LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 257, 23 October 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Covcrumont lias decided to make an additional annual grant to Victoria College I Wellington) of .ij 151111. The Department expects that tin- additional grant will enable the College to go in for specialisation more than hitherto. In order to cope with Hie increased ai it of work two inspectors of mtchiiicry have been appointed to till the vacancy caused by the death of .Mr. Kiimsav. lioth of the appointees. Messrs'W. (i. Hell and P. McKenzio.arc holders of lirst-elass engineers' certificates. In addition to performing inspector,-,' duties they will be employed as surveyors of ships and examiners of marine engineers, laud engineers, and

engine-drivers. lu tliu S.M. Court yesterday TLury Eva was charged with lia\ iny failed to comply with an order tu contribute to Hid maintenance of his blind biutucr. Philip Eva, the arrears amounting to .Cl2. Air. A. it. Blandish appeared for the informant, and elicited the iiilorniation that tlio d'ei'ciidanl was a single 111:111, in tlid regular employment of file JjuiougU Council, and 'having unencumbered possession of a little properly. The B.M. said thai orders of flic Court must be obeyed, and lie was satisfied that defendant was able to pay the 2s (id demanded, and if these arrears were not paid up the man would have to go to gaol.

Excellent results have been achieved by the drainage of what i.-> known as file abattoir swamp. Tne puiidoclis at the municipal abal loirs have np fill recently been principally swamp, and lit for grazing unly in the two driest months of ■the year, February and March. Far from being of use during the remainder of the vein-, these

swajnpv acres were a nuisance and several head ol' ealt.le have been lost, by becoming bo.jged then'. An attempt was made some years ago to drain tile marsh, but the 'drain was only "skindeep.'' l"uder the supervision of Mr. A. 11. Kendall, borough engineer, deep drains have recently been dug down to lire level of the Waiwakaiho river. The work was costly, the drain having to he cut from the old shingle bed of the Waiwakaiho river, and the spoil shifted included suinc verv heavy stones. This drain is constantly running, fed from the river smiknge and from the swamp, wliich even now is becoming quite dry, and tattle ar" feeding over it. An extension of Ihe drain is needed to complete the work, by which ilie slirfaee of the swamp has been lowered by from two to four feet. The expenditure should prove roimnicrntire in | the days to come. Just, arrived, at Dock'-ills. Devon street Central, Kew Plymouth, an in , dent of Allan's famous gents' hoots, ulv, | 0. and .T. Clarke's superior ladies' boots and shoes. Tu stock, a large assnrtni'int of the best ladies', gents', and child,'.-., s I colonial knots and slices by reliab.c makers All the above arc offered to the n-.il.lic at m-i'ea that can't bebeatsn. '--Mvt. '

The Duncdin City Council has decided I to duplicate the Waipori livdrauib works at a cost of £3700. Breaches of the Stamp Act are not infrequent, particularly in the giving of unstamped receipts for i£2 and over. Three men, James Larry, ti. 15. Bocock, and J. 11. Colcsby were charged yesterday at the Magistrate's Court with having given such receipts to the Waiwukaiho Road Board, and they wore fund each 10s and costs.

According to a South African paper, received by a -Masterton resident, no fewer than 3000 head of oxen have had to be destroyed in one district in the Transvaal on account of what is known as the East coast fever. Troopers who took part in the Boer War will re member the ravages made on mules and stock generally by this disease. Mr Ijizarctte, a Foxton lishermnn, informed the Herald thai, up to this I time last year ho and his fishermen had caught whitchait to the value of ,Csod, but so far thi s season he had been unable to secure £sl) worth. The on'y reason he could give for the sear-ity was the recent, frosts. He said this i opinion was also bold by the Maoris.

Tile weather just now is very -pleasing to the farmer and to the horticulturist. The heavy rains, falling on the .warm soil, have induced a rapid growth of grass and of garden produce, and the season is well forward. There is one ,lly in the pot of ointment, however.' and_ that is the potato blight, wmch thrives in the warm, danfp atmosphere.

At the conclusion of his political address at Westown last night Mr. C. \\. Bellringer referred to the harbor loan proposals and the furthcoming poll. I'pon the motion of Messrs. J. D. (Sole and .1. Home it was decided to request the Harbor Hoard to appoint a pollingbooth at Westown, and the chairman was instructed to convey the request to Mr. Connett.

Employers of Labor arc often heard condemning tile labor legislation of the Dominion, but Mr. JI. Goodacre. one i the largest employers of factory labor in Xe» Plymouth, stated at Mr. Bellringer's Westown meeting that he was quite satisfied with the labor policy of the Government, which he considered iwas in the best interests of employer and employee alike. According to a telegram from a Philadelphia to the New York Tribune, a disaster of a most extraordinary nature occurred ill a Pennsylvania co'al mine. During the progress of a very heavy thunderstorm lightning Hashed down the mine, which is 130(iit deep, and killed three miner* who were at work near the bottom of the shaft. A steel rail which runs down the shaft evidently acted as a, conductor for the lightning.

Under t'he heading '-Bravo, New Zealand!" Pearson's Weekly (London) has the following:—We all know that New Zealand lias the. finest footballers aad the best climate in the world (our own country, of course, always excepted), •but in future the mention of those happy isles will arouse other and still more pleasant thoughts. Henceforward New Zealand and generosity must remain synonymous terms. The Fresh Air Fund has just received a cheque from the readers of the Napier Telegraph amounting to no less than.lM-10. The idea of forming a mounted, rilb corps locally lias been received with ■enthusiasm. The committee set up by the North Taranaki Hunt Club conferred last night with Captain F. T. Bellringer (Taranaki Rifles), Staff-Sergeant-Major Dodd, and Stall'-Sergeant-Major Sanderson, and others interested, at tiie Imperial Hotel. The upshot of the conference wa.s a decision to go on with the movement and to call a meeting of \ all interested for next Thursday evening, time and place to be advertised later.

A little daughter of Mr. F. 0. Morns, custodian of tlie municipal baths, gave her parents an unpleasantly exciting experience yesterday morning'. She had toddled out on the springboard, and fell into the bath. .Mrs. Morris was stan.ling close by, but did not hear the splash, and when she turned round the child was lloating on the surface. Mrs. .Morris screamed for help, and Mr. Morris rushed in from the engine-room. By this time the child was four feet down, and Mr, Morris dived and soon had her ashore. Dr. Hinckley was called in, and the child was s oon out of danger.

"' There was a time," said Mr Byron Brown at Ohau, "when it was a guaiaiilee that an article manufactured by our New Zealand woollen mills was pure wool. If a customer doubted the shopkeeper's word all he had to say was, '.Madame, it is New Zealand manufacture.' That day. has gone by. Some of our woollen mills are importing cotton into this Dominion ami for about three years have been mixing cotton with our very excellent tweeds, flannels, blankets, etc. Where are the business men in Parliament who will safeguard our wool growers' interest by preventing this woollen industry suicide, or stop it now it has begun V

The story of how a large whale committed suicide by hurling itself in front of the bows of -tire Wiiiite Star liner Teutonic is told by the Shipping Gazette. The Teutonic was about dred miles out of (Juecnstown westward bound when tlie whale was sighted on the starboard bow. ''l never saw a whale so bent on t-elf-dcslruction," said Capt. Harry Smith. "As he headed <lireetly across oiir course Ji ordered the helm to be starboarded to swing the vessel away from him. Tho whale appeared to be about fifty feet, in length, and only swam faster when he saw us swing. We struck him squarely, and t'he starboard liuw of the Teutonic was splashed high with blood."

A correspondent writes to tile Auckland Herald: Nasi week a friend of mine driving through the Waikalo overlook three little girls coming from school. j He good naturally gave them a lift, lie found on ipiestioning the girls that the eldest was 11 year,, old, and rose at :1.30 every morning, milked 11 cows, an! then walked three miles to school. After returning from school thcMl cows had to be milked again. Asked when she went to bed, she replied, "When the dishes are washed up, ahout eight o'clock.'' My friend remarked: "'Von are very hard worked for such a little girl." and she replied, " You get used to it, and I am milking all my life, Inning started when I was jive years old." J leave the facts; comment is superfluous.

In pursuance of its intention to apply to the Arbitration Court at the beginning of the year for an award the Taranaki Dairy Employees' Union lias circulated its demands among the employers. They are practically the same as tlio.M' submitted to Hie 'conference between employers and employees a Jew months ago and published by us at the time. A new clause, however, reads: "Creameries, which received last season over 20,0(li)ll>s of milk daily, and a'l assistant when the supply reached 10OOOlbs, to have an assistant grunled when the ijiipply reaches lo.ooolbs, an I retained until tlie supply declines to under ID.OOOIbs i„ the fall of the season. Wild where Mich assistant. is employed, the extra pay of tire creamery manager be computed at '/ ; d per lolllilb s during the lerm of the assistant's employment."—FJeluun Argus.

A relic of Captain Cook's voyages of discovery to New Zealand i:: oil Ule market for sale, and Mr. A. Hamilton, director of file .Dominion Museum, has Just received a letter and pictorial description of it. It is a copy of a patu, as black stone mere, of the'kind known as oiiewa, and is in bronze, and bears on the blade the arms of "Jos. Ranks." The arms were those of Sir Joseph Ranks before lie received the baronetcy. The date on tile mere is 1772. It was probably presented to Sir Joseph Hanks as a souvenir of the voyage which caused such enthusiasm in England and >n rt'hc Continent among scientific men of the 18th century. The period which elaipscd ibelweon Hie termination of the VO;-age in June, 1771, and the early part of 1772. make it probable that (be Imere was cast and engraved and given to Sir Joseph Hanks after Cook's return. There is strong probability of tllie genuineness of tile relic.

The Dresden correspondent of the Journal du Matin reports that the EspcrantistS'have decided to found an Esperanto State in the neutral territory of Mornesnet, on the Belgian-Herman frontier. An international bureau will lie opened, and Dr. Zainenhof, the inventor of Esperanto, will take up h's residence there. A theatre will be built, and an Esperanto '"Bayreuth" will be the attraction every summer. The plays and operas will, of course, be performed in Esperanto. Mornesiiet is a village with 2(100 inhabitants, speaking mostly French.

"Cases of premature burial are by no means so rare as is commonly supposed." Such is the sober warning of Dr. J. Brindley James, L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., in his booklet entitled "Dotth and Its Verification." Dr. Brindley James gives thirteen tests for, establishing the .fact that death has talan place, and even then he recommends ne other test —the beginning of actual decomposition—oven should the other tliivteen show that life is extinct. Thcs'2 thirteen tests include electricity, iOt sealing-wax to form a blister, the injection of ammonia, the injection of thiol'escin (which turns the skin a deep yellow and the eyes a vivid emerald grcn if life is still present), and X-raying the heart, which gives a clearly-defined shadow only when it is motionless. The cessation of breathing and the stoppage of the heart, Dr. James says, are not to be entirely relied upon. He mentions several cases in support of this contention, especially in connection with drowning eases.

The Avenue Road Card Club held its first annual "social" last, night in the Brougham-street Hall. There was a big attendance, and the "social" turned out one of the most enjoyable functions of its kind held this year. Thirty tables of four were occupied in the euchre tournament, the prizes being won by Miss llarvev and Miss Coburn and Messrs. L. W'ells and K. Birch. The club's prizes for best euchre record d>.i.--| ing the season (the gift of Mr. Ernest Sole) was presented to Mr. M. J. Il'allison, and for cribbagc (donated bv Mr. W. fl. Malone) to Mr. Alee Clow, the presentations being made by Mr. Malone. After an excellent supper, provided by lady friends, had been served, dancing was indulged in. Mr. James supplied

the music, and Mr. W. Roberts was most courteous as M.C. The following comprised the ladies' committee:—Mcsdames Richards (president), W. '.'!. Malone, J. Blewnian. W. Roberts, R. Birch, 11. Jolinsjt. ,lurv. and Bach, and Misses A. NichoTls and Clow.