LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 56, 31 March 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Sixty-eight years to-day the first ships bearing the pioneers of this province cast anchor at Moturoa, and, metaphorically speaking, laid the foundation of Taranaki. lion- well the structure of colonisation erected on that foundation is borne out by the material prosperity with which we are surrounded to-day. Is is scarcely realisable that within but a life-time, and despite the severe blow dealt progress and settlement, by the unfortunate war, the present stage of development lias been reached. What a contrast between the uncultivated forest-covered laud on which the first settlers set foot and the smiling landscape of to-day. It is fitling, indeed, that recognition should be made of the anniversary ot the day from which Taranaki dates ils beginning, and it is right that advantage should be taken o! the occasion lo honor those w ho bore the burden of those strenuous times. . I

The I'orough Council decided night. to iii;iU<* a visit 01 inspection of tlic street*. of the borough to-morrow aflernonn.

Hie .Mayor ha.-> issued an invitation to the. members of the Borough Council to attend hi a body the picnic at the luvakwater to-day. Tlie Mayor, .Mr. (i. Tisch, has received a favorable reply to liis request that « holiday should be observed in the Government Uuildingg at New i'lvmouth today.

Nelson is arnuiging a " red-letter day for the berthing at the wharf of the lii'st ocean-going liner, which is expected lo lake place in about three weeks time.

A desperate-looking land hunter, who hail taken part in 2:1 ballots for Crown la mis. inournlully told a representative of the North Otago Times that he had grown grey in the ell'ort to draw the right nittrble, ami had now given it up as a bad job. I

" The man who objects to pay ;Ci for a domestic teiephune and tJU for a business one cannot lie hard up. but. must lie very anxious to save money at the expense of the public gcueraily."-Sir Joseph Ward on the telephones charge controversy.

I The, remedy for Uic ".-lioiilin.." ] lu hit, file li.'V, J. .Mol'tmi liai iics believes, lies ill iStati- control of Hie liijuor trallie. Imler that system alcohol would In l sold as medicine, ami a. person would then no more think of "shouting" for a man (linn Im would of liuviii"; him a liox of pills.

Prices that make von smile:—Cents' eiiiiome Bals, standard svrewed, usual price lis Uil, now 10s ii;| ; Weill's 1 ' heavy clnuiiio boot, usuail price His (id, now lid; fTcii'i.-;' Il.ox-ralf. best boot., usual price ill, lid, now Ms lid: heavy i;ip 1-ls lid: All lM;ivk miitball boots, solid toe*, s'pikt'S fo order, 12s fid • :Jll''']ne football linnN, Jin,.,! youths' as f,|, irenls' ills <;,! \y,,' VP „ ot ' to ideal' these lines rigWawav.—A.ls.P. I Hoot and -Shoo, Co., Devon Strrct, New I Plymouth.—Advt, i

Mr. Newton King Juts received the following cable from his Sydney agent re hides: —''Lights wvaker." Intending passenger* should note that from Ist April, there will lie no Tuesday steamer for Onehunga, nur will there lie a steamer leaving Onehunga on Wednesdays for New Plymouth during the winter months.

Oil tlie application of Mr. llughes, Jlr. Justice Chapman Juts granted jhuljuU' of tlie will of tlie Into William Marshall, of iiiglewood, farmer, ,bo liis &on William Marshall, junior, the executor named in the will.

Monday's gaie wrought lmvoc in the Howcr-gardens, and to-day sad-visaged horticulturists are endeavoring to teal the woundts. Unstable erections, such as trapsheds, fowlhousp*, etc., suffered a good deal, one of the former in Vogcltown being completely unroofed.

Land values in parts of Victoria appear to he high at present. A land agent from Haccliuii Marsh, a small town in that .State, writing to a CJisborue friend, tells -of u sale he made of an acre paddock lor £528. it faces onii residential street, but is at present used for growing lucerne. Six cuttings per year can be obtained, hence thegreat value of the land.

During AJoijduy night Lite lock on the Lilliert-strect gate of the Itecrcation CJrouudts was farced and the double gates thrown open by some miscreant who doubtless in I'his way extended a cordial invitation to stray cattle to walk hi and wreck the gardens in the vicinity of tin* entrance. .Mr. landlord discovered the mi-sclnef, however, before any harm ensued.

In response to a requisition signed by the majority uf occupiers of boot shops in New Plymouth, the Minister of Labor, the lion. A. \V. Hogg, directs that the closing hours of all bout shops in the borough shall be as follows:—Monday, 0 p.m.; Tuesday, 0 p.m.; Wednesday, 0 p.m.; Thursday, 1 p.m.; Fnrt&j, u p.m.; Saturday, 1U p.m., with the exception of the period from tlie 21st to .list December in each year, both days inclusive.

Tlie secretary of the National Defence League has received the following reply from the Prime Minister .to the resolution of the general council of the Leagmapproving New Zealand's gift of a Dreadnought, and urging the adoption of universal training in ihe Dominion:—"l am very much indebted to the general council oi the Rational Defence. League for their resolution of approval of the oiler that has bivn made to the Imperial authorities by the New Zealand Government. lam atao obliged for the expression of opinion, but at the moment I do not consider it is desirable, i am, however, alive to the necessity of giving the general position of the defence proposals of our country the closest attention."

Tho very least that might ihuve been expected, when all the circumstances are considered, was that Lieutenant Shaekleton would supply to the New Zealand public a briei statement uf what the expedition had achieved. The eonlidence that was placed in him, the generosity that was bestowed upon iliim, and the desire tp help hiiu that was so apparent have not received quite that recognition that most men would consider fitting. It is strictly in accordance with the spirit of the age that commercial and financial considerations should rule even in the domain of science and discovery. We cannot, however, imagine I one of the old-time explorers withhold* ! inghis discoveries from a.i anxious pubI lie in this fashion—Dominion.

Preaching at St. David's Presbyterian Church, Auckland, 011 Sunday, ihe Rev. W. Cray Dixon. M.A., taking for his subject "Better than Battleships,'* admitted that the cry for battleships was fully justified, and said it was a mistake to imagine that the Christian religion was averse to war. Naval defence was necessary in the present condition of the world, but the speaker ailirmed that men counted for more than battleships. The Bible clearly stated that wisdom was more than strength, and religion was the fountain-head of wisdom. The preacher instanced Abraham's intercession for Sodom, where the saving stipulation was for the presence of ten righteous persons. Therefore, if the British -Empire were to be defended let there be battleships by all means, but if the British people forsook the religion of their fathers the expenditure on naval defence would be money wasted.