LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 140, 4 June 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Two housewives of Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., have invented an ironing machine, for which they are seeking patent rights in New Zealand, it is described as ''an ironing machine, comprising a smoothing iron suitably mounted in a reciprocal manner, on means for guiding and supporting it, and means for reciprocating said smoothing iron." Last year the Labor Department assisted to employment 1-140 married and 480,") single men, and up to date the department had similarly assisted 58,782 persons, with !K1.22(j dependents, or a total of Ltt.OOK persons. In the face of these iigurcs, said the Hon. J. A. Millar in a speech at Duncdin, could it be said that the Labor Department was not doing good service?

.Major Long, who recently visited Australia and New Zealand"'specially to inquire into the methods of packing tinned meats and the system of supervision, has reported to General Clayton, the ollicer in charge of War Office' contracts, that the Australian methods and system of instruction met with his entire approval. C.eneral Clayton has notified the. Victorian Ageiit-tleneral to this effect, and has expressed a hope that Victorian packerwAvill submit tenders. The Oxford road is one to be remembered. Despite the alluring signboards hoisted on logs and fences along the roadside, the little homesteads fail to in tract femininity. "Wanted, a wife.'' was seen scrawled on a butler-box oulside a little whale that could scarce have afforded room for the proverbial swinging of a cat, but the prospect: did not seem ton alluring to any of the bridge-opening picnickers, and the occn- ' pant of that hackbloeks hut is doubtless still "baching.'' Farther up. after negotiating sundry high boulders and deep miullioles. were found two noliccImai'ds erecteil by a poor lone bachelor who wanted idtlier a. wife or a female cook. The trouble is that the road is Mich a real beauty that few girls care about tackling it.

Touching un the slaughtermen's strike, in an address at Dunedin, the Hon. J. A. .Millar showed how lines under the Act had been collected. Penalties inllictcd on employers between HlO3 and IDUB njmountcd to £315!), and 08 per cent, of that sum hail been paid. Penalties inilicted on workers during the same period were £l2O, of which 7o per cent, had been paid. The penalties inflicted' on the slaughtermen totalled £1350, of which 47 per cent, had been paid. The sum of £32!) was owing by men whose whereabouts were unknown. These were the men from Australia, who, having brought about the trouble, cleared away and left our own workers to face tile (lilliculty. The (iovel'iinient had been blamed for t| u . Department not having taken action in connection wun the Blackball strike, but the department was not to be used as a means of rieMecution.

i'he promoters of the Opunakc Bill are working vigorously; thev consider that Jiow is the tunc to make a light lor a harbor of their own, as they calimit see any «,„„| that is likclv to come to them from New Plymouth (savs the "l»'iiiik<' T s). aow tne promoters ol the loan 111! consider it is the -best mI " ever introduced for the welfare "I the settlers, as it practically frees them from a rale. A certain section is sceptical of anything emanating from .New Plymouth, and act on the ada"c "(luce bit. Hice shy." We do not s"eo nhy a compromise should not be ellect eil between the principal parties. If tne.v could meet, and discuss the matter in a Iriendlv spirit -without the plaudits of an o.cile.l audience -they could probably arrive at some understanding whereby the two Bills might be so framed as to fairly meet the wants of cadi side, and facilitate the passing of both of tlieni, in addition to saving much work and expense.

At the present time, according to the secretary of the .National Hairy Association (.Mr. ,1. <i. Harkness),' about 72.U111) boxes of butler are in cold storage in .\',-w Zealand against about lilll.llUtl at tlie same period last year. The quantity stored in Wellington is between 18,(1011 and 211,0(111 boxes. The mild weather has enabled some factories to carry on much longer than usual, and Mr. Harkness says there is a possibility that a few may work right, through the winter. The lonic took away 7.">!12 boxes of tint tor last week, and the Turakina. which sails from Lvtlellon on Tuesday next, will take iieiween .Villil mill lillllll boxes for the Home markel. New Zealand's butter trade with Smith Africa is not expanding ai a very rapid rate, and Mr. Ilnrkncs, says ii U steadily increasing. All consignments for South Africa, in the absence of a direct service, have to go via Australia. The freight'is Id per lb. and of llii, the I nion t'onipanv gets one-hiilf.

A meeting of delegate from provincial sports clubs was licld in the Town Hull yesterday morning to fiirtln-r consider llu- qiii-sliiiu dl' ruli's mid election lit olliceis in connection with a Taranaki centre of tin- League of New Zca land Wheelmen. It, was argued that tin- cost uf meetings of tile council would lie very considerable, members haviiif; ( 0 trni-el considerable distances, and it was decided, on tile million of Mr. I-'. K. Hardy (Kllliaiu) and Mr. AV. •Icnnings lYVaitnra) In approach the individual members of the executive of the Taranaki Athletic Association to represent the societies proposing to affiliate with the League, these members ol I lie Association to also form the League centre executive. By this means, it was pointed out. the administrative expenses of both the U-ague and the Association could he considerably reduced, and the respective businesses conducted by men thoroughly conversant with the control of athletics. The matter of securing the consent of the League to the proposed course, and bringing the matter before tile executive of the Athletic Association, was left in the hands of .Messrs. McLeod ami Elliot. After correspondence from several athletic societies dealing with tin- ipiestion Iniil been considered, the meeting adjourned.

A Teheran message in Monday's issue announced that the Kurds have resumed their massacres in North-west Persia, so that that unfortunate country would appear to be assailed, not only hy Turks and Kinds on the west, but by Afghans on the cast. A letter dated ylannary 17, rcicivcd by the Imperial Bank of I'crsiu, llendin, throws an interesting light on I In- alleged collusion between Kurds and Turks. It; slat "On .laiiiinrv 11. 111,000 Kurdish louse, men attacked (lie town iSnj P.lilakl. There en-lied a emillict which ladled finsix or sue,, hours. Both the Kurds and the army sustained heavy li-.iM-s, but those of tin: former are. said to be l.ihe more serious. Prince Firman Kirina look part in the light and displayed the greatest courage

The snme day the Kurds fell oil a caravan coming from Miandaab and carried on" provisions intended for the l'ersinn army to the value of 50.1101) tomans. The ennivim was escorted by 500 cavalry, Iml all their efforts to save the caravan ami mom*}- were, futile. All the cliarvadar.s, t,,, ll„. nunilier of 50, were killed. The following dav Finnan Firma received a letter from tlie Turk', Aver Kli'endi, an envoy of Faghir, ordering him to iinit Siij iinlnk, ns otherwise he would have to help the Kurds. . . .

You will perhaps have heard that several Turkish regulars w cre lighting among the Kurds. Fujjll'ir lias for the last two years lieen stirring up an insurrection, and lins succeeded in his propaganda. The present, position is highly detriinentiil („ coinmeree. Caravans are pillaged, nicrehnndise arrives late, merchants stand with their arms folded, the market is almost nlwavs closed, and I debts eannnt be recovered!'"

The Tasmnnian Premier estimates I that Tattersnll's sweeps enrich the revenue of Ihe "tight little island" to the tunc of between £IO,OOO and £30,000 per year. It is stated by the North Otago Times that the leases of over one million acres of pastoral and grazing runs will fall in in Otago during IiMO, amongst them being Morven Hills run. "Yes, sor," said the man with the frayed collar, "that land is now worth .C2O a. fool, and only n year ago I could have bought it for a mere song." "But you couldn't sing?" chuckled the funny man. The man with frayed collar eyed him distantly, and replied in quick catting tones, "1 could sing, but i couldn't got the right notes."

j ''Mr. and Mrs. Barnes," hero and t heroine of an extraordinary internation- u al romance, left New York en route for , Berlin with their infant child a few ( weeks ago. Mr. Barnes was Count. I Hans Ferdinand von Hocliherg, nephew - of Princ-eSs Marie von Saxe-Wcimar, '] anil son of the. Kaiser's intendant. lie was also a lieutenant in the Royal Footguards at Potsdam, hut abandoned the Fatherland and his aristocratic associations for the love of a pretty shop assistant in Berlin, Frmilicn Louise C'arow, whom lie married, and who, with her now-horn child, followed him eighteen months ago to America. For a time the. Omit earned a living as chiuill'eur. I 111 an interview lie said: "My brave wife was with me all the time. We worked hard, knowing that if my relatives saw 1 could make my way unaided they would probably forgive me for having married without their consent. Xow I am happy to be able to say 1 have received assurances from home that my wife and child will have us hearty a. welcome there as I myself. The Gorman Crown Prince, with whom I went to school, and others in high positions, ! who were my friends, hut who felt 1 should not have married below my rank, are willing to become my friends again I and welcome my wife"

Probably there is no more elusive article than the umbrella, the los* of which at some time or another every I reader has no ilonbt experienced. The most common form of loss is inadver- J lently to leave it in a vehicle, shop, and so forth: and it is estimated that some 3IUMKM umbrellas are lost annually in the I'nitcd Kingdom. An ingenious and useful invention, however, has recently been devised which will practically render such misplacement an absolute impossibility; while at the same time, when it is found, no confusion or difli culty on the part of the owner in identifying his property will arise. The device consists of .a small and neat tablet let into the handle of the article, bearing the owner's name and address, and hidden from view by a slide. The boon will be especially appreciated by the clerk s in the lost luggage departments of the railways and the officials of the police departments, since upon an umbrella being found it will be possible

for the owner to he communicated with at'once. While,-of. course, the contriv ance will not be proof against dishonest practices, it should serve to diminish' the heavy loss, which in the aggregate must represent hundreds of pounds every year, arising from forgotten or misplaced umbrellas.

Miss Amy Coleridge, who was for j some time a member ot Martin Harvey's Company, was playing in South Africa, and noticing that th& 'rikisha boy who had been in the habit of taking her to and from the theatre for some time was eyeing very eagerly some beads_ she wore, she took them off and handed them to him. He appeared overpowered with astonishment while all tile other 'rikisha boys who were standing by simply howled with delight, and rolled over and over on the ground in the ecstasy of their joy. Unable to believe his eyes, the man put the beads in his open palm, and handed fihem back -to the' actress. "No, no; for you—l give them," she -said, dropping for the moment into something like the native method of speaking English. The man took them, and appeared more overcome than ever, while his comrades were moved to greater outburst* of joy. Miss Coleridge could not understand the meaning of it, and asked a friend who was standing by. "You have only betrothed yourself to him," he explained. ''For* if a woman gives a Zulu boy a trinket it is equivalent to a proposal of marriage.': It was a proposal, it need hardly be said, which Miss Coleridge did not ratify, and happily, it was not followed bv an action for breach of promise.

I'orhaps she's on the railway! Perhaps she's on the sea! Perhaps she'll go To Jericho, Perhaps she will, perhaps she won't; Hut if she iloes or if she don't. I'm glad that I presented to her A bottle of Woods' Great Peppermint. Cure. 2,1