LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 317, 7 January 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A man-eating shark lift in length was taught in Auckland water by Dr. Hood two or three days ago. The'iish was landed with great dilliculty. The Belfast newsboy who spread his papers on the footjiutli lest Mine. Melba should soil her boots has bought a talking machine and a record of the singer's rendering of "Home, Sweet Home; with the £5 which she sent him. From time to time retiring members of the Taranaki Killes have been elected lire honorary members of the corps in recognition of their services. It lias now" been decided to have their names recorded on tire Honour's Board placed in the orderly room.

There is n large number 01 visitors hi Uoloura, but the place is not overcrowded (says the .\'cw- Zealand r.c.ald's correspondent). The Tourist Department has engaged a clicstrn of four players, for three mouths, to play in the new ba'.li buildings and elsewhere.

An elderly man mimed Joseph Terrill died suddenly at Waiinni on Tucsiku. An impiesi was held yesterday before Dr. 11. A. .\iiCleland. Deputy Coroner, and a verdict returned in accordance with the medical testimony of Dr. Claridge, that death was due to syieope. Dccea-ed sull'erccl from fatty degeneration of the heart. In a letter to the London Shipping Gazelle of recent date a correspondent says: "There are at the present time in the port of London close on five thousand Jiritish seamen and firemen out of work. They are, in a great many instances, the sole support of their families, and it is heart-rending to hear the little ones pleading for something to eat. which cannot lie obtained because o!' the inability of Hie fathers to obtain a ship. whiH*<'or.-i;pers are, in preference, taken in their stead."

lieutenant Kirk, from England, representing the Navy League, has been invited to address'a meeting in New Plymouth on the 15th instant, for the purpose of forming a branch of the Navy League in this district. Yesterday the .Mayor (Mr. (I. Tiseh) wrote to His Excellency the Governor asking him to convoy' an invitation to the Admiral or the Australasian squadron to send a warship to New Plymouth at the same time, expressing the belief that the presence of a warship on the occasion would considerably stimulate interest ii. the. League. It' is understood that 11.M.5. il'Toneer will also visit New Plymouth at an early date.

An extraordinary report as to the swallowing capacity of a patient was made at a meeting of the Hichmond Lunatic Asylum, !>y Dr. Donehm, the resident medical superintendent. The 'patient had coinplainned of a pain, and stated he had swallowed a knife and forlt. On examination the presence of a foreign substance was detected in his stomach, and to clear up all doubt Dr. Donehm had the patient brought into the -hospital lo be "X-rayed." This confirmed the lirst diagnosis, and when the stomach was opened a knife, a fork, some rags, and a woollen muffler were recovered. The patient has made a good recovery. In conversation with a Timaru Herald reporter, .Mr. A. C. Thompson, who recently settled in (Queensland, nieuliouI i-d Unit there are now thirteen Now Zealaudcrs in possession of farms within a radius of a few miles of his holding, and all the land adjacent to him, which was on the market a couple of months ago, is now sold. A good many North Island farmers ate going over to Australia, and .Mr Thompson is of opinion that, with the scientific methods which New Zealnudors are introducing over there, it. will be able to produce wheat of such quality ami in such quantity as to be able to send it over to New Zealand and sell it cheaper than it can he grown here.

The search tor H..M.S. Cambrian's lo,t anchor was continued yesterday unsu;-ei's-fully. The divers'report the bo'.toin at the anchorage to be particularly rough, entailing arduous work. An accident occurred on Tuesday, one of (lie divers losing liis weights and comimr to the top like n«roclfet. feet lirst. Another of the men. working the puiiii.foroke a. blood-vessel, serious homurrh.i'"' ensuing, and his eonilition gave cause for some anxiety. The lot ol' the men Attending the divers from the ship's boats in the rough sea is certainly not an enviable one. A number of the men were ashore yestmlay. If the weather is at all line, the public school cadets v.\ll probably visit the warship 10-dav under the charge of Major Suiul-ford. A curious illustration of (he conscienceless methods that are sometimes

resorted to by reputable persons to dupe the Government has recently been disclosed to the postal authorities (says the Age). An application was made to the department for the admission of a certain church paper to be recognised

as a newspaper and granted the nsua concessions as such. On Die surface tit-

application and the paper itself appearei ill order. On looking into the contentof the publication, however, an editorin

note was discovered informing the readers that although the words "Price one penny" were printed on the pape", it would really be distributed gratis. The "Price one penny" had only been printed in order to comply with the regulations connected with the registration of newspapers. Such commercial immorality on the part of the owners of a church paper could not he overlooked, so the application was ruthlessly rejected.

Interviewed by the Sydney Telegraph, a prominent Australian shipping man who has been on a visit to the Do- | minion says that, regarding New '/.M----i laud as a real tourist country,, ho in I forced to the opinion that the'Coverniiient are making 100 much of the norlh- | orii districts at the expense of the southern hikes mid Alps. The Austra- , linn, when he visits Xew Zealand, generally does so i.i seardi of health in (lie | sill ei- time. ILii need* rest from the hot and depressing climate here. N'owheiv better can lie lind it than in the districts of Wakatipii, Wiimilia, Te Aiiau. 11,-iiiiipoiiri, mid others, The drive to the Skippers from (Juecnstown, the mining districts cf the Shotover. mid the Suspension llridge. unfold a pano- j rama of exquisite beauty, once'seen never to be forgotten. And these are lost to the tourist who, with limited time at his disposal, thinks if lie sees lioloriia lie has seen all the beauty ( ,f Xew Zealand .scenery.

Ten 1000-fraiic banknotes, rcprcsraij in;; tin- snvillus of a woman who lived | lit Xautcrro. near I'aris. were hidden be I her in nil ulil envelope, which was placed |in mi old drawer. In a nioinoat of forgctfnlncss the envelope (Ule Cliroiiiclo says) found Us way into a dustbin. Tn tlio morning th'e rng-pickcrs turned out. tlic bin, but losscd aside Hi,, tattered envelope without inspection. Pony carters happened to pass that way. They picked up Hie now mild-splashed piece, of paper, one remarking to Hie other. ''Perhaps there is a fortune inside." They drew out the notes. "This is ,»»if fool's p.'ciisuiln-." (hey said: j so. by way of revenging themselves on the unknown joker." aad not bolicvinj; the notes were genuine. Iliev tore theii) I to pieces and threw lliem a-ide. Two market-women ,-amr along siiortlv afterwards. Will, d,,. shrewdness of their class lliey recognised the scattered pieces of paper ami gathered them up and took them |o the Commissary of I'olice. There ibcy were pieced together, ami it was found that 'nope, was missing. Two hours later (lie notes si furiously discovered were restored to their owner. i

'f DO YOi; EX.IOY WHAT YOXJ HAT? L ' If you don't, your food does not do '■you much good. There is no way U '" maintain the health and strength of * mind and body except by nourishment. ' [ There is no way t" nourish the body esr- * cepl through the siomnch. The stomach ■'l must he kept healthy, pure, and sweet. ' or the strength will go down, and rtis- - 11 ease will result. Dr. Sheldon's Mgcsliie * I Tabules is tho remedy that everyone 1 should take when there is anything wrong with the, stomach. Poor appetite, loss of strength, nervousness, headache, bad breath, heartburn, indigestion, and | dyspepsia are quickly cured by the use ; of Y>. Sheldon's Digestive Talmlcs. I These Tabules represent the natural juices of digestion combined with tilt greatest known tonic and reconstructive properties. They simply do the work of the stomach, relieving that weakened organ and permitting it to rest awl reI eupernte. When yen lake Dr. Sheldon's i Digestive Tabules everything you cat I tastes good, and ever) - bit of the ntitri- I ment that the food contains is assimi- i lated ami n|,pfoprif..t( : il by the Wood and c tissues. These, Ts'liuica are sole] at §s Oil 1 1 per tin ot 80 Tonules. Obtainable, every- t

One of the leading bakers in Invercargill says that since starting the coupon system of paying for bread there has been a falling-oil' of about 2200 loaves per week in the consumption of bread in the districts supplied by the carts of the luvereargill bakers. Tue 'estimate has been carefully compiled | from the returns of the associated bakers, and is equivalent to over three tons of Hour per week. Questioned as to his opinion of lawn tennis in New Zealand, Mr. Wilding sa:d to a pressman: "from what 1 have seen, 1 should say that lawn tennis in tins country would be materially improv'd if matches were more freuucntly arranged' between the provinces. .The material is good, and the JJominion players nave got the. strokes, hut they lack the accuracy which more match play would I probahly bring about." A horse pulled down the verandah of a Uisborne shop the other evening. He was tied to one of the verandah posts, and, being frightened, pulled back with such force as to pull- the post out from under the roofing. The horse was removed from the. displaced post and was fastened to the remaining upright, while an attempt was being made to adjust the first post back into its right position. The horse again took fright, with the result that he succeeded in pulling down the second post and the whole struct ore toppled to the ground. Fortunately no person was injured, ulthough'one bystander hud n narrow <a-

cape' from being struck by the falling iron of the verandah. One feature of the present situation in l'ekiu (says the Times currcspo-i----deilt) is the hoarded wealth lying unproductive in the palace, amounting to millions sterling. The bullion entrusted duriii" the foreign military occupation of Pekin in I'JUIJ-l'JuT, first to the protection of the American General Chaffee and afterwards to the English (icueral Sir A. Gaselee, was estimated approximately at .■C«.0(HI,Cl»0. Whatever was the amount of the hoard, it has since »onsidorablv increased. Under a moie enlightened Regency there is hope that this treasure may become reproductive. The sunburnt cabbies of Melbourne opened their eyes and blinked the other day when a smart hansom bowled along Collins-street, driven by a vision in blue coat and skirt and a neat hat with a rrossauier twined round it. Cabby ■messed all sorts of things, and guessed wrong: for renllv it was only a Gippsland "irl's first attempt at tooling th. onlv kind of vehicle she had never yet handled. The damsel comes from \arrun ("Johanna." of the Bulletin, informs us), where the giant gums grow and no seasoned cabby could have mori skilfully carried uul the contract tc drive a" friend round the city.

The Japanese dentist does not frh'hten his patient with an army of steel instruments. AH his operations in tooth-drawing are performed by the forefinger and thumb of one hand. The skill necessary to do this is acquire! only after long practice, hut whoa on:c it is obtained the operator is able to extract half-a-dozen teeth in about thirty seconds without once removing his lim'crs from the patient's mouth. The dentist's education commences with the pulling out of pegs which have, been pressed into soft wood; it ends with the drawing of hard pegs which have been driven into an oak plank With a mallet.

It begins to look (writes a London correspondent) as if the supply of Madame Clara Jlutl's sisters is inexhaustible. Two of them are well-known to London concert-goers the Misses Pauline and Ethel Hook; to-mght they arc to be introduced to a third—Miss Hazel Hook—who will make her debut at the Albert Hall at a concert to be .oven bv Mr and -Mrs. Kcnnerley Rumford. All four sisters will join forces hi a new quartet which has been specially written for them by Madame Liza Le'hinann. The youngest, a girl of nineteen, has a mem-soprano voice, Miss Kthel Hook is a contralto, and Miss Vauline Hook sings soprano. The violinist at the evening's concert will be .Miss ~ liichardson, of Dtonedui, who seems to be making excellent progress with her studies in London.

\n industrious employee in a Duuedin warehouse was so interested in his work one dav last week that he forgot the clo-dii"'hour, and while he was engrossed the other employees left the establishment and one of their number locked the door* in the usual manner. After the lapse of some lime the imprisoned onmloyeo awoke to the situation, and wis iii distress as to how he could get out of the awkward position in which 1„. wis placed. Eventually he reineni'berul'thil the keys of the warehouse were deposited nightly at the police sta--11,,,, for safe custody, and as there was ~ i,i,.„li, available he telephoned t-> the police station asking that he should be released. Inspector O'llrien. on being communicated with, at once gave authority to have the key-box broken open, and a few minutes later a sergeant ~!„! ~ ( .on.-table proceeded to the ware|.„„4 and released the imprisoned worker.

The scheme for establishing a school for Maori girls at Ohoka has gradually taken more definite form, and the New Zealand Church News is able to an•noiiuee that it it is the intention to start the school in February. The sum of C'2'Jo was asked for to furnish the school", and for that purpose to date m ( ~sh ClfMI Hs 2d has been received, besides olVerings in kind. It is proposed to maintain tire school partly by fees and partly by free scholarships. Of the latter, two are promised through Mrs. Julius, one by Miss Levin, of Wellington, and one anonymous. Contributions from imrishcs and individuals, it is anticipated, for some of the contributions already given have the promise of becoming annual, will provide two or three more. The promoters therefore consider they are justified in starling with seven or eight scholars, and hope they may this year reach ten. The salary of the principal is practically guaranteed for the first year.

' An Auckland photographer ih-.is received the following charmingly simple loiter from a little girl in Sun l''rnueisco:— "Dear Sir,—l was reading in the paper about tile nice welcome you gave our Heel. 1 liave «. brother who is a petty oilicer on the New Jersey, an! he sent a lot of postals a'ail' eurios to inv big si«i.i-r ami the girl next door. So I thought if there was a kind person who goes in your store who can speak American would send some little curios made by the unlives or a postal to me I would lie very much obliged, and would send some American thing in exchange. I saw your name on my sister's postals, so I lliouglil, von wouldn't mind telling somebody. I\S.—l'loasc A> not think I mil hold, because our house mis biirn.'d down in the big earthquake anil lire, and 1 haven't any more toys, so I would like to put some interesting things in my room. 1 am sending you four posla's to' sell in vour store for your trouble. The lace is'for your little gill"