LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8057, 5 March 1906, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On the application of ,\lr probate of the will of the late Charles White, Hell JSlock, was granted by the Supreme Court of Xew Zealand to I'.llen While, the executrix and sole devisee named in the will. Mr W. A. t.'o|] is, photographer, torwards a neat and attractive post-card, bearing photographic pictures of the Taranaki members of the .\ewZealand football ii'iLin, and its ivnml. The scroll work surrounding the picture is good, and the cards should have il IViUlv. Still', " 1 The Hessian llv is re])orted to have done some damage among the wheat crops in the Pleasant l'oint and I'airlie districts in the South. Little or nothing w as heard of the Hy in the I wo previous seasons, and il had been forgotten, but this year a good deal of the wheat lias lallcu over through its attack in the two locililics named. The latest thing in animal " freaks " was brought under the notice of the Southland "Time-'' the other day, when they were shown a full-grown rabbit whose lower front teeth had ambitiously grown beyond the normal. The rabbit was shot ai Thorubury, and the two abnormal teeth were fully 3in long. They curved upwards, with a curl inwards at the ends, and presented Ihe appearance of miniature tusks.

The high price ruling for potatoes lias al least one dismlvantage-llie prompting ..f ibirving instinct. The "Southern Standard" rcporls llial llie Chinamen's gardens in (Jure have been visit, d—lre jueutl;,. il is ovidcnl til • potato rows undermined, an I the potaio"s removed from Iheshaw roots. The Chinamen only discovered their loss Ihc Oilier day. but inspection reveah.l thai the Ihel'ls imist have been going oil lor some lime, as a large number of the slums had been stripped. I here has just been opened al the •Melbourne Clothing Co. a line of 2(111 ■■ample bush rugs, secured by Mr (>', hoary whilst m the Old Country al 50 per eeiil. oil' Knglisli prices. Compris'''l hi Ihe 10l are some of the most bo,-mlMul colour.l Mendings imaginable Ibe linn now announces an aule-season pale "I illegal prices hitherto unknown i' l I iiraiiaki. I',-r ~heel- usefulness al " 1 ' ti'iiMdhng ihero's nothing belle''Han ii,,',. ,„, s . l'dcos "> l! 'l lo I MM. Come early, you're -lire lo be wauling one 'Ai'„t. "no-hflh of llie polillblt ill,. e"l"»y of .New /ealand use T \\ Welch s lullter. I'ln's seems a •• preiiy lull yarn' but ii» irue. Those vv |i,, eal llie "While (.'lover " butt cr know It's good, pure, fresh Iniller.! same i|uahly always--! ho be-t. Try : ■ M)ll| e. I - v\. \\ eli-h. sireel store, JS'cw riyuioiitli. Aim',

A short story, " A Story of l.)i"' nionds," appears on our fourth page. Tkc Taranaki County Council meets to-day, Sydney advises thai Vancouver despatch of 23rd .January arrived in London on the morning of the Ist iusfc, A mild reminder that things are not as they were in the "good old days" was given by Captain Mace at the Bacon Company shareholders' meeting on Saturday, when he said, "No (mini will do anything now unless he is |uul for it." There was n J large gathering of the public nil Si n lay at Western I'nrk where the MiliLary Hand gave an enjoyable eojieerl, A good colli'i'liou was realised in aid of the Band funds. Mrs Irene C'onuop, wlu> so succssfully eoiiducleil the dancing display at the Grand Garden I'etc. lias arranged lo give tuition in the terpsichorcim art at the Dresden rooms. The success which has rewarded Jlrs Connop's system of teaching heretofore, should suflice to secure n large number of i pupils. The " Mauawatu Standard " says : The dodges some teachers resort to for the purpose of increasing the attend- ! anee at their schools are various. At a meeting of the Wanganui Education Board, it was stated that a ladv teacher . conveyed several children from the neighbourhood of one school to the one taught by her, so as to " keep up ■ the average." 1 Mr Harris Ford, for over thirty years > secretary to the New Plymouth liecreai tion Grounds, but recently resigned, a has received numerous enquiries from people who evidently have an idea that ! the proposed improvements in the . Grounds will necessitate, the filling in I of the lower lake. This, of course, is a misapprehension, and it is doubtful ' whether the Spurts Ground C iniinittee J would obtain ilie present hearty sup- . port if the beauty of I hi' Ground was t > be at all impaired by the work.

The Carringlnn Road schoolchildren will probably join m the school excursion to Stratford on Thursday next. The Central and Courtney-street schools. West Hnd, Fitzrov, kginonl. Road, and sonic of the iicll Blockpupils will form the big crowd to swell the attendance at the Stratford sports. To suit the people from the country schools, ;ni application has been made to have the starling-time of the train delayed, so that instead of preceding the 7.1-0 a.m. train it will follow in its wake, probably leaving New Plymouth at aboul a ([imrter-p:ist eight o'clock. No reply is yet available.

A l'alhcr gruesome discovery was a few days ago made by a parly of men engaged on the construction of the Lawrence- Roxburgh railway line almost iniuiediali'ly at llie rear of llie now practically" demolished Chinese Camp near Laurence, says the " Otago Daily Times." While excavating, a large tea lin, containing the decomposed body of an infant child, was come upon. The tin and its gruesome conten! s had been buried a few feel below the surface, and its discovery afforded ample scope for speculation as lolhe probabily of a one time Ira jcdy. The unearthed package was quietly and unceremoniously restored to its former resting place.

A return has been compiled by llie Auckland City Council, and supplied to the Chamber of Commerce lor statislieal purposes, contains some interesting ligures. On the 31st December last, the number uf dwellings iu the city was 75'.1(i, all of which, with the exception ol 27, were inhabited. The number ol stores and warehouses iu which no persons sleep is given at 101)2, making a Ual of MOSS rateable buildings. During the year IUDS the number of permits issued for new buildings and large additions was ISA The total number of permits issued, including those for small repairs, Mas SO3. At the end of the year 51 new dwellings were in iou">e of erection in (he ci'ty.

ft appears from information available at Auckland that Ihe statement that the Insurancc'Confcrencc decided to accept 10 insurance of State risks with the iState Department is incorrect. The facts arc thai all the higher rales imposed twelve months ago, chiefly affecting mercantile risks through the colony, have been abolished. The Conference also decided iu the meantime to co-insure (not re-insure) with the Slate Fire Department, thus reversing the previous practice of declining to accept any risks ill which the State Department was interested. The companies will not, however, re-insure the excess of the Stale risks. A Press wire Ironi Wellington confirms this -slat •incut.

A Martinboroiigh slal ion In lias informed a Waii'itrapa jonriuil tlial wild pigs were becomingvery numerous between TMtirl and tin- coast. ITo gave one instance recently where, on a property of JIODO acres, no'less than lt)0 were destroyed in loss {liau three inoutiflis. lie alrilmtes (lie nicrcase in to the dn-cciiso in rabbits. M i en llie rabbits \\ .y plentiful phosphorus was nse.l m>re extensively to eradicate tliem, an 1 llie result was lliat llie pigs, being carnivorous animals, ate the dead rabbits. and died Ivoin the effects of llie phosphorus, iinbhits were being kept under by their natural enemies, the stoats anil we isels, .and now one con Id travel for miles through the coastal purl ion of (he Fentherstoii]County without >cing n single rabbit.

''Peton •' calls attention in tlio instances in which syndicates have stcppoljn Lei ween a landowner and the Go i.'nment when Iho I'itlti 1 was liosimus of ))ui'cli;ising honiis for llu> workers, In nmny ch'CS, he sc.ys, C o Government lias been eoaip.dfed to purchase from a syndicate in l.'eu or the original owner at an advance in manv thousands of po'inds, eicry penny of which is ultimately to be made rp by those of I lie workers who take up the sections. What the total amoint thus extracted lYon the workers between C >ok Stra'l :lml tl'c daka during Ih' past fewyears would li »iiiy out at goodness only knows. This sort of thing ought to l e slopped, and the spcculatiin abolish) d, "by a law which, while rot Placing tho slightest restriction in the way of: in owner wishing to sell his '••mil, "ill render it an illegal ad for,my person to purchie land for other than his own u>c. the present time we have lawsnga nstduminyisni in ronnccji in with all classes of Crown leaseholds, and traufers can only be made by consent of land boards. ' Why not tlion, extend the principle to freeholds ?"

Vi omen are replacing moil as servants 111 houses of 1 lie weallliy in I,ontlou mi t'xt'liiiiigi' . House-maids and parlormaids are slill r.cj.urcd, bill c'iol's, butlers, and men servants gmera'ly, are. to an increasing extent, becoming luxories "I the pasl. The old idea " est Mdishinenf " no longer oblaiis in the 1110 Vm smart sel, who 1)1' for the irresponsible life of lla's or holds to the care of a large house and sonants. A generation ago men ses'vants'ju 'urge houses invariably brougbl up tlieir eliihlren to follow' in their loots 9 is, but no.v girls are getting info the post olliee, and boyi aro being tl'iliiH as ehalleurs. Many society wo neu have cuiraged smart parlormaids In take the place of the old-tinip butlers, witli excellent results. Keeping down expenses Is one of the main reasons fa> the change, sleeping nccomniodaliou lor men servants proving a consider ible tax- on the small but bighiy-f.nled town house, while there is a so a question of taxation which falls on those who keep iron sen,mis.

As shewing the nllracliveness of shares in llie lM|iiitable Huilding Soeieiy ol ,\eiv 'Plymouth, successful drawers of appropriations al llie lasl ballot in both the lirsl and second groups have becu able to dispose of >aiue at a profit ol £SO, Ihc owners still retaining original shares, which ■■'l'e eligible for future ballots. The seere.lary of the Society has a feiv luf di\])os;il, juul intcmlnitf purchasers wishing lo secure same .should P.'ii'ly application at the SecreUry's olliec, Carrie slteeti—Advt,