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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11629, 10 May 1912, Page 3

Complaints have recently been made in regard to the 'difficulty of obtaining sufficient space on Home steamers for the export of produce (says the Lytteltou Times). It was stated that wool and frozen meat were receiving preference and grain was being shut out. The matter was referred to a member of >a. local'shipping firm, who stated' that ho was not in. the least perturbed' by the complaint. This year there were big cargoes of frozen meat and wool offering and as snch cargoes jjjxwided the best freight, it was unlikely that .the companies would shut; them out --'n order-to receive lower- freight. It had been suggested that tramp steamers should be chartered, but the question arose as.to whether the farmer or the shipper would be prepared to pay about thirty shillings per ton, freight on his .grain, which was double the existing freight on Home steamers. In Australia as much as thirty-three shillings per ton was being paid on cargoes. " The companies at the present time were doing what they> could 1 to maintain, a steady export of produce, but this year the harvest had l been phenomenal and the space on vessels was severely taxed. The Commonwealth Electoral Officer has sent instructions to the returning officer to have established polling booths in hospitals and similar institutions for the convenience of patients and inmates ■.it the time of the next Federal elections. The question whether the deputy returning officers will be instructed to go around to the patients in bed and help them in this way to record their votes has not been decided by Ministers. It is understood there is an objection in official circles to this course, hift Mr' Roberts. (acting-Minister for Home Affairs), in expressing his personal opinion on the matter, says he favors the giving of every possible facility to disabled persons to exercise their franchise, as there is no reason, he thinks, why a man or a woman should be deprived of their righ's because of physical unfitness to vote in the ordinary way. The Lone Hand for May begins a new volume, and at the same time makes a bid for nopularity with a sensational serial "The Drawn Blind." the opening chapters of which are calculated, to produce more than an average number of thrills. Edward. Dyson continues his ■storv of ''Billy Bluesum," and Norman Lindsay contributes some amusing sketches in connection therewith Thou we have "The Opium Eaters." "The Poprl 0 f B\rn3." '=>-vl '-The C'-wtrH. 1 -' all illustrated. Morris Attorney-General of the Commonwealth, figures larcrp.lv anions the serious articled, hi addition to "Australian Birds." "Th° Black. o"a]." and the "White Ait." A collection of verses and numerous miscellaneous items make up a, very readable number. Our cony comes from Messrs Gordon and' Gotch, Dunedin. The Soronson Salvage Companv have j Axperieneed a number.of delnvs in get- ' tiDE their ve«sel aw,nv from Dun°din t" j voyage + o the Auckland Islands, and delavs resulted in the Bluff ape.nt '•-of the company having to appear before

'Mr G. Cruickshank, S.M., charged with herding working bullocks in the public streets of the Bluff. It appears that the bullocks camo down from .Roxburgh at Easter time, as it was expedced that the s.s. Wairoa would sail two or three days later. They have in the interval eaten out all the grass in the paddocks available, and had to be driven 'through the streets to obtain the necessary grass. The Magistrate, after hearing the facts, showed no sympathy with the Borough Council's by-laws. He said that foreign companies should be treated with consideration, and not pestered. Whaling companies and companies such as the Soronson Comapny, who were, making an effort to recover 'the gold from the General Grant, were of benefit to the port, and should be encouraged to come, and not be frightened awav bv being annoyed in this petty fashion' The company were convicted and discharged. The Wannate Hunt Club held a meet at Mr E. C. Studholme's "To Waimate" estate yesterday. Owing to the fact that a large portion of tin's estate has been purchased for closer settlement, this annual fixture will be missed

next year, and there- was a record attendance to enjoy Mr Studholme's hospitality for probably the last time. The afternoon's sport was voted excellent m every respect. Among the followers were the following:—J. Bowker (Master) on Bangle; T. Hobbs (Huntsman) on Kawa; —. Fielding (Whip) on Craigdugald; J. Rattray on Otaio; R. Rattray on Begorrah; 'W. George on Mauri; L. Hamilton on Reba; E. Rickman on Laplander; J. Freeman on Kildare; E. George on Kafashore, and many others, amongst whom there was a good sprinkling of lady riders. Afternoon tea was not the least popular item on a, popular programme. Tho harbor this morning bore an un- , usual aspect of activity, there being no less than four steamers berthed and waiting to be berthed at the same time. This condition was brought about partly by reason of the abnormally large shipments of produce that are heinflj mado this season and partly owing to the fact that steamers' movements were restricted owing to the heavy sea that was running all last night, 'it was on account of the latter that tho Te Anau, which arrived: in the roadstead at 10 p.m. had to remain outside all night, and the Wanaka, which-had completed her loading last evening, had to postpone her departure until to-day. The other steamers in port were tho Kaiapoi and Petone.

Among Taupo fish stories is one of an English visitor who, having experienced the advantage of a particular fishinn; ground, was disturbed one morning at finding a- Maori in possession. The Englishman sent his valet to give the man a shilling as an inducement to retire. Th» Maori promptly produced a, florin and proffered' it as still greater inducement for the pakeha to go away and leave him in peace.

A pathetic, almost a tragic, anecdote is told of the Empress Eugenie hy the Paris Journal, which those who l have approached the former Empress of the French say is at least plausible. The aged lady, who is close on 86, while stopping in her beautiful villa at Cap Martin, received the visits of an Hungarian autograph-collector, who . has specimens of the handwriting of all the crowned heads of Europe and their chief kinsmen. He came straight from! Hungary to Cap Martin to beg the Empress Eugenie for her autograph: She refused to see him, and sent out by a servant this spoken message of threo words. "I am dead."

At the King Edward VII. Hospital, Windsor, a bullet was extracted from near the ribs of an ex-soldier, which had been there since the battle of Diamond Hill in the Boer war in June, 1900. In the case of a girl it was found necessary to remove the appendix, but her state of health forbade the use of ordinary anajsthetics. Some 20 drops of stovaine were injected in the spinal canal at the level of the waist. In tent minutes the patient had lost all sense of feeling from the' chest downwards. A screen was placed across her body, shielding the area to be operated upon. The girl chatted and read, and was unaware that the operation was being carried out until it was nearly completed'.

Professor Rivetta, of the "Orient .Institution" at Naples, has compiled a Chinese alphabet, which it is hoped the republic will sanction. .Hitherto 80,000 signs served to form the 80,000 words of the language, and it is not astonishing that the number of literates in the Celestial kingdom were few. In orderto reproduce all the sounds of the Chinese tongue Professor Rivetta had recourse to every alphabet now existing. He has made one which comprises 42 letters, of whicli 23 are vowels and 19 consonants. Among the vowels, four are taken from the Greek, four from the Russian, five from the Latin, one alone from the Chinese; two are lengthened vowels, and seven are reversed letters. Of the consonants 14 are Latin, three Russian, and two are Greek. The new alphabet enables every word of the universally current Chineso language to be correctly written. It has already been adopted in Southern China. ' . - A case of supposed premature burial is reported from Mede, near Toulouse. M. Gaston, a. small farmer, was supposed to have died suddenly, and after the death certificate had been given the. funeral took place. When earth was being shovelled on the coffin one of the grave-diggers thought he hoard' groans coming from the open grave. The men stopped work, and as they heard sounds they sent for a doctor and raised the coffin. The lid was wrenched off and the shroud torn aside. The "rave-diggers say it was evident that the bodv, which was still warm, had moved. ' When the doctor arrived he tried artificial respiration, but ho was too late. „ _, Headache everv now and then.-' Unry Stearns' Headache Cure—easy to carry, easy to take. Clears the head in a few m Mr*.! S 'SWINDLED, SurgeoniDentist, will visit KTJROW on THURSDAY -NEXT, 16th May, and may bo consulted at Spiers' Hotel. «*)» Peppermint Cure. Never fails. Is 6d, 2s 6d. Tonking's Linseed Emulsion removes all the misery of sneeze and sniffle. 5