LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8831, 18 January 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■ The Auckland South African Coin tingent has decided that the Seddon. memorial shall take the form of 3 shield to be fired for annually by thtf cadets.- • <>. -.' •.:•• 'Tw-o- -Burnham escapees this morning, at a sitting of the Juvenile Court, before *Mr. V:*Gf. Day, S.M., pleaded guilty to charges of theft, and also with | being stowaways on the s.e. Moeraki ' during her trip from Dunedin to Lyfc- . telton. A conviction was entered up against each on both charges, «,ndthey; were ordered to return to Burnham. In connection with the Durham Street' Methodist Young Men's Class the following officers ihave been appointed :— - President, Rev H. R. Dewsbury; vicGE residents, Messrs \V. Brooker and G. ornas; leader, Mr A. Morgan; secretary, Mr A. K Barrell; treasurer, Mr A. Holden; editor of journal, Mr L> Rudkin ; pianist, Mr F. H. Every ; committee, Messrs H. Sandford, J. H. Marston, I. Robinson, F. N. Christiari,L. Taylor, S. Betteley and E. Rudkin, On February 10 Mr T. H. Race, tha Canadian Commissioner to the Exhibition, will, give an address on " The True Citizenship." An entertainment held at the Ran* giorfc Institute Hall Ja6t night in aid of the uniform fund of the local Vol- . unteer corps was well attended. The major port-ion, of the programme was given by Misses Tolputt and Butter, and Mr J. Aitchineon, who were recalled time after time. The other performers, Miss Wadey, Mr Alwright, Mr E. Grant and Colour-Sergeant Tolputt, ako met with a good reception, the pro* , gramme from the first number to th» j last being thoroughly appreciated by I the audience. In the unavoidable abV sence of Captain Borthwick, Lieutenant Humphreys thanked the performers ana audience. That prohibition' orders do not always prevent people from getting intoxicating liquors is demonstrated every week at the local Magistrate's Court. Prohibited persons continually appear before the Magistrate* and are fined. Questioned as to how and where they procured the liquor, they generally reply "A strangei got it for me." This morning, how« ever, » man, accused of procuring liquox during the currency of a prohibition order, threw some light upon the matter by saying that he could get drink anywhere in spite of the order. "As loifg as you have threepence and can, stand on your legs, the hotels will giv« you drink," he explained.

\ The midday express for Dunedin toHay was a heavy one, and took, a great number of returning excursionists. Brisbane advises that the Indo-Euro-pean Company's lines between. Tifliß and Sachum are completely interrupted. Captain Edwin's weather forecast, telegraphed at noon to-day, is as follows :— " Westerly moderate to strong Winds; glass rise.?' Batu Ifermi and twenty-five other Fijians went to Dunedin by the express to-day fox a trip in the southern districta. Mr W. H. Scott went with them. To-day "a picnic and luncheon were given to the Exhibition Commissioners »t the Lincoln Agricultural College, and at an early hour "this morning the Commissioners left; tae Exhibition gates In a drag on their way to Lincoln. \ Some amusement was given to a fcrowd of papple at Hereford Street bridge t^is morning watching the troubles of the occiroants of two boats endeavouring to shoot the bridge at the same time. The sound advice of a email boy that they should ~" get out and walk" was not accepted. No reply has been received from W. iWebb, of Wanganui, who was invited to: come here to accompany Durnan in his -rowing (says the " Sydney Morning Herald " of last Thursday). He may not ccc his way to come just at present, as Welch, the New Zealand amateur, who beat him once (his only defeat), is expected to challenge Webb for the iiewly-won fifcle of professional champion of New Zealand. The South Island Representation ; Commission, continued its sittings in .y_ Christchurch to-day. It has now heaTd , all the objections to the new boundaries, and it is devoting this afternoon to the ooneideratioai of its report, which yiiW. be forwarded to the Governor. The members will meet again to-morrow "'. morning, to sign the report, and they ■ will leave for their homes in the evening. Mr T. S. Weston, chairman of the Commission, told a reporter to-day that the utmost difficulty had been ex- ' perienced in dealing with the work, out he believed that satisfactory results had been arrived at. Letters received from - the Decimal Association, London, indica-te, that appreciable progress is beiiig- made by tfie . advocates of the metric of weights and measures*- 7 Ttiie ; stated that the prospects of early success are brighter than ever/ Money' is being raised for propaganda purposes. Efforts are , plso being wade to get a Bi|l through - the House of Commons during next cession. The pricking of the card in the House of Commons shows that 373 members have signed a pledge to support the proposal and 41 are favourable, thu6 accounting for 414 friends of the movement in an assembly of 670. Some little time ago Mr Barber, of W&ikanae, suffered a. very severe loss of stock in a most, extraordinary manner (reports the " Otajy ";. .^aii.'t)^ One morning^ on going roimij hie farm, he found no fewer than- 'six' ©ow6 lying dead, and very scop, after several other animals succumbed, until at last no fewer than eighteen fine beasts lay stiff, from no apparent cause. Mr Barber secured the services of an expert veterinary surgeon, who on careful examination discovered that the animals' had died from the effects of swallowing /white lead. It wa6 then discovered that a quantity of white lead liad been left in such a position that the animals could reach it, and tfiis had caused the mischief. The average colonial is somewhat prone to smile -»t what he describes as the grotesque characteristics of foreign uitiaens, but he is apt to forget that to those same citizens we are continually presenting, aspects of our own idiosyncracies which must inevitably give rise to amazement. A native of Spain, who has travelled practically all his life, thus describes liis sensations when, in Response to an invitation to see the ''finest place in Sydney" he went to- Randwick and witnessed a. big race meeting. " I went, and I s^w one, two, three, tour thousand people : mad, quite mad," said he, tapping his forehead. "My friend, the first officer of the Bteamer approaches me, and I exclaim, ■' What a pretty place!' ' Ah, yes— quite s4 — 'ex-excuse me,' and with the same expression on his face that I saw on everyone's, he rushes off to the bookmaker. Fools, fools! Someone comes up to me and 6ays. with excitement, 'Got anything on this race.' -No,, no. Here I am, in a country I've never seen before, on a racecourse I never heard of till an hour ago; am I going to give my money to a man I do, not know, to back a horse I know nothing about? No, no. lam not' a fool." And this grave citizen of Spain is startled out of his self-poesession at the very prospect, y «tf such a proceeding. "In Spain, we' have the State lottery, three times a month. I put a little money in; if I win, very- good; if I lose, well, I have Sot lost very much. I know it is luck, pure luck. But here are a number of people, intelligent people, who think they know enough of horses to predict the result! Ah, it is madness." ../An excellent idea oiF the remarkable ohanges going on in China is afforded by the report of the Acting-Commerckl Attache to his Majesty's. Embassy at Pekin on. the foreign trade of tSbe country. He cays:— "China has begun to awaken to some, at any rate, of her needs, which are many. This thirst for foreign knowledge has led to the adoption of foreign things and foreign -ways. The smallest schoolboy in Pekin (and no doubt elsewhere) wears a foreign peaked cap well braided and ornamented, and straw hats, „of- [foreign shape have taken the place of the widebrimmed native headgear.. In some parts of China, . indeed,. sohoolboys and "students have adorned entire drill or khaki suite, plentifully adorned with gilt buttons. One thing leads to another. The foreign brougham, escorted by a number, of outriders, carries . the Chinese Minister over a well-metalled road to his office, passing on the way the clumsy Chinese cart,, the Indian bullock cart of the British Legation guard, the Japanese jinricksha; and active Chinese, some carrying kodaks, outstrip all these conveyances on their bicycles, while the well-braided policeman in semi-foreign uniform stands in the middle of the road and regulates the traffic. Round the corner the road is being repaired, and a fine steam roller is crushing the metal -into the ground, and a few yards beyond stands a galvanised iron shed containing a fire engine. Many of these articles, such se- the, hate .tnd dress, axe supplied by Japan, but others, and the most expensive, are of European make, the steam roller, for example, bearing the name of a well-known British manufacturer. In addition, cotton mills, flour mills, ■nd other industrial enterprises, entirely in Chinese hands, are springing up, *nd the awakening of China warns the foreign manufacturer and merchant io be on the alert. Hundreds of native newspapers are now published in China, fend sent broadcast over the land, and fche Japanese especially are taking advantage of their advertising, columns to vigorously push their trade." I The Golden Crop and Sunbeam CigaTette Competition closes first of March next. 1988