LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 167, 9 August 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a meeting of the Taranaki veterans on Saturday it was decided to celebrate the fiftieth jinnivi ■: mit of till battle of Waireka i.i .wucii next. On the motion of .Mr. Quilliani (Govelt and (Juilliam), probate of the lute Matilda Parkin lias been granted by the Supreme Court to Tom Parkin, the executor named in (lie will.

Tile Taranaki branch of the Veterans' Association has now a membership 'ot hS, of whom over UO were linancial .t (lie <-'(ise of tll t , linancial year. The secretary considers every suoscriptior. collectable upon application.

The unveiling and dedication of a picture uf the late licv. W. Jinlhud, lirst vicar of St. .Mary's Church, New Plymouth, look place at the church yester■dav in the presence of a large number of'children and adults* A special children's service was held, (lie vicar (Itcv. F. (i.Kvans) presiding, lie look for hi. .text I lie words, "Though dead he yet sjii-uki-ih," and referred in the course of iiu appropriate and interesting address ;o the fact of the He v. Holland having star'kd (he .Sunday school of which the children" present were members. He called upon Mrs..Skinner, senr,, a conirinpuiury of and worker under the .licv. Holland, to unveil the picture, which was temporarily hung at the western end of the .building, and will be transferred later lo the vestry. Several old settlers who were present declared the pietieslo be a faithful likeness of Taranaki's first vicar.

Devotees of t'lif royal game of golf iiad a littlu unusual diversion on the Ngamolu links on Saturday, when a well-known resident, svlio is -.i motorist | as well as a golfer, treated the onlookI its lei an exhibition of his ability to I play a hole—with his ear. For some !' unexplained reason the-tar refused when Vailed on to move, and all tile exertions ■= i its driver were for a time quite disregarded. Suddenly, however, and IwI'.Te its owner had time to grasp tiie situation, or the levers, it set oft at (up speed on a round of the links, dashing down the hill behind the pavilion. A' young lady occupant made a jump fur' safety, and landed unharmed, but ear anil dtiier buried themselves in the swamp at the foot .of the declivity. Tne exertions of the united golfers 'were later sull'icicntr to mt'Ui'e the ear from iti ignominious predicament, but not to get it up the hill, at the foot of whic'i it had perforce to remain,. j

I Tin l quick results of Chamberlain's Tablets in the cure of f.iliousncss ami prompt relief of all its bad symptoms i- tiiicqiiallt'tl liy :uiy other medicine. They cleanse the stomach, clear out anil gently stimulate the liver, drive away every symptom of pain, dis- > ires-, and discomfort. For sale by all i clifjnisU and storekeepers. It's most oonsolinjr, when you're ill, To iiiink ajtunfc the doctor's bill, And add mil" ihc time,you've lost, i The money his attendance -cost; ' .And realise 'twas the lack ofvsense That caused you all the great expense, Because when first your chest got ivheezy, Woods' Peppermint Cure would have iuad« things easy. .. a I

Something over :12,.~)00 acres of Crown lands will be opened for sale or selection iluring the present inontli. They com'

prise areas in Auckland, Hawke's Bay, Turanaki, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. The reported gold lind at Happy Valley, which is being worked by a Wellington* syndicate, is not showing the iromiso how that it did a couple of J weeks ago. The locality is being ex- 1: plored thoroughly, but the impression 1 is gaining ground that the gold foir.id i in the first instance was only in one t good patch. "We are all looking anxiously forward to the return of Sir Joseph Ward/' , said Captain Marshall at the Civil SerI vice Rifles' smoke concert ill Wellington. "We expect important changes as 1 far as volunteering is concerned, and we are awaiting the scheme which Sir Joseph expects to perfect and lay before Parliament this year." One or two cases of clever pocketpicking have been reported to. the Wellington police during the past few weeks'. : About a fortnight ago, Mr. Henry New- > ion, a resident of I'ictou, was "relieved'' ;of £3 at the Opera House. It appears 1 that while he was edging his way among the crowd along a passage-way, he felt n hand being put into his pocket. Mr. ■ Newton seized the man whom he sus- . pected, but was unable to detain him. i The moving picture business is uvi- , dently of a highly lucrative order. Au income-tax record /for New Zealand is ' constituted by the West Proprietary's 3 payment of clues <m a profit of £11,1)00 - returned from a season of eight mouths. Owing to further retrenchment on the « part of the Government, some fifty men „ employed as rabbitei's in the ltotorua, Taupo, Waiotapu, and Galatea districts => were discharged lust week (reports the Rotorua Times).

A curious phenomenon was witnessed the othe r morning at New Brighton. Beyond the breakers for about a' mile the sea was as smooth, as a mill-pond, with scarcely a ripple on the surface. Further out,' however, the sea was rolling and breaking even more than it i-as on the bcacli, and the white foam.vested rollers were distinctly visible from the sands, presenting a strange contrast to the peaceful calm inshore. The unusual condition was supposed to be due to a strong cross-current. Xo man is a liero to his valet j New Zealand is Sir Joseph Ward's valet, and does not think 100 well of him. But hi London Sir Joseph is indeed a hero, sits on high between Mr. Asquith and Mr. Balfour, and is covered with glory and honor. London is the .Mecca of colonial Premiers; they serve, but do not love, the democratic territories to which they belong. As soon as they eat their peck —or shall we say two pecks—of dirt, they long to get away from the land ol their alleged choice to the laud of their real choice. Given a colonial Prime Minister with a siillieieait income, a title, and the run of London, and he will live like a lighting cock and die happy in that ho is far away from the land of his adoption ami has no longer to hold a candle to the Radicals'. —Wairarapa Daily News. «"* In .tin. North -American Review for April, Mr. Windmuller predicts that before long reinforced concrete will supersede timber as building material. llj states that some of the linest villas were built of concrete in Buenos Ayres in Argentina. A great part of San Francisco has been rebuilt of reinforced concrete. Passenger barges of concrete ply on the rivers of France and Italy. Small dwellings of concrete have proven to be 1 too expensive thus' far, but Mr. Ldison i.nd others are making experiments which, if successful, will bring the cost ol a good concrete snhurbiiTi home within reach of the poor. Should they not kiicceed, American ingenuity must find some other substitute for timber. Without systematic efforts to cultivate suitable forest trees on a large scale, building tim'ber -will soon be too expensive for a poor man's home.

A growing, Imt little known, export from >"e\v Zealand is scrap iron. It is taken by China to a very large^extent and the port to which it is consigned is Shanghai. From Wellington alone 100 tons have been exported during the past three months. The iron pays' two freights, however—namely. New Zealand to Sydney, anil Sydney to ShanghaiIn all .£-2 per ton. Direct, shipment between New Zealand and the Ear East would, of course, mean a slihstnntial reduction in freights, leading, it is believed, to an improvement in the volume of trade, which is slowly but steadily growing between New Zealand and China and Japan. Xew Zealand is now able to participate in the benefits of the subsidies paid liv both Victoria and New South Wales (iovcrninrats to the E. and A. line to call at Shanghai, .and take freight there nn practically the same basis as to Hongkong. At the meeting of the Taranaki Acclimatisation Sncictv Council it was decided to order thirty brace of pheasants. The oiler of a gentleman in the district to take care of several brace and rear voung birds was accepted. It w.a agreed that the balance of the fish in the ponds be liberated in the strains between New I'lvmnuth and Opunake It was rcpurt-.il that a sawmill near Opunake was allowing its sawdust to enter a tributary of the Taungatara river, and I lie secretary was instructed to lake 111? necessary steps to secure the abatement of tie nuisance, which is contrnrv to law. Subject to the approval of the Pnkckiirn Park trustees two new ponds will be constructed in the park. It was decided to order 4(1.0(10 trout fry, 30.1100 of which will be sent to the Nc.v I'lvmonth pond* and 10,000 to the ponds to' be built at Tariki. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Wiggs for his services' in preparing plans for the hatchery.