LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 173, 28 July 1904, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

'Frisco Mail.—The Marlborough portion of the San Francisco mail was brought over from Wellington by the Nambucca, arriving early this morning.

Art Union.—The first prize in the Poultry Association's Art Union was won by Mr A. Webster, of the Middle Renwick Road.

Railway Time-table.—A new railway time-table, to come into force on Monday next, is advertised in this issue. Several alterations have been made, and in making these Mr Edwards seems to have arrived at a very high standard of public convenience.

/The Exhibition. — The general 'entries for the forthcoming Industrial Exhibition are now flowing in. Though there is hardly any more space available in the commercial section, sufficient has been reserved for tbe general public in other departments—scientific and fine arts, musical, home industries, domestic work, etc. Entries in these sections should be made with the secretary at once. Mr Watson will be in Picton tomorrow to receive entries.

40 Ladies' Moreen Underskirts, all colors. To be cleared at 4/6; usual price, 7/6.-H. F. Hall.

Training Nurses.—ln the course of his address at the opening of the Wanganui Nurses' Home, the Premier said that it was very important that nurses should be trained, as there were not now enough nurses in the colony outside the hospital staffs. At the present time Hospital Boards maintained as few probationers as they could conveniently do with. It would be unfair to ask them to keep more. Therefore it was the duty of the State, wherever anything for the good of the people was wanted, to provide that want. In the future, probationers would be appointed at the beat hos pitals in the colony, and kept at the State's expense. Needless to say the Wanganui Hospital would be included. Another walk in life would thus be opened up to hundreds of young women. Mr Seddon said he would like to see maternity homes erected in connection with the hospitals. If the people were anxious to have these institutions established, the State would assist. A children's ward was a necessary part of a hospital's equipment.

Spuing Cbbek River Boabd.—A special meeting of this Board was held on Wednesday, the members present being Messrs J. H. Redwood (in the chair), W. Murray, J. Gane and W. Gifford. The Engineer submitted a plan and specification of a self-acting door to be fixed to one of the Grovetown floodgates, and a tender for same of £4 9s 6d for labor and material, exclusive of fixing. It was decided to adopt the plan and accept the tender for the work. It was resolved to call for tenders for raising the flood banks froru O'Dwyer's bend to Mr W. Gifford's boundary fence, the banks behind Grovetown at points as directed by the Inspector, the bank on Springfield estate, including Soper's cross bank, and for raising and erecting 23 chains of bank from Hall's to the railway bank. The Engineer was instructed to arrange with Mr John Watson for the raising of the flood bank on his farm. The Secretary was instructed to write the General Manager for Railways for permission to join the flood bank to the railway embankment at a point between the Wairau railway bridge and the Spring Creek, and to write the Hon. C. H. Mills asking him to endeavor to secure an amendment to the River Board's Act to make the day of election in the first week in the month of May.

Samson Brace, full men's, extra strong. To be cleared at 1/- pair; usual price 1/6.— H. F. Hall.^

Stokers' TerriblkObdeal.—Owing to the fact that the armoured cruiser Stilly was despatched last month from France to the Far East before she was ready for the voyage, the engineers and stokers experienced terrible sufferings, especially between Jibuti and Saigon. Ih the absence of ventilators the heat in the engine-rooms and stokeholds rose to 150deg F., and the vessel was almost uninhabitable. Although the engine-room watches were reduced to one hoar's duration, the heat was so intense that neither officers or men could withstand it, and everyone Bought a pretext for escaping from doing duty in what was a veritable furnace.

A Quinine Trust.—The American Consul-General at Frankfort reports to his Government that the Dutch Indies papers are commenting upon rumors that the Peruvian bark raisers of Java are to form a trust. As Java supplies fully 75 per cent, of the total amount of Peruvian bark used in the world, and only 80 planters are engaged in cultivating the trees, it is proposed to erect more quinine factories in Java, and to use at least on ebalf of the yearly crop for this purpose, as well as to interest the Peruvian bark growers in other countries in the trust and so dictate the price for quinine in the markets of the world, independent of the European industry.

12 Sweaters, pure wool, white and colored, will not shrink. To be cleared at 5/11 each; worth 10/6.— H. F. Hall.

Farewell Social. — Mr and Mrs Storey gave a farewell social at Picton on Tuesday evening (writes our correspondent), which drew a large crowd of adults and children, the lalter especially. The farewell embraced the departure of Mr, Mrs, and Miss Nash, Mr and Mrs Graham, and Mr Card, all of whom are leaving Picton. During the evening Mrs Storey was presented with a gold watch, Mr Storey with a handsome tie pin, and Mrs Nash with a gold watch. Mr Storey will be a loss to the Horticultural Society, as' his donations to the prize fund were liberal and handsome, and he will always be remembered as one who had the interests of the town at heart, and who helped everyone along with open-handed liberality.

Waimangu.—The big geyser is, or was, still silent on the 19fch of July. There had been several slight earthquakes at Waimangu (says our correspondent), and rather heavy ones at Rotorua. The .head guide thinks the geyser will explode somewhere else, probably at a place they call the Infernal Crater. Some people think tbe Frying Pan will go off. The geyser is steaming hard, and the baths are too hot to be pleasant; besides the geyser might burst up in one of them while you're in it. We made a geyser for ourselves the other day when picnic* ing on the flat. Just dug a little hole and put in some soap. It shot up a great height, and was grand.

Linoleum I Linoleum! Six feet wide, 2/6 the running yard; 3 feet wide, 1/6 the runuing yard,—H. F. Hall.

Polite Society's Loss.—A lady correspondent of the New York Evening Post, who lived in Honolulu in Robert Louis Stevenson's time, reports that in polite society there his name might scarcely be mentioned aloud. He was ostracised on account of his Bohemianism, displayed chiefly in his fondness for walking about in the warm sands with bare feet. His offence was augmented by his wife's preference for the native dress, which is described as "a Mother Hubbard wrapper, Jquite decently long and voluminous." To make things worse there was grave reason to believe that Stevenson smoked in bed. Accordingly the local elite omitted bis name in sending out invitations to important functions, and he was reduced to consorting with natives and the officers of visiting warships.

New Religious Sect.—A new religions sect has been started in Russia called Podpoinibi, or " Dwellers Under the Earth." They pledge themselves to care for all fugitives from justice, vagabonds, deserters from the army, and other miserable beings, whom they hide away in clefts or holes in rocks. Those among their own people who fall sick are treated in the same way, but are left without food or drink of any kind. Every two or three days they visit the sick. Should any be dead they are buried secretly, but not before the corpses are baptised and have received a new name, in order that the soul may appear spotless before the throne of Heaven

Milk Supply.—" The average health authority" will insist that milk must contain a certain percentage of butter fat, and stupidly assumes that all milk containing a lower percentage ia unfit for food. As a matter o£ fact, it is always possible that the milk contain ing the higher percentage may be in an unhealthy condition, while that not up to the standard may be perfectly wholesome. The percentage of butter fat is no guide whatever to the wholesomeness of milk ; indeed, ifc is generally agreed that a very high percentage of fat is undesirable, for infants at least. The rule-of-thutnb practice of health bodies, however, dictates that if the dairyman has milk which gives 5 or 6 per cent., and he reduces that percentage by skimming it down the standard, the milk is held to be adulterated. The actual reason behind these regulations is the tendency of the authorities to shirk the responsibility of deciding what is a wholesome food. Some very absurd anomalies are created by the utter disregard of com mon-sense exhibited in the administration of Boards of Health. A dairyman who sells whole milk may be successfully prosecuted for offering for sale perfectly wholesome milk below the standard fat percentage. At the same time vendors may openly sell skimmed milk from house to house."