LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7704, 5 January 1905, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Sierra arrived at San Francisco on Hie 2nd iiist. at G a.m. Mr Newton King will hold an important, auction sale of sections at Vogcltown, at his Mart, this evening. The work of removing the remainder of the spoil ifrom the Mount Eliot reserve is to be put in hand at once, and tenders therefor are invited by the Harbour Board in this issue. The executive of tlie New Zealand Axemen's Association, at a, meeting held at Eltham on Tuesday, upheld Goold's protest against Pretty in the Handicap Chop. It will be remembered that Pretty and Blanc exchanged blocks in the final. L. Berg gets second money. In, connection with the carnival today's 4,35 p.m;. train putward is dfllayod to. Wave at 5.45. A .special will leave for Stratford anjl Waitara at 10.30, From Hawera,, Toko, etc., to New holiday excursion tickets are now being issued, up to Thursday next, availaUo for return till February 18th. The carnival just concluded at -Wanganui was a great success. A large number of visitors attended, and the amusements provided were generally highly praised. It is anticipated there will be a surplus, and the committee generally favour making the carnival -an animal fixture. Mr D. l.aing reports the following sales :—Two sections i n the Moturoa t.owiiship t,, Mr Anderson, of Teimikji ; section No. 92, Fitzroy estate, to Mr Deijby, of' Clinton, and Mr Sharrock's two acres and house in the Frankleigh I'ark estate to a local investor. Ji r JelTrev's farm of .100 acres at Tarata has'been disposed of to Mr Hodgson.

The Town Hall at Manain was jLohiUy destroyed by lire „n Wednesday ' iimniing. Tlie whole street »va'fi fjHVejl ofjly hy the exertions of thu lirii brigade' apd tpwnspeople. Insurance : £l5O on thp hall, £(K> on scenery and piano, both in the South British. The citizens already advocate the rebuilding of thu hail at a cost of £7OO. The cause of the fire is unknown.

Tim ceremony of turning Die first sort of the Sloirut Egmont railway will bo performed to-day bv Mr Jennings, M.11.H. The Mayors of all the surrounding towns are expected to fi-jke part in the formal ceremony, aw the formation of flic railway 'is extremely importing to the whole district; as it will enablegood metal to be obtained for a large pyrfjon which is now crippled for want pi roads, Twenty persons have applied ,lo be Allowed to-enter fpr the'competition (or the weed extermination prize of £SOO, offered by the Department of Agriculture, now being liekl on t'he Totara estate, Oamarn. Most of these are from the North Island, whore they Irave been experimenting on the blackberry ami briar, They have little experience with the Californian thistle, which is now being dealt with, The competition is exciting gren't Interest among the farming community. lffscussing the proposal to scud an Knglish Association 'football team to visit Australia and New Zealand uext season, a writer in the Express says :—''''Tiro Football Association is wealthy, and woidd like to perform missionary work, but it is a lengthy jjourjuey to Australia, ami I am afraid t-hut J'opt'ball is not sudiciently 1 popular ttae iu pyfpr the cost of taking it tpflin over, I do ii#t Enow how the recent Itngby tour paid,'):><>(, t'he venture of Shtiw uwl Shrewsbury was a distinct financial failure. The Football Association sent out a to Germany a few years ago, itifttl it'coftt .a fair sum, but it was well spent, "lU'Js n.ot fj/te;i we mix politics with football, bu't'tl\er|i js. [very little 'doubt thnt the presence of the English team did a vast amount of good, for at the time the two countries were not ok very good terms. lam afraid that a tour even from a patriotic point of view is hardly possible, so far as Australia"' is concerned ; but a capable 'suli-coKimiUew has been appointed'to make inquiries."

j On Tuesday night the mail train .•an imto and killed a draught horse |which suddenly blocked the line at a crossing wear the 'breakwater. The animal got under the cowcatcher* and .was, jammed between tho engine jaml the bogie wheels of the tender.. Some difttcuto>»ww-~experienced in removing fcho-TJody. But for the promptitude of the driver in applying the Wesl'inghousc brake a serious accident must have occurred'.

I Regarding the. shipment of Roscommon sheep 'despatched to New I Zealand in December by the Muapehu a long period of elaborate preparation preceded their departure. The sheep were selected from a number ,of the best flocks in Ireland as far back as September, and were assembled at Tonnona, County Roscommon. Instead of the grass to which they had been accustomed, they were tau£l,-l to eat all kinds of roots and I vegetables, bran-cuke of all kinds, ,cut hay, etc., and even fruit. The animals were exercised daily, and gradually accustomed to do "without | grass underfoot, while their feet were washed with hardening lotions to prepare them for the long voyage. , Phis is the first batch of lloscom- | nion sheep that has yet been sent out :to New Zealand, so that the shipment is in its way nn interesting and useful experiment.

The New South Wales Minister for Mines and Agriculture recently received a report from Mr J. B. Suitor, Commercial Agent for New South Wales in the East, upon the prospects of working up a trade in fruit. He 'thinks there is a possibility of introducing New South Wales fruits, and especially apples and oranges, to Hongkong and Shanghai. The New South Walcsj seasons are practically the reverse of those in China, and fruits from the State can therefore be marketed when the local supply is off. From Sydney to Hongkong' cold storage is available on the regular lines of steamers, but for Shanghai transhipment is necessary at Hongkong irtto one of the Ohina Navigation boats having a regular service between Hongkong and ports to the north thereof. In September good apples realised 8s (id to 9s 7d per case, and the cost of land-ing,-.freight, commission, etc., alnounted |to about 3s Id per case. American apples sell well, but the Tasmoninn apples received were considered much superior,

A singular b>;bseh of promise acion was heard in Sydney last week, when a Mrs Finlayson sued J. R. Hall for £IO,OOO damages. A promise to marry was, it is alleged, made 20 years ago ; also that tho promise was renewed last- January Mr Justice-£ring-said''"that with re-' ga«l to the contract of marriage—and the same applied to all (con-tracts —if the parties went on in a way that was inconsistent with the existence of that contract he should soy to the jury, "You may presume that there is a revision of the contract," and in the case of a contract of marriage, where the contract depends upon mutual affection, and so on, if they found people allowing 20 years to elapse without writing or visiting, although for six years: living a -quarter of a mile aaa'rt, it was the very strongest evidence of recision. In this case there were circumstances more extraordinary, ho supposed, than any ever put forward in any court of justice'. It was said that truth was stranger than fiction. If those facts were true, they wero such as he supposed hardly the most daring novelist would put forward. The jury, in less than ten minutes, returned a verdict for the defendant.

The recent offer of the Mikado to allow the non-comhatnbts to leavo Port Arthur is one of ihose amenities of which warfare between civilised Powers furnishes many examples. The Duke of Wellington was a stickler for etiquette in this connection ; and it is on record how, on a famous occasion, after giving Junot a good beating, he sent to inquire concerning his health, the friendly message being; accompanied by a present of vegetables, which were said to be scarce in Junot's camp. The great . Duke, says the Birmingham Post, was especially punctilious in any matter affecting the comfort and convenience of women !«.nd children. Soult, during the Pen nsula War, on hearing that there were many wound-, ed English in an adjacent village, sent forthwith to' their assistance ; and all. the 'time Charles Napier was trpfisoner he was treated as an honoured guest, particularly by Baron Clouet, Ney's aide-de-camp. When, after three months' uncertainty, the British 'Government sent to ascertain what had became of Napier, Ney, learning for the first time that his gallant opponent had a blind and wjdowud mother, said : "Let him go and tell her, himself that he is aljve,"

In dealing with the multiplicity of inspectors the Hawke's Bay Herald says :—There is an inspector who watches your premises at night to Sep that you do not work your employees over hours. He may see that your workrooms are not overcrowded, or otherwise insanitary. If you have machinery another gentleman is entitled to inspect your boiler and find fault with the arrangements of your workshop. Still another officer is entitled to examine your 'workmen and endeavour to detect you in some breach of award in the matter of rates of pay or hours of work. And another inspector may call and as'k you to produce your ledgers and disclose to him all the ■details of your business, in order to prove that you have been 'defrauding the revenue. If you are a shopkeeper the case is as bad. A butohet, a baken, a dairyman, are all subject to the whims of one or other kind of inspector. A grocer was to have been harassed under a bill which was fortunately crowded out of last session. A chemist is to disclose the composition of his nostrums, A publican is absolutely surrounded by .inspectors, tumbling over one another in their anxiety to catch him tripping. And every storekeeper has periodical .visits from an ollicer who wants (to test his weights and scales. In the country there are rabbit inspectors, and stock inspectors, and noxious weeds inspectors, and dairy inspectors, and a good many more, whose titles and duties happen 'to) have slipped our memories for the moment. Uowe and Paterson, seedsmen, notify by advertisement elsewhere that they have secured first prize gold medal for seedsman's exhibit, and first prize diploma for farm and vegetable weeds at the Ken; Plymouth Exhibition,* The members of the New Plymouth Town Band are rapiestcd to be at the Recreation Grounds ;this afternoon at 1.30 o'clock sharp.* Competitors in the hoop raco at the children's carnival on Thursday are requested to bring their .own hoops'.* AFTER TWENTY YEARS. Mr 11. HuJlen, ' Cheviot, writes : "The Rheumo has done my wife a great amount of good. She got no good from the Hanmcr Springs, having suffered from chronic rheumatism for twenty years. I was suffering from the Kidneys, and took some Rheumo. It relieved mo very quickly. I have recommended it to several people, all with good results. Sold by all| chemists and storekeepers, 2s Gd and/ 4s 6d.— Wholesale Agents, Kentpthorne, Prosscr, and Co.* 7 HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT AND ''' ' "• EiLls: indisputable remedies. In the usb of tP e !?,p medicaments' "there need be no hesitation or doullt of their cooling:, healing, and purifying properties. The ointment stands unrivalled In relieving, healing, and thoroughly curing the most Inveterate sores and ulcers, and in cases of bad legs and bad breasts they act as a charm. Th< Pills are the most effectual remedy for the cure of liver complaints, which derange all the proper functions of the organs affected, inducing it'Stlcssncsß and melancholy weariness, inability to sleep, pain in tho side, etc. These wonderful Pills, if taken according to the printed instructions accompanying each box, strike at the root of tlie malady and stimulate the stomach and livei' into a healthy action.*