GENERAL NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2606, 14 September 1909, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

During the hearing of a cattle-steal-ing case in the Wellington Supreme Court Mr Wilford asked a witness whether it was a fact that a certain cow which had died had been taken to an adjoining farm and its carcase was 'used to feed'pigs, and in turn the pigs’ carcases were sold in Wellington for human consumption. Mr Justice Chapman interjected: “Is that what they call dairy-fed pork?” His Honor joined heartily in the laughter that followed his sally.

' For some time past a number .of young- fellows along the coast, covering a racmis of twenty miles, have amused themselves at what they call practical joking, and have done it in such a way that they have escaped the p#ialt v of the law (says the Op (make The average larrikin or .individual, who indulges in seiiseless tricks is a . good deal like the monkey, haying plenty of mischief in him but. very little brains. The bursting of a cannon at, the flagstaff'on- Saturday night week was a foolish -and dastardly- act, which may have ’been followed with the. gravest results. The fact that missiles of iron were flying over the town through the force of blasting is too serious to dwell upon, for had a piece struck a house or a person it is almost certain that human life would have beeif lost. It is to be hoped the police will be successful in finding out who the culprits are, and endeavor to put an end to all the hoodlum acts which have beenperpetrated, and if men have so little sense as to find amusement in what they did on the Saturday they would do the community a service if they sat on an exploding cannon the next time they want a scare. •••' -

The Australian Postmaster-General the other day defined the position of private experiments'with wireless telegraphy. He pointed out that the Commonwealth had complete control of “wireless” in any shape or form, and no person could engage in practmal or experimental use of it without a license from the Federal Government. Recently the Defence Department, after consultation with the Admiralty, recommended the refusal of an application for leave to. erect a wireless station. The Minister therefore refused to allow the station to be erected. He explains that while there is no objection to grant a license orv any reasonable application, the Government intends to retain absolute control of this means of communication. - „. -

Some dismay is expressed qt the as T . peek", of women motoring in masks,. .. If? iU fergottenj writes one . in reply, .that Shakespeare had to see women so in all their wayfarings? Whether because of the wind, or because of the more dread,? ed sun, in days when to be beautiful was to be white and red —that is,, “fair,” as we still say ambiguouslyno woman of the daintier classes went abroad unmasked. Shakespeare himself implies that leaving off a mask meant, the leaving off of beauty. If.-the women of to-day are accused' of too much thought for the complexion, they may well reply that their admired ancestresses would probably have given their lives, rather than treat their faces in the rough manner of our times.

> Temypung sculptors presented groups representing “Helen Saved by Venus at the • Sack of Troy”: ih this year,® competition for the Grand Prik d© Roine for sculpture, says the Pans “Daily Mail.” The winner of the. famous; scholarship is announced to be M. Felix Auguste Beneteau. The. second Grand Prix was, awarded to-Mlle. -Luoienrie Antoinette Heuvelmans, said to be the first woman to receive the disjunction. She is a Parisian, aged twenty-eight, the daughter of a cabinetmaker. She had already: entered three times for the competition, and declares her intention of attempting next year to win the first Grand Prix, which car-, ries with it the right to live for four years at the Villa Medici at Rome.

For a piece of unconscious humor the remark of. a. German prisoner during' a'.recent' gaol enquiry, will be hard tp boat,'says a New Plymouth paper. The question was asked of him whether he had any complaint to make of his treatment m the gaol. _ “Well,” he replied, “gam’d gomblain.” Then, , evidently fearing the court might-get hold of the idea that he was perfectly satisfied io remain there, he added in doleful tones, “but it vas gaol.” He turned and stolidly walked off to his cell, leaving the court in a stato of hilarious collapse.