LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13336, 27 March 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There was a clean sheet at the S.M. Court this morning. Tile Dominion Meteorologist advises;—A storm area appears to be approaching rapidly froiti the westward, bringing gales, heavy rain, and snow on the higher levels. The barometer will probably fall very low in the south. Shipping warned. It is a remarkable fact that though the cemetery at Whangaraoraona. hag been in existence for about ten years there is not a single person buried in it who'has died a natural death. At least, so a, representslive of the Stratford Post has been informed. The Weather Bureau reports as follows: -—A storm urea appears to be approaching from the westward; expect very low pressure in south alter 48 hours; westerly winds, heavy gale, very heavy rain may bo expected; rivers rising, glass fall fast after 20 hours; sea considerable, 'tides poor on the coast. Mr Tucker, the borough gardener, with a party of four men, has just returned from Hipango Park. 'They have been engaged in clearing all the manuka, vinos, and rubbish off the flat, about four acres lieing removed. This has made a wonderful improvement in the park. The surveyors .have marked out the boundary lines, and fencing operations will commence shortly. The banana crop in Fiji is very heavy. The service which was carried on by tho Manapouri hetweu Fiji and Melbourne, and which was discontinued in Mtirch last year in consequence of the destruction of plantations by a hurricane, is to be rev sunied next mouth. The Manapouri wJBi leave Melbourne' on April 14 for Fiji, via Sydney, and will take her first load of fruit from Suva on May 2. Those entitled to a vote at the municipal election, and who have not,yet mado application to have their names nut on the roll, arc reminded that Wednesday next 29th inst.) is the day on which tho roll will bo finally closed.. There arc hundreds of people yet who have neglected to attend to this matter, and unless they do so immediately they will find themselves without a vote when the election for Mayor, Council, Town Board, Harbour Board, etc., comes round. Every, man and woman over 21 is qualified to vote, and forms of application to go on the various rolls may be obtained at the respective offices of the Borough Councils and I’own Boards.

It is a well-known fact that there, is a scarcity of seamen and firemen in Xcw Zealand, and also that when available they are diffident about shipping on Home liners, because they are booked only for the outward voyage, as men can be picked up at cheaper rates in England for the return to New Zealand. Consequently those who do ship for the Home voyage demand high wages, which is not infrequently equivalent to about a pound a day. • The Clan Menzies, which left Auckland .on Tuesday, was* short of firemen, and it is stated that when the captain went to' engage three additional men he found a score of stokers awaiting him, each’ of whom demanded -t5() for the voyage, suggesting that they had formed themselves into a ring (o accept nothing less. -Eventually the men modified their demand, and the requisite number were engaged at £4o each for the trip. When four young students appeared lieforo Mr Justice Cooper at the Supreme Court in Auckland recently for admis- i siou as practitioners to the legal profes- A sion, the Judge took flic opportunity to ' refer to the manner in which the traditions of what ho described as the highest profession in the world had been sustained by lawyers practising in New Zealand. He said that ho welcomed the now aspirants for honours in the legal world, and hoped 1 hey would not he responsible for anything that would tend to lower the reputation of practitioners. The traditions of the English bar for the last 800 years had boon the very highest, and those traditions had been excellently maintained bv the members of the New Zealand bar. His Honor sounded a note of warning, however, remarking that with the increasing competition there would bo temptations to depart from the strictest adherence to the rules of the profession.

Sydney papers report that on board the warships in the harbour, as well as on ships on other British stations, there has been since the latter part, of last year extraordinary activity in the matter of preparing for battle routine, sharpening cutlasses, the examination and overhauling of arms, shells, and magazines, - whilst close attention has been given to shore defences and submarine mine fields in the various waterways of Australia and other British possessions. The Challenger's visit to the west coast of America is significant, in view of the following cable from Fanning Island, published in the Sun;—“A sensation has been caused here by the action of the British gunboat Algerine in detaining the Japanese schooner Togo Maru. The detention of this vessel was brought about in consequence of a report that it bad conveyed a number of Japanese to Christmas Island. The officers of the Japanese ship at first disclaimed that they had landed any of their countrymen there, but under closer examination they admitted that they had placed 13 Japanese on the island. It is not known whether the object of the expedition to Christmas Island was the establishment of a Japanese colonv there. The Algerine is standing by, and developments arc anxiously awaited. An old Maori war veteran, Mr Thomas Maxwell Walsh, died at Newcastle, Now South Wales, last week, in his 97th year. Mr Walsh was born in Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland, in April, 1814, and at the age of 20 donned the uniform of the 87th Regiment, or “Fangh-a-BallagU" (clear tho way) Roys. In 1840 he went to India with the 18th Royal Irish, and for the next 25 years his life was spent almost incessantly in the fighting line. On the Afghan frontier" he was one of Pollock’s 25 who volunteered as a forlorn hope to clear a way through the entrance to the Khybet Pass, which was supposed to be mined. Each of the 25 men received a gold medal and clasp, on which was inscribed the one word. “Umheleza,” the name of the fortress that was relieved. This medal was one of Walsh’s most cherished possessions. Walsh saw the rest of the Afghan war, and as much fighting as most men want in a lifetime. Then cam.e the Crimea. Walsh was at Balaclava, and declared that ho saw Captain Nolan give tho order to Lord Cardigan for tho brave yet blundering charge. On tho fall of Sebastopol he returned to England, but was sent away again to Indiathere he took part in tho relief of Delhi. AfUu - the Mutiny he remained in India for some years. Finally came the Maori war. Walsh was in the 70th Regiment, - and was, among other engagements. at tho taking of Gate- Pa. At the conclusion of tho Maori war he went to Australia and settled in Newcastle, whore he has resided since 1866.