LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 12628, 26 November 1908, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Captain Edwin wired at 1 p.m. to-day: —Easterly moderate to btrong winds, glass fall, tides moderate, sea moderate. During October 3806 persons arrived in the Dominion and 1904 departed. The arrivals in October of 1907 numbered 3090, and the departures 1780. At about 12.30 to-day a very heavy, deep-toned report was heard from the direction of Castlecliff, followed immediately aftoc by two lesser reports. The pilot, on being rung up, said he had also heard them, and attributed them to submarine explosions. A wire in our commercial columns in yesterdays issue, relating to the Timaru wool sales, wae erroneously headed as from Wellington. This will account for. what has puzzled some wool growers. The next Wellington wool sales will be held on the 4th prox. Writing from Wellington to a member of our staff an tx-Wanjjanui-ite states that the victory gained by Mr J. T. Hogan at the second ballot here was very popular with the wage-earning class in the Empire City who recognise in the member for Wanganui cne of the best friends Labour has in Parliament. Mr Mi La feu's success was also a popular one amc-^st the working men. ~' Tf,","* The death rate in London has .dippped to the extraordinarily low figu*ai6f 10 per 1000, which is lower than it' has been for 50 years. A well-known London doctor attributes this- to the decrease in horse traffic and an increase of motor traffic. He points out that the litter caused by horse traffic spreads disease and disseminates infection, while the fumes of the motor cars are the finest disinfectant in the world.

Bishop Williams, of Napier, who recently returned from England' by the Corinthic, speaking^ to a reporwr, said : "It was forced on 'my attention that; there are many unemployed in England, and it seems to me a terrible state of things. The Government is trying to deal with the difficulty, and I sincerely hope it will succeed. I was told by one of my fellow passengers that he had been shown a large building at Newcastle, now untenanted and empty, which was once an extensive bottle* factory, employing many hands, and yet the people will stick to what they call Freetrade, a Freetrade that appears to be quite one-sided. England admits all sorts of things to her shores free of duty, but her exports are taxed in other ports.

With the beginning of the New Year wireless communication between New York and Paris will, it is hoped, be- an established fact. Dr Leo de Torest tells me (says an exchange) that the • contract he has signed with the French Government provides for the immediate commencement of experimental work between the French military station on the Eiffel Tower and a station to be erected on the tower of the Metropolitan Life Building in New York, the- highest inhabited building in the world. "Owing to the immense altitude* of both stations,", he observed, "we have a great 'advantage over Mr Marconi. Moreover, we are independent of the land telegraph companies, who have opposed all possible- hindrances to the wireless system. From" the'"rbof of the Metropolitan Life building, the power station will be fixed, to th«pTK>p of the tower, a distance of 700 feet, "antennae in the shape of six or seven copper wires will be fastened." Dr de Forest is also convinced that it will soon be possible to telephone from New York to Paris, and states that within two years he wiH so perfect his apparatus as to enable wireless telephony to be definitely established between New York, Boston, Montral, Chicago, Havana, and Paris.

News was received at Devonport (EnglanJ) <xa . 25fclx September that the. -family of a working shoemaker named Moule, living in that town, has become entitled to a fortune of about .£IOO,OOO left by the Hon. \V. H. Savile Ormond, a member of the Victorian Legislature, who died in 1901, leaving large estates. Mr Ormond, 'whose father was a naval surgeon .who fought in the battle of Waterloo, was born at Plympton, near Plymouth. He emigrated about 50 years ago, and after an experience as a gold digger, went into sheep-farming, and amassed a fortune. He married, but left no children, and his wife died before him. By his will the whole of his fortune wa3 left to his next of kin, who, however, were not specified. Mrs Moule claimed as the daughter of Mr Ormond'a elder brother. James. There were other claimants, including some from America, and Mrs Moule's claim was contested on the ground that her father was illegitimate. The Australian Courts sent over to England two commissions of inquiry, which pronounced in Mrs Moule's favour. There were various appeals, but the matter has been finally disposed of and Mrs Moule's claim established. Mr Moule died in the course of the litigation, but her husband's children, who were in poor circumstances, will benefit by the decision now given.

An extraordinary occurrence is reported from the Roumanian town of Mihailbravul. An infantry captain named Eschanu, who had posted a registered letter, sent a servant several hours later to thjjTpost office to get back the document-,.. out, the clerks refused to give it up withonjfc aipritten request signed by the captain. The latter went himself to the post office, where he peremptorily claimed back his letter. The clerk, however, refused again as the captain declined to sign the application. Mad with rage, the captain hastened to the barracks, called his company to arms, occupied the post office, had the clerks maltreated, gagged, and fettered, and then searched the letterbags till he found his letter. Meanwhile, the soldiers looted the safe. Finally the captain cut all the telegraph wires and threatened to kill the postal clerks should they tell any tales. Then, like a triumphant commander, he marched through the streets with drums beating, stopping here and there to promulgate the fact that he would pitilessly shoot anybody who dared to criticise or circulate reports about Ms action. When Captain Eschanu learnt in the evening that the telegraph wires ha,d been repaired he marched again with his company to the post office, where the clerks had barricaded themselves. On his . approach Captain Eschanu ordered his men to storm the office, when, fortunately, several of the superior officers,* telegraphed for by the burgomaster, arrived from Bucharest, arrested the. captain, and escorted him to the military prison in the capital.

Yesterday and this morn ins the police h4d no criminal business for the Court.

Tha latest addition to the telephone exchange is No. 624, Mr R. H. Dodd's residence, Niblett Street.

What is asserted to be a world's record ia.^ coaling was achieved at Durban on August 10th, when 2200 tons of coal were placed on the Kenilworth Castle in eight working hours.

A rigid inspection of shearers' accommodation is to be made by the various inspectors appointed for the purpose, and is to start on this coast from to-day. Mr McQuarters left for Mangamahu this morning to make a comencement there.

At 9 this morning Gisborne recorded the highest temperature, 68deg, Russell, Cape Maria, and Hokianga being next with 67, afld Kawhia and Oamaru 66, Auckland 63, Wanganui 64, Wellington 59, Christchurch 62, and Dunedin 58. The glass had risen appreciably, and ranged from 30.01 at Auckland to 30.06 locally, 30.13 at Wellington,. 30.15 at Christchurch, and 30.13 at Dunedin.

It has been found^that mixtures which have been used «for spraying fruit trees have had an injurious effect on the foliage and partially-formed fruit, says the Palmerston Standard. Mr Simm, the Departmental inspector, desires us to state that nobody has authority to spray trees as representing the Department, and if the jtirections in the leaflet issued are followf «d no harm can come to the trees. The prescribed solution for codlin moth is Swift's arsenate of lead— lib. to 50 gallons of water. "j^Jfeoently Mr J. G. Wilson, president of ftp*. New Zealand Farmers' Union, wrote tas.the Marine Department suggesting that •JH, ,the proposed meteorological bulletin and -climatological map the Agricultural Department should act conjointly with the Marine Department. Mr Wilson has received a reply from the Marine Department that it is in communication with the ' Department of Agriculture, with a view to getting- it to supply the necesBary information as to the crops, livestock, and any other information which it considers would be useful for publication in the bulletin.

Trained nurses sometimes meet with substantial recognition from grateful patients whom they have nursed or helped to recover. The latest instance of the kind is mentioned by the British Journal of Nursing, which says that a member of the Registered Nurses' Society, the headquarters of which are in Oxford Street, London, has received , official notification that she has been left ,£30,000 under the ■will of a young man whom she had devotedly nursed under a painful illness that lasted seven years. A little time ago another member of the same society received a legacy of .£IOOO and an annuity of .£3OO from a patient to whom she had given long attendance. • News from Rotorua is to the effect that the geysers at Whakarewarewa have been displaying unusual activity, and one day last week Pohutu • and' Waikorohihi, as well as the Cauldron, distinguished themselves by p" ,' jgeruptions of a sensational character V display of Waikorohihi lasted aJ ,y, and is said to have been the fin- Jwitnessed for the past three years. i&dition to the water being sent to a height than is usually the case,t^ 'one time this geyser continued to •■Jblowfe'/f steam only, the sound resembling very much that of a steamer alongside the wharf blowing off superfluous steam when hsr .departure has been delayed.

■ QPhe S.M. was engaged yesterday in lgpajiag a claim, partly heard some months ago, between the Railway Departvieut and the Canterbury Steamship Co., 'owmptp of the steamer Storm. The claim ■"pHUT for £\Q 10s, demurrage charges on a •Mkrtick containing . a stone crusher. The facts, shortly, were that about September of 1907 the Public Works Department railed a stone crusher, weighing 12 tons, to Wanganui for shipment to Dunedin in the Storm. The vessel, on arrival, found that her own and the Harbour Board's winches were insufficient to lift the machine and decided to leave it till next trip and endeavour to obtain suitabel lifting gear in the south. This was unobtainable, and the agents had the crusher railed to Wellington, where the Storm put in, and had it put aboard by one of the lifts there. The Railway Department claimed demurrage for the truck while waiting loaded in Wanganui, and the defendants applied for a reduction. A reduction was made, but defendants considered it insufficient, considering the cost they had been put to in railing the crusher to Wellington and having to put in there specially for the machine. They also thought the demurrage should have foeeil removed, as the crusher was for what was virtually a branch of the railway department. Further reduction Mas refused, and the company decided to contest the claim. The evidence taken was lengthy, and his Worship" reserved his decision.