The Daily News WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 27 February 1907, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27.

Tlie Elthani District 11 i:;li School picnic h to be held at the Breakwater on Thursdiiy, 7th March The New Plymouth Technical School will be completed by about the middle of March. The Minister for Education is to be asked to perform the opening ceremony.

The Kltham Borough Council requires all crossings over the water tab!e» within the asphalted area of t] e town to be of ferro-concrete.

We arc informed that: steps are beiii" taken in connection with a rc-hearing of the Elthani water-rights compcn" sation case.

A meeting of the provincial cnuimitteo of the proposed Honing Club was held in Mr Johnston's ollice last night, and a report was drawn up for submission to a public mectiii;; to be held in the Town Hall on Friday night at 8 o'clock. It is understood tliorepjrt is favjrable to the establishment of a club.

The Kgmont Bond Board recently granted £0 towards the cost of forming and gravelling seven chains from the Egmont road to the Egmonf road school. The settlers and committee contributed £u, and the Education Board was asked to grant a subsidy of £5, the total cost being estimated at £l7. The Board, however, has no power to expend moneys on district roads and declined the request.; The Infflewood Co-operative Bacon Curing Company are receiving large supplies of pigs every week, very much m excess of the number received at the corresponding time last year. During the month of January, the company paid out over £I2OO for pigs, and the amount paid this mouth will he almost as much.

The Education Board has accepted the following tenders: Stratford Technical scliool, woodwork room, .1. Boon, £'31)8; Oaonui school, additions, K,' W, liond, £220 15s; Midhirst residence, bathroom, Irvine and Henry, £2l- 15s. Other tenders were : Strat-ford-N. J. King £-100, ii. W. Bond £lO7, Brown and Forbes £.10!), A. J, Davey £137 Ids, Irvine aud Henry £167. Ooanui—Boon Bros. £2(i!) IDs Turner and Beadle £271. Midlnrst— Jos. Boon £25, A. J. Davey £25, N. •J. King £25 10s.

The excavations for the sewer in Eliot street have shown the people in the neighbourhood what sort of country existed there before the levelling up process of civilised habitation, there are frequent evidences r(f a raupo swamp that flourished in bygone days. It is equally interc-ting to find about a loot of broken metal buried under the present road at Courtenay street, an indication of the mismanagement and sinful waste that must have characterised street works in earlier New Plymouth.

Addressing the Maoris at Wliakatane, Mr \Vi Pere, M.L.C., urged the Urewera tribe not to part with their land, says a contemporary. He said to them: "You are the best oil' tribe in New Zealand. You have thousands of acres of land without any encumbrance thereon, and if you * wili take my advice you will hold on to it, or it will all go by degrees.'' He exhorted them not to take notice of Kua. the prophet. "If I thought that llua could drive the pakchas into the sea 1 should soon be with him," concluded \vi I'ere, "but he can't."

As soon as arrangements can be made, the Minister for 'Agriculture, intends to prov.de means by which instruction will be given to y>ung farmers on the Ituakiira and 'jloinobaki experimental station*. The cadets will be given a two years' course in up-to-date farm practice, with a grounding in the simple principles iiiiilerlv;ng plant and animal life. It, is intended in transfer tin' youths from one titation to another during tlie eurreniv of the course, so that they may obtain an insight into the variation 'of metli"ds required in dill'crent districts of the colony.

Tin* CihfniiK Drpal meiil at Nvdnev Ikw received a report from -Mr ,)ee Minir, chairman of Jir \'ew South Waies <.1111)1' <; Anl)]>ium League on the ojiiinn suiokinji cure plant. The report stub'.-; thai the phinl, wh'di i« known a- the "sli|'pinii- '«!..• :illle' iiiio.-o or »oat*' milk plant," ins now boon known for nearly two years as a euro for the opium habit, lis properties in this direction were thoroughly recognised after numerous practical experiment- twelve monthc ft;;) by tin- Shanghai Ami-Opium Society. The plant is a common one a'i over China, and bloomy on three separate siiilks three time> a year. The Shanghai boeietv claims that ihonsimh of people have been cured by the of it in from three to f"ur days, and that once a cure has been effected the erstwhile victims have no de-ire whatever for opium. The smell of it is nau>euliiiL r to them,

\vUeu Air JJuniM.U' w;u appointed an inspecl.vr uniur the Auckland Board Ue asked pcrmi«»fon of the Edution Board here to ;iitend the Inspectors' Conference. Leave was granted by the chairman, provided he would, if called upon, refund to the Board the expanse of obtaining a snbshtule at the Inglen ood ciioo 1 during his absence, Mr 1). P. Jivans took over the duties of headmaster, and Miss Adamson was engaged a toaijwrary assistant in Mr Ewios pi;ui'. .Mr Jivans had been requested to remain m temporary charge w.tii Miss Adamson as temporary assistant. The Education Board decided last nigla to ask Mr Burnsi.le to pay the expense! ol: tin: substitute, members being ol' opinion that had he atended asone of the Board's teachers for the purpose of gaining experience to be used in its service, the claim would not liavo bcuu made ou liiiij.

Auckland shopkeeper, say that shoplifting lias been promoted from a line art to a science, and reckon that prob- • 110t . "nc I"-'!' cent, of the ojfen.lers mrt't witli even au accusi'iion. of course, there are exceptions. lieccnU,-. a bright-eyed girl in a l t j<. drapery shop saw a lady, who moves on the very roof af society, annex a six-peiinv cak'e of soap and drop it into her parasol the young assistant tixed on her th" bright accusing eye, and the shop-lifter lied, panic-stricken, leaving 0/0 change OU Hie counter. In another Queen street shop an assistant, who was ma king out a bill tor 2/0 lor a el l - toil) "I who had tendered him a five-pound linte. MHV tlii! |>im-iKiNer stuli'' a three-nnd-sixpcnny elnlfon scarf rip her jacket sleeve. lie said a-reeal.lv, ' but lirmly: "Buttons 1/; gloves. 1/0. And about that scarf you've pd-Hp vour sleeve? Suppose, we sav .01 7/if and avoid further trouble, ' That makes 11 just right. Thank you!" Then the lady, who is also oil the roof of sneiety, lied, screaming hysterically mill calling out "Fire!"

During last week (says Hit- Southland Ncwh) a large number of sheep were trucked into Southland from liai elutiia, and in some eases from as far north as Oamaru. Imported lines sr.? chiefly lambs. which have been sold at iniiu 7/ to S/ii. The hulk of the importations will have to he carried through the winter, as they arc all .'n poor condition and not likely to fallen this year. A fair number of ewe.3 arc also coming down, and these are being sold at from 0/ to 12/ li according to age. So .far the northern sheep I have not greatly affected the market, though the importations are hound to fell 011 the price of ordinary store sheep between now and shearing time. A large number of fat sheep an; going into the work's, and it is a notable feature that lambs are fattening mue i quicker this year. Crop prospects are generally very hopeful indeed. The sliglil rains experienced lately have made a wonderful improvement in the turnip crops, which are now looking exceedingly well. There are several men at present in the district looking out for feed and anxious to imy anything that will winter their sheep. It is reported that already one Oamaru gentleman has leased a large area of land in the Western District, and intends bringing down from 3000 to 4000 sheep to winter. Farmers are very generally engaged cropping their oats, and a large proportion of the yield is already in stool' It is looked upon as certain that a large amount of 'the threshing will 1 done from the stook this year, as tin jtraw is very short, p,Hd the heading exceedingly good.

liatd on Opunake. Mr Adlam told the Education Board last night that lie know of no hedge-plant that could be expected to grow there to 'the requisite height for a fence in two, Jive, or even ten years. Tile same member said that, wire fences only last a couple of years on account of 'the action of t-ie salt spray, which was also responsible for the tardy growth of the hedges. Galvanised iron, lie said, would "last, no time" unless painted, and picket fences were too expensive. Query: ' What sort of a fence will suit? A branch of the Political .Reform League has been formed in Elthani, with Mr .John Quin as chairman, and arrangements are already being made for organising the Egmonfc electorate in the Opposition interests for the next general election. Mr T. J oil, the "butter king" of ►South Taranaki, lias let a contract to the Eltham linn of Robertson and Cave to build six cheese factories, to be ready for next seasou. The contract price is ;Cl>3oo.

Mi* Archie ]locker makes an astounding allegation ill his annual report to the Taranaki Education Board on the truancy work of the year, lie says:—"l have repeatedly drawn attention to the manlier in which the doctors in New Plymouth issue certificates of sickness to parents who wish to keep their children home. After X issue a summons the parent goes to a doctor and gcU a certificate, and takes it to the Court, and the ease is dismissed. ... I have heard parents remark that the doctor has given these certificates without having seen the child."