LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Thames Star, Volume XLV, Issue 10637, 10 February 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Qapt. /Edwin wires: "Wind northerly j moderate to strong winds: glass fall slowly; tides good;. Fen considerable."

Bush fisvea have made their appearance! in tflne Hawera district:

It is proposed to arrange a laco meeting at Cbromandel.

, Distiriat J-udgiei Keittie and Mr S. Mays (drown Proseoutor) reiurnied to Afucfckiind to-day.

Judging by the reflection in the eky a ■ big fire was last ni^ht raging on the lands of the Haiuraki Plains.

. Tn the case against tlie young man Patrick TSmniina. heard at the local Coiuirt yeisterdiay tlhle awoused was bailed out shortly, aifter the Court rose, the necasary recognisances being foiithcorniing.

The annuial mieetiiig of subscribers and students of tihe Thames School of Mines will,be held on Tuesday, 16th in&t., when reports will be i©oeivedi and prizes and certifiicates ] resented. : '

Mr ft Jfikifitings, whe? was in business ait Tlhaimies for yeaiiisi, and who, «- cemtly proceeded, tb Karangiaihake,' is leaving tihe latter dist'riot (for Auckland, wjheftie 'he wTR probably enter into Ijusinessi. *

We have been requested .by Mr S. Bout, of lAiuicddajnd, to state that the work of aiding the school libraries of the district "will <be postponed for a few weeks auntil trade is somewhat Ibrisker than ait present. »

Our Paieiroa correspondent writes: "Mr J. R. 'Hespy who. has been- porteion the looal station for some time past, has received notice of his transfer to a station on thei Main Trunk railway. He leaves Paerou to take up his new duties on Thtu-sday momir%. •

At the last meeting .of the Ohinenuiri County Council Mr S. J. Laughlin.was appointed to represent the Council on ? the Thames Harbour Board 1. Mr Laiughlin tliianked the members for placirag their trust in him, and said he would do his bestto watch their interest, and the interest of the district generally.

Doleful news opmea' from Kai'angahake, where it is said there- is wnsidetaiblei depression mi business. It ;n s>aid' tlbat men are lea.vinig almost every day and especially men wi(:h families/. 32hei cessailtioni of operations in, thuei idiwvni mine and the uncertainty that exists are said to be the cause of the depression.

Whilst driving in from th© Wflilii beach on Sundiay, iMii' and Mrs Keily a.nd child met. with an accident which wight haive resulted ,in •serious conseijueiiwee. It appears that the hoarse became re&tive, finally kicking the trap over a cliff, but. 'fortunately the otocupants escaped without serious injury.

The "rain probalble" as predicted by Captain EkWin yesterday did not eventutaite and to-day the sun is shining a« gloriously as ever. Altogether it may be said! we have had a delightful sumimar, though the occasional showers have proved ini.pedLti.ve as far as harvesting! operations are concerned, and the fanner* experienced some difficulty in g<?tf.ug all their bay staiciked.

At the local District Court yesterd'agr, in the hcfaring of the charge apiainst a 'Native, Ma* P. Montague, wfliio is -a. splendid Maori linguist., acted as ifflbenpreteir, and made a. very sudces^ful "fkisit. appearance." The services of an interpreter are frequently required at local Court, sittings, and Mr MJomfcagm -will, we hope, continue to supply a Ipng, felt want.-

Mrs Annie Bestuit ia' ba«k in Jndia after a three months lecturing tour in Australasia., where she expounded the message of Theosophy to la,rge aiudienoag. It is not generally known that the succession to the headship oif th© Th'eoropihicail Society, on th,e death of Colonel Olcott, placed Mrs Besant in possession of a. delightful residence and official centre. The Theosophical headquarters ait Adyar, Mladirais,. are beauitiful ~for. situation, and they include .toe residential buildings, an admirable library, and an estia.te"~which many am Indian rajah might envy. iAis President of the society, Mrs Be&ant lives at Adyar, bait sWe retains the general directionj of -the central Hindu. College at Benares, the institution to which she has devoted most of her attention during the patet tern years.

'Misa 'Killgour is resigning her p'-f.i-tion m teticheir at tHie AV'aio-k.'.va'va School. Mias Elsie S) rkes has 'Kv.n atpjjointed pupil teacher at the iVrawai Sohool in place of Miss Pile, and' Miss George, of the Kauaetvnga School, is^also leaving.

The CJhief Postmaster (IMir WNidhblls) forwaa'da tihe following memo.: ' 'The Wellington-Briudisi despatch of Ist .Jammvy aniveid , at London on the 6th inst. —Berne ndyisca cdfrespondence; for province of Miessinia;, IRleggio, Calabria is aoceoted'. Conditions normail."

jOtae thousand pounds has been offered by a Mlasterton resident (Mr A. P. '"Wihatmaai) as the nucleus of a fund to build a, battleship. Towards the cost of a battleship, the, sum mientioned' is> only a drop in a bucket. Should thisi materialise, the vessel is to be oaiiledi the lAlblbotsfbrd.

We understand that of tihe jury which heard the charge ioif assault \ referred! against (Patrick Tinimins - at the District Court yesterday, ten were in favoir of floqyicttiiomi for com-. Bton assault amd two were for acquittal. On, th,e major charge, the majority of the jury were against a verdict of guilty. ■•■'

The, winning squad of cadets (W-.io-kairaka) were presented -with phocographs won in the pfh,ysicial drill competition at the recent public schools gathering. Those lads who are in" the squad 'but- have left school may obtain, their photographs on, application to Mr W. H. 'Nlewtonu The prizes was the joint gift of Messrs' W. SL Clark and W. Chester. ,

Gorod fprogz-ess is being made, with the eirecition of fihe maw experimental plant of the Thames ,Sohool of Miues. Most of the work has been oompleoed, having been excellently finished by .Tudd's einploiyees. The fiiiail touch'>s will soon be puit to this valuable work, amd as soon as the equipment of the plant is taomipleibei a full description will appear in our columns. *

A: fjomeAvhat unique aiuianiic on account of its lar-gie. dimensions has bsein issued 1 l>y the j.Singer 'Sewing MiwshSn'e'" Conipaw, arid a copy has veiy kindly 'been forwarded by Mill! C. Tyler, the lAluekland m!an;ager. The Singer sewing machines have now established a world wide reputation, and the firm is showing that itis up-to-date in all departments in ii-miiin£ «. sipllendid «tlr©i+i»iDig .medium 1 suoh as the alnnanac referred' to,

On© of the visitors to tihe Mntitoke rapes, a.n innocent looking farmer, sui^rLsed not >a> few 'by his display of the nolble: art of self-defence, {something went wrong during the div r-vd the farmer resented it. One thin;; led to another, .and eventually the visitor was compelled, to defend himself. This he did with, considerable s\\ccess, and! rumor bath it that more thjan ome man'fell ai victim.'Eventua.lly order wias restored, but the incident served to shoiw thoit- is am -unexpected quarter pugilistic abilities may ©ccassionally be. displayed.

■Regarding tlhie- death of. Mr Hione Heke the following particulars may prove interest/ing. Be was born at KaLkohe, Bay of Island, in 1869. Hi w.as educated at Eawaikawa, Oromahoe maltive school, and St. Stephen's native school, 'Aiuckliaind. In 1891 he entered flhe Government service as a clerk in the 'Native Land Court office, Wellington. "He resigned! in 18921 to take up the leadership of the Maori Federated IVi'bes of iKfow Zeailand. He introduced the Native Rights Bill in •1894. In 1893 he w«.s elected to the House for the Northern Maori district.

It is staitfid ttot the bookmakara are taking steps to have the Totalisator Aibalitioh ©ill introduced! nexit session. It is to !be hoped thait tlie bookmaketrs will nob suacaed-, for though the churches opipose iho total is&toir, they must know thait iho abolition means the. retoirn to powr of the bookmiaker, wihereas. the. clubs benefit from the totalisatar, the profits have to be expended in imiprm-?.----miente (which employs laiboui-> jjid

•ftdded stiakes, & proportion is revenue; whereas the. baokrnmkieir's profits are aibsoa Jbed 'by himself. And what a panderaiK>nium it would be if the bookmakers held sway as in days gone .paisit!

Alt the Central Hall to-night the 'cadet concert will take place and nil those who wish to encourage this very necessary movement should e'.\cTJeia.vour to be present. Ai splendid programme his been -aifnainged, all the* mioSt popular local artiste appearing, so that apart altogether from the object, of the entertainment th i:i items tdileniseilves should more than reco'Upense patrons for their • atttftndttnoe. In addition it has now "been repogmised that ■mucih good has 'bean d'->n3 by the holding of the oadeif encampments, and .as the object olf the enteiritainment is t<t lighiteln the- burden of parenite_ there shwidl. be a. lai'ge and representaitive ait th? Central Ball to-niiight.

An amusing inciideralfc happened in Olsiiiiiairji'when Leo, Jon, and MiscHel (31iernia.v«ki visited that. town. The services of tha looal (bell-ringer were secured to give tlie puWic walking the streets a finail nemindeir that the concert would twite place that, evening in the Grand lOpeto House. Having duly instructed wlhialt to annomnce, the. disoomfart of that (benighted individual wiasi 'apparent wsien he assayed the task of pronoiunciug the name CSiernia^ski. Hiis ffiTst aititem'pt was disastiiious, and on the plea of being already miinus his front' teeith, he wished to "ciry off." The nianijer told him to saiy "Ctorn-yaff-shy" f.evett^al tirnesi, but it was hopeless, r.ncl the bell-ringer said "he would not un.dlerttS© thfe job if he hiad to pronounce that lockjaw giving naane." However, he started off down the main, street shouting 1 out, -"To-nijdit, to-night, the wtondtemful llus&inns' fir.it time in this town." (Jeers from the orowd: "PronoHundo tihe iiaimie, Dick.") But Dick took no notice, and went on : "Don't forfjet, ladies and gentle-mien—to-night, in the Grand Oipera. House, Leo, ..faini, amd —-— (by the crowd), "Wha* ho!"

i Oim- mercantile, marine, which j foorais more than one half of the . whole world's, shippinig, brings Britain in about, £90,000,000 every year.

IKiring the ptlst senr«n yelairs acoi dents hiaiVe caused the loss of about W, 000,000' worth of Britisii ships of war, including giun& and navnl ordnance stores.

Housewives in Floa-ida scrub their floors with, oranges. They cut- the oranges in halves, and rub the flat ex posed pulp upon the "floor. The a:id in the. orainges does the cleansing, and the boards are said to b& as white as anow after the application.

Am average working-class, family consumes in or week the following quainitities of eeleoted commodities': Tea, 61b; sugar, s Jib; bacon, 1-Jlb; eggs, 12 ; dhiees©, |l!b ;j 21b; pototoes, 171b; flour, 10ib; "bread, 221b; milk, 10 pints; meat, 6|lb; coal, '2owt. i

Tn ordieir or limit the anchor cannon, tlhe Billiard 'Association has de> cided, that players dhould not be alloiw«id to miake more than twenty-five consecutive bal'l-tohfbiaH cannons. . It Tpas also agreed tha.t^heni'the »lay©r 1* Rail a«id an oibje^bjall ainei tofbhing the 'biallsi shall hs broken a.nd spotted.'

In Switzerland they are rcaking clocks which do> not need hands a.ud faces. The clock niierely stands in the hall, and you press a button in its stomach, when,. by means o>f Hie phonographic internal arrangements, it calls out "Half-past six" or "Twenty three minutes to eleven," as the case may foe. A/ witness s-übpoenaed in a case heard at the ißketahunsn Magistrate;'s Court last week ifoirwairdeii a doctor's certifidate showing tibait he wai suffering from. "fibrocitis." Counsel' for plaintifl said he haid looked up a die-

tionaiy^ Ibut had failed to ascertain the nature of tte complaint. His Wor-

ship staid tinat he had not previously

heard' of subh a malady, !but sup-

posed it was "lnflamimation of fibs." Tlie Count smiled a.nd was left in a

stiate of uncertiainty as to the symptoms of "fibrocitis." -

Dr. Fraak Billings sayis: The nchievem.enits of the Japatniese on a diet chiefly ■carbohydrate! (starch, aud sugar) is suiCicieat piKxof thiait a high efficiency (both mental and physical), may be maintainied, on. a. low proteid (tissue-forming) and Ml fuel diet." The Japanese live in a semi-tropical country, are not great eaters, and 'do not neetd a«i much heat-making foods us tihie ißuesianß. • Much of tlwir strength is narvotus. A isKnall quantity of food, weill digested', is better than miuoh Avasted. ;

A war of nates in Sooitland is threatienied between the Standard Oil Company of Aimiericia and Scotoh oil prodbcera The iAimfifricaii, compa,n.y Which reoenitly ostaiblisjied oil depots in Scottish t^nis, has, it is stated, approaiclied wholesale houses in Scotland with a.ll offer to take over thenretail merohiamit business. On© of the principall iSbotdh firms, of producers hias i-esolYed to esitalblish oil-tank depots in Scotland 'and England, besidesl providing distributors with oiltank. wagons and retailers-with tanks in whicli to store .the Scotch oil.

The Oafnam Mail says not even has. aigriculfcuiraH life earned for itself exemption fratm th;at trickeiy which is said to exist in all trades. Last •year a farmer sold his neighbour three tons of potato seed), whioh the seller claimed were prime Up-to-Diaites as, indeed, they very much resemibled 1. The pui'tahasing farmer, who hiad 'built his hlopes for the year on his orop of Up^to-Daite ipotatoe®, spent miuch anxious time in preparation, of th© ground to receive the seed. The other day he commemcedT digging, and found the tubers' to be quite a different variety from that for whioh the seed was purchased.. The loss to the grower will be considerable. \

ltefeiring to the Workers' CotnpenSflition iAic* the 'Hawke's Bay Herald remarks: II the liability of employers is not increased uloio than the 10 per cent eot;t.ra, pa-emiuni, we imagine that most will agree tiialt the price is ■worth, paying for the inti-eased certainty and simplicity of the law. No doubt, the workers benefit considerably. The olcl (Employers' Liability law. with, its mlaaiy pitfalls and legal intricacies, is repealed. A worker may now, if 'hisl employer has been negligent, sue directly: ait common law for damages.. If there is nol negligence, he may ree&var compensation under the new law. On th^obheir hbiid', if he has been negligent/-his olaiinii is barred.

Read, Gillespie and. Co.. will sell tomoiTow at 11 o'clock the .privileges in co.nnection, witjL the TJiaines. Aj:r;cultural and Hoirticultural..Show, und at 2 o'clock the whole of Mi" K. O'Sullivain's superior furniture and effecits.