LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 7874, 8 January 1904, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

More than an inch of rain fell in Hawera last night. Mr Alban/ J. Roberts, of Patea, states that he should have added to his article the following :— " Tlie electric light is the safest of all illuminants if correctly installed. ' Residents of Harden, New South Wales, recently witnessed a phenomenal meteoric display. At about 11 o'clock at night an immense ball of greenish fire was observed in the heavens. After remaining apparently stationary for a few seconds, it burst, providing a magnificent spectacle. "How are we coping with pests?" repeated a Greytown settler to a query by a Wellington Post representative. "Pretty satisfactorily," he added, "but I've had the misfortune to be worried with a new pest." "What's that?" "Well, I call it the 'egg pest..' Some of my cows have acquired a great taste for the eggs of 'lie poultry, and have now learned to loo's for the nests and eat the eggs ! Can you suggest a remedy?" The pressman, wi:h becoming diffidence suggested that temptation should be removed from the path of the cow or the cow's path from temp tation. The Dunedii; Star says :— -Never in tho history of 'education in this colony has any departmental document caused such a widespread and universal feeling of disappointment and dissatisfaction as has the revised syllabus recently issued to primary schcol teachers. And the pit.y of it all is that this very unsatisfactory state of ' affairs need never have existed. Had the Inspector-Ganeral, instead of showing such indecent hast/a in his endeavours to force upon teachers, a syllabus of the contents of which they were entirely ignorant almost up to the date of it being brought into operation — hai Mr Hogben exercised a little prudence, and only asked tho ■ Minister of Education to call together a conference consist ing of inspectors and teachers for the purpose of discussing his draft syllabus, he would not now occupy the humiliating position of author of a scheme th'-t is (.•ondemi.ed en all sides as impracticable and unworkable. In the Wellington papers a good deal of discussion is going on as to the Chinese shopkeepers, who are described as forming in the Empire City "the white man's burden." The New Zealand Times say 3 : — Gradually, but not at all slowly, the Chinaman is spreading himself over the colony's capital city. His shops are everywhere, from' the far end of Thorndon to the limit of Newtown, and over tne residential, sections of the town, where shops are not, he spreads out early and late his creeping hawkers. Practically the whole of the fruit and vegetable trade' is in • his hands, and the white man has no chance. in competition. Further thon , tnat, the Mongolian has cu£ into the trade of the grocer and the trade of the tobacco j nist, and both of them are suffering. He { runs his business on dirt-gheap lines. Hisassistants are imported from China — mostly they are the scum of the Yellow seaports — the poll-tax is paid by the importer, and in return he gets their services for several years for nothing, lie "fakes" his fruit for saAe. Much of his fruit is ripened in the room where several of him steep. Not to any large extent does the Chinaman trade in groceries, still sufficient is done to make some of the white traders feel his influence. ' The tobacconist is being hit harder than the grocer. From r Chinamen can be purchased a box of standard make of cigarettes for 17s 3d, and in the warehouses the same box ccsts the tobacconists 18s 6d. Another standard brand can be pur chased from the Chinese for 16s 6d, and the white man has to pay 18s 6d to the warehouse. That is done by a number of Chinese banding together and purchasing a, large quantity from the manufacturing companies, and being content with the discount given. Single packets of cigarettes are sold at a penny less than the price charged by the European, and cigarette and pipe tobacco is correspond ingly cheaper Matches are sold at 3s a gross, in face of the warehouse charge of 3s 9d. , A European tobacconist will not break a packet of cigarettes— a Chinaman will, and sell two for a penny or one for a halfpenny. A big trade is dom tnat way to small boys. A dhange advjertjscaneait gives particulars of the heavy stocks just landed in Gibson'*; warehouses at Hawera and Patea. Tfoo price list is well worth; perusal. Nothing has ever been invented to equal the McCormick reaper and binder. --Advt. "

RHEUMATIC GOUT. Rheumatism in any form is painful, but for downright torture rheumatic goat is about th "i worst. Rheumatic gout can be cured. It' has been cured by that mar* vetlous medicine Rheumo. Here is the proof. Jamas Gordon, Wellington, writes> : —"[have been a sufferer from rheumatic gout for a great many years, and was ad* vised to try Rheumo. Its action is amazing. Xjkis quick in relieving the pain an.} removing the swelling. I shall not b« without it in my house." And if you hay*., rheumatism you should not be without it. Sold by chemists and s^jjJri at 2a 6d

By the recent 4«atih of Mrs Cronje the famous Boer genowil suffers an irreparable blow. At the time when the Soutfr African wa* clouds were v gathering General Cronje lived at Potohefstrooml. There on the step of their farmhouse they used often to be seem sitting together. Like her husband, Mrs Cronje was deeply religious. Botdi of themi liked to live amid the gjuiet<ade of their farm. Mrs Cronje accomtpanicd her husband through the war, and after the -^surrender went with him to St. Helena.

A correspondent writes :— Mr Clarkson, schoolmaster, of Normanby, drove in a tw,o-wheeler right up to the Mountain House on the 2nd inst., tandem style, a most difficult feat. The next day, in company with Mr Crump, solicitor, of Eltfaam, *nd 'Mr Anderson, sbarebroker, of Auckland, Mr Clarkson made an attempt to scale Mount Bgmontf. They were successful, reaching the top abdut midday. This is the first party to reach the ttop from this side thia, season. Several parties had maido the attempt, but had to turn back owing to the ice. Thi« left the honor to be gained by a schoolmaster, a solicitor and a sharebroker, tfuly a st ombination.

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It bag for a long time 'boen admitted that tbe; " now " firebell -did not come up tso the expectations the Council had when making the purchase. The "old" bell had. been permitted to remjain in its tower and at a trial recently given of the two bells public favour did not fall upon" tbe' »e,w. Having incurred the expense -the Council was naturally reluctant to regard the bell a? being useless but its feebleness was so marked when < saumded

on the occasion of an outbreak of fire

last w©efc that the matter could bandly be deferred any longer. Consequently tbe spubject was brought forward at the Coii-noil rn'oeting on Wednesday evening. Th© Mayor suggested that the firm from whom they had purchased the bell should bo asked to take it back or sell it on behalf of th e Council, and that " old " bell should be hung in the new tower and given a trial there.Tho suggestions were aidopted by ifae CoUfncil,. Speaking to a Christchur<*h reporter, one day last week, Profesaot Ifacmillan Brown said he belioved that \tfew Zealand's present prosperity would continue for another qjuarter of a' century 1 at least. He does not think that any rival will push this colony from the English nieati marflaets, and Bees nothing tihat will stop t|he development here of extensive farming. \ While ' he thinks that Canterbury will always be the. greet sheep market of. the colony, he holds the opinion that wit/bin the next twelve years it will bo divided into two zones, one being ■in tihe back country, where sheep will be bred, and the other in the low-lying cptm'try, where they will be finished for tho meat comjpanies.