LOOAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 12747, 19 April 1909, Page 4

LOOAL AND GENERAL.

Believed to be the oldest soldier in the world, Andrei Schmidt, who is aged 120, and fought in the Napoleonic wars, has been granted a private audience by the Czar at St. Petersburg. In spite of his immense age he bore himself proudly.

Sir Edward Payson Wills has given the Bishop of Bristol a cheque for to clear off the debt on the Bishop's Palace, erected eight years ago, soon after iiis appointment to the diocese. Any balance is to be used for Church purposes.

It appears that the Tasmanian timk pr trade with New Zealand will shortly be placed on a much more satisfactory rabis than hitherto, says a Hobart telegi-un tc the Melbourne Argus. Tasmanian txj orters and New Zealand importers have both felt the want of a regular service, * > 1 nat orders can be promptly exec r.ei, r ;iiJ it has transpired that negotiations for forming a syndicate of merchants in the j)osmnion and Tasmanian exporter's for' the purpose of running a steamer tjf ri:eir iwn in the trade has been brought to a successful termination.

Brisbane building trade is free from labour trouble, according to Mr Ranson, representative of the master builders of Queensland's capital. In a communicatoin to the Wellington Employers' Association, Sir Ranson states that there is a shorl/»ge of bricklayers. Four New Zealand tradesmen were put to work immediately on arrival, and a good run of work is practically assured. There is room for at least a dozen more. For carpenters, painters, and plasterers the local supply is about equal to the demand, but plasterers will probably be required shortly.

It is staked that an unusually heavy lot of oati wj'l be offering from Southland this year and as the New Zealand market is praetL-ally controlled by the south prices are expected to weaken. Chaff is inclined to slump. Thero are, it is stated, large lots held in that district and in neighbouring provinces, while extensive shipments are coming forward from Canterbury and Blenheim The prospects are, therefore, not very good and prices gonerally are very low. The market shows little activity which it is held is due in a measure to the closing down of a number of' sawmills and fiaxmills.

A letter written by a resident of 'PaTcatoa Island to Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M., of Auckland, speaks in high praise of the results of 'the Inebriates' Home conducted on the island by the Salvation Army. A local paper-publishes the following extract from the, letter: — "Having returned from the ."slanJ, v:iiere I was sent on account of my drinking habits. I beg to state that now, beiajr at liberty for some time, I have not touched drink, and I feel sure that my oping sent there has done me a great am >un* of good lam now in better health than T have been for years nast, and i'ave entirely lost any inclination to drink again ';

Harry J. Bauman, alias Herman Brandt, known as the "Prince of Swindlers," who has been sentenced at Chicago to five years imprisonment for defrauding a number of people, posed as » duke who was related to European royalty. He is a very finelooking man, with a most plausible air and distinguished manners. It is said he has swindled women in America out of at least His particular line of crime was bigamy, and detectives declared in court that he had at least fifty wives in Europe and America, each one of whom he had swindled out of money. He even defrauded the lawyers who were defending him, by giving them worthless cheques.

After having rejected some months ago a legacy of .£30,000 under his father's will, because ai condition of acceptance- was tli at he should renounce membership of the Old Paths Bible Brotherhood and join the Plymouth Brethren, Mr Henry Baxendale, a young Kentish farmer, is now to receive a part of the money, under a compromise with the trustees, without sacrificing" <any of the principles of the Bible Brotherhood. Explaining the compromise, he intimated that he was acting with the Brotherhood, and that after negotiations they are to receive a proportion of the sum without v sacrificing any of their principles.^ Theexact sum is not stated, but the money - mil be paid in instalments, spread over three years, and will be used for the Brotherhood propaganda.

"The wife of a. famous. New York newspaper proprietor is wearing this year," says the New York correspondent of the Daily Mail, "a full-length and very voluminous coat of sable, with a large muff, cape, stole, and turban to match. These represent an outlay of J67000. In gloves, New York women are tremendously extravagent. The correspondent listened to a young lady ordering in a fashionable shop a pair of driving gloves of sealskin, costing £160. Winter hats cost from jeso to ,£BO, and stockings are frequently purchased at 12 guineas a pair." Is it any wonder ' that, as a thoughtful American said to me recently, one longs to equalise matters in the great city, and feels almost an anarchist when at one corner is a luxurious carriage, in which a pug-dog, with fur coat, cap, and shoes, and its special attendant, is sitting, and at the other a woman starving for bread and dying of cold." The arrangements made for Mr Roosevelt's huntino- trip in Africa rigidly exclude all uninvited persons (says the New York correspondent of the Daily Express), but Mr Roosevelt will find that he is in for a strenuous time. Already (February 2nd) every berth on the ship in which he sails has been booked by a host of photographers, biograph operators, cinematograph manipulators, lecturers, "special" writers, and idle curiosity-seekers. Mr Roosevelt- has contracted with Scribner's Magazine to write the reports of hia hunting expedition for no less a sum than £ 10,000, but he will not be the only one to describe his experiences. When he arrives at Nairobi the town will be filled with special descriptive writers, each determined, willy nilly, to be as close to the hero of the expedition as possible. Outsiders will be excluded, but nevertheless at every railway station, at every camp, and at every stopping place the cxPresident will be snapshotted and cinematographed without cessation. Nearly every important American newspaper has r made arrangements to have a "war Correspondent" on the spot. Not a detail -is to be missed. It remains to beiseeo what. - t!he ex-President will have to say to hia - univited guests when the expedition starts from Nairobi.

At the recent sale of work at Fordell in aid of Dr. Barnardo's Homes, the cum of JBI2 2s 6d was realised. The Timaru Herald reports that an cpplicant before last week's Old Age Pension Court was found to have property to the Talue of J61050, and from it he was getting 6 per cent. The Mayor of Dunedin has instructed the city electrical engineer to lay before the Minister for Railways a suggestion that trains running between Dunedin and Mosgiel be driven by electric power supplied by the Waipori "works.

A Bavarian peasant named Steinbacher, who was suffering from acute nervous prostration, was admitted to the hospital in Augsburg. His wife explained that he had been in excellent health until a month ago, when he bought an alarm clock, and sat up almost every night to see if it would go off in time.

The new Anglican Churchroom which has been erect^a at Wanganui East was opened, last nighTb. The vicar, Rev. Jacob, officiated, assisted by the new lay missioner, Mr / W. T. Weller. There was a large congregation. The room has been built by Messrs Stckes, Sons, and Stansfield, and reflects great credit upon the firm.

The open-air concert given by the Garrison Band in ,the Hospital grounds yesterday afternoon, when the weather was delightfully fine, attracted a very large attendance of the public, who thoroughly enjoyed -the excellent music provided. The programme .was a capital one, and the various items were greatly appreciated. It is understood that the Band intend giving a concert at the Jubilee Home at an early date.

The parole system in Canada has thus far given satisfactory results. Since it wa.s inaugurated eight years ago 2000 prisoners have been given ticket of leave. For a certain period after their release the persons to whom their conditional pardon has been given are .subject to espionage. They are also answer&ble to the parole officer of the Justice Department, whose principal object is to assist them to ways of earning 1 an honest livelihood.- Less than 2 per cent, have fallen again into evil clays,

There is only one place on the surface of the earth where a total eclipse of the sun whioh- is to occur in May, 1910, can be observed, and that is Tasmania, between Hobart and Port Davey. The Royal Astronomical Society of England has written to the Victorian Government asking it to make the necessary arrangements for recording the eclif6e, ,and 1;h? Government nstronomer (Mr Baracchi) is now visiting Tasmania, in order to select a suitable spot for making the observations.

Cats as domestic pets have not lost any of their attractiveness, judging by the manner in which those offered for sale in Auckland ' recently were' disposed of. The sale commenced at 1 o'clock, -"but long befor that time a large crowd itad mustered to view the feline prizes. During the bale the bidding was brisk, even lively at times, and some of 'the. domestic pets changed hands at a high figure. Two blue Persians -found owners at three guineas each, a Persian torn, with a strain of the Manx, went for two? guineas, and .i blue Persian cat and kitten, were knocked down for seven guineas;) Others were also s- !d, and realised satisfactory prices.

The Garrison, Baud, under the conductorship cf Mr 'A.' Wade, will perform the undermentioned "programme at the Trotting Club's meeting on Thursday and Saturday next :" — March, "Cossack" (Rimmer); intermezzo, "Road to Moscow" (Loetz) ; selection, "French Maid" (Slaughter) ; .selection, "Old Memories" (Rimmer); valse, "Merry Widow" (Lehan); march, ''The Giant" (Wadsworth); intermezzo. 'Poppies" (Moret); overture, "Zampa" (Herold); selection, "Echoes of Switzerland" (Hume); air varie, "Welsh Meledy" .(Rimmer); selection, "H.M.S. Pinafore" (Sullivan); march, "El Capitals" (Sousa). •Referring to the demand which the Re-gistrar-General has made on the Farmers'

tJnion, in common with other registered unions, to furnish a return giving the names,, addresses, occupations, and date of enrolment of all its members, the Farmers' Union Advocate says that in some quar- : ters this demand is regarded with dis- * favour, the reason being, it would appear, because of a suspicion that the information sought may be used for questionable purposes. The paper ridicules the suggestion that the information so gained will be used against the farmer: "No Government," it says, "would dare use such information for political purposes. . . . The Government has on no occasion, so far as we are aware, displayed active hostility to the Union. On the contrary, it has in numerous instances, lent assistance, particularly through the Agricultural Department." "I disguised myself by colouring my face and hands every day with Indian Irk, burnt my European clothes, and hid ny maps, which cover 1 1100 sheets, in bags c f rice," says Dr Sven Hcdin, in his lecture

on his Tibet experiences. "I never experienced a day's illness, and, with the exception of a little champagne which I -lrank at Shigatze, I never tasted alcohol «xud took no medicine. I smoked, however, whenever I had the opportunity. I lost about 17 ponies and mules owing to the terrible cold. Possibly my worst experience was when travelling to the east of the Karakorum Pass. Here the roads were strewn with the carcases of ponies and sheep. Every day my animals died, and for six weeks I experienced continuous snow and wind; and my thermometer registered 72deg of frost (Fahrenheit)." In tbij region the explorer found bales of silk and other articles lying about that had been discarded by their owners. London, for two centuries i ast has been the leading- ljO rt of the world. The tonnage enteral in IHO7 was 11,160,307, and the tonnage cleared amounted to 8,389,979, making a total trade of 19,759.346 tons! The trade for the port of Liverpool for the same year reached a total of 16,665,398 tons. The valui of the trade at the port of London for 1907 was 2,430.000,000 dollars; the total for New York city for the same year being 1,709,164,433 dollars. For many years London nas spent comparatively little moi ey upon the improvement of its port' facilities, although Liverpool has spent /2»,«00,000 dollar,*. Plymouth 12,500,000 dollars, and Southampton 10, 000,000. Hamburg, moreover, has laid out 75,000,000 dollars in recent years, and Antwerp contemplate* an expenditure of 35, 000,000 on new docks and facilities. At last, however, Parliament has passed the port of London bill, which has set up a new* Port Avthority consisting of twentyeight members; and it is likely that vast improvements, which have long been contemplated, will now b a undertaken. — Scientific American.