LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 351, 23 August 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

His Excellency tho Governor and Laly Plunket passed through Feilding yesterday on tbe way from Auckland to Wellington. The Manchester Rifles' range wi'l be open for practice to-morrow afternoon, when it is particularly requested that all who are taking part in the match on the 31st inst. will attend. Ammunition may be obtain*' 1 fiom the secretary. If (says the Sydney Morning Herald) we can believe the Right Hon. G. H. Reid, he was a very dull boy at school. The only thing he learned, so he told his audience, was to play the wag. He would slide out of the window every afternoon, and take his thrashing next morning. The next mail for the United Kingdom and Europe, via Vancouver, due at London on 9th October, will close at the Feilding Post Office on Tuesday, the 3rd day of September, at 11.45 a.m. The next inward mail via Vancouver is due on 16th September. A large number of young trees are being planted on Victoria Park, and the nigh trees skirting the toi) side are being topped. The Park Committee of the Borough Council evidently intend to make some necessary improvements in the too long neglected park. "I am strongly opposed to a fifteen years' lease," remarked one grey-haired member of the "Christchurch Drainage Board at the meeting this week; when a certain proposal was being discussed. "It's all right; you'll be playing the harp long before the time is up," ejaculated another member. An Auckland fishmonger complains that the firing of the big guns at Fort Cautiey has the effect of frightening away the fish. He asserts .that the catches made by the fishermen during the time shooting is going on, and for some time after it ceases, are exceedingly small, in marked contrast to the hauls made before the guns begin to play. Mr C. H. Poole's lecture, in the Drill Hall on Monday evening next, o)» the subject of ''Making Friends with Uncle Sam," will be illustrated j with lantern views of different parts of the country. The lecture should be most enjoyable and interesting, as Mr Poole is a brilliant speaker, with a large fund of Irish humour to draw en. An interesting reminiscence of Te Kooti was mentioned by Mr Hill in his lecture at Napier on Friday last. Mr Hill stated that he was probably the last European who had had an interview with Te Kooti, having met him at Teteka before his death. Te Kooti then gave Mr Hill his hand, which he had never before done to a pakeha, and made a long statement which Mr Hill took in writing, but which, on acoount of the people connected with it, he haa never made public.

The Wanganui representative hocey team passed through Feilding on he 10.30 down train this morning, on hockey tour. The team will play :it *evin, Masterton, Wellington, and Japier. Not a single vote was recorded at i recent election at Greenfield, Masachusetts, the entire population laving gone to a circus in an adorning village. Even the presiding ifficer was unable to poll, owing to he absence of his assistants. A meeting will be held in the High School this evening at 8 p.m., jo endeavour to form a dairying icienoe class for those, in and around feilding, interested in dairy farming. Mr Browne, dairy instructor to the Wanganui Education Board, will be present to supply information. The Australasian World is informal that it has been definitely derided by the New Zealand Football \sßOciation to send a strong football .earn to play a series of matches in England next season. Tbe team vill include a number of " All Black " Maoris. Several of the players intend to remain in England as coaches md professionals. The final match for the Abraham Dup will take place at the Palmers bon showground tomorrow afternoon, between the Feilding seniors and Kia Toa. A really good match is expected, as these teams have met twice this season and won a match each. Feilding spectators will be able to see the match by leaving here by the 2.5 p.m. train and returning by 4.55 p.m. train. Aladar Stolinki, an aristocratic lieutenant of the Hungarian hussar regiment has resigned his commission to become an apprentice to a pork butcher in Budapest. He declares it is impossible to live on his pay of £80 a year, and that he has decided to Jbeoome a butcher, as be considers tie trade offers a good opening to a man of education. After serving nine months' apprenticeship he will start business on his own account in the Hungarian capital. . The annual sale of work and entertainment of the St John's Girls' Missionary Guild opened in the Drill Hall this afternoon. There are seven or eight stalls, which have been tastefully decorated, and tiie collection of articles of all kinds set cut for sale is the largest in the history of these sales. A number of competitions hare been arranged for aud everything has been done \p make the sale attractive and' worth a visit. The Inangahua Times reports:— A local young lady has just escaped tbe terrible catastrophe of being married to a young man whose deeds show to what class he belongs. He came to Reef ton on Saturday, and begged i-.d borrowed from this and that, stating that he was going to bo married, an-1 wanted some ready cash. He borrowed £5 from his fiancee, and though . .«■> wedding was set down for to-day, li« left yesterday for Westpo.t, thoroughly outwitting the Egyptians. Cong atulations with the young lady in he. fortunate escape are hearty and frequent. At the native town of Joma, Kadavu, last week (says the Fii> Times) a man and his wife were eim ployed in renovating their house, when a disastrous accident Occurred to the latter. It would seem that the woman laid hold of a gun to remove it to some more convenient place, and, while she was in the act of doing so, the gun went off at close quarters, shattering all the lower portion of the jaw and leaving a protruding tongue with no protection to the throat. The unfortunate woman can neither speak nor eat. A spiritualist named Karl Banninger, of Budapest, eloped with liis mother-in-law, the wife of Anton Deutsch, a wealthy landowner. Finding his own wife did not care for spiritualist seances, Herr Banninger had for some time _ devoted himself to instructing his wife's mother into the mysteries of table-turning and planchette writing. The pair disappeared, taking a good sum of money with them. They intended to go to America, but in Vienna they were robbed of all their belongings. They returned ruefully to Budapest, and the father and daughter of the pair have now filed petitions for divorce. A British workman named Muuce, of Manchester, met with a terrible death at St. Oven, Paris. He was working with some others in the centre of one of three furnaces. When dinner time came the other men went off. They called to Munce, who was at the far end of the furnace, but he did not reply, and they thought that lie was already out. The furnace door was then shut. When his comrades returned from dinner, having seen nothing of Munce, they began a search for him. Meanwhile Munce had been slowly roasting to dentil from the heat given out by the two adjoining furnaces. Ho was not dead when his comrades threw open the furnace door, but expired immediately afterwards. A cable from New York says: — "The marriage will shortly take place of a man aged 101 years and a woman who recently celebrated her hundredth birtfrday. They were friends in their youth, but drifted apart, and recently met, after not having seen each other for eighty-five years." This probably refers to the engagement of Mr John B. Bundren, or Tatesville, Tennessee, and Miss Rose McGuire, of Preston, England. The couple were engaged in their youth, but Miss McGuire's parents objected, and Mr Bundren went to America. He learned recently that his former sweetheart was still alivo, and letters passed which led to & renewal of the courtship. The new pencil-pointed bullet was used with remarkable success at Bisly, and a number of "highest possibles" were scored with it in the Waldergrav© and Brownlo events. The chief advantages of the bullet over the rounded nose bullet are that the trajectory is lowered, rendering accuracy more certain by str-aighter flight, and there is a gain of as much as a thousand feet a second in velocity. The users of the bullets shot so well that a new Bisley record was set up for match rifle work, and its superiority over j the present service cartridge was thus amply demonstrated. The results, uideed, more than equalled expectations, despite the unfavorable character of the weather. By August Ist, 1909, the British Board of Education estimates that 13,500 new teachers will be required, and to produce this number, and allow for those who fall out for one reason or another, some 21,000 boys and girls should have been brought into the early stages of the profession in 1906. The actual number was only 10,900. "The reason for the shortage," said Mr J. H. Yoxatl, M.P., the secretary of the National Union* of Teachers, to a representative of the Daily Mail, "is that the service has ceased to be attractive. So long as teachers continue to be badly paid ,and to receive a pension from the State, when they attain the age of sixty-five, after forty-five years' service, of only £22 a .year, so long will the shortage exist. A pleasing and interesting ceremony took place m the telegraph operating room on Tuesday evening feays the Hawcra Star) when Mr Bailey, clue. clerk, on behalf of the staff, prese-i '- ed Mr Stevens with a handsome silver cheese dish and silver entree dish. J u making the presentation, Mr Bailey expressed the staff's congratulations to Mr Stevens on his appointment to sn inspectorship and their sincere regrets at losing such a good postmaster. Mr Clegcs endorsed Mr Bailey .. remarks, and emphasised the goodwill which had always exisjted between tl-o i postmaster and staff. Mr Bunting al so spoke, and feelingly re'erred to ilr Stevens' removal as oreftkirg one -f the links with the early days. Mr W. Hutchens, speaking as a juniooifioer, thanked Mr Stevens for the encouragement and assistance which Mr Stevens was ever ready to give to junior officers. Mr Stevens, who was received with hearty applause, suitably acknowledged the gift, and spoke feelingly of the good spirit which had always existed in the office. He gave some good advice to the younger officers regarding both their business and their hobbies, and oxpressed his gratification that his pro- 1 motion did not totally sever his connection with Hawera. The proceed- | ings closed with three hearty cheers ' for Mr Stevens a

Two detectives, who were concealed on premises at Kingwilliamstown, Cape Colony, switched the electric light on two intruders, and found tbat their prisoners were members of the local police force 1 The strongest comment on the prosecution of Signor Caruso in the United States is furnished by King Edward VII., who has appointed the singer to be an honorary member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order. During the inquest on the body of the boy Sidney Carson yesterday as- • ternoon the jury drew the attention of j the Coroner to the loose manner In , which arms and ammunition -could be \ procured from the ironmongers of j Palaaerstcn North, and said that there was no doubt some stringent measures needed to be taken to protect tue public. Interviewed in regard to Dr. Bakewell's statement by a Herald representative last evening, Dr Chauamore Purchas absolutely denied that he hal after an examination of Dr. Bukewell discovored 1 as alleged by him, anything in the way of a cancerous growth which, according to Bakeweli, was subsequently cured by hypno'ic suggestion. The Oamaru rain-making committee, being advised that the conditions were favorable, exploded bomb 3 yes terday at three points in the district. A light rain fell, but rain cf a simik' character was falling at the same tioi© in other parts of the district^ away from the radius of the explosion, so that the test was again inconclusive. There was a large and interested gathering in Mr Corpe's. Sundvy Schoolroom, Makino, when Mr Whitehead showed a fine set of magic lantern pictures entitled "My trip through Palestine." ' To-night Mr Whitehead will exhibit at the Gospel Hall, at 7.30 o'clock, a set of views entitled "Martyrs of the Reformation," from Fox's celebrated work. We advise those who desire an entertaining evening to make a point v. attending. Mr Charles Fairbanks, the VicePresident of the United States, who is staying at an hotel in Yellowstone Park, was the hero of a gallant ace of rescue. A waitress from the hotel fell into a lake near by, and Mr Fairbanks, who is over fifty years of age, plunged into the water fully dressed, and succeeded in holding up the woman until help came. He afterwards assisted in carrying the waitress to the hotel, where she recovered from the effects of her immersion. Judgment in the case Peddie v. Millar, regarding the power of the Arbitration Act to enforc© its order when failure to pay fines occurs, was given by the Court of Appeal to-day. A majority of the Court, the Chh.f Justice and Justices Cooper, Chapman and Button, held that appellant must succeed and the judgment of Justice Williams must be reversed, with direction to the Supreme Court to issie attachment (or in other words) the decision declares that imprisonment can follow non-payment of fines inflictel under the Arbitration Court award. Mark Twain was entertained at a civic banquet at Liverpool on the eve of his departure for New York. He was moved to tears by Mr T. P. 0' Connor's reference to the solace an*', support his wife had rendered bim ii his struggles to pay the debts involved in the failure of his % publishing business. Mark Twain said in reply : "Perhaps I would not have cared what happened about paying my creditors, but it was my wife who insisted upo*i my going into the world again to ear.i 100 per cent, for every dollar 1 owed." He concluded: "I am now going from you across the ocean to my long rest and home." The annual soiree in counectk.i with the Primitive Methodist Chureu in the Beaconsfield and Waituna districts was held on Wednesday last when about 100 persons sat down lo a sumptuous tei provided by the lad . ies of the districts named. The t_a was served at one long table in a tent erected by the side of the church ir the form of a lean-to. The public meeting was presided over by the* Rev. J. Clover und addressed by Rev. J. White and Mr Pettigrew, of Pihama (Taranaki). Recitations were also given by Messrs Hunt and Co-'p and Miss Clover. Tbe music was supplied by tbe choir. The weather was ideally pei feet, barring the dampness under foot, _nd the event was an v. qualified success Tho saddlers' dispute, which w.is dealt with by the Arbitration Court at Christchurch, came to a sudden aaa unexpected termination. The Hon. J. Barr, M.L.C, came from Wellington to conduct the case for the Union, and submitted the points in dispute to tiie Court. At an early stage in the proceedings it was announced that the employers were willing to accept th© conditions of the Wellington saddlers' award in their entirety, but Mr Barr said that the local Union de sired even better terms. Mr Justice Sim pointed out that it was generally rocoguised that the highest wages iv the colony were paid in Wellir.gtoi.. and he informed Mr Barr very definitely that no better terms would be conceded by the Court in connection with the Christchurch dispute. Under these circumstances Mr Barr did not pursue his forlorn hope, but he suggested ono or two slight amendmeuta which the Court might incorporate in any decision arrived at, to meet' load requirements. His Honour intimated that the Court would base its a war a on the agreement made by both parties in Wellington — Press. The lock of Napoleon's hair, whicii has recently been placed m the Nottingham Castle Museum, is (says the Westminster Gazette) one of very many relics of the great soldier whicn are scattered and treasured almost the world over. Of the half dozen hats which have survived him, one is preserved in the Conde Museum at Chun tiliy, Prince Victor Napoleon owts another, and his brother, Prince LouL a third. A fourth belong^ to the artist Armand Dumarescq, a fifth is in the museum of the army, and a sixth may, we believe, be seen at Madame Tissaud's, where, too, is pre&erved the carriage in which Napoleon rode io Waterloo. The cradle in which he slumbered as an infant stands to-da v >, full of flowers, in an American draw-ing-room—that of Mrs Van R. Cruger; the boots he wore at his coronation were 'sold in Alsace a few years'. ago for 25 marks, the chair he us_dj during bis captivity at St. Helena' was sold recently at Sotheby's roonu\ one of his teeth attracted considerable notice at a recent exhibition cf the rtoyal Amateur Art; Society, and a lock of his hair, shorn in St. Helena, fetched five guineas not long ago iv a i-ondou saleroom. The Agricultural Department of the University of Cambridge has succeeded in producing a fixed type of wheat which will combine- the strength of Canadian and other foreign wheats with the free-growing qualities of the English varieties. Professor Wood, head of the department, explained the process to the Association of Directors and Secretaries of Education at the University farm at Impington. The British laborer, it appears, though he has the producing of home-grown cereals, is at one with the town artisan in that he will no longer purchase bread made from the flour of English wheat, which has neither the color nor the quality of the product of i foreign or mixed flour. The wheat the department has produced at Impington was sent to a miller to grind and report upon without any clue as : to its identity. He reported his j belief that he was dealing with some of the. finest miality of Canadian wheat. A baser similarly reported as to the flour. Professor Wood is confident that he has found what the British agriculturist requires, and ingrowing it in bulk for seed corn, but it will be several years before it ' can be put on the market in any quantities. Considerable progress has also been made in experiments to combat with well-known diseases among British-grown crops, roots as ; well as cereals. The experiments have been in hand about six years.