LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 248, 13 October 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The committee of the Taranaki Horticultural Society is niakiug forward arrangements for the annual show to be held on 10th December next. The schedules have been issued, and are obtainable from the secretary, Mr. W. P. Nicoll, at Mr. W. Howe's seed depot. The usual fortnightly meeting of the Loyal Egmont Lodge, 1.0.0. F., was held last evening, Bro. 0. Bond, N.G., presiding, Bro. J, I<\ Marsh, of the Foxton Lodge, was a visitor, and wits accorded lodge honors. The Lecture-master conferred degrees on brethren entitled to receive the same. The auditors' report and balance-sheet for past quarter were read and adopted. One candidate was proposed for membership. Tiie lh»pe of Kgniont Juvenile Temple.' Xo. 'ih, 1,0.(!. T., hold its usual weekly meeting in St. .Mary's Mall last night, the superintendent in charge. The temple was opened at (1.30 by Bro. J. AUdrige, Acting Chief Templar. After the usual business the temple paid an ollicial visit to the Egmont Lodge, No. 112, and gave the following programme: Recitations by Bro. L. Pepperell, Sis. i. Connett, Sis. G. Powley, Sis. A. Braund, Sis. \Y. Hartnoll, Sis. M. Hawse, Sis. L. Allen, and a dialogue by six sisters. Tliev were then entertained with refreshments bv the adults. The temple closed at 8.30.

Xuw that the days are growing warm) ami sunny once more and the ocean waves present .such a pleasing sight, the residents of Govcr-street are renewing their complaints concerning the action 01 the Railway Department In closing the seaward end of the street and handing it over to the Sash and Door Company in part compensation for land taken for the railway deviatioi, thus blocking their seaward view. When, eventually, a row of houses is erected (here they will be. worse off than ever, but the Department's advisers were not considering the matter from the residents' point of view. it was decided to build n .cottun mil] ;iI a place called Kaiangayi;i, Oil the Yangtse liiver, and ilie ercd-ion of a tall chimney was made tire occasion for tlie revival of an old rumor. Tlie common jieo.jilo asserted that a child was sacrificed liefoi'e the foundation of tile chimney was laid, its .blood buried in the foundations. It was commonly reported tsilit £;:0 was given for the child, and some of the natives even declared that they had seen the child while it was being tended and fattened preparatory to the ,sacrifice. However, no native'has been enough to state that lie witnessed the actual ceremony, and so, perhaps, tW: .matter will b-e forgotten when tlie mill ,is completed and work provided for t about a thousand of the iTi'iiabiUnts of the district.

?\o Chinese superstitions are more curious iliiin those connected wilh building. No one who has visited the country- (says the Shanghai eori'Mpondent of the Standard) can have failed to notice. the uniform height of the buildings in to™ and village. Rarely, indeed, do any roofs rise ahove the level of the surrounding houses, and tiliis monotony is accounted for by the native superstition regarding Fengiuni, the spirits, good and had, that play such an important part in Chinese daily life. It is believed, for instance, that a house that towered above the surrounding buildings would exert an tvil influence o?i the locality. To use the •words of a well-known authority on things Chinese: "the winds from the four quarters would gather round it and the air would throw their influences into it."

Now Plymouth was not unprovided for in the matter of amusement on Saturday night. The Garrison Band had a big crowd of listeners to an excellent open-air concert at the Coffee Palace corner, whilst at Brougham street tlie Salvation Army and a "oncmaii band" vied with each other in the production of strains aaurtng to the •small change pocket. Individually, each combination had its admirers, but wihen all three opened lire simultaneously, and tlie passer-by endeavored to lix his attention on one or tile other, it was •hopeless. Anon a pair of humorists appeared in the garb of a "masher" and a down respectively, and planted 1 ;m imitation telescope A Devon street. Gazers at tlie glorious heavens were confronted with the glare of a street light at which the wonderful tube pointed, and in outstanding characters across the would-be lens appeared t'fle word ''rats!" This little 'entertainment was "moved on" by tlie police, and the promoters and principals ill the game walked of crestfallen. Jt was an excellent skit on the recent telcscope-and-sixpsmee business in precisely the same spot.

The Bishop o'i New Guinea, in Londou recently, gave a remarkabk account of Papuan marriage, where it is a "purely business arrangement, never regarded as a lifelong tie'':—if it , were lifelong, the circumstance was not thought to Ik> very omlitable to I'm husband. There was no word in tin? language lor an eldorlv spinster, but only for voting girl, wii'e. and rejected Wile. The wife had to till her own garden as well a* iier husband's, and on the alitfliK'H pretext she could be rejected. But • -die \y.\a not depreciated in the marriage market by that circumstance, and speedily found another husband. Mission influence had considerable effect ill reducing the number of these separations. The system was matriarchal, and the man was forbidden to marry any relation on his mother's side, though on his father's side, there were no The mission not only recognised native marriages as valid, but 'encouraged the observance of all j native customs that were innocent. The | efiect wa-s to impress the importance of these marriages 011 the chief people ol the villages. Polygamy was likely 10 die nut in Papua, and the coveted post of village polieemeii was not given (o a polygamic. A second wife was sometimes taken us an assistant gardener, and 110 woman thought it derogatory to be second wife to a great man. To say that only monogamists need apply for the post of policeman strikes one as decidedly ingenious.

When contemplating the purchase of a milking-machine, you want one that ill the work, and the very best test is made on the farm itself. The f.aw-renro.Kcniiedy-l.'illics Milking-machine i- being tested every day of I lie week, every week ot the month, and evciy liinnlli : ,f (Jie year en hundreds of farms in .New Zealand aliine, and more than that-, I lie lesls have been going on for the past, six years. The results are always Ihe same, perfect satisfaction being obtained. .Drop a postcard for list of satisfied users and read what they have to K ay. J. B. MaeEwan and Co., Ltd., sole agents E"inont-stre;t, New Plymouth. Mrs. S. IT. Walker, 230 IfumlTray si., Vic., writ' Pis: '■"[favc used Chamberlain's Cough Remedy for four years, and know it is excelleiiit. Have found it most beneficial. Can recommend it to anyone. In fact have done so many timec, and it lias accomplished good results in every case." For sale by all chemists i "ud storekeepers.

"Tho first 1 heard about the posts was from my wife. -Slio said a man had' told her that II had told him that he wanted the posts."--The repoi t ol the borough engineer upon a little fencing matter last, night.

At a suhdivisional sale of residential sites at Taihape last week forty sections wire offered at auction, ami real-, ised from .t-ftl to CliO each. As tile tenure was L.1.P., the result omplia sines the faith placed in tile town, as ,llie prices are over those recently paid i'vr similar freehold sections.

Tiie town clerk, acting on the advice of counsel to the Municipal Association, lias written to the various suburb in local bodies to the effect that the Council is not liable tor rates upon the value of their electric light -poles erected 011 roads in the suburbs. This will rob those bodies of a little anticipated

revenue. A lvuripuni (Wairarapa) resident was unable to account for the chimney (if his copper failing to "draw," and roiiuislilioned the services )jl a sweep. 'I he latter discovered the cause of the trouble to lie a thrush's liesf, locatal about five feet down the line. There were four eggs in the nest, the mother |bcing ikmint .serenely reposing 11 p 111 them when the sweep's gaze was directed down the chimney. Deaths in New Zealand in 11)07 totalled 10,01)0, equivalent to 10.1)5 per 1000 of the population, compared with 0.31 in 11100. In 1!)00, with a mean population (white) of 81)5,504, there were 023 deaths from cancer. Last year, with a population of 010,10.5, the deaths reached 07-1, 1111 increase of 0.37 per 10,000 persons living. Consumption claimed 012 victims in the Dominion last year, ill the proportion of 0.0(1 per 10,000 population, compared with 0.21 for 1000.

Although Mr. Hall-Jones confidently predicted that, by the Ist November next all preparations would be complete on the Main Trunk line for a fast express service, expert opinion asserts' that it is an absolute impossibility. The coaching may be eliminated, but it is submitted that the public Will have to wait another month for the BluH'-Auck-land lAvo days' journey. The weather 1 is a preiloininatory factor, and the last few weeks very little full time has been worked by the men along the OhakuneWaiouru sections.

A special meeting of the Council of the. Chamber of Commerce was held last evening in connection with the reported' intention to alter the timetable of the New IPlymouth express train when the Main Trunk line, is opened. Members of the executive of the Employers' Association were also present. Messrs. Newton King and J. B. Connett, who had just returned f(om Wellington, where they interviewed the General Manager of Railways, reported progress. After & ome discussion it was cideil to ask the Mayor to convene a public meeting for Friday evening to protest against any delay in the time of the arrival of the mail train at New" Plymouth.

in connection with the decision of the Jiailwny Department to allow the erection ot a footbridge under the railway bridge at Te llenui and to charge only a peppercorn rental for the same, the Borough Council agreed last night to take over control of the structure. The Mayor mentioned that Dr. Lcatham, who owned the land at the Fitzroy end of the bridge, had agreed to give an easement over his land upon the same terms. Councillor Browne complimented his Worship upon the prompt answer 1 he had secured from the Department, and ventured the hope that some such expedition would be used in gaining access to the beach by means of Waimanustreet. at the eastward «*at of the railway yards.

People sometimes miss enormous wealth through lack of faith and enterprise. A colonist, ninety years old, has just published his reminiscences. While walking up George street, Sydney, ill 1835, he heard a bellman announcing the first s nlc of allotments in the new township of .Melbourne, lie went inside. The. auctioneer proclaimed the merits of this new township, and predicted that it would be a grand city some day. " Yes, a city of kangaroos," interjected a scoffing spectator. Hardly a bid could be elicited. A few years later the gold discoveries did rapidly convert the township of .Melbourne into a great city, and the lucky people who had bought allotments for 120 or 00 found their value, increased to .€20,000 and 130,1100, and in some cases even ;C50,000.

A writer in the Auckland Star states that there is more probability of obtaining payable quantities of petroleum in Poverty Hay than in Taranaki. Ue says:—"'A tremendous amount of money has been spent in Taranaki in the endeavour to liml flowing wells, or even pumping wells below sea level, but so far without result; while at. Gisboinc the whole of the laud there shows of kerosene, in the shape of salt wells, issues of gas, and even oil exuding from the hills, and there, if auything, flowing wells should lie got, but owing to the one or two attempts to locate wells having failed in Ihose parts, speculation appears to be dead with our Gisbome friends, and yet there, above all places, should there be a mine of wealth for the discoverers. Petroleum is found mostly in the tertiary formation, wlii-jh is also in favour at Gisbome."

A New Zcalander, who went to Canada some time ago with the object of settling there, found that the Canadian hills were not so green as they looked from this country. Writing to a friend here he states that trade is very bad in Canada. Last winter was a very .severe one for Canada. The writer of the letter was three months out of work. Those people who are used to nothing colder in the way of climate than the mild Auckland wintir are not likely to emigrate to Canada when they learn that the temperature in Toronto this year went down on occasions to 20 below zero. The unemployed distress is keen, and industrially things are bad. There is a gigantic strike just on (August ilth) among the mechanics on the Canadian-Pacific raihvay, and if it continues it will put things completely in the rough.

A circumstantial story about the cuving of cancer appeal's in a London journal. It. is to the effect that Dr. Robert Bell, a West Knd physician, is now treating ten patients, whose improved condition i s admitted by their own medical men. It i. s said that he Ins hopes that they will all be cured. His view is that ttie disease is not due to a microbe or parasite, but is the direst ""■spring of normal cellular tissue which has undergone a morbid metamorphosis, while retaining in a marked degree the features, greatly distorted, of normal cells. In regard to diet treatment, lie prescribes the taking of uncooked food wherever possible, such as salads, fruit, eggs, milk and cheese. The cells depend lor tlieir heallliy vigour, lie points ouf, on the nourishment which they obtain' from food in its natural condition. Pure air, pure water, ami scrupulous attention to hygiene are. neeessarv. The rest of the treatment can be carried out .°nly bv a medical man, but formic ae:d i s one of tlie things applied. It is stated that many medical men are adopting the treatment. r

I -the Klecloral Department has just issued some timely information for the guidance of electors who may be claiming enrolment. Olaiiuants must be British subjects by birth or naturalisation, must be not less than twenty-one years Ol age at: the time of making the claim must have been a resident of New Zealand tor twelve months, and a resident of the district in which they claim registration for three months, or, if enrolled ill another electorate, one month's residence qualifies them for enrolment. The name, address, and occupation (spinster, married or widow, instead of occupation in the case of a female), must be given m full, and the claimant .must sign the claim for enrolment form himself. Anyone else signing for him, even at lus own request, is liable to a fine of *SO. The signature of a claimant must lie witnessed by ail elector of r.r„. district, registrar, or postmaster. The witness must not sign without having actually seen the claimant write his name, or without hearing the person signing declare that tlio signature is ins own handwriting. The warning ; s added that "any person making a fa'so ' rttVlarcition is liablo to a fine not ex- ' feeding £2O, or to three months' iin.iri- ' soinnent." |

DUBBO, N.S.W. Ceorge Keighran, Hose Cottage, gun-street, Dubbo, N.S.W., writes: "I'or about four years I suffered from indigestion, and it would be impossible for one to tell you the pain and miserv 1 suffered during that time. Everything upset my stomach and disagreed with me for hours afterwards. Even after the lightest meal I felt as though mv chest was being crushed in. I tried a great many remedies, but to no avail. One morning T saw ,in advertisement in the yiape r about Dr. Sheldon's Digest!7o Talmles, and (bought I would try a box. After taking one box I felt much liett' r. and after taking two boxes T was completely cured. I am quite well to this day." Dr. Sheldon's Digestive Talmles are an unequalled preparation for the cure of Indigestion and all Stomach Troubles. Price 2s Od ,per tin. Obtainable everywhere.