LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

! The Kgyptians used gold as money | at a very early but unknown period. ] but first in the form of rings which opened ami could be strung together. '. An insurance' policy against loss '.by iiro or frost for £OOOO was effected i on a pear tree —the most valuable in 1 the world—owned by Mr 11. A. Wood- ' worth, of Whittier, California, who I last reason realised £640 from its j fruit. Mr Fookes said at last night's ! gathering that the legal profession expected to get Supreme Court sittings in Stratford. Twenty-three < years ago the sittings had been agitated for, and District Judge Kettle wa ■ so convinced that the request woe.id be granted that he considered the purchase, of a section for his residence. He (Mr Fookes) believed thai .Indue Kettle's faith would vet be justified. The member for Fgmont told a ( deputation at Manaia last week that | he had within the last few days written a letter of vigorous protest to Mr Massey against the delay thai | has taken place in making a start with the Opunake railway. What he particularly objected to was the possibility that the work might he held ! over until the general election at the end of the year, which might give I his opponents an excuse for attributi ine: to him some design of making | political capital out of the business. | lie wished to avoid anything that would give rise to a suspicion of I this kind, and he had told the Pre- . mier so in very distinct and forcible | terms. He asked that the work lie commenced at once from some point. ; it did not matter from where. The following new hooks have been added to the Stratford Public Libirary:—"Max Can-ados"' (E. Bramah). ; "The Business of Life" (Robert Chambers), "Laddie," author of Freckles (G. S. Porter), "Mr Pratt's Patient" ' (Joseph Lineon), "Hagar" (Alary | Johnson), "The Valley of the Moon"! j (Jack London), "It Happened in Egypt" (C. \. and A. M. William-' son)', "Number 1H" ('Fred White), "The Terms of Surrender" (Louis j Trace y), "Julia and 1 in Canada": (author of Daphine in Paris), "The j Hat Shop" (C. Peel), "Croat Days" (Frank Harris), "The Peacock Feather" (Leslie Moore), "The Book of Anna,, (A. E. rlokb.worth), "Dust from the Loom" (E. Noble), "Horace! Blake" (Mrs \Y. Ward), "Fool of April" (J. 11. McCarthy), "The Man Upstairs" (P. C. Wodohouse), "Two Ways of Love" (M. Caffyn), "Faith and Unfaith" (James Blyth). "-Mary's Marriage" (E. Bosanepiet). TROUBLED WITH SCIATICA. Let KHEI'MO euro you ! It has cured other.-.. Tile po-j;j V( , assurance of Mr James A. Capper, Wellington. should convince yon. Mr Capper writes:—-"1 was much troubled with Sciatica pains, and at times ! could j tret no sleep. Following the advice of a friend I a bottle of RUFFMO, and that bottle drove away the] Sciatica pains. That was three months] :-o. "?ij they have not returned since, die;.- do, KHFFMO is the medicine s''all go for." Mr Capper's confidence comes from experience. Sold b\ chemists and storey at 2s Od and Is 6d per bottle. 75

The "Times"-''Dominion'' libel action comes oit for hearing on Friday. A second offending inebriate was ined It's at the Court this morning. Mr J. Masters, J.P., was on the Bench. During February, 2.37 in of rain was registered in Stratford. At Inglewood there was i.uOin and at Xew Plymouth 1.58 in. Mr W. A. Hewitt, agent for the X.Z. 1,, and M.A. Co. at Stratford, desires es to state that it was the Haw-era branch and ran the Stratford branch of the bn-iness which figured in the list of J. A. Thompson's creditors.

Fifteen civil cases (two defended) and one application to take evidence are set down for hearing at Friday's sitting of the local Court. Four persons will appear on informations charging them with driving vehicles at night without lights. An important business change is announced (reports a Hawera P.A. message). The New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Organisation Society Ltd lias purchased the whole of the Taranaki auctioneering business of Gillies and Xalder. The new company takes possession on April 1. In respect of the bankruptcy of Nathan Godfrey, yesterday's meeting of creditors passed a resolution to the efrect that it would he more convenient if proceedings in the case were shifted to the northern judicial district, more particularly as regards extradition proceedings. With reference to the cable in yesterday's issue relative to the death in Seattle Harbor of a swimmer named Cavill, it is now learned that Richmond (not Diehard, but known as -'Dick") Cavill is at present in Sydney. The Cavill -referred to is Arthur, who was known as "hums," and was a brother of Richmond. The Hon. Mr Massey, speaking in Wellington yesterday on Earl Grey's Dominion House (London) proposals, said: "Xew Zealand lias taken no action with regard to the proposed Dominion House scheme. As a matter of fact, we have arranged for new offices to be erected on a prominent site in the Strand, the foundationstone of which will be laid shortly by His Majesty the King."

In connection with the school sports to-morrow, the District Championship is to he run at 3.20 p.m. After this event, the baths will be open for the girls' sports, to which ladies only will be admitted. The girls' events include swimming, diving, .and life-saving contests. No charge whatever will be made for admission, and as the weather is set fine a big crowd of spectators is expected. "The host thing ever introduced'" was a remark heard hv the man with the Magic Thumb in reference to the Fire Brigade Carnival which takes place on the Show Grounds next week. Entries are now being t-'ken, and those who wish to help along a deserving object, should outer at once. The larger the entries, the better for all. Catch the man with the magic thumb, and have a guinea to spend at the Fete.

The annual meeting of the Egmont Club was hold last evening, whan there was an attendance of about iO members, the president (Mr Ni»l King) presiding. The annual leport was adopted and the office-beat ei s elected. Mr J. B. Hine was re-elect-ed patron, and Mr R. Masters omsjclent for the ensuing year. A ro*.e of thanks to the retiring presid-jrit concluded the meeting. Writing the other day of the Duke of Atholl's forthcoming jubilee, a correspondent of a London paper is reminded of the jncturesque customs that still survive at Blair Castle, his favorite home. If a Sovereign visits the castle he is presented by the Duke with a white rose on bended knee. Once the Dukes of Atholl wore Sovereigns themselves of the Isle of Man, and to recognise the fact the Duchesses were always helped at dinner before their guests. Does a bride enter the castle she never walks, hut is borne in on the shoulders of the retainers. An explosion due to a most extraordinary cause occurred recently at ('reditu;!, Devon, and it is amazing how the Rev. John Hodgson escaped with his life. For ten years or more he has had in the sit ling-room of his home a Boer artillery shell in use as a door weight. Of the fact that it was a live shell lie had not the slightest idea. He had also in his possession a sword bayonet of French manufacture, and he decided to bend the bayonet and attach it as a hook to the shell. Accordingly lie put the point of the bayonet into the fire till the metal become whit" lint, and then, taking out the percussion cap of the shell, he inserted the hot end of the bayonet in the liole. Instantly here was a terrific explosion. Mr Hodgson's right leg was fractured below the knee, hi? right wrist was terribly lacerated, and ln's face was badly i urned hy the ignited powder. The plategiass in the French window was blown out. Most of the furniture in the room was smashed to bits, and a hole pierced in the Hour where the shell lay. Fragments of the shell were found in different parts of the room and embedded in the walls, the furniture and the garden.

The Taranaki Oil Wells rotary bore at New Plymouth commenced to flowoil about nine o'clock this morning. There is a tremendous gas pressure. uThe oil flow is increasing hourly, and the indications are very promising. There is no sign of flooding by water, states a Press Association message. The following will represent the Stratford Club in their match with the Auckland players to-morrow afternoon on the local green, play to ,: commence at 2 o'clock:—Porritt, 'Dingle, Masters, J., King (s); Ed. |" .Jackson, Edgecombe, McDonald, % Sangster (s); Bickerton, Wright, Sharp, Smart (s); Martin, Penn, Jackson, G., Morison'(s). The youthful population of • Stratford are quite unsettled to-day, the sight of elephants and strange animals on the streets having the usual effect associated with a Circus and menagerie. The schoolroll contained more than the average blanks, several boys being numbered among the missing, and the kindliest construction that can be put upon their absence is that their desire to become more fully acquainted with the denizens of forests and lands other than our own burst all bounds.