ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 118, 17 May 1909, Page 3

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

In reporting to the Warminster (Wilts) Council two of the most malignant cases of diphtheria that he had ever seen, the medical officer of health said that he could trace nothing the matter with the house from which the affected children came. After inquiry he discovered a niiser-able-lqokmg cat, which had been coughing. He ordered it to be killed and sent to the county medical officers, who said that it showed a large number of bacilli identical with the diphtheria bacillus. This confirmed his suspicions that the disease had been taken from the cat. Two children subsequently died at Swindon from diphtheria traced to the household cat.

At the Royal Society's banquet in Sydney recently Professor David to]d of the, many-sidedness of the Reader of the Antarctic expedition. Lieutenant Shackleton was a great explorer and a splendid organiser. Nothing that human forethought could do was left undone, and this splendid organisation it was that brought the party through so many dangers. But not only was he an explorer, but a literary man of distinction. He was editor of a London magazine. He had a wonderful memory for poetry, and had also composed several original poems. When several cases of provisions and other essential stores were nearly lost, Lieutenant Shackleton merely rejoiced "that the Brown-: ing was safe ashore."

They say it happened in North Queensland, and that the person up before the Court was a peripatetic journalist who wandered about the country editing small country papers in his sober moments.. He was charged with drunkenness and vagabondage, and was very indignant. "I am a man of letters," he said. "I may be poor, but what of Savage, who once had to. content himself with a bed of ashes without the sackcloth? I may be dirty, but Edgar Allan Poe was not always too particular in this respect. I am not more ragged than Oliver Goldsmith; Steele was as hard a drinker as I, and Sam Johnson as poor and insanitary." "That will do," cried.the Bench; "we wish, to hear nothing about your low associates. Doubtless they are all as bad as yourself, but we intend to inflict a pimishment on you that will be a warning to the individuals you have mentioned, and induce them to give this locality a wide berth. You 'are sentenced to three months without ,the option. _ I trust the inspector will look "up the other vagabonds mentioned at the earliest moment." & '

All the purveyors of New Zealand oonditions to the English press are not so fair in* their remarks as Mr Alfred (E. Hartnell, of Port Albert, who writes in a thoroughly sane manner to The Carpenter and Builder: — '?To all those engaged in the building and allied trades especially I would 3ay, consider, well before you decide to change the terminal of your address, from U.K. to N.Z. It is true that we are getting just about double the wages you get at Home, but when wages are fixed by law, and not by demand for labour, high wages are not necessarily a sign of prosperity. Of course, times are good here, comparatively speaking, but it is easy enough to see that with a population of less than one million, and emigrants arriving by hundreds every week; a scarcity of labour may easily be turned to' a glut in any particular locality. Then the lack of adaptability to circumstances is also a drawback, and in tfhis respect the advice.of your interesting corresponr dent, Mr "V. Ross, is good when he says: 'fie prepared to take the first job that offers.' ■•■To. this I would add, 'Don't 'come 'with less than £25 to your credit, and as much more as possible. Come prepared to learn a great deal more than you can teach. Come prepared to rough it for the first year (after that a good man is safe),1" and don't leave a good job to come.' Further, if you can't find work in the cities, make for the country, where you have a better chance and can live cheaper. Too many of our: emigrants hang round the public-house till they are broke, and' I can safely say that a large percentage of the cases of dissatisfaction are among this class. It is very natural that employers should give jbhe preference to workmen with a colonial experience before newcomers, but, generally speaking, a man who is industrious, sober, and intelligent will fall on his feet sooner or later."

Mr W. H. ' Fitchett, writing in Life, says:—The selfishness of Mr Fisher's policy can hardly be des-. cribed as very intelligent. If Great Britain keeps the command of the sea, our local defences are unnecessary ;, if she loses the command of the, sea, they are worthless. Mr

Fisher, in brief., resembles a passenger on board a,ship on'which' a leak is suddenly reported. He refuses to give a hand at tha pumps' and help to keep the whole ship afloat. As his'contribution to the safety of the vessel he will put a new lock on the door of'his own cabin, and go to sleep'behind the locked door. But what will the lock on the cabin door be worth if the ship does not float! The New Zealand "Dreadnought" will powerfully affect the imagination of the whole world. It will prove that the provinces of the Empire are centres of energy .'i But Mr Fisher's reading of the problem will convey to' ■■ .the-outside world the-sense that Australia cares very much, if ..not very-wisely, for itself, but cares very little for the general interests of the Empire. And that is a complete misrepresentation of Australian sentiment. • :■ ■' ■ ' ' .'-.-•

The Hon. Jas. Carroll, who is at present in Gisborne, will remain in the Poverty Bay district for a'couple of weeks. Interviewed by a Poverty Bay Herald reporter ■, the Minister predicted a heavy, fighting/wrangling session. "Firebrands" that have been returned will, he thinks, have to live up to their reputation!, whilst the Opposition declarations that they were going to make things .merry--carried, he supposed, a certain amount of purpose. The session will not, see any special Native legislation^ although legislative 'adjustment to"1 Itneet quirements and facilitate the working of the machinery of his department would probably be brought down. Questioned respecting the repeated rumours, ; generally emanating irom Auckland, regarding his probable retirement from the Cabinet for a seat in the Upper House, the Native Minister replied that these rumours were doubtless based on the imagination of those who made them, and with whom the wish was father to the thought. The ambition of these people, he added with a smile, was to be" ahead of realisation.

Readers of the following (from an exchange) could almost imagine the speaker was addressing a Blenheim audience:—Speaking at his installation the Mayor of Gisborrie,7 Mr Lysnar, said the affairs of the borough had in the past been run on wrong lines j both in the class of work and finance. Thsy had been paying interest on an overdraft at a high rate,, when they could have liquidated the overdraft by a loan. They had been carrying on too much on a system of patchwork, scraping the grass off footpaths only for it to grow again, instead of doing the work thoroughly by gravelling and tarring it, even if they could only afford half the width of a footway. He agreed that a road loan was essential, and he was pleased to hear they were apparently unanimous on that.point. They wanted the best and most economical drainage scheme tliey could get.

"The financial stringency is undoubtedly over," remarked Mr R. M. Simpson, general manager of the Phoenix Insurance Company, to a Taranaki Herald representative. This is chiefly due to the fact that wool has gone up, while iron is rising in price. It is a curious thing that when iron rises the financial outlook becomes .brighter.' There are accumulated stocks of iron to work off, but it is steadily rising. Then, again, the stimulus t<D trade in America has very largely helped in the brightening of the horizon in New Zealand.- The United States, with its eighty million's of people, does a large trade with New Zealand, and when trade is stimulated in America, and in England too, it is stimulated in New Zealand. We were lucky in that the period of financial depression was shorter than usual."

A rabbit trapping competition took place near Narrabri, N.S.W., a week or so ago. Two experts were pitted against each other for £5 a-side, and the winner was to«have all the rabbits caught in the contest in addition. Each competitor used 70 traps. They worked country close to one another, and in nine days the winner caught 440£ pairs of rabbits, the loser beingtwo behind him.

An orange-cucumber, or cucumberorange, is a freak combination, raised by Mr Howard S. Hill, England, Mr Hill transferred the pollen from the orange blossoms.to several cucumber flowers. The first appearance of the fruit was the same as that of an ordinary infant cucumber, but as the fruit grew the result of the inoculation became apparent. The cucumber, instead of lengthening out, remained round like an orange, with the orange blossom scar, but the skin was that of a cucumber. When ripened the new product assumed a bright orange color, and from a distance appeared the same as an orange. Mr Hill thinks that the new fruit will prove a favorite, as the taste of the orange and cucumber blend in an excellent manner^ and make apleasing combination.