LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 27, 23 May 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Oamaru Mail says that there is a feeling in Waimate that the la*e High Commissioner, Sir William HnllJones, should be asked to contest the Waitaki seat in the interests of the Liberal Party at the coming elections. Mr A. Moon was waiter! on yesterday by a deputation who presented a petition bearing a hundred signatures asking him to become a candidate ior tho vacancy on the Borough Council. Mr Moon will give a definite reply on Monday. On one day recently there were 47 commercial travellers in Greymouth. Forty of them were photographed in a group. The camera man was disturbed in his work by cutting references to Ali Baba and—his historical friends. At the Town Hall next Thursday no-license addresses will be delivered by Messrs C. H. Poole and Wesley Spragg. -Mr Poole, who is claimed to be a brilliant orator, has recently completed a no-license lecturing tour through America, and Mr Spragg is also newly returned from a visit to the Old World. One of the British officers accompanying General Sir lan Hamilton remarked to a New Zealander at Hamilton: “I am green with envy when I see the kind of men you have here, and compare them with those we get for the army in the Old Country. The following motions have been given notice of for the annual meeting of the Otago Provincial Council of the Farmers’ Union:—That the Government he asked to take a referendum of the people as to those in favor of military training; that compulsory service in Territorials be re- | stricted to youths . residing within two miles of a borough, and that rifle dubs be encouraged in rural districts. Tasmania has had a record fruit export season, the total to the end of last week being 1,271,500. cases, as against 807,000 cases (the previous best) in 1912, and ’771,000 cases in 1911. To the United Kingdom (Loudon, Liverpool. Hull, and Glasgow) 465,103 cases have gone forward, to Germany 17,275 cases, to South America 115,763 cases, and to inter-State ports 673,359 cases. In addition, there have been shipped 18,024 cases fruit pulp, 3039 cases evaporated fruits, 6007 cases canned fruits, and 96,034 cases jam.

At Hokitika a sitting of the Assessment Court to deal with objections to the valuation of Westland County was held yesterday. The County Council has objected to a large number of the valuations made by the Government valuer, on the grounds that the values were too low. The Court was crowded with settlers and others. After counsel for the County had lengthily openeel the case, Mr W. Organ, of Wellington, on behalf of the Government Valuation Department, raised :ho point that the county objections were not made in time. Counsel for tho county held that the aluation Department waived the date of closing in the course of a lengthy' correspondence that had taken place between the county and the # Valuer-General. The Court adjourned till to-morrow to enable the County to communicate with the Minister in charge of the Department. —P-A.

A philosophical individual who called at the Christchurch Police Station on Friday in a useless quest for a stolen bicycle, expressed the opinion that the best way to check the activities of the cycle thief would be to i throw the machines of Mr W. H. Bishop, S.M., and Mr T. A. B. Bailey, S.M.. into the river. Thereafter he believed there would not be such soft hearts on the Bench for this particular offence. The police are not backward in the pursuit of offenders (says a - Christchurch paper). The watchhousekeeper is kept busy and describing the machines that find their wav to the station. No fewer than 150 unclaimed bicycles are at present in the little hack shed at the station. Three of them came from Rangiora tied together, and it is supposed that they were casually picked up in Christchurch, ridden to Rangiora. and discarded. Three are new machines, old skeletons, and spare parts, hut the strange thing is that the owners fail to turn up. The police believe that a regular trade goes on in stolen bicycles, and they would like to see second-hand bicycle dealers put under the supervision of the Second-hand Dealers Act, by which they*would be comnelled to give nu account of every second-hand machine they handle. This reform was put forward somek time ago. but it failed to materialise.^

I - ' - - - - - -. A.-. -.A.-. The recent cold weather has had its effect on the mountain, and there is now about ten inches os snow lying round the House. The severity of the weather can be gauged from the fact that on his return to the House recently Mr Williams found all his ducks , and cats dead, the cold having apparently caused their death. Hr Williams states that the outlook over the snow, is magnificent, but warns those desirous of going to the House that it will be necessary to walk from the radius line, it being impossible to takes horses.up owing to the balls of snow forming on their feet. In the course of his remarks at a civic reception at Wellington yesterday, General Sir lan Hamilton said lie could not say much about the work of the Territorials now. That must wait for his report to the Minister, but he Was going to break a custom and mention the name of one company. Of all the inspiring sights he had seen in those splendid cadet parades, the most inspiring was the company of junior cadets of the New Plymouth High School. Those hoys were under fourteen years of age, but in the presence of the Minister and the officers they had not lot an eyelash quiver as they were being inspected. He had marvelled at the graven little images, and had thought how splendid it was to think that such training would be handed down by the hoys to their children, for he was sure they would never forget what they had learned.

The annual report of the South Island Dairy Association says:—“Our dairy division has, as ever, been of the greatest assistance to the dairy industry. Mr Cuddie’s staff are a credit to him; they all act with tact in trying -to improve milk quality. Air Cuddie’s latest idea of paying for milk according to quality should be adopted, and much of this difficulty will then he overcome. The assistance they gave in organising whey-butter plants at cheese factories has. pioved most valuable, and their arduous work in testing the Holstein, Ayrshire, and Jersey breeders’ cows will prove most valuable in that any farmer can know what he is buying as to its pedigree and milk record. A mere show-ring record is not enough for a dairyman to purchase on. They carry out their duties as graders in a most satisfactory manner, hut, of course, could go closer into this matter if we decide to erect stores at all ports.”

The extraordinary ' divergence of medical opinion aS to the sanity or insanity of Thomas Edwin Brown, "who was charged with having murdered Constable Hickey in Sydney, and was acquitted, but afterwards detained on the grounds of insanity, cannot be passed over without comment (says the Sydney Morning Herald). The evidence of no fewer than 13 doctors was taken in,the case; and the conclusion of six of them was completely opposed to the conclusion of the other seven. “It is,” the Herald proceeds, “high time that medical men were given such a training in the diagnosis of madness that such a conflict of' evidence should in future be put beyond the bounds of possibility. The public, in a case of this sort, does not know which set of doctors was right. What it does want is the assurance that its medical men will in future obtain such a training in this important department of modern medicine as will make impossible the occurrence of any of the terrible mistakes for which the absence of such training leaves only too obvious an opening.”

The tired members of the Federal Parliament have gained the day (says the Melbourne Age). Their pitiful appeals for rest have fallen on sympathetic ears, and when the sitting days are fixed, on the termination of the censure debate nest week, it will be found that they are to be asked to attend their Parliamentary duties on only three days of the week, instead of four, as in the past. It is not intended to reduce their salaries to compensate for the reduction of labour. It will still be roundly £l2 per week. This is equivalent to a further self-granted increase in pay. Four days' work a week is. of ionise, equal to £3 a day. A reduction to three days means that the rate will advance to £4 a day. In previous years the House of Representatives has always mot at 3 p.m. on Fridays. In future the Tuesday sitting day is to be abolished, in order to allow members time to recover from their nerve-racking experiences of the week, and the sitting days will therefore be; Wednesdays, meeting at 3 p.m., and Thursdays and Fridays, meeting at 10.30 a.m.

Teams representing the Public Works Department and the “Stratford Evening Post” had an enjoyable card match last night. At cribbage the scores were as follow (the P.W.D. names being mentioned first in each case): P. Beere and A. F. Wilson 4, R. H. Kivell and C. Grant 5; E. Jones and G. Lowe 7, J. Crofts and C. Kelly 4; H. Arthur and J. G. Hannah 5, T. Lawson and J. Harston 8. Euchre: F. Stewart and E. Thomas 5. E. W. Hancock and C. McLeod 4; A. Davis and P. G. Brennan 4, G. Kelly and M. Bowler 4; C. Gollop and j. W. Jones 5, T. Coxhead and R, Wood 3. Totals: Cribbage: P.W.D. 16, “Post” 17; euchre: P.W.D. 14, “Post” 11; grand total: P.W.D. 30, “Post” 28. After play a preliminary, discussion took place on the forming of a Card Association, the suggestion being that various bodies in Stratford should enter teams to compete for a shield. Messrs T. Lawson and J. W. Jones Were appointed a committee to gather all necessary data, to be submitted at the next meeting between the teams, which is being arranged for an early date. For Influenza take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure, Never fails. Is 6d. 2s 6d.

The Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mi- G. H. Bullard) notifies that the appointment of -Mr Charles James Ryan, of the Taranaki Lund Board, will expire on the Ist August, 191-1, and calls for nominations for the election of a member to fill the vacancy.

A Wellington Press Association message states; As soon as the Waikeria Prison is ready, the Terrace Gaol in Wellington will be closed, and most of the prisoners removed to Waikeria. This has 1000 acres of land at,ached, which arc being developed as a farm. A small prison in or near Wellington will be provided with just sufficient accommodation for prisoners awaiting trial. It is also intended to close Lyttelton Prison and erect another on a site most suitable in the country.