LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 46, 24 October 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Presbyterians are planning ,to have a sale of work on 20th November. The ladies;of have been working hard to make the function: -a success, • Arrangements have been made, for ,the various stalls, and, the work is well in ■ hand}..l; . .

Signs of the advent of spring have to date been fairly plentiful and reliable, and a further sign of spring has to be recorded to-day. At the Abattoir tins morning the first lamb of the season was slaughtered for public sale. i ..,,.,.. , ~,',< ~..,." ■'■. .

Tile' young 'man Edward Lyford; who some' time ago made an attempt to take his ; life at his uncle's farm on East Road was before the Court t'hit morning on a charge of attempted'suicide, and was convicted and discharged.

Everyone can appreciate the spin of the protest against the invasion oi Venice by motor-boats (declares : traveller "in the 'Pictorial'). They must be even more "out of the picture' than, the {locks of tourists who hav< to be dismissed from the mind which would complete its poet-vision of chf city. Yet it is to be feared that motorboats will continue to puff and gurgle their way through the Grand Canal, and that in a little while no one will be more horrified at the desecratior, of "Turner's Venice" than they an by the maddening rush of the motoi through "Shakespeare's England."

Several writers on the royal wedding have referred to the "ancient clan" of Duff (says ""Hearth anc Home,") and much romancing has taken place over this. As a matter of sheer fact, the "Clan Duff" "may he bluntly described as a pious fraud invented by the late Duke of Fife. who liked to consider himself a real old Highland laird in every sense of the word. It is a fact, however, that the Duffs are Lowlanders and not Highlanders at all, and considerable offence was given in certain quarters when this "Clan" was formally recognised and its tar-tan introduced.

A. J. Spence did not appear nt the Court this morning to answer a

charge of failing to send his children to the Pohokura school. He telegraphed that lie could not attend, as there was no suitable train, and that he desired to defend the ease. Mr A. Hooker, the Education Board's truancy inspector, gave evidence that defendant .had written to him stating that iiis children would never under any circumstances go .hack to the school because of the teacher, and that he had informed the Education Board chairman of his reasons. The inspector stated that the school committee had held an inquiry into the matter and had exonerated the teacher of the school. After the inspector had given formal evidence that the children had not been at the Pohokura school or any other school in the district for at [east three months the case was adjourned for a week to give defendant an opportunity to attend and contest the case.

The Stratford Auctioneers have decided to observe Monday next. Labour Day, as a complete holiday. The tender of Mr F. W. Green has been accepted for the supply and delivery of gravel for the Stratford Racing Club. * During the discussion at the Baptist Conference at 'Wanganui last week, one delegate perpetrated a pretty hull. He was more or less a stranger, and in rising to speak he 6aid: "A new face is somewhat slow in standing to its feet." Very frequently at the Court a judgment debtor fails to appear, but judgment creditors are almost invariably represented. This morning. however, the position was reversed, a judgment, debtor appearing and the creditor, an Auckland man, not being represented. The case was struck l - out. The members of Parliament .who vis- ! itetl Stratford and Hawera this week ; to lay before the residents there the Liberal party's ideals, were asked by the Liberals of Eltham to give addresses also in that town. They were unable to do so. and the invitation (says the New Zealand Times) has.' now been extended to other members of the Liberal party. Judgment by default was given in -j the following eases at the Court this : morning: Newton King v. Henry A. i Waite, £6, costs £1 4s 6d; W. H. H. - Young and Co. v. C. Vincent, £lO > 0s Id, costs £1 10s 6d; F. A. Cramer -{ v. Chas. E. Meyenberg, £3 Is 4d, s| costs 10s. F. A. Cramer v. A. A. r Cuthhertson, £4 13s, costs 10s.

In the judgment summons case Hugh Roger v. Roland McLennan at the Court this morning there was no appearance of judgment debtor, who was ordered to pay £4 3s 6d forthwith, in default fourteen days' imprisonment. In the case Smith v. Daniel McCarthy, debtor failed to appear and was ordered to pay £4 14s lOd forthwith, in default seven days' imprisonment. Ralfe and Archer proceeded on judgment summons against Charles Corbishley for the payment of £43 17s 6d. By consent an order was made for the payment of £2 monthlv.

The salvaging of the Tyrone is proceeding apace, and in full view of a police constable, who, sheltered by a tarpaulin, watches from the cliff above. Two motor-car chassis were launched from the wreck (states the Dunedin Star). One was successfully brought round to »tlie harbour, but the other slip'ped its lashing eh'route and was lost. Whisky' is the principal 'item undergoing salvage, but other articles, though to a lesser extent, are also being included. The position of the Tyrone is practically unaltered, though her list to seaward is a little more pronounced.

A Dunedin publican made a rather interesting discovery in Queenstowri lately (states the Otago Daily Times.) In the course of a recent peregrination he had visited the Gap of Dunlow, and heard the Irish hills, re-echo the words of a Gaelic song'.' Accordingly he determined to look for an echo among the Queenstown mountains and see if they could also produce Gaelic song. A recent mornmg was favorable for the experiment, and so, selecting the neighbourhood of the cemetery, be rolled off "Ben-Doran" and "EittJ* Frioch" in capital style. Judge of hi« surprise when the mountains around returned a magnificent double echo of Gaelic song as if produced by the Choir Invisible.

Some four weeks ago the Minister of Marine (the Hon. F. M. B: Fisher) communicated with the Japanese Imperial Fisheries Bureau, at Tokio, in reference to the purchase of a consignment of goldfish and other ornamental fish in Japan, in order that it might be placed on view at the Auckland Exhibition. In a letter which the Minister has just received from the director of the bureau (says the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times) it is stated that when the letter was received the matter was placed in the hands of Mr Kichigoro Ahiyama, a gold fish culturist, in Tokio. As a result a shipment of 600 gold fish and over 500 other fish was collected and despatched by the steamer Tango Main, which left Yokohama for Sydney on October 11. Arrangements for the transhipping of the fish at Sydney to Auckland will be made by the department. The ultimate of the fish after the conclusion of the exhibition has yet to be decided.