LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9676, 19 October 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-day's river report show* th*t *Ql the rivers of Canterbury are clear attd! n&bable. x :- , "I didn't know you could w& a divorce without money/ said Mfr W, Bl Haselden at the Magistrate's Courfrthis > morning. "I have been oat of praor tice so long that I've forgotten the way." ' _' ;•■ ■;;■;■ , " i -.:,: : / The Dijnedin. correspondent of thsB paper telegraphed, to-day that <Dr| Brandstadt> manager -of the Christ* church sanatorium, lectured there laiv nkhb on "What Shall We EatP* 1 H* .\ will speak to-night concerning the «f-. feet or various foods on the human} body. - i ". I am going to suggest," said Mr WJ R. Haselden at the Magistrate's Door* thip morning. " that instead of prohibi-j tiori orders, licenses to drink should b« issued. Prohibition orders have in-i creased until they are more numerous! than the persons who desire to drink.. Drink licenses would simplify matters; a great deal, and anyone who wanted a drink wottfd have to produce hill license before "being supplied." i Speaking to » reporter $o*day, 14f H. W. Bishop, S.M., who has been appointed a .Commission to inquire ha& the liabilities of local bodies in regard; to certain bridges in Canterbury, stair ed that he Would not be able to take any definite steps just yet, as. there was some difficulty in getting representatives pf- the local bodies together. Only to-day 1 he received a telegram from the Awatere Road Board t in Maj*lborough, asking that the inquiry should not be opened for a month. -V . There is rather strong: feeling amongst stock agents and others who ore regular attendants at sales in Can- . terbury in regard to the action Of the' railway authorities in giving them a. small reserved osurriage on. the trains they use when they are going to sales] and returning to town. Sometimes' there are, nearly, thirty of them, and when board a smoking carriage they fill it, to the exclusion, or, at any) rate, the inconvenience of . commercial . travellers and others. The Railway Department has been good enough to ■ give them a carriage for themselves. Previously they were supplied \fcith «• commodious carriage, m which they found plenty of room. 'Lately, however, the carriage put on for their use, ha? been an absurdly small one. They point out that it is, impossible for twenty-fivtf Or twenty-six of them to crush into » carriage made for six, and that if thef*present arrangement continues it will occasionally happen that come of thenv will have to go into the ordinary c*rrjages. In wet weather^ with dripping 1 oilskins and clothes straight from th 6 yards, they will hardly be pleasant fellow-passenger! for ladies. A communication has. been sent to the Minis-; ter of Railways, asking that the old arrangement should be reverted to. From information obtained by the Dargavifle correspondent of the " New Zealand Herald • it seems that 90 per; cent of. the Croatians who are on th# Auckland guinfieMs will become perm*-' nent residents, and many are taking the initial steps by wedding women of , British origin end obtaining naturalisation papers. As a whole the Croatian* are conspicuously sober and honest, and though conservative in their social sphere are included to participate in all current enjoyment. In gumdigging they have chosen what is termed , the "deep ground" order of work, that is, that of obtaining from the awampa and morasses the resin which xo» Britisher, with spasmodic and uaorgML- . ised labour, - has failed to. gain. » In, many cases a party/ consisting of ten or forty individuals, will lease the guttj rights of a swamp. Into thia they will excavate huge drains for considerable distances,' and then by a network of smaller ditches, afford free egress for the hitherto imprisoned waters. Thir work is one of great labour and e»» pense. In places the earth immediately below the surface is almost solid timber, in which axes and saws have te play a leading part, but the work la usually of a remunerative character; The hours of labour average nin» a day, and a weekly earning of £2 os xft regarded as very satisfactory. The discovery of a means of preventing the spread of plague in India! by rats has long occupied the attention of scientists and medical men. In this connection the "Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene" publishes some account of the efforts made by the second Indian Plague Commismission. This Commission., recognising the fact that plague is communicated to man from, rate by means of^ ratfleas, has raised the question of insecticides as a means -x>f clearing infected dwellings of fleas. It seems that thf. acid solution of per-chloride. of meroury at one time in use has been abandoned in favour of cyllin. The necelsity for a preparation possessing putt* cidal ns well as bactericial powers is evident. Kerosene emulsion merely kills the ffoas, but something rabrm seemed to be reqviired, and the germa of the disease themselves attacked. Tha value, therefore, of an insecticide W combination with a disinfectant woul& seem the rational and scientific plan of I ooping with requirements, 'a his principle has been for dome time carried. out in practice, and in Hong Kong a&3 several parts of India " Listerine " has been used in combination with oyllin. A mixture of equal parts of oyllin and petrol diluted with water has recently been employed with satisfactory results as a reliable pulicide and disinfectant. As regards the pulioidal action of kerosene oil emulsion there seems no doubt; but cyllin alone and the cyllin-petrol mixture are equally powerful in this direction, whilst they serve also as disinfectants, a moat important point in dealing with infeotioQ where both pulicidal and disinfectant action is required. If the muscles of the throat" «r« strained a cold is very easily contract* cd. Zymole Trokeys will prevent thi») they are just the thing for hoaxeenesik and irritating cough*. : stj

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Dr F. G. M. Brittin has presented to Jhe local "office of the Government 'iourist Department a very fine specimen of a stuffed bittern, in, a glass BSM, and a hybrid duck which was shot if Bin) on kike Ellesmere many year* In Colombo Street, south at present the western side of the road surface is very uneven, and many cab-drivers look upon it as the worst roadway in the crty. The slope to the gutter is very sadden, and the hollows and 'mounds in it make it almost a miniature switchback. A complaint is often made by people travelling on the quarter-past six .train from -Lyttelton that the electric tram which is timed to leave the Christfthuroh Railway Station at 6.35 p.m. Abes not Wait for the arrival of the tram if it is a mihute or so late. The tram should reach Christchurch at 6.35J hut very often the passengers hip,ve just sufficient time to rush out into Moorhouse Avenue and watoh the car turning into Colombo Street. The up-river end of Rhododendron Island in the Avon is being undermined by the action of the water. The Christchurch Beautifying Association wrote to the Council in regard to the matter, and it was decided that it should be attended toi, A 1 gentleman who has lived in the vicinity of the island for some years states that some years ago » similar erosion threatened to spoil the appearance, and then some stones werp placed at the end Of the island, but they had not been very effective. He suggested that the bank ' of the Island would be shielded with boards. i 'In his address to the Synod today,, Bishop Julius dealt with the excellent organisation of the work of the, diocese. "It is inevitable," he said/ *' that witK the growth of our organisation the Diocesan Synod should be relieved from much of the /detail work jrith which it was occupied in years j»st. Since tie days when Mrßatham, With wonderful skill and patience, retuced <mr statutes and regulations to fader, little time has been wasted in their fiecastin£ or amendment; The (Standing Committee» with its 6ub-com-adttees, transact an immense amount .lF business during the year, and the Dhttrch Property Trustees give so much limie and attention to the concerns of the diocese that financial debates in •Byriod have become exceedingly rare, speaking from an experience of nearly twenty years. I may say that so far aa >nr organisation goes, it has never Worked more . smoothly? than ft does pow, mainly For the reasons which I h«ve mentioned, and also because* for pome years past, our legislation has g&ne in the direction of simplicity." Th* att*nd«lce, .ot npri-atterida*ricey of men, at church was touched upon at |he Synod to-day by Bishop Julius, who paid:— "lt is a dangerous thing for the Church, in these days' to live in a fool's paradise. lam not a pessimist, irid have never thought myself called to' preach a gospel of lamentation, mourning and woe. But I try to recog- . nise facts, and,, among them, these: That we do- not reach the mass of the people, and that, in particular, we fail to reach ' the men. In many congregations they are conspicuous by their abftehce. They bear a. very small proportion to the total number" of candidates for confirmation, and 'our Sunday schools are certainly not well manned. On vestries, where, happily, as I think, italy men can serve, they do excellent, Work; and I recognise with deep thank- : fulness the' enormous' help they render to the Church on our diocesan boards *nd committees. But for all that, the fact remains that wedo not get hold Af the men. Whether because they are Jess spiritual or more intellectual than., the women, I shall not pretend to say. One sufficient caitee as this; We don't by*tojgei?tliem." V^ '? Wnat^strange folk we Church of England people are " said Bishop Julius this afternoon. "We have great institutions for waifs and sttrays in. London jtnd elsewhere, doing . a magnificent work. Our people care.; nothing for it, and send their money to Dr Barqardo's IH-tmes. We have an excellent body of Jjeaconestes in this diocese, quiet, tumble women, living / the simplest, of lives, visiting and relieving the sick, and needy, helping the^fallen, teaching, looking! after the children,, doing a Variety of honest work which is worthy ctf our best support. We take no interest in them, we leave them crowded in & house unfit for a temporary shelter, and we put our money into a Roman Cathoiie Nazareth Home. Do riot think that I grudge for a single moment the help that my people may give to that or atoy, other good work, or that I fail to recognise the noble efforts which are made by Roman Catholics and others for the relief of <ustress. Only, I say, that there are no Women doing better work than our Deaconesses,, and, that their usefulness, as their numbers, can be thrice extended, if ohorch people will see to it that the institutions of own Church »re properly maintained before they ■look farther afield." " ?.