LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81848, 17 September 1906, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Some small towns eclipse towns of big pretensions when it comes lo mating money out of concerU. At Mantua 11st week, the concert realised oyer £7(l. TJR is understood the last Maori cousus shows that the Maori birth-rate

during the last quinquennial period has considerably increased, while the Kuro peim birth-talc lias been stationary. At a meeting of the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association on Saturday a resolution was earned in favor of selectors being given the opportunity of acquiring the freehold.

The "Lytteltou Times" publishes the followng from its Wellington correspondent, dated Sopiomlxr lath."1 understand that the ' legisifars, throughout (lie colony are to be in-1 strutted to prepare for an election."j

It is estimated by the f'egistrnrGeneral that the annual consumption of mutton in New Zealand is equivalent to two and a quarter sheep per inhabitant, and that the number of sheep inquired to feed the colony's population during Hie present year will be found to be about 2,1:17,(1110. The number last year was 2,050,01)0.

Another milking record appears from Wairarapa, in this ease from a farmer at Parkvale. ITe milks le» cows of Shorthorn cross ami Jersey cross. Even .though the herd did not come in fully (ill ih'e oiktdla of JTovcni. ber, these ten :ows gave for the factory "2,138 lbs of milk, averaging 7'2l:i lbs each. Tlie factory average for each cow was 305 lbs of butter fat equal 35S lbs of butler With butler fat at 12irl, each cow earned £ls 18s 3d. With a few pounds for whey and I calves, the total per cow is £lf, 13s I Id. l'or Children s .Hacking Cough at Night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure,' Is lid a»d 2s ,Gd »cr BoUlc—Advt, I

As the result of one year's testing of tin; Levin State Farm's dairy herd it lias been decided to weed out thirty out of a herd of 130 cws, somo of thorn not having paid for tlio cost of keep

The Garrison Bind serenaded the promenaders in Devon Street, on Siturday night with a number of spirited items. On Sunday afternoon the Band gave a sacred recital at the Rotunda on the Esplanade. There was a very large attendance, and a satisfactory collection was taken up in aid of the Band's expenses to the Exhibition contest.

Speaking on the Fire Brigade Bill, Mr Wilford said that at n leading hotel at which he recently stayed in Christchurch, there was a fire escape rope under the window-sill of his b-xl-room, but the rope was not attached to anything. Above the rope was the notice : "Throw this rope out of tLc window, and then descend."

In 1898 several hundred Jewish families of the name of Dreyfus asked to be allowed to change it in order "not to boar the name of the traitor," and the Council ot State replied favorably to their request. It is now demanded that the Government shall include in the measures of reparation to Major Dreyfus an order for sci families formerly named Dreyfus ij assume that name.

A specific for eradicating ragwo:, is being placed on the market by 1! r H. Spencer, a North Taranaki farmer. Last year it was tried by a number of well-known settlers in the Egmont Village and Kent road districts, and they all -speak in the highest terms ot it. It is claimed that one application kills ragwort, and that blackberry, furze, and other noxious weeds will succumb to it.

A report from Turangarere, the railhead at the south end of the Main Trunk line, states that a strike occurred last week, and that 50 men left the works. The cause of the strike is stated to bo that labourers working at night under Ruapehu, exposed to cold wiuds and bad weather conditions, considered their wages too low, One gang, it is stated, received 8s Id, and another "s Id per day, and they considered the work worth 10s.

Several trout at the Mastcrton hatcheries are suffering from cancerous growth, generally in the vicinity of tho gills. It is believed to be due to fish not securing supplies of their natural food The fish affected have been marked and special diet treatmeni tried, but although they have been treated for three months there is no appreciable difference in the growth, which in some cases are ulcerated and sloughing. Mr Gilruth, Chief Veterinarian, is taking a good deal of interest in the matter.

, The first experiment made by tho Government in the provision of workmen's dwellings seems doomed to failure. Twenty.five dwellings were erected at Pctonc and extensively advertised as open to allotment, yet, on the last day for receiving applications, only two had ventured to apply ! The routs vary from 9s 9d to 10s 6d a week, but the N.Z. " Times " hints that applicants are discouraged by the fact that the houses are to be periodically inspected to see if they are kept clean. The Totalisator Permits Limitation Bili, introduced by Mr Tanner, prorides that it shall not be lawful for the Colonial Secretary to grant m any one year aftov the passing of the Act moro than two thirds or. the number of licenses authorising the nse of the tolalisator that were issued in the twelve months commencing August Ist, 11)05, and ending July 31st, I'JOO. No permit for the use of the totalisator is issued by which the totalisator can be uscl for more than one d:iy, and sconratc permits shall be require! for any second, third, or other day. JNo permit is to be issued which allows the use oi the toliilisator on any one of th • l:! diys set forth in the Bank JloliJ:i, Act, 11)02.

T!ie Dune Im ''Star' has had re porter in Oamim "doing"the si,- .<; shops, of which he says he is info,' (hero are about a dozen. In (he

of liiti remarks lie tints unburdens h ~■ self : —" Bill took me to a place u': -.- we bought whisky. The price of i. ~.-. six shillings a bottle. We drank i' : .i.i played cnrds on the premises, nitii ,:,. any particular effort of concealment We were neither steadily nor remarkably quiet. We were eyen mildly rowdy, off and on—when one of us go: a lone-hand march, for instance—and by-and-by some of us wanted to fight some more of us, and the rest of us had to interfere. I obtained a kick on the shin. The thing finished up with an altercation in the public thoroughfare at something after two a.m.; and nobody took any notice of us, so far as we knew. If a policeman had happened to pass by the place where we were he could easily have discovered what we were doing. But he could not hayo made a successful sly-grog prosecution out of it, for this was private enterprise Df a sort that may aot be disclosed."

A circuit for the Native Appellate Court has been arranged in pursuance of t]»i reorganisation of the Native Land Court now being effected. The circuit is to begin at New Plymouth on October 2nd. The Court will sit afterwards at Auckland, Russell, Pacroa, Kotorua, Ngaruawahia, Gisborne, Hastings, Wellington, and Uanganui..

In the course of an article describing the Dreadnought, Commander Keiley, of'the United States navy, remarks that the battleship is to possess an enormous concentration of offensive and defensive energies through the installation of a main battery of 12-inch guns. The ten uinch guns of the main armament arc arranged in three barbettes, each mounting a pair of guns on the keel line, one on the poop, one abaft the funnels and ■me on the high forecastle. The other two pairs will be. in hooded barbettes, located on either bow, s.o that the fire ahead will be from six guns, the tire astern from two, and on 'he broadside from no 'ess than night. 1 his is a very great gain indeed, for there can be small doubt that broadside is far more important than endon fire.

An Island is growing- up ont of the ocean like a tabbag-e in (he night. \\luit is taking- place, is in the ]joa 1 ' n K' Sim. According- to Captain J'ihn 1 rowbndge, ol tin; steamer North Western, which has just arrived here from the Orient, the North Western touched at Dutch Harbour (southwest falling- in with the revenue cutter Perry, Wl t ii.h hai) finished a cruise nf investigation in (lie neigh bourhoocl of the island. The officers [if the cutter had photographs of tieisland, which first rose from the sea fifty-two miles (rom Dutch Harbour in June last. It is being steadily pushed higher, (until the officers say it is uw nine hundred feet above the ocean. The sea in tin neighbourhood is boiling-, and from the. stulaie clouds of steam are continual'}' esc;!]) ing-. The island lies direct!}- bettu- ,i tlie ISogoJof, or Fire Islands, ar.'l until it coo's (iff it is impossib'e io make a landing- on it. The I.oudi.n correspondent of tlie Post unti l .?:—There is considerab ;• interest taken on this sic)e in tV ji peal Ward Brothers, of the Lower llutt, Uellitjgioti, are bringing tfl' the Privy Council against the Valuer(ieneral's assessment of their leasehold interest of noven years in eightyfour nrr<«.s of agricultural land at a -urn which it U said is equivalent to an annual lax of J 5 in tho £ upon tin; rental, and a U\x on the land- : lords mi 4,' in the £ a* income-tax. ' It sivnis rveiyoiv on this side 1 that if ibis is a fair sample of its tax- 1 ailon,. our nuich-boomed New Zf'a- ' land, instead < f bein# a small capitalist's country will soon become " n place to livf out of.' 1 A well-known Xew Z<'a!and<T, now rosi dent in th is country, writes to mc with rcforonc to this pending case . ''lt is to be regretted that tlie Government does not take st.nie steps to rectify the grievances the wards comp'ilin of instead of a'iowinfj the washing- up to take place in circumstances which I must prove U) the disadvantage of iSew f ifl.' 5

For Colds in the betid any Influenza, Woods' Great Peppermint Cuyfe, 1/6 and 26 per Bottle.