LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 12003, 22 October 1906, Page 5

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

.The Wellington Rugby Union wind up tfie season with a credit of between .£<>o(l dhd X'7oo. ' The Cabinet has made a grant of £2400 for a -secondary and technical school at ''Hastings. Par from Foxton paper: — The Manavratu Flaxinills Employees' Union will not allow Asiatics to be enrolled as members. The potato blight has attacked several plots of tubers in and around New Plymonth. Spraying is in full swing. At one sitting of the Wellington Police Court 34 persons were charged wiih not having registered their dogs and 33 with allowing cattle to stray on the roads. The Go\ernment has approved a scheme to erect an annexe to the Mount Cook Hermitage to provide sleeping accommodation for twenty-four persons in view of the anticipated extra tourist traffic during the summer. The Bunnythorpe dried milk factory is receiving splendid support from the farmers, and the supply of milk is so plentiful that the factory is kept at work night and day. The week of self-denial in connection with the Salvation Army throughout Australasia finished on Saturday, and it is stated that there i« every evidence that the amounts obtained will be equal to anything yet obtained in the history of the appeal. The returns will not be knawn until the 20th. It is unwise (writes Health) to encourage the selfish exactions of sick people. 11 they are allowed to believe that they cannot do this, and cannot stand that, they ■will gradually lose all powers of resistance and endurance. Such a person develops into a tyrant, riming the peace and happiness of an entire family. Says a backblocks correspondent of the Eketahuna paper: — "A lot of the rich farmers from here are going south to see the Exhibition opened next month, which is a great contrast to the 1881 Exhibition held there, as most of the farmers then were on the look out lor the bailiff coming along to foreclose. Long may New Zealand keep prosperous under all sorts of Land Bills." The annual meeting of the governor of the New Zealand Veteran*' Home was held at Government House on Saturday. There were present — His Excellency the Governor (iii the chair), Sir Joseph Ward, Sir William Russell, Colonels Webb, Collins, and Gorton, and Mr. H. C. Tewsley. Captaiu Goodwin-Archer, superintendent of the Home, was also present. The report and balance-sheet, which were considered satisfactory, were adopted. His Excellency was re-elected president. Dr Bell, Government Geologist, who has made arrangements for a systematic geological survey ot the county, has some of his staff in this district, says the Golden Bay Argus. We learn that Dr Bell's central camp will be on the beach near the Parapara River, and that there' will be several subsidiary camps in various parts of the district. It is understood that the work in contemplation will necessitate the presence of Dr Boll's htaff in this county for about 12 months. Hamilton burglars do not seem to manage their affairs with very much skill. Two instances in point occurred last week. In one case the enterprising gentleman was disturbed and forced to beat a hasty retreat. In another instance the intruder was discovered and cornered by the householder, who took the law into his own hands with auch thoroughness that that burglar at all events is not likely to have th« courage to go burgling again for some time to come. — Auckland Star.

Maori curios to tin* value of -£1800 will be sent to the International Exhibition by Mrs Kcnnington, New Plymouth. A lad about 13 yea re of age was convicted a( Oamaru on Wednesday on a charge of stealing a watch, and was sentenced to receive 12 strokes of a birch rod. At least two colonial sailors have attained the rank of admiral in th<» British nayy — namely. Adoiii.il ('. ('. JJrury and Adinhal Aichibald Douglas. Both were born in Canada. Numbers of men are parsing through Mataroa en route to the Main Trunk Rajlway works higher up. The Taihape Post says there is a feeling of contentment nonv that stores are able to be taken up regularly and the easy transport has brought down price*. The Telegraph Department notifies that on and after 16) November, 1906, the charge for an ordinary telegram will be one half-penny per word, and for an urgent telegram one penny per word, with minimum rates of sixpence and one shilling respectively. M. Hamiovat, the chief of the Paris police, stated in an interview that 18,000 disappearances of persons from Paris have been reported to his department. Only 1(1 per cent, of these persons have been found. A club exists in Vienna the memlyers of which are pledged to marry poor girß If. by any reason, a member marries a rich girl, he is fined i! 400, which is bestowed on some respectable but impecunious couple about to be married. Last year more than 41) members married girls from the poorer quarters of the city. Fift- boxes of butter a day is the present output of the Glen Oroua factory with the season hardly well started. The amount paid to suppliers for butter fat for the month at lid per pound was .£2255. The supply of milk is rapidly increasing and by the time all the cowe are in last year's record will be easily beaten. The Swiss police are endeavouring to trace the murderer of Earnest Stettler, the son of a wealthy farmer, whose body, bound, gagged and mutilated, was discovered inside two sacks on the edge of a pond near the village of Olten. Stettler's eldest brother was murdered in exactly the same manner and near the same spot two years ago, while another brother was murdered in Guatemala a year before. The murders were never discovered. Since the last publication of unclaimed correspondence in our columns, letters addressed to the following still await claimants at the loßt Post Office:— Mrs J., M. Brown, Win. Chalk (2), G. E. Currie, A. Gillard, J. J. Falconer, Mrs Arthur Fox, W. Herbstreet. Letters addressed as under are detained owing to insufficient postage: — Miss Hoey, Dublin, Ireland; Miw A°. McTavish, Cromarty, Scotland; Mrs Wardrope, Stirling, Scotland; Mrs E. George, Brackley, England; Mihs I Siddle, Yorkshire, England; Miss Anderson, Inverness, Scotland. In an address to men at Auckland, Mr. T. E. Taylor said:— "The greatest question to be solved in New Zealand politic* a much greater question than the land question— was this: rivery civilised community must undertake to hud employment for every man and woman who requires it, because they are men and women. And any democracy that stopped hhort of that was no democracy, and a Government that stopped short of that was not a Christian Government. It must recognise that the Christian State mud clothe and feed and house its people." With the arrival of the lambing «caeon comes also reports as to the depredations of hawks. Seagulls me al^o coming within tho category of destructive birds in this district, though so far tho latter often arrive on tl'c scene after the hawk has played the part of the executioner. Only recently a traveller on the Rougotoa Road (says the Palmerston Standard) saw a hawk strike a lamb, and immediately tear out both eyes. This fact was ascertained by close examination of the lamb, which was at once put outLi agony by the witness of the tragedy. Returning later along the road, our informant slates three seagulls were busily employed tearing the tender carcase to pieces. Several farmers now make a, practice of placing entrails of sheep iii a convenient situation and shooting down hawks as they come to the feast provided. lii this way great execution ha 3 been done. The Taranaki papers get very angry when any allusion ia made to the undoubted existence of " child-slavery" in the dairying districts of that province. Yot the Kit ham journal records with pipable pride the following instance of "enthusiasm"' (or slavery): — "As an instance of the interest taken in the Technical Classes at Kit ham, we may mention that a young lady, eighteen years ol age, who luiri bivn attending the dressmaking classes, remained uutil .'5 a.m. on Friday '.norning, in order to finish the work f,\hich had been set out at the classes. At 4.:H) she. had to turn out and milk thirty cows, tho family milking over 100 cow-, between them. After the milking (which would probably occupy four hours) the young lady walked to town to attend the dressmakintr class' f rein 10 o'clock until 12. S!ic attended the same class from .'1 p.m. to 5 D.in., and again in the evening horn 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and then walked home, after engaging in wo> f k which necessitated her standing at the woil: tables lor six f^olid hours." In connection with the effort Major James Ait ken is making to take the Wanganui School Cadets to Christchurch to .-.cc the Exhibition, he received a circular last Thursday evening from the Educalion Department giving details of the conditions of the cadet camps. It states that as regards local battalion camps the Government is prepared to give the usual facilities, for which a vote of £1000 has been placed on the Estimates — that is, to grant free railway passes for limited distances for battalions of not less than 200 strength; to provide camp equipment (as far as it is possible to do so), and to make an allowance of half cost up to 4s 6d a head of all other expenses -"of a seven days' camp. Damage to camp equipment is to be made good by the battalion. Every proposal for a camp of this kind must be submitted to the Department for approval, and approval will be contingent upon an adequate number of experienced officers being prepared to take part in the camp. No battalion will be granted allowances for both a local camp and a camp at the Exhibition. Any encampment at the Exhibition must bo undertaken solely upon the responsibility of the parents, the cadet officers, the School Committees, and the Education Boards . concerned. Governwill, however, upon the application of the Education Board of the district, grant free rail and steamer fares (at rates to be approved by the Department) to any cadet battalion of a minimum strength of 200 that determines to avail itself of the opportunity of visiting the Exhibition undersuch conditions. Camp equipment will be available so far as the resources of the Defence Department will allow, any damage to such eouipment being made good by the battalion using it. Catering and all necessary arrangements incidental to the camp must be undertaken by the officers of the battalion. Major Aitken is hopeful of securing Christmas week as the timp for the visit of tho local cadets.