The Examiner. Published MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 9.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXII, Issue 3871, 9 May 1906, Page 2

The Examiner. Published MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 9.

We are informed by a Ballance setter that there is absothe lately no hope of the bAllanoe . contract for completroad. ing the Ballance-Gorge road being finished now that the bad weather has set in. All that has been done is a little patching here and there from the bridge on, and a few chains of metalling done. We understand that the contractor has struck camp. The feeling is gaining ground that the Babiatua County Council is absolutely indifferent as regards the settlers in that part of the district.

It really looks as if Taranaki had struck it at last, says struck Christchurch Truth, ix. It has got a well which is turning off oil at the rate of a barrel a minute, and Taranaki, in a very excited condition, is jointly and collectively flitting on the nozzle to keep it from breaking loose altogether. Taranaki doesn’t quite know whether it is on its head or its heels. It has been boring holes down to the tap roots of the province for the past thirty years, and spending its money and going broke over experiments with patent derricks and machinery, and now at last it appears to have struck it. Shares that wern’t worth setting fire to have gone up like an unballasted balloon in a high wind, and a delirious province is setting up drinks for its friends. Taranaki will now proceed to give John D. Rookfeller and the Standard Oil concern an awful time. With Taranaki spouting a barrel a minute, we won’t want to buy any more Yankee petroleum in these parts. Anyhow, Taranaki deserves its luck, and if only its ironsand company gets floated its cup of joy will overflow worse than its solitary oil well, The manner in which Taranaki will boom will beat the record in booms in a much-boomed country.

The following is the history of the I beginning of the the Sokoto outbreak SOKOTO and the first action, OUTBREAK. in which Lieutenant Blackwood and the two Residents, Messrs Hilary and Scott, were killed : On February 13th Mr Hilary heard that the rebel chief Isa, with a band of French deserters and renegades, was at Satiru, fourteen miles south f Sokoto. The next morning Messrs Hilary and Scott escorted by Lieutenant Blackwood and sixty-nine mounted infantry witbu Maxim gun, marched to Satiru. They were accompanied by Doctor Ellis. The Maxim was some distance to tbe rear of the mounted infantry, When Satiru was approached, Messrs Hilary and Scott went ahead of the column, hoping that pacific measures would be successful. Lieutenant Blackwood, thinking their proceeding to be unsafe, galloped after them. Six hundred yards from the town Mr Scott returned and reported that the enemy, 2000 strong, and armed with bows and arrows and spears, were hidden behind a slight rise, and were about to charge. Lieutenant Blackwood formed his men into a mounted square, and advanced to protect Mr Hilary, who was still ahead. Catching him up, the troops dismounted. The Maxim was still in tbe rear, and unable to reach the square. Before the horses could be properly handed over and secured, the enemy rushed upon the square. At the first shots the horses stampeded, and great confusion prevailed. Some of the men mounted and others remained in the firing line. Lieutenant Blackwood and Mr Hilary were out down immediately. Dr Ellis was wounded in the shoulder, and bis horse was killed under him. The doctor, however, was saved by a troopori who shot hie assailant, caught a horse,and helped Dr Ellis to the saddle. The same trooper also caught a horse, and gave it to Mr Scott, who was tided while mounting. Sergeant GHsling endeavoured, finally with success, to rally tbe men and return towards the Maxim gun, only to find that it bad already been captured. The sergeant, with the remnant of tbe British force, then made a detour and returned to the town of Sokoto. The rebels did not attempt to attack tbe town, and tbe loyal chiefs of the district advanced against them on the following day but were repulsed. Tbe sergeant, with the remnant of the British force, then made a detour and returned to the town of Sokoto. The rebels did not attempt to attack the town, and the loyal chiefs of the district advanced against them on tbe following day, but were repulsed. .The rebel leader Isa, however, was ki : b.d, ate! D>< nmakafo, >. r. hel from | French territory, who was elected 1

leader, permitted Major Goodwin’s relieving column to enter tbe town of Sokoto without opposition. On March 14th Major Goodwin’s force utterly exterminated the rebels.

The three hungry black bears which successfully btld the a Cathedral of Oomraac

waem in the Department of beception, Arrego, against the

French Government inspector who wished to take an official inventory, were purchased by a committee of townspeople from a travelling showman after the cathedral authorities had been notified of the forthcoming visitation. The show manager agreed to return half the purchase money if the bears survived the siege, and were afterwards delivered to him in good condition. The animals were locked in a coal cellar adjoining the cathedral, and for two days before the expected visitation were deprived of food. As the inspector unexpectedly delayed his visit a day, they were ravenously hungry, as well as angry, when he finally arrived before the west door of tbe cathedral with his papers and a military escort. To the surprise of the inspector, his demand for admittance to the cathedral was instantly complied with. But no sooner had he stepped inside with his escort, than the great door was shut and bolted. A moment la ! er the startled inspector discovered the bears. They had been sniffing hungrily around the choir, but the noise of the closing door attracted their attention, and they trotted down the central aisle of the nave to investigate the newcomers. The inspector and the soldiers made frantic efforts to re-open the door. This caused derisive laughter on the outside. Then the frightened official vaulted overcome chairs and climbed on the top of the confessional, while his terrified companions ran down the side ais’es shrieking wildly for help. The soldiers finally managed to secrete themselves in a side chapel. Then a townsman, representing the bears, opened negotiations with the inspector. “ Will you go away if we open the door?” he called. “At once,” replied the inspector. The door was opened a little way, and the inspector, sliding down from the confessional, made a dash and squeezed through just in time. A second later one of the bears was clawing the door. Eventually the showman was induced to recapture the bears, and they were fed, afterwards being locked up again in tbe coal-cellar to await further Government attacks.

Evidently on the Continent the autormobile has made its legislation presence very con-

and siderably felt in motor cars, many ways, and has not achieved popularity in all. The German Government will, it is stated, shortly introduce a Bill into the Reichstag rendering the owners of motor cars liable for injuries caused to persons or property. The Bill provides that the owner of the motor car must make permanent provision for the widow and orphans of any person killed by his car, besides bearing the cost of the funeral and other expenses caused by the accident. In cases where persons are injured the owner of the motor car is to be compelled to pay all medical costs as well as to support the victim until the latter is sufficiently recovered to resume his or her ordinary occupation. If the injured person is responsible for the support of a wife, children, or other relatives, iho owner of the motorcar must defray the cost of the maintenance of these persons for the same length of time. Moreover, if the person is permanently prevented from following his occupation by the accident, the unhappy owner of the motor car must grant him a pension for life ; while if his earnings have b en partially diminishedla smaller pension is provided for. It is fortunately not proposed that these drastic provisions should apply to cases where the injured person is driving a motor car or being conveyed thereon at his own desire, nor is it proposed that they should apply to cases where the accident was caused by a motor car incapable of travelling at a greater speed than 10 miles an hour. It seems also that the French Government has decided to introduce some new and drastic regulations for motorists. It is proposed that in future whoever requires a license must not only satisfy the authorities that he possesses the necesssry technical knowledge, but that he shall be compelled to submit to a medical examination. To pass this it must be shown that the applicant is not suffering from any physical infirmity that could make it unwise to trust him with a oar. It would be easy to understand a very vigorous protest being raised against supervision of this kind, but, on the other hand, a man who is afflicted with poor sight or with deafness, or one who is a notoriously heavy drinker or a sufferer from excessive nervousness, should certainly be prevented from endangering the public safety, as he is likely to do if allowed to drive an automobile in the public thoroughfares. i

The cost of land in New York is high, and consequently a modern there is a tendency sky-scraper, on the part of buildings there to grow high in a more or less direct ratio. The latest case in point, according to the American correspondent of an Australian journal, is that of a projected building which will be 51 storeys m height, and surpassed in its way only by the Eiffel Tower. The loftiest New York building now standing is credited with 29 storeys. The firm which is to have the dis- | Unction of possessing the new structure is said already to occupy a large office building of the modest height height of II storeys, and from (he central part of this the new erection is to rise for 40 storeys more. This tower building will he 65ft square, and its steel fram- will be ingeniously braced to resist the wiud, while four elevators will s-rve its numerous tenants. From the top of its

dome we are told that the venturesome sightseer will, at a height of 594 ft, be able to look down upon the Madison Square Gardens statue of Diana (322 ft), ihe roof of the 29 str.reyed Park row building (382 ft), and even the summit (404 ft) of the new 40-storeyed tower of the Railway and Iron Exchange now rising near (he Battery Park. Moreover, in contrast with its elevation the famous spires of Europe would, all except that of Cologne Cathedral (515£i) seem comparatively unambitious. We are further told that within 200 ft of this great tower another lofty structure of 80 storeys will be completed next year, and in less than 12 months the builders will be at work on a dozen more ranging in height from 16 to 25 storeys. Obviously the tendency to build high in the city in question is rapidly increasing. The view obtainable from the summit of such growths must be as remarkable as the manner in which they themselves dwarf the vision and circumscribe the prospect is unfortunate. The description of such edifices is suggestive of hills for human ante.