LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 203, 28 August 1913, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL NEWS.

The British Public Health Depart- i ment, in a leaflet for the use of 1 Mtothers, declares' that rocking stupi- j fies infants and drugs them to sleep, j Many digestive disorders are traceable to rocking. • A Christchurcli Press Association message states that James Philip Kelly, charged with having caused the -■ death of Ida Bradley on July 24th by 'negligently driving a motor-car, was 1' found not guilty at the re-trial. : ' Aocording to the Wairarapa Age, a Masterton resident has trained »_!&■ triever dog to. scent out and retrieve the plants of "droppers." The other : day it brought to its master twelve 3 bottles of ale that had been deposited in a swamp for future use. Low temperatures, whichl bespeak* j somewhat wintry conditions, were re- i ported from several stations at 9: o'clock this morning. Bealey (35), j Queenstown (38), ,and Dunedin (39) 1 recorded, the lowest thermometer readings, 47 being registered locally. Some settlers in the Nelson- district are suffering loss through i&e worry- ! : ing of their sheep. Mr P. B. Adams i last week lost 64 sheep, valued at £100, on his Maori Pa Station. * The 1 dogs which did! the damage were shot.! ' Most of the s-heep killed were Romney ' 5 ewes (in lamb) from Mr Short's flock, - Feilding. ; With a view, to raising 'funds to • assist in sending a representative > "soccer", team to Wellington shortly, ' the Association League hasi made &rI rangements for a picture, "benefit," v which is being held in His Majesty's • Theatre to-night. A large attendance ' is expected, so as to .ensure the sue- • cess of the effort. ,

The National Sweet Ptea Society's 1 show will be held in the Town Hall, ; Wellington,'this year; in combination r with the Rose and' Carnation Club, r on December 10th, so as to give grow- ; ers in. the South. Island an opporf tunity to y compete. The Niiational I Society's schedule will include '.over j £100 worth of trophies for competi- • tion^ • ; • Respecting the proposed! new basis • of school teachers' salaries, it. was "pb- ! served by a member of the executive [ of the Wellington bratnch of the Educational Institute .at a special meet- [ ing on Tuesday night that ' 'the pencil 1 has ah-eady been put on paper for iihe |. drawing up of • the new basis." L "More,^' added the'speaker, "I oan--1 not at present say." , ; .■ -1

The Renwiek Dramatic: Society' , staged "All a Mistake" at th© Albert i .Hall «at Picton last night, in aid of ! the Picton Hospital funds. There was i i a small, but thoroughly appreciative ! audience, and if repeated the merit of the entertainment would assure a , large attendianoe. The society* will i play in Havelock on Saturday night, \ in iaid of the Cottage Hospital. ' ■>

Robert Stuart, a tramway conduc- j tor, appealed against his suspension! for two days by th© Wellington} Tramway Board on a charge of tickling a girl under the chin while * collecting fares in a car. The Tram- j way Appeal Board by a majority dis- . "missed the appeal. The union , representative on the Board was f doubtful about -the case, ': /but Dr \ I Me Arthur, S.M., and the Tramway Board repi'esentative said that they J were perfectly satisfied ,tihat the con- ■ ductor liad committed the silly act : .with.which he wa# ;cha.i;ged.—Press xlssociation. ..!....

At a meeting of the "Wairau' Women's Political Reform League, ; on Tuesday afternoon, the following resolution whs passed:-—"The Central Committee and, other membera present of the Women's League for Bible in State Schools at Blenhoim hereby expression behalf of the.j 791 women members of the. League, ' all of whom have signed a written request for the referendum, our profound, conviction that no permanent 'settlement .of this question can be effeoted unless and until,the matter. lias been referred to the whole people of the Dominion, so that every elector, whether for or against the League's proposal, can have the fullest opportunity of expressing his or foe* opinion . by vote under legalised conditions as' to what shall be done in the people's schools supported, by the' people's money and attended by the people's ' children."

llegarding the stranding of the steamer Kahu in Picton }iarbor yes- : teixiay morning, the Press says:—The : little vessel left Wellington at 10 \ o'clock on Monday night, and had a : fast run across tho Strait, arriving at , Picton at four o'clock. She was not expected so soon, and there was no one on the wharf to take the ropes. V A stiff southerly breeze was blowing at the time, and Captain Fletcher [ took a turn round the harbor. In coming up to the wharf again the blustering wind* took the vessel'out of its course, and the engines were ,not strong enotigh to prevent- her from going aground. In the morning towns.peoplo experienced the novelty of see-' ing a steamer ashore in the harbor, ' ■about .midway between the municipal baths and Shelly Reach, with, her bow close to the esplanade, and, at low I ■ tide, well out of the water. • Two « anchors- wore placed astern, and she '. was refloated with the incoming tide '. ill the afternoon. Luckily the heavy < wind expe-riencpd during the past two ; < days had calmed down. "It is*not con- 1 sidered that the Kahu will suffer any .1 damage by the littlo escapade. » 3

Eight and a-half degrees of .frost . were, recorded during the night. The Wahine beat previous records irom Lyttelton to Wellington on Tuestday night by doing 'the Ijrip 'from heads to heads in Bhrs; lmin., and "from -wharf to wharf in, Bhirs. 40min. .Only 65 to 70 per cent, of the boiler power was used. . ' ■ ."' i Mr Roberts, chief engineer o,f tlhe i Devon, was the second last man .to I leave the doomed ship, and Captain A. |H. Caunce was the last man ashore. Mr Roberts wbiglis 16 stoae, and Captain Caunce 17 stone. It took some very hard pulling on tho pai^t of those on s>hore. to get these two men across the line, but the task was accomplished, without mishap. When CapI tain Caunce landed he was given three hearty cheers by those assembled-on j the beach.

.Discussing a contentious clause in the Public Trust Office Bill on Tuesday evening, Mr R. McCallum, Member for Wairau, stated a.suppositions : case (reports The Dominion). "Supj pose," he said, "that I am entitled tc ; a legacy of £50, and the Public Trusi tee pays it in mistake to my friend, the Member for Avon." " "You'll 1 never get it back," said Mr Russell, ! amidst loud and hearty laugher. I "What is my legal remedy?" corij tinued Mr McCallum. "None; you are ■done!" said Mr Russell, and the j laughter was renewed.

A representative of a Wellington paper- had a talk with the managers j of the New South Wales League team i soon after their arrival from Sydney. ; They expected to have some verj close games in the Dominion. The j team was faster than that \yhich visit- {■ ed New Zealand last year, but, on the other hand, they believed that the , Dominion teams had greatly improved. i They had been greatly impressed, bj j the play of the Is'ew Zealanders whe ' had1 recently visited Australia, Tliej ; were undoubtedly the best team th'al thes©oniinion League had ever serii i across, and amongst.them were som< .real stars—Kelly, Ifwersou; Manning } King, and Shadbolt—all of whom had played great games. King (said1 the manager) was one of the best New . Zealand forwards ever seen in Aus- ; tralia.

i An anomaly, in the licensing oi motor-cars exists in New Zealand, in j the fact that there is no; uniform fee: and the Canterbury Automobile Asso- . ciatioh is endeavoring to secure imiformity. ' The present fee in Christ.church is lOsj in Wellington ,Is, and :in other districts Ss, and'- a license-for one district entitles the holder tc drive in any part of New Zealand, i Consequently, a. Christchurch man ; may take out his license for a shilling in Wellington, .and evade the heavier • Cljristchurch fee. It is also stated i that there is a good deal of difference :in the qualificaijions demanded for a license, and that there are motor inspectors in some parts of New Zealand who cannot drive a car.

Potatoes which have been grown on or very near the surface of the ground or are subsequently allowed to remain exposed to daylight for a long period, may develop' poisonous qualities. A case is ' under'investigation .in'which members of a family ••always felt ill aftjer eatiif<r certain '-]>6tatpes., These, on examination, were found to be green under the skin, hut this was not evident until they had been peeled. It will be safer for housewives, therefore, to reject as -unfit for culijiary .purposes potatoes showing tins peculiarity. They would, of course, be excellent for seed purposes, othei" things being equal," writes Mr B.'C Aston, Government Chemist, in the Journal of Agriculture. '

i The chief .magistrate of Christehureh does not ; mind now and then telling a story against himself. As Mayor, the occasions upon winch' Mr Holland is called upon to speebhlfjr are mtmerous,"and the subjects he is called upon to deal with* are most varied. Recently, his Worship was present by invitation at a function given by a friendly society, and' noted that, ac-1 cording to the toast list, "Brother Holland" was down to respond to a certain "sentiment." Although he had not been, told that he was expected to make a, speech, liis Worship rose to th© occasion and got off some more or less appropriatel remarks. The function over, the Mayor^ was approached by tie real Brother Holland, who thanked him' profusely for relieving him of the response to the toast, and for making such an excellent speech for him.

>'-.:". Messrs Hill and Barton's newljcresmcollectiag motor-van was an objewt of j interest to the guests entertained by . the.fii-m last night,, and was used after L .til© function to- convey several mieiri- [ bers of the company to their homes. The car, which is , a 1,6-20 Renault '. machine, covers the' ground in splendid st^tle, running smoothly and with t celerity. Oh its trial spin on Tues- '; day it returned from Renwicktown- to Blenheim in 18 minutes.' This morn- ' ' ing Mr. Hill,.accompanied by Mr Rae, 1 set out with the car for "Nelson.

Speaking to the toast of "Bleu- . heim's Commerce" at Messrs Hill and ). Barton's dinner last night, Mr J., i Sharp, of Dalgety and Co., said that i thfi season was progressing under very, i favorable conditions. H© had been '. j visiting some of the country districts, }. and he had never seen them looking better. There was an abundance or 1 ■ feed, the crops appeared to advan.- ---■ tage, and. the stock was thriving.. • Moreover, the markets promised well, 5 and farmers could look forward to • good prices for sheep, wool, grain, and > dairy produce. .

5 There is a movement for. the subi division of Queensland,. #he . second . largest of the States of the Coinmonr' wealth, having an area of 670,500 s 5 square miles, into two, if not three, - States. The agitation to this end was s active five-and-twenty years ago, and 3. Central Queensland opposed federa- . tion on the grounds that it would r practically shut out all hopes of ®üb- ) division within a reasonable time. The r matter was the subject of an academic t debate in the Queensland Assembly b last week, and. generally speaking the i speechesl were favorable. The Premier , admitted the logic of , the arguments , 1 in, favor, but failed to recognise any. 5 strong public demand for the" changes, r Mostly the contention was that the - State could be better governed .in ' three divisions than in one. -

f ■ "Take the fort," the soldier ordered, i ■' ' Take a pull," the sailor said: , 'Take my hand,", the maiden amrmured, ; . ",m!'T aac him down," said Spieler Ned. - "Take Woods' Peppermint Cure " say I , all men, ' ti*-1? wiU' take y°ur 'coughs away ; > JVLake you strong and bright and i Make you glad, content, and gay. ~. j: Advt. . ' .' * ■ 8 •