LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 32, 22 September 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The world-famous St. Agnes lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in existence and tho guardian of tho Scillies, was closed and the light extinguished last month, after continuous service since 1680, when the present tower was erected by Captain Hugh Till and Captain Symon Bayly. Trinity House has decided that tho (-Id light is too extravagant to work, in spite of the fact that it has saved many hundreds of ships, and a modern iron automatic lighthouse, which needs the attention of only ono man, has been erected on the neighbouring island of St. Mary’s.

Mr Robert Hannah is at present on a short visit to Stratford. At crihbago last night, at Mrs Brown’s rooms, the A team won against tlio B team liv -11 games t--21. The Borough Council well meet this evening for the purpose of considering the q nos tie;? of appointing ami trators in connection with the proposed acquisition of the electric light works.

Only one judgment by default was given at the Magistrate’s Court this morning, Jas. .Patterson obtaining judgment against H. Ellern for £1 los, 5s costs being allowed. A young man appeared at the Magistrate's Court this morning on charges of being drunk at Whanganiomona on September 7tli, and of having refused to leave the premises of the Whangamomona Hotel when requested to do so. On the first charge he was lined ss, on the second 20s.

’Jiie Department of Agriculture has secured a small quantity of seed of the Pneria Thuraborgiana, a legume, for experimental purposes. The plant, which grows in Japan, is described as follows;—“Its growth is phenomenal; its uses comprehensive; it provides earlier and more nutritious foliage than j)eas or clovers; it adapts itself to comparatively poor land.” In view of these recommendations, tho Department’s experiments will bo looked forward to with interest.

’The supplementary parade of stud horses under tho auspices'of the Egmont A. and P. Association will oe hold to-morrow (Saturday) on Mr Reilly’s property, Mountain Road, Lltham. All tiie leading sires of the district will be shown including a good deal of new blood. This is the only opportunity to see all the sires shown collectively, and it is to bo hoped that farmers in the district wiJi avail themselves of the Society’s fixture.

The Supreme Court sessions resumed at Mew Plymouth yesterday, when William Humphries sued the Westport Coal Company for £IOOO damages for personal injuries sustained by being knocked down by defendant's horse and cart. Mr E. G. Jellicoe appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr A. L. Herdman, with him Mr J. H. Quilliam, for the defendants. The jury, after a retirement of twenty-two mmtcs, returned a verdict for the defendant company, and judgment was given accordingly, with costs according to scale. .

An historic London residence, Ci rnwath House, is to be sold by auction with tiic Broom House Estate, Fullham. In its garden the late Mr. Gladstone proposed to Mrs. Gladstone, and in the days alien Lady Shelley gave her ‘'strawberry parties” on Saturday aft : jvaeons, it used to be said that mors .1 atnmcr.ial matches had been made on the lawns of Carnwath House than at any other house in England. An older tradition is attached to the ferry that used to ply from the river side of the estate. It is said that during the Civil War King Charles I. came over the ferry to reach the Surrey shore.

According to statements made in Wellington, information is beginning to leak out regarding the work of the Representation Commissioners. Alterations have been made in the boundaries of Raglan and Franklin as orginally defined by the Commissioners. Pukekohc has been put back into the Franklin electorate. The Commissioners have also, it is said,put back tiio Katikati Hotel and the four hotels at Te Arpha into ( their old (]j§trict of Taufanga. Originally the’ Commission put these hotels in the No license electorate of Oiiinemuri. A correspondent also writes ns to-day that considerable alterations to the Stratford boundaries is likely, and the West Riding will almost certainly be included.

Mr Andrew Carnegie told an audience at Liverpool recently that he had “taken to library forming because his father did it before him.” Yv'illiam Carnegie’s efforts at library founding were, an Edinburgh contemporary says, extremely modest as compared with the work of his distinguished son. In 1808 Mr .Carnegie’s father was a journeyman weaver in Dunfermline. He and another two drivers of the shuttle, met, and agreed to convey the books they had 'n their respective homes to one house. The combined libraries only figured out twenty volumes. The pioneers were joined by other weavc rs, ■ and they agrew 1 , to tax themselves to the extent of a few pence per month, and from this fund purchased new books. The littlo institution ultimately blossomed into the Dunfermline Tradesmen’s Library.

Emphatic objection has been entered against the demand which was made by the Government for statistical information regarding the industries of the Dominion. As a result the schedules originally prepared have boon withdrawn, and a new series greatly modified in character has been circulated among the proprietors of manufactories, says the “Dominion.” Power is conferred by Section 20 of the Census and Statistics Act of last year upon the Government Statistician to make inquiries approved by the Governor-in-Council in any census year regarding the industries of the Dominion. Similar information has been compiled in connection with previous censuses, but the information required by o schedules which were prepared by the Government Statistician this year was so pertinent to the private concerns of the manufacturers that the New Zealand Federation of Employers took action in the matter.

Tlio Sligo County Council is much exercised in regard to an island whose inhabitants will not pay rates. Inn '.I n urry , in the Atlantic Ocean, between Sligo and Killybegs, County Donegal, is the island in question. In Ids report to the Local Government Board the rate collector stated that he could not get a boat on the mainland to take him to the island on sum an errand as collecting rates, and at the last meeting of the Siig) County Council it was state 1 that some years ago two offi. i ,1s of the Council wiio tried to land or. tin island ‘W the same purpose were stoned off the shore by the inhabitants. The question as no how a landing could ho effected was discussed by the Council at the last meeting an i one memb •• stated that r Dreadnought would be required for tie> pn v pose. The island is one and a half miles long and a half-mile broad, and there is no direct communication with it. About fourteen families reside on the island, and they live chiefly on barley, potatoes, and fish. A special day is fixed every year for, the celebration of marriages as ther- 1 arc several months in the year when it is impossible for r. clergyman to visit the island. The islanders conduct their own religious services on Sundays. At mid-day thov all assemble in the remains of a little sixth-century church, and recite the rosary and other prayers. One of th. islanders, an old man, acts as king and settles any disputes that arise, hut as a rule the greatest hirinony prevails.

Tiie X.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., consigned this morning to Honiara 21 trucks containing 329 head of cattle, mostly 2-year-old coders and steers, for their Taurariga clients, Messrs. Lievell and Rowe. I nose loft by special train at 9.15 this am‘-r ing in charge of Messrs. Wills and Freer,

Jhe Foresters’ fortnightly assembly, held last night, was well patronised. 3he floor was in splendid order, supper was provided, and daneing was continued until after one o clock this morning, all thoroughly enjoying the evening.,! The social committee intimated to invitationholders that they had' decided to hold « socl A ll th ~ To '™ Hall on Thursday, October sth, and that any further invitations required may be obtained from the committee.

In the course of his opening remarks at the Magistrate’s Court this morning in a case against a settler La allowing cattle to wander, on a County- road, Mr. Malone referred to tne defendant as “the accused.” The r:.rjL. ( iY r v f vennck ) said h© would k n u J , u . such cases the person enraged should be referred to as “the 5 seated that lie had no intention of offending defendant. The S.M. digressing, said that in his opinion Magistrates should be given power in dealing with cases of wandering cattle, breaches of by-laws, and similar eases to inflict a fine without recording a conviction. As things stood tney were practically manufacturing criminals, ’ as every conviction for riding a bicycle without lights or on a footpath, driving a vehicle without lights after dark, or any similar slight misdemeanour, was entered in tne criminal statistics, thereby probably impressing people that " there was a great deal of crime in tho Do- ■

minion. He was sure that if the statistics were analysed it would ho found that a largo proportion of the criminals” were guilty of only very mild law-breaking.