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Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9188, 13 April 1910, Page 4

Messrs Millar and Giorgi have forwarded a donation of £5 to the Palmerston Firo Brigade in recognition of their work at tho recent fire in the Square. A Wairarapa farmer states that ho cannot understand why dairymen grow turnips for their cows when mangels can be grown just as easily, and are more appreciated by cows, besides imparting no flavour to the milk. Two draws took place at tho StarrBowkett Society last night, Mr T. B. Haydon securing £100 in No. 1 group and Miss Georgina Swainson securing £500 in No. 2 group. Among the machinery destroyed by this morning's firo was/ a Haigh Haigh planer, which was erected there thirty-fivo years ago in tho original sawmill. It was in perfect order after its long period of usefulness, and was still being worked by Mr Tillor, who had been in charge of it since its erection. A young man, a labourer, who was taken in charge by the police in Christchurch conse.jusnt on having developed suicidal mania, had fourteen sovereigns in a match-box in the tool bag of his bicycle, whilst his savings bank book showed that he had over thirty pounds to his credit. The Opunake Times says: Last week an elderly lady arrived from the Old Country to join her brother, having been informed that he was working on a farm on the Ihaia road. She had been searching and inquiring for him for some 20 I years, and as it means a financial gain to tho long-lost brother the meeting was both pleasing and gratifying. Tho Commission appointed under the Civil Service Act, consisting of Dr. Fitchett, jjL.D., Professor Salmond, Sclici-tor-Gonoral, and Mr Waldogra\e, UnderSecretary for Justice, to investigate the charges preferred against the Commissioner of Taxes, Mr Peter Heyes, is to commence its sittings this week in Wellington. Mr C. P. Skerrett, of Wellington, and Mr W. J. Napier, of Auckland, have been retained as counsel by Mr Heyes.

In connection with the discovery of a skeleton in a cask at Paraparaumu, wo have ascertained, on reliable authority, that about seventeen years ago a gentleman who was then residing in the township discovered a skeleton, believed to be that of a Maori, on his property. Enquiries failed to prove identity, and the skeleton was subsequently placed in a cask and put between the ceiling and the roof of a cottage, remaining there until the building was pulled down recently.

On Friday a startling statement was made to the Dunedin Hospital trustees by tho resident surgeon, viz., that there was at present in the hospital,' under spccial attendance at 24s a day. a patient who had been admitted for the eighth time, suffering from delirium tremens. It was suggested that the fact of tho patient being admitted and treated for delirium tremens in a public hospital should bo sufficient condition for this patient's committal to an inebriate reformatory. The Board expressed an opinion that it was a pity something in that direction could not be done by law.

The star dramatic film at Hayward's Pictures to-nighris entitled "The Death Disc, being a historical play in the period of Oliver Cromwell, full of touching pathos. "Schauffausen" is also a beautiful coloured scenic, while "The Heir to Clavcncourt Castle" is a splendid vocal picture, which the Hay wards have made popular. There are also some of the most laughable films which have over been presented before tho public. Mr Hayward has specially selected this programme for ,t,ho race week, as laughter is tho dominating feature in it. The management announce a children's essay competition for which two prizes are offered.

The latest addition to the telephone exchange is No. 563, W. H. Brodenck, Guy street East. A stone found on the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula is claimed by Mr Wragge to be further evidence that prehistoric man inhabited New Zealand. The stone, he says, weighs 181b, and has a human face carved on it.

The first football casualty of is reported from Onehunga, a Maori boy named Jack Tutore, who hails from vsMangere, getting his leg broken while playing at the Onehunga District Hign School grounds.

One of the most noticeable of the donations recoivcd by the Early Colonists' Section of the Christchurch Museum was a group photograph of a Peninsula settler and his wife with their twenty seven stalwart boys and finelooking girls.

" At the meeting of the Northern Bowling- Association, Mr E. J. Hill, of Wellington, mentioned that Mr Wakeman, of Pahiatua, who was an expert- in grasses, had been greatly impressed with the utility of Cumberland grass, which is used extensively on the Scottish greens. Mr Wakeman had reasons for suggesting that if the Wellington Club, or the whole of the Wellington clubs combined, sent 'Home to the Scottish Association, it would send out a supply of seed. Cumberland" grass, Mr Hill said, formed a splendid lawn, that could be walked over with impunity in hob-nailed boots.

Specimens of tho new Australian coinage have reached Palmerston. The design is not a handsome example of the work of the Mint. The obverse represents the King's head crowned—a very unusual feature in British coinage. One has to go very far back in English history to find a coin with a king's head surmounted by a crown. It is different, of course,-with queens. The reverse of the Australian shilling shows a shield of the Commonwealth arms, topped bv a star and sustained by a kangaroo and an emu on either side. The motto is, "Advance, Australia."

A remarkable buggy accident occurred at Royal Park, Melbourne, recently. A horse and buggy were standing in a lane in charge of Rufus Morgan, aged 17 years, when something startled the animal and he galloped furiously down the lane and dashed madly into a sft paling fence. Immediately on the other side of the fcnce the railway embankment drops some 50ft., almost perpendicularly. The last 12ft. is bricked, and is quite perpendicular. Half bounding, half falling with the weight of the buggy pushing him forward, and the broken fragments of fenoing clattering after him, the horse cleared the first 30ft., then the vehicle caught in the railway telegraph wire. The harness broke, and the horse landed on the rails below, apparently quite unharmed. But young Morgan was not equally fortunate. The buggy was swinging on the telegraph wires suspended above, and he, with the horse, had fallen on to the railway line below. He rose to his feet, and was able to walk a few yards, but then collapsed, and lost consciousness. The youth was taken to the Melbourne Hospital, where he was found to be suffering from concussion of the brain.

Paul (-)nquevalli, the juggler, was sued in Shoreditch County Court on 24th February by the proprietors of the "PI.E." Syndicate, Ltd , for £50 8s for alleged breach of contract. In March, 1909, Cmquevalli appeared 'at the Music Hall, and when he was transferred to another hall, the London, declined to appear. The plaintiffs said this was a. breach of the transfer clause of his agreement. Cinquevalli'o explanation was that his assistant, Walter Burford, ;was taken ill. Giving evidence, Cinquevalli &aid that a trained assistant was to a juggler as part of his own "body. As a result of Burford's illness he had to give up several engagements and take him on a sea voyage to Australia. ' Subsequently the lad's brain gave way and he became imbecile, and he died of paralysis. Crossexamined : You are the person who has the skill as a juggler, not the assistant?— Ho is supposed not to have it, but he has. Ho is supposed to be clumsy, but he is really adroit. That is how he deceives the public. Judgo Smyly said that the reason gi ven for the non-performance was perfectly fair and honourable. There would have to be a verdict for the defendant with costs.

About 20 per cent, of tho bananas grown in countries aro unfit for export, and are often completely wasted. Attempts to make a saleable product by drying the fruit and producing banana flour have been only partially successful. Experiments made at the Central Laboratory, Guatemala, described at length in the Journal d'Agriculture Tropicale, have shown how to obtain from this waste material a spirit resembling whisky in flavour. The yield of spirit from each bunch of bananas is estimated at 4g litres, and the cost of manufacture is said to be much less than that of whisky. Over a period of two years the process has proved to be a commercial success. The potency of Queensland rum —and especially of. new Mackay rum—is (remarks the Brisbane Courier) proverbial, and abstinence advocates have often bowailsd the dreadful fact that tho sacchariferous sugercane should bo put to such base use. What will they eay when they learn that the mild and innocent Queensland banana may before long bo degraded into a whisky-producing product? The probability of this downfall is imminent. The banana-grower is dissatisfied with his returns. So many factors—careless handling, ship-rot, vindicative official inspection—all these militate so severely against his profits that he will surely welcome the prospect of a more remunerative method of disposal than a fresh fruit market that is demoralised bj; the competition of tho black-grown Fiji banana. The pity of it is that the banana is so rich in alcoholic contcnt that a single bunch will yield an imperial gallon of whisky at a nominal cost. Even as a by-product from the unsaleable portions of a crop, the whisky may be an important item.