LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 79, 9 March 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Two men with a machine-gun, a very distinguished British general has said, “can hold up a brigade” (6000 men). I For the weekly silting of the Stratford Magistrate’s Court to-morrow the 1 only easiness set down for hearing' comprises seventeen undefended civil' cases. Mr Lloyd George, England’s Mimi-j tions Minister, lias sit a good example to motorists who employ a chauffeur., He was among the first of English' motorists to free ins driver for war purposes, replacing him v,ith a lady! driver. It is reported from Stockholm that! owing to the great shortage of rubber' in Germany, nearly all the taxicabs in Berlin are now running on steel tyres, j Many of the German motor vehicles now in..use at the front are similarly fitted up. Weather Forecast.—The indications are for moderate to strong easterly, winds prevailing. The weather is likely to be cloudy to overcast at times, when misty rain is to bo ex-' pected. The barometer shows little movement.—Bates, Wellington.

A Press Association telegram from Hastings states that Frank Schroski, a married man, while engaged in blasting operations at Maraetotara' quarry ;'his morning, had his right hand blown off and a leg broken by a' missfire exploding when he was in thei act of withdrawing it. A very serious loss of stock was sus-j tained by Mr Galyer, at the we. tern 1 end of Martiuboroifgh cm Friday week.' It is supposed that some stray dogs got amongst a fleck of lambs and hunted them down a track to a swamp, where over IGO of them were drowned and smothered. The loss is 1 estimated at about £l5O. Tbe Shorthand class at the Stratford Technical School has taken a new lease of life. On the opening night (Wednesday) the number of , pupils enrolled was double the pre-‘ vious best total, and there is now a very satisfactory class, the students ranging from the “p.b.t.d.” j stage to the more advanced of over sixty words per minute. Work is very busy at the Kaitaugata and Castle Hill mines, and there is no such thing as “idle days” now for the men. The high price ruling for old iron has started a temporary side in-j dustry at Kaitangata, where tile largei accumulation of worn out machinery,! etc. is being broken up by explosives,’ and got ready for despatching to thej iron works. A very emotional scene occurred at: tlie consecration of Bishop Brodie at Christchurch on Sunday last, when Mrs Brodie, mother of the Bishop, was led up to the throne immediately on the enthronement of her son, to receive the first blessing at his hands. The new Bishop embraced her very gently, and many of the congregation were visibly affected by the incident.

At the reception given to Captain | Hardhani. Y.C., at the Boys’ Insti- > tube, Wellington, on Tuesday evening,, Colonel Porter, 0.8., said that it wasj generally known that Captain] Hardhani had the distinction of walk-j ing behind the late King Edward’sj carriage during his coronation pro-: cession. Thirty Victoria Cross men! were given the honor, Captain Hard-j ham being cne of the nine representing the Dominions overseas. j

Last Saturday the handbell used at the Waitara State school to call the children together vanished, and it was seen (says the Mail) that the il-f legal possessor had put a log of wood against the wall, opened the window sash and gained admittance to the building. Funher inquiries led to the culprit (a boy. of tender years) being discovered, and later the bell was found on the road near the railway station. It is now in its accustomed place. j

A conference was held last night between the Stratford Borough Council and the Stratford Electrical Supply Co. 10 complete the final arrangements prior to valuation of . the Company s plant. Both parties agreed to all questions submitted with the exception of the legal expenses of arbitration. ’I he Council wished to fix a limit*to these expenses, hut the Company was not lagreeable, and the conference ended in a deadlock. The popular theory that more boys than girls are born during war time is not borne,cut as far as Danneviike is concerned. Ihe registrar there states that for the past nine months the births in the borough have been practical I v equally div.ded between ti.e sexes. The Hastings correspondent of the Telegraph also reports a similar occurrence. In January, at Hastings, there wore 33 births, 19 girls and U hoys, and, in February, there were 13 girls and 11) boys. In conversation with the Borough Engineer (Mr T. D. Sullivan) this morning, he seated that though m was experiencing a very busy time << was attending to the sanitary mspectiou of the Borough with an ;: l K ' n eve.” He is still busy with the tarsealing of the foe ths, and says Unix the fact of having tav ami sand on the footpath acts as a disinfectant, “sn ed when he would commence the sanitary inspection ol the Boiough, «i s authorised l>v the Council, Mr bu.livan said he could n< t say exactly. Monday night’s Council meeting, the ouestion mnVcome up lor discussion, j

Mr Hogg wants more music in the achoois. He stated at the Wellington Education Board (says the Post): — “Wc arc not doing what we should in the cause of music in our schools. We should have choirs; we should also have bands attached to the schools. It is said that Mr Ashmoad Bartlett draws £IOO per night from J. and X. Tait for each of his war lectures. The lecture is illustrated by maps, diagrams j and actual pictures of the lighting, taken by Bartlett himself. The Sydney season was so successful that the date of the Melbourne appearance had to bo delayed. A young woman, named Ehoda Randal! Davidson, was charged before Mr W. G. Riddell, S.M., at the Wellington Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday "ith eommitthig bigamy at Wellington on January 7 by going through a form of marriage with Gordon Stewart Mason, while her husband, James Morton Davidson, was still alive (reports the Post). She was remanded until Wednesday, bail being allowed. Mason was charged with making a false declaration in order to secure the certificate. He was also remanded, on bail, to the same date. A remarkable accident befell a returned soldier, H. Cropper, who enlisted 12 rnonhs ago, and saw a deal of fighting in Gallipoli, and who recently returned invalided from the front. Cropper was occupied in grass-seeding on M‘Herman Bros.’ farm at Taringamutu, and was carrying a loaded revolver in Ids trousers pocket with the intention of shooting rabbits. He slipped over a bank, rolling to the bottom. The revolver was accidentally discharged, and the bullet entered his leg, striking the bone and travelling to the knee. He w-as taken to the Taumarunui Hospital, where Dr. MacKnight removed the bullet, which was considerably flattened.

.At the municipal swimming carnival at Christchurch on Wednesday night the M ayor (Mr H. Holland) announced that duriiig that afternoon a person s who must nave been a pro-German, had thrown a discolouring chemical in the baths in order to prevent the carnival being held (says the Lyttelton Times). Luckily, however, the act was discovered in time for the water affected to be run out and the bath filled before the carnival commenced. The Custodian Mr G. Billson, states that the capacity of the bath G 150,000 gallons i and the whole of the deep end was discolored with the chemical, necessitating the withdrawal of 30,000 gallons. An unexpectedly large capture was made at Auckland by Detective Gourley and .Constable M‘Hugh during the week-end (says the Neve Zealand Herald). A complaint respecting the Joss of a magneto ignition instrument t nlued at £7 10s, and ta .ea from a workshop in Northcote, was made to the police. Pursuing investigations, the officers recovered electrical fittings, numbering over 100, and valued roughly at £IOO. The aitides included lamp pendants, switches, fuses ? globes, torches, pushes, brass plugs, lamp shades, coils of wire, copper cable, etc. Two young men were apprehended, and on Saturday night were each formally charged, before Mr A. H. Gent il, J.F.. with stealing the magneto instrument.

The Railway Review says: “Mr W. R. Haselden, S.M., who is rusticating iu the Taranaki district, comes out occasionally to astonish railwaymen with his procedure as chairman of the Appeal Board. A large section of the service has come to the conclusion that Mr Haselden’s efforts ought to be severely discouraged. The Newmarket branch, in common with several other branches of the A.S.R.S. has passed the following resolution:—“That this branch /lakes strong exception to the hostile attitude of the chairman of the Railway Appeal Board shown in the recent case of Ganger M‘Clone particularly, and that the Executive Council lie urged to get a petition signed by all members asking for the chairman’s immediate removal, and present the same to Parliament.”

Not all the messages from the seaare hoaxes, and one which was called to mind afresh by the visit of Mr Clement W.ragge to Oamaru was shown to the North Otago Times on Tuesdaynight. It is the practice of some Governments to cast adrift upon the sea, sealed in bottles, specially prepared forms containing particulars of the date, latitude, and vessel from which the “message” is thrown in the hope that it will eventually be picked up. Space is provided on the forms for the finder tu fill in particulars (name, and where found, and date of discovery) and there is also a request that the form should be returned to the originating office. During Mr Wragge’s engagement to the Government he caused such a- “message” to be thrown overboard from the Ruapehu on January 93, 1895. The bottle containing the “message” was picked up by Mr F. W. Murdoch, of Oamaru, after it had been sealed up for 16 years, at Mason’s Bay, Stewart Island.