LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7936, 27 September 1905, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A large gathering of members ol the Taranaki Field Club' ami friends, including a proportion oi ladies, assembled al the Chamber of Commerce looms on Tillsday evening, when Mr Percy Smith (President) delivered an intil'isting and instructive .oldiess oil the "Maori Names of Plants." 'the lecturer dealt with the nomenclature and classification "f some eighty Ol ill 1 commonest lives and lonud ;around the town an.l district, giving the native and seienlilic de.-.igna tions. In many instances Mr Smith discoursed on tlu> origin of the names, and tin- native Jiistory connected Willi the botanical specimens. The subject was an attractive one to students oi the science, as many i* the names were originally brought by the natives from tiie Islands, and are to he found there to this day. There was varied collection of the plants and shrubs on view, the lecture being advantageously illustrated. At the conclusion the lecturer was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Sir Robert Stout, who takes an interest in botany and kindred subjects. The club's next lecture will probably be given in about a mouth's time by Dr. Home.

The body of lite late Mi' C- 11. Anult, of Stratford, .was removed to Wellington for interment. The New /calami Times reports llut deceased left a widow and two children, a girl and hoy, the latter being born last Saturday. Another of the series of socials at St. Joseph's Schoolroom, in aid of the Christmas bazaar, will be held tomorrow evening. The death is announced at Cilyn Limerick, Ireland, of Mrs May Fitzgerald, at the age of 111. At an inquest on De Wiuton, tlie caretaker of a club I I'erlli, Westralia, his housekeeper, Mrs I,eon, gave evidence. She stated llul deceased worried over the financial position of the Club, and th"v both agreed to die together. Deceased mixed morphia, anil she drank her portion. lioth destroyed p,m»rs nrirr to the deed, including a will by Dc Wiaton in her favour. The Secretary of the Club stated thai the audit revealed a shortage in deceased's accounts amounting to £527. The Supreme Court sittings will be continued at 10 a.m. to-day, when the remainder of the civil business, and a divorce suit, will come on for hearing. A serious accident, occurred in the Omona district, about 35 miles back from Kltham on Monday, on Ihe road works, the victim being Patrick Kelly a selector employed with a co-opera-tive gang. A slip of about Ml tons of papa rock fell suddenly, Kelly having only time to throw his body clear, his legs being caught, and both being broken anil mutilated. lie was Carried out about twelve miles bv his mates over bush tracks, and was met by a doctor, who had him conveyed to Kltham c.it'lv this morning. A singular coincidence that Kelly's male, .Miller, was killed near the same place under similar circumstances a few months ago. The New* York police have a special baton. It is made of extremely heavy wood judiciously coated with imliartlil.vr, and has this merit, that while it will knock a man down with a single 'blow, it will stun without breaking his head.

Sir Kilwanl Clarke is a ran 1 instance of the self-made man who is modest and miassumjii);. Tin- mall, wlio lias served as one of Hie chief law officers of ilie Crown was tlw sun nf a watchmaker, awl he was initiated iiito that businiss at the ajje of 13. InMpirul, however, jlij* leading Brougham's "Lives of Statesmen," Sir Kilwanl rcsolvul to become a eandiilate for the bar. He then-lore left his father's business at' 11 hi- aiif of 17, and for long supported himself f;n a pound a week, while he saved up the money for his fees. Now he is in a position to earn as much money a week as I.ord Kolerts earns in a year. Four finger-rings and seventeen brooches Were used in the const ruction of a martin's nest which has hern dislodged from U'licath the eaves of a house in Fi'oguiore, High Wycombe, Kngland. The Melbourne—Urin-disi despatch of Aug. 23 arrived in I,ondon on the afternoon of Sept. 21.

One of the most remarkable kleptomaniacs on record is an old Parisian lady, with a passion for accumulating meerschaums, which lied impelled her to pilfer pipes from Parisian shops with such success that no fewer than 2lillo were found in her lodgngs. All of Hum were meerschaums, and 3!) were well coloured. Miss Alice Roosevelt seems to have inherit! il some of her father's vigour. An American statistician prcstin'ls her social achievements for lillcen months in vhe 'form of arithmetical : e,nipirta,t;i()ii. He- sajj's she has been present at 103 dinners, 350 and 300 small dances. Her live o'clock teas number Wd and she has paid 17U0 calls. A Chrislchurch police officer told a leportir lately that during the past year or so two or three local shopkeepers had reported io the news papers that their premises had been buiglarioii*)- iiit['red and that property has been removed. No com plaints were made to the police whose lirst notice of the ailegid roblenes was the accounts which they had Had' in vhe newspapers. Detic-' iivts had lac,, scut to investigate the cases, and they speedily discovCte.l that Hie kiirglaiics had hven "hiv riis : ,,.ig dod»vs. A ciiplo Ol tile tradesmen confess,d that they bad b(,n the pilu-i ct.s of their own premises. 'I bey bad hidden awav certain articles, and had asserted ' Uiati Ihe property bail been stolen. Of all the peoples of Ivirope the French have the fewest children and the Irish the most. 'the average Kn neb family numbers 3.3 persons, and the average Irish family .">.2. In Knghinil the average is I.R. The Spanish and, Russian closely approach the Irish. In contrast to the hrcneli in Kuropc, the French in Canada are the most prolific race in Christendom.

Ml .Justice Cooper, sitting in Banco, <ni Friday, sals the Wellington I'osi, bad before him the ease Tonks J and others v. Crockett and others,> and originating summons in respect , of the will of .John Winks, fanner, | of llaWera, deceased. It appeared thai the will of the deceased empowered the Hesters in the estate lo sell the land, hut it also gave the deceased's tons certain options of purchasing} A number of suns were many years wilder age, •iiid Ihc\ liustves had sold part 'of the land to two purchasers, who were defendants in the present suit. The summons was issued by the trustees in order 10 ascertain whither or not they hail the right to sell without having to wait until all the sons were of age, and gning i|i/»iii the option of purchasing. The piucha-ei., jyho were made defendants were uesiious of completing their purchases, hut before doing so wished to obtain the opinion oi the Court in order to ascertain whether the plaintilT trustees could give a juojici' title. Was Kvasal.

Messrs Lint'liorn and Evans announce in this issue that tliey have purchased the A.Ii.C. Boot and Shoe Company's business, and intend to j run it on most up-to-date lines, in all the branches of the trade. They [also intimate that they have boughtout the lease and business conducted so successfully for many years by Mr Ij.R. Chatterton. The new tirm have a special notice in this issue, in which they state that they will hold a great clearing sale al reduced prices, commencing on Friday next, Sept. 29. In another column appears a notice to common jurors in waiting, requesting their atiemlance at the Supreme Courthouse on Thursday next, Sept. 2X, instead of this morning. Mr J. McNeil notifies in .this , issue that he has purchased Mr M. A. Clarke's long-established gioeery business in Devon Street East. The annual meeting of the Mangorei Cooperative Dairy Company will be held on Monday, Oct. 2„ at the public hall, Kgmont Village. Messrs Ilookham and Alcorn notify the arrival of specialties in gents' ha Is. After Sept. 3U, Imperial pensions will lie paid by the Postmaster aud not the Collector of Customs.