LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 36, 5 October 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

For the convenience of large business firms the British Postal Department has just issued stamps in roll form. There are both large and small rolls, the former containing 1000 and the latter 500 stamps. Some remarkable transport work has been done in connection with the German army manoeuvres. Arrangement had to he made for the transportation of 85,000 men, 1500 horses. 1500 vehicles, and a quantitv of war material and baggage, and the while of this large force was moved in two days. One hundred and sixty-*, 1 ;' w trains were employed for the purpose, and each train was composed of 50 carriages.

Dot Stephens, a young English actress', had both her feet cut off in a railway accident six months ago. She is now performing again on the stage, a young Glasgow mechanic having invented a pair of artificial feet for her.

Shepherding in a motor ear is becoming the fashion at Kairihaka. (states the Wavcrley correspondent of the Patea “Press”). But enterprising pastoralist thinks he could negotiate the gorges much better in an aeroplane.

A grand jury at San Francisco took only ten minutes to return indictments on six separate counts against Arthur Ford, a Seattle saloon keeper, ■Jk of infringing the White Slave Act. Bernice Bailey, who posed as his wife, was arrested as she was about to leave for Japan in company with two girls, Helen Heath and Mabel Kelly. The allegation is that Bailey has confessed that the two girls were to be placed ■in a notorious bouse in Yokohama.

The centenary celebrations in Russia of the battle of Borodino have brought into prominence an interesting character in the person uof the only man alive who has talked to Napoleon. The man is a farmer, and is 120 years old. Ho was captured by the French when the Grand Army entered Poland on their way to Russia, and Napoleon made him lead the army through Poland. The little Corsican rode continually beside him as he guided the army, but the prisoner was ultimately able to escape. More than 10,000 baths of radiumcharged water have now been administered at the Austrian State mines at Joachimsthal, and an official report summarises what has been learned of their curative value. The experiments with cancer have been too brief to justify any positive conclusions; but good effects have been noticed, not merely in rheumatism and gout, but in spinal paralysis of children._ hemorrhage of the brain, and certain cases of nervous .exhaustion. Corpulence is ’■educed by the baths,, while washing the teetli with radium Water has made firm those loosened by chronic inflammation.

During a discussion in the House of Representatives on Thursday evening, She Hon. F. M. B. Fisher remarked incidentally that Mr. Isitt, member for Christchurch North, hated the politics and personality of the men on the Treasury benches. Mr. Isitt made the Minister’s remark the subject of a personal explanation. “Ho did hate the politics of_ the members of the Ministry,” he said, “but as to personality, it was a marvel to bun that such good follows should be so much better than their creed.” The statement was received by Ministers and by the House in chilly silence, nays the “Dominion.”

Horse racing is on the wane in the United States, according'to Mr. U. Z. Do Annan, a noted American racing man, who passed, through 'Auckland by the Makura'last week.’“There is n’pt enough clean sport' in it Ifor a man who loves horses’,” he said to a “Herald” representative: Mr. De Arman added that he was touring the world purely for his'personal-'observa-tion of how racing' Was ■ conducted in other countries. 'He; had ■ 'heard so many good things of the'sport in‘Australasia that he was going'to* visit 1 the big race meetings', alid if’) they ; name up to bis expectations he intended to bring his entire stud to one of the cities, and race the horses in Australasia.

The witness was from Glasgow, where he had worked as a shop assistnut from 9 to 7 six days in the week for 32s a week; he was now in .‘receipt of;-Gos.-r Yet he remarked, “I consider .1 .wap. ; fetter off... iA, Scotland.” The remark was made m the Arbitration Couyt, and r |it; M Mr. Justice Sim to ask, “Why.do you‘say that; what makes, you say you were better off?” Witness replied that, h© behaved what he said to be time; His Honour: “That is ridiculous to say that you were better off with. 32s a week, working every day from 9 to 7, than 65s here.” “I look at it' this way,” returned the witness', “I could save monev at Home; I can’t save any here :” “You have acquired more expensive tastes.” replied his Honour. “His nationality made him look at the money in the hank,” suggested Mr M. J. Reardon.

Unusual interest was attached to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show in London recently hv the exhk bition of a new bloom of Montbretia, a plant of colour and beauty much prized’ for late summer flowering. The new bloom has been brought to perfection after nineteen years of careful selection and hybridisation by Mr. G. 0. Davison, head gardener to Colonel G. B. G. Petre, of Westwick House, Norwich, who was awarded the society’s first-class certificate, an unusual distinction for a florist’s flower, the honour generally being reserved for a new species of plant. The new bloom, which is called “The Star of the East,’ is so distinct as to justify recognition as a new flower. It is dee]) yellow in colour with a deeper colouring at the back; measures from five to six inches in diameter; and has six petals and three anthers the same as its original prototype. Mr. Davison produced the perfected flower out of 1500 seedlings.

A particularly sad case came under the notice of the police in Hawera last Tuesday afternoon (says the “Star”). Constable Clouston. of Opunake, brought a middle-aged woman named Elizabeth Climo, a cook, into Hawera for medical treatment as a case of insanity. Sergeant Griffith noticed that the woman was in a very weak condition, and considered she was a proper subject for admission to the hospital. He accordingly communicated with Dr. Thomson 7 who, having examined the woman, ordered her removal to the hospital. She died in the institution at six o’clock the following morning. Deceased had lately been treated by Dr. Barron, of Opunake, and as she showed signs of mental derangement he considered she ought to receive attention in ia mental hospital, and accordingly ordered her to be taken to Hawera for that purpose. The deceased, who is married, is supposed to have a son residing at’Seddon and a sister at Taihape.

Is £5 a week sufficient to support a family of three adults in New York? According to the Immigration Commissioner. Mr. Uhl, the answer to this question is “No.” Mr. Uhl recently detained at the quarantine station,, Ellis Island, Mary Fleming, aged "S 6, and her sister Cecile, aged 58, who came from Dublin to live with their nephew, Mr. John Francis Byrne. The women had only £23 between them, and though Mr. Byrne begged that they might be allowed to land and to take up their dwelling with him, basing his request on the sentimental ground that the two maiden aunts had been the same as parents to him, and that he is anxious to support them. Mr. Uhl withheld his permission until he could consult the Washington authorities. Mr. Uhl reported to the Secretary of Commerce, Mr. NageJ, that in his opinion it is impossible for Byrne, on a salary of £5 a week, to keep his maiden aunts from want. AfL er careful consideration Mr. Nagel has ruled that £5 a week is adequate, and has ordered Mr. Uhl to admit the two women to the United States. ■ .—-► - ■» ■—i h

Labour Day will bo held on the fourth Mouday of October, the 28th. The incorporation of the Taranaki Provincial Scottish Society with the Taranaki Pipe Band was ratified at a meeting of the former organisation, held last night. _ j* Society’s latest fad in "VVest (London) tea-shops, where ladies drink their tea through straws, the use ot which makes it unnecessary for them to remove their veils. The principal causes of 262 deaths in the four centres for the month of August were as followPhthisis and tuberculosis 23, cancer 27 heart disease and disorder 55, infantile diseases 2-1, violence 10. The Taranaki Provincial Scottish Society are putting on a Grand m/.aar in the near future, and there is every prospect of a very successful show eventuating. A Fielding Press Association message states that a small cottage, owned by Mrs. Noble, and occupied by her son, Was destroyed by, fire last night. The total damage is about £3OO. The insurances are not known. A man who appeared at the Hastings Court in support of an application for a prohibition order against a'woman who resided in Ids house, stated that the defendant consumed as much as fourteen bottles of brandy in a week, and sometimes three bottles per day. I ’ The Taranaki Provincial .Scottish Society continues to flourish, the hugest sign of its prosperity being the addition of twenty new members, who were admitted at a well-attended meeting of the executive held last night in Mr. D. Butchart’s rooms. Two patients in the mental hospital died oh the same day, last week, | and were buried side by side at Wai-j kumete, states the Auckland Star. By, a singular coincidence, the names ot the patients wore Currie and Mice. | The secretary, Mr. B. Fearon, has received the following further dona-j tions to the A. and P. Association . D. J. Malone £3 ds, A. Coleman 2s, W. Pastier and F.' 'Martel £M,ls each, W. Were, H. Watson, J. Milne,l A. Lehmann, and A. fetowiut, ills oil each. IFifty years ago an Otago brm ol stock salesmen issued a circular, m which it was stated that if it could have been obtained, a fat. bullock on September 18 would have fetched at the rate of 90 to 1001 b; that is to say,, a bullock weighing 10001 b would have realised £45. The retail pneo of beef on that day was 2s a pound. I The Taranaki Acclimatisation Society will shortly, make the fedowmg distributionßainbow trout, 60,00 j) i.i the . Waiwakaiho river ; 20,000, S66ny'river. Brown trout, lU,UUU, Tariki district i 10,000, . Mangomu .river.ls,ooo, Ingiowood nvers - lO - . 000, ileum river; .10,000, Oak ua , river ; ’ 50Q0, Timaru river; 0000, VV aiWeramii river; 5000 Warea river; 20,‘i OOQf Opunake district. , 1 ~, I i m Tho president, and vice-president ot (;■ thevN.Z.i Alliance (states a Carter,l/ ton telegram), mot, the localjjlead -ersiof.tlie movement last night, when.' „ , a i programme of campaign'.was adopoed.>. i A. resolution, was. passed taat v an, effort be made to secure two thou- .... saod pledges not to vote tor; [candidates.,pi an, election who. would! not, undertake to. do. their uttnost .to remove the unfair handicap in the issues for no-license and national pro hibition. ... I The transplanting of the Irish yil-t lag© which proved one of the cfiiet | ' Attractions of the "White City in . England, to* the proposed Auckland Exhibition, is one of the many schemes that are afoot in connection with the New Zealand venture:- o The village;. xr» ;T the necessary arrangements tor its ’ , establishment are carried out, will bo as ‘‘All’ Irish’ ’ as it' is possible to make ' it, and’for the time being the visitor ‘will"be able to imagine himself in the, heart of the Emerald Isle. I In connection with the Stratford A. ’ and P. Association’s next Show, on " 2,7 th and 28th November,' one of.the i features of the prize list is the New [ Zealand Jersey Breeders trophy, j ,Value £l7 17s, which is to he com- ,. peted for by exhibitors of three Jersey cows or heifers in milk, the property of and bred by one exhibitor. Animals must be eligible for or entered m the New Zealand Jersey Herd Book. The cup is to be won three times, not handsome silver trophy in the form of a rose bowl seven inches in diameter with plinth. Suitable cash prizes have also been alloted to this class, j The Government of the Commonwealth of Australia have adopted a striking method of arresting the attention of the thousands who, every day in the week, pass, on their way to and from the city, the site on which the London offices of one of the greatest of the self-governing Dominions are being erected. A great hoarding has been raised at the corner of the "island" site, which looks down Fleet Street, and on this a "daily message” from Australia to England’s sons and daughters is painted in bold letters. By the transposition of some words, a paragraph in yesterday’s issue re< ferring to the Stratford Pacing Chib and the bright outlook which a substantial increase in stakes to be giwen at next meeting indicates, was somewhat confusing. It should have stated that in dealing with the programme for the coming race meeting it was decided to increase the stakes by a total of no less than £290. Hie (hip is now a £2OO fixture, an increase: of £75 over last year; Flying Hanoi-1 cap'£lso, increase £SO; Ngaire Han-j dlcap £125, increase £4O; Dominion I Handicap £l5O, increase £SO. Alb these are open events. The balance of j the increased stakes has been dis-, tributed among the hack events on the programme. Eltham prides itself upon being up-to-date, as witness, in the concrete, buildings quite the model in modern architecture, and, in the asphalt (a la Mrs, Sin bad, of recent jovial acquaintance), main streets whereon the horses are not permitted to leave even footprints I Now however, Eltham may lay claim to a remarkable story concerning an honest publican and an absent-minded theatrical. Tbo feelings of the latter may bo imagined when, well down the line in the mail train the other day, he remembered that ho had left a bag containing cloy on £550 under his pillow in the bedroom of the Coronation Hotel, Eltham, where he'had slept the previous night after raking in the shekels from the much-boomed show.in the mnniei-

hall across the street. Fortunate, • shall we say; yes, it was fortunate that the treasure was discovered by the wife of the licensee, for it was pay day, what time the hearts of little panto, girls beat a trifle faster; and, further, \vhen half a thousand disappears in a lump, people have a nasty habit of saying things. But the money was promptly banked by the publican and duly reached the owner, whose gratitude it rnav ho mentioned (to use plain ivords) “knew no bounds.” Yet here is the limit! I really don’t know what to do to show rny appreciation, but I hope to show my appreciation. I hope on some future occasion to have a glass of wine with your good wife and yourself. yr>~;iv, honestv is its own reward! For any coid in young or old— Tonking’s Linseed Emulsion, Chemist® and stores* *

Something like a Scotch concert is to bo given bv the Taranaki Provincial Scottish Society during show week, and probably on November 20. It will be remembered that last time the Society engaged singers from Wellington and from Auckland. Ihis time the Society is going one better, and absolutely no expense will bo spared to obtain tho best talent available in tho Dominion. Tho Society have always done what they sot out to accomplish, and one may rest assured that in this instance the Scotsmen arc going to put on something "really worth while.”

One of Tiny Town’s male inhabitants, when out for a stroll in New Plymouth yesterday morning, was pounced upon by a buxom Maori waliine, who had a very big, brown-eyed papoose on her back. The lady was much taken with tho little man, who in turn complimented her upon her bouncing boy. Snatching tho midget up ill her arms, the dusky lady imprinted a resounding kiss on the dignified borough councillor. The latter nowise abashed (says the laranalu Herald) removed his silk hat with the utmost courtesy, in asknowledgment of the salute, but when tho lady proceeded to inquire whether he had "a missus” the inhabitant of liny Town thought that ho had better be off, so with the remark "No, madam, but I’m hoping,” the diminutive gentleman continued his interrupted constitutional.

A good deal has been heard of the water-diviner of late. Mostly lie has been associated with efforts to locate tho desirable fluid in the dry and thirsty places of the earth, uu', tne Devonport Borough Council purposes to put him to a more utilitarian task of finding out tne leaky patches m the water-pipe system of the borougn. Mr McKay, the diviner in question, was present at the meeting, and explained that he would have no dilhculcy in divining any such leaks provided the water did not runiin the same direction as the pipes; that was to say, provided it spread in an outwar.i direction. The Council decided (says the Auckland Star) that Mr McKay be asked to quote a price for divining any leak along the mains of the water system, the foreman of works to supply all information regarding tho position of tho pipes.