LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7, 6 May 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The numerous friends of Mrs. A. Jones, of Toko, will regret to hear that she is dangerously ill, and has had to be removed to the Stratford Hospital for treatment. The Hon. Geo. Laurenson is definitely announced to give, an address in the Town Hall, Stratford, on Wednesday evening next. The Minister is a good platform speaker, and his address will probably be well worth hearing. The first of a series of socials to be hold in aid of the furnishing funl of the Stratford Parish Hall will take place to-morrow (Tuesday) evening. An open invitation is extended to all members of the congregation to be present and it is hoped that the church people will assist heartily to make the affair the success it deserves to be. On Friday evening next the Liberal Party at Whaiigamomona propose tc honour Mr. Joseph McCluggage at ;• banquet in the Whaiigamomona Hall at which it is hoped three members of the Ministry will be present. Mr. Me Cluggage has done a great deal for the Whaiigamomona settlers and the support accorded the movement is being very freely given. A social and dance under the auspices of the Stratford Horticultural Society will be held in the Foresters’ Hall on Thursday, the 16th iust. An energetic ladies’ committee has been formed to make arrangements in connection with supper, and a musical programme. Members and friends can obtain tickets from the ladies’ committee, or Mr. W. S. Cato, secretary. The lion, secretary of the Stratford Fire Brigade has forwarded a kst, to be considered by the Borough Council, when preparing the estimates, of articles required by the Brigade. The items, include a reel (£33 10s), 1000 feet of hose (£3l ss), axes, helmets, branches, unions and couplings, the total amount required costing £9O 19s.

After two days’ hard shooting a local sportsman succeeded in bringing a solitary quail to earth; but it fell on the wrong, side of the river, which had to be waded before the coveted bird could be secured. The quail was taken home in triumph, it was plucked by Nimrod, and stuffed by his wife, being left in the safe overnight to supply a tasty breakfast on the morrow. But by some means or other the family cat

gained access to the precious bird during the night, and the sportsman will have to undergo another two days’ liard shooting before lie can indulge : n quail on toast for breakfast.

When the votes for the election of members of committee of a Dunedin school were counted at a householders’ meeting, it was ascertained that tlu> votes for the ninth and tenth candidates were equal. As one of them was a member of the retiring committee, the scrutineers took it upon them-

■ fives to decide in bis favour, to the exclusion of the new man. Their action subsequently leaked out, and doubt has been expressed as to its legality. The rejected candidate is taking steps to have a legal ruling as to bow far the scrutineers were justified in deciding a tie in the way they did.

Messrs Campbell Jackson and Petrie shot over Mr. Jim Jackson’s property at Puniwhakan on Thursday and Friday last. They found pheasants very scarce indeed, but managed to secure s x brace in addition to forty quail. It rained most of the time thus making the shooting conditions none too favourable. An interesting operation was witnessed last week at a -shoeing forge at Te Kuiti when a team of bullocks were • shod. The bullocks are intended for hauling on the roads, and the shoos are for protection against the metal. Unfortunately, ractai does not extend a sufficient distance to enable the hauling to be done by horse, yet the protection is necessary for the bullocks. The person who thoughtlessly pours benzine or petrol down the sink, be it but the drainings of a tin or the dregs from a motor car, little imagines how ho is endangering lives of bis followcitizens The smallest quantity of those volatile -spirits, in conjunction with the natural gases existent in the sewers, forms the element of a dangerous explosion. Quite recently-at Lewisham, London, twelve sewerman were -seriously burned, and only escaped with their lives, through an explosion caused by these spirits. Proclaiming that only a- woman can save the destinies of China, a young Chinese girl, the wife of a Chinese student named Chang, recently left London, to place herself at the head of the Feminist movement in the Chinese Republic. The girl who is 22 years of age, is already known among her countrymen as the Chinese Joan of Arc and took part in the revolutionary movement at the age of fifteen. A girl friend who shared her views was beheaded. Although she is the neico Yuan-Shih-Kai, the girl is his resolute adversary, believing him to he the evil genius of his country. As a result of the recent heavy rains a tremendous landslide took place on the banks of the Rangitikei river in the vicinity of Mr. Rodewald’s residence, Maugaweka. Thousands of tons of earth wore carried down into the river from the steep cliff’s on the town side. So great was the fall that it caused a blockage in the river which was in heavy flood at the time. The river immediately rose to a height of between fifty and sixty feet eventually cutting a new channel for itself through the huge blocks of papa. An estimate made by a reliable authority worked out at 140,000 square yards, which means a fall of earth equal to the enormous weight of 280,000 tons.

During the hearing of a case in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court, Mr. Kettle. S.M., drew attention to the following section (298) of the Municipal Cornorations Act, 1908;—“No person shall post, paint, affix, carve, inscribe, or exhibit any placard, bill, inscription, advertisement, or notice upon any telegraph or telephone pole or on any street, private street, building, structure, or place within the borough, save only on hoardings or places licensed by the Council for,such purpose. For penalty see section 336.” Mr. Kettle remarked: “We are adopting the American system of disfiguring handsome buildings with advertisements. This is an age of advertising.”

A Dunedin man (Mr. J._ Herd, of Roslyn) has invented a simple apparatus for safeguarding those who go bathing in the surf.' It proipises /to. 1 * be effective, and if its usefulness prove as great as the promise the invention should meet with a big demand, for it is cheap, and easily worked, i It consists of ropes, corlc floats, two piles, and an anchored buoy. The cork-float-ed ropes are attached to the piles in the sand and also to the buoy, the form of the whole being ai triangle, the base being the beach. Near the apex a line crosses from one side to the other, and from the apex to the middle of the base there is an endless line attached to a pulley on the anchored buoy. The s : ze of the net (so to speak) may be equal to anything, hut hue running out to sea 100 yards and extending to 200 yards would bo very serviceable, and it would only cost some £25 at the outside. If a bather gets into difficulties there are many floats to clutch at, and since a drowning man holds on to a straw, it may be conceded that be would keep hold on a big corked line iintd someone hauled in the float like a kite. It has been tested at trials-and found to be effective. The public will be invited to see it at work in the near future.