NEAR AND FAR.

Evening Star, Issue 14117, 21 July 1909, Page 2

NEAR AND FAR.

o i It is f tated that there are about 540 men at present employed on the Catlins Railway work 6. It is generally considered' (says the 'Clutha Leader') that the £BO,OOO voted last year -will be fully expended within the twelve months immediately following the i vote. In reference to the visit to America of a party of Maori dancers, the Hon. T. Mackenzie rgrees it is more than probable I that as soon as they land in the United I States the "color line" will be sharply | drawn by the Americans. The New Zen'- | land Government, Mr Mackenzie said, i could not interfere with the right of the ' Maoris to accept the engagement if they I chose, and the most that could be done ; was to see that everything possible had i been provided for their welfare durim> i their absence from New Zealand. In thus latter respect the utmost precautions had been taken. The Mayor of Wellington (Dr A. K. Newman), speaking in a professional capacity at the meeting of the St. John Ambui lance Society, declared himself a foe of the j knife in medical practice. He thought i there was too much use of the knife, and j 6urgery had been developed largely at the expense of medicine. "A physician," he said with feeling, "is a decaying tiling, dying out, like the Maoris. Surgeons everywhere are driving out physicians." How was :t to be explained? Humorously, the doctor declared that if a man takes out a knife and cuts into another man, that man always ever after feels a profound respect for the man of the knife. It had a great effect on people, consequently the surgeon, was cutting the physician all to pieces. In fifty or sixty years' time the physician would be extinct, and every medical man a surgeon. A white tineas, Bft Bin in length, has been shot in Dhenkanal State, Orissa. The ground color was pure white, and the stripes were of a deep reddish-black color. The skin has been presented to the Rajah of Dhenkanal, who has had it mounted and placed .in his palace. The shikaris (hunters) of India 6ay that it is the only white tiger they have* seen. Mr Stephen Hcyns, of Cape Town, is on a visit to New Zealand. He is of the opinion that New Zealand or Australian farmers, with up-to-date methods and machinery, could do exceedingly well in the South African western "provinces. Farms were to be obtained at low prices within a vctv few miles of Cape Town itself. For occupations other than farming the present outlook was poor. In Cape Town the Hind is wove driving Europeans out of the grocery and butchery trades, their rates of profit being 60 low that white men could not compete successfully against them. A Canadian correspondent writes as under to 'The Times': "Half a century ago the minimum (standard of height for your infantry was Mt 6in. During the "ensuing quarter of a century that standard Mas reduced to sft 3m. " During the Beer War it was further reduced to sft 2in, and before the -ind of that war it was reduced to sft. More than 50 per cent, of the soldiers in .South Africa were below the minimum standard required of the recruits for the Crimean War half a century previously. About 50 per cent, of the "recruits in the Boer War failed to reach the former minimum standard of chest girth, which had been 54in, and about one-third of the troops in the Boer War fell below the former minimum standard of weight, which had been 1361b. During the Boer War the average British soldier was 2in shorter, lin less in chest girth, and 1.51b lighter than the average British soldier in the Crimean War." Fires, incipient, destructive, and comylete. ii.tvo been more numerous this winter than ever oef"re. so a Wellington Tost' reporter was informed by a. prominent fire n sum ire manager on Friday. "I put a lot of it down,'' said the fire expert, "to the habit of drying clothes indoors before the fire. A single spark failing on to dry. warm fabrics 6ets them all "ablaze, and there you arc. My attention lias been specially tailed to it by the number of .'mail claims coming in for damages to clothes and furniture by these miniature conflagrations. People should be warned about the danger of the practice, and take all_ proper precautious in drying clothes. It is one of the most frequent "causes of tho destruction of property, this drying things before the fire." " ° A new Roman Catholic high school orconvent will fihortly be established in Auckland by the Parisian order of nuns known as .Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the proposal having been sanctioned bv Bishop Lenihan. 'I he Rev. Mother Smith, of Sydney, ;,nd the Rev. Mother Haydon, of Wellington, arc making the necessary arrangements The former lady is now in Auckland, ;.nd has negotiations well in hand for the purchase of a suitable building and an area of ground for the new establishment. It is expected that it will be opened about the first week in October. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart have already two successful high schools in the Dominion—one at Island Bay, Wellington, and the other at Timaru. The Concliation Council, sTTJng at Napier, succeeded in bringing the parties together in the drovers'dispute, and an agreement was arrived at. Mr P. Hally preThe agreement, which is to have a duration of :wc years, applies to regular dioving, excluding casual work and the shifting of droves of cattle not exceeding twenty-live in number, and hocks of sheep not exceeding 500. The minimum wage is fixed at 12s 6d per day for drovers, and 10s 6d for packmen. The wages at prc,-e;;fc prevailing arc. in. most cases higher than I those just given, and the representatives. of the employers have agreed to do all they can to 6ee that no reduction is made in j existing rates. There is a provision in tho i agreement as to the qualifications of ! drovers and for young men learning the trade. During the course of lm address at a meeting of the Presbyterian Social Service Association at Christchurch last night (wires "Our Own"), Mr Frank Rule, agent of the organisation, 6aid that, at the risk of being laughed at, he would contend that it was very neece&ary that the characters of all men who advertised hi the public prints for wives should be inquired into. lie had under his care at the present time one of the most distressing cases, the details of which he could not disclose, all the result of an advertisement for a wife. He knew- .:s a fact that a man had advertised three times for a wife in the city papers, and as a result a considerable number of women now bore the brand of shame. The man boasted of it. It was time that something were done to protect women who were foolish enough to answer such advertisements from men who were vicious enough to adopt that plan of carrying (n their dasteidly work. Referring to the matter subsequently, ; the Rev. T.- Tait said he was profoundly convinced that the crying evil mentioned by Mr Rule nas as much abroad in Christchurch as in any other city, and it had got to be tackled. " Mr Rule'should be urged to act in the matter. The sex question required to be grappled with. Things went

on in tho city, in. factories, and in boarding schools that (should impa'ees them with the necessity of something being done. The Committee of the Hospital Board held a 6pecial meeting last night, when Mr J. H. Walker (chairman) and Mr H. L. Tapley submitted a report on their vre : t to Christchurch. Tho Committee expressed their pleasure with the report, and accorded a vote of thanks to Messrs Waiter and Tapley, being of the opinion that the:r mission has been' fully justified.

-The Native Appellate Court at Wellington yesterday gave judgment in the case heard recently regarding Wi Matua's will, for whieh probate was refused. The Court held that on proper cause being shown it would endeavor to secure a new trial of a case in its courts where the verdict was obtained by fraud or malpractice. After reviewing tho facts connected with Wi Matua's will, and the findings of the previous courts that the will was open to (suspicion from the fact that it had been prepared < r caused to be prepared at tho instance of a European beneficiary, the Court contktcrcii that the allegations of conspiracy end misconduct of witnesses, even if proved, could not have affected the Court's judgment on the main point at issue, which was the removal of suspicion of the transaction caused by the peculiar circumstances under which the will was prepared, the onus ol which and the showing of tho righteousness of the transaction were cast upon the pro pounders of the will. The motion for a new trial was refused.