LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 261, 28 October 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

'J he library eommitte lias ordered a set of the "Historians' History of tlie World, published |>y the Enndou Times. The Education Hoard met hist night. AH the members were present. The bulk of the business was committee work. Carpenters from South Taranaki are seeking employment in New Plymouth. I lie decline in building operations there is resultant u|)o n the failure of the Alvances to Settlers Ollice to meet ill" loans authorised. The secretary n f the Hv\] Blofk S-hnol Committee has reported thai "th<> old tank at the school is rusty, and the water, after standing a short time, js unlit to drink." And no wonder. it transpires that it hasn't been cleaned out for fifteen year-?. Tim Kllhani County Council has decided to take sli'jN io slop the motor wagon tmllie on the Eltham road, sav* the ilawera Mar. {instruct ions were given on Monday to have one of the bridges near Otakeho reduced to such a width that it will be impossible for the- motor "waggon to pas* over. i. am particularly pk'used to note a wry marked improvement in the prepa ration of soil and also in tile «.vneral appearance o,f tile ground-*. Some of the gardens would do credit to any homestead."—Extract from the report i of Mr. K. McK. Morison, tiie Education 1 Board's agricultural instructor.

The Health Department. hi jart'ord with tli'e suggestion of Jtr. W. A. liallantyne, lias decided again to iioid a central examination at Stratford for the students attending the plumbing classes at New Plymouth, liltllam anil Hawem. The exaininatioii will he held some time durin.r j lra t month. °

The present spell of weather is none too encouraging. There have been froijiionL cold squalls. jij the past, few davs, with frequent slight" showers of hail. Ihe very appreciable lowering of llie temperature is easily explained alter a glance at .Mount ligmont, which lias received a 11'e.sh mantle of white in the past few days. ,

Tile <;,vy Family of billiards experts, Ironi Australia, luivt' been engaged by the (.'nm in i t tec of tin; Xew X*ly moil I "li Uul> in give an exhibition at tlie el ib looms UN Thursday night. Tim Grey--, father and son, will each play wiUi |>r<i]]iini'i]t local racists, and wili aft:-i----wards give an exhibition. T'liey arts jt present exciting inncli interest 'ill Auck- \ and will arrive here to-mnrr > v morning.

Advance Tiiranaki! At last night's meeting of the ICducation Hoard we.-e tabled two applications for enlargement of school buildings, Hillsborough submitted that the .buiWiag «*«#, so small liiat tile children often luul heaihelies as a result of tile close eoiilinchicii't.

'I hero were .IS nn the roll, villi an , nV - I-iige of .">O. ami there were U others Voming on." Tile ninjoi-ilv of tlrp pupils were in the junior classes. roa's letter was brief. "There are at present -in on jlie roll, with more lo come. Mill the school at present will only aoeoimnodale P>f; pupils.''

I Miv. S. IT. Wrtlkor, 230 TlnmfTrnY si-. Ballaral, Vic., wrilre: "Have used Chamberlain's Cough ilemcily for four yean', and know it is excellent. Have, found it want beneficial. Can recommend it lo anyone, fn fuel have (lnrin so irmny iiirifc, mid-it has noconiplishci p-oo<l ro*nTf=i i/i rvor r caso." For snie I by all chemist md korekcepe:*.

The Chinese of Wellington have subscribed nearly £IOO for the hospitxl. The amount will carry a £ ior X, Government subsidy. The Opunake Times relates that during the storm which raged on Thursday last Mr. Jones, of Oaonui, had a valuable horse killed by lightning, and a settler had some of the boards ripped oft' his house. 'At the Seihlonville State eoal mine a very good patch of eoal has recently | been struck in that portion of the mine I known as the cave area. The coal is good and hard, and tin; output increasing (says the Grey Star). At present about 400 or 500 men. are employed at the mine.

Amusing discoveries have l>een made with regard to the working of the oldage pensions system in France. Two of the pensioners in one commune had shooting licenses, another was oniy forty-eight years of ago, 'a. third was a wine merchant in a good way of business, and six others paid taxes on property of considerable value. The euchre party conducted by the Railway Social Club in the Broughamstreet llall last evening in aid of the "Western Park was well attended, thirty tables being in requisition. The ladies' prizes were won by Mrs. llarvey (first) and Miss Gaylard "(second), the gents' going to Mr. C. West (first) and M 1:. Sweet (second). Messrs. Courtney and Elder made efficient M.C.'s.

With a view of giving Taranaki lavmers an o]>oprtunity to infuse some really first-class blood into their dairy herds, the Agricultural Department is landing this morning at New 'Plymouth by the llarawa four two-year-old bulls from the Kuakura State Farm. These are pedigree stock, registered in the Hew Zealand Herd Hook, and they are to be offered for sale privately to farmers.

The black swan ill the Rccreati.m Grounds had an exciting encounter the other day ivith a monster «el. His modus operandi was to seize the eel by ( the tail anil haul him to the surface, where he punished hiui by thrashing with his wings. . The eel was a little too slim, however, tuul managed to elude his infuriated foe. The eels are said to lie increasing fast in the ponds. Presidential amenities.—ln an election speech at 'Springfield, 1.5.A., Mr. Cannon said he had been reliably informed that Mr. Bryan had made t200,000 by ''selling wind and ink to the public, besides possessing a voice that is like the braying of an ass.'' In reply Mr. Bryan declared at a meeting at Oliiey that he was worth only £30,000, and demanded to know the extent of Mr. Cannon's forj time and how he got it.

An Ottawa newspaper rejoices in the fact that the restrictions recently imposed by the Canadian Government on those who seek to come and settle in that country are becoming increasingly effective. 'For the six months ending 30th June there were 40,102 immigrants for Canada, as against 1)2,423 during the corresponding period last year. In the case of Australia and New Zealand, too the numbers declined from 2040 in June, 1007, to 1777 in June last, and South African figures also showed a big downward tendency. The condition, adds the journal, that each immigrant must possess £5 in cash on landing has had a most wholesome effect, a better and more useful class of settler arriving m place of tlie hordes of penniless newcomers who formerly stepped on Canadian shores,

"One often hears the cry of inflated! land values," said the Premier at Chris:- \ church on Friday. '''Well,*.! was in a 1 district the day before yesterday where genuine fanners were buying land ft from X2O to .€4O per acre. In conversation with some of these men I was told that they could get good returns even from land at that price. They were not speculative buyers, either. 'Most of them were small farmers. Thov pointed out that the butter production of the land was now higher, and that they we're getting lid per lb for butterfat as against 8d lately ruling. Sixpence per pound would pay them, so that you sec the rise in land value* is perfectly legitimate, and nothing is so convincing as actual concrete facts. These men arc full of courage. They know they are doing well, and their purchasing land at high prices is fully justified by the results. At Feilding the only fear is that they will not have euough trucks to carry away the stock that will be despatched from that station alone."

Amongst the extensive assortment ot questions which the lion. C. Fowlds was asked to answer at his election meeting

last week was one bearing upon the attitude of the British Medical Association towards certain members of the profession wlio are not within the ranks of the association. "1 admit that that touches a difficult question," said Mr. Fowlds in reply. "One of the most essential things for the people of any country is that those who are entrusted with the care of their lives in sickness and accident should ,be fully qualified for their work. Therefore, the adoption of some standard is necessary, but unfortunately 1 cannot agree with the action of the British Medical Association in many things they have done. J.t is a difficult matter to deal with by legislation. But it is quite clear that if they take steps which are inimical to the welfare of the community, the public will through Parliament, insist that their interests are safeguarded, as, well as the interests of the medical prj-1 fession." I

''Any apparent stringency in the money market," Sir Joseph Ward said, speaking at Christehurch, "'is now pas-s----ing away. 'The complaint that settlers and workers have been unable to obtain advances from the Advances to Settlers Department, too, is being overcome. So fur this month, .£259,000 has been advanced, and the Department wiT probably lend <in equal amount during November. That means practically .CfiOOjOOO loaned out by the Stale ill eight weeks. With considerable knowledge of the position in the Dominion, in connection with the applications coming in, 1 am able to say that the Department is meeting the requirements very fully. I. feel quite satisfied that by December any local lightness of money that nmy exist will have eas'-'d oil' considerably. There is a very large sum, of which I am aware, coming into New Zealand soon, and this, ,too, will have a very good effect, and then, too, our people are having a very fine season in \he country. The butler districts expect a larger output than ever, and good prices arc assured. There is a strong"!' I

and healthier feeling among those who a few months ago were excessively pessiinistie." Twenty-tivc thousand loaves of breid a day! Such is tho record output (says :i London paper) of a ponderous, elee-trically-workeil machine, weighing noar-

ly two hundred tons, which was shovn

iu operation at the opening of the Bakers' and Confectioners' 'Exhibition at the Agricultural llail last month. Eight, men, standing ; ,t the levers of the machine, do the work which formerly employed twenty-five. Two part* of the apparatus are considered by experts [ i be unii|ue--a _ mechanical kneader a'ld tempering device, and all adjustable moulder, which adapts itself autnniatieally to any sized loaf. So that, no human hand should touch (lour, dough, or Uuf, rolling, continuous tracks, and little I wagons running upon rails connect the various parts of this wonderful machine. The Hour rises in an elevator to a sifting machine, which automatically rids !it of impurities or foreign matter. An automatic pa tit way bears if thence to the kneading machine, wlicrc the mixing takes place. The dough when made U tilted automatically into a waggon, which runs down an incline into the ''proving" room, the doors of which op»n automatically. After lying four hours here, the dough is earried upon another , line to a dividing machine, which. s«'-l to a certain gaitye. euU the dough in':o pieces. Th"se pieces, traversing an endless band, are seized upon by the moulder. which shapes I Item into cot tage, coburg, or "lilt" loaves. From (his they drop upon an electrically-propelled rack ami are swept into the 100-ton oven, which bakes then* to any desired condition in lorly-two minutes.