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Otago Witness, Issue 2734, 8 August 1906, Page 11

xV - ' . . r A subscription B*« been started in Cairo Ho aend • Hahommedan mission to conTer f the Japanese. Tlio rumoured Conversio* of the Mikado has given rise to Btrmngb. reflections in the native press. A leading nufcive paper «ays that the conversion of the Japanese is of first import•A&e to tb^e Moslem wojrjj^

The W«lllngton Post's Taihape correspondent telegraphs that, owing to the state of tho roads in the Pukeokahu district, carts are unable ro proceed with stores and mails, and packhors«3 are now being used. At a meeting of Fertlc-r-. it wae decided to raise a lean of £*100 far improvement*.

OSTNTTHft GATHER UM

The Westporfc police are inquiring into several cases of theft from dwellings at Burnett's Face. In- one case £4^B was stolen.

The Oamaru Borough Council to-night accepted the tender of H. Winslpy and Son ter the erection of the Town Hall at £6413.

The Victorian Cabinet has approved of public works being constructed, with which, to give employment to 600 men. These works- will be ready within a week.

The dfebris left from coral made into articles of jewellery, etc., is crushed, scented, and said as a tooth powder at a high prioe- by Italian perfumers.

The Bokitnka-Maliinapua section of the Ross railway is now receiving its finishing touches, and wrlc, it is anticipated', be' ready fo* traffic in abont thiee weeks' time.

Two Welsh ironmasters — Messrs Wayc-e and Jones — are ab present in the Nelson district making a- careful examination of the iron-bearing area at Para Para applied for by them, and inquiring into local con^ ditions.

Dr Russell said at Christchurch last week that he approved of science, but believed in common sense. One ounce of it was worth a pound of science. It was the want of it that had given birth to a great deal of science-

Though: the police have given a good deal of time in tryina to solve the " severed ha>nd" mystery at Temuka. and also rlu* mystenioue disappearance from thac town of Mirs James Miks, both continue to be clouded in mystery.

An information has been laid against a resident of (xlenavy eh.arjn.nir him with cruelty t« animals. It is stared that- the pet son charged railed 12 tnrkeys and; fi\e fowls to Oatmaw in a. box 3ft Sin x 3ft 6m x lft.— Otunaxu Mail.

There was a psetty heavy fall of sno-w in the Waikawa. district on Monday (sayß the Wyudham Farmer). A gentleman whocame through to Wyndham from. Waikawa informs us that there were 3in of snow in thy* Waikawa, Valley in the morning.

The Victorian Government has let e> contract for the landing of 5,000,000** «übic yards of silt to be supplied by the Harbour Trust for depositing" in the West SSetf&ouirne swamp. The contractors are Messrs Warncok and Walsh, and the price is £39,000.

Electrical clothes are to be a. novelty of. tJie- near future, we are told 1 ,, s meanshaving been discovered oi charging all faibrics wirh electricity. The object of the inventor has been to make wearing apparel' warmer, and at the same time of less heavy tax t urea.

Two men in Wellington, walking in opposite directions, met and had a wrangle as to- which «ide they should pass. Blcm-9 followed, and 'he outcome was a fight lasting 10 minutes. The sequel' was their appearance at the Police Court on a charge of fighting. A number* of inquiries continue to be made hy people who- are anxious to- take workmen's homes in Auckland, and there s^ms to be a strong desav to take advantage of th« scheme provided by the Government. Apparently the trouble will be to provide sufficient hou.es for those who wish to occupy thorn.

The schooner Amelia Sims arrived at Akaroa on Wednesday with a record loa<i of timber (74-.O0Oft) for the contractor engaged in building tho new Bruce HoteL

(>f the *00 baronies, about a dozen date back to KOO, the earlier, being created In 1264. Ths olde«c fannlv in the British Isles is the Mar family n Scotland, dating from 1093-

Dr Wohlmann. the Government balneologist from Rotorua. has made application for spare in the Exhibition grounds near the machinery hall to enable him to carry out a reproduction of some of the gevFers from the Hot Lake district. He states that be has been experimentalising, and finds that h« can make excolJpnt icproihictions of the geyser*.

Several m-en were badly injur*vl rprently at Trenton. Jorsev. hv the oxpic-ion of a small piece of dynamite whuh nno of the group had 'placed under a le;r of tho card table to steady it. The accident waa causpd by Michael Ccnta, who, in his enthusiasm over scoi-iiig a point, bronaht his hand down on the tabl<* with sach force a<= to «\plode the dyiiai.iit«.

A -hockiti<r story of ;ho <! .> l.s to n^ich a jierion will desceml whun en«la\ed by the rlrink habit was to ihe city roroncr at Melbournf roc"!ltl^. A .\ounfj woman. Mary Ann Oi\tv for tho la=t 11 months had hopn rlrmkinz m«"thTlatpd i its I-atterlv --ho purchi^efl 'ho -p'rifs by tho half-pint .ind-ulnmtr!\ a do-e of thp 'loiriblo btuff kill 0(! he > E.uliiriar U vert hn^K .it uic .tit in the

Oamairu- district, both, town and country. One contractor infornroed a. representative of the Xorth Otag<i> Times on Tuesday thob he Iras no fewer than nine houses on bis; hands. Many peisens in Gxmaru can vouch personally for the fact that it » extremely difficult tor get carpsnters to- do small jobs, all hands being fully employed 1 on large operations.

A jolly rubicund stock dealer, well known in the North Otago district, who wae a passenger by the 'has- one afternoon last week, rold the passengers in one and- the same breath, that Oamaru. under no-license was not a pleasant experience, but that it would iavp him, quite £100 a year in. " shouting."' He would haw liked to have been able boost a> drink, all the same. — North Otago Tinieo.

Miss Amy Castles, in a- private letter received in Melbourne, says that, notwithstanding her siicoeßses at Home, she is long-ing for "a visit to Australia, and that she is fully determined to forgo all European engagements to go there in 1908. She is booked ahead for many of the principal musical festivals, and she has already been approached by an American syndicate for a tour in grand opera throughout the United States.

The Cape-to-Cairo railway has now reached a point 360 miles to the north of Victoria Falls, • and within 16 miles of Broken Hill. The railway, which was planned by Mr Cectl Rhodes, will be 5700 miles in length, when completed. The railhead is now 1960 miles distant from Capetown. From Cairo the line extends 1400 miles southward® to Khartoum. Two thousand three hundred and forty miles of the line- have yet to be built. The Tuapeka Times states that tho settlers of Evans Plat are very much exercised jast now in regard to the position chosen by- the railway engineers for the site of the siding at Evans Flat. It is stated that the convenience o£ the settlers ha« received no consideration, and Mr Beanet, M.H.R., who admits . the justice of the settlers' grievance, has promised to briny the matter under the notice of the Minister of Public Works.

One of the moat curious clocks in the world- is perhaps tbat which- tells the thne to the inhabitants of a little American backwood town. The machinery, whichconsists of nothing 1 bat a face, hands, and 1 lever, is connected with a geyser, which shoots out an immense column of hot water every 38 seeonda. This spoiling never varies to- the tenth of a second. Every time the water sponrs up it strikes the lever, and moves the hands forward 38 seconds.

Mrs Maclin*. of Harrington, near Workirogton. Cumberland, whose husband 1 earns 23b a week a* a labourer (says the London Espresal, has conao into a fortnne 1 of £17,000. It is her share of £109,000 toft bs a bachelor uneTe in Australia. Msclinewaa earning only 19s a week s few months asfo, when he obtained his present employment at the Mow Bay Steet Works. The couple have had 19 children, moat of whom are now grown up. Some of the daughters »re in domestic service. The members of the family take their good fortwae very calmly.

Mr C. A. Wray, S.M.. had a unique request made to him at the Timaru court last week, when at strong', able-bodied roan, who bears the name of being a good worker, asked the magistrate to find him work, and assured him that if he did so he (the applicant) would willmgrly take it. The man saitj ho had tried all o\er the place, but had •'been unable to srefc any work for the past six weeks. The masistrate taid ho could not undertake to find work for the unemployed ; he wa3 afraid that was rather beyond him. but he hardly thought that work was as scarce as the witness would have Km believe. Tho went heavy rains have been tha rrupand of ro'.eaaing an enormous quantity of loc* from the creek)-- in the Whan«arei district. Many of the contractors have hp-fMi waning- as far bac!c &-s three years for a frcsh«t. to take th<> logs down totho r«**tx»otiv© destinations, and as a result bush contracting has been .slack. Moet of the timber mills in tl c district expert ro work full time for some months to come. The Whansraivi correspondent of the Auckland Herald states that the results of the f re-hois will he an immonw beaefit to fho district as a great quantity of capital. frrm""ly locked up in fimtvr and logs, will be <*c !/»«'•»(! antl cirrulated.

TWoro his address at Holy Trinity Church at Kiimara on a recent Parurday. the Rev. A. Horr refprrod ('ays the K-jrnai-a Times) to complaint* that had been made concerning rh-" p!aving of football matches in the Rcv-roarion Ground on Sundays. He said hu hail no objection to the same, as he

liked it, and had played it, and he was no bigot or held nd Ptmtam'cal views regardsing the Sabbath, bu* the game being played in the middle of the town was a nuisance to the- susceptibilities of a number of Christian residents of the district. If the teams could find na other day to play their matches they could play- on the racecourse, where the noise would not be- a source of nuisance, and some of the language used would not contaminate children: on their way home from Sunday schooL He appealed to the members of the congregation us citizens .to protest against the matches being; played ia the town on. Sundays.