TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9452, 27 February 1911, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

It will have been noticed that quite a number of sheep-steal-Sheep- ing cases have been Stealing, before the Supreme Court of late. Tho Chief Justice referred to the matter when delivering his charge to the Grand Jury at Napier. He explained that, some years ago, he had endeavoured to get a law passed compelling farmers, when they sold sheep, to send to the Registrar of Brands a note to the effect that he had 6old so many sheep bearing such and such an earmark, and that the man who bought them should also notify the Registrar. He (the Chief Justice) thought that some legislation of this kind would get rid of a great number of these offences. ■ But would such an Act be workable, with the number of sheep transactions always taking place throughout the country? It would almost take a Department to itself to administer such an Act, and we fear it would prove a very difficult matter to enforce it.

The American touring party, now in New Zealand who "Doing" the were passengers by Dominion, the Corinthic, are "doing" the Dominion in true American fashion. Every day is mapped out ahead. Even "rest" days are provided for. After leaving Now York on 26th November the party "did" London, with selected parts of England, thrown in, and then sailed for South Africa. The tour in that country included Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, Transvaal, Rhodesia, Victoria- Falls, etc. New Zealand is to be finished by the beginning of April, including excursions to fiordland. . Thence the party will proceed to Tasmania and the Australian States. By September 11 the party might expect to arrive back in New York, after having "clone" New Guinea, the Philippines, Hong-Kong, China, Japan, Manchuria, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Berlin. The whole trip will occupy between nine and ten months. The party comprise four ladies and four gentlemen, and the trip should be an educative and interesting but expensive holiday tour through foreign lands.

A week ago lasj; Saturday was the thirty-fifth anniversA Notable ary of a very importEvent, ant event—the completion of the laying of the submarine cable between New Zealand and Australia. It was a memorable undertaking, and was carried out with surprising speed and accuracy. The cable steamers em-, ployed were the Hibernia and the Edinburgh, and they arrived at Sydney on 28th January, 1876. _ On 4th February they left their moorings, excellent progress being made, and within ten days they were in Golden Bay, preparing to land the New Zealand end of tlie cable at Wakapuaka. On the evening of 18th February New Zealand was linked by cable with the whole civilised world. The historic message, "The landing of the cable was successfully completed yesterday evening," was issued from Nelson by the Press Agency. The completion of the work was enthusiastically cheered by a number of exoursionists from Nelson who were present on the occasion. It was a notable event for New Zealand, and the Dominion to-day reaps the advantage accruing.from cable communication to a greater extent than the most sanguine ever then anticipated.

The goods traffic on the Main Trunk Line has been phenoThe menally heavy this seaPastoral son, and the resources Industry, of the staff are at times considerably strained to cope with it. Every goods train is . a heavy one, not only the day trains, but those by night also. Sheep are being sent in weekly increasing numbers from Hawke's Bay owing ■to the prolonged drought recently prevailing in that district. These sheep are being despatched all over Waikato, and as far as Helensville. Indeed, but for the Main Trunk Line some of the Hawke's Bay runholders would have found themselves beset with difficulty in finding the outlet for their sneep which Waikato. has furnished, but which in the absence of the Mam Trunk Line would have been unavailable through lacks of moans of transit. Then from Taranaki and intervening districts come long, heavy sheep trains, all bound for the one destination—Wellington, either the Gear or Meat Export Companies. Thus is furnished a striking testimony to tho development of the pastoral industry during recent years, and also to the marvellous productiveness of the foil on tho West Coast of the North Island, In whatever direction one turns at fiis season of the year, and more especially in a great railway oentre lib Palmerston North, sheep trims are met with, some bound Auckland way, others to Wellington, and others through the Gorge to the East Coast and Wairarapa. The observant eye camio'i fail to note these indications of the rapid progress the North Island is making, and of the substantial wealth the pastoral industry represents in the movement from place to place of immense numbers of sheep. The railway Mums for the first' three months of the present year should give corroborative proof of the phenomenal show,) traffic which has been characteristic of the last quarter of the financial year. v

On page 2; Telegrams, general. On page 3: Cricket, cables, sculling. On/ pago 6: Entertainments,, correspondence, general news. On page 7: Coronation, Methodist Conference,, commercial. The largest elephant with Wirths' circus is saitMo be over 120 years old. Tho Taranaki Railway Department ifr crying out in vain for men for the Stratford railway works. A Pahnerstan business, man received a pleasant surprise on Friday. Among his letters was one containing £5 forwarded as "conscience money." At a meeting of tho Newspapers Proprietors' Association, at Queenstown, last week, Mr H. Brett, proprietor of the Auckland Star, was elected chairman. The timber industry is looking up on the West Coast, and several mills which have been closed are being put into working order again. At Papawai, near Greytown, tho Maoris celebrate each anniversary of tho death of any important personage of their race by holding a concert and dance.. The subscription list in connection with the "Maries" of tho Empire for presentation to Queen Mary at the Coronation closes at Wellington on Saturday, March 4th.

A man named J. Magill, travelling to Te Kuiti, was assaulted by a couple of drunken men and knocked off the train Te Kumi station last week. Forutnately ho was not seriously hurt. Mr G. E. Woollcy's exhibition of paintings and sketches was closed on Saturday night, after a successful week. Mr Woolley intends holding a similar exhibition in Wellington this week. A London cable says:—A ' Southend painter named Howard Stcrge, who was in a state of destitution, has inherited £16,000 by the death of an uncle, who lived near Auckland in New Zealand. A largo number of shares have already been taken up in the Bacon Company, which is being formed, with a view to the erection of bacon-curing works at Waingawa, Masterton. The following members of the Palmerston North Guards and Rifles are competing at Trentham next week:— Col.Sergt. Perrin, Sorgt. Stock, PrivatesCook, Griggs, Hudson, Col-Sergt. Dalziell. In the North Canterbury district, recently, a constable, in his capacity as Court bailiff, had to execute a distress warrant in a licensed hotel. He had to run the bar and billiard-room for 6ome days' till matters could be arranged. If the warships Milwaukee, Charleston,, and St. Louis, now building at the merton Navy Yards, are classed asarmoured cruisers, the United States will becomo the second largest naval Power in tho world, leading Germany by a' narrow margin. "There is only one really good woman in the whole, world," said Don Quixote, "and every wise man is convinced that she, tho only one, i 6 his own wife." Every wise motorist cherishes at the bottom of his heart a like belief about the motorcars of the world and the car of his own lot.

At about 3.40 o'clock on Saturday afternoon a. fire broko out in Messre J. Mayo and Son's fruit shop, in Main Street. The outbreak was due to fire from the fireplace igniting the liningboards around tho chimney. The flames were extinguished before any great damage had resulted. The Palmers Ton North Brass Band played a number of selections in tho esplanade rotunda yesterday afternoon. The programme was well-selected, including "FalstafF," a test piece at the recent contest. Although the weather was not promising the attendance at the eeplanade was fairly good. On the initiative of the Mayoress ameeting will be hold in tho Council Chambers to-morrow night at 8 p.m. to consider the best means of raising money to pay off the debt on the High and Technical Schools. It is hoped there will be a largo attendance, and a definite project worked out, Possibly it is not generally known that the new Education Act is very strict about attendance. Under tho old Act the attendance requirements were supposed to havo been fulfilled if a pupil attended eight out of ten, or six out of eight times upon which the school was opened, but according to the amendment of the law >a child is supposed to attend upon every occasion on which the school is open, unless a thoroughly satisfactory excuse is forthcoming.

New Brighton, a Christchurch suburb, has adopted tho most modern method of extinguishing the street ga& lamps, a process which is effected by clockwork, and which, so. far, has proved successful in operation; The method docs away with the employment of men to go around putting the lights out. This appliance ha 6 been in vogue in Masterton for some three or four years, the lamps being both lit and extinguished by clockwork. The . Salvation Army's extension scheme was advanced another stage yesterday, when special services were held in the Broad Street Hall. Adjutant Haywood spoko at the morning and evening, meetings,! both of which were largely attended. The subject' for the; day .were- "Reconciliation" and "Atonement," and the Adjutant gave his addresses from Matthew V., 23-24, and Romans V., 9-10. The band also greatly assisted at the meetingss during the day. Tasmania is said to have had a nomenal .fruit crop this season, and shipments of apples and pears to places beyond Australia and Now Zealand promise to bo tho heaviest,in the history of the :State. Altogether, a fleet of thirty steamers has been ; engaged to leave Hobart, commencing this month, and-ending on 16th June. The consignments will total nearly 800,000 cases, or 190.000 case's more than last year, Shipments will be sent to London, Liverpool, New York, Germany and South America. When will New Zealand be doing anything in that direction ?

At Wellington, on Saturday morning; Mr Justice Chapman, in admitting several candidates who had passed their respective' examinations to practice as barristers and solicitors gavo tho new members of the legal fraternity, some very kindly and valuable advice in rospect to.' their future career. His Honor emphasised, the necessity of each man reading over the oath of allegiance and the oath of admission, He said he had a special motive in doing so. It might havo been owing to nervousness, but the ; oaths were not very woll read, except by two of the candidates, who were markedly better than tho others in their reading. Ho made special mention of the, physical ability that was required to stand tho strain; 86 well as- diligence in the study of their cases. The-successful man was not necessarily the man who wasparticularly quick in picking up points.. The man who road a thing over a good' many times before he grasped tho point was sometimes more successful than the man who apparently, was more, clever in legal technicalities, but,who- sometimeslacked tho necessary application ,to enable him to fully grasp details.:- '

The Petone Railway Workshops Fire Brigade have decided to send a team to the demonstration at Hokitika next week. During 1910 passengers to the number of 9900 left the United Kingdom for New Zealand, and 36,331 for Australia. The United States attracted 303,300, South Africa 30,818, and Canada 196,200. A btfst-of General James Shields, tho illustrious Irish soldier and statesman, has been erected in St. Mary's Cemetery, Carrolton, U.S.A. This is the first monument ever erected to an Irishman by the United .States Government. B'oston girls who are employed as waitresses in the cafes are so much sought for in marriage that they are now forbidden to say anything more than, "Good morning, sir," to male patrons, and this only when they arc addressed first.

IV"A huge multitubular 60-horeo power boiler is at present being built at the Phoenix Foundry, Wellington, for Mr G. Bartholomew, 'Feikling, It will weigh between five and six tons. It is to be erected at a large new sawmill in tho forest on the Main Trunk line.

According to a dictum of Mr. J. Kier Hardio, M.1?,, there never has been a timo when labour troubles were so universal and widespread, Even in Germany ferrhent, unrest, and strife were in evidence, not to speak of .a threatened general lockout. One firm had gone so far as to stipulate that those in its employ must not marry without the consent of the firm.

According to the Italian press, thieves have been enjoying a long period of undisturbed good luck at Messina, where a large number of them have settled sinco the great earthquake. The last reported achievement apparently beat tho record, for they forced an entry into the Church of Santa Chiara and carried off not only the doors and windows and the sanctuary furniture, but the whole of bells. His Excellency the Governor, Lord Islington, wijl bo present at the farewell banquet to be tendered to the Premier and Hon. Dr. Findlay in the Town Hall, Wellington, on Wednesday next. The Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, will pre-' side, and will propose the toast "Out Guests." Sir Joseph Ward and Dr. Findlay leave on the 3rd inst., and travel by the Victoria to Sydney, and thero board the Makura for Vancouver.

The particulars of the suit which is pending between Mr J. H. Holder, of Napier, and the Phoenix Insurance Company, of London, involve the liability or otherwise in connection with a burned motor car, the steering gear of which Ivent wrong, causing the vehicle to "capsize, resulting in its igniting and being destroyed. The car was insured for £3OO, a clause in the policy stating that if the fire originated from the engine in the car the Company would not bo liable. The case, which will be of great interest to motorists and insurance people, will come up for hearing at the next session of the Supreme Court in Napier.

A somewhat elderly bridegroom of New York has started a suit for separation from his bride of five weeks, on the ground of wilful abandonment against his wishes. His wife said in reply that her aged husband is a faddist, who. insisted that she should accompany him on a barefoot walk on the wet gra6s every morning. She took two early barefoot walks, she says, just to be agreeable, but the experiment cooled her enthusiasm, and she firmly declined to ropeat it. The bridegroom insisted that it was good for her health, but she stood firm, and then they quarrelled.

One of tho evidences of progress in China, reported by The Times correspondent, is that at an international tennis tournament held recently in the grounds of tho British Legation at Pekin the first prize for mixed doubles wa6 won by a member of tho Wai-wu-pu (Foreign Office) and his partner, Miss Liu, the daughter of the new Minister to London, and among those who watched the matches there were almost as many Chinese as foreigners. Many of them were ladies, for Chinese women are now beginning to follow the example of their husbands and to mix in foreign society.

A member of the faculty of a New England University tells of a freshman who wa6 asked.by one of the professors whether he had proved a certain proposition in Euclid. "Well, sir," responded the freshman, "'proved' is a strong word. But I will say that I have rendered it highly probable." Another Euclid 6tory i is. told of a girl who apparently learned her proposition by heart. She knew the beginning of the proposition and the end, but could not remember the middle portion. So she wrote down the first part and connected it with the end by the words "for reasons which I am not willing to 6tato the angle ABC : is equal to the angle DEF." For the month of January the N.Z. Farmers' Dairy Union, Ltd., paid out to its milk suppliers a total of £7838 Os lid, which is £317 more than for the corresponding period last year, notwithstanding that the rate of advance is id per lb less this year, owing to the much lower values ruling in England. The Union has kept up a steady advance of lOd per lb for butter fat for scmo months past, and owing to a good local market for its wcll-knwn Black Swan brand it anticipates keeping up this price till the end of tho season. The quantity of butter made for January was tons, which, owing to a large increase in the number of suppliers, is 12 tons more than in 1910.

Some few months ago a Paris firm of produce merchants wrote to the New Zealand Farmers' Dairy Union ■ asking them to quote for the supply of unsalted butter, und, also, enquiring if the local Company would ship direct to_ Paris. The Dairy Union replied referring the Paris deaiers to their London agents, and the secretary of the former ha 6 now received a further communication, which discloses the fact that the Paris firm had already been purchasing Dairy Union butter in London. The letter is as follows:—"We have to thank you for your favour of November 25, 1910, and beg to state that wo, havo written to Messrs Dalgety and Co. as suggested by you. We read in your circular that you are makers of the 'Hinemoa' brand, of which we bought a large quantity last season. This butter bein? very good stuff was much appreciated on the French market." This unsolicited testimonial will, no doubt, be appreciated by the Dairy Union's shareholders and suppliers. The late Henry Silver, who at one time was a member of the literary staff or Punch, left £IOO.OOO to London Hospitals. He was the first literary man who was ever known to become a millionaire (his estate, was proved for probate purposes at £1,197,000. None of his immediate friends regarded him as wealthy, and to three of his "chums," to whom he bequeathed £250,000 each, the announcement of his great riches camo as an agreeable 6hock. His first contribution was handed in in 1848. He occupied a 6eat at the famous round table from 1857-70, was an intimate friend of Charles Keane, and was one of three Charterhouse men (Thackeray was another) who Controlled the litorary fortunes of Punch. His initials "11.5." are carved in rather large characters on the Punch table between the near monogram of "0.5." of Owen Seaman and tho "Hy. ' F." of Harry Furniss. On the other side of Mr Seaman's monogram appears the' neat monogram of "W.M.T." (William Makepeace Thackeray), Mr Silver's schoolfellow'.