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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10965, 4 January 1912, Page 3

At Kauroo Hill the rainfall recorded for December totalled 8.35 in. Rain fell on '22" days, with a maximum fall of 1.60 in on the 28th'. For the five months (Aiigust-December) since observations were taken the" rainfall has been 13122 m. '

A first-offending drunk was convicted and discharged .in the Magistrate's Court this morning before Mr John Cagney, J.P. The net Customs duties collected at the port of- Oamaru for the quarter ended December 31st totalled £1503 Is lOd, compared with £1665 7s lid for the corresponding period of 1910. The total for the month of December, 1911, was £306 4s"4d, against £349 15s for [December, 1910. [ The large numbers of people who were unable to gain adtaittance to the Opera House on Tuesday night will have the opportunity of seeing the star film "Captain Starlight" to-night. "Captain Starlight." the gentleman_ of .theroad," provided an excellent subject for the picture dramatist, and with the wild Australian bush scenery as a setting a vivid and extremely interesting portrayal resulted. The company of artists who toot part in the drama included. Alfred Wolfe and Lily Dampier, . late of .Bland Holt's Dramatic Company. The film, which 'is 3500 feet in length, is the work of Spencer's (Sydney), and a very fine picture it is. It , will be screened'for the last time this evening, and supporting it are the fol--1 lowing.pictures: I,' The Coupon Maniac," a screamingly funny omedy by the .Amerian' Kinema Co.; ' 'Johannesburg," a highly interesting and instrutive seni; "A Little Rebel," a stirring drama by the Lubin Company; "Barriers Burned Away," by the Vitigraph Company; "A Father's Heart," a drama; and interesting views -of the I trial at Viterbo of the great Camorra. Our correspondent ' writes:—The I second annual ball; and social, initiated ' by the Hakataramea station shearers 1 and station hands in aid of the Wai- ' mate- Hospital was held in the HakaI taramea Hall on New Year's Night. I'ln spite of the inclement weather there was & large attendance. Great ] praise is due to Mr E. Swan (secretary j and treasurer) and the Committee, who had done . all in their power to_ make everything successful. The music was admirably supplied by Messrs Menzies, M'Calluin, and Read, under the leader-ship-of Mr Jas. Richardson, and was evidently greatly enjoyed by the - dancers The Committee wish to thank the ' musicians-for so kindly volunteering_ to play. During -the intervals of dancing several songs were well rendered by "Messrs Ross, Daly, Gilmore, Read, FarI rell, and W. Wilson, who were generously applauded for their efforts. A 'very, enjoyable occasion was drawn to a close about 4.30. The sum of about |-£7,'has been forwarded to the secretary | of the Waimate Hospital.

' We have to acknowledge receipt of a handy pocket calendar from the Nightcaps Coal Company. The rainfall for December at Waimate, as recorded at Mr W. M. Hamilton's, ."Oaklea," was 6.16 in. Ram "■fell on 20 days, the maximum fall for any' 24 hours being 1.20 in. For the year 1911 the total fall was 27.83 in, it the greatest since 1905. At I Francis' residence, "Hiwiroa," the total for the year was about 6in greater than ! at "Qakfca."

.'Tlietbermar activity of Whakarcwafewa, during the past week has been extraordinary (says, a Rotor-ua; ex-, change). All the geysers played magnificently on-.no fewer" than ten occa-; sions during the week. Visitors to the reserve were -greatly interested, and pleased with the displays. Waikoroohihi and Kereru played daily at intervals. Pohutu threw boiling water to a height of from 40ft to 50ft in real volumes, and at the same time the Prince.of Wales geyser gave fine displays. The Abors are of an extremely independent and' democratic nature. Each village is a little republic in itself and makes its own laws by the vote of the majority. The villages are collections of from 30 to 250 houses, situated, as a rule,'on a spur. The houses are built of large rough-hewn planks on "changs" or platforms, with low-thatched roofs the eaves of which" come down to the platform. The pigs of the village, live under the houses, and their scavenging is the' only form of sanitation these people possess. In the 'centre of each village is a large hut, sometimes over 50 ,yards long'with several fireplaces iu ; it, which is used as a guest-house and council-chamber, as well as barracks in .which the bachelors! sleep, whose duty jij-is"/tp guard! the' village at .night and .turn the inhabitants out for work in the morning." In it the village elders meet daily-to discuss matters of State, and issue orders for the work of the community for the next day.' Referring to the recent' election, Sir "Wilfrid Laurier-declared'that the people of-Canada had listened to the voice of-passion and prejudice instead of to that of reason. —(Ministerial dissent.) The Imperialists of Great Britain, he , predicted, would be bitterly disappointed -by the new Government. He believed that the of the election would work great injury to England and to the Empire. The adoption of Reciprocity " would have brought the two countries closer together, it would have assisted the - Arbitration Treaty, and it would have given the Mother Country a splendid asset in the friendship of the United States. Criticising the composition of the Government, Sir Wilfrid said that it was true blue Tory tinctured with Imperialism. But referring to the Nationalists, he said that there were two or- three members of the Ministry upon whom the blessing of Mr Joseph Chamberlain would produce no .more impression than the sprinkling of holy water would 6n the head of Satan.

- Sir 'Victor'Horsley, speaking. on ' 'The Care "of Motherhood and the Feebleminded" at a conference, on "Public Morals in relation to Race Regeneration," said that -the degradation of i motherhood was not general, but existi ed at both - ends of the social scale. At one end . was the woman who cherished a lap dog rather than a baby—this class was' incurable^—and at the other end was the slum-dweller, who found a fatal refuge in the publichouse from the -evils of her environment. He hoped the meeting would have the effect of bringing pressure to bear in favor of the introduction of the Bill, which it was understood Mr Churchill had prepared, to deal with the question of the feeble-minded. Lady Willoughby do Broke, the first speaker on "The Care" of Adolescence," said a great number of -girls got into trouble by their amazing, ignorance of the laws of nature. These laws should be explained, ' decently, and reverently, by parents or - family "physicians. She understood .that in Germany, America, and Denmark the- laws of sex were taught -in school 'by medical .men and women, and she hoped something of the kind-would be initiated here. The Auckland Master Butchers' Association have revised their price list for the month, and the result is •& general reduction m prices -for veal and lamb. In this list the prices of veal have been reduced a halfpenny, prices now ruling as follows for cash over the counter Fillet, 6jd; loin, sJd;.shoulders,, 4id; cutlets, 8d; chops, 6d; forequarters, 3d. The ; price for booldng.vand delivery is a halfpenny more all round. Also hindquarters of lamb are selling at/d, .cash price ; -'forequarters,-; chops, !; Bd T inall other cases prices remain the siime. . The annual " summer . sale .at Messrs _ Jas. Macdonald and' Co.'s Zealandia House commences to-morrow. As :s usual, the sale will affect prices m all in another the firm have an important- announcement which indicates that .they ;are. making efforts for a: sucoessful sale.. A most extraordinary accident happened in Queen - street, . Auckland r on Saturday afternoon, - when s from most dangerous - looking ;, circumstances a young fellow escaped; inv a, ' way such_ as. rarely happens. A motor-car was going up Queen -street at- an . ordinary pace, and ou. the proper side of the- road, when, opposite the Bank of New land, a young fellow on a bicycle suddenlv came across right-in front of the car, "giving the . driver ' no : chance. The cyclist ha.d his : head' down, and was apparently' not looking, where _be was gomg. The inevitable . collision occurred, but the miraculous thing about it was that the young, fellow was thrown clear, of both bicycle and cai, while the bicycle .itself, v,when taken from under the off ;vf ore-wheel oi the car, was found to be..quite, undamaged. The cyclist was also unhurt,, and, hav--1 in £ gathered himself up . after _his suclden scramble, mounted his machine, and rode away. It was a close call, and, though-fortunately there, were no serious consequences, 'the lesson will probably not quickly be forgotten. The returns for the first half of 1911 show that the deaths in France;.: during t that -period exceeded the number ot births by 18,279. These figures are remarkable when compared with, theieturns for the corresponding period, ot last year, when the births exceeded' the deaths by 21.189. . - - The Abors are armed.witli spears and; long straight swords; a- few have guns, while every man carries a bow ajid quiver full of poisoned; arrows.. The arrows : ' have a steel-barbed tip lightly - -lashed on to the shaft, and aconite mixed witli putrid pig's,blood lg.smearea on over the lashing: for a distance or four or five inches- the feather. "When the missile strikes the shaft often falls off, leaving the head in the wound., and -breaking up -the poison, .which, »■, fresh, is strong enough to kill a bur-, falo in half an hour. Miss Sophie Groom, aged' eight-fou.'. of "Watford, has been m the service or one family ,in one house for seventy -•years. •■ As a- scholar at the Baptist bunr., da y SchooUshe went to the; seaside, orvtcr the Crystal Palace on the but these ijre believed, to have been the only holidays she ever had-.- At no time has she spent a single night an ay from "Watfoid.

The quarterly returns published ay the Registrar-General, show a remarkable decline in the "natural increase in the population of England and Wales. The excess of births over deaths for the three months ended September 30 was onlv 81,645, as compared with 123,022 in the third quarter of 1910. ?

Mrs Jean "Welsh, Bogward Farm, St. Andrews, celebrated her 100 th birthday the other day. She received the. following Boyal congratulatory telegram.:— "Previous to his departure for India, his Majesty commanded that his congratulation's should be conveyed to you to-dav on the occasion of your ]ooth birthday, with the expression of his hope that you arc In the enjoyment of good health. —Private Secretary, Buckingham Palace." A. long letter of congratulation from the Duke of ArgyJi lias also been ieceived' by MrsAYelsh. The conclusion of Mr "William Heath, who was entrusted with the goldl prospecting operations conducted last year by the Duke of Sutherland in the Strath of Kildonan, is that "the~ field cannot be worked-by any method so as to realise on the most liberal estimate anything like half the actual working expenses."

The number of passengers at Scottish ports to and from places out of Europe during the first "ten months of the prewas 60,931 outward and! 21,776 inward. Of the outward' passengers 54,503"persons and of the inward 9302 persons - were regarded l as of Scottish nationalitj'.

J. D. Familton and Sons report the sale of Mr George Campbell's freehold farm of 190 acres at Pukeuri to Mr D. Neilson;- and, on account of Mr Neilson, his freehold: farm of 1-40 acres, situated at Makarewa, near Inverenrgill, to a client. Speaking on. the. Address-in-Reply in •the Canadian Senate, Sir Richard Cartwright said:—There is another class of people to whom I would say a word, and" they are those- ungrateful fools

among English pxiblic men—and I use the word with emphasis—who have re- . ceiitly; boon exulting at the downfall of the only Canadian Administration that ever conferred a service upon Imperial commerce or over raised a hand to assist British arms. I know enough of the stolid ignorance of Canada and things Canadian which prevails among too largo a section of the British people not to understand how completely ignorant these people are of what they are talking about. But I can tell them this: They have done their best to depreciate the services of the one Governinont tiiat did any respectable service to the Empire- within my time and generation a> least. Enemies of the Servants' Charter in the Insurance Bill are taking it for granted that all mistresses are kind and generous, and that the domestic worker may count in illness on nursing and medical attendance in the home of her employer. Are there not too many mistresses like the society woman described in lan Maclaren's story, "A Servant. Lass" ? Dr John Watson once said to me, "I have a warm regard for servants," and in the story of Lily Grant he gave the public some of hi 6 own experiences as a minister. How was Lily treated in a wealthy London house ? Jamie Soutar goes to London o make inquiries. Lily's mistress has to confess that the girl, who had been cruelly overworked for many weeks, during the children's illness, had been bundled off to a hospital as soon as her health broke down. "We were desolated to part with her, but, of course, she could not remain—l mean, we knew she would leceive more attention in the hospital. So you understand " "A* dae," broke in Jamie, "fine! Lily "workjt for you an' yir bairns in a time o' need till a' the strength she brocht wi' her wes gane, an' then, when she wes like tae dee, ye turned' her oot as ye wudna hae dune wi' arie o' yir horses." I fear that Lily's mistress represents a certain class of selfish, heartless employers in the wealthier ranks of society. Under Mr Lloyd-George's Bill Lily Grant would not have been dependent on this monster. —"Lorna," in the British Weekly. Messrs Maskelyne and Devant are just putting into their programme a new and very mysterious illusion. In the centre of the stage—surrounded on all sides by a high gauze screen, so as to be inaccessible without detection to both-light and human bodies —stands a window, removed, as its appearance tells, from some old red-brick house. It-is supported on a small platform resting on posts, so that the audience can see beneath it, on botli sides _ot it, • above it, and through it. And in this window, while appropriate and bloodcurdling music, composed by Mr Jeau Bertrand, is played by . the orchestra, there appear in succession a "traditional" ghost in white, the ghost of a miser counting his gold, the ghost of a house decorator washing down a wall, the ghost of a sailor fighting the ghost of a man, the ghost of the same sailor kissing the ghost of a girl, and last the ghost of a fire from which the ghosts of two firemen rescue the ghost of a baby. The sailor looks' out through the window after the fight; the firemen both come bodily out of it on to the stage; but'how they or any other of the ghosts get behind it to begin with is a mystery which is not likely to be solved by any less able wizard than Mr Devant himself. Messrs Maskelyne and Devant are offering a prize of £2O for the best short story in which the characters are the ghosts appearing in this remarkable illusion.

At Marlborough Street Police Court, London, William Morris, a teacher at the. L.C.C. schools, Peter street, was fined 20s, with 2s costs, for assaulting a pupil named Hyman Flack. The lad had been talking, and when he refused s to hold out his hand to be caned the teacher game him several strokes with the cane over the shoulder. The magistrate said corporal punishment should always be inflicted with some sort of solemnity, and not in hot blood. ■The "Witwatersrand goldfields—popularly known as the "Rand" —are situated at a height of nearly 6000 ft upon the high veldt of the Transvaal. The goldfields stretch cast and west of Johannesburg for 50 or 60 miles. The gold is found in auriferous conglomerate—known as "banker," which is the Dutch name for "almond-rock" sweetmeat. It is the lowest of the series of conglomerate reefs—namely, the celebrated "Main Reef"—that has given the "Rand" the position of the premier gqldfield of the world. The "Main Reef" is mined to a depth of over 4000 ft. I.u the Central Rand the reef dips at outcrop 70 or 80 degrees, flattening at.depth to about 30 degrees. The pace has been set by the wife of a London railway porter, who has sent her wedding ring as a contribution to the funds of the Women's Suffrage Political "Union. In a communication accompanying the golden hoop the woman states that wedding rings have."played their part in the subjection of women quite long enough, and the best use that can possibly be made of "them is to help to swell the funds." The Scottish Land Bill provides facilities for the extension of small holdings, and extends the- crofter system throughout Scotland by giving small holders security of tenure and the right to have a fair or equitable rent fixed by a Land Court, but it has been rendered more acceptable to its former opponents by establishing a more flexible procedure in the case of tenancies where the permanent improvements' have been mjtLe by the owners. Don't give way before your task, gather renewed energy and vitaliLy from Stearns' Wine of Cod Liver Extract. Build up the broken-down tissues and nourish the tired nerves. 11

If it were not for the competition of the big Dominion Woollen Mills, farmers would not get such high prices for their wool. Buy KAIAPOI. Help to keep up our wool values, and! keep the money circulating nere.