The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, SEPT. 16, 1911. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 27, 16 September 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, SEPT. 16, 1911. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Duncan Cunningham, aged 101 years, was accused at the Stratford (England) Police Court with being intoxicated. The Magistrate discharged him. Several interesting curios have boon presented to the Auckland Museum during the past few weeks (says the “Herald”). Included in the number is a relic of nautical interest,/presented by Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M. This is a piece of copper sin-aching widen was discovered on the shoal found in the fairway of Ilangitoto Channel by the s.s. Kaipara last year, and is supposed to have come from the bottom of the French warship Dnquesne,; which scraped something in the samd vicinity when leaving Auckland it) 1890. The sheathing formed one of the exhibits at the Kaipara enquiry, over which Mr. Kettle presided. Another article which should attract attention is a (lute made out of , the hone of a human arm, which has been donated by Mr. Percy Ward, of Mount Roskill. This flute, which is about -Jin. long, and is carved, was found at Hokianga some year's ago. As it was the custom of the Maoris in olden times, after dining off their enemies, to convert the hones of tlie more distinguished of them to such uses, it is thought more than probable that the (into presented once formed part of the arm bone of soma well-known warrior whose fortunes proved ill-starred.

Four hundred thousand years is the estimate placed on the age of a sea tortoise fossil discovered on the /■•lope of Mount Biddy, near Los Angeles, California. Dr. Elector Alioi“, (orator of the (Southwest Museum, of Los Angeles, makes the age estimate. The fossil was found JOUOIt above sea lev'll and fifty miles from the coast. It is. the most important discovery of its kind over made in Southern California, ami, according to Dr. A.iliot, the most ancient fossil that has been found in the Western Hemisphere. I’homas Doulon, owner of a bee ranch, found the fossil. He was seeking a rock to hold down the !i:l of a hive, when he saw a shell protruding from the ground. He dug it no, and it proved to bo the fossilised remains of the sen. tortoise. The specimen' is nearly tillm. in diameter, and weighs lOOih. Hundreds of large, petrified clams were found embedded in the shale near the tortoise. Dr. Alliot, describing the history of the tortoise, s:us“lt swam in the seas when California ami all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains was a mill under water. When the groat subterranean upheaval occurred which brought the present Pacific Coast into existence'., the tortoise umloubtodI.■ I'.’iishcd. Then, alreadv petriliod. he was rolled ami ground in glacial p rio.d ice for thousands of msirs, and was finally deposited at the place where the discuverv was made.”

it is estimated (reports tlic Le\ ii\ “Chronicle”) that at present Lcoia is sending from one thousand to ‘mtoon hundred do/,hi eggs to t!:c Wo! iington market every week. i'll! 1 . X. .Prouse, of Otaki, has a ir markable freak of nature, in the ionr. :f a most extraordinary lemon, whi is almost an exact representation o.’ ii foi\ Ps foot, though not quite r..) broad. ft was growing oe. the hrantv. of a lemon tree which contained s vi ra! lemons. Particulars of arrangements in connection with the Xew Zealand ITnivarsity examinations, which commence on December sth, 11)11, appear in another column. Intending candidates should specially note provisions as to Centres of Examination and dates on which notices must he sent in. Mr. J. Christiansen took possession of the -Mountain House on Monday last. Pie had intended putting in some work on the track during tlic week, but owing to almost incessant rain lie has been unable to do anything. If the weather is fair during next week lie anticipates no trouble iu getting the track in a state to make it possible to drive up with comfort. Pie states that the track is not in so bad a condition as it was at the beginning of last season. As showing the vast Continental armies that could lie Called upon to take the field in the event of war, it is estimated that both Germany and Prance have each 1,000,000 men who are liable for service. These include 1,850,000 men on the active list in Germany, and 725,000 in France. In addition to these, the reservists liable to be called on in time of war number from two to three millions of subjects of each country. In Austria, the active list includes 895,000 men, while the reserves number over 'two and a half millions. , A general tendency to go in for mangolds in place of turnips.is being shown in Geraldine this year. This is due to tho ravages amongst turnip crops last year. One farmer at Grail had five acres of mangolds, and ho sold the product of two acres and a half for £IOO, and the crop on the remaining two acres and a half has sufficed to keep his sheep—of which he has about 300—and ho says the mangolds will continue to provide for their wants till the end of October. After selling £IOO worth of mangolds, he received an order for £3O worth, but this order he passed on to a neighbour. After a lapse of fourteen years tiio creditors in the estate of Johnson Bros., formerly fruiterers and restaurant keepers at Waihi, have now decided to facilitate the discharge of the. bankrupts. When Johnson Bros, failed in 1897 they were only able to pay Hid in the £, and their creditors not being satisfied with this, demanded iliac they should furnish a further 5s in tire £ before they would consent to relieve them of tlieir responsibility. in this determination tlie creditors held firm, and tho matter was not revived until this week, when the bankrupts, at the meeting held in the official assignee’s office, offered an extra 2s Gd in the £ in settlement. Tho creditors present agreed to accept this on the terms stated, and the bankrupts are now looking forward to their release. Much amusement was caused at the Ballarat (Victoria) Court last week during tho hearing of a case m which a well-known piano tuner, named John Henry Cooke was charged with being the owner of an unregistered clog. Defendant volubly denied the ownership of the dog. His residence, ue said, was a kind of..private ( tu s : . pita! for sick dogs of the vagrant class, as his wife took pity on them, treated them, and, when they were better, sent them away. One clog was so poor in condition when it arrived that one “could read a newspaper through him,” but he was in very nice condition now. (Laughter.) He considered ho would not he justified, in registering dogs that did not belong to' him. Tho Bench Were unsympathetic, and fined defendant, besides making an order for tho payment of the registration fee. A most extraordinary accident is reported from Bagneux, near Moulins, in France. A team of three horses, each drawing a cart full of sand, was proceeding along tho high road near Bagneux, when it was struck by lightning. All three horses, with their loads, were hurled into a deep ravine some distance away, where they lay in a mixed heap, the body of one being across that of another. The svrangest feature of the case is that not a grain of sand was spilled on the road, nor was there any trace of the wheels of the heavy carts leading from the spot where they were struck, fn fact, the whole team—horses and loads—seems to have been bodily lifted and shot into the ravine. The iron chains f tho harness disappeared without leaving any traces, hut the carter, who was holding the bridle of one of tho horses, escaped with a mere shock.

According to a map to ho issued by tho Marine Department, there is virtually only one portion of New Zealand with more than lOOin. of rain per year—a strip of land on the 'West Coast of the South Island, running from just tiielow Westport to the bottom of the island west of the Alps, Small areas near East Capo and Mount Egmont run the “wild West Coast” close. The rainfall cast of the Alps is, naturally, much lower, the cast of the South Island, including Nelson, being under the 40m. mark. Canterbury proper had loss than 30in., Christchurch itself only 2-lin., and Invercargill under cOm. The only portion of Nnv Zealand witli loss than 20in. a year is a large area of Central Otago. In the North Island there is a’higher general av oago. Auckland comes in under 70in., and Wellington has hut 50in. Tiie rainfall averages tip to lOOin. on tho ranges to th.o rear of tlie capital city. An interesting discussion was raised by a matter brought forward by Mr. P. 15. Eitahorbort at last Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Dannc-j virkc Chamber of Commerce, says the “.News.” He thought the Government should lie asked to bring in legislation in regard to tho sale of dairy cows, and moved to that effect. He explained that many cull cows were now sold to the unsuspecting as dairy rows, am! in his opinion it should ho nr offence against the law for any man to sell a cull as a dairy cow. It was a well known fact that some cows passed from baud to hand at the sales, simply because they were culls sold as good dairy cows, it would he in tho interests of the district if this sort of tiling was stopped. Mr. L. C. Rath hone seconded pro forma, hut pointed out that the question was an exceedingly difficult one to tackle. Each mail culled his herd in a diiTcrj;U manner, and where one culled because a cow had a had teat nr was suffering from mamiiis, another would cull because tho test was not nigh. in Ids opinion the difficulty uould ho most effectively dealt with by the introduction of cow-testing associations. After discussion it was decided that flic matter did not come within, tin' province ni the Chamber, and it was referred to the Danncvirke A. and P. Association.

The annual meeting of the Stratford Bowling Club will take place at the Borough Council Chambers on Tuesday, September 19th, at 8 p.m. All interested are invited to attend. After exhaustive enquiries the police have got information regarding the perpetrators of Thursday evening’s assault on Dong Chong, and action will he taken in duo course. The annual meeting of the Stratford Cricket Club will ho hold on Thursday evening, the 21st inst., in tho County Hotel, at 8 o’clock. All, interested in cricket are particularly invited to attend. Those who arc taking part in “Trial by Jury” are.reminded of the rehearsals to be hold in the Town Hall on Monday and Tuesday evenings next at 7.30. It was originally intended to bold only tho final rehearsal in tiie hall, but as it was discovered the building was not engaged on Monday night, it was considered advisable to hold the last two rehearsals there. Mr. Charles Berkeley, touring manager for J. C. Williamson, Ltd., arrived in town this morning to make preliminary arrangements for the appearance of tho Royal Comic Opera Company in the famous musical comedy play “Our Miss Gibbs,” on Wednesday, September 27th. The company is now playing with big success in Auckland, and is sure to meet with a very warm welcome here. | When Admiral Togo was entertained at Sir Robert Hadfield’s Sheffield works recently, Sir Robert announced that his firm had now successfully manufactured projectiles of 14in. calibre, weighing nearly three-quarter* °f a ton. They coula now also make projectiles of 12in. calibre to perforate hitherto invulnerable hard-faced, armour plates at quite low velocities and remain unbroken. A Huifield Hclcon projectile in recent tests not only passed through a I2in. armour . plate, but travelled two miles beyond.