The Daily News THURSDAY, MAY 10. THE IRON INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8106, 10 May 1906, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, MAY 10. THE IRON INDUSTRY.

It is gratifying to observe that the people of Nelson have no intention of allowing the agitation for the removal of the obstacles in the way of the development of the iron resources of the colony, to drop. This is a matter in which we should like to see the representative bodies in New Plymouth, and Taranaki generally, cooperating with the Nelson Chamber of Commerce, for there is no doubt that Taruuaki is more deeply concerned in the development of its irousand resources than any other portion of the colony. The petition for the withdrawal of tho clause in the Parapara leaße, whioh gives the Government power to acquire the whole of the company's works at the end of fourteen years, will again be presented to Parliament, and if the petition has the active and the united support of the people of Taranaki, it must have a better prospect of being granted than if the Nelson people are allowed to " play a lone hand."

If the presenco of this particular clause in the lease is the real difficulty in the way of the flotation of the company—and we believe it is—it is impossible to conceive that Parliament and the Government would deliberately stand in the way of an industry, the establishment of which would be the most important event in the history of New Zealand's industrial development. Since the company will not own more than a tithe of the iron ore and iron sand country, there exists no valid reason for the supposition that iron and steel manufacturing in the colony would be a monopoly in the hands of the proposed company. Presumably it was to guard against this unlikely contingency that the right to purchase proviso was inserted by the Government. As, however, the facilities are at hand for the circumvention of any subsequent tactics of which the people of the colony might not approve, there would seem to be no necessity for the purchasing clause. We would offer no objection to the terms of the lease were they uot retarding the establishment of this great industry, but as that appears to be the manner of their operation, as reasonable thinkers the majority will agree with us that they ought to be so recast as to offer every facility for the encouragement of investors.

Wb do not anticipate that the proposed iron and steel company would ever become a monopoly, even if it controlled all the iron bearing country . at any rate the advantages that must accrue to the colony from the establishment of the industry would compensate ten fold for any real or fancied infringement of nationalises' ideals that might arise. There is no possibility, nor is it desirable, that auy one of the natural mineral resources of the colony should belong to any one corporation. It follows, therefore that if the proposed company should be a success, it would not have the field to itself. Competition would assure that the people would not bo exploited to their disadvantage; and there also exists iu every country where the government is by the people, the remedy of legislative regulalation. The people of the colony have nothing to fear from the operations of the Parapara Iron and Steel Company, even if every precautionary provision is removed from the terms of lease of tho properties on which it proposes to operate.

New Zkaiand at the present moment appears to be on the eve of a career of great industrial- development, which no artificial obstacle should be allowed to obstruct. We have bson favored, almost beyond compare, by nature, with every facility for tho career of an industrial nation. Our policy should bo one that would encourage tho speedy development of these great resources. Coal and iron, the base of industry, we possess in abundance. Our water power is the envy of countries which have recognised the value of electrical enery, In the development of the petroleum fields we have another power that must in the very near future play an important part in our industrial career. In the realising of that career, Taranaki, hitherto essentially the most rural of all the provinces, is destined to fulfil one of the most important parts. It may be accepted as assured that the discovery of petroleum a' Moturoa will have a most important bearing on tho flotation of the iron and steel company, and on the erection of works at Plymouth. • * # «

By the terms of the Company's lease with the Government, work has first of all to be commenced at Parapara. As we all hope to see works established in Taranaki as soon as possible, we have a very direct concern in jthe terms of the Parapara lease. Wo trust, .therefore, that the Chamber of Commerce will take the earliest opportunity of offering to co-operative with its vis-a-vis at Nelson in urging on the Government the wisdom of withdrawing the obnoxious clause, or, in the alternative, evolving some workable scheme whereby the establishment of iron and steel works—State owned »r otherwise—will be assured with as little delay as proraises to be the case if the Parapara Company is given the opportunity.

A piece of history! A town clerk in the olden days once notified that auy person on whose property was found a Scotch thistle over four inches in height would be fined. Conrad Olson, ten years old, of Bristol, Connecticut, has'died of blood poisoning. 'He had been wearing a pair of tight shoes, which caused a blister on one foot. The wound was poisoned by his colored stockings. The Block light will illuminate the euchre party at St. Joseph's schoolroom to-night. The management has carried out mauy similar entertainment in a stylo that gave general enjoyment, and to-night's function promises to be equally pleasing to all who attend. A good place for a lazy man, he has to work hard or freeze. This is the opinion of a local resident ou the railway deviation works just now, and having special reference to the drain cutting in the swamp, where men are workiug knee deep in the mud. A speciality is made of Ladies' Hair Dressing and Ladies' Toilet necessities at the Egmont Hairdrcssing Saloon, Egmont street. A very fine showing of ladies' sundries offered. The proprietary have made quite a reputation for their skilful and pleasing attention *o this department.—Advt. 0. T. PUNCH is a tempei'ance drink, And all good stores supply it, he tipple ot gods'' it's called, 1 think. By everyone who tries it.

A cablegram from Suva states that the Fanning Island sale has been mutually withdrawn.

The pressure at the Moturoa petroleum bore is fully maintained. The share market locally is firm, and rising, £55 tailing to induce holders to sell.

An effort.is being made to constitute a Harbor Board for Opunake. A publio meeting is to be held at Opunake next Monday evening to consider the proposal.

At the Taranaki Garrison Baud meeting last night, the secretary, Mr N. Allen, took the names of seventeen members willing to join St. John's Ambulance classes, if the meetings do not clash with band practice nights.

The voting for five members of the Parihaka Eoad Board on Monday resulted as follows:—C. Sorrenson 190, J. Young 141, M. Deegnn 132, W. Revell 129, J. C. O'Rorke 115, W. E. Wright 114, T. Harvey 112, J. Lawn 112, J. Ducker 101.

A gang of about thirteen men is at present engaged on the railway deviation works at To Hcnui. During the last few days tho men have been cutting a ditch to drain the swamp in Mr J. B. Connett's property, prior to commencing the filling in a few days' time.

While digging near Frenchpark, Roscommon, recently, a laborer discovered a cavern with an arched roof. From this a winding passage led to an old castle a quarter of a mile away. Skeletons, armour and weapons were found in (lie passage. Tho skeletons are said by legond to bo the romains of a defeated Connaught clan, who were shut up and left to die.

Eber Watkms, a celebrity of some fame at Manaia, was brought to New Plymouth gaol yesterday to undergo two weeks' imprisonment for failing to pay a flue imposed by the Court for depositing rubbish in a forbidden place. Watkins has been before the Manaia Court on several occasions on similar charges.

At its last meeting the Egmont County Council passed the following resolution ancnt the proposed railway: —" That owing to the fact that if the full rate were struck, it would not be sufficient to maintain the roads, the Egmont County Council use its best endeavours to urge on the Government the necessity of constructing the Opu-nako-Eltham railway line, and to request the Hawera County Council to give its support to the matter."

The man Harry Warsley, arrested in Eltkam oa a serious charge on Tuesday, was brought up at the Magistrate's Court, Hawera, yesterday. After hearing the evidence, and receiving the usual caution, the accused pleaded guilty and was remanded to tho Supreme Court, Wellington, for sentence. ' The ease was an exceedingly painful one, his own little daughter, eight years of age, giving evidence against him. The Magistrate cleared the Court of all who were not connected with the case, except newspaper reporters.

A legless robber, who rode his horse so well that he was known as " the centaur," has received his second sentence of imprisonment for life at Constantino (Algieria). He was chief of an Arab band, who rode the finest horses and terrorised all the district round Constantino. While serving. his previous sentence he lost both his legs and was pardoned in consequence. Ho returned, however, to the highwayman's trade, robbed large numbers of travellers, and raided farmhouses and isolated villas.

The petroleum share craze has been responsible for a good many incidents, which have not been chronicled. But an exciting passage-at-arms in one of the main thoroughfares, a day or two ago, was too good to leave unrecorded. There were only two persons really interested, and these were tho joint owners of a £5 share in the Moturoa Petroleum Company. One of them, evidently hard pushed for cash, was desirous of selling at £SO, but his partner was just as keen on " holding on." The offer by the latter to buy out half the share at the original value was spurned indignantly, and the wordy altercation seemed no nearer settlement when the disagreeing duo passed lato a hostelry for refreshments.

They had been telling shooting yarns all tho evening. The old man in tho corner, seemingly drowsing, was now and again noticed to allow a suspicion of a smile to flit across his countenance. At last he took his turn, and in a delightfully rich brogue informed tlio_ young sparks: "Be jabers, it wus whin I was havin' a bit o' spoort on Lake Ellesmere. It was away back there, twinty years agone. There wuz foorteen shags sittin' in a row. I was ama-a-zed. It wuz unfortehinit I had ony wan char-rgo lift. So I sez to mcself, I'll bag 'em. So, jist as I pulled the thrigger, I turned the goon round th' tiniest fraction, and scatthered th' shot right along'em." The laughter threatened to drown the yarn, so he shrieked, " an' I got ivery blissed wan of 'em, ye varmints." There were no more yarns told that night. The old fellow took the prize'.

" It is a popular delusion which had its origin in the days of mythology, that night air is bad," said Dr. Soinorville Hastings at the Institution of Hygiene. "So far from the night air being noxious, it often carries only half the microbes borne by the atmosphere by day. If bedroom windows were always open top and bottom bronchial troubles would bo more rare, and tho body made hardier and more capable of resisting disease. The scourge which costs the world 2,000,000 lives a year is largely due to the breathing of impure air, which creates a susceptibility to colds, induces bronchial catarrh, provides a habitation for the tubercle bacillus, and actually fosters consumption. To be healthy, a large portion of one's time should be spent in the open air ; hence agricultural life is the hcalticst. Those who work m large cities and cannot get their proper supply of fresh air by day should make sure of it at night by opening all the windows."

Often it has been whispered, with bated breath, ■' New Plymouth is not a musical town.". The miserable attendances at first-class concerts lead to this inevitable conclusion, Take, for instnnee, the feast of violin music given last night at St. Mary's Hall by one of New Plymouth's own born and bred artists to an audience of scarce thirty. The programme given probably comprised one of the best concerts put on hero for some time. The star performer, of course, was Mr Jack Garry, 1 so» of the well-known musical enthusiast Mr George Garry. This young violinist, not a born genuis but clever withal, lias, by a capacity for solid industrious practice and a loye of his instrument, raised himself to the standard of a first-class exponent of the technique of the violin, and his playing of " Musiu's Mazurka" and " Zigeunerweisen" last night showed that he has profited immensely from his intercourse with the musicians in the various colonics during his tour. All his numbers showed him to be careful and correct ia all his phrasing, and in full sympathy with his themes. Miss Whitcombc, a young contralto of excellent promise, sang " Life's Lullaby" and " Love's Coronation" very successfully, except for a slight nervousness in her iirst number. Mr Cooper also contributed vocal items. Last, but not least, the orchestra of seven instruments, supplied several selections I hat would do credit to auy coucert hall in the colony.

" The finest flannelette we have ever seen," is the verdict of hundreds of keen shoppers who have bought these famous lines at 7s lid and 9s lid n dozen at the Melbourne's gigantic job sale. Cume and get some during the last ten days of sale.—Advt. A little 0. T. PUS OH In a little water hot., A sound refreshing sleep, Vj, that is what 1 got.

The Rangitikei "Advocate" makes! the amusing suggestion that a ltoyal Commission should be set up to ascertain from " honest men connected with racing " whether the abolition of the totalisator is likely to produce good results.

A Wellington preacher informed his congregation that " the sport of Kings" starved manhood all round; destroyed zest in work and qualities of enterprise and perseverance. Socialists showed an eagerness to attack religion. Their real enemy was gambling. What social good could be wrought in a community which was trembling over the issue of a race ? What social enthusiasm could be won from men too weary to attend a trades meeting, but keen on the pedigree of a horse. Socialists did not know their friends and did not recognise their enemy when they attacked Christ and were silent before the gambling curse.

The Moawhango correspondent of the Taihape News says: The Maoris of Moawhango have returned from Napier, where they, under the leadership of Mr Arani, went to join in the Mormon gathering which was this year held there Last year tho Mormons made a rendezvous of the local pah, and Mr Arani's small contribution of, I believe, £I6OO was gladly received and expended on black bird, pork, dried sharii, and other favored dishes. There were a few hundred Maoris met at Moawhango this time last year, an'd those who attended it were treated on a most liberal scale. The feasting lusted for about a week, when the followers of Mormonism sought fresh fields and pastures ntw. Apparently the Mormons have so impressed the Maoris with their religion that the annual meetings do not now take second place to the tangihanga.