The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 12.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8083, 12 April 1906, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 12.

In connection with the ball at the Theatre Royal on Easter Monday night, in aid of tho Western Park funds, an express will be sent round early on Monday to collect dishes, which have been promised for the supper. " The money-lender is only entitled to a fair share of the fruits of the soil, and only by a fair system of land taxation and laud valuation, and by keeping down interest charges, can we bring that about."—Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R., on land taxation. " 1 hope, when the Assessment Court comes here, that the ratepayers will obtain the redress they seek. If they don't," and the speaker stretched himself to his full height, " let them come to me, and I will make Parliament ring with the story until I get redress."— Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.H., at yesterday's function. Old-time superstition looked with dread upon the toad, but a St. Kilda Park (Melbourne) State schoolboy is not likely to think much more pleasantly of its cousin frog. He was playing with the batrachian, when it jumped into his mouth and lodged tightly iu his throat. It was pulled out by the teacher, aud'afatality was narrowly averted.

There was a good* congregation at St. Mary's Church on Wednesday night to hear the annual rendering of the Crucifixion. In addition to Stacner's oratorio, a solo " Calvary" was acceptably sung by Mr Mallet, and an anthem (by Goss) was included in |thc programme. The solos in the .Crucifixion were taken by Misses Binuington, Mallet and Woodard. .

The usual monthly meeting of Mt. Egmout Lodge, 670, E.C., was hclil last evening in the Masonic Hall, Kobe street, W.M. F. C. Bellringer, U.S., presided. The lodge opened at 7.30 p.m. according to ancient custom. A communication received from De Burgh Atlams Lodge, 1.0., notifying that their G.L. meets on Wednesday IStU inst. The W.M. informed the brethren that he would attend, and invited them to accompany him. The largest and heaviest railway locomotive built in the Southern Hemisphere has been turned out of the A ddington workshops. It has a four cylinder balanced compound engiui There are only a few of these engines in use in auy country, and the one built at Addington is the only one in Australasia. It weighs 75 tons in working order, and has a pressure of 2261bs of steam. It is the first of eight cng'ues that will be sent out of the Addington workshops, but the Railway Department is calling for tenders from outside firms to build twenty more engines of the same stamp.

For some time past the Auckland Chamber of Commerce has been urging on the Telegraph Department the advisability of issuing receipts for telegrams handed in. A communication has been received from -tfe , !?tvfrg= 1 secretary, Mr T. Rose, stating that the Department would issue pads of 100 telegraph forms with butt attachments on which'the sender could write particulars. This would be date-stamped by the counter clerk and rctjdfti/the only charge being 2s for the pad of 100 forms. Satisfaction was expressed at tllfl proposal, and it was decided to thank the Department for meeting the wishes of the Chamber. The District Valuer, Mr S. Hill, was seen to be very busy yesterday with the tape measuring frontages and depths lin the town. Mr Newton King also secured the Valuer and held the tape with him at his establishment, and wo are given to understand that explanations given to him re Municipal versus Government valuations were qu;tu different to what lie understood. Tho Valuer and Mr King were seen going to the Borough offices and had a chat with Mr Bellringer, who stated that he did not take his values from Mr Hill's. No doubt more information re this matter will be forthcoming when the Assessment Court sits.

"Iu harbour matters, railways public buildings, roads, and opening up the rich mineral wealth of this district, your humble servant has doue his best. I have expended my all, I have doue my utmost. At present we have a man m London, and we arc spending up to £3OO a month iu trying to gee the irousaud established. Let us get the iron industry, petroleum, and the minoral resourses of the Mokau opened up, and then the farmers will have a market right at their doors for all their produce."—An extract from Mr E. M Smith's after dinner speech at the Trocadero on Wednesday. Mr Cock, Mayor of New Plymouth, liuds that in insisting on retrenchment iu municipal affairs, he has somewhat upset the relations of somo peopls towards himself. On Thursday he told those present at the Friendly Society's dinner that he didn't cure for that. He had been asked to take one line to sutf one faction, and another party wanted his support for another scheme. So he hit out for himself in a manner that he conceived to be in the best interests of the town, and without studying personal feelings in the matter .at all. It was inevitable that in doing this he had touched the feelings and the pockets of some people, but he hoped that in one would bear him any grudge on that account. The usual week-night service in connection with Queen street Church will be held on Good Friday at 7 p.m. The Rev. John Nixon will preach. On Easter Sunday special anthems will be given by the choir under the leadership of Mr Golding. The pastor of the church will preach at both set', vices.—Advt.

An advertisement appears elsewhere in regard to the formation of a Taranaki Ferro-Concrete Company. The facilities such a concern would, offer for the construction of works of a permanent character and stability are considerable. The proposed company would be able to construct bridges, wharves, walls, railway sleepers, and buildings on the most up-to-date lines, and at a reasonable price. We hope the company will be formed, and prove a successful and permanent one. Meu who care to save money on their evening-wear fixings should buy at the Melbourne. Here's just to give an idea. White kid gloves Is Cd pair, worth 2s tid, splendid cashmere socks Is pair, while cambric bows (Id each, four-fold collars 7d and lid.—Anvr. The liucst lot of Men's Topcoats ever seen in Taraliaki has just been opened up at the Melbourne. Coinprised in the lot is a swagger range of Knglish coats in checks and overplaids. Prices, 100, are a long way below usual-IDs (id, 29s fid, 39s (id to 19s (id.—Anvr. When wintry tears my eyes o'erllow in painful syuipathj with my I rest my heavy head and sigh For some relief, or I shall die. | The backing cough, the hard-drawn breath, Can only mean approaching death, But no, the remedy, Life's itcnewer, Is found in Woods' Groat Peppermini Cm'Cf

The hash and Doov Gilbert Relief Fund now amounts to £56 16s. Stratford bowlers are reckoned to have a good chance of winning the Easter tournament at Hawera, The Stratford District High School tennis court is to be made with funds raised by the committee. The surface will be oE asphalt, and the Borough Council has generously allowed the committee the free use of the asphalting plant. The borough general rate is to be reduced by l-10d in the coming year. Westland is thinking seriously of becoming n dairying province. Within the last Tear or two butter factories have been erected at Kokatahi and Arahura, and ouo is now being talked of for Waitaha, further south. Once upon a time there was a factory at Karamea, which a Christchurch firm is now about to re-establish.

R. Arnst, winner of the " Sydney Thousand," who returned to Christ-< christ on Saturday, states, in regard to his reported project to visit America, that all he has done is to communicate with the promoters of the six days' race in New York, telling them that his brother and he would, compete if the terms offered were good enough, A number of skeletons have been discovered amongst the sandhills facing the Waihi beach. The skeletons were found lying in rows, some of them being almost complete, and the bones are in a splendid state of preservation. It is supposed that the skeletons aro relics of old fighting days, and the sand which hid them so loug has at last blown away, revealing the bones.

The Loadon " Daily Chronicle " of March 2nd has the following paragraph :—Henry Carter, of Wellington, New Zealand, who is making a tour of the world on foot, has arrived at Dunkirk, France, having walked 27,000 miles since January 21st, 1902. He was arrested in Russia and Turkey as a spy, and elsewhere has been fired at and attacked by wolves and bears. In his will, the late Mr John Fceney proprietor of the Birmingham "Daily Post," the "Weekly Post," and the Birmingham " Daily Mail," bequeathed a sum equal to threo months' salary to each of the editors, sub-editors, correspondents, clerks, and foremen who, at tho lime of his death, had been five years in Ms employ. Employees engaged in other capacities each received three wcoks' wages. The estate of the deceased was valued nt £870,996. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (United States), which has jnst held its annual meeting to make awards for heroism, has nude none, because all the cases submitted failed to answer the requirements. One caso was that of the rescuers of the Slocum disaster in the North River in the summer of 1901. For several mouths the special agents of. the commission investigated the acts of alleged horoism in connection with the disaster, but deemed thorn all unworthy.

A pleasant feature about the New Plymouth Borough Council meetings, and one that is so pronounced as to compol recognition, is the very friendly personal feeling between the individual Councillors after meetings, even when, each acting according to his own view on public matters, they have been giving and taking hard knocks in debate This bonhommie seems to indicate that the Councillors are sincere in their arguments, as representatives of the public, and possess more of the "liner feelings" then are generally credited to local bodies' members.

At an inquest on the body of a girl, aged 17 years, who was found drowned at Hobart, it transpired that she committed suicide because she could not face the disgrace which threatened her for having embezzled money from her employers. The jury said the salary paid to deceased (7s tid per week) for the responsible position of cashier, handling £IOO daily, was a scandal, and that the Government should be *sked to appoint a Royal Commission to iWiire into the rate of wages paid to youSlg women by several firms in the city. . >

if is time tliat aorobatic and other shows involving imminent danger to life were suppressed. Last mouth tfy debut of Mile. Thiers at the Lisbon Circus in a performance which is a daugerous imitation of "looping the loop " has resulted in a terrible accident. In crossing the space the car missed the opposite platform and dashed into the arena, falling from a great height. Mile. Thiers was terribly injured. All her limbs were broken, and she was taken to the hospital iu a critical condition. There was a violent outcry among the spectators after the accident. They hooted the manager vigorously, and threatened to destroy the circus. An excellent instance of discipline was afforded Inspector Hill on his recent visit to the East Coast (says the Poverty Bay "Herald.") The Port Awanui school was without a teacher, but the inspector sent word ahead of his visit, and asked the children to assemble at 8 o'clock. Punctually at the hour stilted the children were present, 51 in all, of whom 48 were natives. Mr Hill instructed one of three European boys, a fifth standard lad, to drill the pupils, which was admirably dono, and under this boy's leadership the children rendered a number of songs in splendid stylo, and othorwiso showed that they had been most efficiently taught.

In regard to the reduction in the price of meat in Auckland, equal to about a pcuuy a pound, it is stated that tho butchers have not had a satisfactory time of late, owing to the high prices of stock ruling. " For the past three or four months," said an Auckland butcher," things have been better with us, but for eight or nine months prior to that sheep were so dear that we were actually losing on the retail prico of mutton, and the profit on beef had to go to make up the deficiency. Butchers have not beon makiug much money during the last two years. During the past two or three months sheep have become cheaper, and beef having also come down slightly, wo have decided upon the reduction. With the winter coming on, however, we may expect stock to become dearer, and we may be compelled to go back to our former prices at any time."

The thermal sights of Waiotapu are divided between Grown laid aud land owned by the natives. The sights on the native laud are the more accessible and better known, aud consequenty the better patronised, though the Maori owners charge toll. The sights on the Crown land are free, but have not yet beeu completely roaded and opened up to full advantage. The local opinion is that the Tourist l)c----partment is concentrating its financial energies on Kotorua, and that it will not develop Waiotapu (which is some Uveuty-one miles distant) till it is able to buy out the natives, who would otherwise secure the increment of Government improvements. Whether this be the policy or not, it seems that (here arc good thermal assets still more or less hidden on the Crown land, for the other day the Waiotapu prisoners, by culling a way through the scrub, opened up a chain of three hikes, each 20yds to 30yds in diameter. The terminal lakes are hot, nearly boiliug, but the central one is quite cold, and of a different level. Other assets on this Government land arc the "Venus" bath, of i)Bdcg to HKideg, 35yds to 10yds in diameter, aud in places 200 ft deep, but having a convenient shallow ledge, where the latterday Venus is wont to bathe. A gate has beeu placed in front of the sulphur aud alum cave, to prezent visitors annexing the pendent crystals..."Kerald." Jt is now well-known that Mr J. H. Parker, of Devon-street, has disposed of his jewellery business. A business announcement states that all goods are reduced 25 per cent, and over, but the bare announcement cannot do justice to the unprecedented value offering. Every article bears the old original price, oil which the liberal discount is given. Early'visitors will secure the pick; in fact, it is essentially a case of the early bird eatchos the worm, and the worms in this case are valuable in i deed.—Advi.