Local and General.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3716, 30 December 1912, Page 4

Local and General.

A number of immigrants, several tradesmen and laborers, and some domestics, arrived at Gisborne on Saturday.

Ihe new motor fire -engine turned out for the first time "in earnest” to Saturday’s outbreak, and ran without a hitch.

Saturday was a much busier dav than tradesman anticipated, the experience, being- that presents are still being'purchased to a large extent. The Poverty Bay Rowing Club were the recipients of a new double-scull on Saturday, tlie production of Air Norton, of Wellington.

) Although Hon. W. Fraser will not | visit Gisborne during the course of his i forthcoming East Coast tour, he inj tends to pay a visit to the town and i district during March. | Before Mr John Townley, J.P., on ' Saturday, a first offender for drunk- ! enness was convicted and discharged.

Owing to/the ’cost of transport the Gisborne mounted corps will not attend the battalion camp at Hawke’s Bay next April, hut will ho!d_a special camp from March 13 to 20. The following was the revenue received at the Custom House last week: —Customs duties £BIO 4s Bd, beer duty £S6 9s, shipping fees £2 2s 7d. other receipts £4O os; total, £239 Is 3,

The star film at the Opera House this evening is a sensational emotional play under the title of “The Unwritten Law.” The present series will be screened this'evening and tomorrow night only, special attractions being notified for New Year’s night.

An Auckland P.A. wire says: The Minister for Public Works (Hon. TV. Fraser) states that the Government is determined to pusli on the construction of the North Trunk Railway without any delay. Talk: of retrenchment in regard to this line was, he said, all nonsense.

The special attraction at His Majesty’s Theatre to-night, where the Carrie Moore Company give their final performance, will he the humorous dialogue, “Writing a Play,” which will he given by Mr Percy-Clifton, the composer, and Miss Cissie O'Keefe. It is said to be one long laugh from start to finish.

Among brilliant examples of regular attendance at school, the performances of the upper boys at Kaiwarra this vear should rank high, says the Wellington “Evening Post.” In standards IV., V. and VI. every hoy has made the possible attendance for the year. To achieve this result not a little pluck and self-sacrifice were often called for, and the boys evidently made a ready response. The December issue of the “Journal” of the Department of Agriculture contains some excellent articles by the experts of the department. Not the least* interesting and instructive are “The Season’s Dairy Produce.” by D. Cuddie: “Milk Sugar,” J. Pedersen: “Our Purebred Sheep.” J. Linton: “The Dairy Cow,” Primrose McConnell: “Grass Grub,” A. H. Cockayne; ••Contagious Mammitis,” C. J. Peakes: “The Cultivation of the Vine under Glass,” S. F. Anderson; and “Lucerne on Pumice Country.’’ J. Duncan. The farmer gets a wonderful sixpenny worth in the “Journal.”

On Boxing Day a young man was arrested at the Motu Sports by Constable Butterworth for using obscene language. The accused’s mate, William Tait, interfered with the constable, and as an outcome of the incident both young men, who are railwav emplovees. were brought before Mr TV. A. Barton, S.M., at* Motu. Howard pleaded guilty focusing obscene language and was fined £3 and costs 10s, in default 14 days’ imprisonment at Gisborne, and Tait, who also pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing the constable, was fined £1 and costs 2s. in default four days’ hard labor at Gisborne.

The color line has been rigidly drawn at Port Pirie, in South Australia, by the local hotelkeepers. The team of American negro minstrels, who some months ago toured New Zealand, were booked for a performance at that town. When they got off the train, however, and the proprietor of the hotel where they were to stay saw them, he told the manager that he was not going to have ••'those coons.” They went to the other hotel, and were shown to their rooms, where they took their baggage and went down town. In the meantime the landlord met the other hotel-keeper, and learned that he had refused the blacks. Thereupon he went straight back and turned the minstrels out. Practically the same thing occurred with One of the boarding-houses. Finally they batched in the public hall. “TYe have followed our profession throughout the whole of the United States, said one of the group, “and neither there nor in Australia have we been treated like this.”

On Friday night, a parade of the | Gisborne Scout Troop was held, under Scoutmaster Toomath. The Scoutmaster's talk was interesting, it being about the annual squaring up of ac° counts, which happens at the end of the year. The credit side of the troop was large, and included willingness to do good turns, help having been given at seven or eight different functions, whether asked for or not—and this without payment. On the debit side was too slack obedience and noise, but the latter was not evidentlast week. It is hoped that in the latter objection the troop is losing one of its greatest hindrances, and so. too. in obedience. It was noticeable thatafter the Scoutmaster's talk was over the scouts fell in practically without a sound at the word of command, instead of fighting and yelling as thev used to do. When the troop had taUen m the Scoutmaster examined and swore in a. tenderfoot, and the scouts were- told that a meeting of campers would be held on Tuesday night, when the campers have to bring their swags along. According to the Auckland "Star.' 1 Hon. Messrs Herries- and Fraser are spending their Christmas and New Year holidays in Auckland, and on January 6th they set out on a tour -of the Bay of Plenty district, with which P ai ’iof New Zealand the Minister of I üblie Works is vet unacquainted. Leaving Auckland for the Thames bv steamer on the 6th prox.. the .Ministers will next day go on to Wailii by tram, and then by coach to Katikatf, where they will spend the night. Nextday, the Bth, they proceed to Tauranga, in which district raihvav and rohd matters will demand a mxxl deal of attention. On the 9th the part\« " ill visit the Te Puke district, an next- day W hakatane will be reached via Matata and Te Teko; Opotiki, the limit of the coast- iounvev, being the stopping place for'the 11th. From Opotiki the Ministers will return to Ilotorua. whence Mr Fraser departs tor Wellington, where lie is due on .Monday, 14th. Mr Herries may remain in the North longer, or may return also to W ellington and come back later, his intention being to visit the Hoklanmi and other northern districts, probobaly in February.

_ There is no doubt but what the % acuuiri and W inclow Cleaning Co. have already proved themselves a great help to many housewives in Gisborne. They will undertake to clean anything about a house—from cbimney to doorstep—and ..give satisfaction. A card sent to 152 Palmerston Road, or a ring on ’Phone 722, will have their immediate attention.*’

Yesterday the ambulance was called -on to proceed to the Waerenga-a-hika crossing, where a man who was suffering from sunstroke was brought to “town and taken to a private hospital. The excavation work in connection with the new baths at Morere is about complete, and it is safe to assume that they will be completed within the stated time. Visitors report that the' old' baths are in a state of extreme dilapidation. Hie following resolution was passed •last week by the V airoa Harbor Board:—“That this Board records its protest against the unprecedented action of the department in increasing the rate of interest oh loan for harbor improvements, and breaking their agreement to supply the money at a certain specified interest.” Six weeks ago the Porridge Pot at Whakarewarewa. ejected mud to tlie height of about 20 feet, yet last week the surface was so hard that a man’s weight could be carried (says the Rotorua “Times”). , The caretaker was photographed standing in the middle of what is usually liquid mud. hat was know as the Auckland I Competitons Society having placed its affairs in the hands of a trustee, and having expressed its intention of not holding a festival next wear, a number of citizens have decided not to allow the festival to drop. A new society lias been registered under the name of the Auckland Competitions Societv.

A sample of about half a pound of tea grown near Melbourne has been forwarded to Mr Watt, the Victorian Premier. Messrs Griffiths Bros., tea merchants, forwarded a letter with the sample, stating that the tea was grown by Mr James Griffiths, a mem-

ber of the firm, and that- the idea of sending it oil was to prove that tea could be produced in the Commonwealth.. The tea is said to be superior to the best Ceylon or Indian varieties.

“I was very much surprised,” said one of the New South Wales teachers at a smeke concert at Wellington oil Thursday evening, ‘’when I got into -a tranicar here to he charged twopence for myself and two-pence for my bag. I had put it carefully under the seat, where I thought no one would see it, but the conductor saw it. I asked him why I had to pay twopence for myself and threepence for my bag. His answer was illuminating. ■■Perhaps your bag is sober.’ said the conductor.” In the course cf an interview with a “Press” representative, Mr. J. L. Scott, who has just returned from England, remarked that in London he had been interested to observe that the stone blocks with which a portion of Oxford Street (where there was very heavy traffic) had been paved were being removed and replaced with wood blocks. These were laid on a concrete foundation, and cue cf the advantages was the ease with which repairs could be effected. It was evidently the opinion, lie said, that the wood blocks provided tlm best form of street-paving so far known.

The 37 Indians who arrived in Auckland by the Makura have had a somewhat chequered career since they decided on leaving Fiji for the Argentine. Their original intention was to charter the schooner Clansman to take them direct, but this scheme was frustrated by the authorities, who decided that a schooner would be an immigrant ship, and must, therefore, carry a doctor. On their arrival in Auckland they were not allowed to land. After negotiations, they were carried off bv a tug to the Xavua, leaving on Wednesday morning for Wellington. There they were lodged in a hulk in the harbor, pending the departure of a steamer to the Argentine Consequent on the shortage of farm labor in New Zealand, states the “Dominion,” Mr. J. D. Cruickshank, branch manager of the New Zealand fcffieepfarmers’ Agency, wrote to the High Commissioner (the Hon. T. Mackenzie, under date August 23. asking him if it was not possible to do something from tlie London end to relieve the position. The High Commissioner, writing from London on November 8, says:—“l have to thank you for your letter of August 23, with regard to the scarcity of farm labor. lam using every to procure suitable farm hands for New Zealand, but there is so much competition for this class _of labor amongst the various dominions and colonies that New Zealand can only obtain her portion of the emigration.” A New York paper tells the following story of what is known as the “'bred line.” An Austrian established a bakery and restaurant in New York, and was succeeding, when one night he happened to note outside his ■shop a man . who looked through the cellar windows hungrily when the bakers were busy. The baker spoke to the man, found he had eaten nothing for hours, and then taking him inside, gave him a loaf of bread. Hie man disappeared, but next night several. other men, accompanied by the first one, appeared at the bakery door, and again the baker fed the hungry., j Thus the famous bread line was started. Since that time no one who lias asked for'bread has been turned away bv the baker or his employees. Every night in the week but one, all the year round." anyone who asks for it may have half a loaf of bread, “and no questions asked.”

The “San Francisco Call” is responsible for one of the strangest stories in the annals of medicine. A blind man of Denver, Abrams by name, has asked to be granted the use of the eyes belonging to a murderer now under sentence of death. His petition is supplemented by a statement from a Denver physician, who, after an examination of Abrams eyes, declares that the operation can be performed successfully. If Abrams’ request is granted, the physician and surgeons will he in the death chamber when the trap is sprung. Immediately after the criminal has been pronounced dead the eyes will be abstracted befor-© the removal of the booty from the death chamber. They will be placed in a saline solution, after which the surgeons will rush to a hospital near by, where the cornea from the murderer’s eyes will be grafted into the. sightless eyes of Abrams.

Brisk demand for Hoyle’s Prints (fast dye), Roslyn Summer-weight Underwear, and Warner’s famous Rusjiproof Corsets.* ' § Gold and Greefistmie Btqpches, Jptest designs, and jv Jr “ Nasmith and .«