LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 33, 30 May 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A claim of £212 was made at the

Supreme Court in Wellington by an aged Chinaman named Loo Wye, against Dr. F. Mackenzie. The plaintiff alleged that the sum was due as wages for work he had done on the defendant’s farm, at Kawhia. A coun-ter-claim for £l5O for professional services was made by Dr. Mackenzie, who declared that the Chinaman was kept on the farm out of charity. Judgment was entered for plaintiff for £239, and for defendant for £l5O. The latest number of the ‘ New Zealand Farmer” devotes considerable space to the fruit-growing industry in the Dominion, and the at tides and illustrations thereon are very interesting. The opening of South Arretican markets to New Zealand-grown apples promises to be a great factor in placing commercial fruit-growing here on a fftm basis, and tin's bmnch wf the industry should become an important one in the near future. Ftr this reason alone, the * Finis Number” of the “Farmer” is worthy of more than the usual attention by even the smallest orcha’-j.st. Judgment has been given in the case in which five settlers in the Whananaki district were charged with having illegally conducted a horse race, known as the Whananaki Cup. The race was run at a sports' carnival on March 17, the conditions being that the horses should walk half a mile, trot half a mile, and finish the remaining portion of the distance at any speed. The event was won by a lady rider. The Magistrate held that the competition was not a horse race within the meaning of the Act, and the case was dismissed.

A sensational story of the discovery of diamonds comes from Opotiki (says an exchanged According to a local paper, Mr Milne Pott, of Opotiki, discovered a number of stones some time ago. These he sent for examination to Auckland and Christchurch, and a reply has been received from the , southern city indicating that the stones are genuine diamonds. Mr Milne Pott, when seen by a reporter, produced a number of small uncut diamonds for inspection, and while declining to divulge the locality of his find expressed his willingness to show Ids samples to anyone who came along. Opotiki naturally is agog with excitement over its diamond story. • ;.l .■ - ■ f According to a German statistician the nnluckiest day of the week is really Monday. Friday "has been misjudged, it seems, and if the Teutonic professor is to he believed, far more oenple are killed and disabled and brought to ruin at the beginning of the week than at the end. Indeed; he proves by figures which never deceive, that there are far more accidents and disasters recorded on the Mondays than the Fridays of every year. It has been pointed out in London that Monday is always a bad day for street accidents! It would be interesting (suggests a lady writer) to learn whether Monday marriages prove unsuccessful as a rule. In any case, it is a horrid day. No one ever likes it.

In some respects (says an English writer) we in England seem to be behind the more advanced of the Balkan States, for in Servia, Mr H. Charles Woods tells us, most professions, including the Bar, are to he open to feminine aspirants. "Whoever saw an Albanian, in his white, pleated petticoats, and his multitudinous sabres and pistols (she continues), doing any useful thing? It is the same, too, with the magnificent Montenegrin, who marries early, and at the same time purchases a sturdy donkey, in order that his bride and his beast of burden may support him for the rest of his natural life—a life which occasionally ends early, owing to differences of opinion with persons just over the border.

The offerings at Holy Trinity Church on Sunday next (Whit Sunday) are, by order of the Synod, given to the Melanesian Mission. Melanesia is the missionary diocese of the church of the province of New Zealand. The whole province contributes about onefourth of the cost of the mission ship, the Southern Cross. Melanesia is a field of surpassing interest and romance and tragedy. In recent years one man has been killed and several have died at their posts. It is a mission in which a very large number of church people in the Home Land are keenly interested. Last year England gave over £l3-,000 towards the support of the mission. New Zealand gave nearly £ISOO. The total cost of the mission last year was nearly £20,000.

The sixteenth annual meeting of shareholders of the Stratford Electrical Supply Co. was held last night. The balance-sheet submitted showed that the year’s current receipts were £489 orer the preceding year. The revenue for the three five-yearly periods since the inception of the company was shown to be as follows: — First, ending 1904, £5603; second, ending 1909, £9563; third, ending 1914, £15,210. Messrs A. W. Reid and R. Masters were re-elected to the directorate, and Mr S. H. James was elected to fill the vacancy caused by Mr W. D. Anderson’s resignation. Mr T. H. Penn was re-appointed auditor. A vote of thanks was passed to the staff for the manner in which they had carried out their duties during the past year, and also to the chairman and directors. At a subsequent meeting of directors, Mr R, Masters was reflected chairman.

-Natorally the thrifty housewife does not like the present rise in the price Of meat, but it must be remembered that the butchers have at anyrate the justification of the ruling high price of stock and the rates of wages to employees as valid reasons for the unwelcome advance. The cost of -.living is truly becoming a great problem. The annual meeting of the Feilding A. and P. Association last night passed a motion urging on the Board of Agriculture the necessity for the establishment of an Agricultural High School in suitable centres. It was pointed out (states the Press Association), these schools were necessary as feeders to the Agricultural College proposed for the North Island.