LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 74, 23 April 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Wellington polU-i- arc taking lie li»»«gaiwt^Tr l illo l -«n..,..k«ri,ei.toi selling it weekly newspaper alleged to contam indecent matter. Owing t« the rain yeslerday, the Oakura Athletic have postponed t»en ana sport, till Thursday n«t, Apr. 2!) The dance will be held on that night. The. police or someone else should eii-de-ivor to ascertain the ownership of .he motcr ear which arrived in town tout") last night. So lij.HU were torinr until the car reached this wde of the llenui bridge, where the policeinspected area began to loom in view. The little four-vvar-old son of Mrs. Warner, of Waroa, was recently attacked bv a rooster. The little chap was plaviug when the "laird o' cockpen flew at V,iil wounded the youngster on the cheek with its claws. The wound did not appear severe, but an abeess formed, necessitating medical attention. With the abeess lanced a hard substance was found-it proved to be a claw of the rooster. The uui'stion of the Kltham s Oiool district being separated from Wanganui and joined to New Plymouth educate! district i« likelv to be brought up at tin. annua' meeting, of householders on Momlav night (says the Kltham Argus). It is llioiHil that more direct representation would la- secured if Xew l'ly mouth were the headquarters owing to that town being so iiiuen closer than Wanganui to Kltham. The Tarauaki public school cadets' championship belt for rille-shooting has been completed by Mr. Thos. Kfog and : delivered to Major Sandford. The belt ' is of black leather, with fine Silver mountings, and is a beautifully fitting decoration. The inscription on the first bar has vet to be done, a;id then the I belt'will'be handed over to Lieutenant 1 Geolt. Whiteonibe, of the Central School " cihUN, who won the championship at '■ the recent Tarauaki Eille Association's : I meeting.

Last year the Taranaki County Council used" 1-2,(100 yards of metal on the roads, and complaints arc made that the roads worn starved. This yienr tire Omata riding has been allocated 4800 yards, and tlie foremen are at their wits' end to know how they are to kuep their 25 miles of road in decent order for traffic. One of the candidates for the Borough Council recently declared that 2000 yards was more, than ample for the requirements of Xew Plymouth's 40 miles of streets. Our readers can compare these figures. ''■' Our l'ohokura correspondent writes: Mr. R. N'ewing left here last week with 02 fat hillocks for the Waitara freezing works. The fact speaks well for the i district, Mr. Xcwing having fattened them on his own farm on the Jlakahu road. Jtr. Xewing is sending them home on his own account. The road from here to Waitara is very good for driving stotk along, excepting a few [daces where the tlltu is growing, the worst place being on the Matai) Saddle, where it is growing very thick. Cattle travelover this saddle are apt to get poisoned through eating it, and it would be a great advantage if the Council could get their surfacemen to clear the poisonous plant away. It would not only keep the road much drier in winter, hut would remove » great danger to cattle. A new idea in the Hn-keUliiig business has been started in I'ictfli). A recent wedding was being co|c]ir»t,<)d. when it gentle tapping wuh heard at one of the doers, anil a small voice was heard asking lor the lady of tho house. When she appeared on the scene there were three small boys, one of whom said, "Please would you give the tin-kettlers some takesV" "Where arc the tinkettlvrsi" asked the lady; "we've not heard any noise." "Oh, please," said the biggest of the hoys, "we didn't make no noisp; we thought you wouldn't like us to." "We wouldn't mind," said tire amused lady. "Oh, well, you know, Thompson (the constable) lives down l|»ef*, ami—and—you know—" replied the boy solciuuly. The boys got their cakes and , went pit' smiling broadly, white the hostess and her guests enjoyed tl ' '

,he joke. Replying to a question in Parliament recently, Air. Winston Churchill said tliat the total decrease in wages lor the vear 1908 recorded by the Board of Trade was £1,012,112, affecting 403,030 employee*. Pauperism during January this year had increased at a most alarming rate, and itt tile end ()f the month the total number of persons in receipt of relief had risen to 830,400. the largest number since 1871. The percentage to the population was 24.1 per 1000; that is to say, one person in every forty-one was a pauper.' The nioet alarming feature of the figures officially issued by the. Local Government Hoard is the sU>4i)y increase in. the number of paupers whicli lian taken place during the first month this year. Here is the comparison: January 2nd, number of paupers, 830,037; January 30th, 830.400; increase ill month, 14,403.

Mr. I'rnM, Of lilvereargill, is in Xew I'lynioulh in ord« to Jay before local 'people ii project for establishing a briekninking industry here, lie 1* in'terested in brick works at Invercargill, where stand and lime are used as ingredients, these being mixed in certain proportions, subjected to pressure, and 'steamed. He bjjs brought with him Vpecimeiis of tile bricks made from In.vereargill sand and also from sand obtained from the beach here, mixed wjth 'Toko lime. Tire bricks made froin the local material are apparently of excellent quality, a nice grey color, and Mr. Todd thinks they can be produced at something like the rate in Invercargill—--35s per 1000. On the face of it the scheme seems to be a very promising one, for, wicks at about 40s per 1000 would be as cheap as timber for building.

I The. Tiu'anaki County Council lias received :i conmiimicalion from the Weber County Council, asking support of resolutions setting out the opinion that it is desirable that a provision should lie placed in the Kutilic Works Act whereby power would lie given to any County Council or other local body concerned to take, on payment of a fair: compensation, any limber other than lotara or matai for the purpose of burning papa for inctullrjir and maintaining public roads. It is pointed %it that pupa-miming was unheard of when the Public Works Act was putted, and that miles* authority is given in ttyc direction Indicated, local bodies that rely solely on burnt papa fw metalling purposes will simply be at (he mercy vf laud-owners 'who may be so short-night-eil as to prohibit the taking of useless timber. Tile letter adds that thr Weber Council lias found rimu the best fuel for this purpose. This subject is of no direct intercut to the Taraiiakl County Council, lint doubtless our friends in the WluKigaimunoua, district will be interested in the matter.

Is a public officer bound on oath It) tell "the truth, the whole truth," as ..tljc judicial formula runs V The point cropped up oil Tuesday in Wellington ,al n -Railway Appeal JLoard sitting, and .Jjr, Eyre Kenny, .S.M., a.ro\* ijppn his lengthy ((Vperience for illustrations of how tiie point i-s settled by high a,u'thorHU's. An oMcff .of file Railway Department objected to allow a, derk from the general manager's ollice Jo give evidence, urging that its lie woi|bj be put on oatli and required to answer all questions, he might have to disclose some matter of policy which was confidential. Mr. Eyre Kenny nl once reassured the objector. Even in the Supreme Court, he remarked, a public office* ei.ijhl decline to reply to a question on (lie gr.oitnd of public Policy. He remembered when Mir Ceorge tlrey, then (lovcrnor of the colony, to alfjtenil the Supreme Court, tint after an j acrid correspondence with the Chief JusMice, did »o. A few harmless questions i fie answered, but when a really important question was put lie at once nn--1 swered Mini *w declined to reply -on the I ground ot public policy. M l '. Fox. the Premier, look up the sunn; uujivjde a I few .minutes later. A public 'office*, added Mr. Eyre Kenny, could also refuse, on tlie same ground, to state'where fa got his information.—X.Z. Times. A young man In Sydney last week,

I \Y;is s.o Hiin tliat U« looked quite a freak, ' Hut a chemist he SMjgul, Laxo-Tonic he bought. And no longer for . health does he seek, T AXO-TQNIO PILLS, 1f%4 and Is 64-

During Mmvh 8S,«l(lowt. of bttttur amll 47,5(11)rvu. of clieoso were exported from the Dominion na n'gtiinat 14,254c\vt. ol butter anil 34,273ewt. of cheese for Hie eoiTespomlinn; month last year.

Thus the Stratford County c'nairinmi Mr. G. A. Marciiaut) apropos of burnt 'mpa as road metal:— '■ My honest, mdiliiiual opinion of'burnt papa is that'it will be the salvation of papa country where there is no road metal available.

Tito euchre party lii'Ul on Wednesday evening in uia of 'tin' West l'-"«l «-i;° ul gymnasium fund was well attended. The prizes were won as follows: Gent's., Mr Mcllvridc: lady's, Mrs. A. Murphy; boobies', Mrs. Bocock ami Mr. Tiehner. Another party will be held in three weeks' tinre. Local.

The t'liiiiuinun is beginning to make liis presence felt at Ohakune. Three Chinese were originally in business there, and a reinforcement of eight came last week. Some of the new arrivals ill once set to work prospecting 101 > citable garden sites, and one of them showed his confidence in the future "t the little town by leasing :i sniiill shop and paying two 'years' rent ( J.MO4) in advance.

It mav not be generally known tnat New Zealand potatoes are still absolutely prohibited in the Australian Commonwealth. The restriction was made when the potato blight attacked the tubers in the Dominion, and has never bee.i removed. The embargo is not viewed by merchants with complacency, for the reason that,, while there are a number of crops in which blight is prevalent, there are others which arc clean and free from disease, and it is considered that these might, under a grader's supervision, be i safelv shipped to Australia to meet the | requirements of the market there. I The biggest order ever taken from the Empire of Japan for electrical apparatus for the conversion of a steam railroad to electric power has been accepted bv an American engineering corporation. The units will be 1000-kilowat turbine Generator sets, and the whole contract for power-house apparatus, line material, car motors, and supplies, involve* the expenditure bv Japan of 7,ll0IUH)0dol. Thi> is the first unit of electrification ol an Imperial line of railways that serves Tokio and seven manufacturing cities. Other railway sections will be electrified after the Tokio zone has been attended to, so that the prospects are bright for the receipt of oilier contracts from Japan. ,

'The large number of degenerates in Groat Britain is now somewhat of a menace. It is supposed that there are something like 10,000.(100 people in England classed as degenerates from one cause and another," observed Colonel Burns, the managing director of Messrs Burns, Philip and Co., Ltd., who returned to Sydney last week from a tour of the world oceuping nine months, and cmbracing visits to .lava, Singapore, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Switzerland, and France. "I do not mean criminals," he added.

"but undesirables, weaklings, men who have not been taught a trade—in short, i unemployable men." At a sitting of the Waihi Police Court the other day, two boys named Eric J.epper and Bichard llarkins pleaded guilty to having, on April Bth, assaulted a boy named Alexander Micklejo.m, aged 0 years. Sergeant McKinnon stated that the assault was committed oecause the complainant had thrown stones at the accused on the previous day. The licensed forced the boy into some ti-tree by producing a knife 'and threatening to "'rip him open," and then they cut a stick and administered a severe beating, causing weals on the body. The boy was rescued bv his sister. Mr. Brugoss sa d the accused had been guilty of a gross and brutal assault, lie was sorry ne could not order a whipping, but on the parents agreeing to chastise the boys in the presence of the sergeant the case was adjourned for a fortnight. Judging by the amount of skimploughing going on at this season (says Hie Ashburton Guardian), fanners of the Ashlmrton County intend to sow a large area in cereals during the coining winter and spring. The uncertain tone ot the sheep market and the downward tendency of the Home meat market are, -no doubt, to some extent causing farmers to direct their attention to grain growing. On account of the fertility 5f the soil and the favorable conditions, the farmers of Canterbury are partic-u----larlv fortunate in being able to pursue almost any branch of agriculture with a. measure' of assured success. In most of the provinces ill New Zealand, inrmcis are obliged, as a result of climate and other conditions, to pursue one particular branch of fanning, whether the markets for their products are tavor-|j able or otherwise! but this is not the , case in Canterbury. The Sydney papers are wroth at the following description of Sydney in an article in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, a well-known English paper: "Sydney, like most other large colonial cities, is a very cosmopolitan place, and has a population iu which the white man is outnumbered by swarms of aliens—Jews, Chinese, Japanese, Arabians, Negroes, etc. The Chinese and Japanese are, for the most part, wealthy and respectable ei|izens, and are the proprietors of several iii'i'nly-estqb)ished businesses in the city, their occupations ranging from large banking-houses to laundries and market gardens. The Jews, on tae other hand—who, it should be stated, iu no wav resemble tne high-caste liebrews one meets iu England—are chiefly engaged in the peddling trade, and several "are frequently to be seen roaming around the docks for the purpose of selling trashy wares to the easily-delud-ed sailors." The American maidens who are petitioning Congress to introduce a titu av "distinction between bachelors and married men. have a logical ground for thoiv demand, though it may be doubted whether the reform would result, as they fondly imagine, in the abolition of the married llirt. Miss and Mrs. are only contractions of mistress, and as late is the reign of George If. unmarried ladies used to be styled Mrs. Then it became convenient to distinguish between the married and unmarried woman; and tyiss was the original spelling of the new label. '' Mister—now the common form for adult males, whether married or single—stand, of course, for master; and if the Illinois girls have their way, "Mas" might, on the same plan, be used to indicate a bachelor. Or Master, which, now. as in the time of Swift, and perhaps before, meant a young gentleman, could be earmarked for the purpose. But lias the fact that women are cnUlfljjiuid, iiboljslicd tin; female married flirt t

How very important small things loay he to some men (writes the New York correspondent of the Lylteltou Times) was shown the other day. when a local accident insurance company paid a jjufi'-l round sum to a man who cracked his lingcrnail only n tiny fraction of an inch. The man was Ignacc I'adercwski, the Polish pianist, and the injury was serious enough to him to cause him to abandon two important concert engagements, j'aderewski carries .UUUO insujiaii„e on each ol eight fingers and two thumb's., ijj addition to a very heavy set of accident ami death policies. He was engaged in a concert at Carnegie Hall ill this citv, when lie suddenlv caught sight of I lie splitting fingernail, a serious thing to him. lie gave no inkling of the disaster to his audience, but continued through his long programme with his accustomed dash and aplomb, adding jliue' encores to the entertainment. At its end his managers were cancelling ensiling dates, ami" a skilled doctor was hurrying ill »n automobile f w 'the' pian.ist's hotel to anoint anil mil and Jiatcto. and pare and bandage the precious lore, finger.

With reference to the (lisborne telegram reporting ptomaine poisoning in that town, the ('overly Bay Herald supplies further particulars. It appears that on Monday last scceral occupants of the Coronation Hotel were sull'ering from bail headaches, and during the night their condition gradually became worse, Mrs. Lucas especially having a restless night. The other sufferers were Miss Lucas. Mr. Bert Lucas, a waitress, and Mr. Ulntmo (the Japanese juggler connected witli Messrs. Maskelyne and I)e----vanfs Company). .They'were unable to get up )ie,\t morning, and as they did not show any signs of improvement their condition caused some alarm and medical aiil was summoned, lj\: Collins, on examining the patients, announced tjiat they had been attacked with ptomaine poisoning. On Wednesday they were reported to be Improving, although Mrs. Lucas. Mr. Lucas, the waitress, and Mr. (iialaro were still confined to their beds, they having been attacked move acutely than Miss Lucas, who was able to get up thai morning. The only probable cause of the ptomaine poisoning is tiiat the sulTerevs on Sunday partook of some fruit salad which contained tinned peaches. They, however, were not the] onlv persons who shared the salad, other i hoarders and waitresses 'navlna some,] but without experiencing any ill-etfects.

Medicines jJJ iinture are always most successful, ttiamljoiiaiji's Conf»h TN'incdy nets on this plan. It allay* ti.e rnujrli,'alils expectoration, relievos Hie lungs, opens the secretions, thereby aiding nature, in throwing off si cold and restoring the system to a healthy condition. Vav sala by all chemists and