LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 118, 9 May 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A sum ot .Cl(i Lis, subscribed by residents of Tariki, towards the cost, of sending Kerr to compete in the Olympic games, lias been received by the'treasurer in Ihe committee which has the matter in hand. There is now Ul.'iu credited to the fund, and a few lists are atili to be received. the Auckland Herald reports that Air. •■corgi! Ilayly. who a short time ago purchascd the properly of .Messrs. I'hillips li''"-.. near I leleusvillc. and .Mr. 11. T. IV K.Wnica Mock, lias J10 « i7econic Il„. [11 ir. -11 a -er. in,ill'.Messrs. I:. K. William-, lainiii-il, u | a ship of land, one 111 i!-• wide, extending along (he coasi fill 1 lie whole length of the land lalcjv held bi Messrs. ,\li telle Ison ISros. Tim transaction in said to have been a casa one, running up as high as 115,000. A line young deer made its appearance near the .Mangawcka rille range on Saturday, and created great consternation among the cattle. This ithe lii'st lime deer has lieen seen in this part ol tln- North Island, and it will be pleasing information to sportsmen to learn, that several have also been seen 011 the le Kapnn water-lied, about seven miles irom Alangaweka. They arc in splendid condition and very quiet. The one sera on Saturday was a.■six-pointer.

I here wn r a iitlle mild excitement ir Jnverea rgill the other day, cause* through Mr. loin |,eydon. an old Uni verity footballer. finding near he heads a large piece of what, was Mipl<i be ambergris. It weighs 441b, and the value was estimated to be CJOOH. The stulV. however. turned out t<> lie nothing letter than a lump of para Hi n. jettisoned from r-ome an<l worth about half a sovereign, i'he Under carried his prize ten miles. >o that instead of being rewarded at the rate ut CMO per milt* for bis labor, be gets only one shilling. M)V WILL BE St iri'lilSKD How much better you feci if your stoiunch U in good condition. Dr. Sheldon'-; Digestive tabulo* will improve your digestion at once. Obtainable everywhere. If you want your furniture removed carefully, expeditiously, and economically, employ the New Zealand Express Company, Md., who make a special feature of this class of work, and who are aKo able to supply lirsi.-class dry storage aeeominodnl ion. Cn.-doms workin all its branches. —Advt. lie trinl Port Hacking after fiyli. But nnlv caught a cohi. lie said. "Atchoo! By jovc. 1 wish I'd done an 1 was told. This is indeed a Ifaeking eough. Oood name it's got, I'm sure!" Hut next dny hi? was right enough Through Wood*' Great Peppermint cW. u

Is it a sign of the times? Thursday's azette contains an announcement af i ic cancellation of ten industrial unions. A good bag was secured yesterday by i [r. Okey, jnnr., at the upper end of arrington road, eighteen ducks falling > his gun. Tile (Jarrison Baud will play a prolamine ol sa red music at tiie Ksp.an de rotunda :! i>'cloek sharp on Sunay altcrnooii. It is estimated ill a report liy -M 1 - \. I'ainegic Koss, tlic liritish Consul it I iuenos Ayrcs, that the numbers of live iluck ill 1 lie Argi'iitine ale as follows: .'utile, sheep, 7V",<»l!0,0iHl; horses, .'>,500,000; pigs, ;j, 000,(Mil): and goats, -,500,000. A pretty lair test of ilic progress and intelilgence of a city is the appearance of its newspapers. When the principle paper is dull, barren of news, ami barren of advertisements you may safely conclude that is a pretty dull neighborhood. When the paper shows progress and energy in its new-, editorial and advertising columns, it is prclty fair guess that the town supporting sucll a paper is liberal, energetic, ami

good to Jive A. Alacdonaid. ad M-rising exjiort, in Brains. I'he danger of leaving Llie paths about I iu j boiling pools in tlie llolonia district wa-. exemplified again. last Thursday evening. .MV. 11. Tri-.tr,ua, a member ol tin 1 mechanical stair of llic Kotorua Times, was showing a friend ou a visit to liotorua tile sights of ' Ohineimilii. lie saw a path opening through a clump of manuka. anil turned into it, thinking it would lead to some point of Interest. He had taken only a few steps when lie plunged to mid-thigh into a boiling pool. He came out very quickly, but not ill time to save liimself. J3olh ot his legs were badly «calded from his ankle lo above the kuce. The increase in the areas of the deerforests iu tilt six Highland crolting counties Argyllshire, lnvenies~-shire, Boss and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, and Orkney and Shetland—is remarkable. Here are the totals as given in the last deor-l'orest return:—Acreage ill 1883, 1,700,802 acres; ill 1800, 2,»10, 02.-) acres; in 1004, 2,920,007 acres. There is only too good reason to believe iliat the increase lias been going on steadiU since 100-1. It in also to be observed that these returns relate only to deerforests, and lake no account ol any other areas devoted exclusively to r>pon. —Westminster (la/.ette.

Two men in an lowa town (wrote the New York correspondent of the Lyttelton Times on March 30) are engaged in playing a eribbage game for a score of a million points. Their sef're At the present lime is 640,281 to 455,2:14. Both the players, .lohn I'. I and Milo \.ard, estimate that 111-,, will live to finish the exciting-conic. ( in 1915. Loper and Ward play once a week from half-past seven o clock 1eleven o'clock in the evening. 'I hev have played for 37(i consecutive weeks and religiously kept their weekly engagement. The average number 0;! points made each night of pla.v for lh-' past seven years is 2150. Tile players have worn out a number of eribbage boards and about 250 packs of cards. A curious affair is reported from uic Ijallinagleragh district of County trini, Ireland. A young man of the. farming class breaking oil' an engagement in order to marry another girl, the parish priest refused permission for the marriage, and the bishop upheld bis action. Eventually, however, the marriage took place at the registry office. 011 tlie night the man brought his bride

home, some thirty men, disguised with blackened faces and wearing crape, burst in the door and colled upon the father of llie bride to take his daughter home. The demand was acceded (o, but the bridegroom went with them. He was, however, seized by a second group Oi nia-sked men, roughly parted from his bride, and compelled to return t» his own bouse. . »f n fearful ])iinishment of hoslite Moorish triiiesmeu has been received in I'alis. The .Moors were driven between nnsealeable dill's, and the J'rench artillery tlien mowed theni down by hundreds. So terrible was (he execution that the order !o ceaise fire was given for Immunity's sake. A telegram Irom Sidi-Abd-cl-Kerini gives an account "I the operations carried out by the French troops against the M'Jlakras on Stli .March, near the marabout of Siddi Aceila. r ri»e French troops arrived at llie foot of the Aehneho hills without meeting with any -erious resistance. On their approach a number of floors hastily abandoned their encampments I ami the camp of Mulai Ila/hl's army. The artillery opened the hottest lire directed upon any body of the eiiemy since the beginning of the operations, and the • Moors, who were shut ill by un-caleable dill's, were literally massacred. Eventually the general gave the order to cease lire for sake.

! As many as fifteen suicides in a single day have lately been reported in St. Petersburg. Many of these occur in public in tlic mewl dramatic circumslanccs. A lew days ago a student shot himself in a box sit the Imperial Opera, during 011 c of the c/ineluding scenes of "The Queen of Spades." lie was the. side occupant of the box, and during the performance was -eon to smell repeatedly at a lieautiful bouquet of (lowers which he had with him. 11l this bouijucl wa,, concciileil a revolver, and at the 'ast lie lifted the /lowers (o his face and pulled the hidden trigger, dropping back dead in the box amid a scene of confusion and terror. Lieut.-Colonel KovaIcvMky, some doys later, .shot liim.self in one of the rooms of a fashionable rc?» tauraut. At a skating rink, where the skaters included a large number of children. one ol the performers in the orchestra dri'w a revolver during an interval and look his life, in full view of evcrvboilv.

i the discovery by Police inspector Maedonncll, of Napier, of a violin believed to lie a real Maggini ha« (says the Daily Telegraph) awakened considerable interest amongst, enthusiasts. Mi li. ilayward, connected with the Drc-scians, is recognised as one of the best authorities 011 the subject in New Zealand, and he gives it. as his opinion that the violin is a genuine Maggini. He oilers the following as being somewhat near the translation of the old inscription:—"When alive I was monarch of I he wood; now being dead 1 am 1110111 arch (or god) of nuisic." From his investigations Inspector Macdoncll is inclined to think that Mr. Wilson is mistaken in thinking that the violin was once the property of Major von Xenipskv. At. a ralile in Wellington forty years ago it was won by a mall named Henley, who aftenvardg sold it to Tim Howard, a member of the Aimed Constabulary. No direct proof can be found of the instrument having lieen in the hands of von Tcnipsky, although it musl he lionry with old associations.

The following is au extract from a letter received by Mr R. C. W. Cuming, of Kliandalhih, from Mr Tlios. A. Ivlison, regarding the hitter's scheme for 'rapid house-building:—'"This winter f shall coiisll'uct iron moulds and devise machinery whereby a full-sized house can be cast in twelve hours after the mould in position. At tile end of seven days the iron moulds are removed and the house will be complete. , . . and all or drying six days will probably be ready for use. To build this house for one thousand dollars it is essential that it be erected 011 sandy soils. The cost of the moulds will he' 25,000 dollars, and the cost of other machinery about 1500 dollars. From this outfit an unlimited number of houses can be erected. ... It j 9 probable that companies will be formed who will iiavc several moulds, each of different design, and will go actually into business"— Dominion.

AN earnest PLEA. Ivv'i>ry sla«o of separator development ,M * strictly of "Alfa-Laval" origin ant* ellori. Would-be eoutpeting machines | o-day manufactured are, with»ml exception, but mere followers in the wakg °f the ''Alfa-Eaval. M They possess no original ideas or features in instruction, -and simply utilise that which expired "Alfa-Uval" patents leave free to them, iso that the very best of them are barely equal to the "Alfa-Eaval" ma- j chiiii' of (en years ago. Thus the gulf ol praelical efficiency between the "AlfaNaval" iuid the best of would-be coinpoling separators is still further wid'Med,.placing the "'Alfa-Laval" machines ar above and beyond the possibilities of •oinpetition from anything else in the f d f cream separator; Catalogue T' mailed free. .Sole New Zealand tfents, i\Jnso!i, Struthers and Co., Ud., I'almerslon North. E. Orif-' | Mis and Co., New Plymouth, local I L'ent?. I

THE 15 iEARS' TEST

Fifteen years is a long test. Do you Ynow of imy other drench that has boon I x\sfed for fifteen years? Do yon know that after fifteen years of testing Sykeß»j Drene!j is used by over DO per cent, of the daiiy farmers oi New Zealand? When .vim buy K/kew'a Drench you buy tb" drench that hay been tested for ov<i'r fifteen yoai'-; and is used by all progressive dairy farmers. Isn't it better to buy the Monti Remember that when von buy Syk«*'& Drench you "rruy the j he-ji. |

There was a large and sociable gathering at the second of the series of the liiiihvay euchre party and dance last night. The prizes were won by Miss Lye (ladies) and MY. Ward {gents). A very enjoyable da-nce was held, finishing shortly after midnight. Owing to the delay of the OnehungaXew Plymouth mail-boat on Thursday, the mail train was filled to its utmost yeisterdsv morning. Passengers oil" the boat, say I hat Ihoy had never experienced rougher weather on the Auckland const than thiil which they met with. The wen I her on 1 hi- occasion was responsible lor >everal engagements being mi-sed; amongst others, friends irom Auckland who e;une to attend the funeral id I lie late Mrs. 'Pinwrn arrived some hours too late.

Siberia, in the finst nine months of | lilllj, exported l,()l.V)OOcwt of butter. The number of refrigerating waggons used wa* 11274#, and it is reported that, except from one district, no difficulties in transportation occurred. The railway authorities have declined to undertake the erection of refrigerating chambers at the local stations, and in consequence the congress of butter-producers and exporter- at Omsk has decided to put them uji and make a charge fo> - their use. (J re at progress is being made in t Ik l shape of new bouses being erected in Kllh.iin ,says tlic Argus)in several in-tance-, advantage is being til ken. of (he Cuvcrnment Advances Lo Workers j Act. Tin' money is advanced at 5 per reducible to i'/i for prompt pay ment. and C:l.iO i« the maximum

amount tliat will be advanced to one borrower. A "woikev' i-s defined <1 s a pe.r>on ciiiplnved in manual or clerical work who at the lime of making the application fill- a loan is not in receipt of ■UI income of move than ;C2ftO per anliinii, and is not the owner of an) 1 nii'l oilier than the section on wliieh it is proposed U> build.'' A resident of the Chatham Islands ,avs that the pre-Tiit year has been the driest for Uic past Ueuty-luo year-.. Nature is lavi-h at the Chatham*, and irrass "rows all the year round, Frost fs unknown, the temperature' being eiitialised -by the wide stretch ol sea. The statistics of the live stock ia>.ew Zealand for 1»«« have just been published. The number of sheep mi .lOtli April. I'.MKI. was '2(1.108,451, an increase ol '.177,51)0 on the previous year. J.He number has lliietualed but little during the last ten vears. Horse* and cattk show a slight increase, and swine exhibit, a decrease. Dairy cows have mcveased from 324,485 m 18l)< to 54J.1U7 in limn.

Tlic iron thread across Africa from ~,1,1 to end is still a long way from completion. A Qucenslander, writing from Woken Hill. Central Africa, the prcsem terminus of the line, a point 2014 miles from Capetown, gives a glimpse ol life and train travel oil tin; continent. There the miml m| lsl deal in distances if it ia to »rasp things at nil. ''l' l Africa, he saVs. "von have to cover league upon league with the same ontlook liefore a cham'c comes. From Capetown to the lle\ "the country is rough, the sheer ran<*e,< being devoid ot vegetation, hut the"veldts between are cultivated. In the stage before Jliifekirig there are 110 trees, only kopjes, breaking the plain. ■ Between there and Broken Hill are trees, never above 40ft high. The trains, however, are comfortable, ihe irgui<re is 3ft <>lll. All the earn are ot the "Corridor type, and no more than four piissengprs av< 4 allowed in each compartment, The s amo seat fe retained throughout, and it is possible to sleep 011 it. Another and a sadder feature of the journey is the frequency of vestiges of the Boer war. These take the shape of blockhouses, trenches, anil cemeteries. Moat of the graves are marked with a plain iron, cross painted white, but some have beautiful tomhstoiip* sent by friend* and relations. Stone- remain tit show the site of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, near which is a cemetery said to contain ftftOO soldiers."

••They caught me young; I've been a bishop ever since my 37th birthday, and I have passed the last 33 years in Australia," genially remarked the Right Kcv. I)r. Doyle,"a jolly prelate from the Antipodes, who spent a few days here cn route to the Eastern States (writes a San Francisco correspondent). The l)i„hop from Lismore preached a little to reporters in favor of Government own whip of railways. "You have an extraordinary system of railways in thi> ( country," said be. "1 am not yet over the surprise experienced by me on my way south from Vancouver, British Columbia, where I landed. On the Canadian Pacific Railway, at a station the name of which 1 cannot remember, my train .was delayed for three hours waiting for a late train from the Kast. After the I a I'd v train had whizzed by [ expected that we would immediately go on iHir way. Instead the dusky porter informed me that the train, tiiat passed us was 'yesterday's train,' and we would istill have to wait for 'to-day's train,' which was also late. If snub a thing happened in Australia, the Railway Commissioner would be held responsible, and if Parliament was in session he would probably be dismissed. The United States is progressing rapidly, lull it wilt be retarded so long as its railways are not under government ConLrol."