LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 24, Issue 16, 28 February 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Blenheim Garden Fete.— At tha final meeting of the Blenheim Garden Fete Executive last Tuesday it was .reported that the net result of the Fete was £252. This money was authorised to be handed over to the Beautifying Society. Harbour Board Meeting.— At the usual monthly meeting of the Havelock Harbour Board held on Wednesday evening, all the members were present except Mr W. H. Smiih, who was granted leave of absence. There was no business of importance transacted and after a few accounts were passed for payment the meeting closed. A Notable Record. —A cable just received from Melbourne states that Bolger lowered the Sydney to Melbourne Motor Cycle record, 572 miles, to 23 hours 41 minutes, thereby winning the Dunlop trophy of a £2O gold watch offered for the first rider who broke 24 hours over this distance. This cut a big slice off Gunn’s late record of 25 hours, 55 minutes, and in that splendid ride Bolger completed the distance on Dunlop tyres without any troubles with them whatever. The Blackberry Pest.— The question of how to eradicate the blackberries on the Taugoio Estate (cut up under the Land for Settlements Act), a matter which has been before the public for some time, was recently gone into by the Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr R. T. Sadd). He has obtained two solutions for spraying, and these are to be used on the plants as an experiment. One solution, which has been discovered by a man at Te Pohue, has very simple ingredients, but is said to have the desired effect with two sprayings.—Napier “ Telegraph.”

“ Objectionable Bipeds.” Exactly what position a woman in England holds to-day is rather difficult to determine, according to Miss Margaret Hodge, in a speech at the Chamber of Commerce, Auckland, says the Herald.” One magistrate, she said, has decided that women are not “ persons.” Another, in forbidding them entrance to a law court, had held that women were not -‘the public,” Mr Asquith, in refusing to accept deputations and petitions, affirms that they are not “ subjects of the King.” “ A clergyman recently called the suffragettes ‘ objectionable bipeds,’ remarked the speaker amid laughter. “ And until we can obtain another term, I suppose the women of England must be content to remain ‘ bipeds ’ for some time to come! ” A Cold Honeymoon.— A newly-married couple from Delaware, (America), had the uncomfortable experience of losing all their money and spending part of their honeymoon journey in a refrigerating car. They boarded a train at Philadelphia secretly, • after they discovered the loss of the money, and climbed on the roof of a car while it was standing in a siding. They opened the trapdoor in the roof, and the bridegroom lowered the bride into the car, jumped down after her, and closed the door. Then they discovered that they were imprisoned with tons of ice. The train was a slow one, and took somq time to cover the 58 miles to the first stopping place. There the couple shouted for help, and they were released, almost frozen. The guard and the station staff bad seme difficulty in getting them out. The news of their plight led some sympathetic people on the station platform to subscribe for tickets to take them to their destination. Mother knows when the youngsters catch colds-Tonking’s Linseed Emulsion cures them.

Thermal Phenomena.— Professor Percival, of Priedberg University, who is en route to New Zealand, where he will study thermal phenomena, interviewed, said the nest of volcanoes around Auckland was never likely to become a menace. The whole tendency of volcanie agency was towards coming to an end. The thermal phenomena at Rotorua would slowly cease. It was unlikely there would ever be another Tarawera eruption.

Journal of Agriculture. —The February number of the Journal of Agriculture to hand contains many interesting articles relating to dairying and general farm work, besides the usual instructive features. Many useful bits of information are given to the amateur gardener, orchardist, and those engaged in the poultry industry, while the practical results from experiments at the Ruakura farm should prove of immense value to the man on the land. The Deadly Katifo. —The Waitara correspondent of the “ Taranaki Herald ” writes: “ While on the beach on Thursday last Mrs Charles Holdswich received a bite from the poisonous native spider, the katipo. Mrs Holdswich managed to get as far as the residence of Mr B. Frost, where she collapsed. Dr Ramage was sent for, and arrived quickly and applied restoratives. Mrs Holdswich suffered considerable pain, which was, however, soon relieved. She passed' a fair night, and is progressing favourably.”

Non-rerillakle Bottle.—A corress pondent of the Wanganui Chronicle statethat there has been invented a non-re-fillable bottle. Mr Walsh, at present residing at Mangaweka, is the patentee. The shares were put on the market at £l2 10s each and were all bought up very quickly. A private company has been formed and the patent rights have been secured in all the chief countries of the world, and Mr Walsh leaves early next month for the Homeland to place the bottle on the market. Offers of £4O per' share have already been refused, i

The Diamond Industry.— The great diamond mining company in South Africa, the De Beers, duds a good market for its production. It sold, in its past financial year, over £5,460,000 worth of diamonds—half a million more than in the previous year: and its total revenue from all sources was about six millions and a quarter. On its deferred shares it pays just 50 per cent per annum—a wonderful dividend, though leas than that paid by the Rio Tinto copper mines. One of the chief reasons for the success of these concerns is undoubtedly the cheap labour obtained at the mines.

Motor-Car Owners Association.—A movement to form a Motor-car Owners’ Association in Marlborough reached a definite stage on Saturday, reports the “ Express,” when a well attended meeting was held in Mr R. Wanden’s rooms with that obiect in view. It was duly resolved to form such an Association, and a provisional committee (with Mr P. Bull as secretary) was set up to prepare draft rules and regulations. These will be submitted to a general meeting, at which the society will be formally constituted. The main purposes of the Association are to protect the interests of owners of motor-cars, with special regard to the action of the local authorities in providing for the regulation of motor traffic, to carry out a system of self-government with a view to ensuring the good and orderly conduct of traffic, and to secure the best possible conditions in respect to rates and the state of roads.

Tile Sedgwick ” Boys— The Government is being urged by the Farmers’ Union to repeat the experiment of bringing out another draft of “ Sedgwick ’’boys. In a letter on the subject, Mr E. C. Jack, Dominion secretary of the Union, refers to the bringing out of the batch of fifty lads under the Sedgwick scheme two years ago, and he goes on to say :—“ The Labour. Department undertook the supervision of the lads during the term of their engagement, which averaged about three years. The Government decided to test the quality of the lads for twelve months before bringing others. The Department we understand, reported very favourably, but nothing further was done. Mr Sedgwick is still hoping that arrangements will be made for a further lot, and he has advised us that he can guarantee an even better selection than the last. There is a great demand for boys of 18 to 21 years for farm work, and there can really be no better class of immigrant, as they readily adapt themselves to our conditions. We hope you will see your way to include this in your scheme, or if it is more directly concerns the Minister for Labour, to urge him to repeat the experiment.”

Progress ok the Frozen Meat Industry.—Saturday was the 31st anniversary of the departure of the Ship Dunedin from Port Chalmers with the first shipment of frozen meat from New Zealand. It is strange to reflect that in those days when a few establishments capable of killing and freezing from 250 to 300 carcases were being erected (recals the “ Lyttelton Times,”) peopled talked gloomily of the depletion of the docks and the danger of a meat famine. Now the freezing works have a total capacity of half a million sheep a week—when the slaughtermen are not resting—and the number of sheep in the Dominion has increased from 13,000,000 in 1881 to 24,000,000 in 1911. “Figures fail toconvey any idea of the enormous dimensions of the meat trade,” says “ Engineering.” In 1910 Australia supplied to the United Kingdom alone 4,219,000 carcases, New Zealand 5,407,470, and South America 3,353,746, the total weight being 5,260,757 cwt. If we would try to realise what these figures mean we must picture a long procession of animals extending in single file some 8000 miles, advancing towards this country at such a rate that some 25 land on our shores every minute, day and night, week in week out, the train being continually replenished at the far end as the leaders fall victims to the appetite of a hungry nation.” The trade has indeed made mighty strides in the 31 years of its existence,

It was the Sabbath, and the lady of the house was going to evening service with her husband. It was quite dark, and when they got outside she found the air rather chilly, so thought she would be glad of her cape later on. Telling her companion to proceed slowly while she went to fetch it, she returned to the bouse. She felt on the end of the bed where she remembered she had left it, and, hanging it on her arm, she soon rejoined him. There wcs an unseemly diversion in the Church when she very carefully placed a pair of her hubby’s trousers over the back of the pew behind her, and she has vowed never again to look hurriedly for anything in the dark. Never mind how bad the cold is, a few doses of Tonking’s Linseed Emulsion will cure it. In bottles, 1/6,2/6, 4/6.