LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8018, 3 January 1906, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A religious burglar left the following note: ' Lead us not into temptation.' You and your show of wealth tempted me, and I fell, though an honest working man. Therefore, you are the sinner, not I. Repent before it is too late." To see some of the potato and grain crops which were destroyed the other day by the hailstorm at Manaia {says the " Wainiate Witness "), one could scarcely credit that hail could do so much damage. All that is left of the grain crops are the dried stalks, the grain head? having been cut off as with a scythe. As for the potatoes, there is just a trace of withered leaves lying on rows of rounded earth. There is an inhuman wretch in Now Plvmouth who ought lo "get tweae mouths' hard." The other evening a dog belonging to Mr S. liem ell was maimed by someone cutting a deep in. cision across its back and almost completely round its body. Seven stitches ■ had to be put in the wound. The man ' or being who committed this deed of fiendish cruelty is hardly hi to live i u a civilised community. The New Plymouth Homing Club's interval race was ilown from Auckland on Saturday and resulted i Mr I{. W. Dixon's " Haydn " coming home first, Mr G. A. Corney's " Kaitere " being second. Messrs C. Dixon and S. Pipe's birds also competed. The race was flown for a cup which is to be won twice in succession or three times at intervals. Mr Corney held the prize last j'ear but Mr Dixon claims possession for the next twelve mouths. It is worthy of note that both the first and. second birds are full brothers, being out of the same nest. Considerable mortality is reported to have taken place amongst calves this year throughout the Wairarapa district (says the " Daily Times "). The cause is probably to be found in the methods of feeding and roaring. Farmers do not always exercise discretion in the feed they select for their calves whence the mortality of the large proportion of animals with poor constitutions. The former use of whey, hay. t«ii and similar preparations which lack real nutrition is being abandoned in favour of either whole milk or nourishing calf-food. A serious effort is being made to cope with the causes which have been responsible for the mortality among calves hitherto prevailing in these districts. This week Mr E, Van DeMen, of the Arcadia Cigar Store, ifl holding a sale | of New Year Gifts. Prices are such that business is assured. To every customer Mr Van Delden extends heartiest good " wishes for the New Year, and includes all readers in extending here the compliments s of the season. The reading room, writing 1 room and store are open from 7 a,m. till i 10 p.m. to all who like a quiet read, smoke or chat. Call in some time' this wijck at v

A short story, ent'tled " A Change Autobiography," appears on the fourth ( page. Farmers in the southern portion of ' Taranaki arc experiencing some difliculty in obtaining labor. Pretty well all the Maori labor is engaged. A cyclist last Friday coverod the 48 . miles from Wnnganui to Palmerstonin lhr 48$ sec, working out at an average of 2min losoc per mile. The Clifton Bowing Club, of Waitara, had bad luck at Wanganui regatta. They borrowed a four-oared clinker outrigger for a race, and struck a snag on the course, rendering the craft useless. This means paying out about £2o in hard cash, a severe strain on the funds of a young club. The s.s. Corinna took 11,393 boxes of butter from New Plymouth on Monday for shipment to England by the Gothic. Tliis represents a value of over £36,000—a fortnight's output from North Taranaki. This excludes produce shipped from Patea. The Uorinna brought about 14,000 boxes from Auckland. The medals won by the Fitzroy and Now Plymouth Fire Brigades at the Eltham Demonstration en November Uth, have come to hand. The medals, which are of special and characteristic design, will be presented to the winning teams at the next meeting of the Brigades, What tho milking industry docs for Taranaki. Lost month (December) nearly £16,000 was distributed amongst the factory suppliers near Manaia, viz., those of Kaupokonui, Riverdale and T. L. Joll's. The live companies doing business around Eltham, viz., Eltham, Ngaire, Mangatoki, Lowgarth, and Kaponga distributed over £21,000. A fatal accident happened on the] Eltham road on Thursday morning, the victim being William Irwin, an old man. He was driving a waggon loaded with butter, when the axlo broke, capsizing the vehicle. Irwin was thrown out and sorno of the butter boxes fell! on him, indicting, injuries from which, he in a few hours' time succumbed.

Ia connection with the grand Xmas Fete, the winning number of the prize specially set apart for holders of admission tickets was 3007. The fortunate possessor of this ticket can obtain the prize on application to tho secretary, Mr Ernost Carthcw. The Art Union numbers will be found in another column. During the holidays there has been an unusual amount of matter supplied to newspapers through the telegraph office. Much of this was difficult " copy," such as racing reports and, acceptances, but nevertheless the " copy " supplied by the local officials was always clear and easily intelligible. We have to thank the operators for their efficient handling of the work. People ought to be careful how they spread science among the young. There is a melancholy story being told to-day of a small boy who was sent to some popular lectures on evolution. He came back bursting with information. ""Well, Tommy," said papa, genially, " what have ypu learnt i " Oh, papa, before I was born you and mamma were monkeys." A resident of Eltham named Bilbic I was. committed to the Porirua Asylum from Eltham yesterday morning. The unfortunate fellow was at one time an inmate of Avondale Asylum and is reported to have escaped from there and made his way overland to Eltham. Recently he has been acting strangely and was a source of anxiety to females. He gave lis captors a lively time on Sunday.