NEWS OF THE DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 42, 19 February 1904, Page 2

NEWS OF THE DAY.

The mail despatched from Aucklurul, via Sa* Francisco, on Jan. 15 reached London on the 15th irist. There ait* three ami a-lralf million acres of wa.de lands in the Auckland piovince.

The jjopulat'Uyn ,of West Australia on Jan. ol was exclusive of aWriginaltt.

Twenty tlfbusand wine hundred and ttleven slwep and 15(> f o'GG lambs were exported from South Australia during thv season. ju.s'L closod. The l&tilway Department Iras declined to allow the Council to erect notices on the railway fencing* facing St. Auibyn-:;treet.

Oversea sailing vessel A.B.'s are being offered £.r> a month from New Zealand to London l . The barque Letterewe, from Wellington, auud the ship Auckland, at Napu-r, signed on men at thut rate.

As the Borough Council has only another four or five weeks in which it. will be allowed to obtain gravel from the beach, the foreman and stuiT are to take step;; to get u.p; all Ih*ry can before the end of that time. Mr Gudgeon, tlx' well-known bicycle ag'ent at Inglewood, lias presentcxl a very handsome gold medal lo tlv Jngylewood Sports Club, to be awaided to the winner of the local bicycle race of two miles.

The may oirs of boroughs ami chairmen of county councils anil road boards in Tarauaki, and other public olHc.ials, will be invited to the complimentary baifipret to Mr Farmer King Tuesday.

The Oi-ari (.'ovge station (South Cantd-bary) linisihed the ewe shearing in seven days. There were TJ shearers, and the hiigi',e;4t day's tally was otw the wool lilling (iu bale.". M'ackay, with 207, was "ringer," followed by S. ltcnnett with 1G I J. Tlw slowest man in tho crou'd siiore 117 shet-p in one day.

Dr. Valiivtliw is unable to appoint an ollicer of the Health Department as clwrk of works to supervise the laying of sewers, etc. Inspector John..ton lias been .sent to take up Inspector Kendall's duties, »o that the latter' can give the whole of his attention to drain-laying and testing.

The Kent Road "tote," or "cqjialisator," to be more correct, is a marvel of ingenuity, it consists of an ordinary blackboard, on winch the investments are chalked up by a duly appointed clerk. After deducting a certain l>erccntage for tin- club's funds, the balanco is paid out in tho same manner as on the more elaborate racecourse machine.

The committee s»"t up to make arrangeMents for the banquet to Jlr Ftti-iuer King met in the Town Hall last e\*ning'. lfis Wors'luip live Mayor presided, and there weiv also present—Messrs C'aiter, Lennon, Parker, Iloekrill, I'enn and Weston. It was decided to hold the baiM|!uet at the Criterion Hotel, ami the temlur of Mr I). O'JlHen fo 1 / catering was accepted. The procuedings will comment:.. at 7.K0 p.m.

Referring to the contract case before l/im yesterday, Mr District •Judge Kettle snitl the whole case seemed to have arisen out of the loosu nianner in which the conditions of contract had been drawn up. Mr Malone, who. appeared for the plaintiff, said that was not tho fault of his client. Mr tiuilliam, tor the deu n 1 lant Council, said he was glad lo hear his Honor say so, as local bodies were too prone to have work done cheaply—and indifferently.

As a good deal oi ignorance and inisanprcln'iisKiii still t-xisl as to tho I'ticilitivH now ohtaindng for ch'ildrt*n to -he ».'nL to t iu l School ini'der Iho Uw. tuilioai ri^nl'aticn«, invivirts nit,' full* - inforimid tkat all Kducation Hoard, Qucvii's, awl National SeholaHvip hokiors, im i s]R*cti\x» of a«gv, mini all ctHl'di'cn \rmlor II yofli's ol' a'gv on IVc. JH, who had pass<\l in Sta'indaid Vf., aro t-nlillt'd to "fivo jtlacos" in the hiji'h schools on pri^yrtation of their birth and standard pass ccrtificatlss to thv prmnjuaks of Uu* Boys' and (Jiris* Schools. Othor pupils lor tho si-nior and junior classes will biM'ecoivcd us hith-erto.

M?- S. t'amj/be]) mid family, vi Tihama, luul a liHus't miraculous e:-icaj>o from the lightning on Sunday morning. They were engaged milking when a flush of lightning entered I.lit* sh«"(l where 18 cows wore bailed u,j) ami knocked nearly the whole oi thoin down, killing- one Instantly. Mr (.'amphell was near the door ol' Ihe shed and was knocked out, into lh<*yard, whilst Mrw danijlbell and other members of Hit- family, who were milkijig. all retviu-tl a shock siillieient U> throw them oil' thc-ir stools. Mrs Caniji.'lu'll says sTio Veil, ah ii' she had b<vn beaten all ovei 1 with u .stick. Mr Cumpboll is also cpnsklei ahly shaken from the sliock lio l'weived. On Die north side of the main road t\ bullock belonging to Alf Struthers was struck on the hip and the lightening troAiellwl along the bullock's side, cutting it open, mid then apparently passed out ftt thp npse,

The Boroug'h Council will pay a visit of inspection to Uio eaat end bjiths tenday.

/V i>iwe of ambergris weighing 12lli aii'd worth about wa-s picked up on- the beaeh on the Co'.omanidel I'eninsula last \vc%k by a local resident.

As Major Dunk has withdrawn his nominatio'n in I'uxour of Mr «J. M. .lolvnston, na treasurer of the Manawalu A. awl I'. Association, the latter gentle/nan has i>eHi declare*! duly elected.

As a result of the jury's decision touching the death of -Mr .Joseph, the Otag'o Daily Times reporter who was killed whilst witnessing the Harbour Bound's blast ait Harrington Point, an action will probably be brought against the Boai'd for damages,

Consideralvle difficulty is -Ix-iiig ex-pei-iencwl in tilie Marton dis'tri«t. in securing suilable men for harvest work. In seu'ral eases independent farmers well on in years have had to go into the liekls at»:d do the work themselves rather tlvaw put uj> with inferior workmen.

So. great in the 'deumixl in Austria for Lieutenant Bilse's book, ' Jn a Little Garrison Town," that the publishers are sixty thousand copies behind line orders. r Pno book is forbidden in (Germany, and a large has just been conliscat-

The Piii<o swamp is- beliem! t(» be capable of being converted into a rich agricultural district, if Urn- (»overninen't wiill mako an effort to drain it thoroughly. Tlv farme.s about th-e swamp assert Mmt the work eoukl be profitably carried out and nearly .300,000 acres of extremely rich land so thrown open within fifty miles of Auckland.

Pelorus K-oaid Board has receivcvl a legal opinion from its solicitor regarding liability for damage to bridges )>y taking out loads of greater weight than tiiey could reasonuibly be expected to sujij/ort. The opinion was to the effect that the owner of such loads is guilty of negligence, and therefo're pecuniarily liable for the injury .done.

W. Martin, jiopularly known tb.TO'iigliowt Australasia as Bill," will race no moiv. Martin, who arrived in Victoria in 1895, is an irjJepemtent man, with coins'ideiable landed projierty in Melbourne. Martin's greatest coup was iii the Austral Whce'l race of 1901, which be won, clearing some thou'suimls of po-u'ithds in wagvrs. Jt is the rule amongst tho gutional'is-ts of New Zealand that none of their mimisters slmll recei\e a stijiend of les\y than £l5O per year. During 1903 two nimisters in the back.blocks loss than tihaj sum, but Union in conference decided tliut the deficiency in these cases sl;ould be made up, nn-J this was flo-fie by subKCriptfon on the spot.

Chme«e labourers l\v the Uiwidred are urriving at San Francisco on every sterner from (lit* Orumt on route to British Columbia. The cause fo>.- the sudden influx Into Canada lies in the fact t'lvat the Canadian Government recently emicted a Jaw by which over)' Olrimamuoi landing' on British soil after Jan, 1 will be. compiled to pay a head tax of iillHJ. Under the present law the Ohiinc.sc aiv only riVpi>ii\'d to pay £l.

The ha'bituul exaggeration of the lishermen has led the Tourist Department to prove its woids as far as trout cnug'lit at Rotorua arc concu.ned, and with this intention most of the best specimens are being cured for exhibition at home and abroad as irrrtu table evidence oi the sport lo be obtained in the North. The he*aid olltco of the Dojiartnient has ixu'i) advisid that on .Jan. 23 a was secured, on the 2fith a tificen-poimder, and on Jan. 29 anil l'\'b. 1 two fonrteoti-pound-ers, each of wlvieh has been :ient to Auckland to he preserved for exhibition purposes. The magnitude of the brown trout taken at Blenheim, and how on exhibition at the Wellington oiVice of the Tourist Department, lias sla-ggmMl many a visiting English lisherman.

Writing of Sunday morning's thunderstorm thu l'ilvania correspondent of t-hi' Opunnke Times lepoi.ls Uiut at about fi.ilo o'clock, after a fla.s'h of ligiutsvin'g, there came a big I) ill of u bluish lint, and intern* brightness, which aipjwared to burst, unci the electric llukl could lie plainly seen running down tire (lark cloud, until it came to within a mile of theeairth. There it remained for a lew seconds for all to see—n most beautiful ami awe-inspiring sight. The s-tivok appeared to he allout. three 'inches wide, and a chain a lid a half to two chain* long. The colour, like molten gold, was Intensely bright, but not of that nature to cause any inconivemence to the sight, K'Ujt'hJ/ it fascinatied one vvilh its 1 glurioun brilliancy.

Captain Iforriman, of the San Francisco mail steamer Sonoma, admitted to an Auckland Star reporter last week that a young man named Ernest Taylor, of Ihinedin, who Imd stowed away at Honolulu, had been kept in irons throughout the voyage to New Zealand. The cattail. also told the reporter that a niumk'i' of the steerage passengers, Whose sympathies hind evidently been enlisted by some of the crew of the .steamer got up a petition asking him (Captain Herriinun) to release five young man under restraint, and were 'informed tluat if they wore prepared to jra.v the passage moncv amongst them he would release the stow-away. They 'd'id not seem disposed to go to this length, and tlw lad remained in ironti until the arrival of the vessel in harbour, when lie was relwified and ordered ashore.

The Waiknnac (near Wellington) C.uii (Mul) held a large meeting at Haikanno on Tjitii'Miuv, ,Jnn 21 when a number of the best rfvots in ht colony took part. The £IOO handicap match was won bv the following gentlemen :• -Messrs ' Fruser, I'obson, Crow, Buck. Smith, Hurt, Storey, Campbell, and Hoi-e, who divKlod the prize inonev. In the xhoot-oIY for lirst place and co ld miclal Afr Buck won widi the fine sroro of 24 straight-out kills. All till) winners, including Mr ISuck were using tlio Colonial Ammunition Co's cartridges and patent concave wad.* High-grade giace kid American shoes for women, in lace or button patent cap, two fittings, at 5s ltd and 8s fid pair, consWeruhly uiulerpriced at ' The Melbourne", the Bargam Corner.* One of the latest niktitioms to the imiportaiil buildmg-s of l>iv,'lo,!lh iK tlK ' Express Co. s new brick store mid ollices m l>roi%ihain-street. Merchandise, furniture and effects stored at minimum "ales a,nd lowest rates of lnsuranwe. ' , linportant to young ladies m ,d „. iT" , n " KS ' bedding n'ngs, atelier, f'huns and all kinds of .lewelleiy is the linest on tho We=l toZCtzyZn i"'ia trl Wn v Central, New Plymouth.* "ave you noticed how smoothly shopping goes at "The Melbourne. 1 ' Everybody says it's the busiest store m Taranaki, anil corlninly we' are doing the largest business we ever -new. J.,very cu.slonier saves money Ue buy for cash aral sell for cash. 1 '»> lis the secret of our famous low prices.* '