LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10881, 23 February 1903, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The beneßt that comes to- a newspaper from its advertising is infinitesimal as compared with that received by the advertisers themselves* and by the public. The newspaper is no more than a business, and takes no more money than the ordinary^ business in the course of a year. Therr arc many advertisers in a newspaper, and each can make a profit out of the extra sale* caused by advertising. The public byreading the advertising columns arc often enabled to both make and save money. ;

An extra expenditure of- .£1419 has been necessitated in connection with the building of the cter sheds for the Wellington electric tramways in order to comply with the requirements of the Public Works Department.. '» The subsidised "direct service" steamer Dsvon left Australia for SoutH. Africa with New Zealand produce exactly 1 four weelts alter the date on which she le|t Wellington. It is instructive, in the face of this (says the Otago Daily Times), to consider what is being done to promote trade between Argentina and South Affica. The British steamer Ilford arrived at /Capetown- -' oh December 26, from Buenos A'y-tes, with" a cargo of. mules, produce, etc.? making ' ■ the passage in a little over 14 days. The'Ilford was especially constructed »in ,1901 • for the cattle trade, and can comfortably, carry 1300 head of cattle and 2300 r> sheep, ; besides other goods. The agents at^Gapetown lay themselves out to .give the fullest information regarding Argentina, and exhibit a complete set of photographs of -the breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, mules',' 'etc., , as well as samples of products. l For a lonely arid many-sided iob there are (says the "Railway Magazine") not many to compare with that of the station agejjit at Corrour Station, on the West Highland section of the North British railway, who acts as station-master, signalman, porter, goods clerk, booking clerk, pared clerk, telegraph clerk, ipostmaßter, and ( postal v telegraph clerk. He is perched on the' top of a hill in Inverness-shire, 1350, feet j above sea level, two miles from his nearest neighbour, ten miles from school, twenty- * eight miles from a doctor, baker, butcher, shoemaker, or tailor, yet the number-of letters that pass through his hands is wonderful. For two months over 6000 letters and parcels came by post, 800 parcels by train, and, in addition, 600 postal telegrams were received. If 'he wishes to send a letter 'by post to his nearest brother-in-trade. seven miles distant, it has to cover 185 miles before it reaches him. In the morning he finds the grouse sitting on the top of .the house and on the window sill, and often, enough the red deer and mountain hare eat his kail. * ,

There is probably no bandmaster who is so widely known as the Band King of America, Mr.Soussa, who has brought his band to such a pitch of perfection as to arouse the -envy of his compeers, and in the course of a tour in England last year .his arrival at each place aroused the people to a veritable pitch of enthusiasm. It is,, therefore, interesting to notice that, he baa introduced two new instruments into his band, one of brass with a narrow bore,^and another which looks like a euphonium, except that it has two bells. Mr Souasa says that the former is really a huge bass built according to his own suggestion,., and therefore named after him— the .soussaphone. The other is a double-belled euphonium, a remarkable instrumenting that it has a contrivance for using the bells,- or sound outlets, alternately according to-Te- - quirement. The big bell has a baritone voice, and the small one is tenor.. Another, ' instrument new to English audiences ■ is • the surrussophone, invented by a Frenchman, M. Surruss. Two other instruments which help considerably to the effectiveness of the band, and which at the same time are very little known, are the corno'bassetto, the alto to the clarionet family/ and the corno anglais, the alto to the hautbois family. . ■• - The St. Arnand correspondent of the Melbourne Argus reports' a rather exciting theatrical incident. It seems that the Mayor -visited the local' Town Hall, where the Corrieks' Company of Entertainers were billed to appear, ' and found that the hall piano had been removed from the landing on to the stage, in contravention, of a resolution of the Borough Council. Mr Corrick, senr., was present, and the Mayor demanded that th& piano should be returned to the landing adjacent to the stage. Mr Corrick said he would not allow the piano to be touched. The Mayor retired and returned a little later with. Mr.Geyer, the Borough gardener, Mr JJmead, th« road inspector, and Mr J. Anderson, jnn*., assistant to the v town clerk. The party attempted to scale the platform, but were prevented by Mr Corrick.' During a, brief respite, Mr Cdfrick exclaimed, "Wait" till. I arm myself," and departed behind the" scenes. He returned with a bucket of water, and threatened to drench anyone who approached the piano. Mr Geyer, the ' gardener, who was covered with mud,""hav i ing arrived from working in the bed of a lake, bounded' on to -the platform, and^ a wrestling encounter ensued between "him and Mr Corricks the latter becoming covered in mud from the gardener's embrace. The Mayoral pasty stood by and waited,ldevelopments. After an exhausting struggle' the combatants released .their holds :anßi" stood trembling. Mr Corrick, when- he recovered, his breath, sent a boy for "*£h!e police. Mounted-Constable Heny iwks promptly on the scene, and Mr Corrick asked him to take tjhe Mayor in charge. The constable 'declined, and "advised -Mr Corrick to get ,a warrant. . A palaver ensued, and eventually the. difficulty was .got - over by the Mayor refunding, tne mon"ey -paid for the hire; of the piano, and^-Mr Corrick giving his consent to the assistants ., coming on thfi stage to remove the piano. Mr Coirick obtained a piano from a ;gr'ivate source for the , * >

The Sydney "Evening .News contains the following amusing skit under the heading "Strained relations.'-' — "It Is ' rumoured in the 'Evening News' office that Mr Laurence Foley, the retired champion boxer of New South Wales, is dissatisfied with the 'inter- , view' with him which'we published in these columns lately,. and it- is understood in wellinformed circles that he intends calling round here to conduit an 'interview' on his own account, and in his own way. The receipt of this news naturally called for quf immediate mobilisation. Patrols are oour\ r daily in the direction of Mr O'Sulliyan's '. office, and in the matter .of home defence, preparations are being pushed on with fe--verish haste. The fireplace in the. reporters' room has been fitted with' a flight of steps leading A 'up the ohimney; and at - every window of the editorial department there is a ropeladder which should give speedy access to the street, provided that two people don't try to £o down the ladder at once. The sub-editor intends; . if surprised, to get into the 'copy lift' and will himself up to the. floors *abov,e. A false alarm occurred this morning, when a gen- ■ tleman with a.de termined thin and black- 1 , whiskers Was seen ascending the stairs; The 'renorters'room was emptied in 15 3-81 sec.,-:, which must be looked unon 'as very credi- , table, considering how little traininapthey have hnd. All that the visitd* saw was .the coat tail of the last reporter disappearing, no the chimney. The printers, who live at the top of the building, are btfsy entrenching themselves behind a laager of linotype machines; and in this crisis 0 we cannot speak too highly of the heroism' and selfsacrifice of one compositor, who' has offered "■' to engage the visitor while the 1 rest, of -bis comrades seek' shelter. 'Of course I dow't to make any kind of a^show with him,' he says, 'but. at any rate/ I'll meet him at the tor» of the stairs, and lust keep' the flies off him till you clear otft.' The man who wrote tho 'interview' bas put xm a false board and whiskers, handed his i name and taken to the- bush. ' H& Was seen,' ' • ' a"d shot at. two nights ago,, by a' selector'"' hoped to the reward. It "is.jtlfor oi • {nre, no n«» for Mr Folev". to call ! hfer« to interview him. Further developments are\ anxiously awaited."

A, horse, dray, and load fell over an embankment at Geelong., Victoria, a height of 60ft. The dray wsw smashed to pieces, but the horse escape^ unharmed. The quarterly repttft of the Inspector of Hotels for the meeting to be held on the 4th of March, has been deposited with the clerk of the Licensing Committee. Mr Justice Edwards remarked at the Supreme Court this 'inofning. that the deafness of jurors came on in a remarkable manner about thertime of the sittings of the. Court. " 7

The West Australian Government have ■ accepted a tendfllr for the erection of ■ a State hotel at I/epnora, to cost .£4900. This will be the secoua hotel in West Australia managed, by the^State. Brisbane, piftiers quote an "educated Chinaman* as .saying, "Australia is now in the same position as %vas China 4000 years ago, when the^CMnese built a wall to- keep everything aA^ everybody out." Residents An Ffelorus Sound intend to make strong Representations in the proper quarters wUh a view to bringing the merits of £fte district from a tourists's point of viefr before the public. The buttfer export trade at Patea is increasing rajpidlv. There were 10,000 boxes of butter<saipped at that port in 1901, but last year'jfoe number had grown to 79,000 boxei. L Among/ the many sufferers from influenza «'■ London shortly before the mail left was/the" Rev. M. R. Neligan, Bishopelect Si Auckland, who had rather a severe<iptack. MoWmmedan depositors in the Post Office savings bank are enriching the British Government, as their religion forbids them/to receive interest. They insist on taking out no more than they have put in. Dqrring the past season a Rangitikei farther has dehorned 180 cows. He found the&tunyp when smeared with lime healed md/e quickly than when tar .was used, and ttaft the animals appeared to suffer less psin. ©r Samuel Smiles, of "Selp Help" fame, iiAs celebrated his 90lh birthday. The ■veteran still retains his interest • in liter?a"ture and politics, and enjoys what for a anan A of 90 must be regarded as excellent health.

Some, remarkable threshing has been A<Ml&. this season by Mr Henry Khnber, of Springston, Canterbury. On his own farm at Greenpark, 98 bushels of grass seed per acre were threshed, and at Motukarara he put through 960 bushels in four hours, equal to 3000 bushels a day — a world's record.

A few days ago a young lady whilst in the convalescent stage after an attack of diphtheria left her room against the advice of her medical attendant to fulfil a wedding engagement at Ballarat, Victoria. Since the. ceremony the mswly-made husband as well as five of thjj^guests who attended the wedding have contracted the disease. • ... Lady. 'Guendolen Ramsden-, writing in the Nineteenth Century on "Society," says incidentally: — Good manners are often to be met with in -a 'bus or a third-class railway'carriage. There you are welcomed with kind hands stretched out to lift your birdcage or bandbox. It is surprisingly rare to meet with common civility in a first-class carriage.:"

Mr T.\ Clark, of the Cave Eock Hotel, Sumner, has forwarded to Captain Hutton, of the Christchurch Museum, a fish which, so far as is known, has never been caught in these waters before. It is about 2ft in length, about 6in in depth, and of a dark colour. It is thought to be the blackfish (Centralopfcus ni#er), which occurs in the ■waters oft the Atlantic and , Mediterranean.

In the course of an interview at Sydney, Sir Joseph Ward said he had no doubt that the recent press criticism in London affected the New Zealand loan prejudicially. He does not think the uneasiness of the money market will last long, as there is nothing to justify the condition now prevailing. %

Some remarkable prison feats of a music hall performer, whose boast is that he is the "Handcuff King" and "Champion Jail Breaker," took place at Leeds.' The city police placed three pairs of handcuffs upon the man with his hands behind his back. He was put into a cell in a nude condition and the door was doubly locked. In 2min 56sec the man walked into the open corridor, having taken off the handcuffs and opened in 13 seconds the door of tlie/cell in which < lurries Pearce was once confined.

Messrs A. Hatrick and W. G. Bassett were absolved from service on the Grand Jury this morning, the former asking to .be excused in, consequence of his mayoral dnties, and the latter because he 'was a local delegate to a conference to be held in the South Island and desired to leave by the midday train. Mg|ars H. G. JForlong, A. Heron, and J. Ifowe were excused from the common, jury, the former on a doctor's certificate of illness, Mr Heron as one of the pflicers of the Post Office, and Mr Lowe because of' deafness. ' •• '

Mr Stead has a paper in the "Y^ung Man" on Mr Carnegie, whom he describes - as "one of the pleasantest, jolliest, and most good-natured of mortals." '!He is in his sixty-fifth year, and he is as keen as if he were a. lad of seventeen in all simple, healthy, and natural' amusements. He has kept his youth extraordinarily well'/ there is a robust boyishness about him which is very remarkable for a person of his years. The possession of an enormous »fprtune, which has accumulated in the course of a lifetime at the' rate of about a million a year, does not weigh him down in the least. 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a, crown/ does not apply to this uncrowned^ king of the modern world. He is as chirpy as a cock-sparrow, and seems to feel tfie weight of his responsibilities no more tfhan if he were a bird." "That," adds Mr- Stead, "is tho man as I know him. Therq may be, probably there is, another side, t»ut I have never come across it." - ( Writing from New Plymouth? Mr Felix Tanner, late of Waihi, parachutist, submarine, and inventor of the /"improved airship," informs the Auckland Star that he has been offered the, job ,to (j «recover the sunken treasure and specie /lost in the Elingamite wreck. Mr Tanwfer states he has made improvements to ' the present deep-sea diving geaT, and, 5* he can obtain leave from the New Plymouth Harbour Board, where lie is no*?* working, he intends to make the attempt at all hazards. Mr Tanner, when residing at Waihi, constructed a model of lm new airship, and on one or 'two occasions successfully underwent -"execution by hanging" on what he deemed to b<? <a' properly-con-structed fallow -before af public audience. Mr Dinner also ..gave an, exhibition of tight-rope, walking, and .olaims that • he fasted 40 days, at the Melbourne Exhibition. \ , " f > V Sale of Star Cycles. — l?pr one month Star cycles of the highest quality will be sold at a big reduction — Stax/Road Racer (<£22), reduced to <£20, nett cash ; Star Roadster, i <£23, reduced to .£2O nett cash ; Star Ladi?s' * (£23), reduced to «£2O^uett cash. Secondhand machines iakei^, in part payment. Easy terms arranged/ if required. Only one quality made— 4fye best; no second quality. We have 'ouly a limited surplus stock of Star Cycles^© sell. Sale price will be stopped and original prices charged immediately the -surplus stock is sold. Come at once and..selec#ijour cycle. The first reduction ever-,inafij>e in 1 Star .Cycles, and is due to our imnort^jbions having been very heavy. — Adams > S^Tj Cycle Co,, Avenue, Wanganui.