Local and General.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVIII, 12 March 1914, Page 4

Local and General.

All Government offices will be closed on March 17, (St. Patricks Day). Our Welington correspondent states.* that Hon. W. 11. Merries intends to* March 21st. His tour of the district will occupy some weeks. The St. Patrick’s Social to be held to-night at To Karaka promises to be of a unique character and will doubtless be a success beyond anticipation. An offender for drunkenness, who bad nf) tlioon before the Court since charged with a further lapse and fined os and costs (2s) or 48 hours. “Mimosa San,” a splendid presentment cf the popular opera "Madam Butterfly,” will bo repeated by Pat-lie Pictures' at Mis Majesty's Theatre tonight. The many clients of Messrs T. Parker and Co>.. tai’ors, Napier, arc; notificld that t}ic? •firm’s representative will beat the Masonic Sample Rooms on Friday and Saturday, 13!h and j L4th i not j Nominations in connection with the election of a Conn tv ('•umcillor to rcI present tile Patuial.i riding close to--1 day, and the fleet ini', takes place oil | Thursday next. Among tln> probable candidates mentioned are Messrs J. M. Monckton and C. Matthews. Mrs Lee-Cowie and several of the delegates to the 5\ .C.T. I . Convention left for the South by the Takapunn last evening, and a number of Maori boys gave a farewell liaka. '1 lie delegates sang the hymn "Throw out the Lifeline” and quite a demonstrative farewell was given.

The usual monthly meeting of the Trades Council was held last night in Town ley’s Hal’, the president iMr .J. H. Hall) occupying the chair. There was a good attendance of delegates, and the usual routine business was dealt, with. A committee consisting of Messrs .T. 11. Hall D. \\ . Coleman. J. C. E. 'Turner and G. Bartlett was* sot up to consider the question of a local trades hall, and to view certain sites under offer to the Council. Nominations of officers were abo received for the coming year.

A regrc't.table incident occurred at the New Plymouth show grounds on Thursday at the close of the day, wherebv a lad was rather serious'v injured. ‘ It appears that the proprietor of the buck-jumping show had !>een rather annoyed by boys endeavoring to lower the ropes of lib tent, and he gave them chase. The boys eluded him easily. A moment later, however, one of his assistants rushed out. among the boys and overtook a lad named McDonald some distance from the tent and, it is stated, threw him to the ground, with the result that fie lad received slight concussion of the brain and was a good deal bruised about the face. Mcdiea' aid had to be requisitioned.

On Wednesday, 4th inst., a large number of friends of Miss Margaret Mackintosh, Kirwee, Canterbury, gathered to bid her farewell on the eve of her departure for the Gisborne district. Rev. J. Pringle eulogised her services as organist since the church was opened six years ago. His children had been under her tuition as a music teacher, and he predicted that she would make her mark in that, profession. Her services as an accompanist had been in. great demand in the district, and had been willingly rendered. In the name nf many friends in the Bible class, choir, and congregation, fie presented her, with a gold wristlet .watch,'expressing keen regret at the loss of tier services, fiut commending her for her enterprise, and wishing her success in her new sphere of work

A striking story which had not come to light before is told by a Timaru resident concerning Guide Thomson, one of (lie missing party at Mount Cook. This young mountaineer had a narrow escape from death on the slopes of Mount Cook last year (states the “Lyttelton Times"). A party consisting of Guides Graham and Thomson, and Miss Dufatir had traversed the three peaks of the mountain and were descending roped together by the same route in whi«h the present accident occurred when Graham dislodged a large stone. He called out a warning to those who were in front. Miss Dufatir was narrowly missed by the stone, and Thomson, seeing that he would he struck and earthed over the slope, took the -only course open to him and leaped off the ice-slope, with a sheer drop of thousands of feet below him. The others braced themselves for the shock of the rope, and as it was taut when he jumped they had little difficulty in holding’him and eventually getting him hack to the track. By this action ho undoubtedly saved the lives of the whole party, for had lie been struck by the rock the three mountaineers would have been swept from the mountain side. Guide. Thomson's action on this occasion is considered to he one of the finest deeds of the Southern Alps guides.

A traveller from Gisborne pours this story into a willing ear. One of Gisborne’s dressiest “knuts” developed matrimony in honeymoon form. As he was the Beau Brimtmel of Poverty Bay it was necessary that all his bodily appurtenances should he of superlative quality and texture. His portmanteau was new, his socks silk, his singlets the very latest, his shirts a dream, his ties deliriously beautiful. His whole wardrobe and himself, in short, were of supreme beauty. A plain Poverty Bay business man went for a much needed holiday. His wife packed his bag. It was a beautiful new bag and she gave it to him. He kissed lief good-bye. He got to his destination, went to a hotel, dived into his beautiful portmanteau for a hairbrush. “Well, well!” he said, as lie discovered a silken display of superb socks, shirts ties, singlets and silverbacked hairbrushes, “fancy the little woman giving me a whole new turnout!” He glowed with extreme pleasure. Tile kmit got to his hotel too. He desired to paralyse his new wife with his display of superb sartorial beauty. So he dived in and fished up a couple of pairs’ of darned socks, a eatofuily mended plain shirt, a well worn pair of pyjamas, an ancient razor and much other faithfully worn gear. “I’nt robbed!’’ lie screamed. But ho wasn’t. He had merely taken the other .fellow’s bag—and the bags were absolute twins. As for the man who shared the now kit without knowing it, when lie got home his wife certainly got a surprise.—"-Auckland “Observer.”

The 'published programme df the annual St. Patrick's Sports to V held at: the Park Racecourse mi •'* : s . * Monday indicates that the tu e- "g | will probably be the grc-ai.st alnle ic i gathering yet h Id m I ovi rty Bay Excelled prize money is offered and included in the. 24 evnts ate competitions of a. nature to suit every stamp of athlete. Spc ia’ interest ceptres on the St. Patrick’s Handicaps iofi 100 220 and 440 yards, for wJucj the stakes are attract.ve and a gold medal will be given to the fthlete scoring the most points in these events. 1 ar- ( ticulara as to entries, etc., will he found in the advertisement. “Not much shelter here, Captain.” said a visitor as ho emerged from the ship’s sling on the deck of the s «. Nairnshire in the bay yesterday. GJi, I don’t know,” smilingly replied Gaptain Forder; “J would Hist as soon Ik; here as in Naoier.” Captain border stated that the Napier roadstead was very much exposed when a -easterly was blowing. He said that on one occasion while at Napier his boat was rolling terribly in the trough of the sea, and he could not understand whv the vessel’s nose would not tace the sea. In the morning, "bon lie ordered the bow anchor to he weighed, the chain came in with a rattle and they found that they had lost their anchor during the night. slack o the chain had been all that had kept thorn from drifting.