TOPICS OF THE DAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume 9184, Issue 9184, 7 April 1910, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Sojie consternation was caused in town last night when it was The discovered that the water "Water supply was turned off, andSupply. all soz'ts of possibilities oc-

curred to residents who had the events of the previous evening still fresh before them. Enquiry at the Council Office this morning shows that yesterday afternoon the remaining connection of the 15-inch mains was linked up with the idea of increasing the possible supply if necessary. As soon, however, as the water was turned on in the new connection one of the pipes gave way before the increased pressure, a piece being blown clean out of it. This necessitated another pipe and a great deal of delay, but the work was eventually fixed up satisfactorily. It was a somewhat unfortunate time to decide to make the last connection, particularly in view of the possibility of an accident, which actually occurred, and it is also a fact that the superintendent of the Fire Brigade was not informed of the projected linking up and necessary turning off of the supply. At is was, numbers of people who were aware that the water was off were not easy mentally till they knew it was again available. The Government's scheme of retrenchment and the merging Too Much of some of the departDelay. ments into others has

been subjected to much criticism. The country settlers, especially in the back-blocks are loud in their condemnation of the merging of the Roads and Bridges Department with the Public "Works Department. Mr Massey, who has just been visiting some of the back country, says the settlers have practically lost the services of men of long experience, who knew the country thoroughly, and in whom they had absolute confidence. Under the new arrangement, little or nothing can be done without an appeal to Wellington. The result is delay and dissatisfaction. Mr Massey is certain that very much better results were obtained when the engineers of the Roads and Bridges Department were given a free hand to spend to the best advantage the money available in eases where the local bodies were unable or unwilling to undertake the responsibility connected therewith. Mr Massey says he has seen so much of the hardships inflicted upon settlers by being placed upon land to which there were no roads that he feels somewhat strongly on this subject. In spite of repeated promises, there is no evidence of improvement on tho system; on the contrary, the last state of things is worse than the first so far as the settler is concerned.

On Saturday a cricket match will be played between a team representing the banks of Palmerston and the combined firms of Abraham and Williams, Ltd., ajid Barraud and Abraham, Ltd. The Superintendent of the Fire Brigade desires to acknowledge, with thanks, the reccipt of a donation of £5 from Mr W. Pegden to the recreation fund of the Brigade, in recognition of the good work at the fire on Tuesday night. The Rongotea Town Board met on Tuesday evening, Messrs Darragh, Honore, and Ransom being present. Mr Martin Boyle's tender for supply of metal at 8s 3d per yard was accepted. Messrs Darrag*h and Honore were appointed to act as Works Committee for the ensuing month.

The Christchurch City Surveyor (Mr A. Dudley Dobson) has in his possession

a small stone which was brought to the surface at the water supply pumping station, from a depth of about eighty feet. It is an ordinary bit of shingle, heart-shaped, but is marked on one side by a quartz cross. The cross is perfectly formed, and at first view one would almost pronounce the stone an ancient sacred token.

In connection with the insurances on Messrs Millar and Giorgi's stock published in yesterday's issue, it was stated that the Royal Ofiicc held a risk of £500 on stock in the back premises, which was not affected. We now learn that the risk taken out applied equally to the stock and premises affected by the fire. Messrs Millar and Giorgi estimate their loss at £2500 above insurances effected. Their stock of boots alone was valued at £1600. A special meeting of tho High School Board held yesterday afternoon appointed Messrs W. 11. Collingwood and W. Rutherfurd to interview the Minister for Education at tho earliest opportunity in order that the High School's unfortunate position through the recent fire may bo placed before him. Mr Collingwood wired Mr Fowlds yesterday asking if he would meet the, deputation on his way through Palmerston en route to Wellington next week. It has also been decided to suspend tho new Technical School Scheme in the meantime.

Colonel S. Brenglc, who is conducting revival services in the Salvation Arr.iv throughout New Zealand, has just arrived from London, and is expccted in Pal-

nier st on on Saturday, when a four-days' revival campaign will be held. Colonel Brengle is one of the most noted of the Armv's officers. He is an American, and Ilk father was an officer in the Union Army. He has had a distinguished scholastic career in America., Pie was particularly interested in oratory, and represented his University in the State Oratorical Contest. He joined the Salvation Army in 1887. The Colonel is also the_ author of several revival works, which are very popular among a large class of readers. He is accompanied By Ensign Cooke, songster and musician.

The Palmcrjsjkon. North Brass Band played in the Band Rotunda- in the Square last night for the first time since

their reconstruction. There was quite a large attendance of the public and the selections of the Band were listened to with evident pleasure and roundly applauded at the conclusion of each number. Though the Band is not by any means perfect yet- Bandmaster Conway has achieved considerable improvement, and there is every promise that given the necessary time tho Band will become thoroughly efficient. It is intended to give a Sunday concert at an early date. Bandmaster Conway has expressed himself well satisfied with attendances at practice, and last night there was a full attendance of members.

There is difficulty in coping with the rush of sheep and lambs at the freezing works in the South Island. The Daily Times on Monday reported: Tnere aro now about 10,000 waiting- to be killed and frozen at the Oamaru works, and the works of other places have the same difficulty.

One fortunate potato grower in the Oamaru district took £56 worth of potatoes off a single acre. Fortunately for the potato growers, states a local paper, blight is not so bad as in other placeswhore there has been a greater rainfall. The good crops here will have to make good the devastation caused further north by the disease. A man named Norman Williamson was. before the Court this morning charged with stealing a swag and partmanteau from Anderson's boarding-house on the < night of the fire. 110 was remanded till j Monday. John Sass, 011 a charge of j being drunk and disorderly, was fined jj 20s, in default seven days. Messrs C, pf Dunk and Carter, J's.P., presided. A foolhardy performance is to take place at Wellington on Saturday afternoon. At high water a man named Parker, who is appearing at the Theatre Roval as a handcuff expert, will jump into the harbour off the Thorndon quay heavily manacled and handcuffed. He will free himself while under the water, and will return to the surface with the chains and handcuffs. There aro live cfises of enteric fever in New Plymouth,, and three of the patients aro inmates of the hospital. Tho sufferers are volunteers who _ attended the Kitchener camp at Wellington recently, and it is rumoured that the cause of the disease was in the water supplied to the camp. It is understood, however, that the camp water was officially analysed, and found to bo free from typhoid germs. Messrs Park and Holben intend mak- , ing a canvass of the town in the interests of the Palmerston North Band, and with the idea of getting honorary members. The Band intends to hold periodical concerts and honorary members will be admitted free. Bandmaster Conway is at present busy with his juvenile class, members of which are practising most assiduously. Mr Conway expects to show them in public in four or five months. Probably the most significant- fact disclosed during the wool-selling season, says an exchange, has been tho big advance made by Japan in tho purchase of the staple on Australian markets. Japanese buyers have taken about double the amount they did in the previous season. Not only this, but they have purchased all descriptions of wool, which snows that considerable advances are taking 2">lace in wool manufacturing in Japan. Wild dogs, writes "Sanitas" to the Post, are causing trouble in the hills at the back of Wainuiomata. They apparently hunt in packs, and their depredations have extended beyond the worryingof sheep to the killing of deer. The dead bodies of deer have been found near tho bods of some of the streams flowing into tho reservoir. This is not calculated to improve tho Wellington water supply. Several comments were made whilst the band was playing in the Band Rotunda last night as to the miserable light they were supplied with. There are only three burners for about thirty men, and one of these kept dying down regularly, the result of some irregularity in thesupply of gas. Another arclight is required on tho western side of the rotunda, and they should be kept in order, two details that should be attended to at once by those responsible. Tho captain of tho steamer Queen of the South, which arrived in Wellington on Tuesday, reports that during his recent voyage from Foxton to Wellington,, after passing Capo Tcrawhiti, the steamer ran into a large number of dead fishi floating on the water. These dead fish, were off Karori rock in thousands, and. the vessel steamed through them for four miles. They extended in all directions,, and appeared to consist mostly of lingDead fish have frequently been seen in the Strait. Tho presumption is that they are killed by some outbreak of thermal action.

The farming career of Mr E. A. Guillemin, of Forget, Saskatchewan, reads like a romance. Starting with a money capital of less than 10s in 1891, Mr Guillemin began farming on a quarter-acre section which ho homesteaded by borrowing enough money to make up his £2. fee. Last year Mr Guillcmin harvested 50,000 bushels of wheat, besides other' grain, and is farming forty-three sections of land. From his start with small beginnings, this Saskatchewan farmer sold land enough at, a recent sale to give him ii comfortable fortune, and his 1909 crop yielded him an income larger than that of many a millionaire.

Enthusiasm in connection with tho harvest festival and sale of work now proceeding at tho Salvation Army barracks continues unabated. Last night the band, accompanied by numerous soldiers, marched around the Square, returning" subsequently to the barracks, where the Feilding Band and Songsters contributed an excellent instrumental and vocal programme. C'apt. Avon a 11, Feilding. presided. Several songs were contributed by Mrs Capt. Avcnall. The band was in charge' of Bandmaster Bain, and Sergt.-Major Cordu was conductor of the songsters. Excellent business was done at the stalls. , The sale of work will conclude to-night, when tableaux will bo shown representing Southern farms and products. I ,lVol ' car gili correspondent says:—■ The extent of the typhoid fever out break has been causing a little alarm locally, fourteen cases in Southland having already been reported to tho authorities. Two cases have been attributed to the Kitchener camp at Abbotsford, both being mounted men, and one (Quar-termaster-sergeant Farley), has already succumbed. Fahey was a member of the First Contingent to South Africa, where he was wounded. Four cases have been reported from tho Bluff, and three from W hit on. Dr. Ogston conferred with the local health authorities, and the cause of the country cases is attributed to the peculiar weather of the summer. After four months of drought, heavy rain, fell, followed by hot weather, with the result that germs arose from the' soil with the evaporated moisture. The outbreak is not expected to extend further."

Speaking at the luncheon at Balclutha, on Thursday last, reports the Dunedin Star, Lord Plunkct said: "I wish to express my thanks for the trouble you havetaken to make my visit so agreeable. Ihe last tunc I came here you gave me a violent snowstorm. But one has to be prepared for all sorts of experiences, on a tour of this sort. I remember that when m Nelson on one occasion we had risen from dinner, and I had gone out' into the garden to smoke a cigarette, when from the darkness and the bushes, emerged a man cloaked about' the head his arms folded after the fashion of the ti aged 1 tin. Stalking up to me, he said m hollow tone: Are you an Irishman and a landlord? I replied: 'I am an Irishman, and I was a, landlord': and then ho whispered: 'It may bo inteiestmg to you to know that my father find' 01 ™ f C r rst laildlor Ireu;, 1 ;. ?- herl ho disappeared. However, . thm oS everywhere como out for me. The kmdness shown to mo a" the.. Ring s representative, and tliA ca re tSo n f tho CaV f T dollbt as t.°-the duu-ac prlin nf I,o£el?t,?nc>l ,o £ e l? t, ? nc> - IR obviously but an rShr l" a - il- m , tho Peoplo's* hearts-. 3 t lougii this loyal Dominion."

The Rev. Bates wired to-day: Winds vary but moderate, southerly prevailing, indications for fair weather, cold night, glass rise slowly.

The Committee of the Kairanga Euchre Tournament Club has decided to hold the first tournament of the season on Friday.

An expert workman in one of the great British needle factories, in a test, of skill, performed one of tho most delicate feats imaginable. Ho took a common sewing needle of medium size, an inch and five-eighths in length, and drilled a hole through its entire length from eye to point, tho opening being just large enough to permit tho passage of a very fine hair.

There should bo a good attendance at the Opera House rooms to-night for the formation of a Citizens Literary and Debating Society. Tho Mayor will _ occupy the chair, and Mr Maurice Cohen is to move and Mr A. V. Burnard to second the main resolution of the evenino-. l£. is proooscd to fix the annual subscription at ss. Already tho support of 60 members has been promised, and it is expected that many "Others who have not been' canvassed will bo present to-night.

Tho death of Winifred Mary Sims, aged 22 years, which occurred suddenly on Saturday evening at the residence of her parents, Shannon street, Wellington, was investigated by Mr W. R. Haselden, S.M., sitting in his capacity of Coroner. Deceased had been out all the day gathering blackberries at Mungaroa, and appeared to be in the best of health until a few minutes of expiring. Dr. Fyffc, who made a- post-mortem examination, discovered hemorrhage of the brain, to which cause the death was ascribed. The Coroner found that deceased died from apoplexy.

A slight deviation from the words of the burial service has been authorised by Bishop Wallis in view of_ the opening of the crematorium in Wellington. When it is desired that a service be read at the cremation of a dead body (states the Church Chronicle) the clergy of this diocese are authorised by tho bishop to use the Order for tho Burial of the Dead, substituting for the words "we therefore commit his body- to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the words, "we therefore commit his body to the fire, that that which is corruptible may be consumed thereby."

A good illustration of the value of the Ryeland cross for fat lamb production was given in a line of 12-3 lambs sent to the Addington salcyards by Mr T. A. Stephens, Irwell, which brought J9s 3d to 20s, the top price _ since the export season opened. A picked pen of 36 brought the higher figure, and'these were generally considered to bo one of the best lots of lambs ever seen in the Addington yards. They were very even, plump animals, and the fact that they were out of mixed crossbred ewes shows how well suited the Ryeland is fo_r mating with the ordinary flock ewes. The lambs were dropped in September. The top jien was taken for local consumption and the balance for export.

An absurd paragraph appears in the N.Z Times this morning regarding Palmerston. It refers to the rccent fires and the presence of Powelka in the dis trict, and says:—"Palmerston has practically been reduced to a state of terror.

! . . Such a state of excitement prevails that some people have armed themselves with revolvers. Women are frightened to .be left alone at night, while every stranger to the town is regarded with the utmost suspicion." It would be interesting to know who is responsible for these ridiculous statements. We understand the local representative of the N.Z. Times did not forward the exaggerations. Evidently someone with a penchant for sensationalism has been endeavouring to make Palmerston and its neople the laughing stock of the Dominion.

In consequence of representations ma*o by the New Zealand Government, his Majesty the King has been pleased to approve of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Dominion bearing in future the title of "Honourable" throughout the British Empire. At present the Judges receive the title of "Honourable" while in office, but they are permitted to bear it on retirement within the limts of New Zealand. In future, those retired Judges of the Supreijie Court who have already received permission to bear the title within New Zealand will have it generally recognised, and his Majesty's permission to bear the title will now, be granted, without any limitation, to those Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand who may bo recommended for such permission by his Excellency . the Governor.