LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 14, 18 January 1915, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Master|pn visitor. to Castlepoint states that a white porpoise has been seen for some time past in the neighbourhood of what,, is known as “tire rockv” He i§L of;' opinion that is is eitlier or a near relative.

the Biu-hfe’ aniliyorspry ; function to be held.in the Town Hall on 2oth nist. The iadies wlib have undertaken the responsibility of catering are' showing the shine enthusiasm as has been evidenced at all meetings of the Com-l mittee. A meeting of the committee will be held this evening, when final arrangements wjH, bo -made.

A Wellington Press Association telegram this afternoon states; Ihe Government has purchased. 300- tons ( f flour from a nortfeern Company for the purpose of si^plying;-those districts where there 'is*the, jnpst serious,, deficiency, being mostly in the Sout;i land. The di^ffibtitibii ; will 4 be ried out by the W befit Board. Tlib KKt consignment..will prdbably reach Wellington oil: Wedne^d^y• .Regarding the 100,000 bushels' of'yvhbat Oil the Kaia-' po'i at Sydney, which has been the subject of negotiations between the Commonwealth arid New Zealand, the Premier is a,little more sanguine than on

When the R.M.S. Maitai called at Tahiti on her passage from San Francisco, the port authorities were taking steps tQ.; have, the , sunken gunboac Zeleo’ removed from the channel in proximity of the vessel to the wharf, It was found dangerous to blow’ the vessel' 16 "was‘Hferefdre, decided to pass heavy chains round' her and tnw, heEa^ngqtoid^^i>|)ogitia' side of the • jfeqservices

of a largo steamer due ait’Tahiti were to ‘be requisitioned to carry but the work. The Genilan steamer Waikiire, wh)qi| by shells from the cruisers, still lies practically' submerged. So far .no attempt has been -to salve ‘the "vessel. Tlie fllrdught as passengers lb Syd-ney-eight French : men-6’-wai -r s-iuon, wlip ajlaiqu! route to New' Caledonia.

Colombo:' to his parents at Opunake,a meipMr of tlie New Expeditionary ’-.Force' sayg:— The‘weather is simply lovely and the »sea*.,ik just Jikecii huge lake-hot*. a water. ] L think the trip* hiust have been specially ordered for us. The terrific and we have a lot of meffidown .with ’ the ‘‘•Tine'” arid airi just, getting over if; now. ,J|ie is still as rough us ever. At’%ifibsit is/not fit to eat. They can’t even raa,ke a good cup of tea—ft is just lik&flish water! There \ is a ..terrible lot of thieving going 'on aboard this'shop;'-you can’t without it leaves passed an Island yesterday (27th>, November), called Sakofcora, it -the coast of Africa. The sea iky alive with small jelly fish. / / \

i ... t / , The sympathetic gravity which .usually proceedings was broken hjr a burst of sudden laughter, the other day when the coroner was holding an inquiry concerning the death of ,a man who had committed suicide in ■an Auckland hotel. A nervous youth who had disthe coroner about tfie discovery. Getting no reply to a knock lat the bedroom door, climbed through.. the bedroom window, aud it was apparent from his manner of giving evidence that the sight s of ■ figure sprawling on the floor had jolted his nerves so much that he had at once dashed-fm the Jo or, unlocked it, and got |qiltsid6,>*Sfcl» I'rb-dm;:- with burning the coronef.“~“ n T r "3icTn , t""ask him,” promptly replied the flustered witness, who hurriedly explained, when the irrepressible laughter came from those at the inquest, that what lie meant was-that he didn’t wait to look at the man.

A resident of Timaru had a novel experience at the Auckland Cup meeting. While there he saw what he had never seen before, but had occasionally read about, namely, a man who, under tire excitement of a good win (it was when Warstep won the Cup) threy money out of his pocket up in the air, not once, but several times, and let those around him scramble for it. This appeared to relieve his feelings sufficiently to allow him to go to the totalisator and collect his dividend quietly.

Thursday last (January 34) was New Year’s Day in Russia, Servia, Bulgaria, .Greece, and Montenegro, where the State churches are all Orthodox. Adherents of the Orthodox religion have never abandoned the Julian Cal# endar for a variety of reasons, one of them being that it was a Pope of Rome who was responsible for the Gregorian reform. The Russian Synod now admits the defects of the Julian Calendar, but proposes to replace it some time by one even more astronomically accurate than the Western system. Perhaps the revision will take place after this war. Meanwhile the Old Style is adhered to, for an innovation which would necessitate the suppression of .thirteen saints’ days —and this in order io catch up the Western date—might cause a revolution among the pious of Russia, where religions superstition insists giving each saint his due.

Sir John French has a reputation as a wit. He dearly loves a joke. One of the best stories told about him is how, one night at dinner, some officers were discussing rifle shooting. The General was listening, as was his wont, ' without making' any remark, until at length he chipped in with:— ' I’ll bet any one here,” in his calm, deliberate way, “that I can fire ten shots at five hundred yards, and call each shot correctly without waiting for the marker. I’ll stake a box of cigars bn it.” major present accepted the offer, and tbb next morning the whole mess was at the .scooting range to see the trial. Sir J9IIII fired. “Miss!” he announced. He fired again. “Miss!” ho repeated. A third shot. “Miss!” “Hold.on there!” protested the major. ‘‘What are you doing. You are not shooting at the target at all.” But French "finished his task. “Miss!” “Miss!” “O course I wasn’t shooting at the target,” he said, “I was shooting for those cigars.”; .. ~ ,