- ! ing the bicycle with no hind “leg” back to the bike shop from which, only ; a short time before, he had obtained ia new tyre for the missing “limb.” It i is his little ioke!