NEWS ITEMS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9304, 18 November 1901, Page 4

NEWS ITEMS.

— — * The Thames County Council is urging upon the Government to facilitate votes being granted for public works, so that the most important may be put m hand at once. A man named Thomas Meredith died of thirst on October 30th near No. 3 well on the overland Port Darwin telegraph line. His body was discovered by telegraph officers, and buried. A good story is told of the last day of the Canterbury Jockey Club's recent meeting. One of the riders who was thrown m the Creßsy Welter was brought m on one of the course official's horses — a good, serviceable horse, but by no means a thoroughbred. A bystander, unaware of the fact that the rider had not come back on the horse he went out on, remarked: "Good heavens, fancy Sir George Clifford starting a " horse like that !" A case of general interest was heard at the Lumsden Court, on Monday (says the Southland News). Dr Todd sued for £4 5s 6d, fees for medical attention, «;tnd defendant resisted the claim on the ground that the visits were not authorised by him. Mr S. E. M'Corthy, S.M., said that a doctor could use his own discretion when to cease attending on pati&its, and added that if a parent or other authorised person, ordered a medical man to discontinue visiting the patient, and he or she died, a serious responsibility would ensue. A verdict was given for plaintiff. Servia is m trouble now with .an epidemic of marriages, . remarks an English paper. The cause is the; system of marriage banks founded as an encouragement to thrift, but which have proved to have quite an opposite effect. The young men and lnaidtens of Servia begin paying into these institutions at an early age on the promise of a. premium on marriage. Immediately a .small sum has been accumulated, the desire for marriage grows overwhelming, with the result that the first offer is snapped up. In consequence, prematurely early and unhappy marriages are general. The matter has now reached such lengths that it is seriously troubling the Government, and the advisability of abolishing these banks, which are hefld to be the root of the evil, is being debated. An American paper says that Mr James M'Garry, the original "Mr Dooley, of Archey Road, made famous by Mr Dunne is dying. For thirty-five years M'Garry was one of the best-know saloon-keepers m Chicago. His place was a resort for politicians, actors, judges, lawyers, newspaper men, and prominent police officials. It was m the little back room of his saloon m Dearborn street, near Maddison, that Mr Dunne got his inspiration for the now celebrated Dooley stories. It used to be M'Garry's proud boast that he never sold a can of beer m his life. "Th' growler habit," he once said to a friend, "makes drunkards iv women and childer." He also was a foe of the cigarette and free lunches. "If a man can't pay to ate," he used to say, "he'd better keep out iv saloons." This was • the kind of philosophy that those who sat m M'Garry's little back room were wont to hear. M'Garry was born m County Galway, Ireland, severity years ago. Canada is determined to be m the front rank of the revived shipping trade. The Government of Nova Scotia is' making special efforts to induce big firms to plant themselves there. It offers to give £20,000 to the first company establishing a shipyard on its coast capable of turning out at least five steamers a year of 5000 tons each. The- municipality of Halifax further offers a similar amount as subsidy for "a first-class modern shipbuilding yard and plant able. to build the hulls of iron and ' steel ships adequate to the construction of not less than 20,000 tons annually." ' Halifax is also prepared to give 2dol a ton for tonnage constructed and launched m the harbor of Halifax, and sdol per gross ton for.each tou equipped with machinery and engines manufactured m the city of Halifax. A fairy has cropped up m the Highlands, concerning whom a number of particulars reach the Daily News. She is residing at present on the liigh-water mark at Kilbrandon, m the Ardmaddy district. She has no shelter, and sleeps on the green grass. She eats nothing but shell-fish, it is said; though even that, one had thought, would have been unhealthy solid food for the conventional fairy. Crowds visit her daily from all parts of the country, says the Edinburgh report, and offer her food, clothes, and money, but she declines all these. She spends her time m knitting, with a ball of worsted which never grows less. Flueut English and Gaelic are to be had from' her at any time, and she will converse m any other language m which she may. bo accosted. She has been ofteu photographed, but none of the results are like the others. She wears the appearance of a pleasant young woman, with brown hair tied loosely behind her head. She seems about 24 years old, but to some she appears to be about double that age. A disease which has been giving trouble to farmers m the Southland district is, says the New Zealand Times, being investigated by the Chief Government Veterinarian, Mr J. A. Gilruth. Where the disease has appeared there has been no great mortality, but sheep attacked have readily succumbed, and their bodies have rapidly putrified. The germ of the disease is supposed to come from the soil, evidently gaining an entrance to the sheep when the animal is feeding on turnips. Mr Gilruth describes the germ cf the disease as an anaerobic parasite, and the disease itself as a species of bloodpoisoning, veiy similar m appearance to "braxy." Unfortunately, the specimens of disease-affected organs arrived fully four days after the death of the sheep, and, consequently, owing to rapid putrefaction, were very much decomposed when they reached Wellington. A complete investigation into the disease will, therefore, not be possible till next winter.

The domestic servant question was the subject of an address given by Mrs Cotter at a meeting of the Dunedin Fabian Society. Upon its proper adjustmint, she: said, depended much of the comfort or discomfort of countless households. She thought the remedy would be to raise the status of the servant, and to educate public opinion. She failed to see why the term, "servant" should be applied only to one class of the community. If all domestic helpers were qualified, capable and trained women, (heir position would right itself as that of the hospital nurse had done. They would be self-respectivC, instead of self-assertive, and the position they had a right to claim would be readily granted. If the status and position of the girls were improved, a better class of women would enter the service, and by the natural laws of selection, the inferior ones would improve, or be gradually eliminated. Regarding holidays, she thought that must be a matter of individual arrangement, suited to the individual requirements of every home. Many women, if choice were!- given to them, would prefer domestic work to serving m an over-crowded shop, but the positions were not equal. The obtaining of cargo from New Zealand for the Home market — or any other market, for that matter—is a more difficult undertaking at the present time than it has been for many years. Quite a fleet of cargo tramps are laid up or are "nosing" about the various ports of the colony without any prospect of ultimately departing as "full ships," and as freights are cut to a very fine margin, some of the large carrying companies must have suffered severely this winter. In Wellington three ocean-going steamers — the Otarama, Mamari, and Rangitira. — a.re at anchor waiting, like Micawber, for something to turn up ; the Tokomaru, Maori, and Kumara are m the South at anchor ; the Paparoa leaves here for Home on Thursday after. a long stay ; more than one vessel has had to pay a speculative visit to Australia for something to put into the holds, and several others are on the way out. . Of course, the coming summer will ease the tightness, but when the new White Star steamers enter into the competition freights will possibly be further trimmed, the struggle will be renewed, and the exporter Avill profit at the expense of the