GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 40, 22 January 1916, Page 7

GENERAL.

A woman who lives in Auckland lost some money in an unusual fashion the other day. She went to do some shopping, leaving an infant and a two-year-old girl in the house; she also left behind her a purse containing .£(>. The girl got hold of the purse and went on the street with it in her hand, when she met a hoy of 14, who had a look inside the purse. The lad abstracted £1 from the purse, before handing it back to the girl, tlnd then walked away. He took the money home and gave it to his mother. Some time later the theft was discovered, and the police got on the track of the boy, who owned up. His mother, for, some reason, denied that the lad had /given her the money, but afterwards she went to the police station and confessed that she had got it. The labour difficulty, writes, a Hawke’s Bay correspondent of a- Wellington' journal, has been considerably minimised by the employment of girls, who, like their sisters in the towns, have come to the rescue, hut this time I not with pen and typewriter, but with a hay rake. The farmers employing such labour express themselves entirely satisfied with the results. The girls are paid at the rate of Is 6d an hour, and usually work in four-hour shifts. Some of them make' excellent cheques, and thoroughly enjoy the unusual work. They are employed principally in stooking, stacking, and haymaking, and have in' many cases.proved themselves excellent substitutes for their “brothers under arms.”

Tile monotony of tlie railway journey on tlie Lakes express was varied slightly on Tuesday (states the Lake County Press). Included in the personal luggage of a well-known Gore solicitor was a canary in a small cage, which had been placed in the luggage rack. On arrival at Riversdale he made the discovery that both cage and bird had disappeared, and then commenced a search of the train, the representative of the legal fraternity being assisted by the train officials and many of the passengers. The search, however, was fruitless; and telegrams to Gore and other stations failed to locate the missing bird. The mystery was solved on arrival at Kingston, when the solicitor, on removing his coat from the rack, found the cage resting beneath the garment When the discovery was announced the passengers and the railway officials breathed sighs of relief, while the owner of the bird went' aboard the steamer, rejoicing.

| At a meeting of the Hastings Borough Council, Cr C. S. Martell ,mov-. 'od as follows: “That in view of tlio fact that tlio bread supply is now vested in a commercial combine running solely for the purpose'of private profit, the time has arrived wlkmt,- in order to safeguard the public, the council should undertake-a municipal bakery and that a committee-be set

up to thoroughly investigate the matter, and report to the council within one month.” The motion was carried.

A little child had a miraculous esj cape from very serious injury, if not .death, at Lyttelton on Saturday last (says the Christchurch Sun). Two Indies were proceeding over the railway crossing with a go-cart, in which was the child referred to, and they were just passing hehipd a rake of trucks when the latter were set in' motion by a truck in..fj humping into them. The trucks, with some little way on. struck the go-cart, 'which, by some means, got under-) ,neath the body of a truck, where its handle got caught, in a holt. In this manner the go-cart was propelled along the line, with the child still seated in it. One of the ladies showed considerable presence of mind, and pulled the child out from its perilous position. When the tracks were finally brought to a standstill . it was found that little or no damage had been done to -the:. . • ... v «TH :i OA i i , > 1 Theredjpa recipe Tor preserving fresh ripe fruits, that will he useful to many people at this season:—Take two cups of boiling water and one cup of sugar to make a syrup; make sufficient to half fill an ordinary preserving pan ; bring to boil on stove or’ gas ring. Put in the fresh ripe fruit (free from all decay) in' halves, test with a fork lin'd cooked through. Place on the store a soup plate beside tlio pan of fruit am] syrup and stand the jar in it. Place the fruit in Mason or other screw-top preserving jars, previously heated in the oven and dry inside; pour the boiling syrup over the jar full fruit; put on a rubber washer and screw down tight. It is always desirable to get fresh rubber washers each season and to wash them ivell in warm water to remove (.lust, etc. Fruit' preserved in this way

should keep for two years or mort Pears require to ho peeled and cored before being preserved. Green gooseberries preserved when they are firm will retain the flavour of the fresh fruit.

| A resilient- of New Drightou luul tlie in is Id 1 1 uMe to hrenk a toe the other evening through casually kicking a stick in tho garden. On December 19, at .Napier (the j Telegraph states), a prospcrous-!<«»lv ’ ing individual accosted a tax driver, | and, inhuming him that he "as a sheepfarmer with At Hid acres at ,M a kanaka, eiuirtored his car to make the jonriKv, from Napier to Cishonie ini' the sum of !J25. The car made the journey, and arrived at a country hotel j’; L out:-.!, Disho'iie early < ll the morning of Detemhet 2(k Here the “sheep-farmer" and t-h-' taxi driver obtained lodgment for the night, hut in the morning liie plutocrat I• ■<l disappeared, without leaving the ‘:\l \ and after reporting tho matter to the police the disconsolate taximan made his way sad!- i»arel< to Napier. A lew days ago (Hie Glishorne Times ieports), after a long search through the district, Detective .MHLeotl apprehended at Waingake a man on a charge of obtaining credit to fchc amount of £25 Irom W illiam H. Anderson by means of false pretences. The man was also to he charged with obtaining goods by false pretences at Opotiki on November 3, by issuing valueless cheques, and also with escaping from custody on that occasion.