LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11445, 30 December 1904, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

***The "Herald" will not be nnblished.on Monday nexib. Advertisers and subscribera will please note. By an error in our report of Tuesday's . yacht race we made it appear the -race finished at 2.21. p.m., whereas the finishing time wafc 4.51 p.m.- '■• , •'-*■'' A cable mesage from Sydney states tfcat a heat ware liaa passed; over the- State. Thirty-three station* report the. tempos-. - ture as over"'', 100 'in the shade. Goodqoga registered 117 in the shade. t ;, .. A London Gable, announces thajtV*th» Times stages that "the War Office- yesjtadaj ordered from ..Messrs Tickers, Son^and Maxim, Armstrong Company, the jvhitworth Company, and others, a-, sufficient number of 18& pounders to -, re-ann,:tl»e whole army. Durin<* the ' progress of a fire in Wellington on Wednesday Sight three >ngadesmeii had a narrow escape from death. They were working a noxzle on the sjalokinc verandah of -the building, directly" ttttder the electric lighting wires, unconscious of the fact that portions of the front" wall had fallen on tjio wires,- and that they were about to fuse. The crowd noticed the danger, and did not hesitate fo^ail out* but Ac three men in shining helmets continued their work. Suporintendcnt Hugo, however, noticed the /danger, and promptly ordered the men to "come down." A minute lator there was a loud report, and the wires spluttered and fusefl in a most alarming manner around spot where the men had been kneeling. 1 : From accident, sudden, death* and £ar-lia-mentary speeches most peopl* ixrYio v»lu» time may pray t<v be delivered (say 8 the • Sydney' Telegraph). Wh«* ,tl\e A>sombly was fednded in numbers from* 125 to 90, many people imagined that in^ a , smaller House there would necessarily b~e , less talk, but,, as far as the popular Chamber is' concerned, the quantity- h^s iit- v creased rather than diminished. In fact, last ' week's Hansard stands as a recqlrd either fin, the State, or the Commonwealth. The speeches' are spread 6ver 438 pages, and at 800 words to the page — the average number — it follows that 350,400 wor^s, .wer© uttered during that period. It shbul^ be stated, in explanation, that the Assembly sat every day but Saturday, that Thnraday'9 sitting lastod "until 6 p.rii. on Friday. However, the r-ecord stands- -. -

Nearly <£100 was taken at the gates at ..the New Plymouth Carnival on Wednesday.

During a recent fortnight over 50 tons of tobacco leaf was despatched from InTewsll (N.S.W.) to Sydney. . Racing at Kaiapoi on Boxing Day and »t Christchurch the same evening. Maurice Bahdrup placed six first and four seconds to h|S credit out of elevon starts. A party of Auckland pic-nickers came across a man lying insensible from,sunstroke on a small island. He had been in " .that condition^'unattended for two days. ,Mr T. E. Taylor's Christchurch support- • era have decided to raise a Taylor Testi--monial Fund. A committee has been- .. elected to further the proposal and-to receive subscriptions. , Our attention has , been drawn to the fact that the name of the settlement at fhe junction of the Wanganui river service . "and the North Island" trunk railway— • TAUMARUNUI— is frequently incorrectly spelled, the letter A being substituted for U in the. second syllable. An inquest into .the .circumstances surrounding the death of the man Ernest Croy, -winch occurred at the 'Wanganui Gaol yesterday' "morning, was held this morning before. Mr' B. L. Stanford,, S.M. .and Coroner,, and ajury of six. After hear-, ing the evidence, the jury brought in a verdict that deceased mot Ms death from suffocation during a fit. A rider was added c that the jury consider it iiihuman that! a prisoner Buffering from delirium , tremens should be sent to gaol, unless a separate biulding is provided for the accommodation, of himself arid attendants." ; The colliery towns of Lanarkshire bid j • fair to rival Lourdes as a centre of heal- j .< iag. Three famous -,bone. spttcrs are at jfork within. a- radius ot,ftye miles— Barker at Hamilton, Eae at Blantyre and Thomas Gilchrist at Wishaw. The two latter are already long '- established,' ' arid Barker v eomesfrom London with a challenge to

the. medical world to prove. that- he canuot do what he claims. In Scotland the faculty "Ts particularly industrious in ignoring ' their' activity/ but 'this does - not in the - ■ least affect the faith they inspire' in those , who- aeek-'their aid. > Patients by, the hundred have travelled here for weeks past, ' and Eae and Gilchrist have treated an unparalleled number of cases with what--appears to be a -very considerable success. - Folk regard. Eae with the faith which, niany extend to simples and herb waters— as a refuge natural to 'the- level of their j 6Vrn life. Gilchrist, on the 1 oilier hand, i was in practice- asa - veterinary surgeon • .till .his skill in. curiugr human ailments i opened a more lucrative business to him, and in addition' to bone setting he claims j to cure sciatica by- a method of his own. j One o£ the curiosities ' of London just j

now is a young Chicago' man known as „ Captain Vetrio, who enjoys , a remarkable immunity from the .effects of many of the deadliest poisons. A number of medical specialists and others were invited J to see him dine one ■evening' at V Wosfc Bad 'Hotel. He explained, half , apologetically, .that the fare provided was not as.varied.as ' h^ 'could have wished, owing to difficulties which the English law regulating the Mw - of, poisons put in his way.' However, he was not too meagrely, supplied for the occasion. The chief items on hi»3 'bill of fare were strychnine, blue indigo, Paris .g*4en, latrophine 1 ; and phosphorus. Some were in powder form, others -were in solu- ' ,tion and served as beverages, and. all were subjected to strict independent tests. The agreed that tlier© was almost enough on the board to kill, a" regiment of ordinary. men. Captain- Vetrio. bit off the end of a stick of phosphorus, washed it .. down, with a draught 'of strychnin©, then * tried thdlue indifo^ and sb'on "cli^erttrlly j to the end of the m«nu. Acids he does not take, and. Jie has no, relish for white lead, but other poisons he is able to digest under any conditions prescribed. He intends to- give » series b£ demonstrations in' tho medical schools of England and Scotland. . He -states that he haa been, a regular eater of poisons in America for nearly ten years. The tone of the speeches at the opening of the Wool Exhibition at the Eoyal JExchange, Sydney, last week,' was of the most .hopeful character. Some figures supplied by His Excellency the State Governor and \ by others, bring vividly, before the public the enormoiis wealth the wool industry of Australia represents. The value of sheep in the ' Commonwealth last year was ( 4537,847.000, of which jS T ew South Wales possessed <£19,617,0GQ. Th«se are remarkable figures, especially so when-the losses of some years ago are remembered; but it is when a "survey is made of the • period during •which responsible government obtained that it is ■ possible to more fully 'discover how greatly .wool has contributed to tlie development of the country. The .estimated value' from 1851 to 1903 is .6740,398,000, and the significance of these . -figures is still more . strongly emphasised . .when a comparison is- made ivitTi ths gold yields. Sir Harry Bawson pointed out that whilst the gold exported. from New South Wales was valued at over .£36,000,000 in the same period, to which those figures 'applied, tEe export of wool'amounted, to, over more; than eight times tie value of ariy indiijsliy which in ' itself.ha s been a piime factor' iii Australian . , !, In/the northern -parts -of Queensland the .cane crops are attacked by a beetle, which works havoc upon them; and it is . and "has been, the custojui, for planters to »ay.into a fund, for 'the eradication of the ihsecC The method^ of. eradication is. for all hands, old and young, ."white and coloured^ to go into the canefields at .night, furnished witjh vessels into which the beetles are; placed when they are caught, •airtlrfo capture^as many as possible. Tney 'are lien delivered at the depots and paid for at the rate of so 'murli per quart.' A Melbourne telegram published by the Sydney Morning Heriald saysc "In connection with'tlie sugar bounties the^queetion has. arisen, because somebody had'- a doubt up-on-it, and it was referred to the Minister of^Cttstoms for his- decision,,- whether the employment of coloured persons at- thi* would not invalidate the. claims of ,j>l(f nters,, who .otherwise employed - only ,^hito labour, to the bounty. The Minister in. consideration -of -the matter, had to think out the auestion whether- the destruction of these beetles was a, part, of tihe cultivation of; .the cane, and he reluctantly came to the conclusion that it was as much so as the weeding of the cane. Therefore- he :h<as had to decree that if, black labour isjsmployed.in beetle crushing, the .planter, so doing is debarred from •participating' in the bounty."

The bankruptcies in the Wanganui district for tho year 1904 wore 17, against 19 for the year 1903. * The dog-fiend ie^ aga,iu in evidence in YVanefaaui find already some residents are lamenting the loss of tlioir canine pets as Iho result of strychnine poisoning.

At Horsham (Vie.) a peculiar disease has broken out amongst some of the cows. The animals cease to eat, and lie down, and in about three days generally die. Heavy breathing is one symptom of the sickness. •>

A carpenter, aged 56, living at Lebanon, Pa., who had his stomach removed recently owing to a growth, which prevented digestion and assimilation of food, is now in good health, and able to eat solid food with comfort.

To-day there is noj; a single one , of King Edward's 300,000,000' subjects in prison for' treason or disloyalty, said Mr Henuiker Heaton, M.P., at Cantcrb/nry ; whereas- in Germany hundreds are in prison, in Eiissia thousands, and thousands are exiled from ;France. / „--.• , A horse in a trap at Fairvicw took fright at an engine a few. days ago, and bolted over a rocky precipice some 50ft high. The ■trap was broken to atoms. ' Tho horse, which got wedged between' two rocks, had to be extricated' by the use of a hammer and chisel, and succumbed to its terrible injuries shortly afterwards.

Five monkeys .escaped from, Fitzgerald's Circus at Lyfctelton about a fortnight ago. and all but ono wer© recoveTd immediately. The absconder turned up the other day in a foundry, and on a chase being organised, took refuge under the wharves. He wan hunted out, however, and finally captured on the steamer Aotea.

The guard of tho up train from, Hamilton (Vie.) on arriving at the Woolsthorpe station recently, found that a swarm of bees had made a hive of the letter-box outside the station. It was t found impossible to remove the letters from the box, and they "had to miBS that train.' Subsequently the letter-box was removed from the building, and the bees were taken out. The occurrence is .not an. uncommon one in the district.

Could a full-grown man, who had been accustomed to stimulate on beer, get drunk on ono whisky and .soda? was 1 a question which the S.M., police officers, and a mem> } ber of the legal profession debated at great length at Now, Plymouth last week. The defence was that kidney trouble was the cause of tlie man's sudden collapse after he had the whisky and soda, and in giving judgment in the case the S.M. practically • agreed that that was the .true explanation of the circumstances which had arisen.

But for the presence of mind of Porter Palmer a serious accident would have occurred at the Farndon railway station on Monday. About 25 minutes past 4 two trains were crossing at that station. The down train from Hastings was on tho siding, and tho one from Napier just drawing- into the station' when a man (whose name is_ unknown) stepped on the line in front of it. The engine was almost on top of him when Porter Palmer sprang from the platform and lifted him bodily across the line out of danger just in the nick of time. Rangiora was recently disturbed by rumours of a tragedy. The constable was 'informed that a person crossing a bridge over a ' creek found a quantity of blood on the decking. There was no blood on the roadway, the finder at once concluded that a murder had been committed, and that tho body had been consigned to the crock. The constable spent' a considerable part . of /tho morning searching the creek and the adjacent locality, and also secured ..some o/. the blood fc>i\ Jiiicroscopip .examination! " He ascertained later, "however, that a boy had shot a dog on the bridge early in the morning.

'The number of visitors in town shows no sign of diminishing, the streets to-day being crowded with, holiday-makers. Large numbers arrived by both the North and South trains this morning for the purpose of attending the athletic and cycling sports; which were being held -on Cook's Gardens as w©-went to press. The attraction for to-morrow afternoon will be the continuation *of the championship swim- i ming meeting in the ' Corporation Baths. ( Judging from the splendid sport provided j on the opening day, there should bo a j great crowd at tho Baths to-morrow after* noon, when Dick Cavill will again give, another display of his wonderful ability on the water.

Should the P.. and Q. Company decide, as indicated by Sir Thomas Sutherland, the chairman of the company, in a speech delivered at a meeting of the shareholders iii London recently., to run their steamers to and from Australia via the Cape of Good' Hope,, instead of through the Suez Canal, four vessels which the company are now liaving built will probably be em-, ployed in the new service. ' They are the Delhi (8000 tons), the Delta (8000 tons), and the Peshawur and- the Poona, each of 7600 tons. Thego new liners are to be large cargo carriers, with limited passenger accommodation, but nothing is known as to the speed which they will be able to maintain. In order to meet the requirements of the perishable produce trade, these vessels are to have a . considerable extent of their carrying space insulated on j the most approved plan.

A shocking accident befell a man named I John Nyman at Howel, N.S.W., the other 'week. He was found near the Conrad mine by a wood-carter named James Dorriugton, whose attention was ' attracted by | the man's cries for help. This was at halfpast 6 o'clock. - Dorrington then reported [ the matter to Constable Gilchrist, and he ! v had the 1 wounds examined by Mr J. G. Thompson. The whole of his left jaw is shattered, also tho roof of his mouth. Several pieces of T>one and teeth were removed. The sufferer was then taken to ! the Inverell Hospital. Nyman cannot speak, but from signs that ho' made to Constable Gilchriat it "is surmised that he had a detonator in his mouth ("preparatory to | lighting a fuse for blasting purposes) I which accidentally went off, causing the j injuries.

Captain Edwin telegraphed at 32.21 p.m. to-day: — Strong wiuds to "gale from between north-east and north and west after twenty hours from now. with glass falling; tides high; sea heavy; rain probable. ' A Palmorstoniau who lost a" Tatlarsall's sweep ticket ten months ago found it the other day. "He made inquiries in flobart and happily discovered that he had won <£50, which was duly forwarded. Another narrow escape from drowning and another plucky rescue occurred yesterday "afternoon "near the Town Bridge. A boy named Langridge fell off the wharf into the river, and nis cries for help attracted the attention of a Napier visitor to Wan,gamii- who, with - two little . children,' was walking along the wharf. Ho promptly jumped into' the river with his clothes on ' and' swam out to the boy, who had been carried out into the stream about a chain from the • wharf, bringing him safely to shore. A sleeping draught taken by_a young' man suffering from insomnia, caused by over-study,,- was '.nearly attended by fatal consequences at Cambridge (Auckland) the other day. As the victim was found in tho morning to be in a comatose state, medical aid was 'called in, and after continuous efforts extending over 12 hours the doctors succeeded in restoring con-, sciousnessand counteracting the effects ? o£ the drug. The yotiug man's conditions was' at one time exceedingly critical. It is reported from Takaka that a young manbuahfelling upon Mr- John Handcock'sproperty,, near Totaranui, Nelson, dis\ covered some bones, evidently portion of ' the skeleton of a Maori, andncar at hand; a large Maori" idol, fashioned in greenstone. According to the report, the idol stands about 3ft high, and is very heavy," requiring three 'or four men to transport 1 it out of the bush. It is stated that, Mr Haudcock purchased the finder's rights and ' now holds the' relic, which; if the particu-, lars are correct, should be valuable. There ar© a number of old Maori , camping places'on this part of the shore of the bay. . • The late President Kruger "being buried beside his wife at Pretoria^ on December ]Cth — Dingaan's>ay — recalls the troublous early days of tho' pedpJe. In" 1837 the Zulus, who 'were ' iii 'possession of Natal, attempted to wipe out the Boer emigrants who had. entered the country. At Weenen (weeping) a large body were massacred; in other places parties escaped only after desperate fights behind their laagered waprgons. Revenge came soon, however; and svt Blood River the emigrants defeated Dingaan, the Zulu chief, with great slaughter. Dingaan's Day has been the Boer national holiday ' over since. • The gentleman who pxits his" toe under a garden roller to see if_ tlie roller, presses sufficiently heavy. ,' on his lawn deservee what he gets. So does the small boy who places his finger where the serge ought to be. on his mother's sewing machine. But general sympathy will go out- to poor Fong Wah Lee, who clutched the wheel of' a cart in peculiar circumetances, Fbng was driving the horse attached to a cart. The horse bolted, and Fong at once dropped the reins and tried to catch ' hold of the spokes of one of the wheels so as to stop — c runaway. This happened at Cobar^ (N^S,W.), where, by the way, the presence of a Chinaman is not regarded with favour by the majority of the inhabitants. The result of Pong's well-meant but mistaken attempt is that he is now in the hospital, badly hurt. His intentions were good, as they say when a gentleman attempts a difficult stroke at •- -iliards and fails, "but the execution left much to be desired. His was misdirected energy. — Exchange. Tlie increase of leprosy in New Caledonia is arousing a deal of interest, not I unmixed with alarm. There was a long discussion on the* subject at the meeting ! of the General Council' on November 25. It was stated that the disease was attacking not only the natives, but also the white population, both convict and free. i The chief medical officer of the colony Sftid it spread specially amongst, those who had relations witjh: ' contaminated "native women. ''The law, he said, did mot permit white lepers to be .confined against their ■■ will. lit the' native leper station those' who wer£- free- from- th© disease were allowed to hold regular communication with those suffering from it. A general opinion was expressed t"hat tho question was one of the greatest importance, and it was suggested that it should be inquired into with closed dooxs. This course was, however, i objected to; and finally a commission wa« appointed, 'with the view to adopting, more' stringent sanitary regulations, especially for the complete isolation of lepers...