LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 32, 12 June 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tho work of repairing the drair under Broadway was completed yes terday, the hole in front of the Ban! of Australasia being filled in anc the road roller run over the surfaci of the road to consolidate it. Tin drain has been a source of trouble fo some time, but it is thought that i has now been fixed up permanently.

A non-step run of 13,300 miles was completed on June 4th by the Tyser liner Niwaru, which arrived at Auckland after having made the passage from Liverpool to Auckland direct. The officers report that the Niwaru left Liverpool on April 13th. Excep tionally fine weather was experienced to the Cape of Good Hope, but aftci (entering the Southern Ocean a succession of violent westerly gales was mef with, causiiig several days’ delay. During tho passage the Niwaru was in toucli by wireless with the Paparoa and P. and 0. liner Benalla.

An interesting collection of meteorological instruments is housed in front of the Stratford school. Two minimum and maximum thermometers, a weather guage and an ordinary weather glass are enclosed in a special; cabinfet, on top of which a rain guage is fitted- The thermometers register the highest and lowest .readings during the twenty-four hours, ope instrument being kept tp check the othpr. The weather guage cpnsists of. two columns of merppry,, one working on the water temperature apd ,the other on the air , temperature. I( When the two columns register,the same figure or nearly so, bad weather is to he looked for; hut while the two columns show a difference of about three degrees fair weather can be expected. (The fair weather margin was in evidence this morning.) The cabinet in which the instruments are housed is of a. peculiar construction, to enable the free entrance of air but to exclude, all sunshine, and'the slats oh the sides are fashioned in the forp of a carat mark, each being close up to the next one.

Writing to the Examiner from the Continent, Mr Victor Lindaner, "a former resident of Woodville, says of Gertnany;—“lt is not only that fcpc 1 is dear and wages low, but the taxer imposed on one are very severe. An ' idea will be gained of this when I ! mention that in -Bavaria, which is by no means the worst example, servant | girls, earning a meagre 12s per month, j pay aii income tax of 12s annually, t i.e., a month’s salary. Saxony, the most crowded and most highly taxed part of Germany, a real manufacturing world, with a dense population of badly nourished people, with naturally a 'surprisingly large proportion of infantile deaths, is bowing down year after year under the heavy tolls of military expense., and the population yearly grows feebler and more immoral as the chances of life, and the hopes of earning a livelihood and coming out all right grow fainter. No wonder the Germans flock to America,) to England, or anywhere so long of they may commence a new life wit! brighter chances. To live in Europe for the poor is one continual struggle; few can get together a small sum of, savings, and once they get a billet I they generally stick to it.” ,

A high school for matrimonial sciences, or, to give it its sonorous Teutonic title, “Hochschule der Heiratswkssenschaften,” has been founded at Munich by Professor Dr Walter Hassall. Dr Hassall hopes that within a little time the academy will number 500 students of both sexes. These, on completing their course, will be awarded diplomas as teachers of love (the Express explains), and will be ex-1 pected to travel the length and breadth of Germany in order to make an active propaganda in favor of marriage. The cirriculum at the high school Avill include lectures by specialists on the dangers of flirtation and the beauties of “all-sacrificing love.” Experts in zoology/ and biology will illustrate their instruction by means of cinematographic displays, and will explain the interesting laws of affinity and soul attraction and repulsion. Special courses will be held, at which the ideals of love will be instilled into the souls of rebellious subjects, while the problem of preventing the flight of love after the disillusionment of matrimony will receive great attention.

Warner’s Rust-proof Corsets. In the latest models, the bust is low and full. Flexible corsettmg above the waist is the result—the newest figure fashion. Perfect comfort with figure ••ee-anoa. . O a.

The High Commissioner’s office in London is, in the opinion of Hon. J. Allen, absolutely overcrowded. The Government, he considers, should endeavour to secure suitable accommodation, which would provide room for the High Commissioner and his staff and for all the New Zealand Government offices in London.

Yesterday afternoon and evening were very cold, but the thermometer at the school only showed a record of 39 degrees in the afternoon and the minimum reading for the twentyfour hours was 34, or two degrees

above freezing point, although the ground this morning bore every evidence of a severe frost. This is probably explained by the fact that the .recording instruments are placed some distance from the ground—from two tof our feet being laid down as the proper height to enable accurate records to bo taken.

The Christchurch water supply is obtained from four artesian bores, two of which are Gin. in diameter, and the other two Sin. After rising to the surface through these bores, the water is lifted to a reservoir in the Cashmere Hills, 275 ft. above the level of the bores. From the four bores 2,000,000 gallons a day can be obtained, and to meet the demands of consumers this quantity has been pumped into the reservoir within 24 hours. The pumps are driven by a suction gas plant, and the whole cost of pumping is 1.556 pence, or roughly for each thousand gallons. The height of the reservoir above the bores is 275 ft.

The advent of the pleasure yacht and chugging motor launch is a source of perpetual trouble to the >. coastal farmer, and so -.he desires to see all such possible “piratical” craft duly and safely registered and numbered (says the Auckland Star). Major Lusk, in making the suggestion to the Prime Minister on behalf of the Farmers’ Union at Auckland on Wednesday last, said that in the holiday season these yachts and launches swooped along the coast and into likely havens, while the farmer had to sit up to watch his fruit trees and worry. Damage was not only done to fruit and other crops, but ball cartridges were often fired about in an irresponsible manner, to the danger of life of man and beast. Captain Colheck remarked that on a farm next to his a horse was found dead recently with a bullet in it. The Prime Minister sympathised with the deputation, and promised? to isee what could be done towards checking tho i evil. -rA

In recent cablegrams from London dealing with the excitement on the Stock Exchange it was stated that certain | stock-jobbing firms were “hammered.” ! The process of 'the“hammering” is v\ery simple, but-At' always jeausps great thotigh suppressed excitement. At eleven o’clock the' Head Wailor ascends a sbrt 4ff Ho - I: - trura and strikes the desk with a small hammer, to attract the attention of members. “Gentlemen,” he says, “I have to announce that Mr So-and-So is unable to meet his liabilities.” That is what is known as being “hammered.” It is all over .dm.,, a few seconds, and yet the scene is described as strangely impressive. To understand why it is feo to some people one must bear in mind the size . of the Exchange, which gives one the impression at first of being almost as big as a cathedral, and the presence of some two or three thousand men, nearly all excited, and many of them .shouting at the top of their voices. Into this cyclone of voices the hammer suddenly falls, and the whole' assembly at once becomes absolutely silent. “Men whose nerves have stood its (the Exchange’s) strain of gigantic gambles, where tens of thousands depended on the one turn of a card,” says a London journalist, “have told me that whenever they heard the preliminary knock of the hammer, their blood ran cold, and they felt themselves trembling all over.”

“There seems to be an impression in the minds of numerous people who have not read anything on ■ the subject that Alaska is a region of feai-ful ,cold, that the lot of the miners is one of great hardship, and that the country is quite uninteresting. That I is not so” (says Mr Max Von Bemei witz, in a letter to his brother in Wellington). ‘The winters are cold, and during that period several mining districts cannot be reached by boat, ) but work is carried on in many places ! getting ready for the spring and sutnj mer. The summers are warm, and splendid vegetables, etc., are grown. There is plenty of timber growing in nearly every mining camp. The towns of Cordova, Dawson, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Knik, Nome, Skagway, Whitehorse, and others 'are provided with many modern conveniences, including electric light, telephones, water and wireless installations. In the winter the population decreases by about 40 per cent. There are 465 miles of railway in Alaska. The total trade in 1912 was 72,471,000 dollars. The Yukon is of great navigable value to both the Canadian and the American. The Copper River canyon is almost ns fine as the Grand Canyon of Colorado River in Arizona, being 100 miles long, from 4000 to 7000 feet deep, and from 2 h to 4 miles wide.”

An opportunity such as has never occurred in Stratford before, and probably never will again, is now open to flte public. We refer to the sensational announcement of the local photographer, Mr J. McAllister, who, for a few weeks, will do three cabinet photographs, six postcards, and an enlargement, for 10s (ton shillings); or. if preferred, three enlargements

for the same amount. The work is of the usual high standard, the material-- just the same as those used by films charging five times the price, and every effort will be made to satisfy the most fastidious. The offer is open until June 80th, but Mr McAllister reserves (ho right to close it at any time. ' %