LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 53, 6 June 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A dance will beheld'in the Midnirsi. Public Hall to-morrow evening (A rehuesdav),. June? < ; th. ~ ,; < , r u. . -. H :: { ,-ti . \ : ■ ' ' -

In a private letter which has been received in Dunedin from Sir Thomas Mackenzie, lie states that bite son Clm Itha is agaili in hospital, having had to ■lAutergo ah'operation which’ lasted one hour and a-half.

Since the outbreak of tbe wai'thol Canterbury Jockey Club has contributed £5658 12s 3d to the war funds. Ino taxes paid by the club last year, amounted to £16,392 6s Id, and dnnug. the last live years the club has paid £51,629 4s 10d into the • Government Treasury.

A licensed grocer,,;, pvoseputeyl at. Aberdeen, admitted 294 oflencebj against-against the Ljquor Coiund, Regulations. He was liable to .fin . 'totalling £129,000 and 147 years mi-, prisonment. He was fined £4O the Sheriff remarking that the factsylmu bo reported to the Central Conti oi Board.- ■ ‘ < M ■ "

It is proposed to present, in the name of the people of Otago, a modern aeroplane to the Imperial The cost of a 100 h.p. Gnome-A ickeis , gun-mounted biplane, "Inch is a superior type of machine, is U2oo, an , the amount already acknowledged by, the Otago Daily Times as having been received is £1217 i s 4d.

It was observed that White Island | was unusually active on May 20, ana ( Colonel Ward accordingly measured the height of the steam-column rising from the island with his theodoli e. The height proved to be the Inghes j yet recorded —viz, 9370 ft, and width was approximately 2000 ft, about ' the full width oh the island. The previous highest measurement obtained j by Colonel Ward was 9020 ft, on May ' 20 191-1. It is a coincidence that these two measurements were taken on almost the same day of the year, and it is also worthy oT note that October is a favourite month for unusual activity* at the island. On October 3, 1886 (the year of the Tarawei;a eruption) 7550 ft was measured, on Oefco-, her 9, 1906. 8000 ft, and on October 10, 1910, 62i5ft. Mr C. A. Pearson, describing some incidents in the history of the recentlydeceased London paper, the Standard, said : “When the paper passed under my control it was conducted 'on curiously old-fashioned lines. There was an extraordinary system ol beei tickets in force, too. These tickets were given away by a highly-conscientious gentleman, who received a salary oJ 30s a week. He stood at the portals of the Standard office, intent upon seeing that no desemng person went away without a beer ticket. The, dray, man in charge of a load of paper, the boy who kept the coat of the visitor from brushing against the wheel of a hansom eab, the messenger wlio > brought a letter, would all receive a mysterious-looking blue ticket, which entitled its possessor to half a pint ol beer at any public-lymse in the neighbourhood. I bese beer tickets were redeemed on Saturday mornings,- and cost the Standard about £B9O a year.

The “Swandri,” for riding or walking is tin 1 only coat on the market that is absolutely waterprooi. Made oi woollen texture, it is always warm and comfortable to wear, dries. , in a few minutes, and never cracks. Guaranteed waterprooi two years. Sole agents. Kgmout Clothing Co. x For llroiii hial Goughs. take W,-,mis' Great Peppermint Cure

The weekly dance will be held in the Parish Hall to-morrow evening.

A Press Association message from Dunedin states: The Tahiti, with 146 returned soldiers, and the Maunganui with forty, are expected this afternoon.

The Stratford Borough Council effects were removed yesterday from the temporary offices at the Fire Brigade Station to the new Municipal Buildings.

The second term for Shorthand the Stratford Technical School commences on Wednesday evening. The class opens at 7 o’clock.

Weather Forecast.—Tlie indications are for northerly moderate to strong winds freshening. Expect Changeable and showery weather. The barometer lias a falling tendency.—Bates, Wellington.

A meeting of all South African exi contingenters will be held in the Patriotic Rooms, Municipal Buildings, oh Saturday next. The business before the meeting will be the consideration of the formation of a “battalion,” or otherwise assisting the Empire in the

Special train arrangements have been made in connection with the Winter Show at New Plymouth, which opens to-iro’Tow, so that the convenience of the country people is being well catered for. Friday will be children's Day, and ; n to 5 p.m. on that day all children r f school age will be admitted •for 3d or. b.

A we 1 ’ pat riot id social, held at Te Wer.i recently, resulted in the sum of £lO being handed over to the Stratford Patriotic Committee. A correspondent states That this success was largely due to the work of the members of the local Patriotic Committee, under whose auspices another euchre party and dance will be held in the Tc Wera Hall next Friday evening, June 9th.

.■ The Supreme Court at Palmerston North is hearing a big flax case. C. H. Spiers claims from P. T. Wall the sum of £14,000 for damage alleged to have been caused to plaintiff’s flax land through a fire started on defendant’s property, which is adjoining. Mr Skerrett is appearing, for plaintiff, and Sir John Findlay for defendant*—P.A. Oa Thursday morning, at New Plymouth, at. 11 a.m., .there will be a demonstration of pruning fruit trees by. Mr B. G. Goodwin, orchard instructor for the Department, of Agriculture. For the purpose of this demonstration, Mr J. W. Dovps, of Devon Street West, lias kindly placed his orchard at the. disposal of the, Department, and .any of the public who are interested are cordially invited to be present. The Taranaki Winter Show will be formally opened by the Minister for Agriculture at 2.30 p.m. to-morrow, Wednesday, June 7th.

A meeting of members of the various School Committees in the Stratford district was held in the Stratford School last, night, with the object of forming a Stratford Branch of the Taranaki School Committees’ Association. -There, were about forty delegates present, and Mr F. J. McDonald was voted to the chair. Messrs Smith and Dolby, of the New Plymouth branch, attended and addressed the meeting, pointing out the advantages of joining the Association. After lengthy discussion the following officers were elected, subject to the Stratford. Committee joining the Association. President, Mr J. W. McMillan; vice-President, Mr R. A. Bfickell; committee, Messrs C. H. Lawn, F. J. McDonald, F. Mackay, - Mills; secretary and treasurer, Mr Bocock. The members of the local committee fully discussed the matter, and expressed the opinion that it was necessary to join the Association. The question of joining the Association will be further dealt with at the next meeting of the committee.

The increases in the wholesale price of imported spirits since tne war began have set hotelkeepers in Australia wondering how to make each bottle return a satisfactory margin of profit. At Adelaide about a month ago practically all the hotels began charging 7d a nobbier. Several" publicans there are resorting to the English practice of using a measuring glass. If a customer asks for whisky, impoited brandy, or gin, the bar attendant, instead of placing the bottle on the counter and permitting the purchaser to help himself, as was the case in “the good old days,” carefully measures a quarter of a gill and pours it into a nobbier glass. It is stated that the quantity served represents a fair nobbier, which satisfies the average customer, and that a number of other hotels are likely to adopt the practice, especially if wholesale prices continue to rise.

31r John Wanamaker, millionaire merchant, of Philadelphia, in a letter to the Aero Club of America, has announced his intention to attempt a Transatlantic flight in a heavier-than-air machine in June. Mr Wanamaker, it will be remembered, intended to make an effort in the summer of 1914 with Lieutenant John Porte, H.N., now commander, as navigator, when the European war stopped bis plans. The new machine with which Mr Wanamaker hopes to cross the ocean in one flight is now being constructed by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company. It will he a seaplane of huge proportion, and will have ten times the power of the old America. Although no details of tne new machine, arc yet published, it is known It will be equipped with six 12-cylinder motors of 300 horse-power each, and will probably be able to make 100 miles an hour, with a crew of six and a lull load. It is expected the flight, the object of which will he to, make a 1‘ purely scientific test of aeronautical power,” will take about 30 hours.