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Greymouth Evening Star, 18 June 1912, Page 7

Mr Justice BftcknilT,’; -presiding at the annual dinner of thcvFly Fishers’ Club, held at Ihg Whitehall .Rooms. London, told an amusing stpry hu..proposing the toast of the evening: (Describing himself as a born poacher; he said that once when shooting in North Walls With a member of the Chancery Bar, he divested himself of coat and vest and showed his friend how to “tickle” trout in a wayside stream. His movements were/ watched by a local lad who accompanied- them.oil their shoot, and the following year, visiting the' neighbourhood. he inquired for the boy,- and was told: “He’s in prison for. ‘tickling’ trout. He. saw you do it last year; he has been doing - it “himself since, and they caught him;” . Lord Chelmsford, speaking at the annua! meeting;of't’tye directors of, the,Royal Prince Alfred Hoifjiital, told a little story. “I recollect.” said-Ins Excellency, ‘;a. rather libellous 'anecdoie told me years ago. A young dof'tpr;-'who was a much more distinguished'cricketer than Ivs was a medical man. was enjoying himself with a few friends at’a‘"rather convivial meeting. ■Suddenly he was called away to attend a Family i'nr’/a little event which often happens in falhilies.; By and by the young doctor came back.' “Welt! now’s tlie mother/’ he -w;is : asked. ‘Site’s dead.’ canie the reluctant reply. 'Well, then, how’s the lwby’?’ 'That’s dead, too.’ There was silence. Then, with a-'brighter look (in his face, 'the”young man said. ‘Never mind. I have every hope of saving the father.’ ” ■ ■■ '

Karin Michaelis, author, of “The Dangerous Age.” who'.-iti. private life, is the wife of Mr. Charles StangehuicL secretary of the American Legation in Bolivia, has given a most remarkable interview to a New York newspaper. She says that she believes that the/future generations , of woman will not wait for a marriage proposal,, bpt \vill sqek -out their own husbands, proposing themselves. Evolution will teach - them,.th'a,t there is nothing immodest in so cloitig. Prudery, she declares, is the cause/iof. much ill-health and discoriifor.t to the present-day woman, who presents a modesty which is barbaric, and causes an injurious reaction. . American girls belonging to the leisured, moneyed, and cultured classes, she asserts, are only children at the' marriageable age, and their ‘Education is 'largely responsible for this. No , woman 'ought to enter matrimony whose heart' and' niind are undeveloped. The girls'bf Northern Europe at fifteen or sixteen have reached a mental development' equal to that of American women in their, thirties.

The valtie- of the training received by the inmates of the Auckland Blind .Institute .was demonstrated last Saturday morning, when' two men from the Home went to the Union Steamship Company to •Secure berths in the MonoWai for the trip sodlh. One discovered that he had left his ticket in his trunk, which was in a pile of miscellaneous luggage on the Queen Street wharf. Without any assistance he made bis way down the ship s side, avid feeling over the baggage, soon located the desired trunk. He produced a key, opened the box, and extracted the ticket. After locking the trunk again he pushed’it back to its original position and returned to the shipping officer to secure his berth Scotland’s failure to realise expectations so far as population wp concerned when the last census was taken was one of the, surprises of the numbering which gave rise to searchings of heart, says a London paper. The figures given oy the Registrar-General for the year 1911 will not reassure those who fear an actual decline in population in the, near future. The birth-rate is the lowest on record, falling to 25.65 per thousand. The deathrate is also the lowest that has been ascertained, but.while births were 2.189 fewer (ban in 1910, deaths wore only 519 fewer. However. Scotland is still a long way from the point at which births and deaths will balance, and there is hope that the day will be deferred from the fact that the number of marriages , increased ver y considerably . last year. The.serious factor in the Scottish situation, is the amount of emigration; but, however grave that may be for Scotland, it lias in the past .been a great strength to the Empire. , ,

•The National Provident Fund Act and the proposed extension of its principles to - friendly societies, local bodies, and well-established private firms, as forecasted in the Prime Minister’s policy speech, was referred to by the Hon. H. G. Ell (Minister in charge of Friendly .Societies) in the course of an. interview with a representative of the New Zealand Herald. The provisions of the Act, he .said, "’ere at the present time purely optional. Already about 1000 people had taken advantage of these provisions. With respect to the extension of the scope of the Act, Mr Ell said he had already given instructions to have the provisions

for the- establishment, of a superannuation fund for local bodies, the City Council for instance, and the giving of final nc’al ai’-Utaiice to friendly societies incorp,n led in the Bill. The idea was for the local bodies to give n, contribution and arrange with; its''.employees to come under the operations of the proposed Act. A compulsory deduction would be made from the wages pf the. employees, and paid into the fund, which would be managed by the Department. Provision was also being made in thq Bill so that well-es-tablished private firms could make similar arrangements with their employees. In the' Bill provision was being made to assist friendly societies to make more genrous provision in their.allowances for sick members. ' •

A design has been submitted by the Commonwealth meteorologist (Mr H. A. Hunt) to the works branch of the Department of Home Affairs for a building to be erected at the Federal Observatory site at Yass-Canb?rra as a kite-flying house. Winding gear lias been ordered from London, and it will arrive in Australia soon. The phenomena of atmospheric flow on the ■earth’s surface are at present too complex for a clear understanding of the uppar air,,- where broad and less disturbed movements of the atmosphere obtain, will no doubt furnish a key to many ol the problems. Despite the heavy expense that will he incurred by kite-flying, therefore, it is considered that it should be attempted- on a reasonably large scale. The Hargreaves kite will be used. Instruments for recording pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind velocity will be sent up in the kites, and the movements of the kites will be watched with a view to de.termining the variation in air currents •at different points. The kites will be ..used on windy days, and captive balloons when it is calm. It is hoped that later kiteflying stations will be established in rfther parts of the Commonwealth.

The prevention of trafficking in Crown leases was discussed briefly by members of the Canterbury Land Board at its meeting-on Thursday. The following letter from the Department, addressed to the Commissioner, was read ; “It has been reported that a large amount of trafficking in leases in Crown lands is being carried .on for speculative .purposes in different, part of the Dominion, and it fi therefore desired that both yourself and the Land Board should exercise the strictest vigilance in respect of such matters.’ The chairman (Mr. J. Soaley) said that tin Board always did endeavour' to prevent the trafficking complained of. Mr. J. Gibson said that he did not see that any, good would' come from making inich sweeping statements. Would the Department point out anything of the kind in Canterbury'/ If they could, they should waste no time In - bringing it up. Mr. I. Stevenson said that he - certainly knew of cases where such trafficking had occurred. It might, however, do n difficult matter to prove them. Mr. r! McCauley then moved : That the Department should be written to suggesting that.' a conference- of members of land boards in the Dominion should be held in Wellington at an early date for the purpose of discussing this letter and other important matters. The motion was carried.

The refusal of the Auckland Education Board to' grant school committees the right of final selection in, the appointment of teachers was the subject' of some informal discussion at the meeting of the City Schools’ Committee last week. Mr j. Treyelhick set the ball rolling by congratulating the chairman (Mr F. E. N. Gaudin) on the firm stand he had taken in his evidence before the Education Commission. Mr Gaudin said that the Board by its action was really contravening the Education Act, which, said that not more than four names should be submitted to the committee, besides stating that the committee must be consulted. Sir John Findlay had stated that it was legal to send along one name only, but he felt that they ought to test the law on the matter. Mr W. Millar referred to another clause in the Act, which mentioned the “names” sent to the committee. Mr J. F. Pullen said that a declaratory judgment from a Supreme Court judge was the most inexpensive and satisfactory means of getting an opinion. Mr Gaudin went on to say that from the passing of the Act until eighteen months ago (a period of over thirty years) the practice of sending several names had only opcaJ been broken, and that was just after 'the' Act came into force. He felt the need for united action by the committees at the forthcoming election, so that only men who supported the committees should be put on the Board. An association oi committees was being formed, and they hoped to make their voice heard when the time came for voting.