LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 90, 7 April 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

As usual at Easter, there will bo no issue of the "Stratford Evening Post" on Ciood Friday or Easter Monday.

At the Dunedin Magistrate's Court yesterday, a batch of 170 defence eases were heard against local Territorials.

The firebell rang about half-past two o'clock this morning, the cause being a blaze on Pembroke Eoad, near the racecourse. On the arrival of the brigade, it was found that the fire had too good a hold on the building, a tworoomed cottage belonging to Mr W. Hannah, and nothing conld he done to save it, though the pressure of water \yas excellent.

During March 17.528 packages of butter, valued at £19,027, and 12,63-1 packages of cheese, valued at £-17,377, were exported from the New Plymouth breakwater. For March, 1913, the figures were :_ Butter, 16.395 packages, value £45,086; cheese, 8.710, £31,912. In both cases butter is estimated at 110 s per cwt. and cheese at 60s per

The dates of the twelfth biennial Australasian Christian Endeavor Convention in Sydney have been altered to September 24-30. At a meeting of tin* convention committee the Rev. W . P. Phillips was elected secretary. xVn effort is being made to secure the presence of Dr. Charles M. Sheldon, who will he visiting New Zealand in August.

The body of William Henry Mabb, formerly a stoker on H.M.S. Psyche, was found in the Parramatta River a fortnight ago, near Punch-street wharf. Long Cove, Balmain. Mabb was discharged from the Psyche on March 10 in New Zealand, and went straight to Sydney. The body had apparently been in the water about five days. The police are trying to find some of the deceased's friends. "He was 35 years old, and his people live in Kent, England.

A defaulting Stratford Territorial, W. E. Porter, was yesterday taken to Wellington to undergo military detention. The train for the East was delayed for about two hours last Saturday night, a mishap occurring to the engine about a mile this side of Toko. The membership of the Stratford Mountain Club is slowly mounting. The secretary (Mr Tom Ivirkwood) reports 193 to date, with the 200 mark rapidly being surmounted. At Dunedin this morning the Governor opened the latest extensions to the Otago University, viz., the Oliver Wing and the Students' Building. The former cost £3645 and the latter £lO,292.—P.A. A meeting called by the Mayor of Wellington last night decided to raise the sum of £SOOO to provide for those who lost their breadwinners in the recent Upper Hutt fire. It is stated that the number of dependents are not less than twenty, the majority being children, some of whom are very young.—P.A. A GO h.p. "Napier" motor car, owned by Graham and Gebbie, livery stable keepers, Hastings, caught fire on the road near Pakipaki last- ; .ght through friction of the foot brake igniting tho benzine. The Press Association states that only the driver was aboard, and the car was completely destroyed. It was insured in the New Zealand Company's office for £4OO. An application has been made to the Commonwealth Patent Office by one of the officials at Garden Island, for a patent that bids fair to have some effect on the political meeting of the future. The invention consists of the combination of a typewriter and a lantern, which will be operated close to the speaker, flashing his words on to a screen, so that every part of the audience will be reached in spite of any noise or interruption. It is also claimed by the inventor that electric operation will enable speeches to be delivered on similar machines, suitably connected, to other audiences at the same time. In any case, it would appear likely that a number of possibilities will follow on the successful application of the principle. The entries received for the Stratford A. and P. Association's Gymkhana on Easter Monday constitute a record. Detailed, they are as follows :—Pony jumping 6, lady driving 6, dog trial 17, one mile trot 23, maiden hunters 12, harnessing and unharnessing 4, 1| mile trot 20, open hunters 16, .pony trotting 13, leaping competition 12. The novelty events have also attracted good entries, so that the public can rjast assured the interest will be maintained right through tho programme. It is very gratifying to the Association to have received such a splendid response, particularly in the trotting events. Some splendid horses are entered, and many

excellent exhibitions of this sport will be provided.