LOCAL AND GENERAL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 31 March 1923, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

At Ihe Magistrate's Court on Thnrsdiiy afternoon Jas. R. Logan, appeared on remand on a charge oi stealing lour suit lengths, of the value oi £B, the property of John Ahlstrom. Mr 1. Ji. Maunsell, S.M., was on the Bench. Accused was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence, when called upon, on the understanding that when his present prohibition order expires, ho must consent to another for a fur her twelve, months. At the original hearing the Police stated that the accused was under the influence of liquor at the time and did not appear to be responsible for his action. I Mails which left Wellington on 20th /February, via .San 'Fr'anxrisca arrived London 27th March.

The bowling tournament has attracted many ex-Nelsonians from different parts of the Dominion, and they have been warmly welcomed by many old friends.

LoVei's ot organ music spent an eHjOy" s able evening at Hie School of Music on Good Friday, when Mr 11. S. Claughton gave a recital on the_Cawthron organ. The programme submitted was appropriate in the oedlSiotl, aild tlt'i various items were interpreted in a manner that gave much pleasure to the audience. The programme was as follows: —(a) "Prelude in C Shaft Minor" (Vodorinski), (bj "Melody in" A Flat" (Stojowski); "Processional Miii'Cii tu Calvary" (Orucij iixion) (Stainer); "Adagio in Free Style (Gustav Merkel) ; "Good-Friday Music from "Parsifal" (Wagner); "Melody in F" (Rubenslein); "Menuet. in G" (Gisby); "Meditation" (D'Evrv); Melody "To ftii Evening Slat'" (Wfigoer); (a) Melody (Coleridge-Taylor), (b) "Ibe Heavens are Telling" (Creation) (Haydn). A whale of a species unknown has been washed up at Kartigi beach,, near Palmerstotii South, and has, attracted considerable attention. Ih6 leviathan is o2k feet long and 10 feet high, and the flukes of its tail are seven feetwide. A young whale was also stranded on the Green Island beach at the end of last week.

The impudence of starlings in removing letters! from rural mail boxes' WaS the subject of remark at a meeting of the Waitoa Drainage Board recently. It was stated by members that these raids were more common during the mating season. Birds would actually squeeze m under the flap over the icttel' hole, and secure the letters On one occasion four letters were found lying on the roadside in the \icinity of a, neighbour s mail box. These depredations were .held to account for a ratepayers complaint that he had received no rate demand.

Very heavy culling of deer is procccdinn- in the Wairarapa South and I'eathetston Counties, and it is probable, says the Acclimatisation Society s report, that more than 3000 have been shot since September, 1922, at Whakatomotomo. "wagoon Hill, To Awaite, _ White Rock, and other stations. Ibis year <))■> Easter holidays open in March, and deer-stalkers will get the benefit, as the season opens on March 29, The rangers expect a very busy season, as quite a number of visitors are making inquiries about likely localities lor shooting. An alarming surprise awaited a South Invercargill resident when on going out to his yard to bring m the n-coning wood he almost stepped into a sft well at his back door. Apparently a well had been sunk there before the louse was built, and after it had bee filled in the surface must have been wearing away. It is surmised that a horse stepped on the spot., withjtba result that a hole containing 9ft. ot water was reopened.

On December 5, last year, at 5 p.m., a Shaw, Savill, and Albion liner left Wellington for Southampton. Some twelve hours later a baby boy was born on board the vessel, and when the ]omliew ended at Southampton it was s 11 undecided, what the birthdav would be- Had the ship been delaved., a day the birthday , ld > °* course, have been December 6th, but the first day at sea from ; N.cw Zealand is s far as the calendar is concerned, no day at all. Though the world does not at on the calendar takes a rest. the secondday out is still the first day out, the clock having been regarded as put back twenty-four hours in order that the time shall correspond with that in England So Jones Junior has no birthday tAncipodes Day, and if his parents do not lack imagination he will nevei get any older. " Part' of the Health Department's propaganda work in warning the pubic against the rat menace consist* of the use of the moving picture. -has made arrangements with the . N.Z. lictuie Supplies for the screening o a most interesting and informative film. The picture was included in the programme Kitted at the Empire Theatee tab evening, and it was watched with gieat mtorest It is well known that the £ty f lthy rat is a prolific cause of disease besides damaging nxdhonsrf pounds worth of food each year. Ibe public is asked to wage unceasing wai against the rat. Steps are being taken by the Health Department to secure an additional area of land on Quail Island for use i„ connection with the leper station with the object of giving the patients more room for exercise. The portion which it is proposed to secure, and which is at present held by the Agiicultural Department, if added to the Health Department's area .will give some of the inmates of the home an outlook on the doings of shipping at Lyttelton, and thus help to brighten their daily round. When the extra area is taken in about one-third of tlie island will be held by the Health Department.

That friendly and fearless little bird, the tiwaiwaka, or New Zealand fantail, is particularly fond of open windows at this • season of thq year, says the Manawatu Daily Times. It does not suffer from the intrusion of foreign birds or resent the advance of civilisation, as do other New Zealand birds, possibly because it seems to live upon flying 'insects, and there is less competition for its food supply. It will hover round the gas fittings or come in at thlfwindows in search of house flies. "In one case," stated Mr C. P. Skerrett, K.C., in the course of the hearing of the Oamaru election petition, "a voter missed Mr Macpherson's name altogether! and drew the line at the bottom of the paper. That man may not be blind, but he may have left his glasses behind." Sir John Pindlay, K.C.: "Perhaps he took too many glasses" (Laughter.) "Little boys gamble even more feverishly than "their elders," remarked a Timaru resident a few days ago (states the Timaru Post). He said that boys of 12 years or thereabouts, some of them in Timaru, indulged in betting transactions on quite a large scale, considering the amount of their spare cash, and that their heads were, he said with asperity, "filled with tips and bookmakers' chat." The second of the united prayer services arranged by the Nelson Ministers' Association will* be held on Tuesday next in the Baptist Church. The Rev. J. Laird will conduct it, and Mr T. Vercoe will speak. Members of all churches are invited.

Attention is drawn to the meeting which will be held on Friday next in Toi Toi Hall to consider the formation of a Winter Sports Club for the district. A dance in honour of visiting Wellington footballers will be held in the Oddfellows' Hall, Waimea street, tonight. Dancing commences at 8 p.m. Newcomers! We welcome you most heartily to our beautiful country, and advise* you to tnko full advantago of "No-Rubbing" Laundry Help, the abolisher of washboards lavery.—Nelson Grocers.* t DAWSON'S, Reefton, the leading Hotel on the West Coast. Patronised by H.R.H. the Prince of Walea.—Francis B. Stallard, Proprietor.* Emma's mail earn leave Nelson for Motueka, Takaka, Collingwood, Rockville and Bainham daily, (fom the Booking Office, 29 Hardy Btreet ('phone 527), at 7.30 and 8 a.m., arriving h. Takaka pX 1 p.m. Leave Takaka for Nelson at 7.45 a.m. and Motueka for Nelson at 10.45 a.m. and 3 p.m., arriving in Nelson at 1 p.m. ap<*-5 p.m.»

it is said (states the Bay of Plen-ty' Times) that if clusters of clover itf* hung in a room and left to* dry and shed their perfume through the air, the clover will drive away wore flies than sticky saucers of treacle »wl other' fly-traps and .fly-papers can evei' collect. At the recent annual fficsting of the Napier Retailers' Association, nilltb discussion regarding donations took plaety ana iHneh concern was expressed that this had now grown to be almost a- tax, states the Telegraph. .Moreover, under the present Income-tax Ati, all donation amounts are treated as extra W'{>fit and are assessable, and traders ha't'S riot Only to give trophies and donations, but also to send to Wellington a tax amounting, with go»M larger firms, to 6s 8d in the £1 on all gift* While expressing full desire to support .sveVV worthy civic and national cause, retail* m felt compelled to protect themselves by the creation of a Donation Committee, who shall deckle on the merits of every application for pWWJU to canvass, and traders agreed uflttUifflOualy to stand bv the decision of suclT coffimittec and'refuse to give prizes or subscriptitifto to any ck&UgS* filing to produce wr'U-le'il mmxffy through the secretary. Tlie committee later met the Drapers' Federation. Commftiefl, and it was mutually agreed that all applications for donations to trade picmcS, bazaars, denominational efforts, and sports meeting.'? be disallowed. j Many layni6ft unacquainted with the legal terms might be curious to know the etymology of the word 'brief/ in reference to a lawyer. The matter was discussed in an informal way m the Practice Court in Melbourne a few days ago. reports tne Age, when an ignorant or waggish fellow suggested that the term had its origin in nothing more pretentious that the old brief bag, in which the dogs of the law were wont to carry their papers. He was, however, promptly corrected by a leading barrister, who pointed out that brief was derived from brevium (short), and meant, in reference to a barrister s brief, a short or brief summary of the facts oi the case. The brief did not take its title from the brief bag, but the brief bag took its title from the brief which. it contained for the lawyer. Legal brief bags are not as common as they used to'be, lawyers using all sorts, of receptacles for their briefs, and some none at all, whilst all sorts and conditions of persons cany all sorts and conditions of lunches, market produce, and stolen goods in the ancient type of bag whose name is hallowed by famous and infamous traditions—famous according to lawyers and more or less infamous according to litigants.

Immigrants, or at least some of them, do not appear to be particularly partial to ranging positions. In his monthly report to the Otago Acclimatisation Society, the curator at Clinton states, that one immigrant applied for the position of assistant ranger. ■ He stayed one dav, and took the outgoing trail. Another immigrant came on March 15th. He stayed one day and also ; took another trail. This man had big ideas. He informed the curator that ho was under the impression that he was to be 'the under-manager, "but found out that he was under water." "He cleared out," wrote the curator, "and I did not know lie was away for some time. These men, it appears to me, are looking for a bank manager's job, or something of the sort." . The curator, concluded by stating that. he had since engaged a returned soldier, who had been working on a dredge in Central Otago, and later "doing. some gardening work,in Dunedin."

Rotorua is singularly blessed by Nature (says the Chronicle). While all the disruptive underworld forces are operating to reduce Wellington to ruins, and chimney tops are falling, plate-glass windows crashing, and even whisky bottles are being shaken from the shelves, Rotorua, like Gallio of old, "cares for none of these things," when the Wairarapa is heaving and 'fissures are opening up, Rotorua maintains its serenity; its inhabitants conscious of the,fact that only mild tremors .visit this favoured spot. The-sympathy of the inhabitants may well be extended to the southern metropolis.