LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 31, 23 September 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At Palmerston North on Monday, Thomas Scholefield, who did not appear at Court, was fined £lO and costs 7s, for driving a motor car in Main street west at a speed dangerous to the public.

The following curious prophecy was

published in the Cologne Curant in 1703:—"When men fly like birds, ten great kings will go to war against each other. The universe will be under

arms. Women will bring in the harvest. They will begin the vintage, but the men will complete it."

States the Tcranaki Herald : On Sun. lay afternoon G. van Heck, of St <*tt'ord, with a friend in a side-car, ,vas motor-cycling down Eliot Street vben the connecting rod snapped and both men were thrown off heavily. They escaned without serious injun to themselves, but the bicycle was Sadly damaged.

Regarding the rainfall the Christihurch Press says: Most people know bat this lias been a remarkably dry season, but few probably realise how little rain Christehurch lias had lately. \s a matter of fact, between June 27th and September 20th, a period of uelve weeks, the total rainfall has been only .98 of an inch!

An improvement now being made at, the Stratford Railway Station is tne erection of a repair shop at the north md of the yard, and which will be used or the repair of carriages in use on the >cal line. The erection of this sh-xl '■■; being carried out by the Maintenance Department of the Railway. The nrilding, which is about GO feet long by 30 feet wide, is of timber and eorugnted iron, and is now bcina; paiutd. It is expected the work will be comnleted this: week.

At Hobart on the 11th inst., Newton Mulcahy proceeded against the )oily Tost, claiming £2OOO damages or alleged libel, contained in a leter over the signature of the plainin". His Honor, in summing up, aid the letter was undoubtedly deVuir.'.tory, and it wis for the jury to Ux'ide whether it was justified. A rross attempt had been made to misead the court by what seemed to be false affidavit. To suggest that he letter was a joke was no answer < the claim for damages for libel. The

iurv had to say whether the letter was deliberately put together for the purpose of injuring plaintiff. The jury found a verdict for plaintiff for £651 10s.

An example of what appears to have 'teen misdirected consideration is re>orted in connection with the steps aken to relieve men out of work in Christchurch. For some time past orders for groceries have been issued '-<> relieve necessitous cases. It is •eported (states the Press) that one >f these orders For 15s was duly presented recently. The whole amount vas spent,, the sum of 5s 6d being spent on ei«lit sticks of tobacco. The nan who presented the order is understood to have five persons depending on him, and the fact that so much vas spent on tobacco seems to indicate utlier that he misrepresented the actual state of things in his household, u- that he thought more of providing or himself than for those depending )u him.

William Vincent, an employee of the ' Borough Council, while engaged yester--1 day morning at the crusher in Fentou Street, bad two iingeis crushed by a ' falling stone. Fortunately,, the a'eei- " dent was not a serious one. Dr. Steven i attending to him soon alter the oc--1 curience. At a meeting of the Executive of ; the Stratford Acclimatisation Socie 1 -* ! last evening, in accordance .with ! a recommendation from a meeting ot tie amalgamated acclimatisation societies, held in Wellington, .it was decided to donate £lO towards the Belgium Relief Fund.

Weather Forecast.—The indications are for northerly winds strong to gale. The weather will probably be dull and overcast. Much rain is to be expected. Barometer falling.—Bates, Wellington. The Government Meteorologist announces that he expects good general rains over the whole Dominion soon.

Among the children's garments at an Australian" depot from which they are despatching clothes to Belgium was a little boy's warm navy .blue coat with a cap'to match. In one of the pockets of the coat was a tiny envelope containing a threepenny piece, with the inscription. "With love from Peter." It was a small Australian boy's love-offering to a little Belgian brother in distress. , - » ■,

The Swiss Society of Public Utility for Women makes an appeal urging every young girl of marriageable age to undergo a physical examination by a doctor "for the sake of herself, her husband, and her country." The object of the society is the betterment of the race and the home until the day when the Government takes the matter in hand and demands certificates of health before sanctioning a marriage. ",' ';

Frank Ryde, of Tariki, employed -js guard on the train running from Waipuku to the Mountain, met with a somewhat serious accident when shunting at Waipuku on Monday. It appears that while endeavouring to get the buffer into place when turning at an angle he slipped and the buffer crushed him, breaking his leg. Fortunately, Dr. Steven was in the neighbourhood and at once attended to the .sufferer, who was brought to -the Stratford Hospital by the train. .'He is reported to be progressing favorably.

The total births for. August in the foui chief cities and their suburhai Irorough amounted to 629, against 601 in July—an increase of 28. The deaths in August were 291—a decrease of 13 as compared with the previous n onth. Of the total deaths, males contributed' 152, females 139. Fiftyrout of the deaths were of children under five years of age, .being 20.27 pi j r cent, of the whole number; 47 of these were under, one year of age. li.ere were 106 deaths of persons.of sixty-five years and upwards in the four chief cities and their suburban haoughs, as against 114 in July.

A Press Association message from Hawera states: A Native named Kau A. Te liangi, residing at Ketemarae Pa, Normanby, died on Sunday morning as the result of ptomaine poisoning after he had eaten crayfish. At the inquest on Tuesday, Dr. Mac Diarmid stated that ptomaine germs developed very quickly in hot weath?-. and it was dauegrous to partake of shellfish unless it was perfectly fresh. Crayfish and mussels were particular',,' liable to lie affected. He urged Natives to be very careful. He gave evidence that the cause of death wa« ptomaine poisoning, and a verdict was given in accordance with the medical testimony.

A decidedly startling exi)erier.ce was that of a Dunedin housewife quite recently. Dinner time was approaching; everything was going right; the joi it had browned beautifully, the potatoes were nice and and the soup was "just lovely." Another shovelful of coal would keep the fire in during dinner. The coal was put on, and a few

moments later there was a tremendous explosion, and soup, potatoes, pots and fragments of stove were flung about the kitchen ['says the Star.) The cause of the "blow up" can only be a matter of surmise, but the explanation will probably be that of a stick of gelignite, or other explosive, had by some mean's got amongst the coal when it had been trucked from the mine. All's well that ends well, but the feeling that your house may go "up through the roof" as a result of feeding the stove is not a pleasant one.