Local and General.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11841, 11 February 1903, Page 4

Local and General.

It has been decided,that tbe new America Oup defender is to have a balanced' rudlder. ' Benny postage between the United' States Greaib Britain, France, and' Germany -in recommended by the American PostmtasterGeneral. Amongl'the 6000 tramway car drivers and' conductors in Vienna tihere are stated to be 400 knight*!, 50 barons, and 4 counts, besides btner nobiemfen. Th© total yield from when gold was first discovered in Victoria, to the close of last yean? is 65,913,912 ounces. . Ninety-two thousand pounds wan provided by the Admiralty last year for the payment of good condluct money to petty ■officers and bluejackets. Mi. J. L. Stevenson is erecting very commodious offices in Wicksteed Place, adjoining Messrs. Treadwell and Moßefh's 1, for Mr. 0. H. Borlase, hamster and solicitor. At a meeting re thfe disposal of; the fnuda from the recent Floral Fe.te at Auckland' i<? was decided that the neti receipt®, £536, bo divided as follows: One-third to the Vencrans' Home and the remainder to the Lad--etf Benevolent "Society. The followoitag tenders have been received by the Public Works Department for the Woodville Post Office <jcm*racfc: , Accepted : E. T. Rendte, Wookhh'&e, £2005. Declined': A. Cooper and Son, Napier, £2250; A. H. )Christie, Wanganui, £2352; J. Griffin, Napier, £2433; A. J. Sabih, Takapuna, £2656. The fiitft, of the aeries of young bird races (for Derby rung birds), under the auspices * of the WaagaßUfi Pigeon Flying Clulv. took place b» Sattisfday last, ' the course being / fiom Feilding, an air-line diiatanoe of 43 miles. Thirteen birds competed, and the 'weather;.at both ends of the journey was perfect. The winner turned up in Mr. Jenkins' Snowsltormi, who accomplished tihlc . dittt'ance in the. fast tfim© ,ojf; 46 mdnufces, making a velocity of 1645 yards per miv- • ute. Mr. Cooper took .second and third prize*, and Miv Jf. tt^dl waa fourth. Mr. Buckrell's alteration sale will be con•tunned for another three veeks, and substantial reductions are made throughout. Special attention s asked for miens and boys' clothing, whiehi is beinsr cleared at cost. No inconvenience is occasioned* to customers by the work proceeding; in connection with the alterations. Messtrs, C L- Duigan and! Co., auctioneers and land' agents - direct special attention td the auction sale of the choice town sections in the'Collins' Estate and: "Mr. Thomas Ward's house and full quarter-acre in Harrifpn street. The sale takes place on Saturday'next, the 14th> ineiamt, a* 2.30 p.mv Full particulars will be found in another column. A local business mian, who has lately been impressing upon hits wife itih© necessity for economy in the domestic regions, was ■horrified las* night when he gob homer to his dinner. He '?at borne before the table cloth waa laid, and, to iw surprise, Jneitead ol the ordinary whit© .pine table he liad been-accustomed; to •see; h.b found that his . wife had obtained a handsome mahogany one. Be looked as black as thunder at Mis wife, and .gave her a fine lecture upon her extravagance, but he looked very, sheepish when she talc! him.' that slve had onj£.purchaaed a small bottle of Jackson's 'combination" mahogany varnish sfcain frour Mestss. R. and' E. Tinße^ tlie well k^wn decorators/Victoria Avenue. After that to kissed his wife and ate a good dinner. ' An apparently di*res,sted ■; correspondent write a* follows :—O tfutii j>atr«fc. .... bell street. Scene T.: TimD,S ; aa».- An . ; anciry rum, with' an aching hca*! wife! 1 cannob sleep; tliat awful parrotiia» got on miy nei-ves. O for.a yinotgim,: an#O for liberty to *k°ot- Sceiie l A ''*&?-' :m? a' Paitaent haw been awake most ofi«fbt.nagW), and towards inomng has juifb dojied off. The watdner, too, who almost worn out with anxiety, has diroiwwi into, the land! of sleep but not to rest, fof in her dreamfi she i*s hauutbedi by ci'ies of agony and dfer tre* and direams of the dreadful knife. *hm> aAVakenrf wftlh a throbbiingi Mad, • andl is greeted1 with nn .imploriag Joofe as the eutferer pleads; "0, iitukkv eani, nothing be done to sjilence that awiM bird1 V''O ye who possess screeohnj^f parrofej and nerves of adamant, rememiber your neigmxnir, who !<• not. «o blessed, a-nd if you must keep your parrot take ,'t. and take up bush iand or t'mi'jriia-te to the Kermaidee' Islands, and earn the itastinsr grabft-ude of a sufferin,!,' neighboui'hood. -1

Ih* 19th instant has been declared a spodial Basis holiday.

St. Andrew Kilwinning Lodge meets tomorrow evening. Visitors are cordially invited. . It is proposed to hold a regatta at Ly,tteiiton during the visit of the Australasian Squadron next month. Wiltihia a month the new cone formed

Wiltihia a month the new cone formed recently in the crater of Mont Pelee, Mar-tiukp-e, has inareasedl about 330 feet in height.

In future the local letter carriers will' observe Thursday afternoon as thedr weekly half-holiday, instead of Saturday as heretofore.

The following gentlemen are to be nominated for the Licensing Committee election aa the People's Ten O'clock CandidatesMi1 Bassett, Rev. J. Cocker, Messrs John Jones, Daniel Jones, and Alex. M. McLeod. Th^y"will, if elected, .carry out the policy of like present Oommdttee, .which has re suited in Wanganui ha,ving the hest-con-du<ked hotels in the colony. The Moderates have nominated Colonel Sommerville>, N. Meuli, J. H. Burneiti, Arthur S. Bignell, and James Richardson.

Our respected; townsman Mr. James Garland Woott .leaves by the Stormbirct this evening for a few weeks' trip to Wellington* and thte West Coast. Mr. Woon hag been far from well lately, but we hone that the change will quite set him up, and that he will return in possession of his wonted health.

We were tfhown last) nighti (says the Southland "Times") a euriosiitftr in the way .of a .shell. The specimen was of the kind commonly known as the muss-iel, but was of extraordSnary1 ;isiae, anteaawaSiDg 17 dnch.es in length and 7 inches dn breadth. It had evidently been uninhabited for some time, but was in an excellent state of presentation. The .«heli was found) by Mr. Brag^e altj Port Adventure, Stewart Island.

We take the following from Monday's Lytfeeltoß "Times":—The Woolstbn'Baml, land the xnajoritv of the members of <tih!e Southjand battalion, Kaikoral, and North East Valley Bands arrived in Christchuich yesterday. The returnin|g bandsmen are loud in their praisea of the Warsaflui Garrison Band', the general opinion being tbati it should have been placed first.

. It' ia stated upon very good authority (says the Sydney "Commercial News?') that in Sydney Harbour, on the date of the Kaiser's birthday, &v officer from an. American iship then in port went aboard the North German Lloyd steamer Prinz Regent Luitpold! and requested the commander of the ahr> to take down the Stars and Stripes from among the bunting with which he had decorated his «ihip. Whether the request was or was not complied with is not stated, but it remains that the incident was such a surprise that) it has brought about a condition of affairs best described by the phrasa "strained relations."

The last mail from Japan records a football match under Rugby rules played between a native team and! the fifteen of the Yokcthama Athletic Club, which is composed of foreigners, most of wihom, are English and Americans. This is the first international even* of the kind, and shows that Young Japan is adopting sports as well as more serious things from the West. Ten years ago Japan had practically no sports j escept cock-fighting—'Which does not make for athleticism—-and wrestling, in which the performers were a small and distinct caste. The higher classes then looked, down upon most forms of activity, though the lower, ( its an islan draee, produced some of the ] most expert boatmen and swimmers in the, world. Cricket—thanks to the English clubs, which exist; in. every settlement, and the presence in Japanese waters during the summer of the British fleet—has already taken some jhold oiJT.fche native intelligence, and tie day. may not lie fat' distant when one may see an Anglo-Japanese match at Lordfs. ■ .

A theatrical artli&t named!. Mile. Lucie D'Aragult waa awalcened the other iiighfti ifwmtJea the "Daily Mail") by hearingi footsteps in the dining room of her jipartments in the Boulevard d!e Port; Royal. She rose and found lieiwlf conftwhted by a mw\ faultlessly dressed!, but wearing noi>ieless sandals. The "gentleman" at once made an ardent declaration to the young wiomi'an, asserting that! he <had let himself into the apartmetftf at that Hour so as to be sure of an interview with, her. Mile. D'Argault showed her nocturnal visitor to the door, butafter he 'had gone sha noticed that several articles of furniture in the drawing room had been broken, and tihasb a sum of £280 in bank notes. was missingl. A bos containing abut ?£4OO worth) of jewellery and a magnificent fur collar Tiad' also disappeared.

To show whait. a high place the cul* of atbletiKJism holds in regardl to the teachers of the colony, it may be. mentioned' (says the Poverty Bay "Herald") that! almost without, exception the eight applicants for the position of assistant master to tihe Gisbome High School laid stress on tiheir ability "to hold tiheir mft ui>" at crjekjfc or football. All possessing X^niyerei'ty degrees —one in la.w, another in •science, and the remaining majority in art* —they still bore edTlective -witiness- of the proverb, "Mens >iana. in corpora sano,"iand! thaft* their testimonials includb many eviidencey of their skill in games which go to keep the bodiy in proper training aodl balanced with the mind. One South Canterbury applicant referred wltih pride to' *he fact that he had represented liis province oh the football field, while another Southerner, this time from the cold shacks .of Otaw, enclosied a testimonial from the captain of the Universfity fiffceert, certifyung, fteiti ttio aippilicant had! done his duty in keeping on the ball in many a *crn melee characteristic of the Rugby game. :

This is how (^riatehTiTcb "Truth" puts it: —There is aometlhjrig wrong with the Arbitration Act, and Mr. Seddon has discovered .it.•'There are two sftrange cirQum.-, stances to ponder upon, bub there is titraiyrer still to follow. Mr % _Secßdbn -has told a deputation of workers'in effectl this: 1. That a radical change w ttecessary. 2. That, a Court presided; over by a Supremo Couifc Judge is a failure.' 3. Thaib the Arbitration Court is deisrradSng. the Supreme Court. 4. Thaiti the Legislature wil!l! tlake good care that it does not continue. Mr Justice Cooper and 'Ms two companions upon the Benchfc have been weighed) by Mr. Seddon and found wanting, analysed and found imperfect, summed un and; found deficient. They are' a/failure and a de,«widatiion, and the Legislature! (which is Mr. Seddon) will sweep them off the face of the earth. "All these things have been revealed to a doptftafoion of unionwittf who waited! ou Jtho Premier to com/plain of the administration of tbif. law by the Court. It i« a v'hastly condition of.thin^ when the Prime ilitoister of a colony descends to discuss with the parties to a case the actions of the trf&unsd— duly conetfthited by th« Leßxsa3,--turifr "iind pre'aded over by a Judge of the Supremie Court—which has to try that case. What hope can there be of justice or of proper respect for the <3ieciHionsi of a Court of Law when such a 'ribate of affairs existb? Th« very Court has "been tiha-eatened, and! the powera of iOwi." Oorernment-- shaken at it if it doe* not da what, the workers— who a(lone have oompihiined—waot it to do. Pemos is iadeetf %3XVS& W& <J*y«