LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8546, 30 September 1907, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The latest return from the Mystery Flat Dredge is 14oz 4dwt for a "short week." The Railway Department are installing the tablet system between Masterton and Woodville. The work will be completed in about a month. It is understood that all the objections to the valuations in the Mauriceville Count 3 have been settled without reference to the Assessment Court. The Wairarapa South County Council have accepted the tender of Mr W. D. McCalmont for the erection of a L"ridge over the Korerau Creek at Tupurupuru, Gladstone, I writes our Carterton correspondent. „ It is stated that a number of residents living in the vicinity of Pine and Villa Streets have lost valuable dogs through them having taken poi • son which is stated to have been laid in that } art of the town. One resident, Mr AirnsAvorth, lost a particularly valuable setter dog. At the meeting of the Wellington Education Board on Friday last Mr Vile moved that the present school site at Eketahuna be sold and the offer of another site of three acres be accepted, provided that the Government paid half the cost. Mr Hogg seconded the motion, which was carried. Messrs Aitken, Vile and Hogg were authorised to interview the Minister of Education on the matter. '

The amount collected to date for the Christchurch Y.M.C.A. Building Fund is over £II,OOO. The Wellington Education Board has granted Mr Sutton, of the staff of the Masterton District High School, two months' leave on full pay-

A start was made, last week, with the work of enlarging the goods yards and sheep yards at the Masterton railway station. The work has been hindered somewhat owing to the men engaged having to be taken for the purpose of assisting in clearing slips on the line northward. The Wellington Education Board has decided with regard to the use of septic tanks for schools to reply to the Wairarapa School Committees' Association that the board had not expressed general disapprobation of the septic tank system, and had the matter under consideration.

A horse attached to a buggy, owned by Mr J. Fenwick, bolted from the W.F.C.A. yard, on Saturday morning. The animal careered along Chapel Street, and turned into Victoria Street, where it was brought to a standstill owing to the vehicle overturning. The trap was damaged to some extent.

Two gentlemen concerned in the recent hospital social at Gisborne have been summoned to appear at the Police Court on charges of selling liauor without a license. There was a booth at the social, but no charge was made for drinks. A box for contributions towards the funds was, however, in a prominent position.

The wind blew from the north-west with great velocity throughout the Wairarapa on Saturday last. The passengers in the train from Wellington on Saturday evening had an uncomfortable experience. Between Featherston and Carterton the wind blew with terrific force, causing the carriages to rock in an alarming manner. Heavy rain fell, too, and the wind blew the rain under the windows of some of the carriages, and on to the seats.

At the Masterton Magistrate's Court, on Saturday morning, before Mr W. P. James, S.M., a charge cf indecency was preferred against a middle-aged man, named Robert Leslie, al ! as Henry Mirshally. Accused entered a plea of guilty. Mr C. A. Pownall,"who appeared for the accused, pleaded for leniency as accused was under the influence of liquor at the time of the offence. Th§ Magistrate considered the case a serious one, and sentenced the accused to three months' imprisonment.

The battle of the slate v. the paper pad for use in schools was waged with much vigour by members of the Wellington Education Board on Friday last. Mr Vile stood up as a champion of the "good old slate," while Captain M'Donald broke a lance for the pad. "Between pads and- fads," said Mr Hogg, M.H.R., "there's not much difference, just a letter. They'll soon be coming to such a pas a in schools that a child won't be able to sneeze without seme one standing by with a disinfectant."

Says the Eketahuna Express:— The report furnished by the mining expert on the coal-bearing qualities of the land in the vicinity of Mauriceville was such, we understand, as to give little encouragement to those who had engaged him. it appears that the seams prospected were, in the expert's opinion, far too green to enable the industry to be made a payable one. The settlers in the district, however, are convinced that coal exists in large quantites, and it is probable that at a later day further expert advice will be obtained.

Owing to another slip on the line at Mangamahoe, the 3.15 p.m. Woodville to Masterton goods train on Saturday last did not arrive in Masterton till 11 o'clock, 2hrs 20min late. This train ran into the slip, which was at the north end of the tunnel. The Woodville-Masterton train, which usually reaches the latter station at 9.55 p.m., did not arrive till 11.45 p.m. The "wild cat" for Woodville did not leave Masterton till midnight. A special goods train left Masterton for Woodville yesterday morning. Men were employed clearing away the slip yesterday.

About seven o'clock on Saturday morning a fire broke out in a stable belonging - to Mr J. K. Blinkhorne at Lansdowne. The Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene, but the fire had already a strong hold and in a short time the building and its contents were completely destroyed. The stables, which were erected a few years ago, were built of heart of totara, and the loss to Mr Blinkhorne is a serious one. The origin of the outbreak is a mystery. Mr Blinkhorne's son was sleeping in a small room adjoining the stables, and only just escaped from the burning building in time. The building was insured for £4OO in the New Zealand Insurance Company, but Mr Blinkhorne estimates his loss at fully £4OO above that amount. He also lost nearly £IOO worth of harness and other stable requisites. About £4O worth of tow belonging to Mr G. Hyde was also destroyed, as well as a quantity of harness belonging to the Borough.

Constable McGregor received a severe handling in Wellington, on Friday night, from two men whom he had previously warned, but who persisted in misbehaving themselves. He attempted to arrest Daniel O'Brien, but the man resisted violently. David Harrison, the second man, then attacked the constable and kicked him. The constable whistled for assistance, which arrived, and both men were arrested. At the Magistrate's Court, on Saturday, O'Brien was fined £4 or seven days for using obscene language, and was sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment for resisting the police. Harrison was fined £4 or 14 days' imprisonment and sentenced to six weeks' for assault. The Magistrate said that he considered assaulting a policeman more serious than resisting one. When a man has smoked them once —cigarette buying is no longer a question of choice, for be naturally asks for Taddy's Myrtle Grove Cigarettes.* Gigantic Conspiracy, 'Tis a gigantic conspiracy of Coughs and Colds against you. Foil it with Dr, Shel don's New Discovery for Coughs, Colds and consumption. 19 6d and 3s, Obtainable at H, E. Eton's, Chemist,

It is stated that there are some 70 schools in the Wanganui education district in which special instruction in agriculture is given.

A Government inspector has been calling at the various flaxmills throughout the Manawatu to ascertain if the recent award of the Arbitration Court is being observed in all its details by employers. It is understood that no breaches of award have been discovered.

The average age of men who married in New Zealand in 1906 was 29.76 years, and of women 25.97, compared with 28.6 and 26.38, respectively, in England. The proportion of bridegrooms under 21 years is much greater in England than in New Zealand, but the proportion of brides under .21 in the Dominion is somewhat higher.

Reporting a recent meeting of the British Association the London Daily Mail said: —"Almost all the school masters agree that scholarships as they are ought to be abolished, because they do harm to small boys, and go to the people who are not in need of the money. A wholesale change is likely to be made in the near future in the universities, in secondary schools, and in adding rungs to the educational ladder."

The Infant Life Preservation Society recently formed at Christchurch is getting into active work and hopes to make a strenuous crusade. Arrangements have been made with a Christchurch firm for the manufacture of humanised milk for infants. The milk will be prepared by the society's nurse, who is to be instructed by the nurse who is working for the Dunedin Society. Progressive schemes are in view, and among them is the establishment at the earliest possible moment of a babies' hospital.

The next sitting of the Bankruptcy Court in Wellington will be held tomorrow. Amongst the estates which the Official Assignee will ask the court to release him from will be that of the late Wm. Waring Taylor, who was adjudicated a bankrupt about twenty years ago. Some time after the adjudication an application for release was obtained by the assignee. Recently a windfall in the shape of a legacy to the bankrupt came to hand. This money has been distributed among the creditors, and it is necessary, therefore, for the assignee to obtain a second release.

In the Wellington Supreme Court, on Saturday, states a Press Association telegram,"^Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice, upheld the Magistrate's decision in favour of the Isew Zealand Times Company in the claim against the Taranaki Petroleum Oil Company for £49 5s for advertising. The question was whether the brokers appointed by the Petroleum Company had power to make a contract in the name of their priu- r cipals for advertising the prospectus of the company. It was shown that, it was the custom of the Wellington Stock Exchange that brokers should; advertise the prospectus and use the name of the principals in so doing.

Can the relatives o? a person who dies on a ship at sea prevent the burial taking place at sea? This is a: question which is about to arise in a concrete form in America. It appears that the wife of Dr. Chalmers Prentice, of Chicago, died on the North German Lloyd liner Konigen Luise soon after the steamer left Gibraltar, and her body, as is alleged, was buried at sea in spite of the protests of her daughter. Dr. Prentice has commenced an action for damages against the company. English law. books and reports are silent upon the.: question whether the captain of & ship has an absolute discretion in this; matter, It has probably not arisen before.

"Tattersall's" was the subject of a motion moved in the Tasmanian Assembly lately by Mr Ogden. His proposal was: —"That in the opinion of this House the question as to whether Tattersall's be allowed to continue as at present or be abolished,, or be conducted by the State, should be referred to a referendum of the electors of this State; and that it bean instruction to* the Government to bring in a Bill to give effect to the said resolution." The Premier opposed the motion. He said £60,000 a year revenue would be lost it Tattersall's were abolished. The discussion was continued for two heirs,, and the motion was lost on a division, six voting for it and eighteen, against it.

A portion of the historic Deans Estate at Riccarton, comprising 23 acres, was offered for sale recently. The Deans Estate is one which>, through the family, has been connected most intimately with the history of the provincial district of Canterbury. Since the last portion of the estate was offered for sale the tram servica has brought Riccarton into close connection with Christchurch. The amount realised for the 23 acres . was over £12,000. At; the former sale of part of the Deans Estate thirty years ago the price realised per acre for the land on the West Belt and on Riccarton Road near the hotel was £1,600 per acre< A young lady is wanted as sales-, woman and typidt at "The Talk-, eries." - Elsewhere Mr Douglas Dobson, C.E., invites tenders, which will close at noon on October sth,for drainage, septic tank and filter beds, at the Masterton Hospital. The Pi°no was invented in I'a'y soma 400 years ago by Paliarino, and, as we can readily imagine, the first p ano was a, crude affair, not at all like - either in tone, touch or appearance—the beautiful instruments with which some of us are familiar. :

It is difficult to say where the be:t pianos aie now made; indeed, there is not' much to choos9 in anything between the' productions of the best Geiman or 1 English manufacturers. The selection of a piano is pretty much a question of individual taste and icquirements, provided of course that jou have the productions of the best makers to select from. There are so miny makers,' so many prices and qualities wlr'ch a purchaser must consider, that it is aiways advisablo to consult a reliable firm of, specialists, preferably a firm with a good refutation, a thorough knowledge of the' business, and a large stock to select from. ' Purchase jour piano from the Piano Company. They have a reputation, and they have the best and largest stocks in New Zealand to choose from. Time payments from 20s monthly. Local Manager: A. B. Wallace. Wood's Great Peppermint Cure for Coughs and Colds never fails. 1b Cd and" 23 6d.

A movement is afoot to establish a -soap factory in Westport. A site for buildings and plant is being secured in the vicinity of the municipal abattoir. Government primary school children in Auckland are now in a proportion of less than four to one of J#ldren educated at colleges, high s#ools, the grammar schools, and private schools. There iaJPdy probability, says the Levin Farmer, that the whole of the milk produced in the district of Levin during next winter will be railed to Wellington to supply the needs of the city with fresh milk. The butter season is opening on the "West Coast of the South Island. Two West Coast factories were to commence operations this week, and a third, the Kokatahi Dairy Factory Company, has already opened up. It la said that this creamery has practically arranged to dispose of the the coming season's output on the coast. The building fund in connection with St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin, having been raised to £8,384, it is now within measurable distance of the figure at which the donation of ''JB 1,000 msy be claimed from the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. The stipulation of this grant is that £IO,OOO shall be in hand from private subscriptions, received by the Ashburton show that in some districts losses of lambs have been exceptionally heavy. A farmer at Willowby on looking round his flock the other morning, found 30 dead lambs. Another farmer at Lowcliffe reports a loss of twelve per cent, on the young lambs dropped. Mr T. Langley, of Dromore, is reported to have lost over sixty lambs last Friday evening.

Captain T. E. Parker, the oldest shipmaster in the British merchant marine service, sa'l or steam, died suddenly recently on the ship Holt Hill when the vessel was struggling against gales off Cape Horn, on a voyage from Greenock to Vancouver. The Holt Hill took sixty days to round the Horn, owing to storms. -Captain Parker wa3 eighty ye;rs of age, and had lxen in command of vessels for fifty-one years, and was known as "Commodore of the Word's Mercantile Marine." At a meeting of the Canterhury dairymen, on Tuesday, some dissatisfaction was expressed with regard to notices sent out by the Inspector of i&ries, requiring the dairymen to sroend to several matters. It was stated that there woulo be no finality to the requirements of the Inspector unless the Government passed an Act setting out definitely what should be cone, and a motion was passed expressing an opinion that the position of dairymen should be made secure by the passing of laws regulating dairies for not less than three years. The Aucmand Agricultural and Pastoral Association, which is so closely identified with the country districts of the province and with its wealth-producing sources, has only some 800 msmbers. For a city like Auckland and a district such as is embraced in Auckland province, this total is very small, for town and country alike are closely concerned in the big summer and winter shows held by the Association, and an endeavour is to be made to increase the membership to 1,000 before the Noshow. A strong committee was formed for this purpose at last meeting, and another committee was formed for the purpose of securing more entries for the show, from both city and country exhibitors. Exceptionally good work evidently has been done in connection with the accounts of the New Zealand International Exhibition, says the Lyttdton Times. The Melbourne Exhibition closed on January 31st, 1899, and the balance sheet was not issued until October 30th, 1890. twenty-one months from the date of closing. The official record of the Dunedin and South Seas Exhibition contains no dates on this point, but the balance sheet was not available until twelve months after the close of the Exhibition. Mr Munro states that there will be no difficulty in producing the balance sheet of the New Zealand Exhibition at the end of this year, between eight and nine months from the date of closing. Sensational rumours are current in to the theft from Dublin Jdpstle a few weeks ago of a portion of the State regalia, valued at about £50,000, states a London paper. Hints are being thrown out that the gems may be soon "discovered" without any explanation as to where they have been or who returned them. It is said they have been de-

posited as security for. a loan, and -the name of the alleged depositor is ~-freely mentioned in private, with hints of a tragic social and semipolitical scandal. It is, of course, impossible to verify these reports, but they are being freely circulated in circles where channels of information undoubtedly are good. The cabled information from Sydney, last week, of the deaths of three children from eating hemlock gives Special interest to the fact that this plant is growing on unused pieces of land in the vicinity of Christchurcir. It is a plant with a fairly stout hollow stem with purplish markings. The stem bears branches on which are carrier *inelv-divided fern-like ]<?av£3^^P l ''colour being a dark glossy green.' It bears small white wwers arranged something like ffiose of the "sweet-william" or phlox. It is one of the oldest known poisonous plants, the draught by which Socrates met his death being __potion made from th? hemlock. The principal poisonous ingredient of the hemlock is alkaloid conine, and the Symptoms of poisoning are weakness and' staggering gait, eventually bringing about paralysis, which passes up the spinal cord till it reaches the respiratory centre, when death ensues. Whooping Cough 13 a very dangerous disease uuless properly treated. Sta'i slice show that that lhere are more deaths from it than from scarbt fever. All dangermay be avoided, however, by giving Cbamberberlain'j Cough Eemedy. It liquifies the tough mucus, making it easier to expectontei keeps the cough loose ai d makes the attacks of coughing less frequent and severe. For sale by all dealers. When you need a good and reliable liniment iy Chamberlain's Pain Balm. It has no soperior for sprains and swellings. A piece of flannel slightly dampened with -""-: Pain Ba'm is supeuor to a platter for back or pains in the chest or side. It relieves rheumatic pains and makes sleep and rest possibb. For sale by-all deilers.