NEWS OF THE DAY.

Colonist, Volume LIII, Issue 13055, 15 March 1911, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

A meeting of the Nelson. Referees' Association (Rugby Union) will be held in Stallard's room to-morrow evening. Tho secretary of the Nelson A. and P. Association announces by advertisement that nominations for president, »7ico-i>resident, and committee will be received up till Saturday, 25th inst. A meeting of the committee of the Horticultural Society will be held on Thursday evening. A full attendance is requested as the question of the autumn show will then bo deaf.t with. "These apples werci not grown in New Zealand; they, have been imported from America." This was the note attached by the judge to an exhibit of applet at the horticultural and industrial exhibition at Pahiatua. Tho entry was disqualified. Mr Buxton, M.P., Geraldiuc, has received a telegram from the Minister of Lands, that his representations regarding the acquisition of a portion of the Mount Pe,sl run for sub-division had been approved. This places in the hands of the Crown nearly 50,000 acres of excellent pastoral land for disposal next year. It is understood that the arrangement is by way of exchange or extension of tenure of the other por-1 tion of the run. Mr A..D. Gabriel, wireless operator on -the Maitai, now in Wellington, tells of the successful experiments that are being madci in wireless telegraphy in America. Instead of the dot-and-dash language of the Morse instrument, the human voice or any other noises can be projected by power into the cither and carried along in the same manner as the Morse code signals. Whilst lying at anchor in San Francisco harbour, with the receiver to his ears, he intercepted spoken messagas repeatedly, and on another occasion listened to a gramaphone selection that was being played six or seven miles awey. Mr L. F. Evans, the organising secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, who is at present on a visit to this district, states that lie met with unqualified success in the Southland District which he has recently visited, increasing the membership of the Invercargill branch by the number of 120. The labour objective, states Mr .Evans, would benefit both employer and employee. It was for the betterment of humanity, and he: prophesied that ere long this' would become generally recognised by all classes. When in Inwroargill', Mr. Evans addressed the Builders' Association who subsequently granted the Carpenters' Union voluntary preference to unionists, being the first association in the Dominion to do so. That gives a e'.ear indication of the methods Mr. Evans adopts in liis organising efforts. A grain merchant in Omaha, U.S.A., advertised for "oats." The word was printed "cats." He received some 5000, and at the time of the despatch of the last mail was still getting heavy supplies. Earthquakes have been of almost daily occurrence at Shannon recently, four tremors having been experienced during the past weak. It has been noticed that such "quakes" have been heralded by sultry gusts from the oast—an unusual quarter for anything but cold winds. During tho passage of the Maitai from San Francisco to New Zealand wireless messages were exchanged. She telegraphed that she would arrive at Wellington at eleven a.m. on Thursday, but as a matter of fact the wind and sea favoured her to the extent oi bringing her into port an hour earlier. Between San Francisco and Papeete good communication was obtained with Honolulu, 1400 miles distant. The Liberal party, according to a gentleman in close touch with polities, has considerably strengthened its position in the North Island since the last session of Parliament. He has travelled through the North Island recently, and finds an accession of progressive sentiment. He attributes the position to the numerous unjustified attacks made upon the Government, particularly last session. Tlie keeper of a private hotel told members of the Arbitration Court in Wellington on. Wednesday that he was doing well up to about eighteen months ago. His boarders, however, were all tradesmen—artisans—and they had nearly all gone away to Australia or somewhare else. Consequently business had suffered seriously in the succeeding twelve months. In the last six months, he added, hci had noticed an improvement.

"There is still a great scarcity of school teachers of the class receiving from £90 to £120 a year," said Mr C. J. Parr at a recent meeting of the Auckland Board of Education. He added that the Board had sometimes to appoint uncertificatcd teachers, who had very little experience. Tho Board, however, was in hopes that the Training College would make a very appreciable difference in this regard. A few minutes later Mr Parr invited the Board to consider some" applications for employment as teachers, and one of the first to catch his eye brought from him an exclamation of surprise. "Why" he said, "hero's an application for a position worth £150 a year from a man who is a Bachelor of 'Medicine' also, for he Bacselor of 'Medicine' also, for he signs himself '8.M." But the secretary hastened to explain that tho "M" stood for "Married," and the "B" referred to the gentleman's certificate! The Temperature.—At three o'clock this morniiig,|the thermometer outside this office registere 1 53 degrees.

It is said that poets are born, liot made. There are many budding poets in the Dominion, who only require, as the waiters in tho United States say a "little encouragement" o le velop their latent talents. Byron sends us a poem, from which we quote two verses. The poem extols Lock's Great Furnishing Emporium, which undoubtedly is the cheapest and best place to purchase furniture and furnishings. Lock continues to give big bargains. "If tables and chairs you are lacking, If a range or stove you desire, Lock's will-chosen stock's at your service, He has always the tljing you require; If a sewing machine'p your ambition, The Atlas is just what you need, And you'll find the old proverb is truthful, For Lock's is a friendship indeed. "Yoli may jpurney to Sydney or London, To Melbourne, Chicago, qr Cork, You may ransack the houses in Paris, Or the marts of Berlin and New York, But you won't furnish better or cheaper, Nor find any house that can shine With William Lock's Warehouse in Bfiuge street— He's the King in the Furniture Line."