NEAR AND FAR.

Evening Star, Issue 14035, 16 April 1909, Page 8

NEAR AND FAR.

New forest regulations gazetted provide' that the area to be obtained by millers I will depend upon the horse-power of the j mill machinery, the maximum in the case [ of a mill of 8 horse-power being 300 acres, j There is a scale rish.g to 1,000 acres lor j mills between 19 and 2'~> horse-power, and 1.500 acres for mills of 50 boric-power and upwards. Xo change is mnde in the royalty charges, but the whole forest regulations have been redrawn to b:ing them into harmony with the Consolidated Act, IGOS. The rate war that has been in progress in the aerated water trade for some months past isays the Auckland 'Herald') continues unabated. The original wholesale price of soda water, lemonade, and other " soft" drinks • was Is 4d per dozen (exclusive of bonles). Two'firms then brought their prices down to Is per dt/.en, and the majority of the others followed suit. Then a linn more ventui-'some than the rest cm pri'-es to 7d per dozen to the shops and 6d oer rio/,c", I > the hotel.-.. The other maisui'aeitir •!> loir- •;■*' show n .:tiy inclination to ir-iug down their nrf'-s to this low ra'.e. i>sii ;>» -till 'h; tying Is to tile simps and is. hw 50 per een!. oiiscouiu, 10 tile in'els. Jt t- siai'-d that ihe or tine- tactics of t'.p '•■■ m ' '"t' has --'a.'tile lowl-sl' lv.doctio -s R'-f to ue sustained. In uie meantime tne public seem to tie getting only ,< 0;i..,ul U-:iciit fivn the, rate v ar. nios; - f '!•■.- ■.-.' -p.; si::i ■ ;.:;-e;'ig 5d ;ier hot.le for soft drinks, win Ist I hepublicans slid g_t :.\! i.: tie m;iiwi;:v of cas :s. The r"iei? trade in coidials. ileafor.', is very protiiubiv pist now. An inquest was iieki on Kiiza Davies, aged seventy-seven, a -Hdnvi, of Tot-teu-hain. ,'lie had conuniltcil suicide by st:-;;..gli,ig her.-u-il widi a s.a/f. :uut ieU a letter in v. hich she :si,is-! she ,\\ c { not fear death; .he wo.id die, for. she io.ri , w money -,-i.[y s' .'one . '! in- coroner uatu rally ashed vh'tlvr she had no old ,ige pei.sion. and the answer-was !::... s':e ii::d lite pensi-.n p:ipvs, bat wo.dd no, t!l thetnup, beca-eSi- site thought ihe iv.onev would L--:ne from the union. r'.ho i tu [\ never received relief, ;u;d did u.-t c.i- t.i !,- begin. !V-a:h «■;;., to her iu.lv »ve!-ovi-: than dependence. In the v.c.-ds -f 'he coroner, the iiiea of accepting a. p-m.-ior., whicii was iu some s. use ~ c.noitvi wounded the old lady's pride. In the March instalment ol" iiis ' Reminiscences ' in ' The World's Work ' Mr John D. Rockefeller deals fully ami drastically witli one of the niuoi sensucionai oi his alleged " crimes." " T'here was one trai.saction—naraeh, Lhe purchase of the pro petty of the Backus Oil Company-- which," he says, " has been variously exploited, and 1 am made to appear as having personally robbed ;i defenceless widow of an extremely valuable property, paying her tlierefor only a mere fraction of its worth." Mr Rockefeller now declares at length that he paid for the pruperty three times I what it would have cost to construct equal facilities, that he invited Mrs Backus to retain some shares in the undertaking, and that he also offered to restore the entire property and cancel the bargain. For this defence affidavits and letters are- produced. '

A lad attending a public State school at Hechingen recently wrote to the Emperor : —•' Very honored Herr Kaiser, —At school I have often heard of your kindness and amiability, and this gives me courage to approach you with a petition. I should like to become a teacher, but my mother is a widow, and has nine children to support. Three of them ate domestic servants, and they desire to provide the cost of my re liege studies from their wages. But that will not be enough. Therefore I beg you, honored Herr Kaiser, to help me that I may become a teacher 1 greet you and the other members of the Hohenzollern family." A week later the boy received £7 5s as a contribution towards the cost of his studies. 'Mr Fred Butt, of Pict's Hill, Langport (Somersetshire), who served in the Baltic during the war with Russia in 1854-55, and was afterwards engaged on active service in various parts of the world, is now seventy-three years of age, but his military ardor is as keen as ever. Feeling " ashamed of the young men of London being so slack in coming forward for the protection of their coiuu-ry," he has written to Major A. G. Boyle, the secretary of the Territorial Force Association of Somerset, asking to be enrolled as a Territorial, remarking that "if the body is weak the spirit is good, and what there is my country is welcome to." A man named Hanby was made the recipient, in the Supreme Court at Washington, of what is regarded as the most remarkable sentence on record. Hanby, convicted on a bigamy charge, was not only fined £2O and sent to gaol for six months, but also was sentenced to marry an Indian woman. Hanby's first wife, learning of his marriage to a pretty Indian girl, secured his indictment, and then a divorce for herself. Because of the first marriage, the , second marriage was declared void, but the I Judge ordered the man to marry the Indian girl before he left the prison gates. One of the earliest to record a vote at the recent Glasgow bye-election was I)r John Burns, aged ninety-four, the oldest practising physician in Scotland. He drove to the .polling booth in a smart carriage j presented to him by the people of Bridg'e- ! ton to celebrate fifty years' work among them. The suffragists displayed great energy, two being stationed at each booth. t As each elector came up he was buttonholed by the women, who counselled him !to " keep the Liberal out." One old Scot, i whom they seized gravely wiped his spectacles, then, taking each" by the shoulder, said: " Wummen, ha'e ye' nae hames? lla'e ye nae bairns? Fie on ye! Awa' wi' ye, an' dinna interfere wi' mon's work." They stared stupidly for a moment, then bashfully withdrew. "The old Scot replaced | his spectacles in their case, and slowly | climbed the steps to the booth.