LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 163, 4 August 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A sweet pea show is to be held iu Stratford in January next. Messrs. Arthur Cleave and Co., Auckland, intimate that Mr. 15. N. Taylor has no authority to collect any accounts mi their behalf. '•lt's quite evident, your Worship. Here is a petroleum bore being built," said counsel in argument ill the Magistrate's Court yesterday. The Court was too tired to laugh.

The opinion "was expressed by several whuilv councillors at Monday's meeting that it would be a good thing for the whole district if all roads boards wer? abolished and the administration of all the road boards placed under the County Council.

Mr. B. Divo, M.Ri, lias received a telegram from the Hon. R. MeKcnzie, Minister for Public Works, intimating iliat tenders for the Raliotu Post Office are now under consideration. He also says in his wire that he cannot at present lix a date for visiting the district.

I A man named Henry Bourn was brought before Mr. 11. S. Fitzlicrbert, S'.M., yesterday, and lined XI and 7s costs on a charge of alighting from a train in motion at New Plymouth station on Monday. Ife was also charged with drunkenness, and was Mnvicted and discharged. "What privilege does a member of the Society get for his pound membership fee?" asked a member of the Agricultural Society's committee last night, "lie can lake two ladies to the show." joined several voices. "And if I took two ladies there'd probably he trouble at home," mourned the original questioner, amidst peals of laughter. A combined committee meeting of the W.C.T.U. and other societies was held last evening to make preliminary arrangements for the visit to New Plymouth of Mrs. K. L. Stevenson, the representative of the world's W.C.T.U. and a woman of considerable mental culture and platform ability. The date of the meeting will bo announced later. For Chronic Chest Complaints, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, la 6<l and 2s 3d. . - -■ - ..

It is estimated that at tlio reduced press cable rates, Sir (Joseph Ward's 6peech, published in .Monday's issue, must have cost the Press Association about £SO. At Haivera on Saturday afternoon Mr. W. Cowern submitted to auction on behalf of the trustees in the estate of the late Mr, G. Gower 340 acres of land near 'Patca. Mr. Cowern said the land was held under the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act, 1892, at a rental of 5s per acre with improvements protected. A bid of £ISOO was made for the property, which was passed in. In the S.M. Court yesterday judg-

mcnt by default was entered in the following cases:—New Plymouth Harbor Board v. ,1. Ritson, claim £1 17s 9d, and costs ss; Weston and Weston v. L. W. Jelfries, claim £lO 15s and costs £1

2s; Soutliam Bros, v. Thos. Kendall, claim £1 los and costs os; S. L. Humphries and Co. v. J. J. Gilbert, claim £3 and costs lis; same v. Alf. Drake, claim £26 13s, and costs £1 10s. Extremes of heat and cold which no animal life could resist seem incapable of all'ecting the vitality of seeds, said Dr. F. Blaekman at the Royal Institution. Theoretically tlicy seem to be immortal. Exposure to the heat of boiling water or to 200deg. of cold do not take away their power of germination. Soaking them in ammonia or corrosive sublimate does not afl'cct it. Three of ten seeds eighty-seven years old have been found by Dr. Beequerel to be capable of germinating. Mr. T. M. Wilford, chairman of th*

Wellington Harbor Board, who went to Auckland in connection with the departure by the Kaikoura of ills. Wilford and Master Wilford for London, stated in an interview that, owing to the greater facilities at Wellington, that port will shortly capture the wool trade from Napier and Taranaki and up the Main Trunk -to within 200 miles of Auckland. Mr. Wilford is evidently unaware th.it ocean liners will before long load and discharge cargo at the New Plymouth breakwater. . A hard-headed county council on Monday decided that farmers carting gravel for the purpose of concreting their yards must pay the usual traffic levies. Councillors were sensible of the fact that the fanners themselves, by their rates, paid most for the upkeep of the roads, and that they had some justification for claiming exemption. But it was pointed out that to make such exemptions as these would establish a dangerous precedent, and the Council would find it very hard to collect if they made "fish of one and iflesh of another."

Mr. E. Clifton, Director of State Experimental Farms, has written to the Taranaki Agricultural Society acceding to thsir request that Mr. F. Gillanders, manager of the Momahaki Experimental Farm, should be allowed to give a lecture in New Plymouth, and stating that that gentleman would come up at libout 24th August.—lt was decided to hold tile lecture in the Town Hall between the 24th and 31st instant, and it will be suggested to Mr. Gillanders (o deal with the subject of manuring root crops, in view of the winter show.

The Wellington Citizen, in an article dealing with the native land question, *ays: "livery foot of soil occupied by the white settler to-day has been paid for in hard cash." That will come as news to many of the Citizen's readers (says the Eltham Argus). We think we know of cases in which -the land was paid for in sugar, 'blankets, tobacco, and iuiu—particularly runt. And we think we have heard of cases where the Maoris were treated to drunken orgies in order to bring about a transfer of land ownership; and without these drunken orgies the transfer could not have been effected, lite pages of this Dominion's ollicial records are nut altogether silent on the subject of how some Maori land deals have 'been effected. The Agricultural Society discussed last night a proposal to drop the home industries section at the spring show, and lay themselves out for a big display at the winter show. The meeting seemed almost unanimous on the point, until Mr. Gilbert stemmed the tide and urged that it would be good business on the part of the Society to develop rather than abandon the section and to include a. school section. It was pointed out, however, that the home industries had never been a success, and that the Society had no proper accommodation for the exhibits. To test the feeling of the meeting Mr. H. Okey moved, and Mr. I' 1 . Watson seconded, that the home industries section be deleted from the spring show schedule and relegated to the winter show. The motion was carried.

At tlie County Council meeting on Monday Cr. Hill remarked upon illitcrals in the typewritten copies of foremen's reports supplied to councillors. As cases in point, he said that "Tapuae" was spelled "Tapanui," and "Hurford" as "Hereford." The chairman took the protest seriously, and informed the councillor that if he wanted a thoroughly expert typewriter "straight off,' the Council would have to pay a lot more than it was paving now for clerical assistance. The clerk K aid be usually scanned the foremen's reports before his assistant copied them, but this time or two had been copied almost verbatim. Cr. Stevens said the Council didn't stipulate that the foremen should pass a sixLh standard examination. Tlie chairman remarked that doubtless some oi the councillors themselves wouldn't spell "Tapuae" correctly at, the first shot. Cr. Andrews retorted, amidst laughter: "Any of the councilors ought i to be able to spell it." Poor old Tapuael

Spcakiug at the Fanners' L T 7iion Confeienee with respect to native lands and (taxation, Mr. K. Maxwell (Taraiuiki) said that in his district the native lands had ibeen an absolute curse to the other settlers, and the greatest curse of all to the native race. (Applause.) He referred to the manner in which Maori lands had 'been overrun with ragwort, blackberry, or gorse, urging that though leserved for the beueiit of the natives, they had become absolute wa6te in every way. They also retarded beneficial settlement, so that the only course open was for the Government to take them over as suggested in the resolution. I hey should go straight at it, and leave the lndividualisation until after. (Applause.) lill that was done he was satisfied that there "would be no solution of the Maori land difficulty. Such areas should be considered as a vast and absolutely useless estate, and treated ac-cordingly.—-'The Maoris are hardly to blame for what has occurred in connection with reserves," said the chairman. —do not blame them altogether," said Mr. Maxwell, '"but I do blame the authorities "

I Inis a correspondent in the Stratford I'osl: "Out beyond the reach of metal ronils there is a settlement that is a settlement that is worthy of more notice than it lias as yet received—the Upper l'liniwhakiiu, which has been settled by a class of pioneers that for indomitable- pluck, industry, lon"-sun'cr-r.ig, and foresight cannot lie outrivalled. This, country in its original sliitc was lather unpromising. Covered as it -was in dense bush and roadless, it. required a stout-hearted individual to attempt the task of -breaking it in; hut it has been done, and done well, although the amount of hard work and suffering, both mentally und physically, and the General hardships that the settlers had"to "o through in the meantime, no tradesman or professional man in the town can rmagme. The principal settlers are Messrs. Nash (3), flodkin (2), and T.. Hastie. Their holdings range from 000 to 2500 neves, and now that the bush has been felled and a fire or two gone' over the clearings, the country looks splendid. It is undoubtedly ycrv fertile, and with its mild climate the grassi grows all the year round. The district has already proved itself to be idem I sheep country, and suitable either fori breeding or fattening, ft carries from 2'/3 to 3 sheep to the acre, and the' sheep to lie seen depasturing there at) tlie present time would be a credit to any I country." I

A remarkable recovery has been mads by the man, Joliu Giimore, who met with a serious bush accident near Ohura. In spite of the loss of nearly half an ounce of brain substance, and the fact that the operation was performed in a. lent by candlelight, Gilmore was able to walk outside on the 10th day after the accident, and on the 25th day he walked r -".-ly two miles. He is also mentalh iimd.

A sensational assault upon a respectable young woman on Wednesday evening hist has formed the subject of conversation in Blenheim during the past day or two. This young lady was proceeding to her home, after spending the evening with friends, and upon reaching a lonely spot was attacked by a ruilian who threw her to the ground. I Happily a resident ill the neighborhood interfered, but the girl was very much knocked about, and was in a hysterical condition when rescued. Her assailant was pursued, but managed to escape. The girl secured his cap, which forms an important clue to his identity. It is suggested that a detective should 'be sent to endeavor to sheet home the offence to the guilty party. The local police arrested a man on suspicion, and then asked the Bench to discharge him without a stain on his character.

A pathetic story concerning one of Petone's erstwhile unemployed is told by the Chronicle. The mini was given work with a dozen others on the railway duplication, and it was noticed that he did not keep pace with his mates in the quantity ol' work done. When dinner-time en me the man went oil' by himself instead ot congregating with'the others, as is generally the

way. The afternoon showed the same willingness to work, with the same evident weakness of the flesh that marked the morning's labor, but the overseer said nothing. The worker was back at his task again in the morning, and m striving to do his best caused blood to llow from his hands. At 12 o'clock he again absented himself from the dinner party, and this time the fact was more freely commented upon. It was decided to speak to the strange one, ■ who, afte r much hesitation, explained that during the two days lie had not eaten for the simple reason that heliad not the wherewithal to provide the food. It was also gathered that the man's wife had only lately presented him with twins, and that the housc'hold's smnll supply of cash was used for the patients' needs. With one accord, the men on the railway "passed round the hat" and collected several .pounds to show their appreciation of their comrade's unselfish devotion.