TRADES AND LABOUR PICNIC. OMNIUM GATHERUM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2850, 28 October 1908, Page 3

TRADES AND LABOUR PICNIC.

OMNIUM GATHERUM.

UNSEEMLY PROCEEDINGS. CHBISTCHURCH, October 18. The Trades aud Labour picnic at Lee6ton on Labour Day seems to have been the occasion for a good deal more drinking on the part of some of the picnickers than wrs good for them or pleasant for other people. The offenders were mainly boya and young men. and the assertion by one of the papers that "an occasional jrghtr and the free, use of shocking language colourpd the proceedings " has not been contradicted. The Rev. W. Rowe, of Leeston, writes now to both papers condemning in scathing language the disgusting scenes that took place. He speaks of. the vile" language indulged in, and the sight that met the ga*e everywhere of young men staggeringvunder the influence of drink. He saye : " The young men who were besotted with liquor seemed to have complete control of th^ main 6treet, and language .was go insulting' aud their attitude 66 menacing that a"* bridal 'partythought it expedient to drive home by a back street." He adds that " the great redeeming feature oi the carousal (if it can be called a redeeming feature) is that' it was the best no-license lecture that haar been given in Leeston for some time."

The late Mi* Sarah Flowr-i- of SfsuforcT-on-Avon. ha- Locj.^arhrxl £12 000 f<;r tho Slutktt-ixaio Mcuu»J-J 'X^u^hg Association.

Sixty-four pages of names and addresses fi depositors %<n tho Savings Bank whose kocount? hare not been claimed since Januijfi 1880, appeared io *ke French Journal Official. These deposits will be forfeited if not claimed within a yeWt ;

Ie lisj long been a compLJjU in Ciiristchv.icli that a tV'i ung Las opciaicd to the datnment of ili^ fl-Lcmui aiivl the public. It is allege J that- tl.r> dnalnrs pj»/or to tenet good food to the d.Hii.clo. jrathcr thtm re-uuee iheir jjiic\.»..

The King has named a colt foal by Cyllene—rN«dejda, Dorajido, after the Italian who co nearly won the Marathon raoe. Edible snails are becoming Scarce in France, and rf" is proposed to have a close time for them, extending from April 14- to July 15. The Hampsfcead " tube" is the deepest subterranean railway jn the world, being 251 ft below the surface just north of Hempstead station. A tramp named Joseph Campbell Hobbells, who was sent to prison in England for 21 days for begging, stated he had not worked for five years. The manager of the Burnham Industrial School (Christchurch) has received a donation of bhree footballs from a gentleman in Yorkshire, England. The " log," the instrument by which the speed of ships is ascertained was invented in the eixtenth century. It was adopted by English vessels about 1577. Passengers by the Doyer-Ostend mail steamer rn^iy now send wireless telegrams ac the rate of Jd a word for the first 10 words and Id for each subsequent ■word. Four miners were fined Is each at Glasgow recently for travelling inside a corporation tramcar in muddy and dirty clothes- and refusing to go on top. WhSle ascending the stairs of Bath Hospital to visit his daughter, John Bainton fell dead. The daughter was already dead, but he was unaware of the fact. There is to be an innovation in yachting in Wellington this year —a race for yachts steered by ladies. Next year it is ho-ped to have a^race for yachts " manned " entirelyby ladies. In consequence of investigations made in the prison at _Nime&, Dr Charles Perrier has found that thieves are mostly small, beggars are of medium build, murderers are tall, and coiners and incendiaries are below the 'medium height. The hulk Ganges, which is moored off Harwich and is used as a trainiug-ship, is | to be replaced by H.M.S. CamperdowTi, ' the vessel which ran down the Victoria in the Mediterranean. The average sperm whale is about 59ft long and weighs about 140,0001b, and will yield 60,0001b of blubber (from which 48,0001b of train oil can be made) and 30001b of whalebone. While sports were taking place at the Dollis Hill swimming bath two girls came into collision in the water and were stunned. They immediately eank. but were rescued by the judge and starter. As a result of the Labour Day celebrations at Gieborne, the maternity home fund will benefit materially. The gross takings at the Domain amounted to over £100. and the takings at the -social in the evening to £18. A Paris dentisf, who discovered that one of^ his patients had stolen valuable specimens from his collection of coins, revenged himself by three teeth from the jaw^ of rhe thief while the police were being' tent fcr. The vicar of St. Peter's. Mancroffc, Norwich, summoned the women workers at a Mlk factory, v.-ho had been out on strike, to the church, and announced to them that ha had suceoded in settling the strike. Tho women sang the Doxolcgy. Wnlnn a fr-w day 3 (according to the Daily M'ai!) 13 persons in Franco were fatally poi-onod by oating mushrooms. A medical expert eavs "Iliat aH would have lieen javed had they taken as an antidote powdoiod wood-charcoal. The dron^-iipper v.-ho ha= Icome*! largo in tho public- pye of Wellington has -j. i\\al !of greater skill. At the Opera Hc:i-c •"• j low night* ago a male member of thp audience had, one of his pockets containing 6s j cut cloan out of his clothe?. Amongst tho donation reported ar a meeting of tlie Canvassing Committee for ihe foithcomuig bazaar at Balclutha (says tho Leader) is a fat bullock, laluod .it about £12. obtained by Mr Thomas Sinclair from Mr John Begg, of Hillend. The cost of generating the electric curiont for lighting Rotorua is, according to the report o"f the engineer-in-char^e. 2.8 d per unit. Consumers are charged 8-1 per unit. There was a working profit to the department last year of £1074. Peter Grant, a cow-feeder, of Eltrin, was driving a cart along a country road when a hare ran acrcss the road. He jumped off and struck at the hare with a stick, but juot as he did so a moLor car struck him and inflicted injuries from which he died. The Manawatu Raihvav Company has ceased to issue return tickets for a distance of o\er 10 miles, owing to the early taking over of the line by ihe Government. The object is apparently io lessen tho number of tickets outstanding when the line i« taken over. Mr William Willett. wLo recently sailed for Capetown to fmcher the campaign for n-.-oro daylight, .-tated in an interview that («-u tours m Canada, had already adopted rhe scliem? on Their own r-°3ponaibility. and were duly setting forward their clocks in the summer months. At a meeting of the Christcliuvch Domain Boa nl ZNIi B. Y. Man hire said ha thought ir wouM be better if naienls would teach their child: en to mend" stockings and work . in ti.e g.utk'i fcr iccreation lather tlmu /

throw cricket balls about and knock hockey balU over Hagley Park. During the winter the unemployed of Ipswich were employed in levelling land belonging to the corporation. This land was afterwards Jet out to them at a nominal rent, and those who m&do th& best use of it were awarded prizes by the Mayor at a horticultural show. Mr E. W. Petherick has a museum at Newtown, Wellington, and has given instructions to & profeaaional hunter to ppccur© _ specimens of a lion and a lionose. Specimens of a tiger and two panthers have already arrived at th© museum, and will be exhibited in due ocoirse. "Send a wire; it's too difficult to get an answer to a .letter," was the advice given by an experienced member of the Feilding Chamber of Comnrerce, when a proposal to communicate with a Minister of the Crown was being considered. The suggestion Avas adopted. Herr Otto Laresen. who is walking round the ' island of Zealand on a -diet of nothing but Highland whisky, is making good progress, and is expected to reach Copenhagen a.gain. Large crowds fire following him everywhere, and extra police are keeping the course clear. According to a. letter received in Wellington from an officer %of one of the ships ;of the Australasian squadron, it i& stated that it is generally understood from late Home advices that 'a powerful British fleet 0^.25 or 30 vessels will undertake a cruis© to thes© waters before June of next year. That the music in the Rotorua Sanatorium grounds was beneficial to the Tourist and Health Resorts Department is evident from the receipts at the Tea- House fo"r the" past year, which show an increase of £285 Is 9d over those of the previous 12-months. The music cost the department £60. Perishable articles never appear twice on the Imrjerial table of the Avstrian Court. Thus there are large perquisites for tho various <a>ttendan>ts. To one man falls all the uncorked bottles, to another the wine left in the glasses, to another the joints, and to another the game or the sweets. A steamer's captain who found three stowaways on board juat after he left Dover, avoided delaying his ship for the usual prosecution by a novel plan. , He signalled a boat, paid the boatman 30e to land the stowaways, and gave the stowaways 10s each/ as they were destitute. " The greatest difficulty mat with in ■ranging is the young fellow who is out with a gun evidently intent on killing whatever comes in his way, but who. when cihallengred to produce his license, declares tha.t he is only looking 1 for rabbits." The statement is made by Mr L. Birks (Rotorua). The Duke of Rutland owns, at Belvoir, the first tramway over built in England. It was constructed nearly «. century ago when the castle was bring rebuilt after a great fire. As a boy, the duke a.nd his young friends used to amuse themselves by tobogganing down the line in the empty trucks. Tho remnant of the Elginshire, well known to railway travellers on the lino south of Timaru. appears to have fallen ovor somewhat further towards the north, ro that ihc pi«ce of her starboard side is nearly horizontal. It looks like -the huge upper jaw of the open mouth of some great f>ea monster. The Russian police have unearthed near War»aw a perfect laboratory for removal of •the pastmaiks from urod stamps by a chemical process. Forty thousand cleaned and over 100.000 uf.ed stamps were found. Branches of the same business arc stated to '•\ist in St. Petersbuig, Moscow, and other larf?o towns. Stealing a nurabpr of "Japanese images" was the fharge on which John Grearley was .sentenced at Birmingham to three months' hard labour. A question from the magistrates brought out ths fact that tho '*Japano-a images" were niada in Birmingham — baso imitations in. cclluloi-d of old ivory nelfiukes. An interesting miratr^ was seen from Timaru on Monday, 19th hist. By some | peculiar condition of tha atmosphere (sajs ] the Hsrald) the coast to the northward far beyond the normal horizon was brought into; view, arid the hills of Banka • Peninsula 6fcood up in dark purple hummock? acrcss tho set. A London fruit importer possesses more than 1200 little squares of variouslycoloured tissue paper in which oranges and lemons arc generally packed, each of whi<"h | hears a quaint inscription or device. The , fruit wrappers in the collection are con- \ tamed in an album, each one being labelled with tho dato and the name of tho town from which it oame. It has takpn upwards of 25 vcar3 to make th*> collection. An aided immigrant; from Glasgow turned up &t Ekerahuna recently (cays the Express) in -^search of employment. Included in h:a svi-asr were three »x«, wliiclj he brought with him in the event* of his obtaining bushfelling work. The alleged axes are unique in manufacture, and were, according to their appearance, used in prehistoric days. The blade, which is of sol.id &eel, is Win in length and 2in across, and resembles a big chisel. In Japan hot baths arc used at & tern- i rwrature of 104 dog Fahr. Immediately tho j bathers lca\c ihi> iix&s plunge into per-

fectly cold water. A European doctor who has spent many jaears in Tokio declares that after a bath of this heat and the subsequent cold douche he used to feel warm all day in the coldest winter weather, while in summer the bath had the exactly contrary effect, and was most cooling and refreshing. i* At the meeting oi the Lake County Council^,last week the engineer and come jof the councillors complained of the j scarcity of men to carry_ out several works iri the county. No reason (says the Wakatipu Mail) was advanced why the scarcity prevailed, but it may be assumed that several men left the district when the council was cutting down expenses and putting the surfacemen on works for which Government had authorised votes. ; The Post remarks that a large number of stewards obtain passages by passenger vessels with a view of settling here. The B.s. Athenic paid off 41 of 'these stewards, and as & consequence, just now there is a surplus of hotel labour on the market. The Wellington Cooks and Waiters' Union is endeavouring to place tho discharged men, ami has succeeded in getting several of them jobs in the country. The majority I however, are still looking for work. ."Tho majority of grocers' assistants are married, but the majority of the 'married men have no families," said a witness -in the grocers' dispute, beard by the ' Coociliation Board at Wellington. You never see an old-<groeery assistant. As soon as a man can^e drifts out of the trade, and never comes back to it. The- singfe man is the' best paid, as he can get away if he wants to and find another Dillet. married man is afraid to lose his job."* Wild oigs are often captured in this district (states the Kaikoura Star), but it seldom occurs that a pig of 2641b weight,, cleaned, with its head off, is caught in any of the bush of New Zealand. A pig of this size was caught at Olaverley last week, and may -be "said to be the record for a wild one. The' tusks are said to measure about 12in, and it may be safely said that if this brute had caught * man in & quiet corner the chances of escape would he remote. . .„•,,., 'J;he returns of pauperism in England ana Waks for the June quarter just issued show that the aggregate number on tho relief lists amounted to 768,728 persons, or 22.0 per 1000 of the popule-tdon. Compared with the^corresponddng period of. 1907 there was a substantial increase in the number of persons relieved during the second quarter oi the present year. The increase, appears to have bean fairly gensra.l, but was noticeably higher in the northern division. . - -„ •. _. . -Last *ear (1907) the Timaru Boys' High, School earned £58 10s in capitation under the Manual and Teohnical Instruction Act for two classes in woodwork, four in elementary science, ,and one class in .swimming. The Timaru Girls? School earned. £14 for one' class each in drawing, cooKery, ■ and dressmaking,, and' three classfes in elementary science. The girls were given a grant ot £7 7s 8d for apparatus* the bos« got nothing from the* department under the heading of grants. . • Settlers in the back country in from Taumaranui (states - the • Taihape Times) have by no means a luxurious time of it. According to the Rev. J. L Monfnes. flour in one district cost the people from 2Gs to 28s a cwt. The staple article of diet was in consequence lentils. Articles had to be taken in on pack horses, and the roads and tracks were in such a fearful state that he noticed, when there recently, that a number of these horses had died through being bogged • in the mud. 'le'was telegraphed a. few days ago from Norfolk^ Island that Or C. F. Young, one of the elected members of the Executive Council, was-*cquitted on * charge of being accessory- before the fact to theft, and that the was received with demonstrations of satisfaction, and the singing; of "God. save- the King." We learn from the Australian files that the article conoarning which the charge was laid was the copper kettle of the Bounty. , Some months ago the Christchurch Press1 reviewed a novel by Mr Cutcliffe Hayne ■ entitled " Sajidy Carmichael." Mr Cut1 cliffe Hayne now writes to the paper as ; follows:— "I^think that you should know that it was written when I was a boy, ana didn't know what I was talking about. Unfortunately, the copyright has passed • out of my hands, and if a publpher/is x'.nscxupulous enough to present »uch f old stuff as a new work, I cannot help it. Tha Earl of Wemyes, on the occasion of the celobration of his ninetieth birthday said: "Perhaps they ma* yet light Ijondnn by rubbing radium on the dome of St Paul's. When I first went to Oxford from Scotland I travelled by stage coach, and the journey occupied 48 hours. Jiortyeight hours in. a stuffy box, let out two or three times a day to feed! Now I get into the train at King's Cross at 2 30, and am at my home in Scotland before 11. Further, we mow have motor cars, and tno next thing will be wings." At the Manchester County Court recently the stipendiary magistrate-^n. fining two motor car drivers for driving their cars to the danger of tho publicsaid • " The assumption that it was the duty' of a pedestrian to get out of th« rood of a motor oar was erroneous The first person who had the right of the road was the pedestrian, but, of course, ho mu-t, too take care. Those driving motor cars mvk be in a position, if a pedestrian: David Christie Murray, novelist, journakst and dramatist, at this moment donate* at 114 Drakefiold read, Balham, London, ,S W Whatsoever may belong to me a* the time of my death I give and bequeath w : tbout condition or reserve to my dearly loved companion Alice Marion Dudley. In Ho.r\.a mind and full health I append my, name— David Christie '"Murray." An affidavt has boan filed which states that it was made in Februaryj. 1901. According to Consul B. A. Greevoy, o£ Colombo, the cultivation of tea was firsfl seriously undertaken in 1873. because of the dosr ruction by blight of the previously ]ilk ; '!> rom'irrc -ative coffee flf«>v'es, .antt ir lias b-"fmi> the most extensive and prd- ,) inc w „i '.!.> Lupitajtffled industries of' (\-\Jorf. In 1573 but one lot of tea^eigbmit 331b was wvorted, but in 1907 tho qu&ntrv ro^e to 179,844,8271b. At thei ond of 1907 planters' returns showed ai i,,-,.A *^& acreage of 585,000. About 1200 Em oi.p&ns arc employed as managers andi a> -i -urn's in tl'-o operations of the variou* e-.iaios an-J £«.aoii2^