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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10154, 22 May 1909, Page 2

Mr Clarke Johnson, inspector for the Loan anc? Mercantile Agency Company, is at present in Oamaru. An interesting trial of strength is likely to take place in consequence of the inclusion of Hampden and Palmerston in the no-license district of Oamaiii. It is understood that publicans in the former district are applying for licenses on the ground that the Hampden and Palmerston districts have never had an opportunity of voting on any of the three proposals, sine; the issue was license or no-license in the last election. If the licenses are refused, it is understood that the interested parties will make a test case for the court.

The following is an extract from the London Clarion, which promoted the "Bread Fund":—"We have received from Xew Zealand a munificent donation for the feeding of the children. The amount sent to us is £I4OO in all. Of this, £IOO is from the Oamaru Mail relief fund, and £I3OO is from the Otago Trades and Labor Council. This money has been handed to me by the High Commissioner upon my promise that cverv shilling shall be expended, for the direct benefit of the hungry children; and not a penny shall be spent in expenses of distribution. An exact account of the expenditure will be 6ent to the High Commissioner and printed in the Clarion. I beg here to express our thanks to our New Zealand friends for their great generosity, and to assure them that the monev sh>Jl be used in strict accordance with "their wishes." A further sum of £6l 0s lid collected by the Mail has been forwarded to the Treasury to be remitted Home.

The following team will represent the North Otago Ladies' Hockey Club against the Momona Hockey Club (Dunedin) on Monday morning at Forbury Park:—Forwards : Misses 0. Moss (captain), G. Blvth, F. Blyth, Muriel Reid', and Falconer; half-backs, Misses M. Reid, D. Winsley, D. Moss; full-backs, Misses Bain and A. Robertson; goal, Miss Notslar. Emergencies: Misses D. Manton and B. Sinclair. The Oamara Hockey Club will play a, match with a team from the Otago Hockey Club on the Show Grounds on Monday afternoon, commencing at 2.45 p.m. This is the first match played by the local Club, but as members have been practising steadily, the team should give a good account of itself. The following team has been selected :—Forwards: Warsaw, Muldoon, Grenfell, Davies, and Cradock; half-backs: Mackisack, Jones (captain), and C. Piper: backs: A. Piper and. Lindsay? goalkeeper: Powell. Emergencies: Paton M'Douall, and Bain. A drag for players will leave the A.M.P. corner at 2 o'clock. Mr 0. B. Jarman, a. Dunedin plaver, will act as Teferee. The final displav of the loui'th series of pictures at the Opera House last even-

ing drew a splendid house, the large audience repeatedly marking their approval of the excellent views. A commencement was made with the comic singing competition, for which several entrants cams forward in full character dress. The competition will be continued on Monday, when a special holiday bill will be put on. This evening the company appear at Palmcrston. Those who have a shilling or two to spare would do well to purchase a fewtickets for the complimentary concert which is to be given next week to Miss Thomson, the Stewart Island singer, whom Madame Melba credits with phenomenal vocal ability. Tickets are to be had everywhere. We ourselves have received 20 which we shall be. glad to "unload" for the benefit of the public and Miss Thomson. We can promise, that the concert will be quite out of the ordinary in the best sense. All the local and other talent is being requisitioned to ensure absolute success both musically, and financially. The occasion is one that all may countenance in the most practical way with profit. Mr W. J. Jones, of the Oamaru Mail staff, arrived at Kobe, Japan, on the 18th hist.

As an illustration of the unsatisfactory social conditions under which many people live in the big cities and adjacent suburbs, the Wellington correspondent of the Auckland' Star states that at Petone the Mayor of that place has had his attention drawn to the great deal of doublebanking—that is to say, two or more families living in one house. One case in particular was that in. which a husband with a wife and four children were paying 6s a week for a single room, in whicli they all resided. The Mayor also pointed out that an unusually large number of applications for work had been made to him .in his public capacity during the past few weeks. A considerable number of the local unemployed were recent arrivals, and some of "them were very desirable colonists from the Old Country. They all told the same story of having been unable to procure employment excepting for a brief and broken period. It had often come under his notice that many of the workless, of whom a good proportion were apparently skilled workers, subsequently left for. Sydney. A new fish story jis told by an Aucklander in the Xew Zealand Herald. He was in a London smoking-room, and fish came on. The. Englishmen told stories that strained acceptance: of sharks that were hooked by anchors and broke the cable chains of "great ships; of great salmon that were played from dawn till dark, and got away then; of trout mistaken foT pike and strings that would make Rotorua envious; and of much else. Lust of all came the. New Zealand'er, who said that "on the Auckland' coast in New Zealand we have a flourishing little whaling industry; the whale are caught in nets." And the Knglishmen rose together and threw their hands up. "That yarn beats ours," thoy cried together. "We give you the palm as a fish storyteller. We .surrender." But the best part of the New Zealander's story is that it is absolutelv true.

"An earthquake/' writes Mr Frank A. Porret, formerly honorary assistant at the Royal Vesuvian Observatory, in an article on "The Messina Earthquake" in the April Century, "is an undulating vibration of the ground resulting from some sudden movement of the underlying strata. This may be produced by a volcanic explosion, the breaking of a stratum of rock under strain, or the sudden intrusion of lava between the strata or into a fracture, the types respectively known as volcanic, tetonic, and inter-volcanic. My own impression in experiencing these shocks was that of a rubbing together of masses under pressure, which throws the adjoining material into vibration. If you put a little water into a thin, widemouthed goblet, wet the finger-tip. and rub it around the rim, a sound will be produced, and the water will be set ill vibration, like the ground waves of an earthquake.There is growing in Lancashire, on Carton's seed grounds at Warrington a single oat plant which surpasses by several hundred points any cereal ever produced in the world. The single head contains a. few short of ICGO grains, ten times as many as are seen in the best crops. The plant is a more or less accidental result of the original .system of what may be called accelerated evolution, which has been practised on these grounds for the last twenty-seven yeans. This particular prodigy has been obtained, by crossing highly developed oafs with wild oats, which have an incalculable capacity for bearing seeds. These are small and useless but the strange fact has been discovered that the wild oat may, in crossing, even enlarge the grain of the cross. as well as increase its number. This particular oat is but an extreme instance of the new productions in cereals of all sorts. It is an indisputable fact that on these grounds oat crops of 160 bushels to the acre—that is, twice the weight of a hi-ih average of present crops —have been reaped without any artificial manure or any intensive cultivation.

A storm of -protest was raised at the Wellington City Council meeting by Councillor Ifinclmarsh when he declared that bowling clubs deserved very little consideration, in their applications for portions of tihe Town Belt because they

"made enough profit, anyway, out of the sale of whisky." Bowling- enthusiasts on the Council were very indignant, and sturdily repudiated the suggestion. "We don't sell any whisky in our club-house; never do anything of the kind," asserted Councillor Cohen, with vehemence. "Oh," said Councillor Hindmarsh, "but you charge sixpence a nip for it and put the money into a little box.—(Laughter.) I don't believe in supporting these aristocratic clubs, formed for the purpose of making a profit out of the sale of whisky." Councillor Frost also strongly denied the implication, but Councillor Hindmarsh declined to withdraw it. The Press delegates, or "Delicates," as our humorist designated them yesterday, are beginning their revels. The civic authorities at Ottawa gave them "morning tea." with something in it, to some tune, and- this tonic and bitters, 60 to speak, imparted a glorious appetite for the lunch at the Parliamentary Buildings, whilst the lunch at Parliament Buildings induced a hunger which cleared the hoard at Karl Grey's in the evening. These small attentions are only by the way.

"They are," we are told, "everywhere feted." But there need be no fear as to their physiological adaptability to the ordeal. The playing of these few bars of mild prelude will make them "fit" for the main strain upon their sensitive internal organism winch the performance in chief will impose. The lavish hospitality of the British aristocracy, supplemented by little junketings on their own account will sharpen the intellect, if the subjects of them are only given time to exercise them, and, therefore, the deliberations of the Press Conference may be something quite startling. ' It ,is well that Lord? Cromer, Curzon, and James of Hereford: condemned 1 before a masculine audience British, women's aspirations for the franchise, and asserted the superior right and capacity of men to control the nation's affairs. Lord- Curzan's opinion that "the bulk of married women do not favor the suffrage, and that the wives of workers are indifferent or hostile," is not entitled to the smallest respect. The question is not whether or not women should haye the vote. Nobody asks men whether they want it or not. They are given it, or, rather, take it, under the hallucination that they are the ordained controller.' of all things mundane dignified by the title ''Lords of Creation." But it would be easy to ascertain what "the bulk of married women" want. A referendum would 6ett!e the question as definitely as it can be settled by any human process. Consideration of sucn opinions as those expressed by the ruling class does not inspire much hope for the future of the British, people. The rule of men hag not been such a signal success that they can afford to plume themselves on their administrative superiority. The state of social and domestic legislation is an indication, rather, of ineptitude. • The Bev. "A. S. Wilson continued his mission at the Baptist Church last .evening, taking for his subject the connection of prayer with service. In a powerful address he'gave a history of many of the revivals of the past, showing that in every case they were preceded by earnest prayer. In a quiet, yet impressive, appeal the mis6ioner urged his hearers to betake themselves to prayer.

A notice appears in this issue requesting intending patrons of . the 'concert tobe tendered to Miss Eri Thqniscn "to reserve their seats at the Dresden Piano Warehouse without delay. The date has been definitely fixed for Thursday next, 27th inst., and it is now' confidently hoped that there will not be a vacant seat in the Opera House. It is only fitting that the musical public of Oamaru, as.in other places, should generously support the laudable object of assisting Miss Thomson to take the high place in the world of music that Madame Melba feels

assured she is destined to occupy. The programme, to which Miss Thomson will contribute three or four items, will be published shortly. As showing the attitude of many New Zealand farmers towards Queensland attractions Mr Gallie, a Wairarapa. farmer, who has just returned from Australia, instanced the ease of two young men, known to himself, who have been carrying on agricultural farming and dairying all their lives in Otago, and! .if they sell, as far -a6 he could gather from them, they would .have about £14,0G0. They were dissatisfied with their New Zealand prospects, and meeting one of the two brothers on the look-out for land in Queensland, Mr G»llie -asked the cause of their dissatisfaction. He replied that after the expense and trouble of getting labor in New Zealand there was not much left in farming there, lie has therefore gone to Queensland to spy out the land and probably to buy. If he buys, he will cable to his brother in Xew Zealand to sell their Otago property and join him in Queensland, lie believes that ho could purchase 300 or 400 acres of the best lucerne-growing land */n the south part of the Downs, where the two brothers could grow lucerne practically without the need of any outside labor. "Once you get lucerne down, it is down for twenty years." As showing the profits to be made from lucerne farming, Mr Gallie said that three miles from Warwick a man had 70 acres, 20 acres of which were absolutely useless for this plant, lie had 50 acres down in lucerne, and from them, both the farmer and his assistant •assured Mr Gail'lie, lie raised 400 tons of lucerns in 18 months, for which an average price of £& a ton was received. In addition he got £3OO worth of lucerne seed. Ho kept only one man for all the work! involved, except at the brief rush of carting hay into his shed. This man had been offered, and had refused, £SO an acre for his 70 acres.

When Kinglake was writing his history of the Crimean War he received letto in from all sorts of people concerned in thewar. One day a letter with a deep black border came from two people in the colonies, husband and wife, describing their grief. Their only child had been killed in the Crimea. They wanted to .have him mentioned in the "History of the Crimean War." Kinglake was touched, and replied by post that lie would do his best if they would send him the necessary particulars. Again a, letter, also black-bor-dered, full of thanks, but with the following conclusion: "We have no particulars whatever to give you. He was killed on the spot, like many others, but anything you may kindly invent will be welcome. Wo leave it' entirely to your imagination." Like individuals, the nations of the earth have nicknames. The appropriateness of some is quite evident ; but to ex--1)1 ain the origin of others wouldl be difficult. Englishmen have submitted to the name of John Bull, as suited to the national character. A Scotsman is Sandy : the Irishman gets the nickname, Paddy, from his national patron saint: while an ancient nursery rhyme records that Taffy was a Welshman. In England the Frenchman is sometimes rather contemptuously alluded to as John Crepaud, but in France he is Jacques Bonhomme, or, as a bourgeois Monsieur l'rudhomme. Cousin Michel is the nickname by which the tierman is known to the continental nations. Mynheer Gosh, an abbreviation of Nicholas, is the name applied to Hollanders,- and the Switzer rejoices in the name of Colin Tampon.

For many years the horse has worn a sunbonnet, but it has been left for a German to invent a pair of blinkers which will allow it to see what is going on around it. 11 ere is the argument for the transparent blinkers, according to its inventor : Tire eye of the horse is not constructed after the fashion of that of man. The animal's optic naturally allows him to 'ee objects around and behind him. "Consequently, when he wears blinkers he can only see ahead of him, and objects then appear to him deformed, owing to focal over-pressure. This accounts for the fact that many horses be-jome restive when a, disturbance takes place in the rear of them. The only end to which blinkers serve is in protecting the eyes from the whip. The transparent blinkers fully meet the necessities of the case, and at the present moment many horse-owners of Berlin are employing them. Surly and unapproachable, a striked doglike animal is crouching in the ' r eeplion cage" at the Zoological gardc-.s. Wellmeant attentions and offers of food make it furious and sullen liy turns. It is a specimen of the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, a species which, before, it was thinned out almost to the point of extinction, was the terror of Tasmanian shepherds because of its ravages on their Hocks. The Zoological gardens .had been without a specimen for some years. Two were shipped from Australia three months ago, and the single survivor has just arrived. Its tawny, furry coat is banded with black, like a zebra's, from the shoulders to; the haunches (zebra wolf is one of the animal's mimes) ; it is a marsupial, carrying its young in a. pouch like a kangaroo. The Tasmanian wolf is one of the most stupid animals: its lack of intelligence is the cause of its untamableness. It never loses its ferocity. Animals are "wild" for two reasons : 1. Because they are intelligent and know what they dread ; and 2, because they are stupid and do not know what they 'fear; the thylacine ranks very low dowji in the latter category.

Mr L. F. Ayson, Chief "inspector of Fisheries, who has sppnt the past fewdays in the Waitaki district in connection with the collection of quinnat salmon ova, expected to leave for Wellington to-day. Mr E. Armitage arrived in Onmarn today to make arrangements for the Taylor.Carrington Pictures on May 28th.

It is fairly well known that the reason Pelorns Jack meets almost every vessel which goes through the French Pass is that he may rub off some of the sea parasites which usually infest sill large fish, and which eveneutlly cause death (says the Dominion). It is possible that Jack has the fragment of an idea, that every vessel lie can brush his silver side against will put years on to his life, and" from the manner in which he swims, and snorts, and gambols by the bows of the vessels in the Pass, it appears that his self-con-stituted position as pilot is an immense delight to ihiin.- The other day, when he was guiding the Te Anau through the channel, he gave such an extraordinary display, that a Maori, who had been an interested spectator of the scene, rushed below for a glass of beer, which he offered as a libation to the sportive grampus. Passengers do not stsite positively thsit "Jack'' assuaged his thirst, but they declare that afterwards, when he left the vessel, he appeared to wave a fin with the jocular benevolence which otherwise would not have been demonstrated had he been a fish possessed of real teetotsil principles. Russia has been again enforcing her control in northern Manchuria by imposing taxes and regulations on the people sit Harbin. Bather than pay the taxes the Chinese owners have closed up their stores and warehouses. Protest has been made by. the British and American consults and the Russian Legation at Peking notified that there must be compliance with the obligations of the Portsmouth treaty. In a private letter to President Taft, Prince Chun expresses the opinion that the Japanese will soon withdraw from Manchuria, a neeesssiry condition, he thinks, for the maintenance of peace. The large immigration of Japanese women into Manchuria during last year indicates, however, rather a more permanent settlement. The reports of Japanese commercial dealings with that country are also confirmatory of such intention. In Korea the Japanese have thoroughly reorganised the Government, and are carrying out well-laid plans for improvement in all branches of administration. They have constructed 641 miles of railroad. Prince Ito, PresidentGeneral of Korea, has contradicted the assertion emanating from the Korean Home Minister, that American missionaries were encouraging the revolutionists. His Tecent tour convinced him that they were heartily co-operating with the regency, in its endeavors to help the Koreans.

There is on exhibition in a window in Saco the largest that has been landed in these parts for yeans, if ever. The lobster measures 20' inches in total length and his body proper is 20 inches long. Before boiling he weighed 9ilbs, and boiled he weighed Tibs. The lobster was caught by John E. Lewis, jun., off Stratonslsland, in Saco Bay, in one of his traps. The big fellow was the only occupant of the trap, and. none of the lobsters in- the other traps near by were of greater than average size. He is the biggest catch of the kind 1 , that Mir Lewis has'ever landed. Claws and parte of lobsters have been exhibited, before which were said to belong to lobsters which would weigh more than this one, but the exhibit is the largest of its kind, exhibited ■whole, that local people can seem to remember.

Here's something everyone needs to know—Stearns' Headache Cure cures quickly and leaves the head clear. Twenty million people use it. They know it is good.—ls a box. 27 ;Voods' Oreat Peppermint Cure, 1/6, 2/6. b\ • Cnronic Chest Complaints. Air S. J. Davys, Dentist, will visit Hampden on Thursday, 27th instant, and may be consulted at Mrs Marshall's Hotel. 322 For Chronic Chest Complaints, Wood's Great Peppermint Court, I,'C, 2/6