LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12638, 27 October 1905, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A concert will be held at the Church of Christ this evening.

It is notified in another column that Plimmerton House will re-open on November 1

Rabbits ara said to be steadily on tho increase in the Kimbolton district, Feilding.

The Governor and.Lady Plunket will leave -Wellington for the North at the end of the session.

Tho heavy rain which fell last night and yesterday resulted in the river rising considerably. Low-lying ground was flooded by storm water, but no damage was done.

Tho following advertisement aj> peared in a Yorkshire newspaper: "To bo let, good grocer's and bread shop; hirge oven; lived in it for six years; satisfactory reason for leaving."

Dr. Van Slyke, eye, ear, throat, and" nose specialist, may be consulted at theRutland Hotel on November 1.

The programme for Tne Kiwitea. Jockey Club's first hack meeting appears in another column.

The summer time-table of the Castlecliff Railway Company begins on. Wednesday, November 1.

Mr W. G. Ba-ssett will address theelectors in the Mosstown School-room! to-night at 8 p.m.

In order to provide further proteo* tion to the huia, now becoming veryrare, Mr. Davey has given notice of a» amendment to the Animals' ProtectionBill, making it a misdemeanour to offer huia feathers for sale.

A recent visitor to Wellington Gaol" states that Terry, who is awaiting triafc on the charge of murdering a Chinaman, displays no sign of worry or distress, and seams perfectly unconcerned" as to his fate.

Mr. A. M. McLecd received yesterday the following wire from Mr. N. Meuii, who is attending the Builders'" Conference at Oamaru : "Weather bad. Conference with architects so far satisfactory."

Our new serial story, "The Cost of the Clue," commences, in the Supple-ir-.ent to be issued with to-morrow's "Chronicle." The Supplement will be found excellent in all departments, and will afford a very interesting budget of week-end reading.

The Wimmera on her last trip from New Zealand made a smart run. Passengers who availed themselves of a train from Hobart caught the Loougnna at Launceston and reached Melbourne in three and a half days front the Bluff.

A little girl who had been shunned" by the other membars of her class at a school in the Foxton" district found a-. fair champion the other day. The latter rose to her feefc, and, addressing; the master, said she "did not think it; right that their sister friend should be shunned." Harmony was restored, and' class distinction has disappeared fronts that school. ■ . - ■ .

Private Jam^s Pearson,, of Timaru,. Avho has lately returned from Bisley,. says some of the men wanted five minutes for a shot. The trouble was a*. mirage. The bull's-eye sometimesspread out into an oval, then divided? and one part dropped off. The crack shots of other teams trusted to the*r ooaches, who had telescopes like Arm-^ strong guns, while the New Zealandershad only ordinary glasses. If it had; not beon for the mirage he believed;they would have got the cup. . ■,_■

Should tha present unfavourable weather moderate before Monday evening next, the Garrison Band will givdai open air ooncert in the Rotunda, commencing at 8 o'clock. A varied" programme will be given from the lighfcAmerican fantasia, '"'ln Coonland," totho classical selection from Wagner's"Tannhauser." The latter selection is= undoubtedly one of the most difficult' ever written for a brass band, but mth» hands of our Garrison Band, weanticipate a first-clasa ■ v performance, vvlich Avill doubtless be much enjoyed* by all lovers of Wagner's music.

Visitors to the big Agricultural Carnival of the Manawatu and WestCoasfc A. and P. Association at PajmerstoriNorth next week will find almost entertaining and attractive programme oF competitions ior decision in the sho\r ring oval. The events are spread over tho throo days, and on the first daythero are 101 entries, second day 65, and third, day 80. The prominent competitions are Maiden Hunters, Hunters, Jumping for Lady Riders, Steeplechase, Champion Hunters for Ladies'* Challenge Cup, and the Interproyincial Lloyd-Lindsay. Truly an inviting.-, progratnme.

Mr. Balfour has been occupying the* much-prized leisure of the recess iir preparing for publication in pamphlet form his speech delivered.to.the Houso of Commons last May on the question"' of the defences of Great Britain-. against foreign invasion (writes Mr. H. W. Lucy). Speaking in his capacity as president of the National Defence Committee, the Premier demonstrated, to his own satisfaction and tothe. pleased delight of the House, that" the island is,practically, invulnerable. Cord Roberts has since bean careful totestify that he holds a very different opinion. It is announced that the* ■speech will appear in pamphlet form, "revised and corrected." It will be interesting to see where the corrections come in.

It is an industrial fiction (says theSydney "Daily Telegraph") that alt. the members of an employees' unionare of equal ability, and this theory is r of course, only a logical sequence of theclaim that all must be paid equally. But a witness, a- member of the Stonemasons' Union, maintained stoutly ins the Arbitration Court recently that the members of his union were aIK actually of equal merit, quite apart from any union rule enforcing theoretical equality. "What?" said JudgeHeydon, in surprised incredulity. Thowitness repeated his statement. "Then, his Honor observed, "j*ou are entirelyuiilike any other class in the community. In any other class you will find somo men better than others. I carr quite understand the union rule that; says that all the members are equallyproficient, but I think that it is simplenonsense for a man to stand up and telt mo that in a union of 250, no member is better or worse than any other. ' T<*a subsequent witness who put forwarda similar contention as to the equality of merit existing among members of ai Carpenters' Union, his Honor retorted, "That is absurd arid untrue: Granting that all of the men are good, ; som»are not as good as othars. That's th^solid fact." " ;v ■

The tender of Messrs J. and W. Jameson, of Christohirrch, has been accepted for the main building of the New Zealand International Exhibition, subject to tho approval of the Government.

At the Police Court yesterday morning a man named John O'Connell was fined 5s and costs for drunkenness, and sentenced to a month's inprisonment. for committing an indencent act. Dr Tripe and Mir J. Stevenson, J.P.s, occupied the bench. Dried chrysanthemum leaves smoked in a pipe are reported from England to have been the moans of effecting an unlocked for improvement in a person who had b&en a victim for fifteen years to frequent and violent epileptic fits. The patient finds that the flowers act best when mixed with oascarilla bark.

For the benefit 'of witnesses at the local Court, the " Feilding Star " plaintively asks: "Is it possible for the Justice Department to provide^ a new Bible for swearing witnesses?" The book at present in use is, to say the least of it, filthy, and sadly wants fumigating. From all appearances it has been on duty sine© the Court was first established in Feilding, and was then bought second-hand.

Says the " North Otago Times" :— Mr Duncan Sutherland received word recently that his bale of Omarama wool was awarded the gold medal at the Colonral Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace, London. This is the third gold medal Mr Sutherland has won in London for wool off Omarama Station, and while the fact is a compliment to the high character of the Omarama flock, it is also a testimony to the skill displayed in management.

Mr day-ton, of the Veterinary Division of the Agricultural Department, has just completed the work of testing the milking herd and young cattle on the Government experimental farm at Wereroa, and he reports that out of 303 animals only two reacted. The Departmen considers the result most satisfactory. At the, request of. the Education Department, instructions have bsen given that the tuberculin tost is to be applied to tlio cattle belonging to tho Industrial School at Levin:

The eleven kiwis and two keaa taken Home toy Mr H. C. Wilkie, late in the veterinary division of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, for presentation to the British Zoo, form an interesting addition to the collection. Labels 'have been placed on the enclosure irepresenting that seven of the kiwis are the gift of the N^w Zealand Government and Mr Wilkie| and that four are presented by Lord -Ranfurly. Writing by the last mail;' to" Mr GilTut'h, Chief Veterinarian, Mr Wilkie cays:—" One of the keas. died. The headkeener put one of them in a large aviary to fly about with a lot of Brazilian macaws and Australian cockatoos. The result was that the kea. was frightened by -the others, and did not feed for several days. The bird never revived."

Miss Nellie Black, the well known singer and violinist, of the Black Family of Musicians, had a marvellous escape from a sarious accident in His Majesty's Arcade, Auckland. She was standing with a friend in the Arcade when a pane of glass knocked out of a window three storeys above came down in a shower. The two ladies heard the smash, and started to run, but before they could reach shelter a large piece struck Miss Black on the chest. Her watch saved her from injury in thj body—the piece struck the watch and cut off the glass and hands. It then glanced, off and struck her on the left hand, wtiichiwas gloved, and stripped it'fromithe wrist to the knuckle, glovo and all: - Her hand was severely cut, and the injury will prevent the use of it for a mouth.

:A. presentation was made by the Opposition on Tuesday evening to- Mr. J W. Thomson, M.H.R., for Clutha, who is retiring from an active political life. , Mir. Thomson was described by Mr. Massey as the father of the party, the fortnor having been in Parliament 'fpV.36 years, during which time he had been a Minister of the Crown, and possfssad a record that was stainless. Mr. Massey then presented Mr. Thomson with a very handsome silver tea and coffee service, a silver-mounted oak tray, an ebony walking stick, with ivory handle, and a travelling rug. In his raply, Mr. Thomson ment.oned that he was said to have made the longest speech that has ever been made in New Zealand. On that occasion he had spoken for twenty-four hours. (Laughter.)

Dr Martin, speaking at Pahnerston North, on Thursday night, gave a reason for the somnolence so often displayed in church. ".Mental fatigue," he said, " is often well seen in churches when a prosy preacher addresses his congregation. The dull, dreary, drip-drip of a monotonous sermon soon exerts its influence. The hearing centre of the brain is lulled into activity, and neighbouring regions of the brain are speedily affected, resulting in a sudden loss of contrci, and a relaxation of the muscles of the back of the neck. Then the senseless head nods and nods again. Then the ohm meets the chest, and the sleeper awakes with a* start and gazes round affirightedly in a-state of semisomnolence. |I have observed this frequently in Sc&tAand, where the sermons aa-e proverbially long and prcsy, and where the chuonches ape warm and -stuffy.

The man in the moon has had his nose put .absolutely out of joint. Professor Miaier, of Lorraoh, has discovered that the shadows visible on the moon's surface really form the head " of a beautiful woman." This is a decided improvement on the old theory of an old man carrying a bundle of sticks, to which modern Europe has hitherto been committed, 'but it is rather masrve-lkms •that this particular suggestion should not have been made before!. The Prcv fessor, in his Bavarian fastness^ has probably only seen the sight that caused the ancients with one accord to describe the moon as feminine. Cynthia, Diana, Attairte, Selene and Phosbe are among the names of -the lady wham Professor Maier has managed to distinguish. Speaking of the ancients, of courae, means only those persons oor»sronly indicated by the term. The ancient Hindus aaid the ancient Mexicans, contrary to the principles of " the ancients," had a masculine moon. And so had all our Teutonic forefathers before they came auto contract with Roman civilisation. The Arabian moon, by the way, is masculine even to this day. What is to b3 seen in the moon, however, matters but little. Even tho cow that in the nursery rhyme " jumped over the moon" in the face of tho little dog's ribald laughter, if she ever oaan© back to earth, failed to relate what slio saw in her marvellous jump, Sir Paul Neal, in the seventeenth century, saw an elephant there, but this gigantic discovery was afterwards discounted by the appearance of a mouse in one of the tubes of tho telescope. It was this incident which gave Samuel Butler tho chance to write his celebrated satirical poem. What really matters da what is actually there, and this point, as selenologists know, was settled by Astolpho, who, as related in " Orlando Furioso," journeyed to the moon and found there all the things which had been wasted on earth, such as unfulfilled desires,-misspent time, squandered money, broken pledges, misapplied talent and so forth. Upon these lines a good many millions of British money and a good many thousand British lives have gone there in (recent years. But the old fiction that the principal inhabitant of the moon is a man must die hard. Possibly Professor Maier has been misled* as Sir Paul Neal was, by a women be-ing concealed in on© of the übes of his telescope.

The ■work of laying a 6-inch main from -the Avenue along Guyton Street to the borough boundary at Gonville was common ced yesterday.

The ages of a couple who were married in Cambridge, Otago. last week, totalled nearly 140 years, the venturesome bridegroom being considerably over seventy years.

Captain Edwin telegraphed at 1.18 p.m. yesterday:—Strong winds to gale from between south-east and south and south-west after 12 (hours from now; glass rise; tides good; sea heavy ; rain probable.

Mr Richard Shea, who had been signalman at the port of Hobart for 31 years, died recently at the age of 86. He was an old soldier, and was sa/id to be the last of the men of the old 99th Regiment who participated in the first Maori war, 60 years ago.

A devotee of the fragant weed had a- narrow escape-the 'other night (says tile " Maifcauira Ensign"). As is his oustom ; !he was indulging in a few final whiffs m bed, and dropped off to sle«p with the lighted pipe in his mouth. The pipe fell on to the bed, and the tobacco apparently smouldered for some time, ana then set fire to the bed-clothes. The sleeper fortunately awoke in time to escape injury, but found one of the corners of the wooden bedstead alight, while the bedclothes and mattress had also been burned considerably.

The kiwi (says our Bay of Islands correspondent) is supposed to be almost extinct in many parts o>f New Zealand, but in the Bay of Islands district, in the -bushes and gullies within a few miles of the harbour, its peculiar whistle has been by no means unfamiliar in the evenings. Of late a number of kiwis have been foud dead, and it Is difficult to give a satisfactory reason. Old settlers say that the kiwi and the rat (have always "bean, known to be dhums, ad the suggestion is offered that the kiwi, in meeting with the newly-amoved weasal, has mistaken the deadly enemy for his ol dfriend.

The "Review of Reviews" for Australasia for October is just to hand. It is a rich, literary meal of many splendid courses^ Australasian matters are very fully dealt with. An article of great interest is that on " New Zealand's Thermal Region," well illustrated with striking photographs. To those who have not visited that charming and wonderful region, it gives a capital idea of the general make-up of the country. Another article on New Zealand, which is very timely, is one on " The Coming No-Licence Poll," by the Rev; L. M. Isitt, whose name is a guarantee of the interest of the article. The Editor writes on " Children's Courts." There is an interesting article -on " An Up-to-date Weather Bureau." Three gentlemen reply to Mr Jas. Edmond's article on the " Federation of the .British Empire," and these items, with the remainder of the magazine, dealing with the latest thought of the world, giving the choice of London " Punch " pictures (for which the " Review of Reviews " holds the Australasian right), and the chief caricatures of the month, make up one of the most interesting and readable issues yet published. The worldwide view given by the Review of Reviews" is stimulating and informing, and no one can be a constant reader of it without being kept thoroughly informed of the chief events of interest in Australasia, and the wide woirld.