ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 43114, 6 July 1907, Page 4

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

The estate of the late Mrs Edward McDonnell, of Thames, Was proved at over £II,OOO. A doctor who gave evidence at an inquest, at Warning Cainp, Sussex, said he remonstrated with a mother for improperly feeding her infant with 1 biscuits, and she replied: “Well, doctor, I ought to know; I have had thirteen children, and buried eight. ( lii connection with an outbreak oi i measles a.t the Petone (Wellington) School, Dr. Mason, the Chief Health Officer, lias advised that all unaffected children should lie allowed to attend school as usual, for keeping them at home in all affected house he regards as the surest, way for them to contract the disease. Dr. Anderson, of the Education Department, who paid a visit of inspection to the Thames High School the other day, stated that in French studies the local High School took a very high place. This is highly creditable to the teaching staff of the school. “I su; pose some of us will have to mind the babies while the ladies ptay bowls,” was the remark passed at a meeting of the Petone Bowling Club last week, when the advisability ol letting ladies join the club came up for discussion. Ultimately it was decided to leave the matter over until the next general meeting. . . An unfortunate hawker in Christchurch, whose, little business is much handicapped by failing eyesight, was pleasantly surprised, on reaching hm home one day last week to find a new handcart standing at lus door, with a note attached to it, stating that it was left as a present to him. the ! grateful recipient has made every effort to find his benefactor, but so iai without success. G-oodi polo ponies fetch excellent ranees at Home. A local gentleman (according to the Taranaki Herald) bought a mare and foal from the Maoris at a. very small figure, and later sold the foal, which had furnished into a well-built, tractable pony, to a Ilawera gentleman for polo purposes. The pony was afterwards shipped to England, where it- realised £4OO, and later was purchased for £SOO and taken to France. It is not, often that the churches in Waihi have to complain of lam kin disturbances. On Sun da- night during the services at the Baptist. Church and Church of Christ volleys of stones were tlirown on to the roofs and against the sides of the buildings. The penalty for disturbing religious services is severe, and anyone guilty ol such misconduct may be imprisoned without the option of a, fine. (Correspondent.) A party of New York mining engineers have just, narrowly escaped with their lives in Death, Valley, Calitomia, famous for the whitened skulls of its victims, which “Scotty, ’ the cowboy millionaire, used, to say he passed on the way to his mysterious g'old mine. A week or two ago 1 these New Yorkers left Los Angelos in automobiles, attracted by news of a fresh; strike of gold in Willow Creek. They mounted horses after reaching Greemvater, 120 miles east of Bakersfield. Fort two days nothing iva,s heard of them, so a rescue party followed them from High Peak. Eventually they discovered, by means of the telescope, a group ol men at, the foot of Sheep Train Gorge. The rescuers were just in time, for all were semi-delirious. They had climbed the same peak and seen what looked like a clear river several thousand feet below. The mirage enticed them into a waterless gorge, where the heat almost suffocated them. Marriage with a deceased’s wife’s sister was forbidden in the United Kingdom by an Act passed in 1835, but there has been constant agitation since that time to bring the law into line with that of the colonies and ol other countries, where such marriages are allowed. As a rule, the Bills passed the Commons and were thrown out by the Lords, but occasion all v this proceeding has been reversed. In 1859 the Prince of Wales (now King Edward) and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the House of Lords and voted for the measure, which it was generally understood would have been availed of, if passed, by a member v of the Rloyall Family. Last year a, Bill Was put through Parliament making legal in England marriages with a. deceased wife’s sister contracted in the colonies. Christchurch Truth has the following under the above heading:—“As though we were not quite satisfied regarding the Kaiser’s duplicity, the cablegram this morning provides us with another sample of the mischievous innuendo in which he loves to indulge. Kaiser Bill was described by the German newspapers recently as “The Prince of Peace,” and this is the way in which he displays his goodwill towards other nations through the columns of the servile and crawlj some Kiel Gazette: “Why should Ger- | many not conclude with Japan an alliance similar to that between Japan and 'France. Germany could do so all the mote willingly, inasmuch as she has always respected Chinese integrity by virtue of the principle of the open door, which the Kaiser wont to defend at Tangier.” The suggestion here, of course, is that France lias been an aggressor in the Far East, and has behaved in a' manner calculated to injure the interests of other Powers in Morocco. But the nations know Germany too well to be deceived by such bluff, and will not forget, that only the other day, behind France’s back, Germany arranged secret public works contracts in Morocco, which were disallowed bv the unanimous voice of all the foreign diplomatic, corps at Tangier. Like a, sneak, Germany is trying to discredit her old enemy, of whose position amongst, the nations she is jealous. Tu making the attempt j she is only increasing the contempt , and aversion with which other nations regard her, and increasing their desire to thrash hen