LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 311, 30 December 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Speaking (jf a position us manager ui a dairy factory, a visitor to Queensland says tllat New Zealandcrs are preferred They have a great ■name for dairying. Joseph James, a second offender, charged with drunkeimes in Devon street on Boxing Day, was urougut before Mr. C. .U. .Lepjier, J.l'., yesterday, and lined lUs and costs. Mr. John Fuller has secured the sole rights in New Zealand of the cinematograph reproduction of the BurnsJoluison boxing contest, and wui produce the films in New Plymouth about three weeks hence. A cablegram was U'eccived yesterday to the effect that the pictures hail turned out splendidly. It is estimated that this year about 100 acres of maize have been sown in the Bunnythorpe, Uongotea and Glen Oroua districts. This is signilieant of the lact that the farmers are recognising tlie necessity of providing winter feed, the maize will be used to a considerable extent in the preparation of 'ensilage. Tile trail of file recent thunderstorm is marked 011 the lticearton racecourse by a pine tree shattered by lightning (says the Lyttelton Times). The tree, originally about :Joft in height, has been split I'iilJy fifteen feet down, and large pieces of it are scattered over a radius of twenty yards. The electricity also branded a neighboring tree, taking oil' a ribbon of bark about two inches in: width in its course to the earth and! splitting Hie trunk of the tree. 'f'he pea rifle was ill evidence at Ara--111 la the other day, says the flawera Star, and one of -Mr. Ogle's sons was considerably startled at being struck hv a pellet, fortunately the force of the shot was pretty well spent, and it struck him on tile hip, but there was suflicient force to have caused serious injury if the eyes or any part of the face had been hit. The danger of the pea rifle lies mainly in the fact (hat so few people sufficiently appreciate uie harm that may arise from an idle shot. Luscious locally - grown peaches for Christmas is a luxury that seems to be within the reach of every householder. Sir T. I''. Sandford, of Vogeltown. showed us yesterday that it is i|iiite possible in raise peaches in the open air ami ripen llieiu this early. 11,. Ims a free in . a half-cask 011 his verandah, and if has live well-formed peaches 071 it, ripe or 1 ripening. Nn special attention has ( been devoted to it, except that the young shoots have had to lie picked to dwarf the tree, ft will, be interesting to note how the tree performs its :ivxt 1 year's duty. I

Mvi'i-y of separator <!<' I lnm beejj strictly of *'Alia-Lnval" origin uh? effort. \\"oul<l-.be competing mil:hi»cs to-day manufactured are, wHh»n<- vxception, but merely followers in lie waive of tlie "Alfa-Laval/' Tliev 1 vosses* 110 original ideas or features lit onstruction, and .simply utilise* that 1 vliicli expired "Alfa - Laval" patents cave frc.ft to them. so (hat the very ' •est of tliem are barely equal to iliv Alfa-Laval" machines of ten years ago. ' 'hus the. gulf of praetieal efficiency tie- 1 wee-,i the "Alfa-Uival'' ami the liost 1 (Ulld-lie compel ing sepa I'll tors is slid I 11l t lll'.l' V illcill'll. Jlllll'illjr Ihl' "A If,l- ' -;iva!" HiiicliiiU's fill- above and beyond 11 iic possibilities i>f cmii|H>Ulion from uvtliinjr cU' i" I In' slisipi>. cif (i ci i-ani 'l'i;ir;i(or. Calalo-nc in it lliml lice. i ole New- /'ealand ;:;:enU. Mason. T I nlUiel's and Co., Ltd., Main-s! I'i'C't, I; ;il nievston Nort i. 10. Oiffiths and Co.. | e,\- I'lvmoulll, lutal agcuts. ' 1

Although Newcastle, according to Bishop Stratcfii, possesses SUUO Jews, there is jio record of a Jew having been before the city magistrates for intoxication or for neglecting' children, ami there has never been one of them in the "workhouse.

Ntew Zealand is not the only country whore thero are complaints about the tlovernmcut not making roads fast enough. In Queensland, so writes a New Zealand fanner at present over in Australia, "the roads are bad. The liovernnieut will not spend money on tlieni. The. settlers are leaving those parts on this account."

Of Miss lna G. Richmond, a young Irish girl who was recently appointed manager of the great Maghcrafelt gasworks in Dublin, a writer remarks: She is the iirst woman to occupy such a \ position, and all Ireland is proud of her. Miss Richmond iirst entered the Royal Post Ollice service, and became an expert in telegraph and postal work. Later she studied gas manufacture and distribution. The Woman's Journal says: "lu Ireland this capable girl can vote for all oflicers except members of Parliament, but if she were, to show her enterprise by emigration to the United States she would immediately lose her | vote, and find herself classed politically I with idiots, lunatics, and felons."

We are disposed to say that even if the possibilities of the telephone service wore understood by the general public, the serviee at the present scale of charges is wholly beyond the means of the average householder. The residential suburbs should prove an excellent I field for the department to operate,] but how many suburban dwellers can afford to pay Cf) 10* a year for the privilege of using the telephone, coupled with the fact of the high annual charge of Cti 10- for the first anil' C"> 10s for two subsequent years? it is 'not difficult to understand why the telephone is not popular outside of the city proper. The ideal of the Commonwealth Government is a sliilli7ig a week telephone service, aud that should be the ideal service for New Zealand.— Dunedin Star.

A person who went about hatljss a| year ago was considered to be somewhat singular, but the novelty has'now almost passed away. In illaiwera, says the Star, I here are now- some forty young fellows who have joined tue nohat cult. These are chiefly engaged in clerical indoor occupations, and claim many advantages for doing without headgear. It is said that in the case of a young person whose hair is 011 the decrease, decidedly beneficial results follow this treatment. Others claim since their adoption of this partial form of "the simple life" they are not so subject to colds as they formerly were. Again, some rather ungallantly whisper the convenience of being hatless when passing female acquaintances in the street. Further a no-hat adherent is serenely happy when the wind plays frolics and ordinary mortals arc chasing their headgears through the highways and by-ways. The 1-Jev. D. Irwin, of Knox Church, Dnnedin, has returned from a visit to Europe convinced that, in some respects, there is no land that is better to live in than New Zealand. He told the large audience that welcomed him home that there were some respects in which New Zeajaud could not compare with the older lands. There was the beauty that belonged to the "old," and was the growth of years, the beauty and variety of the landscape, and the historical and literary associations. "Yet." he continued, "when we look at the social conditions of the Old bind, one is glad to live in a country like thk One Cii.il hardly give expression to the load ot oppression that comes on one when considering the appalling poverty and the extent of it. and the vice and crime ot the cities. A colonial, looking on them, thanks Hod that they do not exist 011 the Slime gigantic scale as they do ill Britain, and prays that the causes that produce them inuv never exist here."

Few men have had such a romantic business career as Mr. Solomon Andrews, of Cardiff, whose death was recorded iu English papers last month at the age of seventy-three. Beginning life as a hawker of sweets ia the streets--lie could neither read, nor write-,lie amassed a fortune in fifty years. Mr. Andrews, who was a native, of Trowbridge, went to Cardiff when he was about twenty years of age. llis savings as a street vendor he invested in cabs, and some years later he built a carriage factory. 11c. started services of omnibuses from Cardiff' to Llandalf, Pennrth, mid liutc Ducks. Similar enterprises followed in Manchester, Plymouth, and Portsmouth. Mr, Andrews also started a service in London known as the "Star" omnibuses. One of 1 the best-known routes served by them was from tile F.lephant and Castle to Angel at Islington. Mr. Andrews' interests were not confined 10 one industry. In Cardiff he oened a large number of coffee taverns, and he was also financially associated with diallers, grocers' and ironmongers' shops, lie was prominent among the group of men who were instrumental iu developing Pwllheli, North Wales, into 11. popular health resort. Then to his many enterprises was added a colliery at lirvnnenin.

j the prohibited degree of allinity as regards marriage came up twice recently | 111 Sydney. In the first case a ma.n desired to marry- his deceased wife's sisters' daughter. The Anglican ArchbisuI op refused permission 011 thci ground that th? Deceased's Wife's Sister Act doesn't include the deceased wife's sister's daughter, and aiuuncle and nelee (by marriage,) are uu the Church's list of prohibited degrees. The ltegistrar(lencral refused a civil marriage on til; ground that the D.W.S." doesn't alter the law as far as a man tend his widow's niece are concerned, in South Auslralia this obvious point was thought of, and South Australia is the only State that did think of it. Further, a, marriage in South Australia legal there, is legal in New Kouth . , l( ' inan w ho can't marry 1 his wife's niece in New South Wales can marry her in South Australia, and then he can return tn his old home in Sydney as a lawful husband. The second case was suit for nullity of marriage against a woman who had wedded hev deceased husband's brother. The D.11.15. was the petitioner, and he moved for a rule absolute. In annulling the marriage the divorce judge made some severe remarks about the D.H.8., but, owing to file state of the, law, the remarks were all that lie could throw at the mean brother. )

Three formidable piles of letters fron Americans who are anxious to settle 11 Victoria, are having a depressing ell'ec 011 the ollicers of three State Depart meats (says the Age). When tin American journiilists accompanying tin fleet were entertained in Melbourne they promised to advertise this State ii their country. One of them lias done so with a vengeance. In tin; .syndicati of American newspapers which' he re presented has appeared a ,vusaliona article under the name id' .Mr. 11. lj Clotworthy, entitled "Australia Oiler; Fortunes for American Colonists.'' and declaring, in a sub-heading. "Victorian Covernmeiil will give lu.lllll) dollars land and cash to each. settler to make white country." In it he informed the people ot America that " the tremendous financial .sacrifices tlie people of Australia are willing to make to perpetuate a 'white Australia' is strikingly shown in a colonising plan just inaugurated by the Victorian (Jovcrnnient. under which American or Ijijdisli agriculturists are ollercil au ;|dvauie of passage money out to the Commonwealth, ami a cash and land credit aggregating 10,(11)0 dollars oil their arrival. American agriculturists are specially desired, and those familiar with irrigation methods will he offered special inducements to conic to the soil of this embryo enlpire. The State of Victoria is an exact replica in foil and climate of California. All the iithcr Stales of the Commoiiweiiftli are forming colonisation pljins 011 the same lines." Of course. Hie whole statement is au absurd exaggeration, but it has' "'en taken seriously by many hundreds if readers. Several of the' applicants itiii <■ that they are particularly attr,iced by (he fact (lull Australia is to be I white, mail's country, with an advance if 10,000 dollars.

It is understood (says the "Dominion") Unit a requisition signed by a number of Rangitikei electors will lie presented to Mr. A. K Reiuiugtou, M.l'. calling; upon hiin to resign hi* seat in accordance with the challenge thrown out by him. a nd taken up by Air. (leorjrc Hutchison. A petition to Parliament asking for an inquiry into allegations made by Mr. Hutchison concerning the member for Hangitikei has also been , prepared for circulation among the elcc- . tors of Ike district.

The new direct service to Kai'otonga aud Tahiti is to be initiated on Sunday next, when the Manapouri will leave on her iirst trip from Wellington for the •islands named. This should be very welcome news to idio public, as it means a regular and frequent supply of island fruit on the one hand, and on the other an alternative mail service with America via Tahiti and Honolulu—a- twenty or twenlv-one days' service. The residents in tins Look (.{roup are elated at the prospect, of a direct connection with Wellington, as they are certain that it ! will mean the more rapid development lof the Iruit trade than if they were I always to depend on the. Auckland route only. The Collector of Customs at Rarotonga. who is at present visitiug Wellington, states that there is an abundance of fruit in tlie islands, and yet the soil so far has only been scratched here and there. There is enough fruit-growing land at .Uarotonga to supply the whole ol' New Zealand and. perhaps, Australia 'with fruit, but it had been no good growing over and above the i|nantitty for which a market offered. The visitor to the islands expects to see groves 0 f fruit trees everywhere, ami the is disappointed that he is not confronted, with them on landing. As a matter of fact, only a little of the land is so employed, and there ih room for plenty of development.

Mr. das. llazlett, of Dunedin. who has just returned from a trip to the Old Country, says that things in Ireland look very well just now. "The outlook is quite promising, and very different to what I remember as a young man. As a matter of fact, I think that Ireland is now the most "prosperous part in the Old Country, i can say that, at any rate, of those parts through which I travelled. A lot of the farmers, especially in the north, have now acquired the freehold of their land, and others are doing so on the instalment system. This is producing general .satisfaction,

and the results are excellent. It seemed to me that the position was a great lesson to New Zealand in regard .to land tenure, showing: what a pacifying

and settling factor the freehold is; and 1 could mot help thinking that tile Irish experience quite justilicd Mataura's treatment of Mr. Robt. McNab. I don't wish you to suppose that everything is at rest in Ireland. Unfortunately, there is much unrest and discontent, and the cattle-driving and other forms of turbulence produce much trouble. The Government are not half firm enough about this lawlessness. No; I do <not think that Homo Rule is any nearer tlian it was years ago, but the people are being granted more local government, and this relief would be given. ] n a greater measure if there were any assurance that it would lead to more ' general contentment."