LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 88, 2 June 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The “StratFord Evening Post” will not be published on Monday, it having been decided by the business people of this town to observe the anniversary cF the King’s Birthday on that clay instead of Saturday. The estate of the late Mr James Cottrell, of To Awamutu, has yielded by a sale of some property the handsome sum of £3OOO to the Auckland Diocesan Pension Fund for e'ergymon. ( Mr. AY. H. Skinner, for some years past chief draughtsman at New Plymouth, has received the appointment of chief surveyor and Crown Lands Commissioner at Blenheim. He will take up his duties in October next. A discovery of what is said to ho an apparently inexhaustible supply of limestone is reported from near Ward, Marlborough, the present terminal station of the northern section of the South Island Main Trunk railway. It is understood that a company is being formed to exploit the field. Some months ago Mr Percy Haytor, a farming cadet, and an officer in the Feilding Mounted Rifles, made a gallant rescue of Air James 1 iiton from being gored to death by, a bullock on Air T. Scobie Cornish’s property at Kiwitea. This week’s Australian mail brings word that the Royal Humane Society has awarded Air Taylor the' bronze medal in recognition of his bravery. The Tauranga Acclimatisation Society seems determined to do its part in seeing that new_ strains of pheasants are brought into that district. Thirty of these birds arrived there recently, and were taken to the Society’s aviary on Air. Southey’s property at Greerton. The birds are to bo liberated in various parts of the county at the close of the current shooting season. Another consignment is expected at an early date. A good story is told of a certain Taihape housewife’s method of practising domestic economy. A friend who was paying a short visit remarked on the spotless appearance of her range, which was shining brilliantly. On rising next morning the friend was surprised to see the lady of the house cooking the breakfast over an old oven in the yard with an umbrella up to keep off the rain. She never used the range.

A singular incident is reported from Tnrakina. A gentleman, as lie left the train, casually noticed a turkey hen with three young ones on the road along which he was to travel, and shortly afterwards heard a fluttering and rustling of wings where ho had seen the birds. On coming up with them, ho found a hawk lying on the side, of tho road, struggling with a broken wing. Ho was forced to the conclusion that'in repelling an attack from the hawk the turkey had made a lucky stroke and broken the wing of tho -marauder of the air. Housed to admiration at tho turkey hen’s capaide defence of her young, the traveller finished the job so welt begun, and administered tho coup do grace.

A curious claim for damages came beforo the Correctional Court in Paris recently. M. Tournienx, a cabinetmaker, died from the effects of a prescription which his wife had culled from a hook called “Tho People’s Doctor,” whore, owing to a misprint lo grammes of ammonia was prescrib_cd instead of 15 drops. The author of the book, Dr. Georges Migot, Was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and fined £4, and the chemist who made up the prescription to one month’s imprisonment and a lino of tho same amount. Mmo. Tonrnicnx, tho widow, was awarded £4O damages and an annuity of £42, while her children will receive £l2 a year each until reaching their majority. Although the practical use of refrigeration for tho preservation of meat is quite a recent development, it is interesting to find that tho pioneer of this art was Bacon, the philosopher, nearly throe centuries ago. “The cause of his, lordship’s death in 2020,” says his biographer, “was trying an experiment. He was taking the air in a coach with Dr. Withorbonc towards Highgate, snow lay on the ground, and it came into my Lord’s thoughts why fresh meat might not bo preserved in snow as in salt. They alighted off the coach, and went into a poor woman’s house, and bought a hen, and made the woman oxonterate it, and then stuffed, tho body with snow, and my lord did boh) to do it himself.” The snow so chilled Bacon, who was Go years of age, that lie fell ill and died a few days afterwards, though not before bo bad assured himself that bis experiment was successful.

English stewards in foreign ships seem to have turned the tallies on the übiquitous foreign waiter in English

restaurants (says the London “Daily Mail”). The immense multitude of Angb-idaxon travellers abroad has created a great demand for English stewards to look after the somewhat exacting requirements of English and Americans in foreign ships. An oflieial ol the British Stewards’ Association, which (ills illo place of an employment bureau for stewards, said r. eerily, ‘‘l am looking out now for English si awards for the Red Star Lire, a Belgian line, and tlie HollanclAmeriea Line, a Dutch line, They are wanted exclusively as waiters in tlie 111 f t-elass ‘ saloon, where the Americans travel. These companies have, already twenty to twenty-five English' stewards on each of their boats. That means that of) per cent, of the firstclass waiters arc English. The enm!iin ms bud that (cere is no one like an Em/h'sh steward for attentiveness, for understanding the needs of the English and American voyagers, and for orderliness and quickness of arrangement and serviec. J could (ind planns for a hund'-pd first-rate, exp - i nn's! uion to-morrow if they applied.”

Bishop CrorJoy, of Auckland, wbl; pay bis first visit to the Taranaki portion of his diocese to-day. His prog .iiiiiiio is as follows:—Arrives Strat;m:i to-night by mail train, meets parishioners at 8 o’clock; Saturday, leaves Stratford to hold confirmation service, at Purangi, motoring thence , to New Plymouth, reaching hero at 1.31), when ho dines with the clergy of Taranaki at the White Hart Hotel; in the evening at 8 o’clock lie will meet the churchwardens, vestry, and members of St. Mary’s at St. Mary’s Hall ; mi Sunday morning bo will celebrate Holy Communion at 8 o’clock; will motor to Waitara, reaching there at 10.-lo a.m.; will hold confirmation service in St. Mary’s, New Plymouth, at 2.30, preaching in the church in the evening at 7 o’clock; leaves Now Plymouth by mail train on Monday for Wellington.

The County Council’s new steam roller set out on Alonday morning along the. Alain South Road, says Wednesday’s Manaia “Witness.” Arriving at the bridge spanning the Kapnni River, it was thought that the structure was too frail to stand the weight of the machine. It was therefore decided to cross the stream, but when more than half way over the wheels, sank into the soft bottom, and though a full head of steam was on, it was found impossible to get through. Meantime, the driver sustained an injury to his knee and had to come into Manaia to have it attended to. Before ins return the water had climbed into the furnace and washed out the fire, rendering the task of extracation still more hopeless. Jack screws were subsequently brought into requisition, but a passage has not yet been effected.

r ! beso are the days of the scientific fanners. Every succeeding conference of flic Farmers’ Union shows that the agriculturists are paying more and more attention to experimenting. In his presidential address to the Wellington Farmers’ Union Conference Mr. J. G. Wilson urged ■some hush farmer in each district to co-operate with the experimental supervisor of the Government (Air. Bayliss) and so institute experiments to solve the problem of the best system ol continuous cropping. The Government supplied the seed and manured and supervised the experiments; the farmer did the work and took the produce. There was much need in all the bush districts for some experiments of this nature, and the various brandies should arrange for some to be carried out in their neighbourhood. If there was a high school near, it would add a great deal to the usefulness of the experiments, if they could he made in conjunction with it', so as to bring the pupils into close touch with what was being done.