TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17703, 1 February 1918, Page 4

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Hoavv rain brought harvesting operations to a standstill throughout North Canterbury yesterday. The weather commenced to clear again at midday. The register at the llangiora High School showed a fall of .48 points of rain. The rainfall registered for the past month was 2.60 in. A mooting of the Sproydon Domain Board was held in the Coronation Hall on Tuesday evening; present—Messrs 11. G. Thomas (chairman), R. Nairn, H. E. Gott, W. G. Smith, A. Humm, J. Thomas, TL E. Green and R. H. Aston (secretary) It was decided to held a horticultural show in the Domain early in March, and arrangements wero left m the hands of Messrs It. Nairn and A. Humm.

One of tbe chief witnesses in a case in which a young man was charged at the Magistrate's. Court at Wellington with fraudulently converting insurance money to his own use said that the accused told him that the whole of the money, something well over £IOO, had disappeared in horeo racing and gambling, and mentioned a mechanical device, a totalisator in miniature. A com is put in bv the speculator, a button is pressed and the machine may. or may net, pay cat a dividend.

At Woodville yesterday, states a Press Association telegram, throe hotelkeepers were fined sums ranging from •CI to £2 for permitting "shouting an December 5. The offences wore admitted formally, but it was urged that being race thw the hotels wore busy nwl breaches'of the Irw were inadvertently committed. The police stated that the hotels were well conducted, and there had been no previous convictions. The Magistrate said that '/'- fines wore light because of the pen evidence and ther- ; being no previous convictions, but r offenders came before him again severe penalties would be imposed.

Though war was the greatest affliction they could have, said the 1 rime Minister at a gathering in Wellington there wero blessings to be discovered in it. It had given the inhabitants of China tin-' opportunity ol sliowiii" their friendship by coming out as one of the Allies: it had given the people of Japan the opportunity pt showing their -friendship and their willingness to honour their alliance obligations in helping the British, and it had shown the British many ol then- weaknesses. Thov must not forgot theso lessons. Even in the Dominion they had discovered branches of industry which had ben allowed to slip away when they might have kept them under their control.

A correspondent recently put the following querv to the "Journal of Agriculture. ":--" Can you tell me whither the tea-plant has been grown, or !■-: "■rowing, on any,' Government farm or elsewhere in New Zealand? I am trying setd of two varieties, but germination seems very slow." The Horticulture Division of the Agricultural Department replied: "Tea-plants (Camellia thea) have been grown m New Zealand for many years, but no attempt has so far been made to grow the plant, commercially. It is extremely improbable that the leaves would "acquire the requisito aroma in our climate. The shrub itself is fairly hardy and will hear a few degrees oif frost'."

Tiic collection of war trophies and exhibits at the Dominion Museum has been steadily built up for many months paat, states'the "Tost," and the latest addition is a valuable and interesting one—a crews of the Legion of Honour of Napoleon L, which has been procured lor the Museum through the agency of Mr 1). C. Bates. The exhibit is of special interest at present, for, in aelr dition to its being the highest honour with which France rewards bravery and dsfmguished services, several New Zealand officers have been awarded the cross duriiio- the war. Tho trophy was, through Mr Bates, offered for private sale to the Museum by the owner. Mr Silverstone, of Vivian Street, and the Minister of Internal. Affairs has approved of the purchase. . Tho nvepointed star, with a circlet of bays, is a boautii'ul piece of workmanship in silver, gold and enamel. In tho centre is a medallion, bearing on the obverse side the head of the first Emperor, surrounded with the inscription on blue enamel, " Napoleon, Emperor do Francais," and on the reverse side an eagle, with the inscription, " Honneur et Patrio," the whole being surmounted by a minutely fashioned crown, and attached to the cross is the red ribbon of the Legion of Honour. The history of the medal, which there seems no reason to doubt, is that itwas 'purchased bv Captain Anderton from theComptesso of Beauregard, mistress of Napoleon 111. Joseph Thomas Christie, who escaped from custody whilst being conveyed under escort, to Auckland on Wednesday, by jumping off the train, is a notorious character. Christie, it will be recalled, was the soldier who, when being brought down from Wellington on the Maori to the Lyttelton gaol, jumped overboard opposite Ripa Island, and made a sensational swim for thei coast. After his capture, the same day, and spending some time at the Lyttelton prison," he was transferred with other prisoners to Auckland, where he developed symptoms of insanity, and subsequently'was removed to the Avondale 'Mental Hospital, from where he also escaped som-p three weeks ago, and remained at liberty until he was recaptured at Patea. During the time he was free he is alleged to have committed a series of robberies and forgeries, for which he appeared at the Wellington Court, and was being eonducted to Auckland at the timo of the escape. In 1911, whilst being conveyed from Dunedin to Tnvcrcargill to servo two years' reformatory treatment, he escaped from the warder by jumping off the train, and managed to make his way to Hamilton before being recaptured- It is stated that he is an extremely clever young man, and has mastered the trick oT jumping off trains whilst in motion at practically any spned. On one occasion ho throw himself headlong through the window and landed unseratched. He had two sentences of five, years each to serve, but ,vas released on a license so as to enable him to enlist. Whilst in camp he studied and passed his examination for a commission in the Machine Gun section. Just ill? Want to get better? Como and ask Loasbv about it. Adults 3% Gd, children 25." X2 The sale of sales. Armstrong's stocktaking is affording drapery buyers the best values undeniably. Expend your money where it will bring its utmost. 1 For kiddies—DOCTOßS' CREAM 0' GROATS. Contains all the elements to build muscle, nerve. Grocers sell jt. 9 Crockery Specials.—White and Gold odd Cups, no saucers, 3s (3d tho halfdozen;' saucers to match, Is 3d the half-dozen; Plates sold separately. Dravton's, Colombo Street. Tel. 2004, 3 ' 1850 ji'or the week-end.—Special bargains in remnants will be found in each department —accumulation during the sale—that must be cleared at about half-price at Armstrong's. 2

It. is more than probabe that the Returned Soldiers' Association wM be represented on the War Pensions Board in the near futureThe "Gazette" states that the exportation of live pigs and a!wur« has been prohibited, except with the consent of the Minister of Customs.

The following wero the entries at the Addington markets on Wednesday the figures for the previous week being shown in parentheses :-Sheep 20,989 (16,050), cattle 8(57 (548), piffs 38b < 4l^-

In consequence of the very acute shortage of paper the British Government is restricting official letters to quarto size, typewriting to be. singlespuon.d and writing on both sides of the paper, while wide margins are to be abolished.

At a meeting of the School Committees' Association, held last night, it was stated that in England and France the age for compulsory attendance at school had been raised to eighteen, whilst in Germany efforts were being made to raise it to twenty-one. Iho opinion of the meeting was that the ago in Now Zealand, namely, fourteen, was too low.

The revised district valuation rolls for the Styx, Harcwood and Fendalton ridings of Waimairi county will be open for public inspection at the Valuation Department offices from February -3 until February 10. Objections to valuations must bo lodged for the Styx and liarewood ridings not later than February 10, and for the Fendalton riding not later than February 23-

Tli at the war pensions allotted in some cases are fairly liberal is illustrated by the recent case of a widow with eiglit children under sixteen years of ac;e.' 'Hie husband enlisted, and in the course of training developed heart trouble, which eventually proved fatal. His widow is now drawing the sum of £2 a week and 10s a week for caeh of the children, making in all a sum of £G weekly. Education and an oil trust would not appear to be closely connected, but Dr Morrison mentioned in the course of bis address at the New Zealand Club at Wellington that the operations of the Standard Oil Company had been of great advantage to China. Formerly the nights were long and gloomy. With nothing but a rushlight in the houses: bu(. the introduction of an illuminant bad enabled the Chinese to spend their evenings in reading and had hastened the spread of education. The work of the Standard Oil Company, and lately of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, had been of great benefit. China is endeavouring to send as representatives to foreign countries citizens of the best stamp, and New Zealand, in Mr Shih-Yuan Lin, has been honoured with the scion of a most distinguished family. Dr Morrison told Wellington journalists that Lin was one of the best and most favourably known names in China. Mr Shih-Yuan Lin was a direct lineal descendant of Commissioner Lin Tsze-sii, who in 1839 defitroyed the oprum at Canton and.endeavoured to put down the traffic. Subsequent happenings led to war which resulted in the seizure of Hong Kong, but Lin's part was most heroic and was so regarded by the Chinese. Reaping of cocksfoot, states the Akaroa correspondent of the " Lyttelton Times," is about finished all over the, peninsula, and some of the seed threshed and bagoed, but owing to the variable nature of the. weather lately threshing is proceeding very slowly, a bright nor - west dav beiim essential for the effective use of thei flail. It is strange that after forty years' use of that primitive stylo of harvesting it is only recently that the flail is being superseded, the advent of a cheap portable oil engmo to supply power, making it possible. Of course there have been previous attempts to improve on the old-fashionea way of threshing, and fresh comers to the peninsula from other farming districts, where the combine is used, prophesied that thov would soon alter the existing state of things, but eventually Ihey found the flail was the most effective method to extract the seed- The hilly nature of the paddocks, all being more or less on the slope of a spur, prevented the use of more cumbrous machinery. Now a small 2 h.p. oil engine, with a threshin"- machine mounted on a sledge, can be drawn along the tracks and benched about the paddock. Another advantage is that as long as the seed is dry it can be threshed out in dull weather as well as in the sun, with equal results, and so fravc the long spells of inactivity. It is early yet to report on the quality of this year's crop, but several growers state that, the yield is very disappointing in quantity, and in many cases the seed is dirty.

The historical part taken by Now Zealand soldiers in Egypt and Palestins? has directed the attention of the Dominion to those countries, and quitetwo years ago the governing body of the Auckland Museum authorised tho curator to obtain a small collection, states the "Star." Through tho kind assistance of Dx A. C. Purchas, at that time engaged in medical sFrvico in Egvpt, the curator was placed in communication with Dr .Quibell, of the Cairo Museum, and arrangements were made for a first consignment. This has now arrived, has been arranged and labelled, and is now on exhibition at the Museum. The coljection contains about one hundred articles. Most interesting is a series of vases, bowls, libation vessels, etc, discovered by Dr Quibell in an Eleventh Dynasty tomb at Salckarah, near Memphis, the date of winch is estimated at from 2GOO to 2200 B.C. As in all early tombs, most of the articles have been broken by robbers of ancient date in their search for gold, jewels and other valuables, but in maiiy cases Dr Quibell was ablo to recover the fragments. An interesting feature is a number of Ushabti figures. An ushabti is a little statuette of stone, wood or enamelled porcelain, representing a "respondent" or "follower" of its deceased master. Suoh figures are. often placed in great numbers in the tomb of important personages, in readiness to perform duties for them in the next world. Sometimes coffins of burnt clay were provided for the ushabtis. One of these is shown containing an ushabti. in blue-glazed porcelain, of the Princess Nesitanebasher, a lady of the 21st dynasty, approximate date 1040 B.C. _ A set of Egyptian weights, as used for purposes of trade 2000 years before Christ, is included- These arc made of stone carefully ground and polished to correspond in weight with a. standard. There's "snap" and "go" in that man. Ho takes Lecithol. This is the greatest preparation on earth for tired humanity and jaded nerves. Not a stimulant, a food. Brace yourself up with Lecithol. Prom Cook and Ross, Ltd., Chemists, Victoria Square. 11 Note the bargains in footwear at Stewart Robinson's boot sale. Hundreds of pairs selling cheap. Ladies' shoes, men's boots, children's, etc. Cashel Street, west. 1989 Tenuis goods. New stocks of rackets just opened—Dnva, S.N.D., Tate, Ruby. A.D.P. and Slazengcr's. AH best grade goods. Also few new tennis brt'lls. Lewis and Anderson, Ltd.. Cashel Street. 1898 Sit for thoso New Year portraits to'day. Do not put it off any longer—and bo sure thov are made by Stcffano Webb, Petersen's Buildings, High Street. Telephone 1989. 1890 Seo to-day's bargain exhibition, _ the great window displays, with "every item showing a convincingly low sale price. At Armstrong's, Ltd., "the drapers. 3 FOR SALE, loTwt WOLSELEY EXPRESS VAN, 200. "We have for sale a 12-16 h.p. Strong, Economical, Roomy Express Van (brand new body, nicely painted), complete witii wind shield, .spare wheel, eto. ■Now on view at our garage. Price for quick sale, £2OO. Adams Ltd., 219, Tuam Street. 1989