LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11756, 21 July 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is expected that the WairaairE County Council's scheme for electrical light and power will be extended to the Bottle Lake Hospital by the middle of next month. It will be used for heati ing the wards, as well as for lighting the institution. At the Theatre Royal on Wednesday next Mr W. H. Georga will giro a lecture, illustrated bv lantern Glides, en-. I titled " With Our Boys in Egypt." The proceeds will be donated towards the purchase of a Y.M.C.A. hostel for NewZealand soldiers in London. The Board of Governors of the M'Lean Institute met yesterday, the Mayor (Mr H. Holland) presiding. Reports from the Finance and Visitation Committees were adopted. Accounts were passed, for payment amounting to £913 Is 2d. The Sumner Borough School children brought their Belgian Relief Fund' campaign to an end yesterday with an afternoon concert in the Town Hall. There was a very large attendance, and a long programme, given entirely by tho children, received a hearty reception. A Belgian charity song realised 13s in pennies. Tho total receipts amounted to£lo os4id. Membership in the Overseas Club is to be urged, on all reoruits going into camp, as it carries with it a good many advantages in Egypt, France and the Old Country, where the men will be sure of a hearty welcome from fellow members. Last night the newly formed Christchurch branch of the club decided to go further,, and accept the nomination of any man serving at the front. The immediate result was half a dozer or more nominations of men "somewhere in France," two of the first nominees being the son of Dr Jenning? and the son of Mr H. R. Smith. The Ladies' Guild of the Lytteiton Seamen's Institute acknowledges receipt of the following donations and gifts towards the woollen comforts for the mine-sweeoers:—Akaroa Guild £7 15s 6d, Mr T.*Baxter (Asbburton) £2, Miss Anderson two pairs of socks, Akaroa nine pairs of socks, three scarves and one pair of mittens. Miss Harris one pair of eocks, Mrs Kerr one pair of socks, Mrs Monson, pair of mittens, worn by one of Captain Scott's men on the steam yacht Morning. Mrs Back three tins of cocoa. With, trouble^-as ,with some other thing';, it never rains but it pours. In Wellington there is a woman with five children whom the War Relief Association is helping. First of all, hei husband went to the war and left hei to fight the world alone. She had to seek assistance, and this she received. The other .day the association's representative called to sec how she was faring. She found that a girl of twelvo was laid up with a sprained ankle; that a boy of. nine had contracted measles and pneumonia; and that a boy was suffering from a poisoned hand. A resident of Featherston, in a letter to the "Dominion," protests against the Wellington Acclimatisa tion Society's proposal to collect ths eggs of black swans on Wairarapa Lake. "The society," ho says, '/can not he aware of the great diminishing in numbers of these beautiful birds attributable, I think, to close settle roent, draining of lagoons and destruction of natural cover. One time yot could go out and get a bag, now yot are luckv if you can get one bird foi a feed. 'Settlers in this district hav< been prosecuted for taking.a few eggs and now the society is contemplatinj destroying them wholesale, for the pur pose, I presume, of supplying pastry cooks in Wellington. If such practice are followed out, I think the swan oi the Wairarapa Lake will soon be a: extinct as the moa.". The kumikumi. or Maori vegetable marrow, crops have been exceptional!} heavy in the Tauranga district this season (says the '.'Bay of Plcntj Times"), and will enable many loca farms to carry cattle through the win •+«r in good condition. A.paddock o fifteen acres on Mr Lysaght's estatt was planted in maize and kumikumis and is now providing feed for numer ous bullocks, which are to be fattenec on the area. The maiae turned ou well while the ground was covered with kumikumis. _ It may b< stated that the kumikumi is relishec bv cattle, and possesses excellent tat tenin"- qualities. While there is gener \\W uVcertiuntv in growing turnips the kumikumi may always be relied oi to «ive n generous yield, and a s it ma; be sown will*maize, the farmer is tlm able to provide, winter feed ■ for lu stock at a minimum outlay. The results of a shorthand speed es nmination held last May, under th auspices of the Christchurch ShorthanWriters' Association, have just bee« received from Sir Isaac Pitman anfl Sons, Bath, "England. The following were successful in obtaining PitmanM first-class speed certificates:—MisstJß Gwendoline Court and Nancy Buis« 19(7words per minute; Miss Iris Kuacßß 110 words ner minute: Misses LriH Hartle, Ellen Lanauzb, BlanchM M'Kav and Olive Toung, 100 wordM per minute; Misses Honor Harvey ar JM Florence M'Leau, 90 words per minH uto; Misses Winifred Hobbs. NelliM Hopkins, Vera Morgan and Liliaß| Presents, 80 words per minute; MisH Hilda Cusack, 70 words per niinuteW Misses Emily Candy, Connie CiisaePM Violet Karon and Ethel Ledsbam. GJH words per minute. _ All the successfi|M candidates were pupils attending MiJU Dighy's Commercial School. jB A few days ago one of the five tcleJH graph cables across Cook Strait, whicfljl link up the North and South IslandtJH broke, and tho Tutanekai is now bein|B got in readiness to repair the breakHß which Mr E. A. Shrimpton (Distrirfflf Telegraph Engineer), who arrived iflfl Wellington this week, will locate beforH| the vessel sails. About Eix months another break occurred, which traced to the teredo, an insect thaJH apparently finds these cables exceeriM ingly palatable, especially in thfl| tropics. This was the first time thsflH the teredo made its presence felt i|H these waters, but expert opinion corfll siders that the present breakage is duflfl to the attacks of the teredo, and it i|H surmised that the insect, has now ejj tended its operations to other thaflH tropical waters, the special casinJH used there possibly having induced thlflß destructive little atom to enter coldeßH waters, where tho cables are more eassH ly digested- Should this be the ease iH| will be necessary to adopt measures protect the cables. Mr ShrimptonflH tvho usually locates the breaks in ine cables, is always singularly succesjH Jul" in detecting the spot where tlijjH I rouble lies, and it is not that any difficulty will bo exporience«H in the present instance. hH

The following report from Bealey is supplied by the Telegraph Department:—" Raining heavily. River flooded and rising."

Yesterday's casualty lfet, In referring to Private Charles H. Ranger, wounded, gave his parents' address as m U'uam Street. The address should havo been 94, Grafton Street, Linwood.

The five- half-caste Fijians who came to Auckland by the steamer Talune to volunteer for active service have beon accepted by the Defence authorities, and arrangements are being made to fend them into the training camp at Narrow Neck.

St Martins is evidently a very favyared localitv. This afternoon a resident brought ina fino mushroom which was growing on the farm of Mr Longman. This was the first instance he knew of a mushroom growing m midwinter-

" Did vou not make a pledge before a priest at St Patriok's that you would abstain from strong drink?" asked Sub-Inspector M'llvoney of a witness in the Police Court in Auckland. "I did," was the reply. •" How long did you keep it?" /'About two hours,' returned the witness, amid laughter. A Dalmation from Kumeu wrote to tho Auckland City Recruiting Station offering his services for tho front. Ho described himself as a Dalmatian Slav, and said ho was twenty-nine years of ago. He concluded his letter with the wordsj "I will come at once if you want me to." The Recruiting Office replied that, owing to a Departmental regulation, the enlistment of Dalmatians was prohibited. The offer was therefore declined*

' A sarcastic answer was given by an expert witness in the Rua trial in the Supreme Court in Auckland. Mr J. R. Lundon asked witness why, in the latter' 3 grammar on the Maori language, the word "patu," meaning "to strike with an instrument," had been omitted from the vocabulary. Witness replied that the word " patu " was probably omitted when the grammar was published three years ago, for fear that its inclusion might have clashed with the Rua trial I

During his recent visit to Suva, Fiji, Sir Rider Haggard stated that he owned a club which belonged to the celebrated xKing Thakombau's father, Tanoa' the great warrior of Fiji. "It is well authenticated," said Sir Rider, "and I believe it was used for executions. It was given to a friend of mine by Ratu Epeli, Thakombau's son, and there are on it 103 notches cut, eacli o7 which represents men killed. You can see , from the deferent style of aotch when a new exeoutioner came on."

A very successful euchre party and dance was held in the Halswell Public Hall last evening, in aid of the fund for soldiers' send-offs. During the evening Mr Paterson (chairman), on behalf of the Patriotic Committee, presented Troopers' Coo, Deary and StreeW with souvenirs. Trooper Coe suitably responded. The prizes wero won by Mrs Ferguson and Mr Maloney, and the booby prizes fell to Mr A. EU and Mrs M'Drury. Dancing was kept up till two o'clock. Messrs Rowler and Pope supplied the music. At a meeting of the general coramittee_ of tho Canterbury Sheepowners' Union hold on Wednesday the question of instruction iu shearing and woolclassing by technical colleges Avas discussed at some length. It was reported that the total number, of students receiving instruction in shearing at the Christchurch Technical College was sixty-eight, which showed an increase over tho previous year's figures. In the shearing competition held at the metropolitan show students gained first and third prizes in the machine shearing section. During the season over 6000 sheep were shorn. # It was stated that the accommodation is very restricted for the amount of work that the college is doing, and the College Board - hopes that it will be in a position to so enlarge the shed at tho show grounds that the number can be increased and arrangements can be made for the classing and pressing of the wool on the ground instead of carting it up to tho Technical College to be handled there.