LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1914, Page 4

LO C AL AND GENERAL.

I A meeting of' the provisional comI raittee of the Stratford Mountain Club ' hviil he held in Mr J. B. Richards’ ' office Oil Thursday night, at 8 o’clock. The police endeavored - to connect ! the young fellow Barlow, convicted at Hawera yesterday of numerous thefts of money from houses, with the theits reported from Cardiff and the vicinity, hut sufficient ground could not he found for a prosecution. At Tolaga Bay yesterday (states a Gisborne I*.A. message) Thomas Wentworth .Martin was committed for trial on a charge of counselling arson. Ihe i chief witness for the prosecution was George Fannin, who had already pleaded guilty to setting fire to Martin’s . shop. ’ A meeting held last night in the Catholic Church .schoolroom decided that Ft. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) be celebrated with a picnic during the day and a dance in the evening. Tin 1 necessary committees were set up to make arrangements, and Mr Ivelleher, jnn., was appointed secretary and Mr W. Bowler treasurer. As a return to the visits of the New Plymouth and Stratford Chambers of Commerce, the Ohnra people are likely to send a delegation on a tour round. It is proposed that in about a month’s tune tin 1 party drive out lo Rotate, where New Plymouth would meet the members and convey them by motor to the capital town, thence returning home via Stratford. Twenty-seven civil eases (live defended), one judgment summons and one application to take evidence tire set down for hearing at this week’s sitting of the Court. Informations will he dealt with as follows: Driving a vehicle without lights 3, riding a bicycle on a foothpath 1, failing to clear noxious weeds 2. failing to attend drill •_>, A simple, sensible, inexpensive remedy fur Rheumatism. Gout, Sciatica, ami Lumbago awaits von in RHEUMO. This wonderful medicine cures by expelling the cause—excess uric acid in the blood. Has cured thousands. Try it. 2s 6d and Is Cd everywhere. CO

A Wanganui Press Association message this afternoon says: At the inquest held before the Coroner, W. Kerr, S.M., this morning on the body of an unknown man 'found on Kai Iwi beach, a verdict was returned to the effect that the man was not known in the district, and that there was no evidence to show who he was or what the circumstances were which resulted in the body being found on the beach. The police at the sitting of the Court in Hawera yesterday were called upon to do some extempore arithmetic. There was a list of the twenty

vmounts stolen hy tlie young fellow Harlow, but the total had not been im out, and the amounts had to be totalled during a spell in the proceedings, the men in blue struggling manrully with the somewiiat unusual task jf addition at full speed. Later on more full-speed arithmetic was demanded when the sum recovered from Barlow was ordered to be distributed pro rata among the persons who had been robbed, and the guardians of the peace were faced with the problem of what should he paid out of a total of £ll to a person who had lost Is Hid. This rather tough job, was, happily, disposed of to the satisfaction of all by the police. An unique weapon of offence, with dangerous possibilities, will be introduced in Stratford for the first time to-morrow night at the Town Hall, when the J. C. Williamson management will present the impressive American drama “Within the Law.” This is a pistol fitted with a Maxim “silencer” and was brought out by Mr E. W. Morrison, producer of “Within the Law,” in which play it is used with a smokeless cartridge. The weapon when fired makes neither smoke nor sound. It being realised that tlfe use of such a weapon would provide a danger limitless in its possibilities the “silencer” is restricted to military rifles, and under United States prohibition the manufacture for application to pistols is not al- [ lowed. This weapon was made for use in the play by special permission of the New York police authorities. In M<dbourne Mr Sainsbury (Chief | Commissioner of Police) examined it, j and stated that there would be no objection to its use in the play provided it was locked away in the strongroom of the theatre when not required, and that someone in authority would undertake its safe keeping. In the third act of “Within the Law” a murder is committed with a silent pistol, a display of its effectiveness having been previously given by one of the actors in the drama, shooting to pieces a vase of flowers without any sound or smoke being emitted. Visiting pressmen to the annual Press Conference speak very highly (the Eitham Argus says) of the beautiful scenic spots of New Plymouth and the hospitality extended to them by the people.,. On Thursday afternoon the visitors spent a very pleasant afternoon. First they' went tli rough the delightful recreation grounds, and' then on to Mr Newton King’s property. Here time was spent very pleasantly in wandering through the native bush, the vinery, and the begonia house, there being a most magnificent display of blooms in the latter. There is a famous chestnut tjrec in Mr King’s grounds that came in for a large amount of admiration. It is a noble specimen, some sixty years old, and its branches cover an immense area. We doubt whether the spreading chestnut made famous by .Longfellow in his “Village Blacksmith” was a finer tree than this. Experts say that Mr Newton King’s chestnut tree shows for its sixty years’ growth a development that would require a couple of hundred years in the more rigorous climate of the Old Country. The tree is well worth going to see. Not far from it there stands a very large puriri tree. But it has seen its best days; a sort of dry rot has seized it and it will disappear before very long. After sampling the apples and pears from Mr King’s orchard the party had a pleasant stroll through Mr Covett’s line gardens on to the racecourse. Here afternoon tea was served in the tea kiosk and delightful music was discoursed hy a small orchestra c’onductod hy Mr Van Heck. A howling match had been arranged, but many of the visitors were so enamoured of the music that they could not tear themselves away, and were consequently late for the bowling. The afternoon was enjoyed by all. The beauty of New Plymouth scenery is now, as a result of the Press Conference being held there, much more widely known than it ever was before.