LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12588, 18 August 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Speaking of the great advance in motor traffic in London since his last visit five years ago, Sir William Russell says: "If the progress is as rapid in the next five years as it has been in the past, I believe horses will be as extinct in the streets of London as the moa is in New Zealand."

Of the 2304 persons who were granted old age pensions in New .Zealand last year for the first time, only 66 were born in the Dominion. There were, however, ninety Maoris in receipt of the pensions, thirty-five were Germans, sixteen Danish, thirteen Swedish, and twelve Norwegians.

The principal "barracker" at a football match at Lytteltor. the other day was a man who had equipped himself with a phonograph horn, fitted with a tin mouthpiece. He \ised the improvised megaphone almost constantly to give running comments and flippant instructions to the players, and the amusement derived from his performance by the onlookers fully equalled their interest in the play. How many people know what King George's real surname is? -. If His Majesty were to be deprived of all his titles and reduced to the rank of a commoner, lie would be known simply as Mr Wettin. The Counts of Wettiii were the founders of the Prince Consort's ancient house of Saxe-Coburg. The Prinoa Consort's name was Wettin. just as Queen Victoria's became on her marriage. Thus the present King's real name is George Wettin.

.It is current gossip in Wellington that there are several constituencies in the Dominion which would bo glad to receive the Hon. T. Mackenzie, Minister o fAgriculture, as a candidate at

the next general election. He is repored to have received encouragement from each of the Taranaki electorates. Mr Mackenzie, we understand, has never -yet definitely intimated any intention of leaving the South Island. The ■extraordinary development of the dairying industry in Taranaki, however, must appeal strongly to him as Minister or Agriculture, and give him great interest in the North. —Eltham Argus.

"He knew I - was an undischarged bankrupt, and had no business to trust me."; —A piece of good logic, !»ut not necessarily recognised by law, by a defendant in the Magistrates Court yesterday morning, when his grocer "sued him for his grocery account for .necessaries supplied.) Lest there •are others jvho have -the ;sanie idea, of their liability for debts contracted by themselves or their families whilst in the unfortunate position of this debtor, it would be as well for the little cornershop grocers in the outlying portions of the town to keep an eye on tho. Bankruptcy Gazette, a business rule which the bigger business men usually adopt. —New Plymouth News.

A resident of Richmond (Victoria) got into trouble by obliging a friend at the Commonwealth election to the extent of voting in his name. John Renlifird, about 30 years or age, was charged at the Richmond Court with having voted more than oneo at the Commonwealth election held on April 13, 1910. Defendant admitted the offence. Ren}<arii stated that he was going out- of Richmond central polling booth when ho mot a Mrs Claridge. She told him. ihat her hnsband- would not be able to get to the polling booth in time to vote, and asked him to see if he could vote for her husband. Knowing that Mrs Claridge could not read or write, ho obliged hor, and obtained the ballot papers in her husband's name. He had never previously voted himself, and v.as not aware that he was doing any v.rong .until, a constable spoke to him. The Bench imposed a fine of £2, and allowed £1 Is costs.

Lord Islington has. accepted the position or' patron to the Now Jersey Cattle Breeders' Association. Education and an inherent shrewdness have transferred tin? Natives in tho Hnwk-e's Bay from spendthrifts to saying citizens, according to Mr. J. V. l^rowii's observations. The new superintendent of theChristchisrch tramways .says the traffic in Sytfnov has grown to such an extent that underground a-aihvays are a certainty in tho .'iear future. .He estimates the cost at between £5,000,000 and. £6,000,000. 'Mr Kirkwood has intimated to the Garrison Band that he will paint them a picture for their bazaar. He takes a, great interest in our band, being a, musician himself, and, needless to say, his kindness is heartily appreciated. The Wanganui Hospital Board has decided that a suction gas plant be installed at the hospital. It is anticipated that there will be a considerable raving effected and a better electric light obtained. Tenders2 *for installing the apparatus are to be called.. Mr. Charles Mackie, who was resident for two years in London initiating the Homo marketing scheme for the National Dairy Association, has been appointed secretary of the Patea FarmeiV Co-operative* Freezing Company. He takes up his duties on November 1. At the S.M. Court yesterday, before Sne"kii£«^aTcS?gli Vl ith having on July 24th and 31st.sold cigarettes to a boy under 15 years of age. After hearing the evidence and tho defendant's denial of having ever seen the boy, the information Avas dismissej Following the example set by other trades and professions of date, a football match is likely to eventuate shortly between the employees of Messrs R. nnd E. Tin gey (Ltd.) and Messrs W. G. Her(l and Co\ The game will be follo^ed by a dinner at the expense of tho losers, with a social and card tournoment to follow. An Oamani lad of 12 had a difference JjtfcW. M^an^humrflyJ^J morO- He mounted his father's bicycle aru ] sot oiit for Timaru, spending tho night in the open air. Arriving there,

ho proceeded to a cycle firm and enolcavoured to turn his machine into nicney. This proved his undoing, for tho police, being alert and suspicions, detained the lad and,had him sent home by train. Sir Frederick Trevas, speaking recently at the opening of the Consumption Sanatorium erected at Creation, near Northampton, at a cost of £7,000, referred to the fine work such institutions were doing in il sendingout cured consumptives to act; as missionaries in preaching the gospel of the open air "Tho idea that colds are caused by a draught," he said, "is absurd. No cold ever had such an origin. Colds are the result not of draughts, but of stuffy looms. In this age, when women arc clamouring for something to do-, surely it would not be amiss for them to tak€ up an educational crusade against the scourge of consumption," The Gvernment of Canada is now carrying out the policy propounded by Lord Dundonald of a great citizen soldiery at a cost of £1.200,000 per annum. Tho Canadian Militia consists of threo c 1 asses—the permanent, the active and the reserve. The permanent force includes 1000 men. Tho Active Militia, numbers about 5-t.OO0 > of all ranks, whose term of service is three years', and who drill for two weeks each year. The. Reserve includes all the remaining citizens between the' ages of sixteen and forty-five. Since 1904 a Militia Council has been organised, after tho pattern of the Imperial Army Council. The officers are trained afc the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario. In speaking to a "Hawke's Bay Herald" reporter yesterday o fthe Zambesi river and the" approaching contest for tho world's sculling championship, Miss Mary Hall expressed considerable doubt as tr> its possibilities as a future field for regattas. The promoters, she said, are making every effort to popularise tho place. The country is undoubtedly fine, but tho climate is not easily horns by whites uninnred to the tropics, besides which, added Miss Hall, there is always the danger of being upsst from nno's boat by a?i umveilding hippopotamus. Despite the in conoid era to habits of these animals, ft lisa Hall declared her strong disapproval of destroying them wholesale, as, it is stated, the promoters r>f tho Arnst-Barry contest are doing in r>rdcr to ensure the course being kept clear —"butchering them to make an African holiday."

Viewing the matter from tlie standpoint of broad social interest, the best '-thin" that onuld. have happened did liappen at R«r«.o on Monday last says tho San Francisco "Argonaut" of July 9th Tf Jeffries had whipped Johnson it would havo tended to sustain interest in tho pugilistic game, which as it has I come to be played is a demoralisation ! and an abomination. The practical afilure of the fight as a spectacle, combined with Johnson's success, tends to put the whole business in contempt here and everywhere Of course there will be vm™ contests of ono sort or another in the*future as in the past, but prob-; .ally we shall not have another "big fight" in a decade. Ring "sport" has lost whatever claims to respectability it may ever havo had; it has lost its flavour, lost its vogue. And for this tho world of decency should be devoutly thankful- Tho assertion that the '-white race*' suffers a loss of prestige .in this outcome is ridiculous. Jeffries represented not the white race, but ths spirit of vulgar hoodlumism. Despite tlie assertions of social and political strenu-osity, in some high places as weil a* in all low places, the whito racs does not base its claim to ascendancy in the world upon its capacity to hit and to dodge and upon the insensibility which eidures punishment. The tests of power among men and races rest not so much upon bmw:? as upon character, n^ot so much upon heft and density of body as upon weight and force of intellect. Your "best man" from the standpoint of the prizefighter is by no means the "'best man" from tho standpoint of civili-.a-tk>r. Tho game of the ring is one in which the lower order of man may have the advantage over a highor order of man. Undoubtedly tho leasi prize-fighter could "knock out"' the president of Harvard Collocre in one swift round. But that is far from proving that the ring champion is the better man.

Some time ago it was announced that an important discovery of a coal-bear-ing area had been made in the North Island. The subject is dealt with in the annual report of the Minister of Mine in the following terms: —"What may prove to be an important discovery of a good quality of lignite was made during the year a feAV miles from the Waimarino station, on the North Island Main Trunk railway. A good deal of exploration work was carried out during the year under the Director of Geological Survey, but no conclusion as to tho value of this discovery has so far been arrived at. The explorations undertaken up to the present disclose the existence of a considerable area of coal which may prove of a very good qualit> for household purposes. With a view to further proving the. commercial value of this field the Government has arranged to start a few men soon to drive a small prospecting tunnel from one of tho outcrops. This work will be put in hand almost immediately."

Although ur G-pe, whose death occurred recently, was a man of extre;r.eiy gentle and sympathetic disposition, a story is recalled by the "Westminster Gazette" of his onoe having had a bout with a pugilist. He was a curate somewhere in the north, where th-?re lived a famous boxer, who went by the name of Jim the Slogger, and who had n?yer darkened a church door. Jim called at the parsonage, and asked the cunte to baptise the baby. Accordingly the bishop repaired to Jim's house, but Mas surprised on being admitted to sco him lock tho door and pocket the key Be you the parson como to sprinkle my kid?" ho asked. On the future bishop assenting, he continued, "Yer cant sprinklo that kid till yon and me has had a fight, parson." The unfortunate parson protested, but findinc protest useless "stood up" to Jim. The .battle went in favour of the bishop, and Jim, pulling himself from the floor, muttered, "He's the parson for me. The baptism was proceeded with, and, as the story goes, Jim took to churchgoing from that day.

At Palmei-ston this morning at 7 o'clock Mr E. Travis, R.A.M., will commence his task of breaking the world's record for endurance piano-playing.

The Hospital Board yesterday decided t<; 61-ect another ward at the Wanganui Hospital. The now addition will accommodate I>< beds.

"The Caledonians'' concluded their Wanganui season- last evening, when they gave another excellent concei-t. This combination deserves well so long as it provides programmes of the standard submitted in Wanganui. the concerts having been most enjoyable.

To curb the alleged reckless extragavance now reported in all parts of the United States, and of the motor-car mania as one of the most pronounced symptoms, the hankers of Kansas city and those of the South West who are dependent on the Kansas city banks have agreed to lend no money' to anyone who intends to use the cash to biiy «_ motor-car. This boycott, says the Kansas representative of the New York World, is brought about by the wastefulness of the Kansas people in buying automobiles. Tho sum of £6,500,000 was invested in motor-ears in Kansas last year. One of the Kansas city bankers said that his safe- contained fifty-two real estate mortgages, the money for which he knew want far automobiles. In many parts of the country the possession of a motor-car, it is claimed, seems, to ba the test of a man's solvency, and debtors maintainsxthat to purchase a machine, so far from being waste, is economy, because his credit in the eyes of the world improves immediately.