LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12259, 6 July 1909, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wellington Museum is to be removed to Mount.Cook, at a cost of about £16,000., ... .... .

The Wanganui Concert Company areto give a concert at Gonville on the 30th inst. in aid of the school funds.

The latest addition to the Telephone Exchange is No. 642, Mr G. H. Monk, butcher, Aramoho. -

The corrected figures of the Welling-1 ton exports for. June show a, decrease,, in values cf £5000 as compared with June, 1903. . '..„ ,; v . I

The Curator,of the Museum would be glad if those who have had tickets to sell for the concert, would'"return them to the Museum as soon as possible.

The numerous friends who so willingly "assisted at the recent Museum concert will be glad to hear that the Museum' will benefit by at least £35.

The annual general meeting of the Wanganui Choral Society will be held at J. 30 this; evening, prior to the rehearsal. •■.-•' - ' •

In connection with the recent benefit concept given at •Arampho we omitted to mention that Mr E, E. Gilbert supplied the 'piano, and Mr G. Brown did the carting free. .... . .'■.'"'

On Saturday the' harbourmaster;,,at, Hokianga telegraphed to the Marine Department at Wellington: " Two large punts, one loaded with timber, drifted to sea during a heavy gale last night.'"

Tender.? for the bankrupt estate ofJ. E. Wilson, cabinetmaker, of Hawera, are invited in another column. The business is a very long established one, and, although in bankruptcy, it even now shows a surplus of some £1300. It will undoubtedly pay a dividend of 20s in the £ and a...substantial surplus. ■■'■'■

The rainfall taken at Waitotara for June wa5:4.617-inches. The maximum fall in 24 hours was 0.815 inches, whicli warf- recorded on the':l6th-. The minimum fall in 24 hours was 0.01 inchjesj which fell on the 30th, ' The average ■ fall for June for the past three years was 3.8 inches. The month was >a showery one, with prevailing north; winds, mostly light, and it was very mild for this time of year. There Was only one frost. The maximum barometer was 30.3 inches, the minimum 29.2 inches, and the average 29.81 inches. The maximum thermometer was 58 degrees, the minimum. 42 degrees, and the average 52 degress. ;

An act of particular bravery and presence of mind was that by which John Muller, a crane-driver, recently saved the lives of nine of his mates who were working on the Zig-Zag deviation, near Lithgqw, N.S.W. Muller w-as working a crane tised for the purpose of removing dirt from the shaft at the : eastern" end of No. 1 tunnel. He had ;'the brake otf the winch arid was ''standing alongside it, when a . violent ' gust of wind caused hiih to overbalance, and, when falling, lie put out 'his-hartd to save himself, and in doing so got his hand1 in: the crank at the big end. 'The'flesh was terribly lacerated, and the thumb was torn away. He held the brake whilst in. that position until he had lowered the cage, wlncli saved the lives of the^men underneath. While his hand, a,pplied;the brake, another mail holding him on'the machine while",he. did/so1- The; doctor put ,35 stitches in the wotinded hand.

A tyncker nanied: Manard had^what appears to be an almpst miraculous escape from instant death :on the - Otira tunnel works on Tuesday ; evaning last; He was taking three fully, loaded trucks from tho mouth-of the. tunnel; to the. tip-head, when the. brakes failed;' > TThe .trucks raceddown a steep-gradient oil 1 in 3,3) and when they, neared tliie-'tip--head, about three-quarters of a m'il^ distant, wen* travelling, at-d speed of ■ about 30 miles, an hour. Manard was" on the centre truck, which fact lessened his chance of escape, as to jump would be extremely hazardous. But jump1 iv&\ did, just at the moment that the trucks trucks leaped the 34ft trestle and dropped on to the boulders in the river. He alighted on the 'trestle,- which projected • only Bin or lOin.-on either eJdej of th»:.| trucks, and how he • maiiaged to 'main- • tain his hold with the; -impetus ! him byii 30-mile an hour pace, and how he escaped being knocked off the trestlebyetiio truck behind, s^» ftKitters alto--' getiier inexp{jcftb|e^ *■■ TiMI "trucks . yi^oro 'oma'shed~to atoms, but the man escajpec? apparently uninjured.

Mr Ged.Franklin, traveller for the well known firm of D. McFarlane and Co., has decided to enter business on his own account, and has taken over Mr W. Bell's general store at Halcombe. Four draughtsmen in the Government Architect's office have received notice of. retirement. Two of them, it is understood,,, had only been put on to cope with; .an extra rush of work, but the other ..two are victims of retrench-' | meat. ■ ; There., is .at least one unemployed whose energy should be rewarded with success. He is a citizen of Napier, but > that place being like a great many other •towns- so tfar as the labour market is Iconcerned,, a number of its unemployed have taken to the road. The man in question is a fine, strapping man, and yesterday arrived in Wanganui. He called at. the .police station, and, being drenched to!'the skin, the local force kindly provided him with a change of clothing. He stated that he had walked from Napief> and about Dannevirke had passed a small army of unemployed—all ''swagging ". it and looking for work.

Speaking on the development of thfr mind, Mr. G. H. Reid, at Balmain last week, enlarged on the fact that th* greatest discoveries, so called, which had helped mankind had simply been the observation of something already in existence. The propeller now used by steamships had been used by fishes since the world began. Wireless telegraphy was spoken of as likely to revolutionise society, but it was nothing but wireless telegraphy that carried his words to the» listener at the back of the ball. Sound was carried by the atmosphere now as it always had been at work ever since tho first time., one,human being spoke to another. It was simply a development of what already existed that was open to man,, but the.field was large enough, and Marconi was only doing in one direction what others might do in a thousand different ways.

One of the measures which the Australian Federal Government proposed to submit to Parliament is a scheme of insurance .against unemployment. Ik connection:.:with this subject there is it. reference in the report of Sir John Cockhurn, submitted to the Commonwealth .Parliament'last week, on the ■'•Interns

tional Congress of- Social Insurance," held .in..Rome in October, 1903. T].» subject, elicited much discussion at the* congress. . It was admitted that good results had followed the application of this-system-'by the State in several countries.; The law in Denmark provides, for associations of workmen bt)«. longing to one of more trades, or of employees,' such as clerks and waiters. These- are-recognised by the State and receive State aid, amounting to onethird of- the /premiums collected by tha

association. A total, niot to exceed £13,500},is,distributed in proportion to the' premiums, collected, by each association. TJie' association must not accord flssfetaJnce1 (1)" to those tvho are unemployed on-, account of a strike or lock* put:^ (2)! to. sick, or those who are unable ,to ; work ;.and (3) .to those who have lost their .work through drinking habits r or bad coiiduct, or a refusal to accept the work offered by the association. Assistance may take the form of travel-" ling allowance, house rent, daily pay, or ln kind. The'daily pay must, not ex-, ceed two-thirds of the current wages iiK tho tradio concerned, and a maximum and minimum amount are fixed.

The Milan correspondent of the " Daily . Chronicle" writes to that jour'hal' that on May 20 three hundred and fifty members of the International Cotton Congress, fully one-third of whom are En£~ ■ lish-speaking people, were conveyed m j a. new. and luxuriously fitted special train to Lago Maggiore. After a. sumptuous lunch at the recently completed Regiha Hotel, the party were taken on a- steamer?trip lip the lake, where the marvellqus capacities of the new Italian hydroplane were displayed to them. It has been rconstrlicted by Signor Fagliani; a Milanese engineer, whose inventions range over a period ' of thirty years. This -water-racer is able to tear along at Flirty-five> miles an hour. It is propelled by a motor engine of only 25 horsepower. The machine presents the appearance' of' a torpedo, and when in astate of rest lies upon the surface of the wateni■ "Wllen- 'set in motion its seven "■ planes, ;aUvslightly inclined and each successive,•,one of which converges nearer tho centre,;;cause the water-flier to rise

md skim the surface. A screw propel- • lpris ftxedjatan inclined angle of 4dej£ at,',th<};ihiKder) part of the vessel, and always remains in the water. To-day Signor Fagliani/carried four passengers. ,P9 ; has just finished a larger-size hydro.jp^ne,.,whicli; can also be used at sea, attaining the I terrific speed of 125 miles an hquiv in-.smooth waters. As soon as he ji/is-cojftxpleted his series of experiments ( w rith\ l( shis: lhtest improved design, the principal!.features of which are the suh- ; stitutioji. o£-;i,the screw propeller by a pai^'Ojf^aerial1 ones and the use of benzine instead, of steam power, Signor •FafeliiailMfill';turn his attention to the- ' building -'<jf- a mammoth ocean-going ihydro'plane. -for Transatlantic pun>oses, capable of- whirling 100 passengers between Genoa and Buenos Ayres or Neu;'york^};'i..i'i.i--; • ■ ■