" INFERNAL CURS."

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7036, 22 June 1901, Page 2

" INFERNAL CURS."

We are surprised at the insulting language used by Colonel Pole Penton to the volunteers in camp who had protested against the provisions provided them. The words that there were some " infernal cum in the ranks," are not those which should be used by an officer arid a gentleman. . Allowing that the men committed an error of judgment in the action they took to bring forcibly under notice the description o^ food they were supplied with, language of the description mentioned should not be used to volunteers wko are unable to retaliate. We do not think Colonel Pole-Penton would find many "curs" amongst the men if he used the same expressions towards them in private. Mr T. Wilford, M.H.R., has requested the Premier to hold an independent inquiry into the matter, and we hope that the Minister for Defence will grant the request, because the whole affair from beginning to end is one of the most disgraceful scandals that hag taken place in military life in the colony.

IToubth Faob.—a. quantity of Interesting leading matter will be found on our fourth page.

Political.—Parliament opens on Monday week.

. BiBTHDAY.-The Hon R. J. Seddon's 56th birthday to-day.

Education.—The regular1 meeting of the Wanganui Education Board will be held on Monday.

Show Dates.—The dates for the next 6how of the Manawatu A. &P. Association have been fixed for November 13th, 14th, and loth. Entries for the show close on Thursday, October 31st.

Fbiendlt Socieths.—The Friendly Societies' Committes will meet at Mr Jt. Palmer's rooms on Monday evening. The art union in connection with the recent sports will he drawn the same night.

leish Tkebieb. —An Irish terrier bitch, with a white rag round its neck, brought up by last night's Wellington tram, got away from its custodian, and information as to its whereabouts will be gladly received by Mr Fred. Pirani.

A Good Reason.—"l understand you have no unemployed in Kew Zealand," said a South Australian visitor at last Thursday night's banquet. And a voice quietly interjected, " No, the Government employs them all."

High Prices.—At the add'ington saleyards yesterday Mr. Jas. Johns, of Belfast, offered some very prime Down wethers. Two Southdowns were sold to Mr. E. C. Berry at 30s, one Shropshire merino wether at 24s 6d, and five Shropshire wethers to Mr. Jas. Znight at 27s 6d.

Tbuancy.—At the Police Court this morning the following parents were fined for keeping their cliildien from school: —F. Yardley; 2s; J. Lane, 2s, costs 7s; W.Reid, 4s Messrs F. Mowletn and T. Manson were the presiding justices, and the informations were laid by the Truant Inspector. •■

Commandant.—The Christchurch correspondent of the Dunedin Star writes: —Colonel Pole-Penton definitely leaves the colony in October. The new Commandant of the Forces has not yet been selected, but I am in a position to state that he will not be an omce'r from the Old Country.

Ivo Titles.—ln all probability, at the close of the Duke's tour of the colony, His Royal Highness will make presents to Commissioner Tunbridge, Mr John Holmes (the Exer-utive Commissioner), Mr Eonayne and Mr Beattie (of the Railway Department), as well as to Mr Donne (of the Tourist Department). All these officers have been most assiduous in . their attentions, and the Royal visitors have frequently passed high encomiums on them.

A Tbeat.—The Christchurch Press laments the fact that Lake Ellesmere is still closed. Owing to the prevalence of high seas the contractors are unable to start the lake running. They have cut an opening through the beach three times, only to have it blocked up again by the heavy, seas. The lake is now higher than it has been for several years, and a very large acreage is consequently under water, causing great loss to the settlers. The Little River line is surrounded with and practically under water for some eight or ten miles.

Phivy Council.—A London correspondent thu.s refers to the reason for again gazetting Mr Seddon a Privy Councillor:—An appointment to tho Privy Council, though holding good for life if the Councillor be not summoned to attend, lapses at the first non-attendance on summons. Now, a meeting of the Privy. Council was called recently in Australia, and Mr Seddon, in consequence of the illness of his daughter, was- unable to attend. Therefore he ceased to be a Privy Councillor, but has immediately been re-appointed by the King.

Vetheiaks. — The Government has HOW 38 highly qualified veterinary surgeons in" New Zealand, says the Taieri Advocate, and all of these gentlemen have very high testimonials. We hope the day is now not far distant when every opportunity will be afforded to the sons of farmers and others to acquire a thorough education in veterinary matters without having to leave New Zealand. There should not be any occasion for further importations of gentlemen with veterinary knowledge.

Music.—The Premier occasionally indulges in humour on purpose; occasionally, also, he indulges in humour unconsciously. He was unconsciously humorous at the banquet to representative visitors last Thursday night. During a pause in the proceedings Mr Seddon rose and in stentorian tones remarked, "I understand we have amongst us a legislator who can sing. I call upon Mr Wilford for a song." The announcement was received with signs of apDroval, in the midst of which a voice from the far end of the room said,." Mr Seddon, the Meistersingers are just about to start." " Oh, very well," said Mr Seddon, "then we'll have some music." And the laughter that rang out fairly shook the roof.—Post.

Intebesting.—The Dunedin correspondent of tho Lyttelton times writes that Mr James M'lndoe, a well-known citizen, introduced to Mr Chisholm an elderly resident of Dunedin, Mi- James M'Laren. . When a young man, MrM'Laren, tlien a gamekeeper in Scotland, caiiied on his back, for a_ distance of a mile and a half, a youngster who had gone out from Balmoral to see the 'start of a shooting party, headed by I Prince Albert, and, slipping on the I moorside,had sprained hisankle.. That youngster is now King of England. Mr Chisholm promisedr to. mention- the matter to Lord Ranfurly, and it is more than probable that Prince George will be glad to see the man who succoured his father. ' .'"■':. .

A Flag.—lntheLondon.Oourt.Circular the following notification:appears :— "Major Askwith,Royal Horse Artillery lately commanding the Artillery1 Contingent in the Imperial. Representative Corps, sent to' Australia for the Proclamation, of the Commonwealth, had the honour of .being received in audience today, by His Majesty, and- presented for .the.King to.touch the flag of the Opepe tribe of Maoris.;, This flag,; which, .was a small Union Jack" with, a representation of Queen Victoria ia, the. centre, was entmMto IWor. Aakwith When in myr ZealandbyTaupbi the chiefof the tribe;.to take to England in accordance: on. the death' of theirj' Sovereign,. the^ flair

Pbbsonal.—The member for Palmerstoa and Mrs Pirani returned .froni -, trip to Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington last night.

FbbrW—The agent for Ferry, thi Human Frog, has arrived in Palmerston and is making j for the first performance on Wednesday next

Honobed.—Amongst those who have received autograph photographs of their Royal Highnesses during their stay in Wellington, are Mr John Plimmer, senior, of Wellington, and Mrs G. P. Donnelly, of Hawko's Bay.

RBTCBifiNG.—A special train left Wellington last evening at 5 o'clock with about 800 passengers, mostly Palmerstonians, returning from the Royal festivities, and reached here about 10 o'clock. At Paikakarilri,-Mr Waitex Freeman had thoughtfully arranged for an extra dining-car, and this was fully taken advantage of.

Magistebial.-The Dunedin Star's Auckland special telegraphs that some magisterial changes are pending. Mr Stratford, now Warden of the Otago goldfields, will retire on a pension, but his successor has not yet been selected. Mr Beetham, of Christchurch, has been granted nine months leave as a prelude to his retirement from the service. The correspondent adds that the probabUities are that Mr Beetham will be succeeded by Mr Thomas. Clerk of the Court at Wellington.

Painting.—We learn from the Dubbo Dispatch (Victoria) of May 11th that a local resident (Mrs R. Chase-Morris) was very successful in the oil painting competition held in connection with the local agricultural and industrial association. There were over 200 competitors, and Mrs Chase-Morris secured first prize in the olass for best oil-painting, sea or landscape, with a painting of a scene on the Waimakiriri river showing the southern: Alps in the distance. The same .picture was also awarded second prize m the class for monotone painting.

_ Memento.—There is a very interesting memento of the coronation of her Queen Victoria at present m thnstchurch. It consists of the dessert set used at the Coronation dinner on that auspicious evont, and comprises thirty-two pieces of the choicest chinaware, chastely designed and picked out in gold and colours. It was presented to the then Commissioner of the London Police Force, together with the freedom of the City, and passed from him to a relative now in New Zealand.

Democracy. — "The Mohammedan goes to Mecca." said Mr T. Price, of bouth Australia, at last Thursday nights banquet at Wellington, "the Catholic likes to pay a visit to Rome, but. no true Democrat in Australia seeks to go anywhere but to New Zealand." (Applause.) He was proud, he added to be alongside that great High Priest of Democracy, Dick Seddon. They were", proud of him in the great continent of Australia. They had watched his dealings with social questions, and whilst they would like to see New Zealand join the Federation, yet he believed this colony had a mission of her own to perform, and that she would rise to the occasion. Mr.Price's remarks were received with loud applause.—Post.

Dancing. — "Is dancing a legal nuisance ?' is a.question that has given Judge Molesworth some trouble to decide;; but he has given his reserved decision in the negative. The case was one in which John Hardy sued the trustees of a hall at Alexandra (Victoria) for permitting a nuisance, to wit dancing to be carried on in the hall The plamtiff complained' that dancing and singing were indulged in by noisy young people until 1 o'clock in the morning, and as he lived next door, he often failed to obtain any sleep at all. The judge said the plaintiff was apparently a, hyper-sensitive individual. He had told them how some years ago he put rubber rings round tho'beaks of some ducks-in the neighborhood to keep them from quacking. This experiment was not completely successful, so the plaintiff cut their heads off. Again, to prevent roosters from crowing in the night, he had constructed a patent roof, so that when the rooster stood up to crow his head bumped, and he was temporarily silenced. A verdict was given for the defendants, the judge not being satisfied that dancing was a nuisance.

Loquacitt.—Out of two and a-half hours speechifying at the State banquet at Wellington on Thursday to distinguished visitors, Mr Seddon spoke for two hours. At the luncheon to the returned contingents yesterday, a similar feat was accomplished by the Premier, with the result that just after the forward pait of the Ophir had moved off from the wharf, the Premier and Sir John Anderson (secretary to the Duke of Cornwall) arrived in a cab. and on leisurely descending therefrom, discovered that the time was one which called for vigorous action. " Ho, there !" vociferated the Premier, "Are you going already?" "Right away sir!" replied a deep voice from the bridge ' But here is Sir John Anderson!" cried Mr Seddon. Someone suggested a movement to the end of the tee, where the stern of the vessel was nearer in. Ihe Premier at once sprinted thither, his secretary ran second, and the Royal official third, dose up. Two of the Royal suite leaned over ike rail and grasped the latter gentleman, each by a hand, the Premier and his secretary shoved up behind, the select crowd on the wharf and the many on the yacht cheered—and Sir John, panting and dishevelled, reached the ieek in safety.

Cbiticism.—The specialiof the Lyttelton Times describing the Wellington functions _at the.Yorks' reception, has viewed things -with unkindly eyes. Referring to the decorations, he says:—"ln the narrow streets, soiled and dingy, and miserable from repeated wettings they were certainly not impressive. A brisk breeze dried the bunting, but the colours were so wickedly interspersed, and the prevailing shades so thin and jaundiced, that the streets seemed like some bilious dream. More particularly was itnoticeable that the draping of shop fronts and verandahs and arches was done with the maximum of stolid ungracefulness and inartisticness, The pure masculinity of it was obvious. It is dangerous work for mere man to play with flags, ■and the result is apparent in today s sublime incongruity. The arches, too, -suffered from the weather. In addition to their aforementioned disabilities, and with a sky overhead almost as gloomy as the mud under foot, everything in the garden was the reverse of lovely. The Wellington processional route was very much longer than the Auckland one, arid as a consequence the crowd was spread over a much larger area. To this may be ascribed the Impression that the number of onlookers was fewer, and that the enthusiasm was less marked than at Auckland. The attitude of the people again seemed to suggest curiosity rather than enthusiastic and blind loyalty. Criticisms were me as the Eoyal carriage passed alongnot unkindly or wholly, disparaging, as a rule, bat generally unduly personal" The goods you want at the; right prices m Drapery, Clothing, Furnishing and Boots at the Bon Marche, Palmerston North. £10,000 stock to chose trom, not it well and avoid regrets.— (Advt.) .-■-;..- °

,- The pressure of orders in our Tailoring and Dressmaking Departments ; incidental to the Itoyal visit having now been completed, we are again receiving orders in these departments "for early ■ execution.- We nevertheless recommend ;. the immediate placement of orders to ' *I w\., dlsappointment,.. : at-,'The:' Bon MarcW, C. M. Ross & Co.—(Advt ) : Pabkbe's Haie Tosic win wdrt ■ wonders with "that:bald root" It is also a certain cure for Dandruff and FaUing hair Off Me-by Mr Whiteford, Chemist, and Messrs D, D. ntde Couf J^^ASK*|Gbj«h isi ai remedy

C^Kpip^TßGpi SOUTH; ■ :.;•:. ~V^'^cSjiSßTOireiaßt;'JunejSli.'.-,.. '■•: Nothing likVtK^yanety of-^uniforms and nothing approaching such a number o£ the genus small boy has before been let loose upon any ■•community ;iri"this colony. They are undergoing 'ytnei- experience of a lifelimei and ihej" seem to know it. There is no'ddußt-ffiey^are making the most of their opporttnities and enjoying themselves anfc: their strange surroundings to their iearts'oontent. As already explained,* the boys are located at some of the larger schools"; They would have preferred tents, but as there is a fair amount of mild roughing it to be got out of the shakedowns provided, and the. parading for meals, they make no complaint on that score. Anxious parents can rest assured that now after the first rush and confusion, their offspring: are being well cared for and .are enjoying, themselves thoroughly. A Press reporter, who made a visit of inspection to the schools, secured some interesting copy, of which the following ie an extract:—" Yesterday afternoon as I pushed my way through the: crowd of boys at the entrance gates and safely negotiated the very diminutive sentry, I was struck by the fact that the Normal School at present is decidedly an abnormal school. Cadets rushed up and down passages, cadets tumbled in streams down the staircases, cadets ran like so many liberated atoms hither and thither across the big yard, cadets clamoured and pushed and scrambled in every corner of the building. I looked into one of the classrooms, suddenly transformed into a camp. Straw littered the floor beds were roughly outlined by pknks, and everywhere were piled the diminutive kits of the happy little soldiers. In one room everybody was merrily engaged in a;.general pillow fight. From the next a shrill chorus of greaTvolumeTnces^" santly rolled; and in a third room the hungry cadets sat on the floor and made a cheerful and rhythmic din by the combined clatter of knives upon tin plates. Everywhere was rough, boisterous good humour; everywhere a boy's capacity for enjoying himself. A fullgrown officer guided me down the corridor. Aa we approached, the sitting soldiers rose hurriedly to their feet and gave the correct military salute. The accommodation seemed fairly good, and I heard no complaints. Meantime the evening meal was in progress in the K?W™ ini Tibhs had beea set> at which 750 boys at once "were at work satisfying a boy's appetite. They came in companies, twenty or forty strong, and filedm their proper ranks, preceded by the mess squad, bearing the smokin^ meat, potatoes and loaves of bread a3 was roughly in order, but here, as everywhere else, there seemed no trace "of strict military discipline. ~ "It is said that with regard to the cadets billeted in the other schools a di&culty has arisen as to their meals, lhe contractors have undertaken ,to feed the whole contingent only at the Normal School, and it will doubtless require some further organisation to cope with a difficulty of billeting the boys in one place and feeding them in another. The food is ample and of sufficient variety. These young colonials get meat three times a day and thrive on it. Beveillejis sounded at 7 o'clock and the last post, after a busy day, divided between drill and meals, at nine ° clock at night. Then lights are put out, but the dormitories do not relapse into silence. As several of boys put it. You can't sleep in thaknoise 1' Sentries are posted ap various points through'the night, and the more than usually robustious'members of the camp are given in charge by the sentries to an adult who prowls the corridors for that purpose. The offenders are then carried off-under arrest and put into the guard-house. I asked a group of boys what the guard house was like 'Oh it s cold and hard. There isn't any straw there,' said one who had apparently spent a night there. 'But there s a light there and a lot of books andjyou can read,' said another, who had. presumably made the most of his "term of imprisonment. As a deterrent to disturbing the sleep of the.camp, the guard-room seems of little practical value. As I came away I asked the small sentry in khaki how long duft to his country compelled him to. remain at his post. 'Oh/ he said,' we stay as long as we like! But we're generally relieved every two hours.' ' And when are you going to be relieved?' 'I'm going to stay here all night. You know you can t get any sleep with all that noise inside; and besides, I've never been up all night before !' "