LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 112, 9 June 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

P. R. Wilkinson, land agent, Hawera has filed a petition in bankruptcy. ' The re-hearing of the case Wake v. Callow was expected to have created some " cpoy." But tile amount claimed has been paid into court. The testimonial to Sir Joseph Ward in approval of his action regarding the Dreadnought offer is to be presented at larlianient Buildings to-night at 7.30. The memorial stone of the Bov's Home being erected at Eltliam by Envoy Jenkins, as a gift to tlje Salvation Army, at a coat of about £4001), was hud on Monday by the Mayor of Klthain. Local bodies are to be circularised l>y the laranaki County Council nskmg them to urge on the Uowrnment the necessity for passing the Model By-Laws into law during tile ensuing session of Parliament. A co'llwion between a motor car and a buggy occurred on the hill at ifenui about six o'clock last evening, with the result that one iwlieel of the bu""v was »m»*hed and the front of the car' damaged. the oeciipamtti of neither convevance were jnjured, A blight, which is rapid in its ravages has caused considerable 'destruction*to cabbage and cauliflower crops in Alanaia gardens this year. The leaves first, turn yellow and then the heads drop oil". A ■local resident has lost a splendid crop or cauliflower in this way. j-]« never previously had a similar experience.— Witness.

Councillor R. Stevcro is greatly concerned about the safety of the Waiwu kaiho bridge. At tile County Council meeting on Monday he said:'"All our names arc 011 that bridge, and we'll an be looked 011 as bally fools if it tumbles down ' lie referred to the little marble tablets which a proud County Council lad erected 011 tile sides of the structure.

e fliß .Press Association agent at Taijiapetelegraphs that strong resentment is lelt at faihiape and liaetihf "at the '. J 1 ' 1 the district through the sensatioual press heading" regarding the e ea«. of alleged dire distress mentioned - ' v . jUP '> au ™» ">« «t : , .£* M W'rilragton of ithe Timber Com- - otliu aide to. the question. ' . i Hawera is just now feeling • I the ellect of Hie recent tightness in the ' | money market, judging by the number ' ' ha I, liave been recorded. Since the beginning of January no fewer than nine persons have sought the protection of the Bankruptcy Court, wViile It is interesting to note that durin'" the whole of the 12 months for JllQß°only 12 bankruptcies were recorded,—Star. The liliiiral sheep, specimens of which thu Hon. T. Mackenzie proposes to liberate in " some part of the Dominion," is the blue sheep of Tibet. Tile male stands 3 feet high, with noms Irom 24in. to 2(iin. long. J n Tibet the Jfliaral is found in herds' of ten to a hundred 0)1 the high o|ien ground above the forests, and is never at a lesser elevation than 10,000 feet. It will not breed with domestic sheep. The death was announced of Charles Phillips, who is said to have been the heaviest man in Australia, being about 30 stone when in good condition, lie lost 11 stone in weight after a recent illness. Ho was ,a blacksmith at liecciiwortli, Victoria/and worked at liis trade unti| a few years ago, when his everincreasing weiglit interfered with his movements. He. was 57 years of age. Death was due to heart failure. There was a lifief sitting of tile Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, Mr. il. >S, Fitzherbert, S.M., 'presiding. There | were no defended eases. Judgment was entered by default in the following:— Westport Coal Company (Mr. Wright) v. Daniel Bowie, claim' ;t'2 :ls 3d and Ills costs; K Urilfiths and Co. (Air. Quilliam) v. W. 11. Strange, claim *73 ■ lis jlld and .-E3 3s costs; X. King (Mr. Wright) v. A. A. Nelson, claim Oil) 7s 5d and i!l 5s costs, The inventors of the Auckland-built airship, Messrs, Barnard, informed an Auckland Herald representative that the trials on Brown Island had proved satisfactory, considering the crude material iV'itli which they had to work and the unfavorable weather that prevailed. The aeroplane was tilken pp a hill on wheels, anil in one Instance, upon being sent oIF, accomplished n "glide" of 10(1 yards. The inventors hope to complete their experiment within the next two or three weeks. 'lt is learned on excellent authority (states the Dominion) that the Stamp Department is .to Miller submersion : n the wave of rdrenehmerit thai is now welling round tlie Government Departments. The Department has been <'nvried on for many yearn with the lion, •lames Carroll as Minister for Kt>inin Duties and Mr. 0. A. St. (I. Hfc'ksrm (lately retired) as Commissioner of Stamps. Since Mr. Dickson's retirement no commissioner has been appointed, but Mr. P. (!. Cwli<-t, late of Dunedin. lias been shifted to Wellington to take up more responsible duties. N'ow til" Stnmo Department is to lone its identl'iv as a separate entity. The probate business will be taken- over by the .Justice Denartmeut, the deeds registration In- the Ij'ind and Income lliviartnieut, and the sale and distribution of stumps by tlio I Posit and Telegiirph DemWment." It has not vet 'been deftnitelv decided ivlic,, the oliiuiire will he brought r)bout, but it is not expected |o eventuate until tile end of next month. It is unid that within the past forfv vein's onlv one man has ever made sood his escape from Dart-moor prison in England. For Children's Hacking Cough at 'nijrht, Woodf' Great Peppermint Cure;- i

flic ijuarterly meeting of the i'nity i Tcui, I .0.K.. was held in the Foresters | llall last ovc'iiin*;. Tneie was a lair: attendance of members, with the C.U. JJro. Bigelow in the chair. Nominations i were received for the various ollices for the ensuing quarter. A candidate i«r| membership was elected and another proposed. After the routine business of the Tent was concluded, a pleasant time was spent in social intercourse, and refreshments were handed round, after which the Tent was duly closed i»y the O.K.

A meeting of the committee set p | in connection with the Loudon Slum Mis* i sion, presided over by All's, (j. Tisca, was held yesterday afternoon. Arrangements were made for receiving useful articles to be forwarded Home to help the unfortunates of the London slums. Parcels may be left with Mrs. Tiseh, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. McKellar, Miss Devenish, Mrs. A. Ambury, Mrs. H. Okey, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. Guy, Mrs. Whetter, Miss Codder, Mrs. Mclsaac, Mrs. Waugh, Mrs, j Brash, and Mrs. Ambury. Another | meeting of the committee will be held on July Oth.

"There uto about 550,000 dairy cows | in iXew Zealand-," said Mr. J. U. Wilson, president of the Farmers' Union, at the opening of the conference at E'ketahumi. "If we allow 100.000 for domestic use, and tni.ke 400.000 "cows, on every extra lib of butter-fat yielded you realise -in additional 1 £10,006 on the 400.000 cows. Wi'Jli • systematic culling and proper feeding the average in a tew years could Ik; increased by 1001b per cow, and that ■would mean, even if you were to dU- : count "the .figures 1 have given, coiwid- | erably over a million sterling per annum, so that it is, a* 1 say, a much more important matter to the Dominion that dairy dtirmeirs should use these improved methods than .whether chee&e or

butter should be manufactured." Hitherto it lias been the custom fo

motorists to hold themselves up as models in respect of lights on vehicles. They complain bitterly that, whatever their faults in regard to speed, they always observe the rule of the road it) regard to lights, and pride themselves that their brilliant lights can he seen at such a distance as to make the (jossibility of a collision exceedingly rumote. Mr. C. Andrews, a member of the Tainnaki County Council, now complains that unlighted motor-cars travel along the Maiu South Boiul after dark, and are a source of extreme danger to the travelling public generally. He Adda a complaint that the farmers and settlers are no more considerate. The other night lie narrowly escaped colliding with a vehic e I i which was being driven wita only one lamp, and that on the wrong side, whilst immediately behind it came another gig with no lights at nil. The man who drives with a light on the wrong side of his trap is looking for trouble.

Tlie General Manager of Railways, Mr. T. Kona.vne, states that the excellent barometer of the country's prosperity* under his control shown ''set fair." (ieneraHy apeak big, Imsinoiss is brisk on New .Zealand raihvays. 'Die -steep trafIk, now easing oil", was very heavy tixia season, while the llunimii-Bluff lines.' liave Ibeen working at high pressure with the grain trailie. So boiratifal has li'een the Imrvext thill this business will continue to lie heavy for several months. 11l the Xorth Island the opening o'f the Main Trunk has enabled 'tlie Waik'ato coat mines to distribute their .products over a much wider field, with an inevitable expansion of -butdue.s'd. The only dark side of the picture is the timber trade slump, which is keening traffic on the Mam Trunk below the level anticipated, and has reduced haul'age business so' much on the West Co'as-t that the trucks have been shipped from those railways to. be Used in the North Island coal traffic. Three heavy engines of the

'X" arc now .doing good work on the.central section of the Xorth Island Main Trunk lino, and a fourth will soon bo ready.

The Wavcrlcy Branch of the Farmers ■ Union strongly disapproves of the Government's expressed intentions in reference to the Moumahaki Experimental Farm, and at last meeting all present spoke very strongly on the proposed action of tlie Government, condemning it for wasting so much money to bring the farm to its present state of efficiency, merely to set it aside for tiie purpose of reforming prisoners.. Jt was the general opinion of the meeting that prisoners should be put to work on land that had never been under cultivation. A stronger objection was that the prisoners would make very nndesirabr neighbours. The following motion was passed: ''That the Waverley Branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Tnion protests against the Mouniahaki Experimental Farm being turned into a prison reformatory, and in the interests of the farming community of the l)on\inhm, suggest that the farm he converted into a combined agricultural college and experimental station, and that a petition bo opened for the signatures of the settlers in support-of the resolution; that the foregoing be sent to the Minister for' Agriculture and to the members of the districts concerned,"