LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 153, 24 July 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. R. Cock, chairman of the Recreation Grounds Board, acknowledges the leceipt of £1 from Mr. E. P. Webster towards the unemployed fund. In our poultry show report Mr. J. Hurle received the 'credit, for winning the special for the best pigeon of the opposite sex to the champion bird. Mr. W. Boulton was the successful exhibitor.

A meeting of the municipal electric lighting committee was held last night, when extension proposals were considered at some length. The committee decided to shelve the idea for the present.

Mr. Farrcll, manager for Mr. J. G. Williamson's Nellie Stewart tour of the Dominion, wired from Auckland last night thai the box plan in the Northern city had been rushed, and that the booking constituted a record. Nellie Stewart appears in New Plymouth on August 9th.

There was a good attendance of shareholders in the Equitable Building Society last night, Mr. W. N. Ewing presiding, ilr. James Bestford drew the two £l5O appropriations in'the'No. 1 group, and in the No. 2 group Mr. Arthur Morton, of Egmont Village, secured the two appropriations, for the third or fourth time. The winning tender in the first group wa6 £OS for the £3OO.

An interesting sentence in the annual report of the Wellington 'Homing Pigeon Society was as follows:—-'It is gratifying to note that the Government has at last recognised the possibilities of the working- homer for defence purposes, having' made use of over one hundred of our birds at the Easter manoeuvres at Oringi. The arrangements were carried out by the society, the birds being in charge of Messrs. C. Haynes and J. A. Clark. All the messages sent arrived safely."

, Speaking tit a. meeting of dairy delegates at Dannevirk-e, ilr. A. A. McFarlane, chairman of directors of the Bal-

lanee Dairy Company, said that people from his district. had the impression that Dannevirke (Hawke's Bay) existed solely from a milling point of'vicw, and that as soon as the industry was exhausted there would be a serious decline in the town. Up till two months ago he shared that opinion also, but at Ihe rate dairy companies were increasing in the Danneyirke district it would not be long before that district rivalled any of the Taranaki dairy centres.

The secretary of the Poultry Society, with commendable energy, had all "to be returned" exhibits despatched bv yesterday's express train, this feat entailing some hard work until about a couple of hours after midnight. He was assisted by Mr. V. Fitzherbert and Mr. R. Davidson, a member of the committee. .By this means Mr. Hobbs has conferred a boon- on the owners of the birds, for if lie had proceeded in leisurely fnsJiion, packing the birds on lir-iday, the chances are that some of them would not have reached their destinations till late on Saturday evening. The Sew Plymouth High Schoo. Board met on Wednesday, afternoon. Ircsent: Messrs. M. Frasei- (chairman). >.. h. AlaiDiarmid, J. E. Wilson, and E. Dockrill. The secretary was instructed to write to Mr. Hansen, the newly-ap-pointed science master, that the Board would like to consult him a week before ■the date, on which he is to take up his duties, to discuss the arrangements for science teaching. Mr. G. A, Marchant will he asked to act as the Board's arbitrator to assess the rent on Mr. A. .5. Honeyfield's leasc.and that instructions be given to the Board's solicitor to take the necessary steps. Messrs Wilson and MacDiarmid were deputed to order the school prizes, The Board received the report of the boardinghouse, etc, which is given elsewhere.

A well-known New Zealander now resident in England writes to a friend here about the King's Derby, apropos of which he tells an excellent story that has not yet appeared in print. The King, of course, is very popular in England, and the public were almost frantic with joy when his h(- r <e Jiinoru won. When His Majesty led Minora to the paddock, the crowd knew no boundsthey surrounded him, and even patted bun on the back. Reserve and dignity alike were thrown to the winds, and one 111,11 actually, after patting him on the back, Mij,] to hi„ 1: "Well done, I eddy; you ve won the Derby, now turn out your damned Government.'' This, adds the writer, is an absolute fact, and the King related the story nt the Jockey Olii'ii dinner in the evening. Christchurch Press, I

•A pleasant time was spent in the Holland Hall on Thursday evening, when a first-class entertainment was given by the pupils of the Sacred Heart High .School and the pupils of St. Joseph's Schoo'l combined in honor of Dean Alcßcnna and Father Macmanus on the annual recurrence of their feast day. The hall was tastefully decorated for the ocacsion and fairly' well filled with parents and friends of the children. Before the entertainment was commenced a suitable address of congratulations io the priests was read by Miss Gertrude Hearn, and presentations to Dean Me Kenan and Father Macmanus made. The Dean, in returning thanks, referred to the careful, training the pupils must have.received from the Sisters as evidenced by the faultless rendering of every item on the long and varied programme. The singing was sweet and tuneful, the recitations splendid and the movements in drill pieces graceful. Where all was so fine it is hardly fair to individualise, but an item contributed by the babies was so amusing that it deserves special mention, though to be appreciated fully should be' seen and heard. The little mites declared "we have heard enough of women's rights and it was time some attention was given to babies' wrongs." They enumerated a number of imaginary grievances (the details of lyhich would scarcely bear repetition), in so forcible a manner that the large audience loudly aprlauded. The pleasant time ' was brought to a close by „ feast of lollies, after which all dispersed thoroughly satisfied, amused and edified by the performance given by the young folks, reflecting, as it did, the* highest credit upon the training they received from the devoted and self-sacrificing sisterrood in charge of both schools

When, the Melbourne savs "sale," it IS sale, and there's no fooling. Oan•ic Boot, Shoe and Simper Sale noviTon. Every line reduced. Read these prices. Men's Blueher's, 4s 8d; youths.* shooters, Ik 0d; men's shooters, 7s 3d: men's heavy chrome shooters, 12s (id; men's heavy kip watertights, 13s od;' men's chrome %I.niorals, 0s Od; men's celebrated welted hoots, Id's. Hundreds of otW bargains.—Advl. Just arrived", ut DockrfTl's, Devon street Central,, New Plymouth, an in■'"nt of Alton's famous gents'hoots, also G. and J. Clarke's superior ladies' boots and Bhots. In stock, a large assortment of the best ladies', gents', and children'! colonial hoots and shoes by reliable »mkors. All the above are offered to Hie public ti prices that can't be beaten vi | < Si' „~*

Promissory notes, like the proverbis chicken or citric, hav,c a knock o sooner or later coming home to roosl 'but it ds seldom that one payable 01 demand takes so long in coming up fo payment as one- which arrived from Ne; ■Zealand last week (states the Kydne, Daily Telegraph). It was very usuo many yearn ago for the various agent of liquors, etc., to place here and ther a note promising to pay £1 when prt sentod, these being secreted in the caf sules or behind the labels. Wolfe' Schnapps agents, however, state tha they stopped' this practice about te: years ago, but nevertheless on Honda; last, in a letter from Mastcrton, Ne\ Zealand, was one of their notes date 1800, or nineteen years ago. As onl, the name and address of the sender ai companied the note, the romance o how it came to light after so many year must be left to the imagination. A good deal has been heard abou the prosperity of Queensland and th great increase in land values that ha taken place there. The picture has evi dently two sides, as a quotation from . letter received by a business man ii Ashlburton and published in the Guard ian will show. The writer is an approv ed valuator, and refers to city propert; in Townsville, which is regarded as on of the most go-ahead towns in Queens land. He says: "There is no improve ment in the values of land. The muni cipal valuation was completely upsel and a new valuation was.ordered b; the Council. At the Appeal Court was successful in getting a.property ii Flinders street reduced from £ISOO t' £IOOO. This property, which has : two-storey building on it, is situate; in the best part of the business centrt and was once valued.at £3200. An ad joining property, which used to be vo lued at £I6OO, "is no wassessed at £BOC or £2O per foot. This," adds thewritei "will give you an idea of how propert; bas depreciated in Townsville." In 1907 Great Britain exported 85 000,000 tons of coal, which was 32 pe L-cnt. of the total production. German; exported 27,000,000 tons, or 13 per cent of the total, and the United States ex ported 13,000,000 tons. British eolonie rent out between them 7,500,000 tons whilst Japan exported 2,500,000 tons Belgium, witfh its comparatively sma] output, exported 6,500,000 tons, whid amounted to 28 per cent, of its outpui or nearly the same as Great Britaii ilthough Belgium imported a quantit, of coal which nearly balanced the es port. Dr. R. T. Moore, in hi 6 presi lentiat address to the Institute of Min mg Engineers, pointed out that if th rivoduction of coal went on at the mai vellous rate of increase that it had dui ingthe'last thirty years, then the proba jility was that the world's supply wouh be exhausted within the next five hur :lred years. We were frequently pre ■ented with alarmist pictures of Grea Britain with- its coal supply exhaustet But even assuming that the supply wa worked out in even three hundred yean ivho would say what the .position wouli be then! Three hundred years henc we might be getting our coal from China or, what was even . more likely, w should not be burning coal at all, d* riving our lieat directly from the sun. A resident of Mastcrton (Mr. H. Byn of Bannister-street) is the possessor o i horse tint has developed an unusua and startling diet a diet in whic fowls, towels, and apparel take a promi nent part. The horse is a thorougt bred, and was left for a time in the bad yard. Six blouses, a towel, and a pai of trousers were on the clothes-line, an on these the horse commenced to mak its modest meal. Mrs. Byrn was insid the house, and happened to come ou just in time to see the last blouse dis appearing, and her surprise may b better imagined than described. Bu there was worse to follow. The aninia now turned its attention to the fowif and' without much difficulty succeeded i: catching one. Meantime Mrs. Byrn ha called out her son, and together the; watched the unusual and remarkab! gastronomic performance. The lliors first dashed the fowl about until lifi was extinct, and then commenced to de vour it with evident relish. Feathers legs, head, and all disappeared in an in credibly short space of time, to tin imazement of those who were looking on. Now the question arises, will the iiorse stop'at fowls? Might not its carnivorous appetite also tempt it to manifest abnormal tendencies,in other directions? At any rate, Mr. Byrn is not taking any risks, and intends to see that children are kept out of the aniual's way in future.

Speaking at Dunedin the' other night, Dr. Findlay stated that in England, during tho last forty years, the agricultural population had been 50 per cent., while the town and city population had increased to 75 per cent, iif the whole nation. Thus inymense masses'.of men were congested in the cities—subject as far as employment was concerned to all the' dislocations, depressions, and changes whioh took place in tlie great industries and other city callings. During the last ten years the people of New Zealand had shown a distinct tendency to move to the towns and cities. This drift was largely responsible for unemployment, and the Government must set itself to check it with all the resources open to tire State. Every landless man started on a farm under the Land for Settlement schemo or under the Land Acts was placed beyond the evil of unemployment. Denmark resolutely attacked this exodus by her land policy of close settlement, and not only checked it, but had turned back the current from the cities to the country. If Denmark could do this under all her disadvantages, surely New Zealand could do it with all her advantages. The State already employed between 8000 and 9000 co-operative laborers, and to them was paying some, thing like £OOO.OOO per year'. The development of the i country demanded their labor, but that huge number could not be so employed for ever.