LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8051, 20 February 1906, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

With a view to the establishment ot a materaity hospital, similar to those existing iu Wellington ami Duucdiii, the Government has instructed Mrs Grace Ncill, inspector of hospitals, to report on a suitable site or building in Auckland.

Tke s.s. Karaniea is ni jirescut lying in the Wnitnra roadstead, loading a large cargo of frozen meat, tallow, etc., for the Home markets.

Tu Devon-street last night there was quite a rougli-riding exhibition when a ' horseman tried to coax his steed past ' the steam road-roller which was being employed on some newly-laid mcta'.. At the request of a large number of the public, the Garden Party Committee have decided to finish the day, on Wednesday, by holding a Euchre Party in the evening. Xhe parly will be held in the big afternoon tea tent, on the sports ground, at 8 p.m. Mr Isaac Bayly, formerly a member of the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, has generously donated a sufficient sum for the purchase of an X-rays apparatus for the New Plymouth hospital. Dr. Leatham will purchase it in England. The Military Band, under Bandmaster Garry, gave an open air concert on the reserve opposite the New Plymouth Railway Station on Monday night, the performance being thoroughly appreciated by a very large concourse of people, in spite of the untoward weather prevailing, Yesterday afternoon His Worship the Mayor' handed to Mr Mac Williams, the contractor tor the tunnel at the headworks of the municipal water supply scheme, a final cheque for £3,012 10s in full satisfaction of all claims against the Council. A pretty and attractive resort within " picnic " distance of New Plymouth is the to)) peak of the Kaitaki ranges. Recently a new track has been cut through the scrub and bush to the summit, ami the ascent cau now be made with ease. The view to be obtained from this altitude is described as beiux well worth th« climb by thoso who have accomplished it. The swimming sports in connection with the Graud Garden Party to he held in the Recreation Grounds on ! Wednesday will be very iulor- ! estiug. Large entries for the one 1 huudrcd aud fifty yards handicap have been received, and a valuable silver teapot valued at 45s has been pur- ' chased for Hie winner of this race. ■ Medals will be given for the cigar and . umbrella race, aud various events such , as high dive, long dive and fancy swimming. The committee in charge are working very hard to make the sports a success. According to the statement of sever- ; al P.ieroa workmen who have returned ; from the King Country, the treatment I accorded to the men working on the railway is anything but satisfactory. ' They assert that food is dear, and that ■ wages are by no means high, some of i them making a bare living. Complaints are also made of the system of payment by the Public Works Department. The men's time is made iq> to the 20th of the month, but payment is not made ) until some time in the following month, , so that a man who wishes to leave has . to wait about a fortnight for his wages. A proof of the extent to which the matter of the lutcrnationa' "Exhibition at C'hristchurch was brought ' under the notice of manufacturers and the general public by Mr T. 1v Donne during his recent trip to Great Britain is to be seen at the Department of Tourists and Industries (Panama- ' street) in lorm of a huge pile of clipL pings from newspapers published in , England, Scotland, Wales, aud Ireland —all making hopeful reference to the contemplated Exhibition and giving partoc.ilar.sof its scope. Extracts from ' notices published by French and ' German newspapers are also laudatory • in lone.

Mr MeXab, M.H.U., leaves for a trip to America and the Mother Country by the next San Francisco mail steamer. While in "Washington and other American cities, he will search newspaper files for information in regard to the, old whaling days in New Zealand. In the early times, large numbers of. American whaling vessels came to these waters, and Mr McNab hopes that ho will be able to obtain some very interesting information. He is engaged on a work dealing with the early history of the Southern portion of the South Ljland. The first part will be issued on his return in July. Writing on the costs of elections, Mill. W. Lucy, in the " Chronicle," menlions the famous "Spendthrift Election," fought in Northampton in 1708, It was a three-cornered duel, Lord Northampton, Lord Spencer, and Lord Halifax each backing his mau. Their ancestral homes—Horton, Castle, Ashby, and Althorpe—were thrown open to the mob. For fourteen days the polling booths were open, and their friends meanwhile feasted to their full. In these circumstances it was quite a moderate result that out of a register of !)30 electors 1218 votes were recorded. Lord Spencer's bill of costs mounted up to iill 10,00(1. Lords Halifax and Northampton spent between them £300,000.

Inquiries made by a "Daily Telegraph" reporter, regardingthe falling off in the number of vessels registered in the port of Sydney, have led to bitter complaints beiug made by masters and owners of ships against the provision in the Slate Navigation Act, which allows of a certificate only being given for six months after each survey of a ship—in other words, which compels a re-survey every half-year. It is not to this cause that the reduced number of registrations is ascribed, but the ship, ping people say that the requirements of the law have made the port extremely unpopular, and are turning large sums of money and much work into other ports of the Commonwealth, because m every other State the survey certificate holds good for a whole year, and the certificates are operative in all the States in common.

At Monday's meeting of the '.Sew ll Plymouth Hospital and Charitable Aid g Board, the following communication .. from the Inspector General's office was I discussed:-For many years the Government have experienced great difficulty in providing suitable medical s treatment and nursing for the Maoris. i. It is intended to make a systematic t effort to meet this great need.' One of the means to bo adopted lo save the native people from the dangerous treatnieuf of lolmngas, and the many evils 1 arising from their influence, is to train f their own young women to be nurses, by , experience gained in our public hospi- % tals. A grade of nursing examinations " will be instituted for such of these as I are unable to meet the requirements of I the State system of registration, livery . care wi!l| lie taken that no unsuitable candidates will be chosen, under the ' proposal |hat the Hon. AY. Hull•Tones directs me to lay before your Hoard, namely, thai one or two Maori girls be admitted to your staff of nurses under training, under conditions that the Stale defrays the cost of their maintenance. This would be a greatboon to Ihe native race." The Board decided the scheme was one worthy of adoption, and recommended I he matter to the personal consideration of (he medical stall'. MERIT REWARDED lil COURT OK JUSTICE!. The acknowledged good qualities and success o[ Sandku and Son's' Eucalypti xtjiact have brought out many imi'atioiis, and ene case was just tried in ihe Supreme Court of Victoria, before his Honor Chief Justice Sir J. Madden, K.C. M.U., etc. His honor, in giving judgment, sa id that whenever an article is commended 11 the public by reason of its good nualitv, etc., il is not permissive to Imitate any of ills features. Retraining the imitators ' perpetually from doing so, lie ordered ' them to pay all osts. I We publi li this to afford the people an t opportunity of protecting themselves, and « of securing what is proved beyond all i doubt by skilled witnesses at the Supreuie Court of Victoria, and by many authorities dining the last 31 years to be a ' preparation of genuine merit, viz.:— I Tun Gkni'ine Sakdkii & Soxs s Pohb Volatile Eucalypti a Eitbact. 111