LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 829, 16 March 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ihe first sitting of the Court of Appeal this year will begin in Wellington on the 29th inst. Mr W. Rutherfurd was re-elected chairman of the Palmerston North High School Board of Governors at last night's meeting. The Kauroo Hill Settlement ballot at Oamaru attracted 939 applications troin 670 applicants, reduced to 630, and none of the successful applicants were from the Oamaru district. Mr J. R. Perry, land agent, has secured the (local agency for the Scott Motor Co. The cars handled by tbi* him include the popular Arcyle, the Napier, and the Renault. „ Tlie Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) passed through Feilding for Marton this afternoon to attend a complimentary banquet to Mr John Stevens, for many years member of Parliament for the Manawatu. The appeal of Captain Naylor against the suspension of his certificate for twelve months on account of the wreck of the Penguin will be heard as soon as a judge of the Supreme Court can find time to deal with it. More than 1.000,0001 bof stores were sent from Malta to Messina for the relief of the population, a large part of the food being biscuit and corned beef. Alter a day or so, when the first pangs of hunger had been assuaged, the refugees refused to eat the corned beef and biscuit, and demanded macaroni and oil. "The consumpton of 40,000 packets of cigarettes a month is no uncommon thing in a regiment, and if the regiment is 1000 strong the consumption reaches more like 80,000 packets a month," stated Lieut. Allan, of the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers, in addressing a gathering of. Dover Boy Scouts recently. In to-day's issue appears an advertisement notifying that classes in cookery will be held in the Technical Stfhool on Thursday afternoons and evenings. As this class has been commenced by request, it. is hoped that as many ladies as possible will endeavour to attend and assist the Committee in it® endeavour to meet a very practical requirement. The Committee or tne Operatio Society has decided to stag© the "Gondoliers" providing sufficient support is forthcoming. A meeting of alll those willing to take part is called for Thursday night. The committee are anxious that all should attend, as the rehearsals will be commenced at once, if the committee's decision meets with the approval of the member**.

At the Manse, Levin, on Saturday morning, Mr James Drysdale (manager of the State Experimental Farm) was married to Mrs Hansen. Mr James Vincent, a prominent Waihi footballer, died in the Hamilton Hospital last week from injuries received in the Goldfields- Auckland match last season. "Would the kind gentleman who smashed this window on Thursday night and stole five revolvers please i call for the cartridges he left behind?" This notice was to be seen in. the window of a shop in Knightsbridge Green, S.W., London, last month. It is stated that Mrs Hannam, the only woman survivor of the Penguin disaster, has been offered by the Union Company a position as a stewardess. An appeal for help was made to the company on Mrs Haiinain's behalf, and this probably is the response. The following appeal appeared in the personal column of a Warsaw (Russia) newspaper: "Will the young lady in pink, with the glorious dark eyes, who accepted a young student's proposal of marriage at last night s ball, kindly let him know her name and address, so that the wedding may not be delayed?" The following will represent the Manchester Rifles at the Rangitikei Rifle Association's annual shoot, which takes place at Bulls to-mor-row : Capt. Barltrop, Lieut. Diamond, Sergt. Fisher, Vols. Murch, Belk, Jones, Evans, Mayhew, Jacobsen. A brake will leave the Drill Hall at 7 o'clock sharp. Rules of a '"'Burglars' League," of which he was president, were found on Jean Relauci, who was arrested at Lyons (France) on February 5. One provided for the exclusion of "any member who shows incapacity for the profession and is arrested thrice in succession" ; another provided for an admission test; and a third insisted on the ecjtial division of the spoils. "A compositor becomes Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, a miner now occupies the same exalted position, a stone mason becomes premier of a State, and associated with him as Ministers are a collar maker and a bricklayer," says the British Australasian (London); "and ye^all powerful organised labour, hearing that a few thousand Englishmen arc being attracted to Australia, warns them off by proclaiming that only destitution awaits them." The Postmaster-General, speaking on February 2 at the animal dinner of the Accountant-General's Department of the General Post Office, London, said the department had to provide £14t£000 in half-crowns each week for the payment of old-age pensions, and in many parts of the country there was great difficulty in getting that amount of silver. ' "In Ireland there are, of course, far more old-age pensioners than silver," he remarked. Mr Gifford Moore, met with an unfortunate accident while practising at polo on Saturday. He was taking a back handed shot at goal when in some manner his pony collided with tho goal post. The' post was snapped off with the force of the collision, while Mr Moore was knocked off his pony and had the Back of the left hand broken, besides receiving a number of severe bruises. This will prevent him from playing in the tournament and his place will be taken by Mr Giesen. There is at least one place in France where the population is not declining. This is the pretty little village of Verrieres. not far from Pontarlier, and near the frontier. It was at Les Verneres th^t the army of General Bourbaki entered Switzerland in 1871. One of the inhabitants of this exceptional spot, Mdme. Bolle, the wife of a farmer, has twenty-six children ; M. Creher, a revenue official, is the father of twenty-five; M. Hainard, a farmer, has twenty sons and daughters ; and M. Longchamp has one less. Families of ten to twelve children are numerous. Some time ago a Hungarian peasant named Jan Hirsch travelled to Budapest on business, and availed himself of the opportunity to order 100 visiting cards which would astonish his native village. When he returned home he found, to his dismay, that the cards boro the name of Mavlsch instead of Hirsch. This meant a clear loss of Is 6d, unless he could make use of the cards. He accordingly wrote a petition on stamped paper, which cost Is, asking permission to alter his name. His request was granted, and now he is Jan Mavisch, with 6d saved. Fish is very plentiful in Kawhia Harbour, north of New Plymouth, just now. A resident of the district, in a letter to a friend . in Wellington,, states that great,, catches of flounders are being made;, One night recently two Maoris inftJn.ef' haul of the . net brought more! than 700 ashore, and had some ''■difficulty in selling them at one penny each. The writer considers that a .very profitable fish industry could be established at Kawhia. if a small freezing plant were installed near :the wharf, and. arrangements were made for a more regular steam service between the township and New Plymouth. Evidences of the eruption of -.Mount Ngauruboe have come a long way south (says the Standard). A picnic party at Makuri on Tuesday afternoon had a unique intimation of the disturbance, for about six o'clock they noticed their viands and crockery covered with a thin layer of a peculiar kind of grit, resembling ashes, which was no doubt scoria ejected from the volcano into the heavens, whence a portion of it had fallen in the Makuri district The experience is an unusual one. and not since the great eruption of Tarawera, in 1886, has volcanic dust travelled to that latitude. At the Palmerston Magistrate's Court yesterday, Mr Siinni, Government Pomologist, proceeded against three orchardists for failing to comply with the regulations of the Orchard and Garden Pests 'Act, in respect, tit the spraying of fruit trues for scale and moth. Robert Hart was the first defendant. He pleaded not guilty, statins he had spent £4 10s 1 in spraying the orchard. Mr Siinni deposed the orchard was in a bad state, and the spraying was not sufficient. A fine of £1, with £2 9 S costs, was inflicted. A. McDowell. I £. Scoullar, and S. Richardson were fined smaller amounts for similar offences Mr Jack London, the American novelist who is coming to Ntiw ZeaI land shortly, tells an amusing little story about Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the popular American poetess. The novelest and the poetess met on a. rainvay^ journey, and in the course or the day entered into a discussion on some, subject on which they, could not agfee. Mr Loudou left the train before the argument was finally concluded, and forgot all about the matter. But a few days afterwards he received a note from Miss Wilcox saying that she knew she was weak in argument, nor could she even plead her cause in prose. Verse was her natural means of expression, and the only medium by which she could really give vent to her feelings ; and as she was still anxious to convert him to her point of view, she set forth her reasons in a poem of about 20 long verses, which she enclosed. ' Vandals have been at work up the Buller ; Gorge (says the Westport ' News), the beauty of that far-famed valley Ijeing destroyed in its prettiest parts by fires, < which have taken strips of a half-mile, a mile and more, right _up the cliffs, converting the beautiful bush scenery into a desolate waste. It is a shocking piece of ' work, and is sure to rob the beautiful gorge of much of its attractiveness for' visitors. The Tourist Department should be a,t once communicated, with and urged to hold an enquiry and prevent further devastation. . The gorge, as an .attraction for visitors far and wide, is a national park, a source of very considerable revenue directly and indirecitfy, and t should be protected against the van- ' dalism of those who have no sense of its beatity and value. The Post and ( Telegraph Department should also ] have something to say on the matter, ; as the 'fires have done very consider- j able damage to the property of the ' department, a good many poles har- ' mc toj?be replaced by new ones and ' wire provided. ■ ■.;■'* . .:.. .■ \ •'. ' ; .

The annual exhibition of the Kinibolton Horticultural and Industrial Society is being held to-day. This year tho list of donations has been on an exceptionally liberal scale, and tho prizes are correspondingly enlarged. A good show is expected. It is stated that a school teacher in a school near Pahiatua locked a little girl in a cupboard, and presumably (says the local paper) forgot oil about her, as when he opened the door to let her out, about an hour and a half later, she fainted, and restoratives had to be applied. The matter is one that will engage the attention of the school authorities concerned. An old New Zealand boy, Mr C. W. Lit tie John, has gained the Rhodes Scholarship for Victoria for 1909. He is a son of Mr W. Littlejohn, M.A., who was for some years principal of the Nelson College, and is now principal of the Scots College, Melbourne. Mr C. W. Littlejohn is only 19 years of age, yet has had a brilliant * career at the Nelson and Scots Colleges, and also at the Melbourne University. About a quarter of a million 6torling will be distributed in the course of a few days among the local shareholders of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, which has been purchased by the Government. The money has already been handed over by the Government. On Thursday noxt the final meeting of the company will be held, when liquidators will be appointed to wind up the affairs of the undertaking. ! Shearers canot leave their sheds j just when they like. In Christchurch, on Wednesday. Y. rl. Morgan, a shearer, was charged on the information of the Inspector of Factories, with a breach of the Cantorbury .shearers' award, in that lie lett the employment of the Oxford Shearing Company before -the completion of shearing. * Defendant did not appear, and Mr .hi. \V. Bishop, who heard the case, inflicted :i line of .£2 and costs. Writing of the London wool sales at the end of January the special correspondent of the Sydney Telegraph says "nianv of the new clip New Zealands could only be characterised as superb, swing that their breed, growth, condition, and get-up could not possibly be excelled. For such wools, naturally, the bidding was in the highest degree keen, and, as a matter of course, the great bulk of them were secured for shipment to America. The annual convention of the Wellington Sunday School Union is to be held at Palmerston North during Easter. The committee has been successful in securing the aid or' a number of well known Sunday School workers, amongst the number being several State school teachers of high standing. It is expected that between 60 and 70 delegates will attend from districts outside tho immediate neighbourhood of Palmerston, and there are about the same number of teachers in the schools within a mile or two of Palmerston. For the Franco-British Exhibition of 1909 the Industries Department has already received a large collection of New Zealand exhibits. These will consist of woollen radios, kauri gum, wool, sporting trophies, mineral specimens, frozen meats, dairy produce and timbers. In ail probability additional space will be secured for making a finer display than last year. All or most of the New Zealand exhibits at the last exhibition have been disposed of by sale and otherwise, and the collection of New Zealand products which goes Home in the Athenic on April 25 will be "all new goods." A good deal of dissatisfaction seems to exist among the flouriiiillers (reports the Oamaru Mail) owing to the imperfection of the screening operations while threshing. By not extending the screen a third and second grades are alloweu to continue along and get mixed with the firsts. As a result, when tho grain reaches the flourinill it has to be rescreened, thus causing a great deal of inconvenience and no small amount of loss. As one merchant put it, the dressing oi the wheat this season is, in many instances, almost disgraceful, and considering the perfection of the threshing machine there should be no ground for complaint. Farmers realise that badly-dressed wheat does not command the same liigli prices as thoroughly-graded grain, and on that account shoulld! impress upon the threshiiiE-inill owner the necessity of proper screening. On page 4 we give a resume of the report of the Manawatu Rivers Commission. In that report it is stated that the cost of a scheme recommended by the Commission would be only £35,000. The accurate estimate is £350,000. The following is the concluding paragraph of tho New Zealand Times condensation of the report: "The excellent character of land, and its severe handicap through floods, is Jioted by the Commission, which is! of opinion that it would amply repay the settlers and the dominion to undertake the straightening of the river by putting in the first cut from Foxton to Moutea, ! from the&three-mile to the nine-mile point. This would cost about £150,---000, and would by considerably relieving the flooded areaj give such , evidence of its value as to convince J the settlers of the advisability of ' completing the whole scheme." Information received at Chiristchurch' with regard to Mr Robert ! Alexander who was recently appoint- j ed director of Canterbury (Lincoln) j Agricultural College, is to the effect J that Mr Alexander hails from Lon- j donderry, North Ireland, and spent ! about 20 years on Ms father's farm. He obtained diplomas at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, and after- | wards was for two years Lecturer on Agriculture in Londonderry. His next appointment was as Lecturer on Aigxicu'lturo at Albeit College, Glasnevin, Dublin, where he also had charge of the farm attached to the College. He is reported to be a first class disciplinarian and to get on with.' tEe. students under liiiili Mr Alexander is expected to arrive in tihe dominion about the middle of next month. It is considered in Cliristchurch that he will be an acquisition and .a worthy successor to Mr Lowrie, tliP previous director. Mr Alexander is iot only a scientific farmer, but •also ,a thoroughly practical agriculturalist.