LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 13, 13 May 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A cordial invitation is given to moth-( ers and those in care of children to tne lecture and demonstration by Mies Morgan. Plunket Nurse, in the Foresters''Hall on'Wednesday. The hour is fixed for 2.30 for the convenience of country visitors. There will be a collection to defray expenses.

Some time ago the officer in charge of the Salvation Army at Stratford, Captain Nicholson, had the misfortune to get his gig smashed in a runaway, and he is desirous of raising enough to replace it. With that very laudable object in view, a cantata entitled ''The Flower Queen's Court," is to be presented on Monday, May 27th. Twenty

specially trained girls will take part in the performance, which promises to bo a really good one. The wireless station on the Tinakori Hills, which will be open soon, will possess a, two-kilowatt set, and a normal range of GOO miles at night time, but the chances are that it will have a range of about 1200 miles under favourable conditions. Later on, it is proposed to.make the station a five kilowatt onei with a daylight range of 500 miles and 1000 at .night, normally, but 1200 or 1500 with good "states." Even, if the station could get Sydney occa-, sionally, the "jamming" trouble'eaused by installations near the Australian Coas't would greatly interfere with effective working. To communicate with Sydney, then, would really require a station with a special wave length, and another one for the daily work. It is interesting to note tfiat the Hotel Australia Station, Sydney, has heard Wellington's signals several times lately.

There is to be celebrated in London this year the centenary of the Gas Light and Coke Company. It was iii 1803 that the Lyceum Theatre tree! to install gas, but it was not until the granting of the first gas charter in 1812 that the use of gas became in any way popular. In 1820, however, when the Gas Light and Coke Company came into existence, gas lighting became general throughout London. In 1888 ordinary gas cost 3s 9d per 1000 cubic feet, whereas in the current year the Gas Light and Coke Company have reduced it to 2s 6d per 1000 cubic feet. When in 3,878 electricity was introduced, there was a momentary depreciation in gas shares. Incandescent and acetylene lamps, however, restored the companies to*their important position in the ilhunhiation ol London. The capital of the metropolitan ij;as companies in 1879 amounted to C 12.500.000, of which £9,000,000 belonged to the chartered company. Since that date there has been an enormous progress of capitalisation. A most amusing system of betting has just been discovered at the boys' college in Rostov on the Don (says the St. Petersburg correspondent of the "Daily Express")- A race used to take place'at the luncheon hour, when at the first sound of the bell professorrwould dash off for their hats and coals and hurry out of the building. They were not aware, however, that they were being backed against each other by the boys as to which of them would !ii> the first to pass the iron gate of the college. The result was that while some" of the students feasted lavishly at the neighbouring cake shop, others forfeited their modest luncheon money and remained hungry for the rest of the dav. A misdemeanour oii the part of one of the youths brought the practice to the ears of the authorities. He had tried to delay one of the "runners" by removing his hat and coat from his usual peg, and was being severely chastised for the deed when the Headmaster arrived on the scene, and forced from him a full explanation.

A wave of patriotism is spreading over France, and lias communicated itself to the women of the nation. They are contributing liberally to the hind, which is being raised by public subscription to give Franco the first military aeroplane fleet. Hospital nurses,' girl students, actresses, and women societier of all kinds are combining to further the movement. An animated controversy lias taken place as to the manner in winch French women shall salute the flag when it is borne past them. The general opinion of the women themselves is that they should raise their hands in prayer to salute the flag, "in order that our little ones may come to regard this emblem as something sacred." There is a feeling throughout the French nation that France is entering on a new and glorious stage of her history, and that as mistress of the air she will win back some of the glories of the past. An indication of the spirit which is animating the people is supplied in the action of Dr. Lo Magnet, an army surgeon, His brother, who was a captain in the army, was killed ivhen flying in ;ir aeroplane at Cyv, and the doctor has offered to enlist in the aviation corns, so that, if need be, he may sacrifice his life for France.

The monthly meeting of the Borough Council will lie held this evening. The Stratford Hockey Club are playing Kaponga at Kaponga on Thursday. The teams'are not yet picked. The Druids' meeting takes place tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 7.30. Mr .). Grant (grand secretary) will be in attendance, j The New Zealand Shipping Company's next steamer to load at Waitara will be the s.s. Orari, about the 20th May. .Members of the Stratford Operatic Society are reminded that a practice of "Pinafore" takes place at the Hall at 7.30 o'clock this evening. James Brown, a second offender, came up before Mr. C. I). Sole, J.P., at the Magistrate's Court this morning, on a. ciiarge of drunkenness, and wns fined 10s. A farm on Hamilton . Road, near Cambridge, in the Waikato district, has changed hands at £4O per acre. This is stated to be a record price for land in the neighbourhood of Cambridge. Mr. B. Dive, ex-M.P. for Egmont, was in Stratford for a few minutes this morning, coming in by the 9.20 train and returning to Eltham by the 10 train. Mr. Dive has just returned from a trip to Australia and Tasmania. The "Patea Press" reports that on Friday last Mr. .1. O'Sliea, stationmaster, narrowly escaped losing his life. .During shunting operations he attempted to jump aboard a guard's van to apply the brakes, but slipped between the van and the next truck. When assisted up, he was found to be suffering considerably from bruises and shock. His clothes were badly torn. Our attention has heen drawn to the fact that at the banquet in honour of Mr Joseph McCluggage, held at Whangamomona on Friday evening, the chairman, in the course of his speech, stated that at the age of nine years, Mr McCluggage worked on a dairy farm, and later in a biscuit factory", not that he had been employed for nine years in a biscuit factory. The appointment, which Mr McCluggage had filled so honourably, as referred to by the chairman, was, as is well known, the appointment to the Taranaki Laud Board. A New York message published in an Australian paper states that a rough calculation of the total wealth j represented by first class passengers ) on the Titanic places the amount at upwards of £100,000,000. The fortunes ' possessed by the most wealthy passen- [ gers are estimated as follows:—Coll onel J. J. Astor, £30,000,000; Benjamin Guggenheim, £19,000,000; George 1 Widener, son of the Philadelphia "Traction King," £10,000,000; Isodore Strauss, dry goods merchant and phil- ■ anthropist, £10,000,000; J. Bruce Isniav, managing director of the White > Star Line, £8,000,000; Colonel Roe--1 bling, son of the builder of the Brook--1 lyn Bridge, £5,000,000. Other wealthy ■' men among the Titanic's passengers " were J. B. Thayer, vice-president of " the Pennsylvania Railroad; Clarence. 1 Moore, son-in-law of L. P. Swift, the 2 meat packer; and Charles Hays, president of the Canadian Grand Trunk i Railroad. ' At Whangamomona on Friday even- " ing, when the deputations were wait- ; ing on the Honl. Laurenson and Mc--1 Donald, Mr Joseph McCluggage, in " introducing the co-operative workers to - ,the Ministers, said he was there by " invitation of the men to lay the case J before them. He could honestly say 1 that the men on the co-operative works \ in our back country were in this par- " ticulat- part of Taranaki the worst ■ paid lit New Zealand, when one took 1 into consideration the high cost of - stores and the hard way in which the 5 men have to live. For instance, in - the, Tangarakau Gorge, the Govern- :' mont.paid 8s a day, while in Stratford S; town a labourer got 9s a day, yet t the jcbs't of provisions in the Gorge t was one hundred per cent, higher than. 1 in Stratford. He was a strong believer in the co-operative system, hut i it had weaknesses, and -one of these 3 was the want of classification of the jj work on which the men were engaged, o For example, take bridge building, e It required highly-trained and intellia gent men to dp this work, and they »' were not paid within two or three Q shillings a day of the standard wage v for this class of work as obtained out- ,. side. He urged that the Minister q for Public Works make enquiry as to 0 classification' and pay the men accordv ing to the nature of their work.

They don't do things_by halves in America. An anonymous donor has just given £500,000 to the Massachusetts 'institute of Technology, which is presided over by President Richard C. Maclaurin, formerly of New Zealand. The gift has set the American new spapers guoss'iig as to the identity of the donor, but Professor Maclaurin absolutely refuses to give the faintest clue. He himself is getting no small share of the bouquets. The Boston Herald says: "President Maclaurin lias won not only the good will of the alumni, but the confidence and admiration of the shrewdest men of the nation, which has been very fortunate in securing the services of so eminent and well-trained- a man." Another paper says: "Our heartfelt gratitude ;;oes out to our benefactor for the magnificent gift and with it our heartiest congratulatioßS to Richard Cockburn Maclaurin for the splendid tribute to his wonderful work. The loner's reason for the.gift is succintly expressed. He says it is duo to his belief in the need of the highest technical education to-day and of its growing importance in the future; also his association with men of prominence in England and Germany and their assurance to him that the Institute of Technology is one of the greatest educational forces in the world. He makes no conditions as to the manner in which the inonev is to be spent.

One of the few survivors of the siege of Delhi, in tho person of General Sir Alexander Taylor, has passed away, at the age of 87. He wont to India in 1811. as a. subaltern in tho Bengal Engineers, took part in the two Sikh wars, and was the moving force of the engineering operations against Delhi during the Mutiny of 1857. _ Night

after night, whilo the batteries were building, before Delhi, Taylor, who was second in command of the Engineers under Baird, studied the ground and perfected the final plans for the assault. He virtually directed tho whole of the operations in the field, and Nicholson, hearing on his deathbed that tho credit wan being bestowed elsewhere, is said to have exclaimed: "If 1 get through this I shall let the world building, before Delhi, Taylor, who was Delhi." Lord Lawrence, who knew aicre than anyone of the inner history of the camp, wrote in 1858 to Lord Dalhousie: "To Nicholson, Alex. Taylor, of the Engineers, and Neville Chamberlain, the real merit of our success is due." During the street fight-

; ng winch followed the assault, Taylor showed extraordinary resource, and when our troops began to display signs of demoralisation it was ho who suggested that tho Engineers should break interned passages from house to house. The plan succeeded, and two days later Delhi was in the hands of the British.