LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 33, 29 January 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Arrangements arc being completed lor | the systematic, canvass for funds in aid of the New Plymouth Hospital on .Saturday and Sunday next,. An affiliation ease, hailing from W-.ti-Uira, was before the court at New Plymouth yesterday, and was adjourned until next Tuesday afternoon, when evidence as to paternity will be given. The Elingamitc salvage syndicate lias the oiler of the services of another diver wider consideration, and if other matters can be arranged (says the Auckland ISlar) the Claymore will be despatched for the 'Three'Kings at an early date.

The Herald says it costs at least one otel in Wauganui CI per week in water ales, and this on a basis of !)d per 11)00 ; allons supplied over and above the 211 o :10 gallons allowed per individual per lay lor necessary ablutions, eonsumpion, house-cleaning, fit.

A number of gentlemen interested ii, ihe. Mutation of the .Smart road Kaolin j Company visited the claytields yester- i day, in company with Air J. B. Ilarcourt, of Wellington, who has been entrusted with tlie notation. Subsequently a meeting was held, and Mr D. MeAlluiu was elected secretary pro. tern. " I don't think I am asking too much," .-.aid Mr. giiillium yesterday in the court, - in asking for the release of my client upon his own recognisance to come up when the charge <>f being putative father is to be dealt with. This .Dominion of ours is a small place, and the defendant is not likely to evaporate." There was a short civil list at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning. Most of the claims were paid into court, and judgment by default was given in the following:—(I. Cliff v. C. U. Beckett (Mr. Johnstone), claim £'24 15s on dishonoured promissory note, costs £1 lis. and solicitor's fee £1 lis; Mr. Ram-

son (Mr. Quilliam) v. John Courtney, of llawera. claim Cl 4 1:1s lid. costs Cl lis. and solicitor's fee l.w lid: T. C. List v. T. (Ilyuu, claim Cl, costs (Is.

The improvement of the ('arringiou Road goes on apace. Hood progress is lieiug made with the second widening contract near .Mr. Blanche! t's, and the big dip in Jh.' road is being lilled in to improve the grade. The earthwork on the Ratanui hill contract is nearly finished. Purl her on llendricksen has got his crusher erected and made a start with the metalling. A resident on the upper end stales tnat when these works aiv completed the ('arrington road will la' one of the best inland roads in Taraiiaki.

Reports ol the' cocksfoot harvc.it. on the Peninsula generally are mare favourable as the cutting proceeds (writes the Akaroa correspondent ol the " Oliristchurcli Press "), and the shortage in the yield will not be' so great ub was at first anticipated. The bulk of tlii> seed is clean, though light, and in some places both bright and heavy. The dry, hot weather continues, and consequently paddocks have ripened fast. Outside labour is very scarce, and from Is lid to 2s per Hour is being ottered for reapers. Home few paddocks are now cut out. Rain would be beiielieial ;.o help the heads to shed freely when being | threshed.

As a matter of fact fires destroy at least as much limber as is marketed, it is as much as we can hope lo do to save reserves upon which posterity may see the beauties of our native bush; and even this can only ue hoped for if we take extraordinary precautions. As for the forests themselves they would bo generally burned away within a generation if they were'not worked, if the wilful and careless destruction of timber could be prevented there would be much less need lo look with alarm at our disappearing forests. In any case, the tinnier of the future will be generally grown in plantations, where if can be easily handled and properly protected; and'thc kauri will be known only as a wonderful and curious survivor from a past age.—New Zealand Herald. Much dissatisfaction is expressed in Canterbury in regard to the methods of enrolment for the general election. ~ It is stated that in one ease a man vnto has been married for over thirty yefis, and has never been away from hom&s now parted from his wife by the He»trar. The man has been placed in w district, while his wife, has been placed* in another. A similar course has been adopted in regard to another couple, who live miles from the boundary line of the two districts "which they represent. Scores of complaints are made I hat the electors have been informed that they have been placed in different districts from which they'reside. Quite a largln number of electors complain that, they have not received any notification of registration. 'The most bitter complaint, however, is that of a man who says that the Registrar has divorced him from his wife.

If all the sawmill owners were as ovtnnati ly situated as Mr. Davies, on the Carrington lload, there would be less heard of the damage to roads caused bv timber tiallie. '.Not onlv is there a downward grade from the' forest to the sawmill, but the gradual fall continue* down the road for a couple of miles.

Mr. Da vies, to save the road and to facilitate the marketing of his timber, constructed :i tramway down the side of tin- road, near nie fence. This, of course, entailed a good.deal of expense, lint it enabled him to get his timber away to a good road, without any eost of haulage, in all weathers, and without causing any damage to the road. Jn the Stratford county many saw-millers construct trams alongside and across roads, the. local authority recognising the value to the district of keeping the heavy timber lorries oil the road. The (Jarrington Road Board is now endeavouring to come to some arrangement with Mr. Davies for the payment . f royalty on limlier carted and hauled over the Hoard's roads, and for the maintenance of the tramways.

A correspondent of the Christehureh Press, who signs himself "A Medical .Man and a White Slave," writes as follows on the subject of patients who will not pay the doctor:—"Why should not I lie la-w lie made just for tradespeople and professional men as well as for the working community? Tradespeople, if they know customers are dishonest, can refuse to supply them with goods. A medical man, if called to attend anybody, and, knowing that tin's person will refuse to pay, refuses to attend, is looked upon by the public as a murderer A medical man is frequently called to cases of this sort at all hours of. the day or night, and whether he himself is | well or ill he cannot in the name of humanity refuse to go. Why cannot the laws be made to protect ail classes alike'; How many medical men in their old age have been able to save sufficient money to keep them alive? The great majority have to work till they die in harness to keep body and soul together Suppose a doctor is called out to attend a sick person, and on his way he meets with an accident which disables him, what claim has he upon his employe-? The worker has. according to law. definite hours of labor; overtime must lie paid for. The fixed hours are generally 44 hours per week. Doctors have t'o work in I lie collar from week's end to week's end, KiS hours a week. Should in.f they by law be paid overtime?"

At Niagara Fulls recently a scone was enacted which makes one's blood tingle, writes the Canadian correspondent of the Dunedin Times. A diver named fiodfrcy Thibcrt on the morning of the Stli went into the forcbay of the great power works to cany oiit a job under water. He was caught by the force of the current running through the head-' gate of penstock No. 3, and carried against the mouth of the pipe. The rope prevented him from going down, but when the men above tried to pull him out it was found that the rope was fowled by an eye-bar. and the diver

could not be raised. It was impossible to shut down the gate, as it would have tut him in two. The men on the line stood at their posts, straining every nerve to lift, their imperilled mate, vet fearing each minute that the life-line would part or would be worn through where it was fo„l n f the ironwork, and Tliii'bcvt be dashed down 150 ft to be torn to shreds by tlie turbine wdieel. The pump tenders worked like machines, sending an uninterrupted supply of lifexii.sliiining air down through the hose to Tllirllerf.. Uv«™ „ n „,.l,„™„ .„„■,

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The Taraiiaki Rifles will march to the Mahoetahi battlefield on Sunday, 9th February. The Waitara Rifles have ex-

pressed a desire to take part in the outing, and will be present in force. The Band Contest Committee and the borough electrical engineer visited the Recreation Sports Ground yesterday and fixed the places for the erection of the electric lighting for the Band Contest week.

"H is coming to a pretty pass, 1 ' remarked Mr P. .Smith at Ihe'mcetjng of/ slieepl'armers at Pahiatua last week, "it we cannot employ a boy to assist in the sheep-shearing without consul ting Mr Andrew Collins, or some other agitator, who actually tells us we do not know how to run our own business."

At a meeting of the Tradesmen's Association, held at llawera on Thursday last, it was resolved to expunge the rule which forbids the issue of pictorial calendars and other advertising matter at Christmas tide, the feeling being pretty general that shopkeepers should be the, best judges how to advertise their own business, and that this privilege should not be interfered with.

The contractors are now engaged in the alteration and enlargement of the Brougham street hall. The dancing hall is to be lengthened, the present floor removed and replaced with a new spring floor constructed for dancing. The front porch is to be extended. The gallery will be demolished, the main hall re-papered and thoroughly ventilated, and the exterior painted,' Mr F. Messenger is the architect, and Mr 11. Wallutli the contractor, for the Brougham Street Hall Co.

A clerk in a commercial house in Wellington earned £4OOO some lime ago in a very easy manner. While on a visit to England, he ascertained the name ot an absentee who was the fortunate owner of a fine block of buildings in Wellington, and subsequently, learning of the hitter's death, place the matter before a small syndicate of Speculator.-*, who made an offer to the executors in England, and obtained the properly on splendid terms. The clerk was well rewarded for his trouble, the syndicate handing him a cheque for £-1000. The , property is one of the business parts of Wellington, and the syndicate made a capital investment. Work at tile Arthur's Pass tunnel is proceeding apace, writes the'correspondent of the Lyttelton Times. The lace is now well opened, and more men are being put on. The contractors are closedecking the railway bridge over th.<) Uolleston river to enable them to use it as an ordinary traffic bridge. Two lines of rails will be laid on the decking to allow the tunnel .spoil to he carried to s its destination. The work of deckin" the bridge will absorb aver 30,000 feet of timber. Mr Leslie Reynolds, who is supervising the tunnel work on behalf of the contractors, is engaged with n large staff of assistants in laving out the site at Holt's Creek for the water ■supply works, from which will be obtained the necessary power for the electrical machines required in the tunnel works.

A corespondent signing himself ••.Much Struck,'' writes complaining of the amount of latitude given the larrikins in I'liu pit at the New Plymouth Theatre Koyal on Monday night. "Lollies were flying in all j'Hrections, ladies faring equally with' the rest ill the distribution of their favors I looked around for the police, but they were away. It puzzled me not a little to explain why these gentry absented themselves from their duty when it was cast in such pleasant places. I have since been informed that the constables were, viewing the scene from the dress circle. Is it possible that in future the guardians of peace may turn up in the places wherb their services are required? The police might be persuaded, too, to eject some of the hoodlums who shout personal remarks at the people entering the stalls."

Harvest hands are daily arriving in Ashburton (says the "Guardian"), and are as quickly being engaged jy fanners. A number of the threshing miils are yet to he staffed, and when stacking becomes general, wliicn will be in the course of a little over a week, a large number of men will be required. So far TSa farmers have been able to do a great deskof their own harvest work in conMfflenee of the continued dry weather. KU a meeting of the directors of the Clntha Veterinary Association of Otago it was decided that Principal Dcwar, of the Royal Dick Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 1m tendered a memento in acknowledgment of his services in obtaining a vet. tor the association, the cost not lo exceed £5 ss.

The Clutha Leader met a man the other day who is unfortunate enough to have a son an inmate of Seacliff. He visited the hospital the day Terry broke away last. He has only one opinion about Terry, and it may be imagined: "I pay Ids a week for my son," he .said, ''and he has to get- up in the morning and milk cows and feed pigs, and at night the same, besides working at odd jobs during the day. But Terry, he knocks around like a gentleman, does nothing, and gets what he wants. At the. .table he has a waiter, and it's Mr Terry this and Mr Terry that—lives on the best, and waiters to look after him. I pay 15s a week for my son and he has to look to himself. Terry costs the country £3OO to £4OO a year. If they would make him work it would knock some of the nonsense out of his bead. He would be glad enough of a rest, and if he did he would be easier caught. ; i■ |

A good story is going the romid« concerning the civil service. Not long ago nearly all the Government officials in a certain district received a circular from a well-respected member of the service, asking them to attend a meeting on very important business. It whs hinted that a young official in a position of trust was in trouble, with u. big shortage in his cash . On the d',7 named there was quite a large ing.' The convener was voted t\vA .- chair, and lie explained his action in milling the gentlemen together, thinking they would join hands in preventing disgrace from ruining the career of one, who seemed to have excellent prospects in his own particular department. He need not divulge the amount of the defalcations, but suggested that those present would have to he fairly liberal to make up the deficiency. Practice he-' ing heaps better than precept, he headed a subscription list with five guineas, and passed it round. The result was a considerable donation, which the chairman was authorised to apply in the right manner. It has now been shown that the official whose cash was short was none other than the convener and chairman himself. And thev say the present generation have no nerve!