Second. Edition. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10, 2 May 1914, Page 6

Second. Edition. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mi - John MacGregor, who died at Tfraaru on Sunday, was one of Oamiiru’s prominent rifle shots. Mr MacGregor won the Belt in 1898, and two years before ,at the Federal meeting’in Oamaru, tied for second place with Mr 11. L. Rule, who beat him on the shoot-off. He went to Bisley with a New Zealand team, but ow-ing..-to ill-health did not do himself justice. ~

AVhile the battle-cruiser New Zealand was riding at anchor at Berehaven, in the West of Ireland, in the middle if March, a gale of unusual severity swept the British Isles, and Captain Halsey had an anxious time with his charge. The topmast of the New Zealand, with wireless gear and gaffs, was carried away, and the vessel is said to have dragged her anchor about two miles; but .she was never in any real danger.

At the Police Court at Gisborne last week several stock agents were charged with having exposed liccinfected sheep for sale on March 10 at the Matawhero saleyards. John Benson (stock agent for Messrs Dalgcty and Co.), Ray Bousfield (stock agent for Messrs Williams and Kettle), David Hutton (stock agent for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company), two charges, were each fined £3 and 7s costs, K. S. Kettle, sheep farmer, W. G. Bremner (stock agent for Messrs Common, Shelton, and Co.), and E. T. Harries, stock dealer, were each fined £l, and costs ,(7s).

Mr George Aitcheson, owner of a celebrated Holstein herd at Kaitangata, has received from the Agricultural Department the final results of the test which his famous cow Daisy has undergone for the past 12 months. The yield is a remarkable one (states the Otago Daily Times), considering that .towards the latter part of the year Daisy was seriously ill for over a week-, and, in fact, ■Mr Aitcheson was afraid-he would lose her. Even <lu ring this period she- was milked, and gaye- from 121 b to 171 b of milk daily. Her record for 'the year is butter-fat, which is equivalent to approximately 8301 b of butter. Mr J. G. N.- Grigg, of Longbeach, managed to beat this record with his prize Holstein cow by a very small trifle—viz., 659.311 b.

While leaders of Church factions are debating whether it is a proper thing for Christians of different denominations to meet at the same Communion table or not, another question naturally arises in the minds of the onlookers in connection with the African controversy—“ What of th^^lSfiyu r people themselves?” In the last issue of “The Bible in the World” appears the following paragraph;—“The Kikuyu folk have hitherto hardly been touched by civilisation. f ln their villages revolting customs prevail. For instance, they expose, not only their dead, hut their dying, to be devoured by hyenas in the forests. We do well to' realise that the conference at Kikuyu had such a background.” -. * • An extraordinary accident occurred at the conclusion of the Timani Cup race at the South Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting. A small crowd of men clustered about the finishing post on the side of the course opposite to the judge’s box, and 1 some of these were hanging over the rails, endeavouring to get a good view of the finish. Two of them, doubtless having their view obscured by others, failed to withdraw their heads as the horses brushed past, and in a moment both of them, a man and a boy, were lying', unconscious on the ground. Parable was finishing fast on the rails and the rider’s foot struck the man on the J head, knocking him against the boy, who was also struck on the head. The lad was stunned, but was not seriously injured, and was later taken to his home. The other victim had to be taken to the hospital. Wellington’s roll of municipal electors grows amazingly, says the Post. Last year’s total,' 34,179, was believed to be unduly swollen, but the expansion has continued. In twelve months the, list has. gained over 6000 names, and*-now the compilation is 40,787. If this number is accurate, then Wellington has probably the world’s record for proportion of voters to population. The census of 1911 gave the following figures :—Welli aigton City, 64,372; Onslow, 1789; Karori, 1449; Miramar, 1630; Eastbourne, 560; other suburbs, 929 ; total, 70,729. Assuming that the population of the city proper has risen from 64,000 to 70,000 in three years—which may be an over-estimate—the municipal roll alleges that four persons out of every seven (including infants and school children) have a right to vote in the election of Mayor and Council. The roll also asserts, indirectly, that in this city the aggregate of persons under the age of twenty-one years, with the addition of adults not entitled to the franchise this year, does not exceed 30,000. This may be true, but it is hard to believe that four persons out of every seven, of all ages, in this city have, the right to the municipal franchise—and the proportion of voters, according to the roll, may be even greater. After allowance for the fact that the public service draws a large number of men to "Wellington and that other factors work here for an unusual proportion of adults, there is scope for suspicion as to the accuracy of that big list, 40.787. The case calls for a thorough scrutiny of the list.

At their annual conference last week the Druidic Grand Lodge of New South Wales decided to abolish the long, white, false beards. These beards have long been inseparable from the ancient ceremonies of the ofiler. The arguments used by the Druidic members against the use of the hoards were mainly that they were unhealthy, especially, as was usually the case, when they were used casually and indiscriminately. Instances were given of the transmission of disease, and the abolition of the appendages found general support. Already they have been done away with in A ictorian and Tasmanian lodges, while their use is optional in Queensland. Appaient}y the time is not far distant in Australasian lodges when the heard will be no more.

Speaking at the Presbyterian Church, Windsor (N.S.W.) on the place and value of athletics in life, the Rev. James -Steele expressed approval of all sports that tended to develop physical muscularity. He deprecated the abnormal in sport, which tended to professionalism and overstraining, ami the development of the physical at the expense of the spiritual side of man. Air .Steele said he would like' to see the abnormally-developed athlete put into the Zoo, so that his agility might be compared with that of the monkey, his brute strength with that of the elephant, and his endurance studied alongside that of the patient camel or the plodding ass—where his lack of intellectual and spiritual force would not he so apparent. He took exception to all sport that tended to brutalise' or that impaired the health. The evils of betting as associated with sport were enlarged upon as destructive .not duly -to. morals, but to the existence of true sport itself.