The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1912. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 16, 2 January 1912, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1912. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Many kind gifts wore made to the Stratford District Hospital at Christmas, and the Board desires to heartily thank all who so contributed.

Mr. W. Johnston, now manager of the Bank of Australasia at Mastorton, and recently in charge of the Bank s Stratford branch, came through for the New Year, and Was a visitor to the races. ~ • <

Ml". James Wilson, who for some time was manager of flie Union Bank’s Stratford branch, and who was promoted to .Melbourne, is at present spending a two months’ holiday in New Zealand with his wife and young son. Yesterday Mr. Wilson paid a flying visit to Stratford, on his way north, and was a visitor to the races. Mr. Wilson received a hearty welcome m all hands.

Mr I). C. Bates, Government Meteorologist, left for Sydney on Friday last on three weeks’ holiday leave. During his absence the work will be carried on by Mr. B. Y. Pemberton, Assistant Meteorologist. Singularly enough, says the Wellington “Post,” bo received the following telegram from Taranaki:—“Can you scud better weather for Stratford? Please re-

sign. Reply paid for.” He replied: “Prospects thick, dirty weather. Tired myself. Holidays after to-morrow.” Perhaps now that the boss is away his assistant will not feel called upon to ho cautious about using up the stock of good weather. The Wanganui River is attracting large numbers of visitors this season. The excellent accommodation pic.videcl at the unique house boat non, ,;d between Taumanmui and Pipiriki, and at the New Pipiriki House, with its beautiful winter garden and all up-to-date appointments, together with its line.-situation—nestling as it does at Pipiriki in the centre of an amphitheatre of magnificent bushdud hills—is a theme of favourable comment. Many tourists now break their journey both at Pipiriki and the bouse boat. The line new tourist vessel, the “Wai-Iti,” lias just "been, put on the Taumarunui-Houseboat section, and enables a daily service— Mondays and Mondays excepted— to bo run from the Taumanmui end of our now world-famous scenic river.

A New York newspaper states that the latest get-rich-quick Scheme is iwarded by common consent the first prize “for all the fertile imaginings which have coaxed dollars from the bank accounts of people on the watch (or 100 per cent, investments.” Some ingenious individuals have come to the conclusion that eat skins offer a profitable field for exploitation, and by means of a circular they have been inviting help in the formation of a company. “We will start a cat ranch, getting 1,000,000 cats,, states the circular, each w ill have twelve kittens a year. Cat skins arc worth 3d for white ones and 3s for black. They will average Is 3d each. 'There are, therefore, 12,000,000 cat skins a year, and a daily gross income of some -2000. A man can skin fifty cats for Ss, and it will take 1000 men to operate the ranch, leaving our profit 01000 a day.” The feeding of !,000,()()() cats suggests a serious problem, but if is one that offers no obstacle to fertile brains. They would start a rat ranch next door. “Rats,”

says the circular, “multiply four times as fast as cats. We shall have therefore four rats a day for each cat—a .plenty. How to’ feed the rats? Simple; feed them on the cat bodies, a four of a cat per rat—amply sufficient.” The sanguine promoters of the scheme are greatly pleased with it. “The business,” they state, “will he self-supporting and automatic all the way. 'The cats will cat the rats, and the rats will oat the cats, we will get the skins and the wealth. Are you with us?” No doubt some unwise people will he “with them” oven in this ridiculous undertaking.

gome of the now Labour members )f the Western Australian Parliament

are very eager to economise. V\ ken the estimates were under discussion last week, Mr. Hietmann urged that the State needed no Agent-General. Australia would do with one man to put on “Windsor breeches.” When it came to eating, Sir George Held was competent' to oat for all Australia. They desired in London a business man. When it came to attending dinners and making speeches the Federal Government had provided lor them in the High Commissioner.

Speaking at the Asa held Preparatory School (X.S.W.) Professor David ■-.aid that the most important branch :,f school life was the development of a sound body, without which a sound mind was unattainable. He urged the great value of school games in the development of character where the sport was clean and manly, “and,” he continued, “wo must include the noble art of self defence so Jong as it does not degenerate into exnibitions of more or less brutality.” He strongly deprecated prize lighting, which had nothing to do with the finer sides of character that were developed in games wlie-re discipline and unselfishness were demanded.

Two of the Gabriel’s Gully pioneers have passed away lately. Air John Hugh AlcGregor, who died at the Grey diver hospital, saw 'service under Major • von Tempsky in the sixties, ■ml after the conclusion of hostilities he went to the gold diggings down South with his uncle, the late Mr John Cameron. Mr McGregor cross'd the Southern Alps from Cantoron ry to the West Coast. At the ieremakau they struck rich gold. The district Camerons was named after Mr McGregor’s uncle. The subject' of this notice resided at No Town for forty years. He was a very apablc Maori scholar. The other .dancer, whoso death lias been record'd, was Air John Carlyle Irving, who nul had some stirring experiences in Jig early days. At different times ic was engaged in mining at the Ar•ow and at Wotherstones.

Just as a tram from the Spit had .cached Balgowlah Heights, Manly, lie other afternoon, says the “Sydney Morning Herald,” the passengers on he front scat saw a huge brown snake tearing down the track towards them, ts quarry was a largo lizard, and so ircoccupied was it with the thoughts .f the prospective meal that it evilontly left the oncoming tram out of ts calculations. The lizard passed mder the train, and the snake, but i couple of feet behind, followed. The ram driver, anxious to be in at the dll, pulled up short, and with some xisscngers rushed back along the mack. But the kill was over. The izard escaped, so far as the tram was •oncerncd, but the snake—live feet ong at least—had been cut in three pieces by the wheels.

Writing in the “Fortnightly” of the possible candidates for the American '.’residency, Mr. H. Hamilton Fyfte -,ays: “Yet one more possibility rename, to be - noted. If Senator La follette should be put into the congest by the Insurgents, the country would have the opportunity of electng a very remarkable man. But the ■ountry would not take it, and the ■ountry would be right. Apart from iis increasing deafness,, and in spite «f -jus brilliant gifts—gifts of poli T ical ,insight,, of tactical skill, of p,wished eloquence—this little man with he wide-open steel-grey eyes, whose ipstanding crop of hair has won him he name of Bushy Boh, would not he .•egarded as a “Dependable” Prosilent. Tliat is what the country needs, iml has made np its mind to get. Hthcr Woodrow Wilson (should the wish of the people prevail) or Judson Harmon (if the “bosses” win) would take to. the White House the “safe ihd sane”, qualities which are required.”

Fowelka lias not been heard of lately, but his name is still potent in many parts. A village near Waugimd, Makirikiri by name, suffered a nild panic on Christmas Eve, when it lecame known that’ a burglarly bad >een committed at the local store, f'he Wanganui Chronicle states that die inevitable rumour as to Fowelka laving “turned up again,” caused die trouble, but it was discovered had nerely been celebrating the festive icason by getting into a state of in'oxication. However, the owner of die store produced the inevitable gun vlien he heard the intruder and fired twice at what lie took to be the repeating figure of the burglar. Neither shot took effect, and the man jot clear away. An examination of die premises showed that the window bad been broken and some lairs of dungarees extracted. Palmerston was accused of lanic when Fowelka was abroad in the land but human nature appears to lie very much the same in ither parts, judging by the above incident.

Now and again one hears of penitent sinners who are anxious to make good some former defalcation of theirs. At least three people in New south Wales gained that clearness of conscience which is said to follow the loing of a deed that appear good. Prom each of these individuals letters have been received by the Railway Commissioners, sums of money that represent the price of somebody’s repentance, though the idea of somebody being grief-stricken to the extent of 5s has a side to it which, in other than hot weather, might have roused the imagination to heights >f soaring dizziness. But, there is a eryptic mysticism about one of the •ommunicaiions. A gentleman from Newcastle, enclosing a sovereign, decribes the sum as “being the amount due to the department which loss may have been caused through my neglect or carelessness while employed by :lie department.” The Commissioners •ire wondering yet what the “exCivil servant as t’oe repentant one signs himself really did.

An Australian visitor at a reception in Wellington had something to say about train charges in New Zealand. “In Dunedin.” ho said, “you can got l(i train tickets for Is, at Christchurch the mini her is reduced to 14, hut in Wellington the price is ils for 12. <Laughter.) Von would scarcely think from this that Dunedin is Scotch. (Laughter.) In Melbourne you can’t even get 12 tickets for Is, therefore 1 don’t, think your charges here are too high; but you see if, like me, you had called first at Dunedin and enjoyed the liberality of that town and had gradually travelled up the coast, you would feel that yon were being taken down when you came to Wellington.” (Laughter.) “It is only a specimen of the confidence trick,” said the Mayor of Wellington, amidst laughter .“It is the way Dunedin carries out its Scotch characteristics. They give you 1(1 tickets for Is, but the length of the ride if very much loss than anywhere else. 'Laughter.) The length of the sections in Wellington is longer than in any other part of New Zealand—that’s a fact! This shows that the scotch in the South are still true In I heir traditions.” (Applause, and laughter.)

The Government Statistician’s figures, giving the number of poultry in Mie Dominion, obtained at the last census, show that the total number ot birds has increased during the past live years by over half a million head, the figures being:—l9ll, 3,091,951; IbliO, 3,191,604. Auckland heads Die Ket with a total of 937,982; Canterbury conics next with 717,833; while Wellington possesses 597,895. A curious action was hoard in the? American courts. A plaintiff sought damages for the bite of a dog, which bit Inin after he had trumped its tail. The claim was for £9OO. The judge held that a clog has a right to eke a mini who steps on Iris tail. It was not shown that the dog was vicious. The animal itself . occupied a prominent position in a corner of t.:o courtroom and aided in the defence by allowing people to walk round

him without offering to bite. Among tiie stories told of Sir Robert Hart is one relating to the estate of ivilmoriarty, which had been given to one of his ancestors for service at the battle of the Boyne by King William, The ancestor left the place so burdened with debt that it Juul to be sold. Hearing the story, Robert Hart—a little boy then—used to say, “When I’m a man I’ll buy hack Kilmoriarty—and I’ll get the title too.” He did' buy back Kilmoriarty when it came on the market years afterwards .and gained a knighthood, a Grand Cross, and a baronetcy.

Recent statistics show that,in jJic United States it is 1 to 458 that a railroad man will be killed on his job, and 1 to 13 that he will bo injured. The Inter-State Commerce Commis-

sion’s report of railway accidents during the twelve months ended on June .‘3O shows that ratio. During that period 10,390 persons were killed and 150,159 were injured on the railroads of the United States. Of the number killed only 386 were passengers, and more than one-half the total number killed were trespassing upon railroads or stealing rides on trains.

Two specimens of polished serpentine, from Westland, have been placed in the case for fresh exhibits in the Canterbury Museum. They were obtained in a massive occurrence on the mountains between the Terema-k-iu and the Arahura Rivers. The original rock was intruded from below along the bedding planes of a mica-schist, and has been altered sub-

sequently by the action of percolating water and other agents. It now forms a handsome serpentine suitable for decorative building and monumental purposes. Associated with this rock occurs the matrix from which New Zealand greenstone is derived, and closely alongside the intrusion the greenstone has been found in position.

There really is no end to the enterprise of the French dressmaker, writes the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Fixprcss.” He has made the Paris theatre his own to an extent

ouite unheard of a few years ago. Nowadays the makers of the dresses in a new play in Paris have a rehearsal all to themselves, and occupy as prominent a position on the programme as the scenic artist. They read the play' before they make‘ the drosses, and are allowed 1 to take unheard of liberties with the characters they dress! 1 It is ; no unusual tiling iu Paris to see n simple little villages maiden on the stage in 'a' frock ’the pi-ice of which would , buy the village. Now a dressmaker in Paris has gone one better than over-dressing a play. He is doing without any play at all. He has rented theatres all over the province in France, and he is touring with a dozen pretty 7 mannequins and about a hundred dresses. His idea is that hundreds of wealthy people in the provinces would be quite ready to buy dresses in Paris if they' could do so more easily. And as Mdirie Mahomet has not come to the m;innbquins, the Paris dressmaker is sending the mannequins on tour to sec Mdme Mahomet and let her see them. -

The number of electors at present on the register of England and Wales is G,387,710. Manhood suffrage will bring the total of male voters to about 10,000,000. _ It is estimated that the women eligible to vote on an adult franchise would be about 11,000.000'. To give at one stroke the strong end in politics to the women of the United Kingdom is a proposal which a very small section looks upon with any . favour, writes the London correspondent of the “Sydney Daily Telegraph.” And it is extremely unlikely that it will be agreed to by the House of Commons. The country has not been educated to the idea, and for this only the suffragettes are to blame. The “votes for women” movement in this country has been a snobbish class affair. The argument always used is that women who pay taxes should have a vote. The really strong claim that all women who work should have a vote lias been neglected. The plain truth is that the movement is almost exclusively in the hands of people with Conservative instincts. It lias always been seen that if an adult franchise were given to women, the resultant vote would in all probability he strongly Radical. Hence the unpopularity of the agitation. The suffragettes have now boon olseed by Mr Asquith in an unhappy dilemma.' They have either to declare that their advocacy of women’s rights extends to all women, irrespective of class or means, or have to confess that they wish to give more privileges to the privileged class, mil that they regard all other women as without their special pale.

The time-honoured privacy of the Englishman’s back garden has been violated by the new ordnance maps, which, states a London newspaper, are being produced to meet the reonivernents of the land valuation offir his. The«’ew maps are on so large a rado that the owner of a hen-run of eighteen feet in length will have it plainly marked on the map of Ins district—marked with such exactness that his neighbours will he able to criticise its architectural beauties without having resource to the ancient practice of peering over the garden wall. The scale of the maps is fifty inches to the mile, and even the letter-boxes and lire alarms are marked. Greenhouses assume ymito imposing proportions, and are differentiated from the surrounding coal ■’cllars by having a diamond-shaped lattice-work across their surfaces. There are few points which lack importance in the eyes of the land valuation officers, and detailed accuracy has been brought to such a high standard in these maps that a pine tree *s depicted with quite different foliage from the neighbouring oaks, and the fruit trees hear no resemblance 4o rhododendrons, which latter look like small mole lulls on the map. So far ho maps are confined to urban distil;! areas,' and it is not believed that L hoy will he extended to the rural listriots, as their size would reach ihnor.t unmanageable proportions. A amp of Hyde Park on this scale would 'erasure about seven and a half feet : n length. Two hundred and fifty of so sectional maps have already been issued, and more are to follow.