DAILY NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7723, 5 June 1903, Page 2

DAILY NOTES.

The crusade again?t small

the birds promises to take a feathkhed definite as %veli as a comprenuisaxce. honsive form. The Conference which' sat in church yesterday discussed the various methods of dealing with the nuisance, and finally came to a decision in which most of the delegates? w-fte unanimous. A proposal to continue the system of paying for eggs and birds' heads was dismissed by most of them, on the ground that this method is impracticable in thinly populated districts, and open to abuse in the- more populous areas, and in its place an. elaborate scheme of poisoning was advocated. As the local bodies in Southland, South Canterbury and elsewhere are likewise taking steps to exterminate small birds, also by poisoning, there is reason to hope that we are on. the eve of • a simultaneous movement in the direction of suppressing the pest.

Although soft-heairted peothe penalty pie may be inclined to disof approve of the dismissal of inefficiency, forty -four officers foe blundering at the German manoeuvres, nobody can question the principle governing the act. The efficiency of the German army is well known. There may be exceptions to the rule, and it would be curious indeed if there were none. But the exceptions are few, and not sufficient to impair the effectiveness of the; army as a fighting machine. But this high state of efficiency has been reached only by sacrificing the inefficient. The penalty of blundering is dismissal. . This rule may sometimes inflict individual hardship, but it ensures a fine army.. It would not be. a bad thing for Britain if it were introduced into her Army more often than it appears to be.

Judging from the .reports winter ■ w/hich have reached us, the shows. Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association's Winter $hoW appears to have been more successful even than- its predecessors, v Those people who have attended a winter show in Dunedin "will realise that this means that the exhibition mustr have attained a very high pitch of perfection, and that its popularity is greater than ever. With these facts hzl/SEQ ÜBj it seems stranger than ever that

the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association should have been compelled to abandon its winter show. The Association declares that it is impossible to obtain sufficient support to ensure even a measure of success for a show at this time of year, and the layman must perforce bow to its superior knowledge. At the same time, wo should like to see the experiment tried of holdiug a show in Grand National Week.

Inventors are proverbially A modest modest, and Mr Barr, of INVENTOB. Perth, is no exception to

this rule. He claims that he has invented a flying machine capable of travelling one hundred miles an hour and carrying a weight up to one hundred tons. That is all he claims to have accomplished ! In his wants the singular modesty of the man is again apparent. He actually offers to superintend the manufacture of a machine for a paltry salary of £6 a week, and if the machine is a success to sell the invention for a million ! We hope that the Federal Government, to whom the offer has been made, will reject it. It would be grossly unjust to rob Mr Barr of the results of his stupendous discovery in return for-a paltry million. The Commonwealth ought not to be allowed to profit so unduly afc" v the expense of this simple-minded philanthropist.