LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12240, 14 June 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

_ Tenders for cleaning and repairing clocks are invited by the- Railway Department. *

The .members of the Highland Rifles •ire reminded of the parade called for to-night. Every member must attend.

• The distribution of certificates in connection with (the Associated Board will take place in St. Paul's Hall on Fiiday evening next.

The collection of birds jind* animals, presented by the.Duke of Bedford ;to the Wellington Zoo, arrived by, the Wakanui in excellent condition. '

The last of tho fines imposed by tho Arbitration Court, "over two years ago, on strikers at the Smithfietd (Tiniaru) and Pareora Freezing Works was- paid in Timaru last week. , The s.s Wakanui, which arrived at Wellington, from London on Saturday morning, brought forty-five nominated and assisted passengers" Of these/eighteen were assis'red by: the High "Commissioner ;■"' b The total capital brought •by thesei passengers is~£l79o. - The Junited Bible classes of St. Paul's and St. Andrew's, churches held a most successful "strangers' tea" last evening, there being an attendance of sbnie 60 young men. We understand that there will-be a series of these at regulai; in-t terra's during flic coming year^ ' '"

. In view of the'sculling race- on Tues-; •jay, Juiie 22nd, owners and drivers of» Ciptors 'should: note that three! bridgeson the Kiver Bank- Road (at Field's; . Gre^k; Native Reseryo, and. Fleniing-i ton)j, hnye been declared by the Waito^' tavacCotiniy Couiicil to^bs unsafe .for' loads over r two tons, in , weighib ineriiding- the vehicle. See adVeftisenierit • in? another :«)iumri.'; ; : ■'■.'■■' ; ; • '

At the meeting of the New .Zealand .•.Rxtgbv.;-.lJnion Management ■ Comniitteeii on Thursday last on the recominenda-i: tion of t the School Grants Committee, i tho eraKcts were allocated as follow :^-: Bay £3, Tamnaki £&; Wanganui £12, Manawa-tu £8, Wairarapa, £3, Nelson £8, Marlborough £8, Bulfer £9, Canterbury £12, South Canterbury £10, Southland £12, Wellington £12.,

I •Wj&jnotiee by our '.Wellington contemporary that Messrs'.B.' and£. Tingey and Co., Ltd., painters, decorators, of Wellington,' were^entrusted with the fainting, decora^tinig,: v grazing and em-; i^ublij^;--Trttg6'?Qffice[j which is^n^w rami'pietecl,l and taken possessibn-of-byi -the: ■ 'Department. W« are pjeased'to see I that this Company .has vbeen entrusted with such important "work, and that the artistic manner in which ; they have finished it • has won the . firm well de-' served praise.,, - ';-.-.. v^V:'*"''r---:- r ' .Sti" A. ilatrickj Prfesidentfof the Iceai branch of the New- Zealand Defence. has sent the" following to the, •■■'Minister- of Defence ::"In rfelerenco to thp yisit^to^thei Doniinion of;the> C^narifle oadot team/1 write'dn behalf of tholocal branch of the New' Zealand Defence League to express the;:hopethat'* Wangani^i may be included in tlie, places to be visited. We cpulcf promise; to extend a cordial welcome^ aiid'ihake' the t ,visit pleasurable. We would 'also arrange'a match with a team froni our,locals cade,t corps. • I understand/-that!; ngemehts in? ; cQnne^ti»n; | jwith^C *fh«ii visit of the"iCanadrah boys are in" your Department's hknds/' neriW rmy! ' writing you." . ' ■' -■•".-■•'■; •" ■■■ '■' [:"::',■''-'',"''■

I It. is estimated- that, about 150;000 sacks of whea£, and- the same quantity of, "oat 3 were shipped from ..New Zealand . last month ;l There is- more" grain offering than direct steamers <", Homer wards can take, and ;the consequence is that shipments ere being mad© to Australia for transhipment^ freight by that 'route being Is cheaper than, from here direct.^ The Gxplanatj^n is understood to. ..be, that shipping •cbhipaiiies in New Zealand have enough cargo offering (including a "lot <>ffrozen moat) from their regular - customers, whom they cannot sacrifice for the sake of "casuals." Over 20,000 sacks of oats are to be shipped, at (Dunedin by the Union Company's steamer Waihora, for transhipment at Sydney for Great Britain". '

• Colonel:Cooper,'speaking <at a meet* ing of ladies held in Christchurch, with the object of interesting;: them in the volunteer movement, said the ladies should realise what a power they might be in the niatter. For in^a&l'e. nrery lady going Into the ballroom conld refuse- to dance with a man who did .riot, ,|eear tha King's uniform. *If,'«he.-;(thep .speaker) were a woman he would'podn!W bo a "wallflower".than,dance- with a ' man" who had hot the interest of tM British nation at heart. They* should instil the same sentiment 'into- their da tight era and their servants, and in less than two years there .would ,not be a, man in -New 'Zealand' wh.6 would" hot be aphamed of himself if ht> wem not avolunteer; A.s a result of the roeeiiftg; Mrs Batchelor, "the wife of Captain Batchelor. called ■■ a meet'ng of ladies, who formed themselves into a committee, and guaranteed to obtain twenty recruits for the local.oorpsr -~;/

The end of: Amy Bbck?s escapades has not vet- been reached (remarks the 'Gore "Standard.'-) The latest story has it that a certain Southland girl who received a term ofv imprisonment' i>ecame acquainted; with '■■ Amy white sery-t ing. her sentence1, both bein^incarcerated at th© panw period ahcmt fcixteen year's ago. They became fast friends*which is another testimony to fho foot, that one touch of nature _ makes the whole-world kin. After being released from pranlvthfi girl from the South .took p. situation as cook in a southern district, and she proved "■ an adept in the ; culinary nrt. While* th*re became intimately " acquainted with a young nian, who afterwards went to Sydney. An!d this is where Amy copies i". She csniO! Sonth t'> spend a lone holiday wiih. her friend, and Jeanied that the laH'r was corresnr;nding with her young man in Sydney. . Confidences were exchanged, and Amy leariK>d thai the young man de^'red his swoeth^art's cWrs'pnt to ma'rnge, but she would hot give it. Amy/aw her ooportuTiit.'f and stoppH into thA bro.nch. Obtaining, the address of the, yonntr man in Sydney, she wrote him a letter <ymsen#ng t,o marriagp on coi'tain condit'oiis that sh« received a sum of money, of which. «lw was in sore rioed. and signed Ker. friend'? name, tr* the.letter:. Tl?»..i w'rjHng of the friend wi, so well inv'-r tit-^d and th^ fty^o of dicrfe:on so well copied, that thY roung man was overjoyed and sent the money.

There was a veiy large audience at St.- Paul's Church last evening, when the Rev H. J. Lewis preached a fine; sermon on "Miracles, Law and Prayer-". A report of the sermon will bepublished, by us tcrmorrow. . . i

As showing the productiveness of Tauranga soil (says the "Fe-lding Star"> it is mentioned that Mr E. Howell ha^s shelled 81 bushels of maize from an area of Seven-eighths of an acre, whichj. after pitying expenses, shows a net profit of G per cent., computing the value of the land at £200 per acre.

What is believed to bo a deliberate attempt to burn down Winter's store and bakery at Wairoa -(Hawke's Bay), was discovered on Friday. A quantity of. paper was burned and the wood work had caught but want of air extinguished. the fire;, which would have bsen a serious matter had it got a* firm hold. Mr Winter only had a small insurance and heavy stock.

Mount Egmont is remarkably free from snow for this season of the year. One gentleman, who has closely observed JGgmont for half a century, informs the "Daily Times" he has -never seen it so clear of snow in June. .Many people are inclined to- - become anxious, feeling that it is the warmth of the mountain that is melting the snow, and thatf Egmont, like Ngauru4ioe, will become active. It is rather remarkable that whilst Egmont is practically clear, Ruapehu is more than half covered in sriow.

A batch «f IjL Chinese appeared at the Auckland Police Court on Thursday last,-charged with working in"their various Jga-rdens on a Sunday.., After tho first difficulty of sorting-them outhad, beehgot over, it was found that in the ease of some of them their known ledge of English was limited and an "in-| terpreter was procured forthwith. One of tho bunch- pleaded not guilty to the charge of working on Sunday, saying that it was a cold, -frosty morning, and he only went out ta pull up a few weeds fis they were' hkrmful' to yoting plants. The Bench 4 however, showed no sympathy, and the whole lot were convvCtet and "fined 20s each, with 10s costs. \

The Stratford. "Post" "states that whilst engaged in the work of eon; struction at the site of the future Hiiiai kawav railway, station^ a. workman cam^j across a live frog embedded in tli^ sandstone at a depth of ten feet. When released by the Breaking^ open of the lump of rQckv'.'ui--'"jr^iidii;.-'it'"'wa(SL' encased the reptile first sat up, and -then hop. ping away reached a drain] into whicli it" lopped and swan cheerfully; away. after the- usual manner- o£ ite&u£d.>.Twc other' creditable witnesses also testifj to the t circumstances, phich ', affoeds rather^'-interesting^ first-hand:-proof what one often reads about irijbooka.: >

Thd conditions of "the Government's offer of a bonus bu mineral oil pro duced in New Zealand'are gazetted.:^ bonus of 3d per ialjon (£6250) will-be paid on the first 500,000 gallons of mineral oil produced;in the Dominioni.TJfit mineral oil in ..the .refined,state must have a, specific gravity of ;" 0,.814 l^to o.B^o, and { a". flash jppint ,6if not, liesi than 83 degrees Fanr. by ~';,tKe'> >:./A|)!B] closed test. Notice of intention •tc claim" the bonus.must 'be jjiven in writing td the Minister -of Mines riot latei than March 31st, 1912^, -and the claitt must be made before March 31st, IQI3 Tha first claimant v who proves to "the satisfaction of th«> jGovernment that >h« has \ fulfilled' all the coaditiqns will b« entitled to receive the bbhuß^ Ail con; ditions as to quantity,; quality, priority and _value mustbe ■fiilfillilSlix)Hho' satis faction of an officer appointed for "thi purpose ;Jbe ■•■ the Government^ ~,.':■«