LOCAL AND GENERAL]

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume L, Issue 8999, 23 January 1906, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL]

-The English mail arrived at Auckland at ». o'clock this morning, and the- portion for this district arrives by express train to-morrow.

1 he new Tailway passes for members of Parliament will be in the form of a kiwi in gold. The old "tiki" passes will be called in, and the new design will, be permanent.

Japanese papers declare that 12,800 Russian prisoners, of war in Japan have applied to be naturalised as Japanese subjects.

At high tide on Sunday night the Kapiti, which was lying outside-, received the signal "wait till morning." Captain Westrup (says the Patea Press), considering there was sufficient water on the bar. took upon himseJf to disregard the signal, and came in, crossing the bar without touching. Tho pilot has reported the occurrence to the Board.

The band . rotuuda has been erected on the Show Grounds, and is a very creditable piece of -work. It is 20ft 'by 20ft, »uid is lofty. The lighting an a-iige'ments are excellent, about 1500 candle power being distributed about the rotunda. Provision has been made against bad weather A canvas roof is in readiness and blinds hnvtt been provided for each of the four sides, so that any wind may not interfere With tho .competitors. Neat tressel-work adorns tho lower portion, giving the who!© an appearance of neatness. " Mr Paoey was the builder.

Th© consumption of horseflesh in Germany continues to increase (says the corrospojidcavt of, a London paper). • Official figures speak of 28,907 slaughtered this year, as against 23,827 last- year. These figurea, .however, do nob apparently.include horses slaughtered for food by private- persons, and her© the increase is still more pronounced. Pork grows efver dearer, ana the number of slaughtered swine has decreased from, roughly, three and ft half million beabta to three mil Upnß. Official figures do not omit 1017 doRS slaughtered, tor human food, -against 762 in 1904.

Blackbirds and thrushes are plavinc havoc with the early pears in the Masterton orchards.

Messrs Steuart and Feirn. ma de a trial of the lighting arrangements at th© show grounds on Monday e\ening, which is reported to have been very satisfactory. Among the exhibits which will be on show at tlie- New Zealand Exhibition will be an Egyptian temple which was exhibited at St. Louis. The Canadian Government are applying for 10,000 square feet of space at the New Zealand Exhibition, arid are enquiring whether local builders can undertake the work of erecting a suitable building for the Dominion.

Mr Willis, the telegraphist who wa» dismissed from the service, is going into the land agency business at Christchurch. Mr Lundon, the fourth "official concerned in the voucher incident, has resigned.

The New Zealand • Clothing Factory draw attention to their wellwassorted- stock of men's and boys' collars. .They are now showing a variety of shapes in linen and celluloid. All suses are stocked in numerous heights to suit all tastes.

For the Band' Contest" at Nelson, commencing on Ist February, tfie following bands have nominated i^-Citizen Volunteer (Hokitika), * Grey 'Battalion, Grey Catholic, Gramty, Feilding," Nelson Garrison, Nielson City, Alartoh; Temuka, and 3fasterton< Municipal. • ' v

Ihere is a young, man in Hastings, says the Ha^vke's Bay Herald, who has applied for' sections of- laod at nearly every land .ballot h©ld in th© North Island during • the last two yeans, without, success. He has endeavored to buy out Government tenants without avail, and he is still waiting for an opportunity of investing his limited capital in a Government leasehold.

In this world men frequently get. more attention when dead than when alive. At the. meeting oi the Christchurch Charitable Aid Board on Wednesday, for instance, the case of one poor old- man was cited." His relatives never gave him as much as half a stick of tobacco; nor, even went ;near hinv whten he was~ living in the institution.' But as soon ' as th£' old fellow died' relatives stepped in. at' once'.arid gave him a nice, comfortable funeral/ to save the family the disgrace of a pauper's burial.

At a, recent; meeting of the Charitable Aid Board, Christchurch. Jsays the. Press), a member* remarked tHafc' t "There was a very great desire among' many young colonials to leave' 'their - parents' as |sbon as they r !are capable" of /looking after, themselves. It _don;'!t matter to them, that their pa&nteL have brought them ]up and done all {hey could for them ; tfiey .clear out and leave the old people "in difficulties^ and never . about the«n. - They- don't care^a, fig for them. I know "that to be a fact from my own" observation during the past forty odd^years."

A peculiar case cropped up. at the Dvn r ©din Police Court, Edgar Gustave March, with aliases and a bad record, was chaTgod-' with 'stealing a quantity. of clothing and slippers,-' in which there were, two £10 notes;' - The notes were 1 secreted- under the heels of the shore, and the thief did not know they were, there, la©,, question wa6 whether he had .stolen them- or not. Mr Biddell, the Magistrate, held there must be intention -to deprive,, and amended the information by striking -out reference to ttfe notes. • „ The police [contention was that tho information! should stand, and the point was left for decision in the Supreme, Court. In view of the Magistrate's ruling, accused elected to be dealt with summarily, and received four months' imprisonmont.

The boring 'for petroleum' at. New Plymouth hay again "reWflied'afcntical'stage. At- Moturoa the bor© is now down about 2300 feet, and while there is a good deaf of oil coming up and being barreled and sold, there is still trouble witii the water. I! this can be shut off by th© -casing 'it is confidently believed - that tlie gag below would force up the oil so that there would be a good flowing well. Once this was achieved the experimental! stag© would tieover, and there would be ;no lack of capital to exploit the industry .for many miles around. In a few days at will be known whether the syndicate conducting the experiment will be successful or compelled to desist. Certainly -the perseverance shown for many years under somewhat dispiriting circumstances desterves success. Syndicate after syndicate have^ worked away determinedly, till the extent of their speculations was reached, and have acknowledged ' non-success with philosophic coolness, but with unabated confidence thai somebody is going to succeed some day. A gentleman.' who is interested in the present venture says>: "We may or may not succeed, but if we fail we shall not be the last triers. With others we have demonstrated the existence' of oil. If we do not conquer the water difficulty others wi'l try, and some day will succeed. In America there was the same long waiting as here, ihe same discouragements by failure, the same supercilious pity from th© wise'peopi* of th© world, but there was success at last, and I believe, there' will be success here finally." Such "grit* is inspiring, and worthy of the realisation of the greatest hopes. .

Mr C. H. Beresfoitf, whoa© death ia Auckland provincial district was announced in Monday's paper, was one, of the first men to start business in Normanby as a storekeeper. At that time (1879-1880) it was a question whether the town would be at Hawera or at Normanby. Mr Beresford was one of those who had faith in Normanby, and entered upon business there, remained some years, but later on left for the Auckland district, where"as far as our knowledge goes he remained ever since". There is a touch of the pathetic in his dying on th© cricket field. He had been brought up in New South Wales, and when he came to this district brought with him Australian • enthusiasm for the game. Even at thai time Hawera was the "warm corner" for cricket, on. the <»ast. Its eleven included such men as Messrs Parrington (not long out from one of the^ public schools of England), now of Wanv nambool, Victoria. H. W. Moore (probably one of the best cricketers. ever in New Zealand, also with English training), F. ftiddiford (who had also learned his cricket at- Blackheath), and F. and G. Bayly (both just coming into prominence as bowlers). The late Mr Benesford was a member of the team;- and very useful as a stonewaller, and always ready" for a game. It is hardily likely that he was still playing, for he must have been, ; pretty w well sixty; but that even at his death, he should have been on the cricket field shows that bis interest in the game never flagged. Special reference is made in another column to the band instruments manufactured by John Hawkes and Son, of London, for which the Dresden Piano Company are sole New Zealand agents.

Kaponga tradesmen are request-ad by their Association to close at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

The parade of the Hawera Rifle Volunteers is postponed until next Tuesday.

Opunake-Eltham coach arrangements for Thursday (People's day of band contest) are advertised.

The endurance of some animals is very remarkable, but an incident related in the Adelaide Register must go very near establishing a record in fasting, for fox terriers at any rate. It is stated that nearly a month ago a small fox terrier dog was missed from his home at Glanville, but as the little fellow was in the habit of scouting the sandhills in search of rabbits, and would frequently remain in a ibiirrow for several hours at a time, no notice was taken of its absence. When two or three days had passed and the animal did not return, the owner and. his ■wife began, a search for it. After _ a little •over three weeks of patient calling and listening at the openings of buriows, they were rewarded by hearing a faint whining noise coming from one of the warrens. They were , not long ,111 getting to work wita pick and shovel to release the creature, which had become entangled in some roots and could .not free itself. They -were successful in extricating it alive, and with, careful. attention, the dog had almost recovered, although at the time of its rescue "there was' not much chance of its surviving, as its bones were nearly through the skin. It had existed in the burrow 'for over three weeks without food or water. «>

This is 'a great scheme we hear of from New York (writes St. James' Budget). It jxromisee to forestall the endeavors of certain Engli6h enthusiasts for a national theatrei (Thirty tprom|inent men haMe .subscribed -£600,000 for the building of .a fine theatre, and a committee of their wives, "will determine, who shall be privileged ta pay .£20,000 apiece for the boxes. Ten "plays wili be produced each year, and everything will be magnificently done. It will be seen that the theatre aims high, but ite ideas are richer even than ite prospects. The enterprise aims at purity of English pronunciation and elimination of "bad -manners frequently seen on the stage." Committees will be appointed to keep a check on the low comedian, and, -presumably, to see that nothing but 'what is strictly proper is admitted, while we may be sure that the committee of wealthy American ladies will restrain all attempts at vulgar ostentation in dress and mounting. Those American millionaires who subscribe £10,000 or so for a "sumptuous" edition of Dickens are «ure to take care that the best players acre produced, the best actors encouraged, and over-loaded mounting discountenanced.

Young Theodore Roosevelt, son of the President, played has first big game of American football the other day, as a member of the Harvard Freshmen's Eleven, against Yale (says .and exchange). His experiences will undoubtedly reinforce his eminent father's well-known desire to reform the game in such fashion as, to eliminate many of the abuses and dangers now attending inter-collegiate- matches. Harvard were hopelessly outclassed, and in the. second half went .to, pieces. Young Roosevelt, apparently, possesses all the grit and courage of hi 6 father, and, playing at the left end, was made what an expert observer describes as a sort of "choppingblock," by heavier opponents of the rival team. Nevertheless, he fought stubbornly on until near the finish, when he was borne off the field with both eyes blackened, his nose * hurt, both shouMevs covered with bruises,; and both 6hins skinless. The 10,000 spectators cheered the youngster's pkjck, declaring enthusiastically that he is a" -worthy son of a worthy father. After the first half he was about done up, but persisted in playing' until he was dragged off the field, known, to American football reporters by the name of "gridiron," in the condition described. Despite his gruelling, young Roosevelt declared that he could have stayed through the match if hie friends had allowed him.