GENERAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 117, 25 August 1910, Page 2

GENERAL NEWS.

When the Vatican was thoroughly J cleaned a quantity of re-painting was [ done. The work employed 5700 people I for six months, Merely in cleaning wailpapers 1000 loaves of bread were used daily. A large whale made its appearance in Lyttelton harbor the other day, and a, hunting expedition was hurriedly organ-] ised, two launches setting down the liar-1 bor. The whale seemed to be very old, and its body .was covered with barnacles. There was only one harpoon in the party, and that proved so 'blunt that it could I not penetrate the outer s'kin of the I whale. The huge creature, seemingly' sick, made no effert to resent the attack, and finally swam quietly away. An elderly man named James Wilson, for many years a resident of Gore, met i with a somewhat serious accident last week (says the Wynd&am Farmer), tie was engaged in making a drain alongside a house, and when taking it past a 600gallon tank he cut too close to .the stand thereof, which collapsed. The tank, which was full of wated, in falling,'hurled Wilson into the drain, and pinned him there. The poor fellow's screams brought speedy assistance, and he was released from his perilous plight, half-drowned with the rush of water over him, and severely crushed on one side. The theory seems common all the world over that, in the matter of claiming compensation, is is a wise procedure to claim much, so that the least awarded or offered and accepted may be what is described colloquially a 9 "a fair thingi." And when settlement of a claim is effected there is often a wast difference between the amount claimed and the sum received. In the Arbitration Court in Duriedin on Friday, for instance, a case was mentioned in which a Tapanui carpenter claimed £450 las compensation for an injury to his left eye by a splinter from a chisel. Learned counsel for the plaintiff informed the Court that the matter had ibeen settled by the parties, and that the amount to be paid to his client was £4O, with costs (£7 7s). Siacco (Soman, who distinguished himself when last in Melbourne by fasting for 53 days, and thus broke the record in this branch of industry, has been challenged to a duel of fasting by "Rexo," a New Zealand exponent. 'Last night (says the Melbourne Argus of the 4th inst.), after a light meal of fish and vegetables, the two were fastened into a glass case in the Alexandra Hall, Bourke street, with a number of bottles of Spa water and a supply of cigarettes. A large crowd watched the meal and the incarceration. iSacco Roman has an apparent advantage in lost 21b of tissue reserve, while Rexo is a mere light-weight faster of 9st 41'b. Whoever takes a meal first loses the game, and .the other will (be the champion faster of the world. A somewhat extraordinary application for assistance came before the South Canterbury Hospital and Charitable Aid Board at their last annual meeting, when a young man from the Temuka district, yho has ibeen married only about two years, applied for relief. The Board ■wanted to know why a young, able-bodied man should ask for public harity, and it transpired that the'* applicant had thought fit to apply ibecause he had a wihitelow on one fiiigef fcita'a boil on the neck! The young man was not before the Board personally, and it is probably fortunate for 'him that lie was not (says the Timaru Herald), or he might have iibeen compelled to listen to something the reverse of .complimentary to him. The , .secretary was instructed to give no assistance, to the applicant, unless some •'better reason than a boil and a whitelow •was forthcoming.v.;-!,

:Att iAjigßean icl&igymttji in Queensland [has in a new way. Here-is Sydney Referee, tfhe ref&tfeeeiis tb the Queenslandamat&ur cf&inpionsliips held last month:—"The, draw of the-meeting was itihe ißeV?!Hui^ntgain9,t a-member of the Eng'lisli'Gihuroh Bush Brethren, stationed at Winton, who fought in both the light and nuddft-wedgXtf»lßs««<!S.^ 'Me, .won the light-weight, and forfeited in the middleweighit,. aa»h.WcQtd4Wfcft. a y over * he intervening., time ,;beMeen. the opening bouts andth'e'.'finats. He,is,a rare fighter, this parson:' fulf~oK%oA'B/'and loves the |gam#''i&e-wii in fine condition, and' once the gong ihad rung he never left his man. The referee was always in the way, as far as was concerned, and he 'hit ani' opponents out. In lis bout in the middle-weight I division he was giving .away abdut a I stone and a-half, but' 'Ee did all the forcing, and won on points, after the six rounds had been rattled off! And he won well, too; for he had ffivan, his opponent, hanging on for dea'r Tife/'at the finish.".