LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 144, 10 August 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

One of tiie newly-enrolled Territorials who submitted himself for examination at Lower Hutt turned the scale at 17st 111!). Ho is only eighteen years of age, and not very tail.

Air John Burns, in his speech at the opening of the pumping station of the Metropolitan Water Board at AValton-on-'l llamas, said:—“As few years ago I was in America, one of a party tnat was seeing a celebrated town, and was much amused at the description given by the guide of the river which unwed through Acs midst. ’Ladies and gentlemen,’ no said, ‘yon see through the trees the broad and heaving bosom of the liver. That is the source from which we get a very generous water supply. the poor use it for soup, tiie middle class dye their clothes in it, and the very rich top-dross their gardens and lawns with it.’ The guide concluded his description with ‘Drive on Sam.’ ”

In tiio course of ;in application or. behalf of .Mr. James baker to tnc Full Court iii Sydney last week to lie permitted to resume the practice of ais profession as a solicitor, some in-, tore sting particulars v, ore given as to ais wanderings, extending over a period of ton or twelve years. Alter carrying on his business, in Mow South Wales from 1896 to 1899 he went to South Africa and served throughout the Boer War. For some time subsequently he was a member of the .South 'African Constabulary, aim' upon relinquishing that position he visited Canada, I lie United States, Chili. Cuba., and other places. He worked as engineer’s assistant at the Panama Canal, took a six months’ journey across South America with a friend, and after visiting London, returned co Sydney with extensive experience of other lands and other laws and customs, and more than a smattering of the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The Court granted his application to return to the prosaic walks of his'profession. A young and vigorous steel Indus try in Australia is one of the pleasant dreams of the defence autnori ties, just as the lack of iron requirements during war is one of their nightmares. At present they" are dependent on imported articles, or goods,made locally from imported billets of.iron, and tno stoppage of these supplies at a time of invasion Wohio imperial their defence work. The Quartermaster-General, Lieutuaut Co-, i-ioggc, who is responsible for supplies, goes as far as to urge the immediate application of elective working to the iron ore deposits in the states. The ministerial attitude was defined by the Acting Minister, Senator M’Gregor, to a representative of a firm of iron-workers. The senator stated that in future, contracts .or defence requirements clauses would 13 inserted that whore possible ’ the mild steel must bo supplied by Australian manufacturers. Ho urged strongly that manufacturers should cease to lean upon the crutch of importation by making their steel from imported billets of iron, and‘that they should develop Australian iron oredeposits. There was an unpleasant little -.cone at the moating of the Pate a Harbour Board on Monday, says the flaw era “Star.” The Chairman and Mr. McKenna, whose views are- not infrequently much at variance, came, into sharp conflict with each other hiring a discussion on the dredging ;f the river. Mr. Pearce had .been dealing with the Board’s finances, and Mr. McKenna, holding that the figures wore misleading, rose in his scat, md, directly addressing Mr. Barton, me of the new members, who lit seemed to think might bo influenced to vote against the purchasin''- of a dredge by Air. Pearce’s representations, stated the position from his )wn point of view. Mr. Pearce objected to what he looked upon as a ■oroacii of the rules of debate in ipoakiag directly to another member

instead of addressing the chair, ami told Air. McKenna to sit down, adding that he was the chairman of tir meeting. Mr. ALcKcnna ignored tin chairman, who then threatened to adjourn the meeting. This did not seem to have any effect whatever on Mr. McKenna, who only sat down when bo had completed his statement strong feeling was shown on both •,ides, but conditions soon became normal, and before the end of the meeting members were found voting tininimously on the question before them.

A deputation of farmers waited or .iio Hon. T. Mackenzie at Dunedin in regard to the growth of Canadian, elastic on the Peninsula. it was -Anted that the Canadian thistle was d' value to them in dry seasons, bo•ausc it was eaten by stock. The thistle, however, had got beyond control, and it was diiTicalt to keep it in check. Produce raised on the Peninsula did not contain fodder or seed, so that outside districts could not he contaminated by anything sent ant of the district, dairying being the principal industry. The Minister Viid lie had been gathering a groat .leal of information about the habits ■f the thistle, and lie had had other ■videnco of the usefulness of tiie plant for fodder purposes in certain sea- , ms. He was contemplating an ablation in the Noxious Weeds Act. ! he lii at schedule of the Act contain'd a ji;t of weeds the spread of which must he chocked. , In the second scliolul > there were weeds which, on a :v solution of a local body, might bo lai’sferred to the first schedule. It nii his intention this session to subnito legislation to have the Act amended in the direction of allowing certain weeds in Schedule 1 to be transferred to Schedule 2, thus giving power of transference by rcst'fution to the local body cither way. He (■.••iitemplated i e-cnnsidering the whop question of the Noxious Weeds Ait. . ik administration of the Act was extremely dillicult at present.

No less than three mountains were •. i i ic fi >nti Lament Street this morni' says yes tei clay’s Pa tea “Press.” fgmniifc cbu'ud in white, in all his unitary grandeur on the north-west, if lapcim. peeping over the bills of the Lintel land in the north-east, and the '1 aruas across the bight in the s uith-cast. “Wo are beginning up our way,” : dd a Taranaki farmer, in a short coat witn a “Standard” reporter, “to appreciate slag as a fertiliser. Some oi us only visa wo had tried it years ago. it would have meant money in ;;ur pack-Is. It has given very great satisfaction in our vicinity, tad the ur.e of it in extending year by year.” In Australia a naturalist has had under observation for the last four weeks a wasp and a large black and wiiite spider, living in close and amicable relationship. They have a joint domicile in a crack in the verandah board, and in addition to being chuc■kcr-out-in-chief, the wasp acts as provider, and rarely returns from a foraging expedition without someL.ing in the kit. The W’oodviiio A. and P. AsosciaLion has endorsed a resolution passed 0/ the Westland A. and P. Association to tiie effect that when making appointments of inspectors of stock, t;iu Department of Agriculture bo urged, in future, that duly qualified ■veterinary surgeons bo chosen, so that districts without the services of a vet. may have opportunities of obtaining expert advice when needed. Strange stories come from time to time from Bochum, in Germany. The latest is that of an enterprising cafetier, who recently announced that, beginning on the following Sunday, all air- patrons would lie attended by ladies in the iupe culottc style of skirt. All wont well, the cafe was crowded, and the oafeticr was pleased with his idea, hut he has not had the last laugh. This was the privilege of tho municipal authorities, for they have mulcted him in a theatrical license for ■giving public performances. Among the islands of tho Cook 'roup under tho control of 7\ew Zeabiud is the leper island of Molokai. It is a little palm-fringed strip in tho ocean near Pcnihyn Island, and for , i number of years past the lepers from tho larger island of; Penrhyn have been isolated on it. An ordin;nce nas now been gazetted appointing certain days for visiting the island, so that relatives of the diseas;d and tho hringers of food will have as little communication with the lep■ws as possible. Permits must bo obtained and visitors .must be accompanied by a policeman.

Thus the Christchurch “Press”:— “Touring theatrical companies had best beware of Eltham, for that lively township is becoming critical of the •theatrical fare presented to it. No wore barnstormers for Eltham! ''Mind you, writes a local critic, ‘a good company can always rely on favm ruble support,’ but the nature of number of companies that have wished the place lias been such that

‘some of the people are beginning to ight shy of plays.’ The comnauies Wo, it appears, possessed ‘a few metium actors and very" many assistants. who would ho more useful as ■slushy’ in an hotel or gathering fungus in the back blocks.’ When your country critic does nick up his axe, no shows_ a disregard for the feelings if bis victims that must make the cha sterlings of city critics feel like in approving pat on the back.”

That the late Mr. T. E. Taylor was an ai'dent Prohibitionist and a man • f extraordinary grit and pertinacity is hardly a matter for surprise, if tboiPditv',' 1 example, : and teaching are Kerned to be factors in the formation pf character and general moral and mental eomoment, says the Manaia .“Witness.” Mr. Taylor’s father, an ■ld Lancashire man and an enthusiastic Prohibitionist, when close on his seventieth year, undertook a collect- . big tour iu the prohibitionist cause hiring which he tramped the whole of the way on foot from Invercargill to the East Capo. On his arrival at Ha■vera ho met a Manaia resident to whom he announced his intention of •miking out and taking up a collection here, but was dissuaded from dobig so by his sympathetic Manaia ;'Viend, who offered to make the col’''cticn and remit the proceeds to in. The gentleman in ouestion tells ,-’S that lie was “promised” a certain ".jiv- by prohibitionist sympathisers , : n Manaia, and duly sent on the amount of the “promises” in current go in of the realm to Air. Taylor, -“hut,” be added, smilingly, “the promises still remain promises, and they vro now likely to remain so.” In the Hawera Alagistrato’s Court ■'ll Alonday the Magistrate comment'd on the carelessness of some parents in failing to send their children to •school, iT.iys the “Star.” Mr. Ken"ick, S.M., said that now we had free ■whicatiou it was not valued by some, • and he contrasted the state of affairs when payment had to he made for children’s education. In those days parents worked hard to raise funds to enable them to get the necessary wherewithal to enable the chidlron to receive a good education. He also referred to the failure of parents to ibtain certificates of exemption in cases of necessary absence.; Again, .-■O'no people thought notes were sufficient ; that was not so. Exemption certificates must be had, otherwise die truant officer would take promod! ngs. The truant officer did not wish to lie hard upon people, but he had to do Ins duty. He had spoken ibout this matter before and it had boon ventilated in the press, so there was really no excuse for parents not getting the certificates. Ho hoped that the parents would remember that certificates must bo had; this would iavo them much unnecessary trouble. , A cantata, which was recently held in a church not a hundred miles from ■Wanganui was marked by two rather amusing incidents. One of the musicians arrived some little time before the entertainment commenced, and thought to shorten the wait by going ■nit for a short walk, leaving lus instrument (a double bass fiddle) loaning against the door of an ante-room. In the meantime an official of the church happened along. 'He groped his way through, the darkness, and opened the door in question from the inner side. Bang! The big fiddle, deprived of its support, fell into his arms. Overcome with sudden fright, lie discover'd pugilistic abilities that had hitherto been latent, and fought the unknown terror vigorously—and won, but the fiddle was reduced to a wreck of its former self. What the owner aid when lie got hack, and the remarks of the fighter when the mystery was solved, have not been reported to us. The other incident was provided by the conductor, who was manipulating the baton from the pulpit. During the evening lie had occasion to descend from his rather lofty elevation, in full view of the audience. This was a proceeding which demanded a deal of dignity—but didn’t get it. The conductor tripped on the first step of the flight leading from Hie pulpit, and fell headlong to the .•■round. There can lie little doubt that Hie audience received “full value for their money.”

’Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Robinson loft yesterday on a holiday visit to Australia.

At Hokitika on Monday the barometer reached 30.614, the highest recorded for twenty-one years. On Tuesday morning it was 30.58. At the ordinary meeting of the Borough Council to be hold on Monday, the following notices of motion will' bo considered: —By Cr. Paget: ‘•That the resolution of May Sth, sotitng uji a committee to deal with the use of the. Town Hall for Sunday concerts, bo amended to read, ‘Be set up to grant or refuse the use of tho Town Hall on Sundays for meetings or other purposes.’ ” By Cr. Ward: “That the adoption of that part of the Fire Brigade Committee’s report of 12 th dune, 1911, giving his Worship tho Mayor power to employ men to watch fires ? should ho consider it necessary, bo rescinded.’

Up till yesterday the condition ox his Worship the Mayor (Mr. (J. Tisch), who underwent a serious operation the week before last, says the “News,” was very satisfactory, and there was every reason to believe that he was on the road to recovery. Yesterday, however, he spent a very restless day, and developed symptoms which caused no little apprehension. In the evening he was worse, and on enquiring just before we went to press this morning,. Dr. Fookes, his medical attendant, informed us that he was growing weaker, and his condition was critical. Everyone will sincerely hope that the next bulletin will be more reassuring. According to a Consular reportmade for tho information of. the United States authorities at Washington, there are estimated to be in England at present more than 2000 theatres showing moving pictures exclusively, and many others are being constructed. London has become a selling centre for films for all parts of Europe and even Australia and Now Zealand. “Phases of cowboy and Indian life are tho most popular subjects for American firms,” says tho report. “A strong flavour of melodrama is desirable, but there is no demand for immorality or vulgarity, despite the attempts of some manufacturers to place films of a. sensational'’‘character. Tho English audiences are quick to note any lack ox taste in the dressing of the actors.”

The, first Federal factory is now in working order, says the “Age.” At Clifton' Hill expert saddlers and harness makers, gathered from all the States, have commenced to make in a Commonwealth-owned building the leathern equipment for the senior caddts. The full complement of sixty Workers lias not yet arrived, but the factpry will soon be in full swing, and it is expected that all the benches will be occupied when the official opening takes place about August 15. In referring to this event, the ActingMinister of; Defence stated that the factory manager was prepared to take up the making of canvas goods for defence, find postal requirements. It was proposed to establish in connection with the harness factory a canvas workshop, in which the tents and bhgs needed for military, naval, and postal purposes would bo made. The Taranaki Boxing Association recently made a protest against the action, of the New Zealand Associations selection committee in passing over Maxwell when selecting a man to represent the Dominion in the light-weight championships in Australia at Brisbane in September. Maxwell won the light-weight championship in Invercargill, and secured the gold medal as the most scientific boxer at the tournament. Mr Atack, the Secretary to the association, after acknowledging the moderate and sportsmanlike nature of the Taranaki body’s, communication, says: “As regards the selection, the committee feels that it cannot well interfere, as the selection comnjittce was given, as it always has been ‘given, a perfectly free ‘ hand in the selection of the team. This is not the first time that a, selection committee has gone past the winner of a ' .New Zealand championship in picking the Now Zealand team, and the council feels sure that your committee Avill, on duo consideration, sec how dangerous it would be for the council to interfere with the work of the committee, except, perhaps, in some glaringly outrageous case of favouritism.”

In the course of a conversation with Mr Jos. Nicholls, manager of the Otiiri factory, I learnt that several well known suppliers had this winter suffered heavily through mortality atnongst their cows, says tho Wavcrlev correspondent of tho Patea “Press.’ 1 One man had lost no less than thirty, f while another lost a dozen, which they expected to milk this season. Mr Nicliolls, when he was informed of this, pressed the question as he always has done, why they had not grown winter feed so that the loss through death might be reduced to a minimum. He was met with the same old reply, “Can’t afford it.” While appreciating tho struggle many dairy, farmers have against tnc high land values and rentals now ruling, we cannot help but agree with Mr Nicholls who affirms that they cannot afford to do otherwise,' for whether it is better to spend £SO or even £IOO on the cultivation of root crops and the cutting and making of hay sufficient to feed all dairy cows' well during tho winter, than to lose this amount and more in tho value of the animals themselves, to say nothing of the loss of a season’s expected, profit from them. Again, if dairy cows are allowed to become as poor as the proverbial church mouse during the winter, how can they be expected to produce as much milk in the season as cows which have been well feu during the winter. It is as short-sighted a policy as an employer paying a starvation wage hoping to get tho results obtained by the man who pays a good figure to get good men. The man wmo is not sparing of his fodder merely takes the money out of one pocket to put it into another with intereset.