LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLVIII, 27 July 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An unpleasant experience, and one winch might easily have resulted in serious consequences to those concerned, befel two young ladies while dn v ]»S last evening' about 7 o'clock On the horse turning into IS T ile-street West from Waimea-street, it 'stumbled and fell, and both occupants of the vehioln were thrown on to the road by the suddenness of the mishap. Some passers-by in. the vicinity gave immediate assistance, and got control of the horse before it had time to rise. Fortunately, beyond a sever shaking and a few 'bruises, neither young lady was seriouly hurt, and they can well congratulate themselves) in tho circumstances. The vehicle and horse escaped injury. and the journey was continued a few minutes after the incidentSilver and' Gold Beaded Gimps and Silver Fringes for'trimming evening dresses, sid, Bd, j.od, Is Id. etc. Tratlien's Sale.'* A few vears ago a magic lantern was belno- shown in country school. t One picture shown was a waggon used in the time of King Pharoah. It certainly was a curious construction, consisting of two straight pieces of wood, without either side or back. An old farmer was so amused that he rose -up and exclaimed, aloud : "I can now quite understand wny Joseph told liis brethren not to fall out bv the way."

The Mayor of A'ucklaiid, Mr C. J. Paw, is moving/in the-direction of forming a 'town-planning league. For this purpose lie is convening a meeting of citizens which is to be held in the Town Hall on Friday afternoon. Much attention has been given by the Mayor to the subject of town-planning, and ■during his recent visit to .Sydney lie had an opportunity of noting the results of the activities of the Town-Planning League in that city. He was much impressed with the good work that had been accomplished by the league. Mr Parr stated that the activities of the league were guided bv about a -dozen prominent, architects, as well as surveyors, and half the aldermen of the city, business people liberally supported the iroYement, as they recognised that the improvement and beautifying of the cit> was food from the business point of vi< ut .°The Sydney League had influenced public opinion very considerably upon all matters connected with the .development of Sydney, and the Mayor considers that the time was now opportune to form a similar organisation to assist in the proper development and beautitication ot the. city of Auckland.

A Matamata (Waikato) fanner has had a curious experience, (says the Auckland "Star.") About a month ago lie missed a beast off the turnips. Two days followin"' he lost another, and a search over the swamps and gullies discovered nothing of either. A fortnight later he missed" 3 a third beast, and naturally suspected something out of the ordinary. When his own dog disappeared recently, and stayed away two nights, the case became still more mysterious, and a more thorough search was instituted, with tlie result that he found the three cattle and the dog in a water-shed hole on a spur running down a swampv gvilly. Two of the beasts were dead, and tlie third, which had been there for a fortnight, starting chewing the rope with which it- was pulled out. 'J lie -mouth oi the pit, which was just about- as large as to let an animal through, was overgrown with fern. When the farmei was taking out the cattle he came across the jaw bones of a deer, indicating that this death trap had claimed other victims.

The following circular, addressed to some of the moneyed men of the city, outlines a proposal which at the least has the merit of novelty (says the Dunedin "Star") : "Dear sir,— Knowing that you are always interested in an opening for any investment in a good live busines proposition, I take the liberty of presenting to you what seems to be an excellent business proposition-, and in. which, no doubt, yo'u will take a lively interest. Please advise me as to the amount- of stock you wish to subscribe towards the forming o'f a company for the exploitation, of this idea. Ihe object of this company is to operate a large cat ranch in the Catlins district, where land can be either purchased or leased for the purpose. To start with, we will collect about, say, 100,000 cats. Each cat will average 12 kittens a year. The skins sell from 6d for the white ones to 8s for the pure black. We "will have about 1.300.000 skins to sell at an average of Is 3d apiece, making our' revenue over £2OO a day gross. A man can skin 50 cats a day. He will charge 8s to 10s a day for liis labour. It will take about 100 men to operate this ranch, therefore the profit will be about- £195 a day. Wo will feed the cats on rats, and will starta rat ranch adjoining the cat ranch; in fact, the district abounds in rats The vats will multiply four times as fast as the cats, and if wo start with 100,000 rats we will have four rats a day for each cat, which is plenty. We -will feed the cats on rats, and in turn Avill feed the rats on the stripped carcases of the cats, thus giving each rat one-fourth of a cat. It- will be seen by these figures that the business is self-acting and automati.e. The cats will eat the rats, the rats will eat the cats, and wo will get the skins."

The Palmerston Hospital Board is working hard to ensure the establishment of a North Island Radium Institute at Palmerston. Considerably over £2OOO has been subscribed, and appeals have been made tc; other hospital boards ir. the island- Several replies have already been sent in. The Stratford Board considered. that the Government should take action and find the necessary funds for the Institute. New Plymouth expressed sympathy with the scheme, and the Coromandel Board, though in sympathy with the o'bject, said it could not see its way to assist financially. The Wellington Board said it heartily supported the proposal, and suggested that a. committee formed to consider the matter involved. The Cook County 'Board notified that the matter was to receive further consideration.

The Aquitania did splendidly on hei first voyage from Liverpool to New York. The aim of the design was to ensure a mean speed on the Atlantic ot 23 knots within a year from the entrance of the vesse lin service. Although the vessel had only been under steam for 48 hours, on her way -from the Clyde to Liverpool, before she left the Mersey on her voyage to New York, she made the trip of 3181 nautical miles in five days 17 hours 43 minutes, which gives an average speed througho'ut tho whole yovage of 23.1 knots. It must bo remembered, however, t-liat the vessel slowed down for three hours to' a very low speed owing to fog, which piesaged the presence of ice in the vicinity. This is clearly bro'ught out in the runs per day. On the two days when the weather conditions admitted of the full speed being run tho distance covered from noon to no'on was 602 miles. Ihero is thus every promise that tho vessel will attain an average speed of 24 knots throughout tho whole Atlantic voyage. A feature noted by the passengers was the absence of vibration. The Aquitania. notwithstanding her great size, was berthed in New York Hni'bo'ur within 20 minutes of her arrival.

The Commission, appointed by General Carratiza to investigate the circumstances of Mr Benton's murder have ipade their report, which finds that the Scotch rancher was shot in cold blood bv Majorßudofo Fierro', a member of Villa's staff,, at Samalyaca station, on the Mexican. Central Railway, between Juarez and Chihuahua, and that- there was no court-martial. , According to' the report, after a quarrel between Mr Benton and General Villa in the latter's office, the General ordered Major Fierro to take the Englishman to Chihuahua Gaol, adding : "I will free him later if ho is civil." While in the train Major Fierro is alleged to' have shot Mr Benton in the side of the head. The body was taken out of the train aijd propped up against a telegraph pole, and a firing party ordered to riddle it with bullets. Major Fierro then wired to General Villa stating that lie shot .All' Benton when ho tried to escape. When the body was exhumed it- was found that there was a sho't in the head as well as eight bullets in the breast. A scholartic journal gives this story as "sti-ictly true." A class had studied tho first chapter of Acts, concerning the election of a new apostle. "And how was Matthias chosen?" asked the instructor. "They all jumped on him and kicked him," replied, the bright boy of the class. "Whatever put, that, idea into your head?" inquired the teacher. "Well, sir, you told us. You rend to us that 'the lot fell on Matthias!' " a Dress Tweeds at Tratlien's Sale are marked at particularly low prices this week, full dress lengths of Serviceable Tweeds at 5s lid, 7s 6d, 8s lid, 10s 6d, 12s 6d, etc. Some exceptionally good qualities are offered at very big reductions this week only.*

The dates of. a series of irie6tiiigs to b." 1 . addressed bv Mi' T>. P. Hudson. Reform candidato for Motueka, are ad\ertised in this issue;. The first meeting •will be held at Tapawera oil Monday evening next.

Mr Edmund Clarke, after visiting various places in the Waimeu. is starting his mission in Richmond. His address last night oil "Stock Taking," was listened to with marked' attention bv a large congregation in the Holy Trinity Church. -—e Missioner continues his address in the SundaySchool everv evening, this week. It should be understood that the members of other denominations will be mad« hcartilv "welcome.

11l s])eaking at tlie Education Board meeting to-dav when dealing with grants, Mr Williams, one of the West. Coast members, etated that during the past month there had not been 24 hours m which rain had not fallen at Westpoit. No doubt the West Coast members will fullv appreciate the climatic conditions prevailing in Nelson.

A circular was read at to-day's meeting of the Education Board from Mr G. Hogben, Inspector-General of Schools, stating that it had been arranged that Professor H. .1. Findlay. Professor of Education at Victoria University, Manchester. and a member of the British Association for the. Advancement of Science, would lecture in Auckland on 28th July on "The Old Education in the New World," and in Wellington on July 30th on "Leading Principles of Educational Reform." The Board's Inspectors were invite*! to be present; and it was resolved that Inspectors Harkness and Crawford be allowed to attend the lecture at Wellington.

A voting man named Cliessworth had a trving experience at Combaning, near 'Femora" N.S.W., last week. While working in tho bush by himself,' he broke, his leg. After tho accident, he crawled a long distance to his tent where he was obliged to remain without. assistance for' three days. While lying in agony his hoi-se frequently came to the tent for its feed. Chessworth happened to have a rope at hand, and set a loop on the ground to trap the animal by the feet-, but was not successful until the third day. Then lie managed to sacldle and bridle it with difficulty*, and with the aid of a log mounted the horse., and' then rode several miles to a doctor, who found that mortification had' set in on the injured limb. While C,hess worth was waiting in the tent, and enduring great agony, his brother rode to within a hund.re-d yards or so of the spot, unaware of the occurrence.

That the hawk is sometimes a friend to the farmer was shown by the following remit from Otago, which was before, the Farmers' Conference Recently :—"That the unon protest against, the destruction of hawks in rabbit-'infest-ed country, us advocated by the Acclimatisation. Society." Mr Begg, who proposed this motion, said that hawks were of benefit to farmers, and their destruction would he a very serious) thing. Mr P. j.n.eehan said he came from a country which was at one time infested with rabbits, and hawks were the principal element that brought ■about their destruction. It would be better to see all the salmon destroyed in the rivers than see the hawks exterminated. The motion was withdrawn by consent.

Writing to a friend in Wellington, a C-oifimonwealth official who has recently returned to Australia, from a- visit to the East, states that he noticed whilst at Manila that the Americans in public offices were 'being gradually supplanted by Philippines, and to him it seemed as if Uncle Sam were preparing to "let go." Japan surprised the visitor by the amazing evidence in every town of the influence of Western ideas, which were robbing the -cities, at all events, of their old-tiir.e picturesquesness. He \\\\s an eye-witness of the funeral of the late Empre'ss of Japan—a niost impressive spectacle. The funeral procession left the lioyal Palace at 8 p.m.. the gloom of the night garishly lit by torches, lanterns, etc., borno by those forming the long cortege, adding to the awe and solemnity of the sight. When the writer reached Hong Kong bubonic plague was raging, with a ghastly toll to the tunc of 200 deaths weekly.

"British "merchants fattening themselves at the expense of the happiness of our long-oppressed nation," is the text ot" an appeal to the British - nation by ■General L. Chang, president of the Chinese National Opium Prohibition Union. The opium trade is to be declared extinct at the end of this year, but on March 20th, there were chests of opium still in the hands of merchants at Shanghai—about half as inucli as in August last year and the merchants, says the writer, are looking forward to next, <vear as "the most glorious vear yet for the opium trade.", With a big stock still in hand, 110 further importation possible, the native supply practically abolished, and a host of weak victims unable to resist the temptation of the drug, they anticipate an enormous increase in the prices of opium. Last August the price -was £340 per chest; last month it had jumped to £900; and it is quite possible that the expectation of £2OOO a chest may be realised next year. "It is under the British flag, writes General Chang, "that such a crime unparalleled in the history of a ■civilised nation, is being inflicted upon us. The most deplorable part of the whole matter is that this great and monstroiis crime is allowed by your Government, although it is fully aware ot all the facts. Negotiations are now goinn- on between our own Government and. the British Minister in Pekin regarding the disposal of the remainder of the etock of opium in Shanghai at t/he end of this year, and I beg to appeal to the best elements of the civilised British nation not ,to allow their own tolerant aoid liberty-loving Government to inflict upon, us such a terrible crime as to allow the traffic in . opium to continue any longer.'' This is the last week of Tratlien s Sale Bargains in Sheetings, Quilts, Towels, Damasks, Blankets, the last chance .to secure Household Vrapery at spetyal reductions.* '

Splendid material, but odd sizes. Men's .Suits 10s 6d, 15s. Odd Vests 2s 6d and 2 S lid; must be cleared beforo stocktaking at'McKay's Big Sale. Last week of Trathen's Sale. —e havo a particularly fine range _of Pyjama Cloths. This week prices are greatly reduced.*

Odd sizes, odd shapes. odd colours, boys' knickers Is lid, 2s lid. Boys coats Is, 2s lid, 4s lid, must be cleared at McKay's big sale.* Last week Trathen's Sain! Balance of Fur Sets at any reasonable prices. , Men's Coats, Men's Trousers and Boys Suits, odd sizes and colours, all to be cleared at 2s lid arid 4s lid at McKay s big stocktaking.* Furs ! We had a 'double quantitv of Fur Sets this season. Many are stilly in stock. AVe have no thought of carrying these over to next season, so are making exceptional reductions this week. Trathen and Co.*

The lucky No. 10 is the boverago of the most critical judges.*

Call for Watson's No. 10 on all occasions.* , (. Pine Old Scotch, oi incomparable quality—Watson's Xj. *0 Whisky.*

Ai meeting nf; the, Social 'JJpmocrauu Party vf ill be held .in,-the. Co-operaUyoy Buildings'tonight-: at o o'clock. , > • >■ Lectures on VAstronomy and Aviation" will be given by Mr Joseph Taylor in the Universal Institute to-moi'-row, Wednesday., Thursday, and Friday evening. The following .vessels are within wireless range : > Manuka, Uliniaroa, Ruapehu. Maheno, AjTaunganui, J\lakura, Navua, Maori, Wahihe, Arahura, AVarrimoo, Pyramtis, Mamari. , Tlic lion. R. H. Rhodes. PostmnsterCetiernl, opened the" new Post Office at Heddon this afternoon. He will lay tho foundation stouo of the new hospital iu Blenheim to-morrow —Press Association. At the Westport Kennel and Poultry Club's Show, Mr S. 0. Crisp secured \ four firsts and five special prizes, including the award for tho best dog in the show, with the Cocker spaniel Stour Right .Sort ; also tho challenge trophy for Irish setter, with Doon. 'ln tho poultry section, Mr H. F. 'West scored a first and special for Old . English Game black-rod hen.

A Waipawa Press Association message states that Harry Ellery, a contract or. was burned to death in a wharp at Elsthorpe on Saturday night. He was last seen alive three hours before the fire was discovered.

A taxi cab, after conveying passengers to the top of Mount Eden, Auckland, was left standing while the passengers moved about. The driver ."went to meet the passengers, and was- returning, when tho car slipped backwards into the crater and rolled to the bottom. The car was damaged to the extent of about £loo.—Pxes3 Association.

The Citizens' Band played an enjoyable programme of music at the Port yesterday afternoon. Mr : F.: N. Jones' mngnophone was also heard in several items. There was a large- attendance of the public. The band will give a concert at Stoke on Sunday afternoon next.

In reply to an inquiry*Vby the Farmers' Union Conferonco in. rogardi to the training of senior cadets and the establishment of general training sections in country districts, the Defence Department intimated : "Failing voluntary concentrations for senior cadets and general training section in couptry districts, the General Officer Commanding- wishes you to encourage as much as possible the conversion .o£ diiills bv senior cadets in country districts into whole day para3es. • Ih fact, he would go so far as to say' that drills for such units should be the exception rather than the rule. Four cadet drills of ono hour and a half can be idonverted into ono whole day parade, and by this meavls the minimum amount of inconvenience will be caused to employees in country districts, and, especially to the farming community."

Many people adopt the practise of placing on their billheads an intimation "that so much interest will be charged on overdue accounts." In a case before the Pukekoho Magistrate's Court the plaintiff had include.d in his claim an item for interest. "Yoit CanH. claim this unless you can produce an agreement to that effect," remarked the Magistrate. "Wo've got it on our billheads," remarked the plaintiff. "That's no good. This is a tradesman's accpunt of goods supplied, not money lent, I can't allow it," returned the Magistrate. The plaintiff claimed that defendant had agreed to it, but the Magistrate said that unless there was a signed agreement between the parties he cglild not recognise it, and advised plaintiff m future to have an agreement of thia nature put in writing.

A remarkable accident happened, on, the Gilgandra (New 'South Wales) 'race-i course last week. ' A man named Alfred . Heiler and a lad' named Neat© -went ' over to the course for the purpose, of ft ■working a couple of horses' which were just being put into t-raining. Thei horse < Neato was riding got out of hand, and • Heiler, seeing this, went in. pursuit, and, getting up to him, he stood up in the stirrups for the purpose of grabbing the other's rein.' As lie did so the weight of his body snapped one 'of his i legs just below the knee, ,and' he fell to the ground. Heiler probably holds tho world's • record for breakages'of limbs. This break is his thirty-eighth. The last one occurred two years ago, when he broke his leg whilst waltzing. His bones are so chalkified that they aro liable to snap whilst walking along tlio street. Ho has a. son seven years of ago who is following his. father's footsteps, for up to the present time ho ha® had bones broken on 110 fewer than six occasions.. ■

Last Week of Trathen's Sale! balance of Millinery, Coats, 'Costumes-, , Underskirts, Wool Vests, etc., at big reductions, Remnants and Oddments at absurdly low prices.* '

Miss Maud Allan, the famous dancer. who is now appearing at the Palace }Tiheat:ro, Syjdney, declares that sh<?» never felt the cold anywhere like it was in New Zealand. "I can feel it every time I talk about it," she exclaimed, 1 n and added, "I've been in New York dancing -during the depth of winter;" The whole difference lies in the fnct that 11,0 . effort is mod© To artificially warm the theatre 01*. hotel in New Zealand. . "The worst experience of my life was 111 Christclmrch," continued the creator of the most widely-discussed dance, the Vision of Salome. "We played in the principal theatre there, and, tq my surprise, when I stepped 1 on to the stage one night it was almost covered with snowflakes. I afterwards discovered that above the stage was a ventilator, over which there was no covering, and the snow had found its way through. You can imagine how cold it was for' mo in my bare feet. Anyway the performance had to be gone, through. Before very long I had turned. the snow into slush. My garments wevQ drenched, and the carpet was soaked. I was never so glad in all my life as when that performance ended. The New Zealand people are quite philosophical when asked why they do not do something to make their theatroa and hotels comfortable-in cold weather. Tlioy simply answer: 'lt is winter, and you must expect it!' *' Wo refer our readers to an advertisement which appears elsewhere with regard tp the Taliuna Bazaar.*