LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 281, 1 June 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Stab will not be published on Monday next, June 3rd (Prince of Wales' birthday). A Chamber of Commerce has been formed at Hastings, with Sir Win. Russell as President. The ratepayers of Martinborough have decided to spend £8000 on a water supply tor the town. Mr F. H. Cooke was yesterday appointed solicitor to Palmerston Borough Council. Lieut. Owen Pleasants, of the Manchester Rifles, has been awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces long-ser-vice medal. The townspeople of Hastings, recognising the good work done by the Fire Brigade at the recent fire at that place, have donated over £100 to be divided among the members of the Brigade. On Monday, 3rd June (Prince of Wales' Birthday), the Postal branch will observe a close holiday. All mails will be made up at 7.30 a.m. sharp. The Telegraph branch will open from 9 to 10 a.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. The Telephone Exchange will remain open all day as usual. We have received from the publishers a copy of the Exhibition number of the Christchurch Weekly Press. The edition is beautifully illustrated, containing photograph pictures of all the principal towns 111 New Zealand, in addition to some splendid photos of the Exhibition. It is well worth saving as a souvenir of the Exhibition, or to send abroad to give an idea of the progress and prosperity of "God's own country." The assertion is made by a United States inspector of immigration that thousands of child labourers are being brought into the United States under contract, the contract labour law being evaded by means of a sign consisting of an umbrella carried by each immigrant. The spectacle of scores of hundreds of immigrants marching oS the steamships, each solemnly carrying an umbrella, as if it were an article most essential to the life in America, is certainly startling. The Rev. Mr Woodward, speaking at a social in connection with the Church of England at Foxton, mentioned during his speech that certain Church members had raised objections to his advanced Church principles. While the rev. gentleman regretted this, he said he could not depart from those principles, and I if members were not heart and soul with him in Church work, it would be preferable that they should go else- ; whefe, and he would raise no objection. A pic-nic for the children attending the Makino Sunday School was given in Mr Hart's paddock on Wednesday afternoon. A good number of children and some of the parents were present, and the weather being fine, the youngsters had a very enjoyable time, racing and playing games. In the evening, at the local school, the Rev. Clover gave a lecture, entitled "The Matrimonial Outfit." Songs and recitations were also rendered by the Rev. Cossum, of Feilding, and the Rev. Danielle, of Rongotea. A distressing acident occured at Te Teko (Whakatane) last Wednesday to Master John Gow, second son of Mr J. B. Gow, of Opotiki. Mr W. Gow, John Gow, and Charlie Butt and tbjree Maoris were out duck snooting, and about three p.m. the two boys and a Maori, who were together, were in the act of hauling a canoe on to the beach, the guns, which were loaded, lying in the bottom of the boat. The anchor chain by which John Gow was hauling the boat evidently caught on the hammer, which was down, with the result that the gun went off, completely blowing the bone and a lairge portion of the flesh out of the leg just above the ankle. Dr. Stepney found it necessary to amputate the leg between the knee and the ankle, which he did immediately on arrival. The lad bore up wonderfully during the trying ordeal.

Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, who are returning from England by the Mooltan, are due at Colombo next Sunday. Mr Walter Coles, one of the local letter-carriers, has been transferred to Oamaru, where he will occupy a position in the telegraph gallery. Mr Justice Sim will preside at the sitting of the Arbitration Court at Palmereton on Tuesday. The printers' cases will be taken first,' and the flaxmillers' dispute next. The Feilding A. and P. Association last night received promises for donations amounting to 135 guineas. This will be a splendid start fo rnext show. , A Palmerston resident on the sunny side of thirty, who spent some time in the Old Country, left there weighing under list. A few months' sojourn in New Zealand has increased his weight to 15st. A quantity of luggage in the Helensville railway station caught fire a few days ago. The flames, which originated in a kapoc mattress, were extinguished after considerable damage had been done to the luggage, and a hole burned throught the station wall. "I think I ought to have as much sympathy as an organ-grinder," pleaded Thomas Connor, a tin whistle player, who was charged at Blackpool with begging. "There's nothing hard about turning a handle, but some skill is required to play a tin whistle." His plea obtained his discharge. At Masterton yesterday H. P. Johnson, storeman at the railway station, was committed for trial on a charge of stealing two boxes of tobacco, value £10 10s, the property of the Government, and 0. R. Petersen, who pleaded guilty to receiving it, was committed for sentence by Supreme Court. Owing to the inability of the Government to secure a suitable vessel for the completion of the marine survey of the coast of New Zealand, from the point where the Penguin ceased work, the project has been abandoned. Both the Hinemoa and the Tutanekai are unsuitable, and the estimated cost of the work (£32,---000) was also a stumbling block. Miss Benson has been elected vicar's warden of Perm, Bucks, for the sixth successive year, and curiously enough, she has also been elected parishioners warden. The Vestry meeting was under the presidency of Miss Benson, in thei absence from illness of the vicar, and, with the exception of the parish clerk, all present were women. Residents of Colvton will be pleased to learn that^the enjoyable series of assemblies usually held there are to be resumed on Wednesday evening next, when a capital evening's amusement is anticipated. The committee are taking every possible step to attain success, and the hon. secretary, Mr P. Martin, is very active in promoting the function. Speaking at the Feilding A. and P. Association's annual meeting last night, Mr H. J. Booth, the new President, said he had spent the last quarter or a century in Feilding, and lie would always do his best for his little town. He would be found using every energy to further the interests of the Association. Mr G. Walter Dowling, of Wellington, who is on the programme for two songs at the concert m the Oddfellows' Hall on Wednesday evening, is a cultured singer with a very pleasing tenor voice. His numbers will be "An Evening Song" (Blumenthal) and "An Irish Love Song" (Ruthven Lang.) At a social at Foxton on Wednesday night, the Rev. Wilson, Anglican clergyman, with Miss Wilson, was made the recipient of a handsome sideboard from the members of the congregation. The rev. gentleman's parish having been cut m two, he takes the Rongotea end. The Rev. W. Woodward, one of the Rev. C. C. Harper's curates, takes charge of Foxton. The Minister of Education says that the applications for building grants in connection with technical sclwols are coming in at such a rate that it will be utterly impossible to comply with all the requests, and those districts which have not already got those buildings will have to be content with very much smaller grants than they seem to regard as necessary. Mr R! Heaton Rhodes, M.H.R., will leave Christchurch early next month for Sydney. He is recovering slowly, and has already been out for a few drives. Mr Rhodes, according to the Press, will probably be absent from New Zealand for three mouths. After leaving Sydney he will go to Queensland to take advantage of the warm weather. It is not likely that he will be present at any portion of the deliberations of the next session of Parliament. The Chairman of the Wanganui Education Board had a long interview with the Minister of Education in regard to the Feilding Technical School. The plans and lowest tender were placed before the Minister, the tender being £95 above the money available. Representations against the proposed building were made in a report from Mr Isaacs, and his statements were controverted by Mr Pirani. The Minister promised to go into the whole matter carefully, and announce his decision to-day. The Duchess of Sutherland said she had observed in Scotland that while girls wanted to do clever things, they often died young. One of the reasons of this was that they were not properly fed. The mothers had not learnt to cook properly, and bought tinned and cooked foods from shops. When illness came, Children fed on such food were not strong enough to battle with it. It was generally to be noticed, the Duchess said, that healthy children came from the homes where the mothers cooked their own food. Something like a mild sensation was created at Bondi Beach (Sydney) recently. While a young man named Horace Dale was swimming in the breakers, he saw what he thought to be a large fish swimming near him. He made a grab, and succeeded in catching it in both hands by the tail. He brought it to the shore, where he found to his astonishment that it was shark of the grey nurse species, 3ft. long. This unique story (which surely equals that of a well known cricketer, who caught a swallow in mistake for the ball) can be authenticated by a large number of the visitors to the beach. Mr C. M. Warmington, K.C., at the General Council of the Bar, held at Lincoln's Inn Old Hall, discussed the question of admitting women as legal advocates. He said they had a proposal from the Colonial Office for reciprocity between this country and New Zealand and other colonies, but they had found that the admission to the Bar of New Zealand was different from ours. It was not there required that a candidate should be a member of an inn or court or that he should pass through a course of legal education. He pointed out that the word person in Acts regarding admission to the Bar had been held to include members of the female sex, and they would hardly like by a side wind to permit to practice in their courts ladies whom they had never seen before. Though they might be prepared to welcome them personally they might not be ready to receive them as advocates. New Zealand readers, especially those in the vicinity of Wellington, will be interested to read the following announcement : — "On the 16th April, at 28 Mortimer street, Cavendish Square, London, W., the wife of the Rev. Lancelot F. Andrewes, M.A., of a son.'; In 1902 Mr Andrewes made a trip to New Zealand, and ten r> -- " ■•:■ were spent stay there that his engagement was staw there that his engagement was announced to Miss Isa Fitzherbert daughter of the late Mr. W. A. Fitzherbert, of the Hutt. Mr Andrewes has since taken holy orders, and he is now one of the clergy working in the parish of All Saints, /Margaret street, a church which is famous, ont only in England, but in America and the colonies, for its beautiful services and its extreme ritual. The King and Queen used to attend All Saints' Church regularly when they were Prince and Princess of Wales. \

Miss Jessie Bicknell has been appointed an assistant inspector of hospitals and charitable institutions. The St. John's Sunday School prizes were presented by the Vicar in the Sunday School last night. There was a fair attendance of parents and children, and a musical programme was given. It is stated that a piece of land purchased by the Seddon Government fronting *Molesworth street, as a necessary addition to the Premier's residence is to be sold privately to Mrs. Seddon, so as to give her a carriage drive to the magnificent new house she has just built. The transaction may be all right, but the particulars as to price, etc., would be interesting. We wonder if there are any more Government plums of the sort about. The ten Chinese occupants of a house in Alexandra street, between Church and Ferguson streets, Palmerston, received a rude shock at about half-past nine on Wednesday night, when Detective Quirke and Constable Connor quietly forced an entrance by the back door and suddenly pounced upon five men smoking opium in one of the rooms. The officers took charge of a fine assortment of opium, pipes, lamps, wires, and the other necessary appliances, and the five offenders will be dealt with at the Court on June Bth. — Standard. Our Rewa correspondent writes: — The very cold weather has caused a large decrease in the milk supply. The local factory is running every other day at present, but will soon be closing for a few months. Despite the inclemency of the weather the dance in aid of the new piano on the 24th inst. was well attended. The music was supplied by Mr Fyield, of Waituna West, which was all that could be desired. The ladies supplied an excellent supper. Mr and Mrs Crockett were entertained by a few friends at a social in the Public Hall, prior to their leaving for the South Island. The Rev. Mr White, of Kimbolton presided in his usual good style, and a very pleasant evening was spent. In a case at the Adelaide local Court Judge Russell was called as a witness, but before being sworn he objected on principle to giving evidence. In all his experience he had never known a judge to be called upon to give evidence as to what occurred in a case heard before him. He quoted authorities to show that a judge was not compelled to give evidence in such circumstances. Mr Gordon, the magistrate, said that all were judges of greater or less, degree, but if Judge Russell refused to give evidence he would not compel him to do so. As Judge Russell had refused he would be allowed to stand down. Judge Cohen, next called, raised the same objection, and he was not compelled to give evidence. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Oddfellows' Lodge, Feilding, was held last evening. P.P.G.M., Bro. Watson and P.S.C., Bro. I. Salek paid an official visit to the Lodge. These officers examined the books on behalf of the Wanganui district, and suggested several improvements in the accountancy work, * which will facilitate the work of the Order. There was a large attendance. Bro. Salek gave an outline of the Government's annuity scheme, and pointed out its defects. The opinion was expressed that more frequent visitß should be paid by the District Officers to- the various Lodges. One new member was initiated. # The nominations for the various positions were received as follows: — N.G., Bros. Allen and Matthews; V.G., Bro. PiriejE.S., Bros. Ongley, Willis, Fidler, Simpson and Brederhorst; Guardian, Bro. Simpson; Lecture Master, Bro. Garlick. Refreshments were provided, and an enjoyable evening was spent. It does not pay local bodies to be mean with promising officers, and this has been brought home to Feilding in connection with the appointment of Mr H. R. Robinson, assistant clerk here for the last sixteen months, to the position of assistant clerk to the Hutt Borough, out of thirty-three applicants. Mr Robinson has proved himself a capable and courteous official here, and we think the past Council and the Town Clerk are greatly to blame for not taking steps to provide him with a salary proportionate to his abilities. Indeed, if Mr Rankin had made representations to the new Council we have no doubt the loss would have been avoided. Mr Robinson is lucky in being about to serve under Mr P. R. Purser, who is one of the most efficient and capable Town Clerks in the colony, and we feel sure that Mr Robinson will benefit considerably by the experience he will gain there. We heartily wish him every success and rapid promotion, feeling sure he will justly earn it. . A promise of marriage was the means used by a young man named Ernest Wehrstedt to rob a young woman of a bicycle valued at £6, a ring valued at £3 and £3 in money. Wehrstedt last week pleaded guilty to tho offence, and yesterday (says the Post) appeared before Dr. McArthur, S.M.; for sentence. Chief Detective M'Grath explained that accused had previously been sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Adelaide for embezzlement. He came here in 1905, and succeeded in obtaining respectable employment, but was discharged in March, 1906, for dishonesty. He was not prosecuted on that occasion. Afterwards he went to Auckland, and eventually returned here. Mr Wilford, for accused, said lie had no defence; only an explanation to make. Accused, he explained, was a victim to drugs which he had been taking. His Worship sentenced accused to three months' imprisonment, and told him that if, on coming out of gaol, he applied to the Prisoners' Aid Society, his Worship could guarantee that he would be assisted. The Jam of Nawanangar (familiar to English people as Prince Rairjitsmghi) has lost no time in taking measures for the prevention of plague in his kingdom (says the Standard). Soon after his installation, the Jam Sahib called together the leading citizens and officials of Jamnagar (the capital) to discuss the measures to be adopted to that end. His Highness expressed his willingness to. his utmost to help the people by providing huts and making police and municipal arrangements for the comfort of people who evacuated their houses and went into huts. He wished to secure the end in view by persuasion and not by compulsion, and exhorted the people to co-operate. Arrangements are being made by the Diwan to carry out his Highness's views. The city has been divided into wards, and committees appointed to attend to the cleaning, disinfection, and evacuation of affected houses, and the general evacuation of affected localities. The building of huts has already been taken in hand, and an additional medical staff has been sent for. At the Paddington (N.S.W.) Police Court recently, the trustees of St. j Matthias' (Anglican) Church proceed- j ed against E. Dyson Austen for the recovery of £2, of which £1 10s was { for pew rent, and 10s for contribu- . tion to upkeep of electric light in J the church. The Rev. J. W. Gillett (rector) stated that on April 1, 1906; defendant agreed 1 to have his name placed on the church books for two I sittings, at 5s a seat per quarter, j This was in writing, and the fact ' j was published in the church paper, j Defendant also agreed to pay the con- ; tribution towards the electric lighting • of the church. In the early part or the present year defendant resigned his connection with the church at a parochial council meeting, at whidi he admitted His ' indebtedness to the church in the sum of £2. Defendant said then that he would forward that amount by cheque. As the money was not received and upon defendant's refusal to pay, action was decided upon ' by the council. Richard Bowman, . a churchwarden, gave corroborative evidence. Defendant's counsel sub- ! mitted that there was no contract, !". and if there was any obligation it : : was purely a moral one. He quoted [ authority showing that -it was beyond : the power of churchwardens to sue. J The Legislature had nothing to do ] with the affairs of the Church, which " was controlled by ordinances. .He 1 submitted that there was no express , I trust — in any case, the complainants : were on the horns of a delemma. The ; magistrate non-suited the complain- ( anti. j

No amusements (except a hockey match) are arranged in Feilding for the holiday on Monday. However, the seven-aside tournament at Palmerston will no doubt draw a crowd from Feilding, especially as the Feilding Football Club are engaged. The St. John's Church authorities have ordered the pipe organ which was under offer to them, and it may arrive at any time. The instrument is a one-manuel, with pedals, has six stops, and was built by Robson and Co. ; of London. The price to be paid is a very reasonable one, and the Church people consider they have secured a bargain. Mr A. R. Mayo, nurseryman, of Aorangi, has received the following letter from a. customer:— "Fruit trees to hand, and am well pleased with them. They are worth the little extra you charge for them. We got some from one of the big firms down your way a week or two ago, but they are simply rubbish compared with yours. We will most likely be wanting more in a week or two if you can spare them. — Revell Bros., New Plymouth." Major Gallagher, of the United States Army, who is on a beef-buying mission to New Zealand, is peculiarly impressed with Wellington. Never since he has been out of the States has he come into contact with people who so closely resemble the people of his native State, lowa. "I reel quite at home here," he remarked. "The people walk and talk smartly, are clean, healthy, and vigorous in appearance, and as keen as razors. You nave a fine hustling town — why, look here, you're just American, so I think I'll get to like you."— N.Z. Times.