Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 260, 1 November 1909, Page 4

The following is Mr D. C. Bates' weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a.m. this day:—"Winds, freshening westerly, strong to gale. Expect unsettled and cloudy weather. Rain probable. Glass rise slowly after 10 hours. Weather probably colder. A storm area appears to be approaching from the southward, especially affecting the west coast, south of Kawhia."

At the Magistrate's Court this morning a youth named Thomas Edwards, who hud obtained £4 from his cmplover at Onewhero by false pretences, was admitted by Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M., to probation for twelve months upon the condition that he should make restitution and obtain employment under the instructions of the* Probation Officer !n the country within a reasonable time. A meeting of all those interested in the formation of an Old Bots' Association in connection with Mount Eden School will be held ii, the Schoolroom to-night

The Auckland Flying Club flew the seventh race of the season from Palmerston North (distance, 254 miles, airline) on Saturday last. One hundred and twenty-seven ibirds were liberated by Mr. Adtehinson at 7.30 a.m., in fine weather, and the winner homed about halfpast two. The result was: Mr. P. Hay'e blue chequer c. Reliance (A.F.C., 744), 1 (velocity. 1030 yards per minute); Mr. R. B. Widdowe' blk cheq c. (A.F.C., 766), 2 (1028 yards per minute); Mr. C. V. Johnson's blue cock Blue Boy, 3 (1024.8 yards per mdnute); Mr. \V. Rolfe'e bl oheq c (A.F.C., 1391), 4 (1024 varde per minute).

Dr. Mason and Mr. Donne went down to the docks last week-end (writes our London correspondent under date September 24) to visit the lonic in order to finally inspect the large number of assisted emigrants going to the Dominion by that boat. Whilst on board they detected a man—not an assisted passenger—who, to the practised eye of Dr. Mason, appeared to be suffering from consumption. The matter was referred to the ship's doctor, and the suspect carefully examined in the ship's hospital by both medical men. As a result, they both came to the conclusion that he was a tuberculous subject, and on the strength of their representation the unfortunate sufferer was not allowed to proceed on the voyage, he and his wife and children being put ashore. It seems hard that a man suffering from such a malady should be denied the chance of getting to a country, where, in all probability, the progress of the disease would be stayed, and the man given a chance of living to a ripe old age. But. it was true kindness to prevent him continuing the journey, for he -would undoubtedly have b«en prevented landing in New Zealand.

A test has been made at the Portland Cement Co.'s works, Sydney, of an invention which, it is claimed by Mr. A. R. Angus, of Sydney, will prevent railway collisions. The device aims to prevent more than one train coming on to the one section at the one time. Should they do so, and should the driver ignore the signals against him, steam is automatically shut off, the brakes are a-pplied, and the whistle blows. The Company's two locomotives, each fitted with the device, were placed in position over a mile apart, and at a given signal each endeavoured to approach the other on the same track. As pre-arranged, one. locomotive was stopped at a particular spot, and the other, seeking to continue, was automatically stopped when about a mile away. The trials were carried out by Mr. A. R. Angus, in the presence of Dr. Soheidel, the director of the Commonwealth Portland Cement Company, and a number of gentlemen from Sydney and elsewhere interested in the invention.

Floriculturalists all the world over (writes our London correspondent under date September 24) will regret to hear of the death this week of Mr. Peter Barr, popularly known as "The Daffodil King." For nearly half a century the late Mr. Barr occupied his leisure in the study of daffodils, and much of the present-day popularity of this charming spring flower is largely due to his laibours. Born at Gavan in 1526, Mr. Barr was destined for the weaving loams, but his chief interests then, as later, were flowers, and at an early age he was employed by a Glasgow seedsman. In IS6I he started business on his own account, founding ..the wellknown firm of seed merchants and bulbgrowers, Burr and Sons, King-street, Covent Garden. About this time Mr. Ba.rr commenced his study of daffodils —then a practically unknown flower. He bought up collections of bulbs, and made special journeys to Spain and Portugal in search of new varieties. On one of these journeys he discovered and cultivated the Queen of Spain daffodil, which can now be purchased at 12/----to 17/6 per 100 bulbs, and is grown by every flower enthusiast. Some of the most expensive daffodils now sold by Barr and Sons, which Mr. Barr cultivated and studied, are as follows: Tsaritsa, £30 a bulb; Seraphine £25 a bulb; Masterpiece, £25 a bulb; Bedouin, £24 a bulb; Uncle Robert, £18 18/- a bulb; Peter Barr, £10 10/- a bulb. The Peter Barr variety was sold at £50 a bulb when it was first on sale in 1900—to-day it can. be bought for 10/- per 100! Many of the blooms of the above-mentioned daffodils are four and five inches in width, and are ofrich yellow, cream, or pale lemon colouring. Mr. Barr retired fxom business in 1596, and went on a world's tour during which he lectured on 'his favourite flower in many lands, including Australia and New Zealand.

The Wellington City Council has decided to instruct its solicitor to brino- a test case on the first opportunity to "decide whether the general demand of Ail fares, please," by tramway conductors, is sufficient to render a "passenger not thereupon paying his or her fare (without a. personal demand) liable to conviction for such neglect. The tramway authorities here state that fchev believe that a considerable amount of revenue as lost by passengers who do not respond to the general demand s ippang out of the cars without payintheir faros. c

There were 338 prisoners in gaol at Auckland at the end of last week—On remand 12 males, 1 female; awaiting trial 1, males, 1 female; life sentence* 1 male; hard labour, 285 males 16 females; default of bail, 3 males; received during the week, 44 males, 3 femalesdiseharg#d, 45 males, 2 females. Active preparations are on foot in connection with the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association's coming show, a large staff of men erecting pens, etc., at Alexandra Park. Entries close on Friday next. Messrs Veale and J. C. Potts are taking entries in the Waikato] and Mr Paterson at Pukekohe. The Association will also be represented at the Clevedon Society's first show on Friday next. It is expected that the completion of the Main Trunk railway will lead to southern breeders being more fully represented this year.

The Dairy Produce Committee has fixed the price for butter and eggs as follows for the ensuing week: Factory butter, Hid per lb; farmers' butter, 7d per lb; eggs, Sd per dozen. In the. construction of Wellington's new General Pcvst Office, for which a tender has been accepted, stone from a Greymouth quarry is to be used in the basic work, and it is estimated that about 10,000 cubic feet of this material will be absorbed in the contract. Massive concreted foundations, which go down to the rock bottom, have been constructed by tKe Public VVwks Department.

A country resident had an exciting experience while cycling into town (says the •'.Manaua.tu Stan-dard' 7 ). Just on leaving the house at Kainanga a swarm of bees took a fancy to him, and .settled on his chest. He was in rather a quandary, and thinking iftjrwretion the better part of valour left hii v-Uitors severely alone. They chuig to nii:\ ajl tihe way into town, and th«m -left him in snra.il bunches, till not one reroainral, and be got fre» "without receiving a single sting.

As instancing the remarkable erow+tt of businese of the Wanganui municiJi gasworks, it is stated over 1000 custom! crs are now paying in on "last discount day, compared with about 500 four veaim ago. Over 150 new connections "have been made during the last cix months and fresh applications are daily received! Youth at the Magistrate's Court this morning: " I don't know that I wouhj care to work for him; he is said to ba a very hard boss." Mr. C. C. KettlV S.M.: "Hard boss? That is just what you want. There appears to be an ideal prevailing amongst the colonial youth of the present day tha-t they ca n wc>rk when they like and loaf when they like. What you want, my boy, is discipline. That is what young men &<& to-day— discipline. They want the maximum of luxury for the minimum of effort, when the best thing for them is good,' hard wholesome, honest work."

An incident which Colonel Xewafl said should be preserved as showing chq sweeter side of Maori character was related at the Veterans" Conference at Wellington by Captain Hursthouse. One Vercoe, who had married the daughter of the valiant chief Rewi Maniapoto, was killed in the Maori War, and Ms vvifa returned to har people. Some time latea Captain Hursthouse was passing wherq Vercoe's widow lived, when she stopped him and handed him her husband's medal, •requesting him to restore it to hee soldier husband's people. This, said t3fc speaker, showed nobility of character. Captain Vercoe had been unable to find Vercoe's rela.rivee, and the question was what was he to do with the medal. The delegates present dad not know, so ihq medal remains with Captain Burethouse. A Southern paper 6ays that in connection witfh impending prosecutions of certain local bookmakers, it is rumoured: that a "bookie" of that tavvn recently, challenged the police to prosecute ■Mμ for street betting, threatening -that -if they did so he would reveal some speculative transactions in which some members of the force are alleged to have been interested. It is also said that jn consequence of this tlhreat the informations have been limited to street loitering only.

"There is a lot of nonsense talked ' about the poverty in England," Mr. Foster Fraser said to a Wanganui reporter. "It is inevitable that there should, be) poverty in a crowded society of over forty million people, but it is a huge mistake, too prevalent I think in the minds of distant dominions, to imagine that the working classes of England are badly fed and out of work. You will find these things, but the majority o| the working classes at Home receive , good wages and have comfortable houses (most of which they own). All around our big towns there are allotments with | gardens, where men may work in the evenings after leaving the factories. Iβ 1 is quite true that in Xew Zealand you v< have got none of the poverty we have, | got at Home, but, on the other hand, you have not got the wealth that wei have."

The Northcote troops of Boy Scoute, under Scoutmaster H. Stebbing, were inspected by Dr. Purdy (Inspector-Gen-eral for the Auckland district) on Saturday afternoon., and went through aa examination for certificates of proficienc3 _ , as set down in Baden-Bowell's book, "Scouting for Boys." As a result, the majority of the boys -will receive certificates as second-class scouts. The tests, which were mosi carefully conducted, included firit aid, signalling, distance finding, tracking, reporting, cooking, etc. An interesting was brought to a close by a stirring address from Dr. Purdy. Yesterday .a church parade to St. John's Anglican Church, at the invitation of the vicar, the Rev. A. F. Smith, was attended by; a large number of scouts. An eloquent sermon was preached by the Rev. Percy Smallfield, M.A., on the subject of "Character." In the course of his iemaTks the reverend gentleman referred to the Scouts' law and oath, the prin< ciples of which, if studied and properly applied, would unable every boy.to ie-' come, irrespective of wealth or rank, a fine citizen, and a good soldier. Travelling between Moscow and Vladi* vostock must be exciting. Writing from Japan to a New Plymouth resident a relative who lately went over the 'above route says:—'"The entrance to each-car-riage was guarded by armed Russian soldiers. I wondered why this precaution was taken, but soon found it was necessary, for we had not gone far into Manchuria before the train was fired on by Chinese, one shot coming right through the restaurant car. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but after we had to travel with all the blinds drawn down at night, so that our lighted carriage! would not make a target for the Chinese shots. /•■;4'

One of the small paper boys who infest steamers arriving in Lyttelton hail an unlooked-for early morning dip Jo the harbour ou Friday, as the Maori was being berthed. A heavy line -was thrown on to the wharf when the vessel was a few yards off, and the end caught on something, with the result that iii tightened and snapped, the loose end entwining itself in the recoil round tf"f legs of the nearest paper 'boy. He los'O his balance, and disappeared over the edge, of the wharf, his papers being scattered. Some anxiety was felt for the boy, especially as the Maori was close to 'the wharf, but he cam© to the surf&oe unhurt, and struck out boldly to stay, there, meanwhile keeping hold of ti y d heaving-line, and was quickly hauled to the wharf again. The prospects of a record wheat yieli throughout the Upper Clutha Valley are very promising, and the cold snap will be rather a benefit, as the crops were coming on too fast. It is estimated, SAJS the "Cromwell Argus," that there will,6e about 150,000 bushels of wheat grown, and if the Dunedin market is favourable there will be a very large surplus over local requirements. It » often stated that sufficient cannot _M grown for local requirements, but witji the heavy cost of transport there » little wonder at farmers putting their land in grass instead of cropping when the prices for wheat that were ruling for come years were keeping so lowConsiderably more land can yet be cropped, and it wouid be utilised if of, a bushel for wheat could be secured on the ground.

A poll was taken at Milton (Otago) oa Wednesday on the question -whether;* loan of £3000 sho-uld be raised to install an acetylene gas plant for the borough, and the proposal was carri«<» by 91 votes to 45. The Mayor intimated at the close of the poll that as soon a≤ the legal preliminaries were arranged a start would be made with the m ' stallation of the plant. Men who desire shirt patterns out of the ordinaiTV will »t once see the tafcr ing points of our neglige shirts.—wo. Fowlds.—(Ad.) ' .

This is the boater weather. We te« aIJ shapes and s\XM in the latest ana best. Oeo. Fowlds. — t\d.) . About 50 pieces of bea-.ttiful Incc, ■■iMo to ]/0 per yard, all being cleared at 62* —dIs.O. Great Sale. — (Ad.},