LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 28, 16 January 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho ordinary fortnightly meeting of t'iio Oddfellow’s Lodge was held last when ordinary husinoss was transacted. Two more members were proposed for membership. 'J'horo was only a small muster present for the euchre party, and only a friendly game was indulged lin. One question before Mr. Widdowson, S.M., at Dunedin, roeently, was whether a certain person by cxeesisve dl inking, wasted his estate, greatly injured his health, and so on, and amongst the many so-called facts given to the Magistrate was this: that the man dressed himself at seven in the (naming and prepared to go to work, thinking it was seven in the morning. The witness presented this as proof positive.

That jerry-building is practised in lishorne is proved hy a paragraph couained in tho building inspector’s ro)ort to the Borough Council. 'l'imt of;cial stated that one builder had been ;uilty of as deliberate a piece of ludcrhami work as bad ever taken lace there. On inspecting a buildig .under erection on December 27th, he inspector stated that he found live artitions built un with -I x 1 strid-

ing, averaging 21 inches centres. Tntructions were given to have these idled down, and I x 2 substituted. On >e inspector’s second visit the bottom ning board had been strinped off, nd -Ix2 wore showing distinctly, nt on closer examination these were vand to he short ends. The in specif stated that he was taking the mat- ;• to Court, and hoped the delinuor.t would be dealt with severely.

The first house to lie erected in New Plymouth with the walls covered with asbestos is in course of construction in Barrett Street, says the “Herald." The method adopted is to cover the ordinary wooden frame with asbestos instead of wood. The joints of the asbestos arc covered with vertical buttons, and it is stated that the new material is much cheaper than timber.

At last night’s meeting of the Borough Council Cr. Ward moved that the Borough Overseer report on the cost of public conveniences lining erected in ibe Borough. “Other towns,” he said, “have conveniences underground.” Ho saw no reason why they should not folloAV their example. It was time they forged ahead a Hit. After some discussion the motion was carried unanimously.

Mr. T. C. Wilton of Tc llangitnaman, Masterton, is a “ringer’ ’among shearers. He has occupied the shearing board every year for the last II years, and last Saturday put through 20 J off the blade, 'l ids'is a performance w hich would put many a younger man in the shade. Mr. Wilton’s family are also experts at shearing. One of his\sons recently made a tally ol 2(57 in a day, with the machine—- “ Ago”. “Chinaman’s luck” is proverbial, remarks the Wyndham “Herald.” It was at the recent Invercargill races, and John asked someone what would be a good thing to back. Someone suggested Queen’s Prize. John took twofiiekots, and went back to his mentor, who asked what he had done; John tolling him that he had taken two on that rank outsider. The man, to fool John further, said that he had not taken enough so John promptly took three more. After the race he collected his dividend—£l63 2s Gd. Surely he had the laugh on the joker.

In the last number of the “Imperial Colonist," the Inspector of Hospitals, Wellington, appeals to the Colonial Nursing Association to scud twoive fully-qualified Assoemt'dri nurses to take up work in the Dommioii. Iho reason for this appeal is fhe lack ot trained nurses in JNew Zealand at piesent, for so great is the demand tor them that the hospitals cannot retain their staffs. An English paper, commenting on the advertisement says . ‘ The conditions are fair. Hie Department of Public "Helath undertakes to receive the nurses on arrival, and to provide them with free bpard and lodging, w ith a waiting salary of £1 per week until a post lias been found for them. The nurses will be expected to go wherever they may happen to be sent, and to consent to an agreement for, possibly twelve months._ After this time the Government will .consider them free to accept any private or public position or work they might desire. The positions to which these nurses would be drafted would all carry, however, _ good salaries, ranging from a minimum of £GO to £IOO with living expenses in . the chse of district, general, and midwifery work. r I hose salaries arc much higher than those of staff s'sters in England.” • J There was an Interesting argument in a case at Kaiapoi the other day, as to what constitutes a Maori, in a case'in which Hubert Day, a, phhcan, \Vas charged with supplying liquor to a Maori, Te Hira Fllitey, on the. day .on which an election was field for the Maori district, representative. , Mr. Cassidy, who''appeared for defendant, contended that the mail so’r- . ycd was not a Maori. The term “Maori,” according to the Act; nicabt, “any aboriginal inhabitant of New Zealand,” and included “half-castes and their descendants by natives.” tie would prove that Flu toy's* father was >a half-caste Maori, and that his mother was a three quarter white, one-quarter Maori woman. This being so, Flutcy did not come wdthin the definition of Maori under the Legislature Act. This view had been taken by the Registrar of Electors, as -Flutcy had: applied some years ago for enrolment on the roll for the I Maori electoral district, and had been refused. He had since voted on the ordinary European roll, and clearly he was not within the 'moaning of the section. His Worsh’i) agreed with the argument, and, holding that Flntey was not a Maori within the definition of the Act, dismissed the information.

Quo can hardly imagine that the importan.ee of a well-known borough ohic.al is recognised in the ordinary senso by little children who sometimes got on to the streets to amuse themselves, says Saturday’s New Plymouth “Herald”, and a Jitjtle incident which happened in the vicinity of the'Post Ohice this morning leads people to suppose that the official’s name is used as a bogey when children misbehave themselves.' At the corner of Queen Street is a horse drinking trough, just below an ordinary wooden culvert. This .morning a little boy blocked up the entrance to the culvert with a piece of wood, so that he had a fair volume of water collected from the overflow of the drinking trough, and, with a tin can, was amusing himself baling the waver. Whilst engaged in this innocent occupation the official referred to came round the corner unobserved by the boy. Another boy, much older, as be rode a bicycle past, said quietly: “Look out/ is coming.” in

the twinkling of an eye the ibsiruction was cleared away and tho/.tti? chap raced across to the footpath and ■was knocking loudly at the dcor of his homo crying “Mother! mother!” There was no need for alarm, 1 rwever, for the incident happened so quickly that the alert official did not notice that anything had occurred which called upon him to i xovcise his authority.

Regarding the recent Thames mining fatality, an old Thamesitc resident in Ifeilding writes to the Palmerston “Times” to the eiieet that the said accident which occurred at the Ray Queen Mine is really the result of faulty ventilation. Now and again, miners strike had air in old workings, hnt such a catastrophe as that just recorded has not been known for considerably over twenty years. In the olden days the Caledonian, Alhurnia, and other mines ...were frequently visited I>v inrushes of gas. hnt as properties were opened np and connections artahlishcd with adjoining mines ventilation became much improved, and now disasters from such a cause are almost unknown. 'The May Queen Mine adjoins the Thames-Hanraki upon which deep level operations are now in progress. The reefs at the Thames are small as ia rule, and con-

sequently the workings—both drive and stopes—arc cramped very much, air snaec being thus limited. As a striking contrast the reef system on the Ohinemnri field shows tremendous width of quartz, and while, at the Thames, stones might run from a few feet up to eight or ten feet, the vrdth of stopes in the Waihi Mine vary in sum enlaces from SOft to over 100 feet. The lodes at Karang•drake and Waihi nearly all showlarge breasts of stone, and as a result the ventilation is invariably pretty fresh. So far as the writer is aware there has not been a fatality in the I’pper Thames goldfields from such a cause as this tragedy.

.Mr Newton King has received the following cable from his Sydney agents re hides:—“Very firm.” The somewhat unusual sight of a swarm of hoes in the main street, Parnell, war. witnessed this morning, s.ns last Friday's Auckland “Star.” ’1 my landed on a post near a tobacconist shop, and passers-by appeared to prefer Hie pavement on the opposite side of the street. A. gentleman who was passing on a car suddenly got off, went to,the nearest shop and purchased ,a box, then quietly walked up to the bees, lifted the swarm in bis hands, dropped thorn in his rough hive, caught the next car, and went on his way rejoicing.

A letter was received at tiie Borough Council meeting last night from Sergeat McNeole'y, re the use of pea rides in the Borough, stating that tiie„ police would use tiieir best endeavour co put a stop to the dangerous practice. During the past month he had

spout some time in the more remote parts of the Borough with a view to ascertaining if the use of firearms was prevalent amongst the youths of this town, but up to the present he had been unable to obtain any .evidence to support a prosecution. However, the matter would he kept in view, and if an opportunity occurred, prompt steps would be taken to secure t'no punishment of offenders.—The letter war. received.

Mr. Cecil Wright, barrister and solicitor, late of New Plymouth, has joined Mr. F. W. Wake, of Stratford. Mr. Wright has been for several years in practice, and is one of the joint authors of Hntchen and Wright’s well-known work on “llxc? Land Transfer Act.” Mr. Wake’s growing business made a partnership desirable, and in Mr. Wright ho has obtained an able addition to the firm’s strength. Mr. Wright takes a pig and active interest in howling and k ndred matters. Mr. Wake recently purchased promises in Broadway, opposite the Bank of New Zealand, on which there are being erected spacious and well-appointed offices, into which the new firm will move next week.

One of tiie best things to do to a well-filled silo is to pour on an abundance of water after tilling, 'ibis was discovered some weeks ago by G. n • Buroriard, an American farmer. He had just filled a 1 new silo, but had not put on the roof, when a heavy ram sot in. Before the silo could he roofed over three such rain storms had descended upon it. It w'as wot down thoroughly. Mr. Burchard had some misgivings about the elioct of so much water” on his ensilage. But he was greatly astonished when he commenced to feed from it to find only a thin -layer of spoiled ensilage about two inches thick. There was not an unsound spot anywhere in the ensilage to the bottom. The Civil Service Commissioners in England* are making heavy deductions for”bad writing at examinations conducted by them, and it appears from the Table of Marks which has been issued in connection with the last examination for Class I. Clerkships m the Homo Civil Service, the India Civii Service, and Eastern. Cadetships, that they arc earnestly striving for ;, , reform. At the examination referred to which is, of course,, the most ifn- , portant of all Civil Service .exhix|i'iiajm lions, substantial (reductions .were made-for bad handwriting, and of , the first 100 candidates,- -no - dess-, tiffin ' J 1 23 : were penal: secb joit a^ppunjTwo candidates lost as fiiaity as bo marks each,, this making a" difference in their positions oh the list’of suefcr.sful candidates of something like ‘2O nlaccs. 'J'he importance of such a result mav he imagined when seniority is ; so 1 illuclraffected, and thereby, a... candidate’s chance lessned. of securing a nosition in the best offices of tho State. It will be well, in futuie, for intending candidates to pay more attention to caligraphy. The reform is nr.iftcntly desirable in other., places than'England. ....

By means of an ingenious tricky a London thief obtained sufficient pairs of expensive-- boots to set him up in footwear for some time. The manager of the Sloano street branch of the London Shoe Company recently ' received an order to send a number of their most expensive boots on mproval to the address of a well-known doctor. To lie on the safe side he sent a parcel of seven right hoots to ,thc address.' Shortly after they had liccn delivered a stranger called at the doctor s., and on the plea that “a mistake had been made” went olf with the goods. The mystery of what good could he made of the odd hoots was shortly cleared up. Very soon afterwards a message came to the Now Bond street branch of the,

rune firm ordering footwear on approval for an unusual customer. His ‘•Vrht foot he wrote was deformed, and he only needed “lofts.” A parcel of left hoots was immediately despatched and it was only when the managers of the two branches compared notes that they found they had lost many complete pairs of their best.boots.

An unusual sight was witnessed in Devon Street on Friday night, says the New Plymouth “Herald.” As a nuim her of follows were walking leisurely dong they were surprised to see a due big rooster emerge from a right of n ay closely followed by its owner, who .v is endeavouring to persuade the bird to return to its coop. /I his, however, the rooster evidently did not feel disarmed to do, and attempted to enter ii fish shoo, hut his progress was barred ,v the fishmonger. Whilst standing at the doorstop the owner made successful attempt to catch the bird, which then set out, sometimes running and sometimes flying, up the road. ;)nc> of the pedestrians—a sprinter ot rune repute—then entered into the ■base, and although ho succeeded in retfng up with his quarry, the bird ,\.ss too clever for him and evaded all his attempts to seize it. In his eagerness a linger came in contact with the korhing nr a verandah post, damaging the nail, and whilst lie was nursing the injured member the bird gained cover in the darkness of another right-of-way. The chase provided a great deal of amusement for those who witnessed it.

The Director of the Live Stock and Meat Division of the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourists 'Mr C. J. Rcakns, D.Y.Sc., M.R.O. V.S.), wrote as follows:—“At the personal request of Mr Sheridan, 1 am promising to transfer him from Stratford. In doing so 1 realise that during the period he has acted as Jnspec:or of the Stratford Abattoir, ho has carried out his duties in a thoroughly conscientious and trustworthy manner, and that his removal will not in any way affect his status or position in the Department. I propose to replace him by Mr A. M. Spilman, and 1 trust the Council will see its way to appoint him at the same emoluments ajs given to Mr Sheridan. —The Mayor stated that he had heard that Air Spilmau was a very capable man, and moved that ho bo appointed to the position. At the same time he moved that the Council place on record its appreciation of Mr Sheridan’s capable and painstaking services and express its regret at losing such a capable officer.—Cr. Ward ; Hear, hear.—Both motions were carried unanimously.

Owners of bicycles may rest assured that the sneak thief is not abroad in Stratford. Tho bicycle that was reported in our issue of yesterday as stolen, had been left in Broadway in the pouring rain of a feAv days ago, and had been taken to the police station for its own good.

A striking example of the value of advertising was furnished by tho experience of a Avell-known local business man. “Yesterday,” he told our reporter, “I advertised in your paper for a pair of gold-mounted spectacles, and this morning 1 found them in my pocket.” To save clashing Avith a probable visit of AVirth’s Circus, the Stratford Horticultural Society Avill hold its next Autumn Slioav on or about February 22nd and 23rd. The schedule is on the usual liberal scale, and Avill be available for distribution in a foAv days. A committee meeting to finally approA r o date of Slioav is to be held in the secretary’s office this evening. N All dairy farmers Avill remember the dispute that arose after the Stratford A. and P. Association’s annual show, re Mr T. Lyford’s Holstein bull, Admiral de Kol. Messrs Tichbon Bros, lodged a protest that the hull Avas not° eligible for the prize it won, on t'ho grounds that it was not in oi eligible for the Herd Bock. Last night the protest was dismissed, the Secretary of the New Zealand HolsteinFriesian Association writing to Mr Lvford to the effect that his bull was eligible for section 11. of the Herd Book. ‘

“I would like you to convey to your committee my best thanks and appreciation for the kind care and attention to my stock and myself receu - ed at their hands, and for all arrangements made for the loading and unloading of the stock to and irom your show. It was, a pleasure tojie a stock owner at your show, .arm 1 trust I shall be a bigger exhibitor at your next one.” Ibis is an oxuae from one of tho many enthusiastic letters that the secretary of the A. and P. Association (Mr E. Jackson) lias received of late.

• Councillor Ward- stated at last night’s .meeting of the Borough Council that he considered it was absolutely essential that a road roller >9 procured, and moved v that tnc I 1 nance Committee go into the matter. Councillor King stated that he and yi. Sangster had had a conversation wit a an agent for a certain roller, when they wore in Wellington. This gentleman would be visiting Stratiord slioiLw It was decided that the Works and Finance Committees- confer with tao agent in question with the view to the purchase of a suitable rollei. It was moved by Cr. McAllister at the Borough Council meeting last mg that' something be done to. teuton Street South to improve the access to King Edward Park. He stated tn at at the present time it was almost inaccessible to ladies and children. U. King said it was the question of the cattle that made, the matter a difficult one. The Mayor stated that the proper thing to*do would be to make a lootpath! to which Cr. McAllister replied that .‘it was the improvement of the road' He ,was 'thifikng about. Evciir tually tho matter was left in the hands of the Borough Overseer, to report on tlje heslji 1 means of improving me a PP r »I: "" '""V 1 ti! ”