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Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11866, 27 February 1913, Page 3

The deputation that waited: on the Waitaki County Council yesterday with the object of obtaining financial assistance from that body to the end xhat North Otago might be worthily represented at the Auckland Exhibition was very strong in argument, so that any doubts Councillors might- have had as to the wisdom of the proposal were easily dispelled. Mr Rose's assertion that-Auckland was Oamaru's best customer, and that last year, of the total export from the port of oats, wheat, and milled products, over 45 per cent., or nearl.v one-hair, had gone to the northern town, probably placed in an entirely new light _ the importance of representation at an exhibition where the claims of other exporting centres will enter into serious competition with our own. The decision of the' Council to contribute up to £IOO conditionally oni the Borough Council contributing £SO is one that wjll meet with complete endorsement by the ratepayers, and is not likely to be nullified by any parsimonious attitude on the part of the Borough Council. This being so. it may be inferred that the initial difficulty lias been overcome, and what remains now is for the public, and especially the portion that will derive the greatest benefit by the district's advancement, to become enthusiastic. Tradespeople and manufacturers, who will rightly regard their exhibits a s a valuable advertisement, must take time by the forelock, in order that their portion of the display may not suffer by comparison with that which concerns the natural products of the soil. On the Borough Council signifying its intention to donate £SO, a public meeting will be called, and the whole question of the district's representation finally decided. In the meantime it is pleasing to note that substantial progress in the object aimed at is being made. North Otago cannot afford to be unrepresented at an exhibition at which the claims of other centres for patronage might sadly menace our own. Our Waimate correspondent, writing this (Thursday) morning, states that it is again raining, and that the farming community has a. real grievance against the clerk of the weather.

At Hook on Saturday, while playing with a. cartridge, a girl twelve years of age had her thumb shattered and two fingers shot off. Her injuries were attended to at the "Waimate Hospital. At Buraside live stock and produce market yesterday, the following business of local interest was transacted: —By Messrs Wright. Stephenson, and Co.. for Mr J. B. Reid (Elderslie) pen fat ewes at 18s 3d, 32 fat 'lambs at ISs, 12 fat lambs at 16s 3d. By Dalgety and Co. (Ltd.). for Mr Jas. Pringle (Duntroon) 44 fat ewes at 14s 6d, 26 fat ewes at 14s; for the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative (Waimate, as agents) 111 fat. -wethers at 17s 6d to 16s 6d, 24 fat ewes a-t 14s 6d, 2 fat lambs at 16s. By the Otago Farmers' Co-operative Association of New Zealand (Ltd.), for Mr Thos. Liken (Pukeuri) 36 fat ewes at 23s 9d, 19

.futvewes at 21s: for -Messrs .'Scott.-.Bros. (Alaheno) 32 fat en-'es at 14s 9(1, 13 fat ewes at lis. The. School Boys' Swimming Carnival, which was to have been held this afternoon, lias been postponed until next Thursday. The morning train arrived at Waimate -on Wednesday about two hours late, owing to the train having got off the rails at Studholme.

At yesterday's meeting of the County Council the following tenders were accepted Gravelling Ngapara - Dimtroon road, W. Dobson, £406 ss: Aorere Creek culvert-. Bottle and. Milne, £ll6 12s 6cl; formation of EklersJie No. 2 road, li. Francis and M. -Bradley, £244 8s Bd. It was decided to call for tenders for gravelling the ungravelled portion of the south-west portion, of the Bluff road, Tokaralii. On "Wednesday at Waimate a first offender was fined! 5s for drunkenness; and George Vlecher was convicted and ordered to at once leave the town on a charge of vagrancy. Messrs Francis and Orbell were the presiding justices. For the period February Ist to loth the following products, with their values, passed through the Customs at Oamaru for export from New Zealand: 2829 carcases mutton, valued at £2244; 11,413 carcases lamb, valued at £S47I; 49 skins, valued at £9; 13 tons tallow, valued at £403 ; 877,3591b wool, valued

at £40,209. The Entertainment Committee of the Garden Fete discussed the programme at a meeting last evening. A number of items of a more or less novel char-

acter, and all promising interest and amusement, were resolved upon. The programme as outlined possesses such a variety of items that all tastes, however divergent, should find in it something gratifying and satisfying. The Committee decided to popularise the event by making the charges for admission 2s for the dress circle and Is f° r body of the Opera House, the aim being'to provide a pleasant wind-up to the greater function of .the day.

The quarterly meeting of the United Ancient- Order of Druids was held last evening, Bro. A. Ait-ken, A.J)., presiding over a large attendance of brethren. After the welfare of the sick members had been attended to, the discussion or the Grand Lodge order paper was proceeded with. It was decided, to wholeheartedly recommend the Grand Lodge to adopt the original consolidation scheme, with, the addition of clause No. 1 of the notice of motion submitted by Otago Lodge, providing for the appointment of Boards of Control at Oamaru. Dunedin, and Invercargill. It was also decided to oppose tlie remits submitted re. the alteration and revision of the laws of tlie Order. Another important decision was also arrived at, it being decided: to abolish the initiation fee, which hitherto has been somewhat of a bar to members joining the Order. Opportunity was taken at the meeting to make presentations to past officers of the Lodge, P.D.P. Bro. G. L. Grenfell, 011 behalf of the Grand Lodge, presenting P.D.P. Bro. D. M'Leod with his P.D.P. diploma, and on behalf of Endeavor Lodge asking P.A. Bro. J. Kearn's acceptance of his P.A. diploma. Both brothers suitably replied, stating that they had but done their duties i» their respective offices. The routine business of the "Lodge was then dealt with, the Lodge closing in Unity, Peace, and Concord.

In an address before the British Association, Professor Arthur Keith said that if the evidence of the collectors of prehistoric flints is to be accepted as authentic, man as we now know him took on his human characteristics near the beginning of the Pliocene period, or about 1,498,000 B.C. Professor Keith is certain that man existed in the middle of the Pleistocene period, and that along with him there was another 'form of human being who was almost as different from us as the gorilla is from the chimpanzee. At the beginning of the pleistocene period there were at least two varieties of man, the pre-Neander-thaloid of Heidelberg, and the smallbrained man of Java, but no representative of modern man at that early period has vet been found. A French authority believes that the race is at least 3.000,000 years old, but there are many other scientists who are convinced that man first appeared on the earth only 400,000 years ago. Professor Keith himself is positive that in the distant past there existed not one kind, but several very different kinds of men, and that all of them, except tho branch 'from which modern man is sprung, became extinct. The success which has attended the Oamaru Boating Club's crews at the Port Chalmers Regatta on Boxing Day and the Otago Regatta last Wednesday week has influenced the Committee of tlie Club in deciding to keep the crews in training in view of competing at the Queenstown Regatta at Easter. By the series of wins they have had the Club is now leading for tlie Otago championship, and should tliey maintain their reputation at Queenstown they will have no trouble in maintaining thatlead.

The directors of a private bank 'in Paris, in order to impress the shareholders, dressed a butler in bishop's robes and seated him amongst the company. states a cable message to the Sydney Sun. During the meeting "the bishop's" episcopal staff was left in a prominent place in the cloak-room. During the proceedings "the bishop" employed the time reading. An inquisitive shareholder, peeping over "his lordship's" shoulder to see whatwas being read, was electrified to discover that the bishop was enjoying the columns of a highly si>icy comic journal. The .fraud was at once discovered. The principals of the bank fled, taking with them the treasury. Consternation was caused a little while ago by the report that the Go-vernor-General of the Bahamas had had uo send three companies of marines with two guns with all haste to the outlying island of Watlinig Island, said to be the first of the new hemisphere seen by Columbus. The case is a tragic one (writes a London correspondent. A. German cargo steamer, passing "Watling Island, noticed the signals "N.J." flying over • the lighthouse. Now "N.J." in the international signal code means "I am attacked'; I want help." Thus apprised! of da.nger. tho German captain put on all speed for Nassau, where he reported that the lighthouse keeper at Wailing had been attacked, presumably by pirates. When the relief expedition arrived, the lightkeeper. a. negro named Nat.. .Jones, explained that to celebrate the birth of his firstborn he hadi hoisted the flags bearing the newly-christened youngster's initials. For ithis misdemeanour Nat Jones, with twelve years' faithful service, has been transferred to the sad little rock of Lobos Cay.

The Stratford 1 'correspondent of the Ta.r-n.imki Heraldi, writing on the 20th instant, says:—'-'The factory pay-out today again makes'a" new record for January tnilk values. 'The distinct should be just bursting with prosperity, but somehow things are not quite as they should be. In spite of the efforts of the Government, of factory directois, of the A. and P. Association, in spite of the stores of literature devoted to the matter. of rural- courses at the High School, -and other agencies, farms do ■not generally show an advance in productiveness at all commensurate with the enormous advance in the capital required to .run them. In fact, there are many that show no advance at all. The land is under-manned and over-capital-ised.

It is not generally known that King Ferdinand of Bulgaria is one of the best botanists of Europe. At his summer residence under Musalla, the highest -peak of the Rhodope range, he has n wond'erful rock-garden, where not only Alpine and sub-Alpine plants are grown, but even representative specimens from England, as "well 1 as raTe Bulgarian inountain plants, .which have a peculiar interest. For while some of these are variants of Carpathian and Alpine t-vpes, others correspond to those of the Caucasus and Asiatic highlands,, and yet others, like the lovely Bulgarian gentian, are. not known, elsewhere. The full glory of spring flowers in the Rhodope ranee is seldom seen except by the shepherds of the mountain pastures, for summer succeeds so quickly to the time of melting snows. Quite a. tenth of the London streets have* no No. 13. There is no such mum her in the -Strand, nor in .Holbom, "Westbourns-grov-e. Hhy-marfcet, St. -James' street, Lowdnes Square, or Park Lane. Even the doctors ba.n> it; for TJpper Brook street goes from 11 to loa- on the odd number side of the street. In the humbler quarters of London is is the snme im. for instance, Charlotte street, Southwark, Rother-

hitho street- and Charles street, Hoxton,. Evert the ijrinting press does not give iiwuv superstition, for in Wine Office Court and other purlieus of Fleet street the number is missing. City men, too, have banished it from London 'street, Tokenhouse Yard n.nd •Threadneed'le street. There is, however, a. manufacture]- —greatly daring—who far years has on business at 13 Friday street. 3lr Vincent Astor, who recently came into his estate of £20,000,000, had

narrow escape from being shot a. few weeks ago near Pouglikeepsie, New York. He was walking alone;; the road shortly 'after dark on his way to his country house, when a farmer n«mecl Robert Forbes, believing him to be i burglar, shot at hi in three times with a revo.lv,er. Fortunately none of the shots hit Mr Astor. who, as soon us possible, made his identity known, and received the profuse apologies of the farmer. Civilising influences are, it appears, pouring into Moroeco. To the nethermost fastnesses of the Atlas mountain alcohol has penetrated, raising its standard of triple stars a. mi! triple X'"s over the land. In 1907 a still practically barbariau Casablanca counted a bare half-dozen of public-houses. To-day, so rapid is the spread of our European culture, she lias 161. Morocco is no longer a dry and thirsty land! wherein no strong waters be. The Mohammedan, in spite of religious sanctions, takes kindly to the new regime. It :

true that lie does not yet relish the taste of absinthe. _ but he drinks it all the same. The Moslem doe* not relish the means, lie Mills the end —in other words, he likes to get drunk. So thatvou see him tossing off with a wry lace, a good half-tumbler of raw spirit, ana then chasing the taste with a. glass of water. il His ideal would be," writes the "Illustration," to get drunk without drinking.' ' Three hundred members of the Medical Society of New York county .had a new experience at the Academy of Medicine., when .for two towns they watched moving pictures which have been taken during the last five years by Dr T. H. Weisenburg, professor of clinical neurology at the Medico-Chirur-gical College',' Philadelphia. The pictures displayed .nervous and mental diseases, and! .Dr "Weisenburg showed five reels of the 25.000 feet of film he lias taken;. The pictures showed in great d'etail nearly every known form of. nervous disease, with their clinical symptoms, with the different methods of examinations, including the taking of Reflexes ami different types of gaits. _ Dr Weisenburg said that he first conceivec. the idea of taking moving pictures for class-room work five years ago, in order to more easily explain the symptoms. So far his work has been devoted almost exclusively to nervous diseases, but Tie expects shortly to extend his woimt. His ambition now, ho says, is to record! the speech of the insane as well as their pictures, in order that an. absolutely correct record may be made of the words and intonations. Then lie will extend, the work of picture-taking to the ope-rating-room. It- is .freely rumored that true coronation of the Mikado' will take place m November. This is supported by the fact that the Royal households in Tokio and Kyoto are already making active • preparations. After the corontion the Emperor Yoshihito will visit Europe in fulfilment of a long-cherished, wish. He will make use of a. warship. The principal town of British East Africa. Nairobi, is commonly supposed to be very up-to-date and replete with ,&verv modern convenience, hut a' resident- has shot a, 9ft lion, practically from the For.t; Hall Road', within hail of motor-cars and the extensive traffic of that main thoroughfare. A message from Cliang-sha, China., says that the; Governor ordered a, woman who persisted ill smoking opium to be shot. The execution took place in ithe presence of large crowds.