LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 51, 27 September 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A dance will he held in the .Midhirst Town Hall this evening, when

a large company is expected

A striking article entitled “No Peace Prattle,” written hy Mr Humtio Bottomley, editor of “John Bull.” appears on page 3, of the Post tonight.

An Auckland Press Association telegram states that the Coroner re-' turned a verdict that the fire at Waiuku on August 29 was wilfully caused, but that there was no evidence to show by whom.

As the result of the spell of splendid weather during the last week or two, the grass and oat crops are coming away fast, and the adds in the countryside are looking fresh and green. A shower of rain, however, would greatly benefit things pastoral just now.

Members of the A. and P. Association are reminded of the working bee at the showground on Thursday, at 10 o’clock. All members and others willing to help will be welcome, and they are asked to provide themselves with a spade jmd shovel. Luncheon will be provided.

The County Engineer (Mr W. J. Lopdell) and staff are at present busy on the Opunake Road between Cardiff and Mahoe, re-metalling and rolling, and this particular piece of road, which of late has been almost impassable and a bugbear to all travellers, will soon resume its rightful proportions.

A Conference of local bodies between Wanganui and Ractihi was held to-day at Wanganui (states the Press Association) to consider joining the railway district under the Local Railways Act to construct and run a 1 railway from Wanganui to the Main Trunk via the Waimarino district. A resolution was moved by the Mayor of Wanganui to that effect alter discussion.

A plague of sand-flies struck a motor-cyclist who was out on the Finnerty Road, just off the Hastings Road, last evening. Bowling meitmy along, only taking notice of the very

bad ruts and dodging as many as possible, ho suddenly ran into the swarm. The air was black and the fencing posts on the roadside were alive and crawling with then;. Tne cyclist was obliged to dismount and brush the pesky things out oi his eyes.

The 4th of August meeting in the Mansion House, London, was remarkable for the extraordinary enthusiasm which greeted some of the speeches. M. Painleve, French Minister of Education and Munitions, was particularly effective. Briefly,. ‘M. Painleve said that at the outset of the war the Allies represented right against might; now they represented the. might of right. “When the knights of old would seal an eternal brotherhood of arms for some sacred cause, they mingled in a precious cup blood from their own veins. today British blood van with French over the immerise cup of the fields of France. All the ’ centuries of the future should never separate the two peoples again.”

Those who are attempting to estimate the duration of the war may find the opinions held at Lloyd’s of interest. Underwriters on August L 3 were quoting 30 guineas per cent, ioi a. “peace” policy extending to December 31, 1917'. From statements made by a leading insurance broker it appears that in the case of a policy covering the period to the end of the present year, the rate quoted is 85 guineas per cent., while if taken out for three months later a policy would rule at 70 guineas per cent. The rate is 00 guineas to June 30, 1917, or 1,5 guineas per cent, less if the time bo extended to September oi next year. (Put in simple language the betting is 3 to 1 that l*ace will lie declared by December 31, 191 1. but only 10 to 9 that it will be declared by December 31, 1916.)

The. most spectacular motor car action picture yet obtained by a camera was filmed recently near Santa Barbara, California, when a touring car leaped a chasm of 33ft wide and 21ft. deep. It landed safely on the other side -with lift to spaic, the total distance, of the flight being 47ft. Three passengers were carried on the perilous journey, and none of the passengers were injured, and the car was unharmed. The car was, driven 1000 ft. on a temporary hoard, inclined to give it the 1 momentum necessary for its long lean through the air. It had attained a spci d oi 50 miles an hour whtn u left the incline built on the approach dm- <4 the gulf. When the flying car shot off the incline into the air it described a graceful arc, and landed squarely on” the road bed. 14ft. beyond the brink of the gorge*. V\ hen the car lauded on the other side of the gorge it continued on its way .up the road until it was brought' to a stop by its daring driver. As proof of tbe rasp with which car and passengers withstood the hazardous experiment, thev immediately drove to the city in the same car in which they made their motor car flight..

A social will be hold at Holy Trinity Parish Hall on Thursday evening next, when un excellent musical gramme has been arranged. The Ladies’ Patriotic Committee gratefully acknowledge the sura of £T() towards the Christmas Gift Fund from the Stratford Patriotic Committee. Weather Forecast.—The indications are for variable and strong breezes, but easterly moderate to strong prevailing, and freshening. The weather conditions are threatening, and appear likely to he cloudy and unsettled with rain following. The bare- ( meter is falling.—Pates, Wellington. Mr W. Bright, a settler at Taliora, who has practised water-divining for some years, informed a representativ ot the Taranaki Herald that he has not yet failed to find water where he has located it, and in all recent tests ho has, in addition, been able to state almost to within an inch how deep down the water is. f t- ' ■. In cloggy circles, Stratford is regarded as well on the road to holding th premier position in New Zealand, and there is likely to be a record entry for the coming A. and P. Show, the management of which, are now busy revising the schedules. Hog fanciers will bo interested to leant that the New Zealand K nnel Club have allocated to Stratford the Kennel Club challenge . classes for both bearded collie 4 and painters. There is likely to he some keen competition iii the pointer class, as local fanciers can bench some first-class animals.

One of the many remarkable, artificial hands invented during the course of the war is one just perfected by a mechanic named Soudy, who claims to have solved the problem of creating fingers which can be moved independently of one another, ana which will grasp an object as does the human hand. The fingers of this artificial hand are made of slender pieces of steel, three to a finger, connected and attached by tiny hinges to the metal constituting the palm. By a system of fine wires running to the elbow or the shoulder, the fingers can, it is claimed, he crooked to any desired degree so as to supply the power to grasp. A twist of the arm releases the grasp of the fingers on the objects they hold.

There are not many men who have had a fall of six thousand feet and feel none the worse for the v experience. Four French airmen—two pilots and their observers—went through this thrilling experience in •Tidy, and by a miraculous working of Providence readied terra Anna in an

undamaged condition. Suddenly the two huge birds were seen to attack one another, as it seemed,' and the impression arose that a fight was taking place between German and French aircraft. Locked together, the aeroplanes described every kind of impossible acrobatic performance, finishing in a vertiginous dive downwards. Spectators of this tragic scene stood transfixed with horror, the cooler of these making a precipitate rush for the crashing \ point. Meanwhile some friendly trees had intervened, and it was with nothing more serious than a scare that the. abovementioned four were rescued from their leafy positions. Here is certainly a record which it will he difficult to beat.

Parisians have been no little startled on dark nights (writes the special correspondent of the Auckland Star) to see numerous brilliant stars apparently careering through the heavens in a most mysterious fashion. These would light up and go out, and occasionally throw a comet-like track of light in all directions. Many believed in some astral phenomenon, but the truth of matter is that these strange bodies were no more nor less than a now type of nocturnal aeroplane which the War Office is experimenting with. For obvious reasons, I am not at liberty to give further details of the new arm, but if all the wonderful things I hear of the “night birds” are as represented, the Germans are going to have the biggest surprise of their lives, and a complete revolution in aerial navigation is at hand. Battle aeroplanes have hitherto possessed one great drawback—sorry I cannot be more explicit—but this has now been overcome.

The management of His Majesty’s Theatre are pleased to be able to state that there can be no disappointment of the public owing to the nonarrival of the star film this evening, as “The Shopwalker,” the Charlie Chaplin success, is already in the operating room. In addition to this great picture, which lias taken thousands on a trip into the ' land of laughter and fun, is the usual Wednesday programme, with War Gazette, Vitagraph drama, etc. The whole of tlio upstairs accommodation has been booked, and patrons should he very early at the doors to-night, as there is hound to he a rush for the best down-stairs scats; also, for the reason that the performance starts five minutes earlier than usual, namely, five to eight sharp.

The following is an extract from a letter received! from England, bearing July is a sad week w for Englana,- more especially tor Lancashire. Tliey brought 56,000 j wounded into Manchester in five days. They have taken Stockport Sundayschool (the largest undenominational' school in the world) and also the Midland Hotel in Manchester (the largest hotel in the city) and tui ned them into Hospitals. W ithin half an . hour on Saturday 26 motor • ambulances passed through Heaton Moot (a quiet residential suburb, outside Manchester) full of wounded. Some were bright, and waved German helmets in the air; others, alas, were unable to move. - Wo are having brought home to us here, day by day, vthe* reality and the aw i illness 0 vlrar.”