LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 182, 23 July 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A witness in ilie S.il. Court on Tuesday tied up counsel with a new word, "JvawTiiorlcr," which, on lieni«r intel prcted, was found to be the Koru haul er, or the hauler at tile Koru mill.

A Maori should have appeared yesterday at the .Magistrate's Court to answer a charge of using obscene language in a railway carriage, but as he neglected to put in an appearance a fresh summons lias been issued.

Sidney Palfrey, alias William Barrel, was before the Justices at Stratford on Tuesday in connection with the broaching of cases of liquor at Norfolk road station on Monday, and was lined ,:C1 and costs, in default a week's imprisonment.

The New Plymouth Cricket Club has procured one and a-half tons of Langhum soil fo'r laying down practice wickets on the Recreation Sports (Jround for use during next cricketing season. The Carriiigton ltoad Club is calling a meeting to discuss the advisableness of taking similar action. i The mail train was considerably late in her running yesterday morning frjoi lnglewood southwards. When ne.tr Brown's mill siding a cylinder on one of the engines blew out, and the second engine had to pull the train in two sections to lnglewood. Thence to Stratford the two, one of them crippled, had the load. From there to llawera the train was drawn by one engine only, arriving there about lialf-an-hoiir behind schedule time.

"Your Worship seemed to form a conclusion that ten shillings a day is a fair thing to pay a mini in charge of n hauler," said Mr. K. C. Hughes on Tuesday in Court, and it Seemed he intended to deliver a little homily on the subject, but the Magistrate smiled. "J ought to know something about it," ho said. "1 was a. director of a sasli and door company once, and 1 know that men in charge of a hauler gut 10s tjol

lis a day." At a meeting oftlic Taranaki Licensed Victuallers' Association held on Tuesday it was resolved, "That this association

protests against the action ol the Trades and Labor Councils' Conference in declaring the Licensed Victuallers' Association as hostile to labor, and, further, depre-

cates the unwarranted reference by one member that the Licensed Victuallers' Association is unscrupulous, as being not only discourteous and untruthful, but a base insinuation against the majority of licensed victuallers in the Dominion. This association considers that sw-.h opinion expressed is not endorsed by the majority of trades and labor in the Dominion."

Our resident -Magistrate is a man ot infinite patience. In-this regard, lis well as in the punctuality with which he regularly takes his seal upon the Bench, Mr.' Fit/hcrhert is a pleasing contrast lo another gentleman who has occupied the same Bench. On Tuesday two of the legal gentlemen of New Plymouth had charge of a little civil action for a comparatively small sum ol money, but they managed to protract the proceedings until very late in the afternoon. Occasionally, in order the better to arrive at the correctness .01 the facts, the S.M. allowed counsel considerable latitude in their examinations, cross-examinations, and intcrjer>" tious, where many a magistrate would have, to use a Parliamentary term, applied the closure. But he concluded uie ■hearing with the jocular remark thai counsel had well earned their fees in the ease.

A street corner lecturer whose sentiments did not meet with approval was baited by a howling mob in the main street of Auckland on Sunday. He had a soap box to stand on and from this he was proceeding to "lay down the law." "Boo,'' yelled the audience—"get work.'' Then somebody kicked the box, toppling the excited lecturer over. He took in the situation quickly enough then and started oil' to break the quarter-mile record, lui|t there were also some sprinters in the crowd, and a man hunt was soon in progress, the pack growing in proportions every minute and giving tongue loudly and frequently. The quarry was run to earth in Victoria street, where his hard hat was promptly jammed down over his eyes and he was jostled and pushed for about fifty yards, when he side-tracked into a mission hall and escaped. In the last number of To Pipiwharauroa, the journalistic organ of the Young Maori Parly, published in Maori at Gisbnino, is an article by Aichdeacon Williams on the history of the Iwo letters in the Maori alphabet, ng ami wh. Though these, letters contain really two character,,, they are sounded as one. Attempts were made by early Maori linguists to solve this dillie'ulty. At, one time the letter ng was represented by g alone, as in Pagopago" (Pangopango), the capital of the Samoaii group. There was also a time when w alone represented either w or uli, and in the famous document of the Treaty of Waitangi is it so used. This practice was found, however, to lie unsatisfactory, as "ware" was not quite the same as

"whare." It was Dr Maunsell who first used the letters ng and wh, as we have at present. Archdeacon Williams suggests that new symbols should lie found for these letters. For wh he adds a half v to the hj, and for ng he gets rid of the g, but lengthens the last leg of the n into a sort of j. Will the Maori people take kindly to these innovations?

According to the Star, some of the Feilding people resort to peculiar methods fur amusement. Hero is our contemporary's version of an incident lliat occurred in tin- Fcilding district tlie other day:—There are two men who are reputed to he sworn foes anil to hold a vendetta each against the other; hut that may be a mere rumor. It happened that one of the two set out t'J do the other a turn that was anything hut neighborly, and the little plot was frustrated. Then the man who was i.> have been injured heard that the frustrated one was out after him with a gu i. Well, he thought, that's all right—he had a gun. too. So behold in the second aet of this coniody-drama two men going out gunning. Tliev met, of course; and words led to threats, with the drawing of a revolver by one and the nourishing of a gun by the other. Xoxv, as is generally the case in a drama, one character was a comedian, and the other was—well, he wasn't plaving a hero's part. The comedian had loaded his gun with blank cartridge's, and he carried a stick. At the psychological moment he pulled the trigger, and simultaneously struck the other fellow on the hack with the stick. Too excited to waleh the two actions, the man who was struck thought he was the billet, for a bullet. Certain that lie shouliH'Uher he dead or dying, he made for Feilding and a doctor at express speed, burst into a surgery, and culled loudly lor a post-mortem examination for the bullet that wasn't .there! (Curtain.)

The Depart mental annual returns for 11107-08 show that in Taranaki district there were 387 acres sown in wheat, which yielded 34 bushels per acre, a total of 13,158 bushels; 3785 acres were sown in oats, yielding 35 bushels per acre, a total of 132,475. Acres sown i;i barley numbered 809, yielding 47 bushels per acre and a total of 42,253. Maize for threshing occupied 120 acres, yielding 4!) bushels per acre and a total of 0321; peas took up 21 acres, yielding 4i bushels and a total of 024; beans 31 acres, with a yield of 37 bushels and a total of 1147; ryegrass for seed yielded ! 25 bushels of 201b and a total of 1100 for 44 acres; cocksfoot fur seed occupied 121 acres and yielded 1701b to the acre, the total being 20,570; potatoes occupied 072 acres, yielding 0 tons to the acre and a total of 4032.

The lirst social and dunce held by the Roland Catholic Club eventuated last night at the club rooms. The attendance was fairly good, but ladies were in the majority, the members of the club not attending as largely as the committee had expected. Nevertheless, a most enjoyable time was s|K>nt. The floor was in excellent order for dancing, and Mr. A. James supplied capital music, Miss M. Clarke playing for an extra. An excellent supper was handed round. Card-tables were provided for nondaneers, and these were occupied nearly all the evening. Mr. J, A. Clark was a courteous M.C. The committee proposes to hold another social during August,

and the pleasant evening provided at Us lirst function should go far to ensure a large attendance. The following were on the ladies' committee:— Mosdanio Ryan. Bennett, Oliver, OTlagan, C. Clarke, and McCabe, and Misses M. Clarke, Foley, and M. Jones.