LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 5, 7 January 1908, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

The price of oatmeal in Christchurch has been reduced from £18 to £17 per ton, as from yesterday. Capt. Edwin telegraphed at 1 p.m. as follows:—"Strong northerly winds to gale after 16 hours; tides good; sea heavy on coast; rain probable, glass fall soon." . . Nearly twenty Maflborough residents intend going up the North Island Trunk Line during the present month to inspect land now offering in the King Country. A sharp shock of earthquake was \ felt in Blenheim at nine minutes before seven o'clock last evening. The direction was north-east and southwest. A distinct, rumbling noise preceded the shock. Preaching at the Baptist Tabernacle, Blackpool, the Rev. Mr Wagnell delivered : the following genial epigram: ''Most motor cars exist for breaking records, breaking bones, and breaking the Fourth Commandment." , .J A Press Association telegram from Auckland states that an immense crowa assembled on the wharf and broke down the barriers in the effort to catch sight of Madame Clara Butt when the Mokoia" arrived, but were disappointed, as. she was not on board. Many ladies got their dresses badly damaged. _ Thirty-five shillings up to £2 an acre for bushfelling, offered by Marlborough Sounds settlers, has not induced a rush of. Bushmen to that district (says the 'jphristcfyurch Press). Settlers eomplain^that for quite a year they,have been unable to obtain bu^shmen. The, general; prosperity of the country is regarded |as the reason wfiy there is littfe migration of labouring men at the present time. A Press Association telegram from Wellington f; stages ihkt. Mr .J,. Straucnan, Chief Surveyor and Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Wellington district ? will take charge of the Auckland, district on April 1, and Mr McKenzie, Commissoiner at Auckland, will go to Wellington. The change is being-Unlade-in view of the great amount of -survey work that will be necessary in Auckland, v . Mr C. J. Liggins, of the. head office, of the Union S.S. Company, Dundein, writes to the proprietor of The Express reminding him of a letter he wrote to this journal some fourteen, years ago, before leaving Blenheim** in which he urged the erection of a properly-equipped bathing .place. "Blenheim seems," he proceeds, "to be in the same position yet, and I am surprised at the lethargy of the residents." The railway .excursion to Picton will take place to-morrow, the train leaving Blenheim at 8.50 a.m. Perano and Co..'s steamer Waitohi will connect at Picton, giving excursionists an opportunity of spending a pleasant day down the Sounds. For having procured liquor during the currency of a prohibition order, a man named Alfred Millen was fined £5 at Oamaru to-day (says a Press Association telegram) in default 30

Is 6d, 2s 6d and 4s. Mr E. Rabbits, Inspector of (hv chards, reports that he has thoroughly tested all early peaches sold this season, and found no trace of the fruit-fly larva?. The last of the earlies will have been sold or used in a few days. Mr Blackmore, the Pomologist, paid a hurried visit to Blenheim in connection with the inspection of the fruit for the detection of the pest a few days ago. It is the intention of the Department this season to enforce the provisions of the Orchard Pests Act of 1904. The leniency that characterised its administration during the first three years has now come to an end, and Mr Rabbits is even now preparing, for presentation to the head office, a list of orchard-holders who have failed to treat their trees for codlin moth and other declared pests. A batch of names will go forward in a few days, and prosecutions may be expected to result. In many cases —perhaps in 75 per cent, of the cases—orchard-holders within the Borough are weekly tenants who, owing to insecurity of tenure, feel they have no interest in trying to eradicate pests. Such orchards must hereafter either be treated or cut down. Perhaps in some cases the tenants will be glad of a little firewood cheaply come by. In reference to the article that appeared yesterday, Mr Rabbits says the spray mixture ■should not injure the foliage of trees if the proper ingredients are used and the correct mode of mixing followed.

A Press Association telegram from Christchurch says: —" Raiigibra Borough Council last night appointed James Angus Temuka to be manager five applicants." From which it is gathered that James Angus hails from Temuka, but whether the applicants are for charity or for admission to a mental hospital to be managed by Mr Angus is not certain. h ;

6d, There was trouble on the ferry steamer Maori the other night on the trip from Wellington to Lyttelton. A saloon passenger, Avho was drinking at the bar, became' so sportive that he poured a whisky down a steward's back instead of down his own throat. The steward protested against such treatment, but his protestations only increased the boorishness of the passenger, who was backed up by a friend also full of Christmas cheer. The chief steward was called in to settle matters; but the offenders against decorum on v the high seas had by this time become pugilistic, so an officer with some authority was called down to interfere, and the whole ship was in a ferment. Finding that, he could do nothing | without recourse to physical force, he called on the watch, and immediately three or four hefty seamen were struggling with the ill-conducted passengers. After a melee both of them were handcuffed and locked up, still struggling and using language that was thrillingly vivid in expletives. People should be taught that riotous behaviour at sea is even a more serious offence against the social code than it is ashore, and there is no excuse for such ribald wrong-doing, even at Christmas time. Evidently the authorities were of opinion,that the exhibition of such extreme foolishness before a crowded saloon was sufficient punishment for the "respectablo" hoodlums who caused the trouble.

1 ohemists, Is 6d, Mr Keir H'ardie, speaking in the Wellington Town Hall on Sunday night, said:—You remember how Dr. ' Johnson defined patriotism as being 1 the last refuge of scoundrelism. Imperialism, we are told, is the test by '• which loyalty to the British Empire is to be measured. I tellyou people i frankly that I am no Imperialist, . that I detest the name of Imperial- ! ism and everything associated with . it. Perhaps you read a two or three- . line account which appeared in your press about the Christmas dinner given to the survivors of those who had saved the Indian Empire during I the Mutiny—a Christmas dinner ■ given to them out of gratitude for the great work they had done in that dark period of our national history. Where did these veterans and heroes •■■ come from to attend the Christmas i dinner? From the workhouse! i Where did they go to after the din--1 ncr was over? (Voices: Back again). t Yes, back to the living.death of the ■ workhouse. Imperialism! And treat > human beings like that who risked . their lives for the Empire! (Ap-

Bishop Armstrong, of Wangaratta, • Victoria, has called upon the Rev. George Gladstone to resign his posi--1 tion as rector of Nathalia. This Mr ; Gladstone refuses to do. Three charges i are preferred against him. The first is that in righteous condemnation of ; evil he has been led into exaggeration and mistakes; the second, that he fails to secure adherence to the church of people in leading positions; third, , that he has no spiritual influence with , young people. To these charges he , replies as follows:—First, hismain allegations he is prepared to prove if . noessary in a_ Court of Law, contend-' \ ing-that side issues and minor matters , have in some cases become confused by untrustworthy reports; second, he admits that his ministry is to the practical, and particularly to the poor 1 and humble, rather than v to the upper classes, but contends that in this respect he follows in the footsteps of his 1 divine Master; third, the happy sue- , cess of the recent Sunday-school picnic is pointed to as a complete refutation of the last charge.l A letter from Mr Gladstone was sent to the bishop j;e- ---' questing an impartial inquiry, but this was refused *,; Mr Gladstone some years agb brought himself into prominence by his denunciation of dancing and those who dance. ■ '.l

• A letter written by Mr Archie Holmes, late of Wairarapa and now [ living at Vancouver, is published in the Wairarapa Daily Times. In the course of some interesting observations' Mr Holmes says:—l am firmly of the t S 1 opinion that it would pay the New* Zealand Government to have a bureau ; here, for enquiries concerning the Australasian Colonies "are numerous and many people who are in ignorance ■ or the special advantages of New Zealand proceed to Australia instead of •to New Zealand. New Zealand is submerged in Australia, in the minds of some people. Even during the short ' time I have been here I have directed ; the footsteps of several towards New ' i fn V 1 mv opinion more trade should be done between this part of ; Canada and New Zealand than at present, and there should be a direct passenger and cargo service between New Zealand and Canada. I can assure you that the quartette of which 1 am a member will return to New Zealand ere many years have passed. We have all been found good posi-tions;-I am starting newspaper work this week; but "there's no place like £m°'i\.w oniy by travelling abroad that a New Zealander learns to fPPfeciate the good work accomplished by the New Zealand Government, and it makes one proud of being a native ot what I believe to be the finest country on God's earth.

Mr James Robert Lane, who was connected with the ill-fated Burke and Wills exploring expedition as a horse driver (says the Melbourne Age), died on December 18, aged, 85. Mr Lane left Melbourne with the ex-' pedition. which he accompanied as far as Menindie. His services being no longer required, as it was decided to leave a portion of the plant, he started to walk back to Melbourne. He was badly equipped for the journey, taking with him only a little food and a billy of water. He met with great hardship on his journey, through lack of food and water, and had given himself up for lost when he heard the sound of horse bells late one night. This gave him renewed strength, and he manaaed to struggle on for a little distance, when he'sank exhausted to the ground. . He was found on the following morning by a stockman on the station which he had luckily struck, one of the then farthest north settlements in Victoria,: somewhere in the vicinity of where, Echuca now stands. At one time Mfr' Lane owned portion of the land on which the house where he died stands, but lately he was in straitened circumstances, and depended upon an old age pension, slightly augmented by a special Government grant. The death of Mr Lane leaves Mr W. Brahe, the present Consul for Germany, as the only survivor of the expedition which set out from Melbourne with Burke and Wills in 1860.

Now that Santa Claus is out of the world again for another year we may perhaps discuss some details of his earlier life without offending him. According to Mr D. C. Calthrop, who' writes about him in the Pall Mall Magazine, Nicholas, the son of Epiphanius and Joanna, was born about the year 300 at Patara, a city in the province of Lycia, in Asia Minor. What Saint George is to knighthood Saint Nicholas is to the poor. He is called in Russia, of which country he is patron, the Little Father Nicholas. In Italy, where his remains are supposed to lie at Bari, he is called San Niccolo, or San Nicola; he is patron of the coast. In England, m France, and in German^ he has been held a great saint, and from the last country comes the name by which we know him most familiarly— Santa .Claus. Father Christmas, with his tfrhite beard and venerable garments, is one and the same person with Saint Nicholas, the young, brown and beardless Bishop of Myra. He is the protecting saint of young children, merchants, scholars and sailors, and in Italy he protects travellers against robbers. His emblems are many, including three balls of gold, three purses on a book, an anchor, a ship- and a tub containing three children. Nicholas, it seems, was a precocious baby. He stood up in his bath the day he was born and grayed solemnly for two hours; and c was so devout that even as a baby in arms he observed the fast days, taking nourishment but once on each Wednesday arid Friday. Being left with great riches he devoted himself to charity. Once he heard of a knight who was in great distress because he had no dowries for his daughters, and Nicholas, coming by night, dropped purses of gold through the window. Then the custom grew up of expecting gifts on the eve of the saint's day. In Italy and Spain the gifts were hidden in shoes so that the recipient would be surprised by them in the morning, and in France and England stockings used to be hung up at the door. The custom was abolished in England by the Tudor monarchs, but came again to the Motherland from the Dutch and Germans by way of America.