GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 71, 29 February 1916, Page 7

GENERAL.

The price of milk in Wellington will he advanced from 4d to od a quart from Wednesday, and butter also advances id from the same date.

In tlie Wellington Supreme Court, before Mr Justice Chapman, the hearing was concluded of the'rasc in which Francis J. if. Heath sued Dr. Prendergast Knight for £ll7B damages, for injuries received resulting from a collision between defendant’s motorcar and plaintiff’s motor-cycle at Courtnay Place, in October last. Negligence was alleged on both sides. Plaintiff suffered a broken leg; The jury awarded plaintiff £025 as general damages.

Poaching is not always a pleasant business (says tile Timaru Herald). In the Albury district recently, two men who were busy with a spear in the Ottawa River were startled by what sounded like the roaring of an in-

furiated bull in the gorse and broom close by. The poachers dropped their spears and bolted, oblivious of the fact that- the noise had been made by some young fellows who had made up their minds to see how big a fright they could give them.

On the 21 st inst. the New Zealand Dairy Association, Ltd., distributed amongst the suppliers the sum of £73,952 I-I s Od. This payment covered 1,282,8101bs of butter-fat supplied during the month of January. The amount distributed for the corresponding month last year was £54,025 10s 4d; thus tlfe increase for the month was £19,926 18s 2d.

“What of women shirkers?” is an inquiry made by a writer* in the Sydney Daily Telegraph. It seems that there is a very large number of women living in boardinghouses flats, and pensions, who are freed from housework, and not business women, and who have not identified themselves with any of the avenues of work in progress. Wealthy women are mentioned who give delightful dinner parties and entertainments for officers; and shower them with far more handsome presents than they can possibly take with them, and whose patriotic efforts stop there.

Chief Guide Graham, at Mount Cook, reports, Mr S. Turner, F R. G.S., of Wellington, accompanied by Guides Milne and Lippe, made a complete traverse of the three peaks of Mt. Cook last Thursday, ascending from the Hooker bivouac by the west face to the third peak. The party followed the main arrete to the second, and highest, summit descending by Green’s route to the Haast bivouac. The weather was perfect, but the mountain was ice-glazed, necessitating much step-cutting. Linda Glacier was much crevassed*. and difficult to negotiate. Great complaints are being made in England now owing to the shortage of jurymen. Cases have been known where the Judge has appealed for the jury to stay on and serve in the next' case, owing to the difficulty of raising sufficient men. In some American States women and men sit together on juries,, and in Norway the same, rule holds good for civil cases, and it is thought that perhaps women may be asked to perform the same service in England. According to the fet James s Gazette, Judge Kingman, of Wyoming, considers that women pay far more attention to the trial than men do. As a jury they are less influenced by outside considerations and possess more delicate scruples with regard to their responsibilities.

Hardly a stock sale passes at Wallacetown without losses .of stock from pens being reported; but on luesday (says the Southland Times) a record must have been reached, when seven fat bullocks, taken from different pens, were missing. Strange to say the whole of the bullocks had been sold by one firm. Inquiries instituted up to a late hour failed to elicit anything satisfactory but no doubt more will be heard of the matter. Opinions on Tuesday were decidedly in the direction of a fetter system of control of stock being inaugurated. Various ideas were ventilated in this direction, but in any case it would appear that something drastic is necessary to cope with what has just happened and, in a lesser degree, at many previous sale.

Many a hardened criminal might have envied the nonchalance, and even cheerfulness, with which one offender hoard the death sentence passed upon him in the Dunedin Police Court on Monday last (says the Otago Daily Times). Th is was the sturdy bulldog from St. Kilda, which has been winning some notoriety lately by his violently expressed antipathy to horses in general. Such conduct has led to a request being made under Section 22 of the Dog Registration Act to have the animal destroyed. Being unable to plead for himself the dog attempted to es-

tablish his character with the Court »y fraternising with the lentil gentle:non present in the most friendly and

sociable manner possible. His fawning and flattery, however, fell on coldly calculating ears, and no one was found to pledge himself for the dog’s good behaviour or to offer him a home, evidence was given by William Sharp, from the remount depot at Tahuna Park, who staled that the dog had followed and three times attacked the horses'he was with. Constable Handy reported other similar complaints, and detailed the efforts he had made, without avail, to fine I an owner for the dog. The Magistrate (Mr Bartholomew) came to the conclusion that such a dog running at large was a menace to the community. “1 will make an order,” he said, “that the dog be destroyed forthwith,” and the doomed one trotted cheerfully away under the protecting care of his friend, Constable Bandy.

A fire alarm was given on the West Coast just as the train, with all Iho lire brigade delegates and local men. and the general public, were leaving for Tauranga Bay. The old hands smelt a rat and did not budge, but some of the younger men ran off to investigate. Sure enough a false alarm had been given. A picnic party from Southbridgo had a rather exciting experience at the month of the Kahaia recently. They rowed across the lagoon , to what is known as Tern Bay to inspect the young terns just hatched, and to do a little herring lishing. While they were displaying their piscatorial art a dense fog enveloped them. They decided to make the best of things and wait till the fog lifted, which it did well on in the evening, and the party were able to nrocecd home. An example of well-cultivated land can at present be seen on a 20-acre farm, owned by .Mr B. Stewart, in the iinwald district (says the Ashburton Guardian). All through the dry weather his crops have done remarkably well. On live acres he kept a cow to the acre, and the animals are in good condition. A number of his swede turnips have tops over two feet nigh, while white Imperial carrots are exceptionally large. From barely a quarter-acre of land, Air Stewart recently gathered a crop of brown Spanish onions weighing 11.0001 b. j A serious accident happened to a light timber wagon in the Wakamarina on Wednesday (reports the Peilorus Guardian). The vehicle, which was owned by J. Gluno, and driven by a man said to be new to the road, was returning from Air Smart’s mill loaded with timber. Approaching the little bridge at Ahern’s Creek, something ev iclentiy startled the horses, and nefore they could be again brought under control the whole turnout was precipitated down the embankment into the creek below. One ot the horses was killed and another badly injured, the driver fortunately escaping with a few bruises and a shaking, the wagon was more or less seriously damaged. On Sunday week Alr .Jas. Pullar, of Crookston, snlfeied a heavy loss by a cloudburst (says the Tapanui Courier). About 50 acres of oats—a crop that would have thrashed up to GO bushels per acre—were practically destroyed' by a cloud-burst, that literally cut it to pieces. Some idea of the severity j of the downpour may he gauged from' the fact that pieces of ice were picked j ■ up in the paddock two days alter the storm occurred. The area affected was ' almost confined to the field of oats, and adjoining paddocks of turnips were only slightly damaged. Competent judges state that Air Pullar’s oat crop is not ‘ lilkey to thrash out more than 10 1 bushels per acre, so that his loss is a .serious one. I An interesting memento of the first Parliament of New Zealand has been , discovered in the old Parliamentary buildings, now used for the purposes , of the Auckland University College, a in the shape of the original Speaker’s ’ chair, which was found to he :a use m [ the room of one of the professoi s r (says the Herald). It is identified by . the fact that there are two holes at t the top of its frame, which obviously , supported the crown that surmounted the chair. Sir Maurice d RoiKe lias s s atislied himself that it was really the ! chair which was occupied by his preclecessors in the presidency of the ! House of Representatives, and which 1 he himself also filled IT years as s Speaker of the Auckland Provincial 0 Council, that body also meeting in the Parliament buildings when Parliament itself was ' n vecess. As the Old Colo- - nists’ Association desires to obtain 1 such historic relics to place in the '■ proposed Old Colonists’ Museum, the 1 University College Council decided on t Monday afternoon to hand over the > chair to the association as a contnhu- ? tion to the museum.