LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 90, 12 May 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the Omata ratepavers' meeting on Monday evening the most ardent opponent ot the toll-gate system was the only motor car owner in' the room. Over two hundred people, bailing from all part, of New Zealand, visited Messrs Bros.' beautiful "Aotea" s'. week. 'I hey were unanimous in its praise. - The annual meeting <,l the New Zealand Chess Association, held at Wellington, decided to hold the next championship congress at Auckland during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Jfc was reported there wore now 13 clubs affiliated. Mr. A. tl. Ml has been r:elected secretary. At a banquet to the lion. Thomas Mackenzie at the Catling (Otago) II r Malcolm, M.P., was called upon to make a speech, and he convulsed those present by stating that "lie did not suppose he would have been invited to tile banquet had he not become a celebrity throii"h being present at Amy, Bock's 'wedding." Ihe 'tsoft' weather Iras found the soft patches in the r ouds, and road fortmen and surfacemen are busy "patching. A patched -road is a horror at any time, but without patching it would soon be a bog. Cyclists and others who in their ignorance rail at local bodies lor spreading xliarp stones upon the favorite scorching track should make a note of tins. In the S.M. Court yestcrdav, before Mr. If. S. Eitzhcrbert, S.M., judgment by default was' given in the ease of Maudwh and Standish v. 1,. E. and M. 31 , ,,|ul ' «•'«"» c:l 7» lid, and 10s costs. In the case. Laura I'uckridge v C Southcombe, for Ids, f|,e balance of nursing f,, 0 . judgment was given for the plaintiff, with I "2s cost*, fn a judgment summons. Dr. E. A. Walker v! William lifvell. all order was made for the navinenl m the full amount of CZ Is claimed. 111 default a week's imprisonment, the order to be suspended s o long as the defendant pays His .per month. A parent at Xapier, whose rtawnter under sixteen years, disobeyed him bv K'Hiig out in the evenings relieved his exasperated feelings by kicking the »irl. Ih,. .Magistrate told 'aim that it hadnot been proved that the girl had been caused unnecessary suffering, and tile , case ,must therefore be dismissed, but, nt the same time, he wished to say tiiat , Ihe police did quite right ill bringing ; t '"'fore the as the'methods adopted by the falher were not proper. Parents should know that although such acts ! might not cause permanent injury or 1 harm, they were degrading, both to the ' parent and tile child.

Complaints were made in various (juarters recently of the rale at which immigrants were ljeiTijr imported into V'lv Zealand at a time when how to live coinfortaldy was a puzzle I'or irgood many colonial-liorn workers. Tin. tables have lieen turned, however, for ill the month ol .March the coimtrv lost 1438 ""its of population through arrivals falling short of tile liumher of departures. There was a gain of 25!) souls 111 tlie t nidie from the Old Coimtrv, hut whereas 4147 departed for Victoria, Xcv South Wales and Ta.smauia. onlv »4(!» ■ arrived from tho-e States'. In the eoi" responding month of last year the Do-' million lost lilt! ]>y the vxee.ss of cnii«:u-1 tion over immigration. "

llead the lleilwmne's j || s | j f| j good bools: lien's stroajt slimitm. 7s (id: youths' lis 11,1; Muellers. 4s lid', 5lid: women's jr nm boots, JOs 1 Oil • I women's dairv hoots. special line. 10s (idchildren's strong school hoots, js lid t'i 7s (id; men's chronic link !l s 'fitf, m s o.] (id: nien',s liox-cnlf, willow ? a lf n ,„i fflace kid weltvd Ikk.ls, llis !M pair; mens extra -Iron;; kip Haterliuliu ].[s i (id; ladie«' sliou,', ,( s lid In' I* '"I'V ''""""S "I'*: 7s (id. i Ids (id.—Advt.

For Tnflncnza take Woods' Groat Peppermint Cure. Never fails, 1/8 and

The number of co operative worke.'S at present engaged on- the StratfordOngarue railway is 520. Tlie subject for debate at the next meeting of the New Plymouth Clubs - Debating Society on the 25th hist, will be: "Whether or not it is in (lie best interests of the community that ltugby football, as a national pastime, should be fostered." A most interesting evening was spent at the New Plymouth Club rooms last evening, when tlie question, '"Was Sir e Joseph Ward's action in offering a Dreadnought to the Mother Country a correct one or otherwise?" was debat- j ed. Both sides were well discussed, and some interesting arguments adduced. J There was a large attendance of memhers, his Worship the Mayor (president of the Club) being in the chair. At the J conclusion of the debate it was' decided ' to hold another on Tuesday, the 25th

inst. J •Mr. W. T. Railev, of Kltliam, recently paid a visit to several towns 011 tlie 1 •Main Trunk line, his object principally being to have' a look at the country there, lie did so and is far from being ( impressed with it. He visited one farm and was shown a few articles of jiroduce grown there. In his opinion they were very inferior article's. 11 is opinion regarding tlie value of land there compared with Taranaki, mav be summed up in his own words; "1 would far rather give i'JO per acre for land round here than .CO where 1 visited."—Argus. Mr. R. C. Bruce, who is usually regarded in tlie Itangitflcci district as being " agin' the Government," adopted an unexpected vein of eulogy at tlie Fanners' Union banquet at Palmerston North. He said the present (lovernnient was the best since Sir Ibirry Atkinson left the benches, lie eulogised the Premier, and said tliat if his colleagues could only keep the brake upon his tendency to expenditure, and the Premier would only refuse to appoint any more inspectors they could look forward with confidence to tlie next three years'. (Laughter). A tragedy is told ill a paragraph in Wednesday's Masterton Times : Mr Tom Harp some ten years ago took up land on the Main Trunk line at lvanori, a small settlement a short distance front Ohakune. It was densely timbered, with hardly 100111 to put up a shanty, but Mr Harp toiled with herculean perseverance day and night, aided in the darkness by slush lamps, till lie had cleared a fairly larg.: part of the laud, As time went on his pluck and energy told, and he was at last in the happy position of knowing he was independent. During this strenuous toil lie developed liright's disease, audi this grew worse and worse. Last week he gfew so bad that he determined to-conic lo his old home iu Carterton, lie did so, and on arriving went, straight to bed. On Friday lie appeared somewhat better, but oil the following Saturday and succeeding days he gradually sank till this morning at 8 o'clock he passed peacefully away. Any girl who wants something to do and is in doubt as to what career to take up, should read the splendid articles in the April and May numbers of the New Idea 011 kindergartening. In the May issue that lies before us, the work of the teacher of children by this method is very clearly described. The header is told, too, how to set aboat being a kindergarten teacher, and the salaries that may be earned. The contact with the children seems to train ilie teacher as much as she trains her pupils, and the work is described as fascinating. There is something in the education of the very young that appeals to the mother-instinct in woman, and a girl who wishes' to take up this charming career should not fail to buy the April and May issues of the NewIdea (Oil each). No woman could fail to be pleased at her purchase wiio spends sixpence 011 the current issue <<i this excellent Australasian magazine. Not frequently do litigants have such a real good "go" as was seen in the S.M. Court yesterday morning. A lady plaintiff' was uing for 10s, and a witness 011 the other side was also of the fair sex, These two had, it appeared from the defendant's evidence, struck a bargain that the plaintiff, a nurse, would attend the other for eight or nine days For ,t!2. The plaintiff said tlie arrangement was for £2 per week, and thus chiitued £2 10s. In the mutual recriminations, during the progress of which' the presiding Magistrate vainly endeavored to put in a word edgeways, the plaintiff claimed to'have done the washing, a thing she never bargained for, and sundry other minor works; whilst the lady of the house alleged ig riorance of certain phases of the illness. Then the bailiff's warning finger and a more vigorous interruption on the part of the Magistrate silenced (lie pair—for a time. The climax came when tire witness was asked why she had not questioned the account when it was lirst rendered. With 1111 air of lofty scorn she asked: "How could f object to it, and me sitting there so ill?'' The. phiintill treated the exclamation with I a contemptuous "humph," and gave up the examination.

_ the fall )lall dinette, rcfviTinn- to New Zealand's Dreadnought offer, savs: —'J he thrill which has penetrated to the remote extremities of tlio Empire in consequence of Mr Asquitii's disclosures is a sufficient answer to the charge that Unionists at Home are guilty ot creating an artificial panic, Mr Balfour's oppoib tuts credit him sometimes with 'the most recondite. and fantastic powers of political influence, hut tile wildest imagination cannot picture liini pulling wires that will produce the oiler of a Dreadnought from New Zealand Or set all Australia and Canada throbbing with anxiety for the Navy. New Zealand's muniiieence is an answer, furthermore, to that wretched class of publicists who have derided the Imperialism of our colonies as a flimsy disguise for the extortion of advantages from the itother Country for which they had 110 thought of making a substantial return. There are members of the 'House of Commons who could well afford to feel black. shame as they listened to the reading! of the telegrams which offered and accepted New Zealand's splendid and gen-1 erous gift, it is an event whieh ought to silence the last of those who asperse the genuine spirit of Imperial unity, and accentuate tile determination of all true Englishmen to let nothing come between them and the Empire's common welfare and securitv.

The concluding night oi the Maskelync and Dcvant season drew a fair audience to Ihe Theatre lloyal last night, when a complete change of programme was presented. Once again ihe programme included marvellous sleight-of-hand feats that mystified the audience, whils't ihe conjurer kept tlieni amused with the constant flow of clever "patter." The usual ribbons. Hags, hats and handkerchiefs were introduced, but they were made to do some unheard of things. Next came -Mr. Maskelyne's mystery, "Elixir Yitae." in which

a beheaded farmer wandering around the stage, with his head tucked under his arm, uttered solemn warningagainst the patronage of quack doctors. Mr. liarelay (Inniimni, the humorist of the company, kept the audience in roa.'s for about half-an-hour. with an excellent musical and monologue entertainment. concluding with an alleged Maori comic sung, fashioned, a* he confessed, from the Maori names in the

'lroveriunent raiFway " time-table. M. Cintaro, tlie Japanese juggling expert, gave a remarkable exhibition."his fml teat, in balancing a tier of small blocks seven or eight feet )ii s h. with a tumbler ol water on the top. evoking rapturous "pplaiKi*. after a couple of minutes of suspense during the preparations. Then followed "Mr*. Daffodil Downey's Nancr, in which the locked einptv ealvinet phi red iU u*uhl prominent pari Ih<» "/manifestations" being given in the mo*t ii:vxplical»!(. fashion; * A London correspondent writes {hat Hon. AV. Ifall-.lones, Tlitfli Connnis«ioner, spoke at the meeting of the Cen--1 I'-'ni.i-M'atioa Board at the residence oj Lord llaversiiam.!), (Jrosvenor Square, lie supported a resolution moved bv M'.rd \\ interton pledging the meeting to Mirther the objects of the "Settlers' Information League," and to encourage British emigrants to proceed to British dominions rather than foreign countries.

High Commissioner said he was ' entirely with those who said it was ' necessary that there should he some judgment exercised with regard to those sent out to the oversea doniin • ; ions, but the work of the Central Emigration Board showed that the of discrimination was not lacking there. Building up a country was like building a house—they required so niueh of each t class of labour. If O jo many workej's ol one class were sent, there was a congestion in that particular trade. Xew Zealand, for instance, could absorb plenty of farm labourers and domestic servants, but h<« could not promise the same opportunities of work to artisans. I lie work of such a society as the Central Immigration Board was an import* <mt link in th<» great work of building; up and consolidating the Empire. It was j work of the utmost; importance, not only I for our time, but for all time. Mr llail--1 -lone. aNo referred to the New Zealand oiler of two Dreadnoughts, and said he was satisfied that the same spirit which animated Now Zealand also existed iu Australia and Canada. Chronic Chest Coniolnii". Woods' Great Pepermint Cure, 1/6 qd4 3/6, ' ]