LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 11 March 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Parents arid' ex-pupils of the Girls' Central School t are notified that donations to the piano fund may -be left with Miss Bond, Collingwocd-stVeet. J William Bennett, aged 75, a retired farmer Jiving a fc Mornington (Dunedin)), while working in his garden this morning, was attacked 'by severe pains and expired almost immediately. An inquest is ibeing held this afternoon.—Press A,sJ. sociation. • . At the Provincial Hall to-night a number if speakers residing in No-license districts will describe the operations lithe new conditions there. The Airerican millionaire, Mr Pierpont Morgan, has purchased Lady Amherst's •magnificent collection of papyri. The death of Captain Peters in London recalls an important event in> the history •of Wanganui-—the: arrival of the fiirst direct Home boat (says the Wanganiii "Chronicle"). Old residents 'wild rememiber vividly the morning in Jainmary, 1872, when the barque Malay was towed over the bar by the steamer Wangamui and uip the river to Taylor and. .Watts*' wharf. The occasion was a memorable one. While not by any means the largest of the company's fleet, it was deemed' that a big risk was being run in sanding such a large vessel here, and this was the reason that Captain Peters was in command. The Malay, whose tonnage was 350, was drawing 12ft 4in, and. was berthed at the wharf without difficulty. After .the cargo, which was consigned to .Messrs Taylor and Watt* and Duthie and/'^Oo., had been discharged she load:ed wool for London, the loading being cdmpleted while the Malay was lying in the stream below Landguard Bluff. While Captain Peters was here he handed over the command of the vessel to •Captain Richard Todd, now of Napier, and superintendent of the Tyser Line. Captain Peters went Home on a larger vessel, the Helen Denny, from Lytelton. Captain Todd brought the Malay out on her second trip the following year.

"Side by side with the legitimate advances in the practice of medicine ana surgery one cannot help .noticing some •methods of procedure open* to criticism'," declared Dr Newman at the annual meeting of the Geelong (Victoria),division of the British Medical ,Association last week. "The longer I practice, the miore one thing strikes me, viz., that medical men are in certain hu-mani weaknesses just like the rest of the public. _ We are always railing at the crass stupidity and unlimited credulity of people in general—how they are all like sheep, easily led, following every quack in droves and swallowing each newly-advertis-eov cureall with avidity; and yet we, as a profession, are tarred with the same brush. We are just as easily led, just as sheepish, just as easilv carried away by clever advertising. Witness the advent of the innumerable proprietary medicines and preparations. How we read ; the trade advertisements about their , wonderful qualities, how we all 'have a go* a>;, ordering them, on the strength of those advertisements, then discard them to have 'another go at the next puffedun drug; and the worst of it is that the more level-headed have, in self-defence, to 'swim with the tide, for if they do not their patients soon come to think them behind, the times, and transfer their patronage to someone else whom they believe to be up to date," J

The Wellington-Naples mail despatched 31st January arrived in London on Bth March. The following stearrv-rs will he within wireless rang*' of Wellington to night : -vtahcno, .Makma. Marania, Moeraki, iNavua, Sonoma, Taluue. Waitnana, W.i- - liiiioy, and Wimmera. Trallie returns on the Nelson section of New Zealand railways lor the perkd ending Ist February. 1913. and the corresponding period of 1912, .show that in ■live former period 9974 tickets were issued, against 8798 tor 19"12 ; tlw number of goods (cattle, etc.) carried 403. against 1224; tons, 2450, against 2691; parcels, etc., 649, against 465; revenue, £2237 3s lid, against £2284 lis. When interviewed by an "Even.in.ir •Mail" .reporter yesterday, Cap;ain Eden, oi tlie- wrecked steamer lied Pine, stated that he was required to pav for the men s meals at Elmslie Hay, for which he- had. to 'borrow money. Mr \V. T. Webber, of die French Pass, says that Mil's -statement may give a wrong impression so far as the the accommodation house is concerned. He was at the accommodation house at the i time, and the captain asked hhu what the "damage" was. He went and asked the proprietress, and she stated it was one shilling eae'h. This was paid without any indication that the money had been 'borrowed. Had the men been without money, Mr Webber sta';ed that he would willingly have paid for thorn himself, as he would not see the proprietress bear any expense herself. He also states that they were offered accommodation. ; The 12th Regt. Band, assisted by local ■ amateurs, will give a sacred concert in the Theatre Koyal on Sunday evening, commencing at 8.15 p.m., when an entire change of programme will be presented. A silver coin collection will be taken up. For the convenience of ladies and their escorts and those attending the church services, the 'band have arranged whereby they may have their seats reserved on application at Messrs Beg.g and Co.'s. A .meeting of t' e City 'Council and the. Pitt. Memorial Committee was held last night, the Mayor (.Mr T. A. H. .Field) presiding, to further consider the designs for the memorial, the Council liav- i ing expressed approval of that prepared' bv Mi". J. C!. Littlejohn. City Engineer, of a. yate and fence for the Bridge-street, frontage of the Queen's Gardens. It was decided that this design 'be proceeded with, and that according : :o specifications which, were approved by the meeting, he invited in Auckland, Wellington., -Christchurch, Dunedin, and Nelson. Tenders will be returnable by April 14th. I

The executive of the Invercargik 'branch, of 'the ■W.C.T.U. has instituted :v campaign against liquor advertisements, on tram tickets. They threaten to 'boycott the electric trams, and are asking members of 'temperance organisations to refuse to accept tickets bearing liquor advertisements. The Union is also agitating against Sunday trams, and intends to oppose candidates for the Town' Council who will not support their views on these matters. The now Point Elizabeth State coal mine, which is to be formally opened by the Hon. W. Fraser, Minister of Mines, ,->n his visit to the West Coast next month, will mean—according to Mr. Bishop, the Government officer who has made an exhaustive examination of the, seam—a very considerable increase of the output of coal from the State mines. He reports that there is in situ 132.000,000 tons of coal, of which 49,000,000 tons may be won, being sufficient to provide an "annual output of 500,000 tons for a period of 99 years. The railway to the \ mine, which had to be taken through very difficult, country, has cost £170.000. The. Minister of Mines is of opinion that under favourable conditions the output and profit of the mine will be fairly handsarre. "Save your trees" is the 'burden of Sir . R.ider Haggard's message to New Zealand. He spoke as a member of the Royal Commission Commission on Afforestation, in Great Britain in 1910. If" New Zealanders ,did not save their trees now they would regret it in fifty years, or even less. Not only would they suffer from loss of timber, but also from loss of fertility of the 6 oil and in damage to the rivers. He had, no wish to preach to New Zealanders, but he had been, much struck with the ! destruction of forest that he ha<J. seen on .ground which could not be cultivated. He instanced' the conservation of forests in countries like India and Borneo, -work done in the interests of economy.. With the example of other countries, much good could be done in New Zealand. Trees were being planted in.New Zealand, he knew, but they were sappy conifers for the most part, to take the place of the splendid native trees being destroyed. j

Buy a Pegamoid Rain Coat! They're the lightest "and most effective Rainproof 'Coats'" out, and wear like leather i 21s ' buys one.—Auckland Clothing- and Drapery Co.* The West Coast mails will arrive in Nelson to-morrow at 12.30 p.m. instead of 5.30 p.m., owing to the alteration in the train arraivgemnts for race day. Have you seen our Portable Tents? Theyr'e dandy for camping. Having centre telescopic pole, tEey make a small swag and are easy to set up. All to go at 25s each.—Auckland Clothing and Drapery '.Co.* The annual general meeting of the Rival Football Club will be held in Stallard's room this evening, at 7.30. If von are camping at- Easter, buy some of our Waterproof Sheeting at Is and Is 6d yard.—Auckland Clothing and Drapery Co.* A revolution in the fish trade (according to the Melbourne "Age") is foreshadowed bv the invention of a ScottishAustralian (Mr. J. R. Henderson). This is nothing less than the'abolition of ice from the'transport'and' preservation of j fresh fish. First the fish is put into a cooling chamber and slowly brought down "to a temperature of 32deg. Fahrenheit—this part of the process takes about two hours. Its purpose is to extract the latent heat of the fish. It .is a wellknown fact that with fish which have been kept in ice decay starts from within, near the bone. This is because the latent heat has not been removed. The fish are next plunged into a tank of sea water fortified by the addition of 15 per 1 cent, of salt, to prevent the bath from free-King at the extremely low temperature —lldeg. Fahrenheit, or 21deg. below freezing point—to which the bath is reduced. At the same time the water is kept iu rapid motion by an electricallydriven pump. During its passage the water passes through a filtering chamber charged with willow charcoal and nodules of coke, which absorb certain noxious Rases. After four hours the fish are removed from the tank, and- then they are impervious to decay for anything from a week to a fortnight, and perhaps lonp-er. The new process is extremely cheap, and also promises lar.ee eronomies to the trade in carriage. By dispensing with ice about one-fourth of the carriage would be saved, in addition to the cost of the ice itself. Dandy Rugs for 'Camping ! Large warm ; Bush lings for 2* lid, 3s lid, 5s 6d, 7s 6d, and 10s 6d each.—The Auckland Clothing and Drapery Co.*

I Messrs W. Lock and W. H. VJcHr, ./'.-. I'., presided at the silting of file -Magistrate's Court this morning. Only two civil cases were dealt with, one of which was adjourned, and ';he other struck oul. v ' ■• ■ Dr. Yalinthie and Dr. Trilby King attended a conference 0 f the Society for the Ilea;ih of Women and Children at Wellington this morning. Twenty delegates were present. 'J ju« morning was spent in a discirssion on the overlapping of kindred societies, and the need for - co-operation. It was decided to promote, periodical conferences of these societies. —(Press wire}. Men and alcohol are both rigidly excluded from the new home for widow's, 1 which has just been inaugurated in Havre. It is the first municipal, undertaking of the kind in France. The institution is designed as a home for indigent widows, who are expected to pay a rental of 50 cents a monih if they can afford it, if not, no charge is made." The occupants of the home are required to sign a pledge to .leave in the event of their marriage, or if their children hecome able, to support the..*. The sum of £36.881,224 Ts payable in respect of the policies taken out by restdents within the Dominion. The "figures quoted are taken from the returns submitted by the life insurance companies to Parliament for the year 1911. The inerea.se for 1912 will not he inconsiderable, as 1912 was for some companies a. record year. To obtain, this future benefit no l;vs a sum than £1,214.679 is paid annually on 214,943 policies. Mr Symmons, of Die Greenwich Police Court, is no believer in home comforts. Charged with wife desertion, a prisoner declared that he could not go hack to his better half because he had no homo comforts. "Of course you have not," retorted the magistrate. ' "That is why men go to hotels and clubs. You don'"t go home for comfort; you gi; because itis your duty. 1 know sometimes when ' men go home their wives say : 'There is something in the cupboard 'cold, get- it yourself. You've got to put up "with that.' " According lo the Board of Trade's annual report on the world's coal production and consumption, the total quantity raised in 1911 was about 1050 million tons, of which the United Kingdom produced more than a fourth, and the. United States more than two'-fifths. Production in England and in Germany and France was greater than in any previous year. Compared with 1910, the output of the United Kingdom increased by 7,500,000 tons, and that of Germany by 7,750,000 tons. On the other hand", the United States produced 4,750,000 tons less.

The growing indulgence in Sunday ■' amusements and tl.e selfishness of Uw ago in regard to reh'gi6us institutions have "been brought, prominently before , puople in recent clerical speeches. •'There i s no doubt," said the- Rev. Hugh Bosworth Chapman, chaplain of the 'Royal Chapel, "that- selfishness is enormously on the increase. The oppoitunities for Sunday amusements Jiave grown in the most appalling: manner in the last fe\v_years, and people take advantage of them because they get an immediate return in the form of sensation. A great deal less is given as between the soul and God, and very often, there is a worldly purpose in. view.. I am strongly of opinion that the depletion of the churches *s not due to tne churches' tlhemselves so much as to the grave spirit of irreligion and. materialism, which ifi growing up. lam afraid that signs of piety and the love of the Bible, which, after all, is the highest, plank in religion, are fast disappearing. The worship of money and the respect for money are appalling Conditions of the present, day. Many people prefer to give through the. agency of institutions and societies because they get the advertisement, and thai, has'had its effect, upon church funds r.r.l offertories to a large extent.

A fierce westerly gale was experienced by 'the steamer Tokomaru {which arrived at Auckland last Thursday) two days after the vessel had left St. John (Qntrada), on the' outward Voyage to Australian and New "Zealand ports '(says -the "Now Zealand Herald.") , The gale 'laired for over two days) and, so, fierce \ver6 the elements that only 40' miles -.verb" covered in 24 .hours'" during the height of the storm. The wind blew with hurricane force, while a, high and dangerous sea was running, and huge green seas broke over" the vessel, flooding her decks from stern to stern. One sea, wjiich struck the steamer, smashed in two of her life-boats on .the starboard boatdeck, and did other damage to ■ deck houses, fittings, steam pipes, etc. -Mr.. H. Roberts, the chief officer, had hia right leg broken above the knee, through-' being dashed about by the watef-.'' i; ''MVf' Roberts was in the 'after ' ivhen a great wall of water' broke opboard, and burst, the whoel-hoiVse, 'dboV open, the officer .being buffeted about' bV the swirl of water-s. Ho 'Avas at great risk from his perilous pdsitioriy the injured limb being' set by'the other officers. On arrival of the Tokomaru at Capetown. Mr. Roberts was sent to the hospital for medical treatment. As bearing on the influence on prices of the increased supplies of gold /the "■Statist" points on:, that although the German En? p ire coined and issued a great, gold currency, "yet it is impossible at the present moment for any man, however much he may need it, to obtain gold in Berlin and "send it abroad. The Roiehsbank and the Government would look on the person who dared to apply for gold for export with the greatest disfavour, and. in consequence, there is not, a banker or money-changer in the whole German Empire who would venture to withdraw, the money." In , Austrja-Hungary the state of things ia described as even worse. "Austria-Hun-gary," remarks the "Statist," "is- in debt to the rest of the world. The natural course would be for gold to pour one and satisfy the creditors of the country. But the "Austro-Hungarian Bank, and the Government behind it, threaten with their deep displeasure anyone bold enough <o export gold, and. it is found that nobody dares to take the consequences, and the gold is not shipped." The position in Russia, is similar. In France the Bank of France is exercising its richt to pay silver, payment in gold beinsr inconvenient. Of the causes accounting for the existing conditions affairs one fsays the "Australasian Insurance and Banking Record") is the necessity to protect vast issues of paper money, and another to support the public finances. The demands for p-old from most of the lending countries"have increased enormously, and apparently useless accumulations have been made.' Who, 25 years aeo. would have thought.it possible for Arcrcntina to lock up nehrlv £50.000,000 in gold in the CaiVdo Conversion, and for Brazil to accumulate £25,000.000 in the Cai?.a da The gigantic scale nnon which gold ha* lv*en hoarded in Jndia and Errvpt could also harlly have been anticipated-,. At-toe-ether it. may be concluded that notwithstanding • augmented yields front the mines, the position nt present is that the demand for gold for currencv reserve nnrpos"s is equal to. if not greater, than, the supply. Are you goin<r camping at Ej>*terr Buy one of our Portable Tents. They have telescopic centre pole, aw easy to put up and are most hvgienie; ?5s buys one.—Auckland Clothing and Drapery

A batch of 20 Territorials, in charge of Quartermaster-Sergt. Bates, of the Permanent Staff., left by this morning's steamer en route tt> Yaldhurst, to do the preliminary work in connection with -the forthcoming camp. Messrs A. E. Mans ford and H. Saunders, after fishing in the Motueka River for a fortnight, speak most highy of the vicinity for trout fishing. Though the trout were not particularly plentiful, they were in fine condition .and gave capital sport. Mr. Mansford easily beat his last season's record, and on two occasions had to empty his creel and start afresh. largest" fish netted was just over 71bs.. the majority of them being 31bs. The grand masquerade, torchlight procession, etc., which was arranged b-v the Citizens' Band, assisted bv the Fire „ Brigade, to have been held to-night, is postponed. The Marine Department has -been advised that the Government training ship Amokura- left Auckland for Wellington at 6 a.m. on Saturday. The vessel is expected to arrive in Wellington about Thursday next. Mr Massey to-day promised a deputation to obtain a report on the accommodation for Government departments atChristchurch, with a view to considering a request.that the old Provincial Council Buildings be given to the city as a site for a Town Hall.— Christehurch press wire. The tiny strip of ground (461-i square feet) which abuts upon the Charing Cross opening to the Mail archway is to be sold by the London County Council to the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company . for £511,737. which works cut at about £51.109.000 an acre. The ground has a frontage of 69 feet. The tinv plot is .being purchased in two parts. A piece of just 93 square feet will cost the company £53057, or more than £532 per square" foot. For the other piece, 368 feet square. £58700 is to be paid, nearly £524 p'er square foot. Taking frontage alone the price paid per foot is £5170. The members of the Public Service Commission commenced work in Dunedin yesterday, individually visiting the public officers, and inquiring into the staffing, salaries, accommodation. and other questions. They will- probably be engaged at Dunedin till Thursday, and will then proceed to Oarraru and Timaru, before starting their labours in Christchurch. The "Lancet" states that accumulated scientific evidence proves that the subaural knot and the long drop in executions are clumsy and inefficient because there is a tendency for the knot to slip. The journal contends t'h'at reform is necessary to ensure that the rope shall remain tight at the point of the chin. By the will of Mme. Esperonriief. • a wealthy Parisienne, £S6GCO is bequeathed as a fund to aid young women to resist the terrptations of the gay city. Each year the interest is to ba distributed among 10 young women, with or without children, who have made a brave fight- in the fact cf destitution to retain their good name. Freedom from all reproach is not an absolute essential, if it can be proved that the women are earnestly endeavouring to lead proper lives. Threee people have died from, suffocation in a, house in the Rue Tivoli, in Boulogne, a watering-place on the French coast. Becoming alarmed at- the fact that- nobody came out from the house for some time, the police broke in and found' a woman in bed, a man sitting on a chair, and a servant on the floor. They were all deal. It is relieved that the man and the servant were sitting Tip with the woman, who •was an invalid, and that they were overcome iby the fumes from a leakino- gas stove.