LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 533, 28 March 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Correspondence, dealing with No-li-cense and the Press will be found on tho first page. A very enjoyable card party was held in the Oddfellows' Hall last evening between the members of the Feilding Fire Brigade and the local Oddfellows. Refreshments wore supplied by tho brigadesmen. At the Manawatu Rugby Union meeting last night, the-Feilding delegates were asked If they could suggest an honorary surgeon for this district, and it was decided to ask Dr. Willis, of Feilding, to take the position. The Arbitration Court is gradually slipping out of existence (says the Oamaru Times), and even the inclusion of Mr McCullough as the representative of the workers has not checked the inclination to defy the law, and for each union to "go on its own." In thanking the secretaries of football clubs for the assistance last year, Mr H. Muller, secretary to the Manawatu Rugby Union, last night, specially mentioned Mr W. H. McLean, Who, as secretary of the FeiWing club, Jiad done everything to facilitate his work. A white man who had committed a murder at Valdosta, Georgia (U.S.A.) on February 11, was set on by^a crdwd, who tried to lynch him. The man, who was armed with a couple of six-chambered revolvers, entrenched himself in a house, and wounded ten persona, four of them fatally, before he was shot dead. Amoaigst the suppliers of th« Aorstxml creamery that have the highest test for last week's testing am Messrs Milson and King. Their herds consist principally of .the high-grado Jersey breed. The above herds are doing remarkably well, being only one point in tost below Mr Edward Bensemaai s herd of pedigree Ayrshire cows sup- < plying the same creamery, namely 4.0.

The Premier is returning to Wellington from Auckland by tSho s.s. Monowai, via the East Coast. Ho leaves Auckland to-day. Tho nativo mutton-birders are now (says the Southland Times) resorting to tho islands in preparation tor the season. The Royal Insurance Co. has added an accident branch to its general business, and its Feilding agent-s are .Messrs Prior and Caldwell. Mr Sidney Dix, manager of the Royal Insurance Co., and Mr G. J. Robertson, the company's inspector, are at present on a visit to Feilding. Mr Dillon, M.P writes to the Wairoa Mail : ' 'The Hon . Mr Hall- Jones 'lias promised to go with mo overland to Wairoa. It is the only place that he has not yet visited in the dominion. I look upon him as tho most important of tho Cabinet Ministers, seeing that he is Minister of Public Works." What about tho Premier, Mr Dillon ? A message from Vienna, dated Feb. 11, states that nine people making an excursion on skis from tho winter tournament at Zellum See were overtaken by an avalanche near Fuscli. Four, including a guide named Altenhuber, were swept away and killed. The others, including Fraulein Hiber, a Viennese lady, who were taking a slightly different route, were rescued. A small attendance turned up at the Drill Hall last night to hear Mr Millar Robertson's sorio-oomic entertainment. What Mr Robertson did give of the entertainment was appreciated by a portion of the audience, but owing to the rowdyism of a few of his patrons the lecturer decided to close down. Half the proceeds from the doors go to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Maori when in a position of authority it not constrained by conventional methods of conducting business, remarks the Dannevirke Daily Press. The chairman of a Maori school committee recently came to the opinion that his committee was not working enthusiastically, and he therefore gave them " the sack." The parents supported him in his action and elected a more energetic committee. Mr Smith, of Coal Creek, had an unpleasant .experience of the river at London's Ford a couple of days ago. The recejit rains had swollen the river and Mr Smith's buggy was -stuck in the ford, with the wheels locked, for somo time before the bank on the Kimbolton side was reached. Tho river was unfordable this morning, and a local grocer's brake could not cross to Kiimboltoai. Discussing the discrepancy between the number present and the gate receipts on "the second day of the recent Feilding Show, Mr W. A. Sandilands stated at the meeing of the Committee last night that. there were several gaps in the fence on the Kawakawa road, and probably a number of people got in that way. When races were being held, outriders were posted along this fence, and it would be wise for the Show Committee to adopt the same course. The Melbourne Argus reports that at tho country township of J&inmarc tho other day Miss D. WorraJl, a daughter of Mr S. H. Worrall, had aji unpleasant experience while dressing. She put her foot into one of her shoes, but feeling a soft obstruction in tho too took off the shoo and shook it. To her great astonishment a brown snako dropped out of the shoe. The snake, which was eventually killed wiith a poker, was about 2ft long. The Argus omits to mention the size of shoo worn by tho lady. Mrs Thompson, wife of Mr Win. Thompson, a farmer of Ruahine, in the lvimbolton district, died rather suddenly yesterday at the age of 51 years. She had taken ill on Thursday evening, and died as stated from hemorrhage of the brain. A most painful oircumsance connected with the death is the fact that Mr Thomp. i son, who recently sold his farm, was away from home looking for another property, and his address was not known. A wide circle of friends extends sympathy to the bereaved family. The funeral will take place to-morrow. When replying to the toast of "13he Agricultural Interests" at a gathering at Invercargill, Councillor Hamilton said that it was generally thought ifctoat any man could go on the land and be successful. This was a great mistake, in his opinion. To be a successful farmer a man Jiad to be possessed of sound judgment and foresight, :have a knowledge of the markets, and to possess other qualifications; but above all ho wanted practical experience. Without the latter a man cpuld hardly hope ito succeed. He once heard of a city man putting his son to form work because t-lie young fellow had weak eyes. The fact was mentioned to an old farmer, who remarked, "Farming will soon open his eyes for him." A great record. At Gisborno last month a Wellington bookmaker lost about £100 in notes, taken out of his pocket. At the Miramar pony meeting a couple of weeks later another Wellington bookmaker, while watching a race, had a bundle of notes abstracted from his bag, and although ho was alarmed at the time, he only managed to catch a fleeting vision of tho thief as ho dashed into the crowd. At the Shannon meeting on February 26 two ruffians (probably members of tilio samo gang) turned tho enclosure into" a regular pandemonium after the second race by trying to mob a bookmaker and 'his client during "paying over." Tho client proved a regular Tartar, and in tifio free light which ensued the would-be thieves received a drubbing, the fight eventually being stopped by a policeman. j A modification of the system of awarding free places in secondary schools and district high schools is an- ■ nounced by the Education Depart- j ment. Jn future it proposes to ac- ! copt, if desired, in lieu of the whole or part of senior free places examina- | ition, and recommendation 'of the prin- j cipalsjgf schools, based upon the work done By candidates for senior free I pupils, and supported by such cvi- j donee as that of the pupils' labora- ! tory or workshop notes, and by any j reports received from inspectors in | secondary, and, in the case of dis- j trict high schools, from the Board's j inspectors. The method appears to j be particularly applicable to such sub. pects as the various branches of handwork and various other branches, such as science, physics, chemistry, etc. "What liavo you got against the unionists?" Mr Evana asked a witness before the Canterbury Conciliation Board. "I was nearly starved [three times through unionism," was -the reply. "When I was in England in a coal mining district, I was on strike three times through the Union galling ua out. Though I paid "a boy's contribution to the Union I never got a loaf from them, and 1 gGt a sickener of unionism." "Well, you got exactly fhe same sickener as I got when J was a boy," commented Mr Evans. .Later, the same witness gave has reasons too. 1 objecting to preference being given to unionists: — "If that demand was granted," he said, "I would seriously consider leaving farming alone. The Union would step in and tell me ■and my wife and family what we should do. We -have a happy-goJucky way aa it is, which would be put an end to if preference was to be given to unionists. I don't want to have anything to do with unionism nn any make, shape, or form," he concluded. A peculiais incident which occurred on the south ward-bound express from Christohurch .recently is rejported /in the Ashburton Mail. A lady, carrying an infant, boarded .the train at Chiistchuroh, amd, desiring to make -a small purchase, and at -tihe same time to bid good-bye to a friendj she asked a fellow passenger— a single young lady — if sne would be good enough to ihold lier baby— a request that was immediately responded to. In the meantime, tihe married lady was so . engrossed in a conversation with a friend on the railway station that slhe failed to hear the signal for the departure of the train, which moved off from the station without lier. The pasfcengers of the carriage in which the young lady and her charge were travelling extended their sympathy to the former, and advised her to leave /the child in charge, or the stataootmaster -at the first stopping place. This official (a single man) courteously declined the charge, and the young lady was conpelled to take tho infant to Tiraaru, where she mr tended remaining to await its ngutrul owner.

A first-offending drunkard was convicted and discharged a* the Court this morning. Mr John Cobbe, J.P., occupied the Bench. The net profits of the Christchurch Meat Company last year were £53,---310, of which £13,000 has been absorbed by an eight por cent divided. The Railway Department, in . today's Star, publishes details of the train arrangements for the raceß to be held at Palmerston on the 7th and Bth prox. An angler the other day left his gig and whip near the Waipoua bridge (near Mastertqn) while he went up stream for a little sport. On his return the gig whip had disappeared. Larrikiinism has once more become so prevalent in Makino that residents liavo been compelled, in self-defence, to report the matter to the police, and an officer 'is to pay a visit or two to that place. As tho hoodlums -have long been a nuisance at Makino, it is hoped an example will bo made of one or two of them. Tho Rev. D. B. F. Carlisle, who succeeds Rev. H. Daniel as the second minister of tho Feilding Primitive Methodist Circuit, will occupy the pulpit of the Feilding Church to-mor-row morning and evening. Mr Carlisle is a speaker of considerable fluency and ability, and is an earnest and thoughtful preacher. It is confidently expected that good congregations wall attend the sea-vices. Rams intended for use during the next few weeks (says " Rusticus," the Lyttelton Times export) should be kept well, in order that they may enter upon their duties in hard condition. Kept on grass only, they are liable to lose condition very rapidly during the tupping season. Any hard feed, such as oatsheaf chaff, bran and chaff, or even hay, will help them very; considerably, and will prevent them feeling the season unduly. At one of the Sydney Police Courts, recently, there appeared, on a charge" of inebriety, an old Sydney identity. He was fined ss, or three hours, and "took it out." In the forties he was in business in George street, and later on he owned North Shore property valued at £30,000. Ho could have got a shade over £30,000 for it. but was advised to hold on, and he did so until the boom burst. There was a mortgage of about £10,000 on the estate, and it seems to have eaten up the depreciated assets, body, bones and all. Curious things are sometimes noticed about cattle, writes the Lansdowne correspondent of the Wairarapa Daily Times. On one occasion, some little time back, the owner was driving a mob of cattle over the hills on his station, and one of' the animals suddenly stopped and began to feed in an excited sort of way, and on being approached, it was found that tho beasfc was eating the bones of a dead animal it had discovered in its path. It was so engrossed in the unpalatable meal, the whip had to be , used in order to mako it move on. It was probably the lime in the bones the animal wanted. . Who was the greatest man of 1907? The answers to this question of American editors are naturally various, and perhaps as remarkable for their omissions as for their inclusions. One jof tho editorial humorists said, " I think old Anno Domini is the man you aro after; because he brought us good crops, tided us safely through what might have been the most disastrous panic of modern times, and leaves us with a bright outlook for 1908." The British agreements with Franco and Russia, according to another editor, make King Edward the greatest man of the year. Others \ suggest John D. Rockefeller, Marconi j and General Booth. A cable mess-ago published yesterday announced the death of Sir Au';k---i land "Cohein." This probably is a mutilation of the name of Sir Auckland Colvin, X.C.5.1., K.C.M.G., i C.1.E., Grand Cordon of Osmanieh ' and Medjidie, chairman of the Bnrmali Railways Company and Egyptian Delta Light Railways Company. He was educated at Eton and the East- India Company's College, H-ailey-bury, and he held various posts in : the Indian civil service, was Control--1 ler-General in Egypt from 1880 to 1882; Financial Adviser to the Khedive, 1882-83; financial member of Viceroy's Council, India, 1883-87 ; and Lieutenant-Governor of North -West Provinces and Oudh, 1887-92. The Southland Times has the following: Miss L. Stevenson, N.Z. ' champion juvenile dancer, is in receipt of a communication from the N.Z.A.U, requesting that she refund the money and medals won by her at. the local Caledonian games on Ist January last, owing to her "having competed while under suspension by the Union for competing at the Scottish Society's Sports on January 1 and 2, 1907, at Christchurch Exhibition." In reply. Miss Stevenson states that "she has not on any occasion competed in any event over which the Union had any jurisdiction according to the rules and regulations of the Union," and accordingly declines to recognise the Union's authority in this matter. We understand this subject will form tho basis of the business of a special meeting of the Caledonian Society, when a notice of motion to withdraw from the N.Z.A.U will come, up for consideration. Mrs John Heberley, who died at Picton last Tuesday, was born in Somerset, England, in 1840, and arrived in New Zealand with her parents, Mr and Mrs Hockey, fiftyone years ago (says the Marlborough Herald). The Hockey family landed ,at Wellington, and three or four i years afterwards they removed to Collingwood. In 1858 Miss Hockey ' was married to Mr John Heberley ■ in the Anglican Church, Nelson, and ; the young couple settled in WellingI ton , afterwards residing in various j parts of the dominion. Eventually | they shifted to Blenheim, and later ;on to Picton and neighbourhood, where they have remained for over thirty years. Deceased leaves a [ widower and five sons and daughters | tto mourn her loss. The members of the family are Messrs Parfitt (Mount Pleasant), Mrs Chambers (Palmerston North), Mrs Maddox (Wellington), Mrs Bowden (late of Vancouver, but lately returned to New Zealand), and Mossrs John, Henry, Walter, Arthur, and Charles Heberley. An amusing incident occurred during the Pnime Minister's recent Nort'li Island tour (the New Zealand Herald reports). Two Maoris were peacefully jogging along the Bay of Plenty Beach Road, between Pongakawa and Maitata, in a heavy cart, drawn by three 'horses, when the motor car containing the Prime > Minister came up behind. Tho Ministerial party sighted this native caravan some distance away, and the chauffeur ""repeatedly sounded Ms horn in order to get a clear run along the track, who oh is very marrow at tliis particular point. As the car drew near at « fairly rapid pace, one of the Maoris- heard the warning, and leisurely prepared to draw his team out of the road. As' he d,id so itfhe sparking plug of the motor oar "missed fire" and went off with a sharp 'report like a rifle shot. The startled Maori glamced round in great alarm, and an elderly Maori, asleep in the bottoni of tho cart, sprang up with a wild yall. Just as he did so another "misfire" occurred. "My word," ejaculated the driver, and without more ado he abruptly wheeled 'his team off "the track and sent tliem plunging down the steep declivity to the heaoh, while Ms aged companion sank on his knees and poured forth what might have been 'an dii vocation of all the Maori gods. -The motor car whizzed past, and two trembling Maoris watched it anxiously till it had disappeared in the distance. It wtfuld be interesting to ihave heard the story they told itihe'ir women folk when they ' returned to tiheir where in the evening; probably they will go down to thiedr graves under the impression tfoat.they were fired upon by tho Prime Minister.