LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 276, 27 May 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr H. S. Fitzherbert, of Palmerston North, has decided to accept the position of S.M. at New Plymouth offered him by the Government. After having a crowded house at Feilding, Messrs Tait and Co Avere rather surprised to strike a "frost" at Marton. The merits of the show deserved better treatment. The Feilding Borough Council might introduce some Murray cod into the reservoir. According to a contemporary, they are fierce enemies of eels. At the Dunedin Supreme Court the other day, a married couple received judgment for £465, a claim for nursing Mrs Elizabeth Ure, deceased. A fireman on the steamer Waiwera named Buchanan committed suicide in April, during the run of the vessel from London. Deceased,, who was a native of Scotland, jumped overboard and was drowned. Mr Charles Smith, at present manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Gore, has been promoted to the position of manager at Palmerston North vice Mr H. F. Gibbonß, who is to become an inspector resident in Wellington. The Tourish Department is advised that Sir David Mason, a member of the Indian Legislature, who is accompanied by his wife and family, is now in Tasmania. At the conclusion of their stay in that island the party will come on to New Zealand, with the intention of residing in this colony for some considerable time. At the Empire Day celebrations at the Napier Main School on Friday the pupils were each presented with a badge consisting of the combined 1 figs of Britain and New Zealand, . with an appropriate emblem in the centre. These badges were present- '\ ed by the committee formed to carry ■• out the peace celebrations at the close of the Boer War. ! The Hunterville Express records the j I death of Mrs Parkes, senior, of Silj verhope, which occurred at Nelson t n ; Thursday. The deceased, who was I an old resident of the Rangitikei di*- ; trict,j«ras of a kindly disposition, and | much respected by a large circle of j friends. She leaves behind her a ! husband and grown-up family of nine i .sons and two daughters to mourn ther ! loss. The death occurred, under chloroi form, of Mr John Feeny, at Mrs j Freeman's private hospital, Palmersj ton North, on Saturday. Deceased, ! who was feeding a stripper at Mr I Jarvis' flaxmill at Kairanga, a week i ago, got one of his fingers severely ; crushed in the rollers, and came into town for medical assistance. On Saturday it was found necessary foi ' him to go to the hospital and have the finger amputated, and he died whilst undergoing the operation. De- ! ceased was only 34 years of age. I Constable Mclnnes, who proceeded i to Whangamata on Tuesday, to investigate the case of an old negro named Ross, reported to be in a dying condition and unattended, re- , turned to Waihi last Thursday night, ' after a most arduous journey. He | discovered the old man to be peri fectly helpless in his lonely bush camp, and living in terrible filth. I After a great deal of trouble, the j sick man was sledged through the I bush a distance of seren miles, the '• party arriving at Sainbury's Hotel !at midnight on Tuesday. There be- ! ing no chance of procuring further i assistance to carry Ross to Kikutaira, , the road being too rough, arrangements were made by Constable Mr-

Innes to have the man conveyed by a scow to Bowentown Heads, and then to Waihi. The vessel was to have made Bowentown this morning, but the weather being very rough outside, it is thought she is sheltering, and will make port this afternoon. Ross, it appears, is paralysed, and it is marvellous how he has existed.—Star. Among the visitors to Te Karaka (writes a Gisborne correspondent), on the occasion of His Excellency's visit, was the Hon. Wi Pere, who bore on his shoulders a fine Maori mat. After the natives had danced a haka in honor of the Governor, Wi Pere said he wished to present the mat he wore to Lord Plunket. His Excellency courteously explained that owing to his position he was unable to accept a present of any value % Wi Pere was not bjr any means mollified by the explanation of the Governor's difficulty, and. did not appear to appreciate the position. He threw the mat down and jumped on it, saying that he was not acquainted with the customs which made His Excellency refuse to take this gift, as in New Zealand it was usual to bestow presents on those held in great esteem. His Excellency got over the trouble by suggesting that Wi Pere should hand the gift to someone tor him, and he would take a feather as a sign of the giver's loyalty to the King. There was not time to decide the question then, and he would refer it to the Hon. Mr Carroll, who understood Maori customs. His Worship the Mayor took charge of the mat, and conveyed it to town.

The Kimbolton school will open again on Monday next. The school has been thoroughly fumigated and the epidemic of scarlet fever has abated. Mr Charles Lewis, M.H.R., is to be entertained by the residents of Halswell and an illuminated address presented to him on the occasion of his leaving the district, where he has resided for a number of years. The bell from a locomotive which burst on the Southern Pacific Railway at Galveston, Texas, crashed through the roof of a house a quarter of a mile away, demolishing a table at which the family was at breakfast. The friends of Mr R. O. Jarrett will regret to hear of Mrs Jarrett' s illness, necessitating her going to a private hospital. An operation was performed on Saturday morning and, as far as could be ascertained, it was successful. — Standard . Dunedin correspondent telegraphs : The party behind Grandstand had a royal win over that horse in the last race at Oamaru. Two Dunedin bookmakers were struck for considerably over one thousand pounds, and all the other pencillers had a disastrous time. At the annual meeting of St. John's Church on Friday night ; Mr E. Goodbehere was re-appointed clergy's warden, Mr Lambert, people's warden, and the following gentlemen were elected to the Vestry : —Messrs Merrick, Aylmer, Hopkins, Glasgow. Tingey, O'Halloran, and Dr. Willis. An applicant for an old age pension at Christchurch was 88 years of

age, and his wife 87. Their son, wno was present, was taken for a brother by the Magistrate. He in formed* the Magistrate that he had had twelve children, and was now grandfather to 37. A judgment debtor, at the Christchurch Court stated that he had had rather a bad deal with the late director of awards at the Exhibition. He was given a cheque for £25 by McIntyre in payment for some private contract which cost £20, and gave Mclntyre £5 change. The cheque was dishonoured, end he lost £5 as well as the work. Great interest is being taken in the local golf competitions this season. Mr Grut has won the May Saturday Competition with a net score of 99. The Wednesday players have yet to compete. The Club contemplate taking a team to Wanganui to play there on Monday next. Players will be advised by advertisement re final arrangements. In connection with the annual ba-lance-sheet of the Anglican Church, Feilding, the Treasurer has asked us to state that the stipends overdue on 31st March, the end of the financial year, were paid a week after that date, outstanding subscriptions having come to hand. This statement is necessary owing to misleading figures having been published by some of our contemporaries. A public meeting was held at Pohangina on Saturday evening, to consider the formation of technical classes. Notwithstanding the inclement weather there was a good attendance of those interested, and, judging by the enthusiasm shown, there should be little difficulty in starting several classes. In order to keep down expenses, the settlers intend to take it in turns to drive the instructors to and from Ashhurst. Mr Wagstaff presided at the meeting. Referring to the efforts to prove that the Opposition victory in the recent election was due to the Prohibitionists and not to the Land Bill, the Taranaki Herald says: — The plain fact is that the Land Bill was the great question at issue and put Mr Okey in, and that the result would have been the same had it been a straight-out fight between Mr Okey and Mr Dockrill. Had there been no Land Bill, or had the Government candidate been as sound upon it as the Independent candidate, the result might have been different. The latest innovation on board the Japanese mail steamer Yawata Maru, now berthed at the Circular Quay, says a Sydney paper, is a swimming bath in the fore part of the ship. It is 20ft long, with a breadth of 21 ft, and a depth of sft. This bath affords an excellent opportunity for the morning "dip," and on the passage from the Far East to Australia was largely availed of by passengers, fixed hours being arranged for ladies and gentlemen. The Yawatu Maru is the first vessel of the Australian line of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha to be supplied with a swimming bath. The double machine received another good advertisement at Takapuna last Saturday, when the winning combination Millie and Duart, paid the substantial price of £797 17s. Only two tickets weje invested on the successful pair, and it is understood both were outside commissions. The owner of Duart coupled no less than six horses with his own, while a wellknown penciller backed seven with Duart. Both are now regretting they did not go the whole hog. Duart is trained by C. Coleman, who has turned out one of the legs of the two largest dividends paid in Auckland, the previous one being Apologue, which won in the spring, and paid nine hundred pounds odd. — Star. Mr J. dimming, who has been conductor of the Feilding Brass Band for some time, left here on Saturday for Christchurch, to take up the position of Conductor of the Lyttelton Marine Band. Having heard of Mr Cumming's capabilities, the Marine Band secured him a position in the Addington workshops, and he will also receive a salary of £50 per annum as Conductor of the Band. On Friday night, the Feilding Band gave Mr Cumming a farewell social in the Oddfellows' Hall, when he was presented with a purse of sovereigns, accompanied by the usual valedictory speeches. Mr J. Bellve will take the position of Conductor of the Feilding Band. One of the Acclimatisation Society's inspectors was beguiled by a local fishmonger on Saturday. Seeing a number of black swans hanging outside a fish shop, he entered and spake words of warning to the shopkeeper. He must beware lest he break the law by selling s\ich game as the black swan.' The proprietor, unabashed, offered to soil the inspector one of the birds "just to make a test case oi it." After a deal of bargaining the finest swan in the row changed hands at half-a-crown. In about an hour's timo the inspector returned with the black beauty, and demanded his money back, but his request was refused. He had discovered that the fine plump "swan" was stuffed with straw! — Dunedin Star. A plucky fire rescue in Melbourne has led to a divorce suit and a decree nisi in London. Mr Harry Shine, well known in the threatrical profession, has been sued by Mrs Violet Shine (Miss Violet Elliott) for a divorce. Both the parties have' a^-

peared on the vaudeville stage in this colony. The wife accused the husband of cruetly while travelling in India and Australia. At Bendigo he signed the pledge and promised reformation, but he broke nis promise, and husband and wife separated. Some time afterwards Mrs Shine read in a newspaper that "Mr Harry Shine, during a fire at the Waverley Hotel, Melbourne, rescued his wife, carrying her in his arms down-stairs." The "wife" that Mr Shine rescued was a Miss Renton. Mrs Shine at once took legal proceedings for a divorce, and the Court granted her a decree nisi. One of the most curious^ sights in North-west Canada is that of living snow. There a curious phenomenon is seen in the appearance of millions of minute black insects when a thaw occurs. During the winter the snow is dry and crisp, like sand, and nothing whatever can be discovered of these insects; But as soon as a thaw comes they are fourj l -- y where in large patches, looking isLo a dusting of soot. They are generally known as srow fleas, or jnmperSj and have slight hopping powers, being able t6 leap three or four inches. They entirely disappear when it freezes again and not a trace of them can be found. They do not fall with the snow as "there may have been no snow for a month or more before their arrival, and are probably something similar to the "red snow" of the Arctic regions. For Bronchial Coughs take Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. Is 6d ana 2s Bd.

The Hon. W. Hall-Jones, ActingPremier, is now very much better in health. It is hoped that he will be able to go out on the first fine day. Thhe first debate of the Feilding Literary and Debating Society will be held in the Council Chambers tomorrow evening, at 8 o'clock. The subject will be, "Should the women of New Zealand be eligible to sit in £he House pf Representatives?" The affirmative will be taken by Mr Tingey, and the negative by the Rev. W. F. Stent. The meeting will be open to all who wish to attend, ladies included. The members o f the Feilding District High School Hockey Club, having had a little coaching in the game, decided to try conclusions with the Feilding Girls' Hockey Club, and issued a challenge last week. The match eventuated on Empire Day, on the Racecourse. The teams were rather unevenly balanced, the school team being much smaller than their opponents, who played 10 instead of IT. The result was a win for the senior team by five goals to nil. Goals were scored by D. Lethbridge (3), W. Drew, and P. Walker. The Bchool team, however, played a rattling, fast game, and made an interesting match of it. W. Drew (captain), and D. Lethbridge played very well for the winners. J. Mountford was captain of the High School team, and had no reason whatever to be ashamed of the exhibition given by her team. The Feilding Girls r Club will play a match against a young men's team on Monday next. '