LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 8 April 1907, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A fanners' unionist put the truth in a mil .-hell at Hastings: ''if the Govern.iicn: s'.arve the country, the grass will soon grow in the streets of our towns.'* 'there are now 17'1 private connections with the New I'lymoulh municipal lighting system, and of these four arc on Hi - breakwater line. The income for private lighting and power for March was .CSU 12s (id. The Taranaki Exhibition Committee has been awarded a diploma and silver medal for Jlr E. M. Smith's exhibit of tools and horse shoes, al tile International Exhibition, made from Taranaki iron--1 sand. Tli ' v ' t ks' commit lee will recommend to the llorougb Council at to-night's meeting—"Thai, in view id' Hie ellieient manner in which he has discharged his duties, the estimates' committee be recommended to increase (he salarr of I lie sanitaiy engineer by ,Cs<) per annum.'' At the Opunake sports on" Monday, the Mi.ni Brass Bund inlroduccd themselves by playing a well-timed waltz, the members strolled around and listened to the korero ol the side-shows and the shouting of the bookies—then went back to their position ami struck up 'Nciire..' My God to Thee."

In drawing the attention of our readers to the Mortum Insect Powder advertisement, we beg to inform the public that the Mortum is far superior to any other powder on the market, and is not an old powder under another name, as some shopkeepers have been trying to make out. Give Mortum Tusect Destroyer one trial, and you will not wish for any more effective to kill flies, (leas, and every other vermin. All chemists or stores sell ii—Advt. Since Adam delved and poor Eve span, Since first the human race began, Mankind lias suffered countless ills, But. suffered most from coughs and chills. Foundations they for all disease, But now the hacking cough must, cease, For science now makes all secure

With \V. E, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, 10

The accounts fo be |Kissed- at tonight's borouyh council meeting amount to L4H!) ];is 4J, bringing the overdraft up to .C/01U Ids Id. Practically every milking 'shed in Anrua is being pulled down this winter, and new sheds .with concrete Hours are to be erected, writes the Auroa correspomlMt of the Opimake Times. Tlw Feilding Sitiir states thai Cnj>ia'n Orogau, who has lieen sentenccil to im-prison-m nt at Nariubi, t'or ilogijing ;)e■ glues who ir.suHeil white women, is ,i. well-known tourist, and niarrieil Miss Wntt., of Napier, some years ago. Jt is rumored Hint Mr. Edward \Va!;> field, cd ; tor of the defunct Mi-liington livening Press, will be editor of the m--v moraiag paper to be established :n Wull'ngton. Mr. Wakefield was fornn.rly a member of the Xc\i" /calami Parliament. Harvest Festival services were conducted at tile New Plymouth .Salvation Army barracks yesterday by JCnsign and Mrs Slattcry, of JOltliam. In the evening the barracks was illuminate,l with electricity for the first time —a marked improvement upon the former order of things. The old Maoris are brimful of interesting and amusing reminiscences of the early days of M'ttlcmeiit. All ancient warrior chuckled to iiimself recently in relating how. during the Taranaki war, the hostile natives van short of food, and he and another made their way down the Hnatnki stream, [last the sentries and into the o:d floui' mill that stood where the Crown Dairy Company's olliees are now. Each seized a hundredweight of Hour and made off upstream with the booty, but not before one of them had entered the transaction on the miller's slate.

A I'kiressing incident caused the interruption ot a burial service at Kngloluuvk, Victoria. The service was owr, when a relative discovered that the re mam 1x d been interred in tl-.e wrong grave. The sexton persisted that th;>re was no error, but it was eventually discovered that a mistake Jiad been mad'?. The remains "were exhumed. The mour;iers, who were deeply moved by the untoward occurrence, had to wait while ianolhe: grave was being dug-. Some ol' the .'oupg men attending the f initial aiI sidte-1, imkl iu less lhan an hour the reI mains were re-interred. It is asserted I that the mistake was made owing to a fimilarity in thy numbers of the lw-. graves.

Now that the majority of the sports meetings are, over, contractors expect to be able to proceed faster with road works. Taranaki produces a greater crop of sports meetings to the acre than any other district, we think, in the colony. The opening of a school is generally the fore-runner of a sports meeting, and a,i the schools generally follow the establishment of it store, it will be seen that nearly every settlement has its annual athletic jollification. And this, despite the fact that the city journals grow hysterical about the "child slaves of Taranaki." The 100 yds handicap is generally covered in a little over ten seconds, despite the alleged dwarfing of the people mentally anil physically.

Rumour is busy, writes the Wellington correspondent of the ChristclmrJi Press, v ith the names of leading barristers who are likely to be appoint.'! King's Counsel. Nothing oilicial isgard: g the appointments has been allowed lo transpire, but one who is su>-posc-1 to be in the confidence of the Government states that six appointments are likely to be made. For one appointment in Dunedin the names of Mr. .1. I. M. t'rnser and Air. Hosking are mentioned. In Gliristchurch it is stated Mr. Stringer will probably receive the appointment, while in Auckland Air. Tole is the likely appointee. In Wellington the names of no fewer than tne barristers arc mentioned, viz, the lion. Dr. Kindlay, Mr. 11. D. Be : .l, Mr. C. P. Skerrett, Mr. Martin Chapnia.-i, and Mr. T. M. Wilford.

During the month of March 50,")730z. of gj';d valued at £20.'!,073 was exported from New Zealand, against 30,2510z of a value of £143,338 for the coit >si>-riling month last year. Auckland hea lot the list with exports valued ul .C137.<1i:2, Clregmouth £27,491. Dunedin £23,'2d8, Imercargill £8345, Westpor! .17001, and Nelson £3IG. The gold exports for the three months ending March !a.-f were 118.11 !loz valued ;tt £473.47:;. Os compared with J2!),0350z, valued at

£;>21,859 for the lirst quarter of lOltli, a decrease of 11,7700z. ■ The falling off is mainly attributed to th" very dry we.it.icr in tin: [south Island bavin { greatly interfered with sluicing ipcrations and also to a number of dredges ceasing -work. The silver exports ior.Mm'li (from Auckland) amounted to 101.-mOoz. valued at £10,817. against 78„m!Ioz, valued at £7004 lor the same period last year.

Willing their visit to Wellington the ofile?rs, and even tlie men. of "the .lapalien warships have made a raid on many 01 the shops, and rarely has a knot of these men been seen without an array of parcels of (ill kinds, tine good thing the Jap has discovered is the e.\cellei'i euality of New Zealand rugs and Mank-'tij. A Times reporter uas informed 011 Friday by a salesman in one of tlie largest warehouses that he Jul J sold '0 the visitors an average of over a do/en rugs a day, and 011 Thursday morning lie visited one of the warships and disposed of eight rugs he had taken witli him. Another shopman said ]u sold no less than £IOO worth of blankets to Japanese officers 011 Friday morning. White kid gloves have also been in eager demand. The Japanese middies are apparently not fully dressr-d without "kids," and many of them have been buying gloves by the dozen during the last week. Flannel and Fox's serge have r-Jso been in heavy demand, but rugs and. blankets of local manufacture made the greatest "hit."

A small pen-picture of life (and death) | on a troopship, gleaned from "Bulletin"' of the First K.'A. Mounted Rifles: I Hut—there is a ting-a-lingling from , the bridge, and the engineer gets '"Haltspeed!" Then, ''Stop her!" This is mid-ocean. Anything wrong "with the 'engine? ]\ r o, nothing wrong with any man-made machinery—only a bit or Cod's handiwork to be dropped into the tide urtil "the sea shall give up its dead." There is 110 wrangling, for, although all tbe.se men have looked death ill the eye, Hie Mail with the Seville crushes down the jest, puts out the pipe, slackens the step and bows the head, •lust a disorganised crowd of momenta)* ily s-M'ioi-s men, something still under the ''.lack," the drming of the Service for the liurifl of the Dead, and the eloquent gap in ihe ship's rail. '"We 0011 sign his Lodv to the deep!" a tilting of ihe gruling, a splash, a rippje. Ting-a- - (ing-;i-liiig! "Half-speed!" "Full-speed!" "Who was lie?" asks a man. ".Jim . He to.d me he was going to get married tti? week after lie got to Sydney! Bit )[ lnud luck, ain't it?

The census return just to'lmml, dealing witll the number of unmarried people in the colony, is full of interest. It , states, among other 'tilings, that in April, . 190(>, the number of bachelors ill tile eoI lony over the age of twenty years was OKlli in excess of the number of spinsters aged 15 years and more. At the last census, it is interesting to note the reverse wis the ease, there being being llien more sjngle women than men. Tl.i increase of males Is said to li" due to the nun ' r-,- of immigrants arriving from other par!:: during tile Jive ' years.between the takiiiv of each census. ' The South island seems to lie ihr spin, sters' paradise, a,s at each of the above censuses the provinces of (It ago and Canterbury showed a great preponderance of single women, while in every other province, the position was to a greater or less extent the reverse. The province which shows the greatest preponderance of spinsters in the last census ill Canterbury, where, in 1001, there were 4018 more unmarried women tlia.ii moil. On the oilier hand, Wellington holds th'e record on tile 'opposite side, there being in IflOti an excess of bach clors over spinsters amounting to 438!). For Bronchial Coughs, take Woods' Creat Peppermint Cure. Is (id and 2s (id. The value of "SYKES'S DRENCH" is recognised by the highest authority in dairying in the colony. Read what ifr. ■l. A. Kinsella, Government Dairy Commissioner, has to say about it:—"l)e- < Pertinent of Agriculture (Dairy Division).—A ,E .Sykes, Esq., New Ply- < mouth: Dear Sir,—As Dairy Commissioner for this colony, I have been carefully watching the effects and value of "Sykes's Drench" on our dairy herds for 1 tlje past few years. I have not the ' slightest hesitation in titating that an * immense amount of improvement has f been brought about in the health of our ( dairy cows, and that "Sykes's Drench'' 1 has become known and properly used 1 amongst fanners. The best testimonial that one can receive is the praise, that a "Sykes's Drench" receives from all nunr- '' lers of New Zealand. Personally, I am f of opinion that no farmer should bo n without a. stock of "Sykes's Drench." 1' Yo i faithfully, J, A. Kinsella, Dairy C Commissioner, 1 v

Understanding that George Towns Intends forfeiting the world's sculling championship to his brother, Charlie, Mr W. R. Tuck, on beiialf of Webb, has deposited £IOO with tile editor of the Wanganui 1 iciai.i to hind a mntcii for (ho sculling championship. Tile clttilIcnge has beeu tabled to Towns and the Sydney Referee. Webb suggests that the race he rowed oil .) line. 20th.

There should bo a very large attendance at tile special meeting of the Loyal Egmont Lodge, 1.0.0.1''., .M.Li., on Toesday evening, the lirst meeting in the celebration of the jubilee of Oddfellowship in Taranki. There will be visitors from lodges in all parts of the district, and some brethren are coming from a distance. The celebrations promise to be on a.' lavish scale, and local menijiers of the Order will doubtless attend in force. An r..tinordinary iinident ot the railway ci Misiuu at Hnkni.i is recorded in Chris .church Truth. Two horses were in the horse-box. Of these, one was louse ai-.i tile oilier tied by his head to the Hof of the box. It was not 1 1: free base that escaped. That one was iiist.intani'nusly killed, whereas, by some extr [ordinary ' and inexplicable circum-s!:in..-e, the 'oilier escaped unhurt. !t was toiuid by i.lie sale oi the track soon a iter tla smash with the top of the box stiil attached to its head. Ai: a. congregational meeting at Whiteley Memorial Church on Friday evening reference was made to the departure of ltev. 11. I'. Williams from New I'lvmoutli mid a most appreciative resolution was recorded concerning his work- in the suburban and country churches in the e'reuit. Mr Williams will tie farewclled at the South road Church on Thursday evening, and leaves shortly for !St. Kijda, Dunedin. Those who know the popular young minister will congratulate the Methodists at St. K.ilda on having secured such an energetic and devoted minister. Ayrshire cows are putting _up go'id performances in the United States. On a 335-o.l'y test—the tnly test worth considnitg—the winner gave 1203i!1b of milk, yielding 5841b of butter. The second best gave 11,58G1b of milk, and 4891b of butter. The first prize for live mature cows making the highest record in o:ie ; cer was won by Mr. McFadibo, whose I'VC best cows gave 40,4(>51b of milk ard 22851b of butter, or an average of OStOlb of milk and 4471b of butler. These tests, which were conducted by the American Ayrshire Breeder's Association, do not give the butter-fat; and the commercial butter yield is not exact enoug'i as a record by which to make a compariui. #

The Tsarevitch, who lias grown tall for his two anil a half years, and also good-looking, was presented recently with his first uniform. He is chief of a Knnish and many other regiments, ills English nurse lifted him on to a table, to raceive a deputation of [»?!)■ diers, who came to present him with his sword and tiny uniform, made to. perfection by a regimental tailor. The ollicers one after another kissed the child's "Jianjl, as he watched wi'Lli UVilight tile undoing of the parcel which contained his military kit. The sigiit of the sword terrified liim. lie; wept and begged his muse to "take nie away, take me away."

It would be a delightful thing if nobody knew how old lie was. There an; plenty of men of fifty—who have twirt; tile energy, and thrice the talent and four times the knowledge, of youths of twenty—who are shelved when they are over forty, shalved when their working powers are at their very best, when their talents are ma'tuml, when their judgment is mellowed, and wild enthusiasm of youth is toned by the experience of jpiddle age. If tliesij men did not know how old tliey were what a blessed thing it would be! If they were asked their age they would truthfully say they did not know. Kmployers would say, "Here is a man of vast experience, he can do exactly what I require, therefore I don't care if he''.:> tlie age of Methuselah." The Kaiser once requested Prince Holienlohe to meet him at a station at seven o'clock to pi'esni a certain rc port. But When lie arrived, says "Cassell's Saturday Journal" ho found fhe Princess Ilohenlohc,- who sa ! d that to call a man of seventy-tfight to an appointment at this hour was absolutely unreasonable. Slio terminated her lecture with. "I. have brought the Chancellor's report." "But,*' the Fmperor replied, "this is not the" correct procotldure. Disdpline " "Tut, tut-, my dear nephew," interrupted the determined old lady, "you are joking. These funny ideas may have done| for ordinal' Ministers, but they arc odious when applied to equals. Just take Ihat document and read it." The Ka'ser did.

Regarding the assaults 011 aliens in San Francisco, Secretary Metealf says: ''.Most of them were made by boys and young men; many of them were vicious in character, and only one appears to have been made wit h a view of robbing 'Hie person attacked. All these assaults appear to have been made subsequent- to the fire and earthquake in San Francisco, and my attention was not called lo 'auv assaults made prior to the 18th day of April, 1900. These assaults upon the Japanese are universally condemned by all good citizens of California. For months the citizens of San Francisco and Oakland have been terrorised by numerous murders, assaults, and robberies, both at day and night. The poiee have been powerless. The assaults upon the Japanese, however, were not made, in my judgment, with a view of robbery, hut rather from a feeling of racial hatred, stirred up possibly by newspaper accounts of meetings that have been held at different times relative to the exclusion of Japanese from the United States,"