LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 89, 3 April 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A local business man considers it extremely unlikely that factory butter will be' sold at less than Is 3d a pound this winter. He expects a scarcity in July and August.

Air. Keir llardie, writing in the Labor Leader, says of Wellington's Mayor:— "Tlie Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop, an ex-Minister)—Scotch, of course—is a gem. He is also a Socialist."

Quail are reported to b e very plentiful in the Danncvirkc district. At Makotuku the fanners lind them a pest, as they have a propensity for sera telling up the grass seed on newly-sown burnt land, and pulling up the young grass as it conies through.

Timber is arriving on the ground for the enlargement of the railway goods shed. This work has become absolutely imperative owing to the growth of trade at tlie port and the inconvenience caused to consignees by the difficulty in handling goods here in too cramped quarters. Of sparrows as well as blackbirds a good cook can make a dainty dish to set before a king or commoner. A Duuedin caterer wants 1000 of these mischievous yet likeable birds, with which to make a pie for a banquet to be held there shortly. Sparrow pie is not exactly a novelty in New Zealand, .-ay s tlie Diuicdiu Star, but we do not often m'i, it at big dinners. Orchardisl- v,mild be pleased if it came more into favor.

Is a minor liable for a debt incurred for hoard and lodging? Such was the question at i—lie in a case before Mr. Itiddell, S.M., at Wellington, when Archibald Rice sued William Weaver for CI 10s for board and lodgings. For the defence it was contended that the defendant being an infant was not liable—board and lodging not being a necessity when th ( . parents were prepared to give a home. Judgment was re-crved.

AI one i,l (lie Sydney Police Courts ivcenlly Hide appeared, im a chargv of in.-hriiy, uu 01.l Sydney identity. Jlf wa> lined .">s. in- three hours, and "took it out/' In tin' forties ho was in bnsi- »« in <.'corge Street, ami Inter on lie owned North Shore property valued at c:ifl,(JoU. lie eould have got a shade over .OT.IIIH) for it., bill was advised w hold mi, and he did so until the boom hurst. There was u mortgage of about CKl.iiOl) on the estate, and it seems to have eaten up the depreciated assetsbody, hones and all.

".ill Fwls' Day" brought all kinds of foul tricks. Many folk arc tunny with regard to correspondence on that day, but no one would dream that n letter all tin' uiiv from the <>lu Country cnulil '»• rolv a fools' dav hoa.v. A local "I'litli'inai, 1-I',','ivi'd an' I'liv, lop L , full of lilauk |i;i|n'i' from his native town awav over (ho mm. l.nt, owing to his having changed his address in the last few month, tli,- "letter'' was delayed a day in transit, and arrived here yesterday, morning. Had he remained at his city i address he must have hen badly "had/'' Win. will -ay that the old folks at Home know nothing of New Zealand when th'-.v can time a joke and the arrival of u letter ,o beautifully? I

fnslunH'N for struct, afternoon, and Sunday wear, in greens, browns, wine*, navvs, mixed tweeds, and greys, and in dill'erent varieties of slvlo-. are on show |at White and .Sons*. They arc the ; simples of tho■>(? garments of utility thai are so pleasing tu womankind. In costumes this reason they have a- extensive an assortment as ever before. Shown in all the new ell'ecK lni|ior|ed ;ind Jvaiapoi Advl.

from cadi of these countries we dl'a.v our supply of biscuits; From EnglaH we ind.-nl |v„| ; , |.- r ,,.„, ~„,! f'n.'s biscuits; iron, indaiMl we eel- Hubbard'.; rusks lor inl'mil. ln „| i,iv;ili(jM; wild.' from onr own Domini,,,, „„ ~,,.,,;,,„ „,„• ■upplies Iran, all the 1„.,| „|., m |, f . tiu-ers. Such a variety is v ,,|l worth inspecting. J'ipi- biscuits ami all reipiireniciils for the present Lenten season ,„ ling fish, tinned fish, fish pastes, ami tisli delicacies of every kind call at The IVoplc's Crocery. Crockery and glassware ilcuartiuenl upstairs, —Advt.

A small boy in the suburbs, who was about to receive a "tanning" for having killed a bird with a well-aimed stone, deserved liis sentence reviewed. Just as the parental cane was threatening, li:> jerked out tliat "mother has a bird in I her hat!" But the "tannin«" was made all the more severe.

On Wednesday evening a man under ■ the influence of liquor wandered in to Rev Flanagan's meeting Last night be mentioned this, and said he wished it were lawful for ministers and others to snapshot drunken men's faces. The exhibition nf such a picture, he thought, would make the subject a lifetime teetotaller.

A London correspondent, writing in February, says:—ln consequence, of tlishortage of butter, the consignment of JO,OOU boxes from New Zealand, brought by the lonie, was unloaded with special despatch, and was at once eagerly snapned up. (so low were the stocks before the arrival of the lonic that merchants were borrowing single boxes from one another!

A case was reported recently at Fcilding of a boy being seriously ill through having eaten mushrooms. It is not known whether he ate too many or that they were of a poisonous varietyA cnrHory glance will tell a poisonous from a wholesome fungus, but it is just as well to take that cursory glance. The crop of mushrooms .lias so far shown no sign of diminishing in this district.— •Star.

An indignant correspondent, "Hurt,' writes to the Post complaining that a potato vendors has been •■touring" Tllorndon (Wellington) and selling potatoes to householders at las (id per sack. The tubers look all right, but on being cut are found to be badly diseased. No doubt when Wellington' has been thoroughly exploited the potato pedlar will give the country hi s attention, ami housewives should be on the look-out

for him. Madge Clayton, a registered nurse at Breston, Victoria, was found to have had in January last twelve infants under her care—of whom no fewer than six subsequently died. As the result of the evidence adduced in the course of the inquests on the deceased children a charge of having failed to provide adequate nursing for two infants was brought against Nurse Clayton. She was found guilty, and was lined £1 in respect of each child, with £3 3s costsIn another town a man, who broke the I plate glass window of a grocery store, was lined ten shillings, or seven days'. Louis Durand, who is described as an "autophobe," was arrested on Paris on February 13 for systematically damaging motor cars. Motorists have been mystified by the large number of cars which have had tyres punctured while held up by traffic at the corner of the Avenue de l'Opera and the Boulevard des Italiens. The police kept a watch at this spot, and discovered Durand moving among the stationary cars armed with a stiletto, which he prodded into the lyres. Durand states that iie has Sworn eternal enmity to motor cars, and will never rest until they are all swept from the face of the earth.

Aii interesting wager between two prominent townsmen was decided at Gishorne the other day. One had purchased a new bicycle, and, never having seen his friend astride a pair of pneumatic tyros, bet him the machine that he could not ride it around Lowe street and along Gladstone road. He was fortified in his judgment by the fact that the cycle in question was fitted with a free wheel, that mysterious appendage that has spelt disaster to many a rider. It seemed, as the Americans put it, "easy money," but his surprise was to come, as, amidst the laughter of a few onlookers, the other party to the wager mounted the cycle with the utmost nonchalance, and despite somewhat erratic steering, safely negotiated the journey, and rode off with his newly-acquired property. In connection with the recent rumor of an attempt on the life of the Czar, the Paris Matin relates that about six months ago a Cossack officer who was mounting guard outside the door of the Czar's bedroom called the guard, who promptly arrested him. I'ale and staggering, the officer murmured "Arrest me." He was unmoved, and on becoming calmer he stated that he was affiliated to a baud of revolutionaries, and had been selected to kill the Czar lhat night, but when he was on the point of entering the room his courage had failed him. The .Memorial Diplomatique publishes a report that at the time of the rumor of assassination Die Czaritza found upon the bed of the Czarevitch a letter condemning the Czar and Czarevitch to death. The report further states that seventeen bombs were found ill the Imperial Palace connected by eledric wires.

An interesting story in connection with the boyhood of H. Jackson, a meiuber of (he Blenheim Rowing Club's crew which won the champion fours at the Napier carnival, is related by the Marlborough Express. When Jackson was living in the North Auckland district, a settler, who became ill and felt that he was about to die", ordered a eollin to be made. He recovered, however, and was left with a brand-new coffin on his hands. Nothing daunted, the convalescent set about getting some of Ids money back by the simple method of rattling the gruesome box, and young Jackson's father won the "prize." Having won the eofliu, Mr. Jackson did not know what to do with it, but young Jack solved the problem by cutting a pair of sculls out of the liu, and using the box as a "wager" boat. In this strange craft he rowed some of the greatest races of his life against the boys of the settlement, and showed such promise that his Father bought Mm a real boat, and condemned the old coffin to the lowly but serviceable use of a pig-trough. "Why," asked a correspondent, "should the British Medical Journal ask the Government, as it does in the current number, to speiul a million pounds to find a cure for influenza, when a simple remedy exists, which anyone can prove to his own satisfaction without the expenditure of a penny. I have just had inlkiciiza, and have. been cured without any drugs. The treatment consisted in going to lied, taking absolutely no food, drinking hot water, and having a hotwater bottle in lied. The attack came (in last Sunday week, and I was able to keep an appointment on the following Tuesday. [t is, of course, difficult lo make the female head of the household believe (hat one is not going to die of sheer starvation, because one goes -111 hours without tasting food, as I did. As soon as the body needed'food I felt hungry, and very light food—ehicflv milk and toast, sufficed for my requirements. The great fact, however, remains that within 311 hours, by absolute ftarvation, and causing the skin to act. 1 was well."

•Mr. E. Roberts, an official of Tongi, interviewed at Wellington, said:—"The I Tongnn is the most intelligent of all the dark-skinned races, and the most retentive as regard* education, I have seen native clerks in my office, and do yon know that if yon were to bring in a score of the very latest opera—one voti know (hey could not have heard—they would gather round and sing the music oil' at sight. They have fine voices, too. Kvery clerk in th 0 Government service lias 1,, be proficient in shorthand, so thai at any time when called upon to act as clerk of the Court they will be able to take a verbatim note oi' the pro. ceedings. which is always done. Thougii the Chief Justice of Tonga is a white man (Mr. Robert Louis Skeen, formerly of Auekliind), the magistrates are natives, and administer the law with great tact and impartiality.'' The church is it powerful factor in Tonga, In former years the Wesleyan Church was the doniiu nil. element in the group, but it ha.] to lie great extent superseded by the Free Church of Tonga, which was 'formed by the Uev. Shirley Baker and the Rev. Mr. U'atkins. Th e latter gentleuian is president of the church, and chaplain to the King (a position which carries with it a salary of £2OO a year). The Tongans were faithful churchgoers, and the income of tli e Tongan Church could not be less than eSOOO per annum, siid -Mr. Roberts. for Children's Hacking Cough at night V\ oods' Clreat 1/eppermint Cure. Is 6d and 2s Cd. The great annual sale at "The Kaah" is now on, and presents one of the best opportunities for buying your men's and boys' clothing you'll liave this year. Even if you do not immediately want I'uy of the goods, they are selling 60 cheaply, it will pay you to buy now, at once, while the sale is on. It lasts for a fortnight only, and we, advise you to visit them early. They've some splendid boys' Conway suits in serges and all-wool tweeds. Most of these arrived too late for the Christmas trade, and they are giving a-third reduction on the price, so that IDs Od suits arc now 13*, every suit bearing an equal reduction. Boys' Norfolk suits they have commencing at 8s lldfHoys' sailor suits run from 3s Cd; boys' 3-garment suits from 13s Od, So that you see what a good opportunity you have to buy your ' ,o ys' clothes. Of course, you know thj address—it's in Dcvon-sfcrect, New Plymouth, just foekw Nolan's auction mart.

An expressive chip from Rev. Flanagan's lecture: "Poor threepenny-bit sort of Christians."—An uncommon phrase about a very common species. The guarantors tor the Napier Carnival have been called on to pay up the full amount of their guarantees, totalling .t 1(100.

It would appear that it is not generally known that if letters are stamped on any part except on the right-hand corner of the front of the envelope they are treated by the Department as unstamped. Sometimes as a freak the stamp is put on the back. In any ease iof misplacement the letter is detained and the recipients lined.

The borough foreman in laying down the concrete, channelling in Devon-strcai did not make sufficient provision for some of our Taranaki showers. The

channelling has now been down about a month, and on two occasions that piece between the Imperial Hotel corner and the railway crossing has been overtaxed. The surplus waters flowed down the roadway, part of which was on each occasion shifted a little farther down the. Mil.

The fourth monthly social gathering of members of the Taranaki Rifles war held last night in the orderly-room. The first part of the evening was occupied by Major Malone's interesting lecture on "Arms, Ancient and Modern." Afterwards an enjoyable social was held, songs and recitations being given by .Messrs. Harris, Mclsaaes, and Stokes. The officers entertained the company at suppw.

Decisions were reserved in several civil matters recently tried here at the Supreme Court sessions. These were delivered yesterday morning as follow: Spence v. liolgcr and Maddock, no order made; I. CI. Sampson v. New Plymouth Harbor Board, order mado restraining

the Board, the latter to pay 20 guineas costs; Schrodroski v. Hadley and another, judgment for defendants, without costs; Cranton v. Worthinglon, judgment for plaintiff for £200; on counter, claim, judgment for Cranton for £283 7».

The last few days have been brisker than usual in the courts, but the offences have been only trivial. Yester-

day morning a heavy-eyed delinquent pleaded guilty to a charge of drunkenness. His insobriety led him info da>r>

gcrous paths. Fire-water seemed to have loosed his imagination, for he took upon himself the role of "the Fire King/' asserting that he was the only man born who could put out a fire. His modus operandi was not very lucidly explained, but in his babbling he com-

mended to the faithful the efficacy of a coat dipped in a river. With a fearlessness that certainly implied a supreme belief in bis powers, he lighted a fire near business premises, rather too close to be pleasant. Then he started burning paper to cook a purchase of flounders. And then Constable Rowlands happened along, and led "the Fire King," protesting volubly, to the lockup. A night in the cells cooled the imagination, and the offender was convicted and discharged.

The associated grocers again discussed last, night a scheme having for its object the encouragement of cash business. At present complaint is made that the cash customer, the man who pays hard cash on the counter when he orders his

goods, receives no reduction off the ordinary catalogued price. By dealing on a monthly basis, or, in other words, by making the grocer wait for his money, he can at the end of the month secure a discount of 2'/ 2 per cent, or more by paying the account before the 10£ h of the following month. This, it is argued, really puts a premium on the credit system.' That is, however, only one side of the picture. The grocer says that the man who deals with him on the monthly settlement system is a monthly customer, and he buys the whole of his groceries through the one linn. For

that reason it is "business" to offer him a small discount. When, however, people buy for cash on the counter, they deal just where fancy or low price .will take them. There are people, a local business man tells us, who will wear out a shillingsworth of shoe leather in running round the town to save a penny on the price of a bag of sugar. These must be in the minority, else why so few shoemakers';