LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 90, 31 May 1912, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Tcnriitoltl-just' accepted tenders for the erection of three new cheese factories at a total' edgtof *bou^£BQoo. <As il&stratiag the productivity of ttawai sofij lljr lEI4xl Simson states t on land he lias turnips as large as one's head and rape 3fi high, though .-oly planted in Feb-1 n»ry {states the 'Poverty Bay | : .The first truck of lime from the Doraitoion Lime and Cement Company's j new limekilns at Milburn was despatched to a Southern farmer on Friday last. 1 Altogether about £BOOO was spent on : the preparations for working the lime deposits before the first consignment was placed on the railway trucks. | The campaign against the deadly hat-' pia has led to a Lyttelton man invent-1 ing a clever device. A spring pin is . contained in a sheath, and when passed through the hat pressure of a button at' the end of the pin deflects the point, causing it to lie back parallel with the sheath, and out of harm's way. A local syndicate is being formed to float the indention. A gatekeeper at a northern racecourse recently received a rough handling by a M&ori woman. It appeared that the woman wanted to take children into the geounds with her, but as this is not al-1 lowed by the Jockey Club the gate- J keeper refused to give the children admittance. At this the woman flew at i the gate keeper with the evident inten- j tion of knocking his head off, but be-1 fore the trouble had reached that stage the struggle was stopped. I Adam's plea, "The woman tempted me," was raised at the Auckland Magistrate's Court by a husband, who was charged by his wife with having broken a promise given on oath to Mr C. C. Kettle not to drink for 12 months. The husband, pointing to his wife, said: "She brought home a bottle of liquor and I had some," to which the woman replied: "Where would I get a bottle of beier?" and the magistrate added: "The woman tempted me, and I did drink." A curious fact was mentioned by the president of the Acclimatisation Society (.says the Stratford 'Evening Post') at the anuual meeting of the society held recently. At a certain river a few miles from Stratford, he said, you might find ahove the bridge plenty of rainbow trout but n» brown trout, while below the bridge the brown trout alone inhabited the waters. "It looks very much as if there is a Yankee strain in the ainbow family and they are just 'drawing the color line.' " Mr Hart, the aviator, made several successful flights in his biplane on Saturday (states the Richmond correspondent of the 'Sydney Daily Telegraph' on May 21). In one flight he came right over the town as far as Hobartr ville paddock, and round by the college. The only things in the streets that were frightened were the working bullocks. Mr Alfred Smith (common ranger) was one passenger, and is highly delighted with the experience. Mr Smith is 81 years of age, and ; s said to be the oldest man that has ever flown.

A unique gathering assembled at the resiileence of Mr Budden, Hunter's Kill (New South Wales), a few days ago, when seven brothers-in-law —whose ages ranged from 80 to 50 —met to celebrate the fact that since they were united in marriage there had not been a death among them. Mr Gannon, of Lithgow, was one of the gathering; and Mr W. C. Kelk, of Tarana, another. It was the desire of Mr Budden, who suggested the gathering, .that the whole eight brothers-in-law should meet, but Mr Stranger, of Lismore, owing to indisposition, was unable to take the journey to Sydney. Modesty is often alleged as the most apparent quality of the sportsman, but it is seldom that the remark is so well proved as it was at the annual smoke concert of the North Canterbury Motor Cyclists' dub, held ai few nights ago. The toast of the prise-winners was coupled with the names of two men. Their speeches, were finished in 30 seconds. In desperation the chairman called upon two other prize-winners. Neither of them spoke more than a dozen words. Within three minutes of the dying-away of the last note of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," a pause had fallen upon the company, and the chairman had to call upon the next entertainer.

The over-trusting shopkeeper came in for some strong «oinments by Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court at Ohristchurch in a case in which a man was charged with having obtained a large amount of furniture by falsely representing himself to be employed by a local firm. "The credulity of some of these dealers is amazing," said 1 the magistrate. "I have known cases in which men who had been declared habitual criminals have entered a shop and obtained large amounts of goods on the flimsiest pretexts." The dealer here intervened in explanation of his action, and said that it was frequently done by other dealers. "Oh, I know you arc not the only fool in Ohristchurch," said the magistrate. "This will be a lesson to you to be more careful in future." An anti-militarist speaker who addressed a meeting in Customhouse Square (Wellington) met with a foeman worthy of his steel in the person of a grey-bearded veteran who enlivened the proceedings by making hostile inflections. "If you don't like New Zealand well enough to live in it, get out!" is a sample of the advice that the veteran offered to the orator. "I do like New Zealand," declared the latter, "and that is why I want to make it better. My friend will say," he continued, "that the boys ought to be trained." "So they should," rejoined the veteran sturdily. "Let me point out," said the anti-militarist speaker, "that my friend's age exempts him from training; that will be left to the boys." "I have done my time," stated the veteran, "both in England and out here." "It doesn't seem to have done you much g«od, dad," was the somewhat rude remark of a bystander. "Why hasn't it done him much good?" queried another bystander in indignant tones; "it has made a man of him/anyway!"