LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 48, 22 March 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The sole topic of conversation in 1 town on. Saturday evening was the dramatic ending of the Wailara .miiril'-r case. Those who were not privileged | to listen to the expert evidence, so cogently and clearly expressed by Dr. Tru'by King, could scarcely be expected to endorse the unexpected, but we venture to 'believe that on perusal of our report, which, owing to the importance of the case, we have published practically verbatim, there will be few who will not admit the correctness of the verdict.

.Mr Clement Wragge gave the second of his evtramcly interesting stories of the heavens on. Saturday night to an audience that was not numerous, but

lacked nothing in enthusiasm. The following advt. is taken ironi the Manaia paper :—" I live in Manaia and desire to support Co-operation and Socialism, at the same time expecting the civilians of modem civilisation who believe in the doctrine of live and let live, to support me,—E. Watkins." The half-ton cheese which is to be sent to the Palnicrston Lcwy Show by tlie Ngaire Dairy Factory is to be manu-

factured to-morrow. Coins valued at Cl 5 will be placed in the mammoth

cheese, and purchasers of slices will stand a cuauee of getting ,in\ thing from a threepenny bit to half it sovereign. Commenting upon the frequent charges of forgery against natives throughout the Dominion, Mr Justice Edwards remarked lit Gisbornc that to the Maori the natural use of the pen and ink was to forge something, whilst for those who j could not read or write the natural inclination was to steal a horse.

Extract from the Honolulu Advertiser of .liiiiuary 10th last, by a recent visitor to New Zealand:—" The people in New Zealand have more religion without having Christianity, can drink more whisky without getting drunk, and can bet more on horse races without gambing than anv people 1 ever saw in my life."

Apropos of the "unemployed" cry, Jlr. G. A. Marchant, chairman of the Stratford County Council, mentioned at | (lie iiioiilhlv meeting on Wednesday I says the Wist) that lie had recently in I he' back districts heard men laugh at the idea of accepting 12s a day for sowing grass seed, adding that the seed might stop a long time in tlie bags before they would sow it for twelve bob a (lav.

A good joke was made, by a child the other day at the expense of a Taranaki schoolmaster. He asked the children to bring along their little brothers and sisters. Two or three nearly live-year-olds came, one little long-cnrly-liaired boy being amongst tliem. Next day he refused to come to school except his mother cut oil' his curls and made the top of his head bri«ut and shiny like the teacher's! ■■{

In proportion to population, New Zealand shows more entries at her national i rille meeting than, any other country does. At the recent meeting at Trenthani" phenomenal shooting was witnessed, the aggregate easily excelling those of previous years. There were so many possibles that the Association is somewhat concerned as to how it is going to pay out the recognised reward 0f... 4)1. forjauh, ..Ji'llCTe 'T?fifc(S(ew "Zealand records made, 100, comparing well with the best on record in other countries. At the annual meeting of the Sydney Clerks and Warehousemen's Association, tin; president, Sir William McMillan, in the course of his address, i,lie foolish practice of young men getting married before they were earning a competiiley to keep a wife and family. In referring to this matter, Sir William said he spoke as an employer, for no sooner had a youth taken to himself a wife than he applied lor —and expected —a rise. Although Jus work was not worth any more than his current salary, the employee pleaded his marriage as a substantial argument in favour of his application, and if he failed to secure it, immediately blamed his employer, who was stigmatised as hai'il-hearled and so on, wlierens it was the youth's own impetuosity that was to blame. Albert William Foote, aged twenty escaped from Burnluini Industrial School in November last. He evaded capture until the middle of February, and was then arrested at Witkamurina and taken to Blenheim. Blenheim gaol wasn't strong enough for him apparently, and he escaped. The police heard that' Foote was working at Wairoa Gorge, and set out to gather him in. Foote was bushfelling under the name of Maher. The arresting constable had to ride six miles through the bush to get ids man, and eventually captured him. Foote had a heavy swag to carry, and so was not handcuffed. After a little while this young De. Wet, picking a part of the track which overlooked a steep bank, dashed down the gully and escaped! Foote has, it is alleged* helped hiinseli to bicycles en route, has been aide to purchase clothes and boots, ami has (so it is reported) broken and entered | houses, lie hasn't been seen since the constable witnessed him diving down the gully. He is a fine, upstanding young fellow, oft Din in height, with brown hair and eyes, and a. fresh complexion. He. is said to be remarkably frank a"id " honest" looking. Writing to a Wanganui resident, who recently returned from a nine months' trip abroad, a New York solicitor, whom the first mentioned met with on tour, speaks of the stress of competition in business in New York city. Jle says : "When once a man gets'into the law practice here he bids farewell to leisure. A holiday of a month or so is all he can claim if he is anxious to succeed in his profession. Five or six thousand lawyers practice among the three million people in this city, and the competition is

tierce all the time." Referring to the monetary stringency, the writer Ino something to say that should interest all : " Jn business there has been a cle cided improvement, and if 'prediction' come true this year will see large crop, and good profits in every well-conducted liiisiness. The railroads are doiirn- well ami capitalists are kept busy seTecting (heir investments and making ]>i-o(Ual)lc loans. Our next President evervono thinks will he a satisfactory one. l'le> is a man of fine judgment, active, and is an honest man. Roosevelt is impulsive, and while he has been patriotic and. has accomplished much, lias lessened the dignity of (lie office. Still, ]„. i s ~ g T , M t favorite with the people. Xotwithstandmg all criticisms f lik,. him ; he is verv picturesque, and lie means well,"' A bankrupl. 'wlio nought to retrieve his [position by ■plunging „,, ,, |lOT . course, where he found himself for the lirst time in his life, and succeeded in losing his cash, was mi. interesting witness before the Registrar in ISankrupfcv mt Sydney bint week, A cabinetmaker, who traded under Hie nam,, of Jack Loin, but told the ollicial assignee lhat Ins name, was ISydnev Jack, that hj,. was

bom in Victoria, <ind that hi s faLlicr was a Chinese and mother a European. ' sjikl iie didn't know he could pav liis debts until lie got a writ. When he fold his liuancicrs of this tlicv issued a writ against him, too. lie 'went to tbo raws, having with him about ,£!)() in gold find no ten, which sum he had .collected the week before from his debtors, lip had never before been to

the races, though lio had , s een tlicni at a distance over the fence, lie had backed horses before in Melbourne tit tobacconists' shops. His object hi goin); t« tlie races was In win some monev In |iiiy hi« creditors. lb, heard of a few homes that were likely to win. and hacked tliem. The most lie put on one' hoii-.se was L2O. in, tin- second las', race. lie ljet on every race but one. and lost every time. After putting CI J on Welcome Trist in the last rare no had only to left, lip couldn't remember I lie name of a sinj.de. bookmaker lie 'mil l"'t Willi. II" was not married then.I'"l In' g'H niiirvieil a few davs afterwards. | ~'! v I

A very interesting di'suriplion of the curative work whicli i, bein.r accom-lili-hed at the London Hospital with radium lias been given bv Sir Frederick Treve-. The Kins;, whose keen peiwffiiill iutcrct in the later developments of surgical s'cinee is well known, has granted a charter for the establishment of a "Koyal British Kadiuin linstitiite" for research work ami the practical treatment 01 disease. Sir Finest Casel, one of the chief contributors to his Majesty's Hospital fund lias donated a large sum of money (the total is not yet given) towards the new institute, whirl] will lie associated to some extent with the work of the Imperial Cancer liesearch Fund Committee. Sir Frederick Treves prefaced lii« account of the Lon-

ilon llospital experiments with a eliar<iclerislic warning, 'lie reminded his audience of earlier medical discoveries anil appliances 'which had not realised popular expectations. The X-rays had done marvellous work, lmt they had not "revolutionised" surgery, There was a. liinp when, people thought Unit the high frequency current would cure every ill except poverty. Its actual benefits had heen much less sensational. And s'<v with the r'insen light. Hut Sir Frederic!; Treves admitted, in spite of his Mas towards eanlion. that very notwlo results had lieen oWahu'd ill « short time l>y the English surgeons with radium, and that I'nr greater tliiiiw were likely to be accomplislicd after further experi-