NEAR AND FAR.

Evening Star, Issue 14628, 26 July 1911, Page 9

NEAR AND FAR.

At yesterday's meeting of the Waikouaiti County Council, Mr 8. E. Brent, secretary of tha .Otago Motor Association, -wrote drawing the attcnticn of the council to the state of the briilgo on the Main North road at K'vansdale. 'Hie bridge was in a very dilapidated condition, and tho public had been nofiticd that it was unsafe for vehicular traffic, The writer requested that, the council should improve the approaches to the ford near the bridge, as it was at peraenfc impassable with ;i. motor car. It wis decided that the matter be seen to by the inspector. A case of catalepsy, said to lie the first of its kind in New Zealand, hsis occurred at Christchurch. He is a young man who has been in business! as a. cycle dealer . ; n Teuinka, and hiu parents reside at Green Island. He went to Christchurch on Thursday, and on Monday morning called at the shop of an acquaintance. He conversed with the, assistant for «ome lime, and then leaned against tha wail of the shop, where he remained rigid for an hour and a-half, replying to nothing that, was asked him, and only occasionally rolling his eyes. About an hour later ho was in the .same statuc-likc attitude, and in a state of complete insensibility. A doctor was summoned, and applied certain tests to ascertain the mane, condition. Ho lilted one arm, and it remained horizontal. He lifted the other arm. and it remained m tic same position. Then lie lifted the arpu, cut sideways, and they remained rigid. Tills led him to believe "that the case waone of catalepsy. A taxicab was_ summoned, but some difficulty was experienced in getting the patient into if, as lie was to all intents and purposes the tame as a dead body. Both doors had to be. opened to allow the man's legs to go through the cab so that he could b? bent, into a sitting posture. Tn that petition he leniained until th? hospital wan reached, bar on arrival there lie showed :flm<! flickering;; of consciousness, and lie recovered the use of nie limbs. Arthur Harold P.imn, a solicitor in tic employ of Metisrs Pel!. Gully, arid Conpo-r'.-Pafme'rston cllre,. pleaded guilty in tl • Stipendiary Magistrate's Court at Paltne;--ston North to the theft of sums totalling £228 10s 6d from his employers. There were between 400 ;>,nd 500 instance? of theft, which extended from November. 1009, till Julv, 1911. Accused, who was admitted as a,-solicitor in dune lad, had I charcre of the firm's court work. Tie was committed for sentence at the Supreme Court, Wellington. Among public men few have met with a more dramatically sudden death than Loid Iddesleigh, better remembered as Sir Starford Northcotc, who died of heart disease when in conversation with Ixird Salisbury at Downing .street. Five days previously his chief had requested him to resign '.; c post of Foreign Secretary. "I had never happened to see anyone die before,'' wiote i Lord Salisbury, "and therefore, even apart i from the circumstances, the suddenness; ot j the unexpected death would have hi'sm | shocking. But here was. in addition, the thought of our 30 vcars' companionship in ' j political life, and the reflection that just before this sudden parting I had, I believe for the first time in my life, seriously wounded his feelings. As T looked upon the dead body stretched befoie me I felt j that politics was a cursed profession." I The census taken on March 5 gives the population of Paris that of the citv limited by the fortifications—as 2,847.000 in round figures, this an increase of a. trifle over 124,000 since the census of 1906. due mainly to the immigration of provincials and foreigners. Dr Brrtillon (says the ' Duilv Telegraph ') srives us .some figures which show that in 1292 the population of i Paris, which was then a much smaller j town, wis about 200,000. In the 18th century it showed a steady figure of half a million —that is to sir, up to the outbreak of the :!ie-H Revolution. In 1801 if, had risen to 547.000. Tn 1851 it was a little over a million, hut, 10 rears later it had reached veiv nearlv 1,700.000. It passed the figure of 2.000.000 in ISBI, when the score v.as 2.269.000. Tf the suburban townships were included in tic oen&lis of last March the total would be a little over 4,000,000. Kven the presents which Royalty bestow upon Royalty bomethne? cause emba'-rass- ; menf. Tn 1863 Queen Yidoiin tent Sir j Richard Burton on a mission to the King i of Dahomey bearing various presents, in- | eluding a silk tent and a handsome silver j pipe. The King was grateful, but added that, as the tent was too small to sit under j in that climate, and he preferred a. clay H* i a metal pipe, he would have been better ; pleased with a carriage and pair and_ a ' white wife. However, to show appreeia- ■ tion of Hot Majesty's kind intentions 1c \ sent in. return some native pipes and to- j bacco for her own smoking, a collection of j loin cloths, and an umbrella to be held j over her head when drinking. | A public meeting convened by the Auck- | land branch of the Anti-Militarist Society j on Sunday was largely attended. Tt was decided to hold public demonstrations in about, a fortnight. Delegate? were appointed to ask the Co-operative P.;ace j Society and various ttoi king _ men's unions | to arrange for concerted action to justify j tho contention that there is intense antago. , nism to compulsory military training. It | was agreed to supplv legal advice where i required in e arses of lads sued for not enrolling, and to communicate with kindred [■societies in the South with a view to concerted action. [ There has been a keen demand for build- j ing sites in Sydney and its suburbs, and , most of the estates put' on tho market have been eagerly s-r>.pp:-d up by speculators and others. The land hunger was emphasised a few dnvs aeo when a pro-pea-'ty known a- Tooih's Paddock, CV.nperd'own. \v.-.s submit ti d to auction under instructions from the Lord Mayor. Like other portions of the motropotitan area. Camperdovrn. which is the latest addition to tho city of Sydney, has been h'ndiii..: considerable difficulty in nccomuiodat-in_' ill those..persons who wished to make their residence) within the boundaries of the ward. It was not suprising, therefore, i that the pick of the blocks met with considerable competition. The estate was cut up into 71 allotments, and the auctionee-r-s ILspo.sed of 60 at prcos ranging from £t Kb to £9 IGs per foot.