LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Star, Issue 16348, 14 February 1917, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

One undefended case was heard in the j Magistrate's Court yesterday—viz., D. iAuld v. W. A. Miller, judgment being given for lis 9d for bread delivered, with costs (ss). ,

, _ At the quarterly mating of 'the Public | Service Superannuation Board 19 contrij butors, who- retired by reason of ago or I length of service, were granted annual al-jloua-nces totalling £3,449; arid two coni tributors, who retired as medically unfit, I were granted allowances totalling £2Ol | per annum. • Seventeen widows and 14 j children .verb granted statutory allowances j aggregating £4BB per annum! Iu consej quonec of retirements under section 35, j accrued compensation to the amount of ! £8,138 became, a liability of the Super- : animation Fund, and a corresponding relief Ito tho Consolidated Fund. The secretary ! repor.cd that the total amount to the ■ credit of the fund on January 31 was £933.182—an increase of £112,025 on the ngures for the preceding year. At last week's meeting of the WairaAutomobile Association, a resident ■n the Rimutaka Hill wrote asking tho ..ssociation to bring before motorists generally the annoyance caused to himself and in* neighbors by the practice of motorists,! ,vhen stuck, of extracting lengths of wire .'i'om fences for use as tow ropes. Fre- j gentry ho had found from 50 to 100 feot | c-t wire cut out and a whole stretch of: fence thus rendered ineffective. The meet-! ing_ expressed sympathy with the com- ! plaint, and promised that tho matter : .should receive publicity. As one motorist; pointed out, however, if a motorist was! ituck on the hill miles from anywhere, : and he got the chance of a tow home, ha : would not hesitate to cut wire or anything ; else that would serve his purpose. ; The imprisonment of a .Mrs John Kor-: iiieth, of Winnipeg, for refusing to kiss: :ne crucifix before testifying in a murder i case, recently provoked' a spirited dis-: citssion throughout .Manitoba and Ontario. • ihe young \\\ man is said to be a Gennan Koman Catholic, but pleaded not to" be forced to kiss the crucifix, saving 6 he wanted to swear on the Bible lue Amevi-! cans in her old home in Masfaehusetts. ihe Court ordered that she should be f.worn according to the rules of her Church. But sho persisted -that she would onlyswear to tell the truth on the Bible. After being committed until she should purge herseif by swearing on the crucifix", the woman did so, but not until she had been j imprisoned four hours. The ' Toronto Globe' reports that tho incident created j a dramatic scene in court, and provoked widespread discussion throughout entire Canada. I

: _ To H. E. Wild is ascribed the honor of i inventing and naming the composition which did duty to members of the Ross ; - ; ea party in lieu of tobacco during many i v.-earv ( months (says tho Wellington | 'Post'). When the vcrv limited supply of weed in the hut was exhausted, various substitutes were tried with varying degrees of satisfaction to the consumer. Tea was attempted, and so was coffee, and then the inventive genius of Wild asserted itself. With exquisite care he blended some fresh tea, coffee, sawdust, and a few species of herbs, and called his creation " Hut Point Mixture." This survived the gamut of criticism, and became the standard "tobacco." It is raid that Joyce tried onions, but was speedily made" to stop; while another member of the party met with very little success in his attempt to inhale the "smoke" from dried shredded potatoes !

Returned soldiers are being taught handweaving at, Geelong, South Australia. After 10 clays' training a man can produce plain worsted tweed at the rate of a yard an hour. Allowing his wages to he' 2s, this tweed, which is said to bo of a quality unsurpassable, can be fold at 7s 6d a yard, including a substantial profit. After three months the man can make his own living. When more men arc made available, and the ec-heme is in full operation, other classes of weaving will be i-ndertaken, and even the looms wilt be 'home made" by Anzacs. Only four of some 20 dogs which left with the Eoss Sea party on the Antarctic Expedition have returned. The survivors :.nay oo considered veterans at polar exploration, as they journeyed no less than 1,600 miles altcgrj,her, encountering many vicissitudes and much hunger during their travels. They looked in remarkably good condition when inspected on the" relief ship on Friday night (says the 'Po=t'), and the affectionate relationship which existed between them and members of the party was particularly noticeable. During the sojourn in the "South the canine birth-rate incieased, and three big, healthy pups were brought back. There was also a litter of eight pups, whose mother evidently believed in the full cradle, and who jealously guarded her offspring, and showed whits fangs when any intruders came near. The animals were" taken over to the quarantine station to-day. According to a cable message to the Australian papers, Lord Hawko, presiding at a meeting of the Yorkshire Club, said that scores of first class cricketers were fighting. Many had gone, but he was not pessimistic as to the prospects of cricket after the war. The war would intensify the Empire's sporting spirit. When they resumed, it would be England's turn to send out a team to Australia, but he hoped Australia would waive the right, and instead send a team to help set English cricket thoroushlv on its feet.

In summing up in connection with a case' at the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, last week, Mr Justice Edwards warned the jury that it was of the highest importance that the law of the country should bo evenly administered. He said that, despite tho miserable mockery to which tho administration of the oath in this country had been reduced, they must not forget they had been sworn. Taking the oath should be a yery solemn procedure. Instead of that, the Registrar gabbled something which few understood, and tho jurors repeated like parrots: "I do," many of them not realising what they had undertaken to do. The finest oath in the world was the Scotch oath, in which a man stood with his right hand lifted towards Heayen and swore before Almighty God, as he would on tho Great Day of judgment, to do his duty. The oath, added His Honor, was very fine and poetical. The oath had been degraded by our colonial or modern desire to interfere with everything that was time-honored.