LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 172, 24 August 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A purebred Shropshire ew e of Mr \V. Rayner, of Taratahi, has given birth to nve lambs. In response to an advertisement in the Post for a real live baby to take part in the comedy "Jane " at the Opera House, no less than 54 mothers applied next morning. As far as can be gathered the prospect in front of tlie sawmillcrs in the U'airarapa is not a particularly bright one. For about three months the trade has been practically at a standstill, and as yet there are not indications of any improvement. Dominion Day (September 20) falls this year on a Sunday, and Cabinet lias lixed that day for its observance. It also expresses a wish that volunteer church parades will be held. On a Sunday ! Another injustice to the Civil Servant—depriving iiini of a holiday.

The Maoris at Mataroa beach, near Waihi, captured alive a curious sort ol amphibious animal evidently not a walrus, sea lion, or seal. It is lift long, has Una and legs, chiws on its feet, and a head like a sheep. Since its- capture it has fed ill the paddock. Tlie -Maoris are oH'cring it for sale.

The Eginont Lodge (No. 112) 1.0.1i.T. held their usual weeklv meeting in SI. -Mary's Hall last night'. The CX, Uro. G. 11. llarhiell, presided. One new member was proposed and two initialed. The attendance was large. The programme consisted of impromptu speeches and several subjects were discussed. A grandfather of eighty, a son ol lifty, and a grand-daughler of twenty, whose birthdays all fall on the same date every year, supplies an instance not often met with. Yd, at Levin, rcceatly, the son and daughter kept up their birthdays, and, though grandpa was not with the party, he was not forgotten. A special meeting of tiie Waitara Borough Council was held on Friday evening, writes our correspondent, to consider tenders for a further supply of 500 yards of metal. All the members were present. The tender of Mr. Oilman at 3s 10(1 per yard was' accepted. The other tenders were Messrs. Paul

and Tate 4s od per yard, and Mr. P. Taylor 4s. The Hope of Egmont Juvenlie Temple

(No. 25) 1.0. G.T. held their weekly meeting last night. The Temple was opened by C.T. Sister T. Connett. There was a good attendance. The programme for the evening was a recitation competition, and the following gave items: Bros. W. Ewing, A. Peppcrill (2), Sisters T. Connett, L. Mcdway, M. Connett, and A. Kcid. Bro. X. Hundley gave a read-

"The population of Xew Zealand had doubled in the last twenty-three years, remarked the Hon. W. D. Buddo to a deputation a few days ago, "and there is a prospect of an immense increase in our population in the next twenty-three years. Therefore, let municipal authorities take steps now to maintain sanitary conditions in their districts. Let them look ahead wisely, and not act only when the population has come." A good deal of discussion took place at the meeting of the Manawatu A. and P. Association on the question of

the examination of stallions and brood mares by veterinary surgeons before prizes were awarded. A motion on tlie subject by Mr. Rue was refused by the chairman on the ground that brood mares could not be included, but a motion by Mr. Wood that "the rule regarding inspection be put into force and that a Government inspector be asked for," was carried. Most people think the haka a Maori war-dance. It is not s», audi ding to Dr. Hack, in bis lecture to the garrison officers iu Wellington on Thursday night last. The haka is only a ceremonial dance of welcome or honor to visitors. Tlie war-dance was always accompanied with weapons, first with spears and later with guns. The whole secret of .Maori dancing was rythm, rythm, rvthm. When a wt'lltrained squadron was performing the war-dance, and with one accord leapt into the air, it was possible to see clear space under the whole papu.

The unfortunate Chinese who were caught indulging in their favorite "smoke" a few weeks ago have now been dealt with. The Magistrate, Mr. il. S. Fitzherbert, gave his reserved decision yesterday morning, convicting Charles Wong See (Gan Fun) and Joe Wah. and lining them £IOO for smoking opium, reducing the tines to £25 each. Joe Wah's costs amounted to £7 7s 6d. and Wong See's £4 2s 3d. The remaining charges against the two Chinese were withdrawn. Mr. T. S. Weston prosecuted on behalf of the Customs Department. Mr. D. Hutchen defended Wong See. and Mr. A. 11. Johnstone appeared for Joe Wah.

The committer of the Taranaki Poultry Society intends making an effort to "get square." At present the committee is faced with big liabilities standing over from previous vcars. hill the committee will try to wipe out the deficit without waiting for the annual show, which usually requires ail its own earnings to pay its way. As part of the financing scheme members will be asked to pay their subscriptions now, instead of paying them just about show-time. Apart from that source of revenue the committee will probably initiate a fewsocial entertainments, or something of that kind. The first meeting of the committee will be held on Wednesday, Ist prox.

Half-page advertisements published in Xew- York recently described the delights of aviation and the desirability of buying a practical aeroplane, ready for delivery within forty days (says tne Daily Telegraph's correspondent). The price is not mentioned. In America over 8000 inventors have llying-maehine

| designs in hand, and several hundred types of machines are actuuly in process of building. The plans for the lii'st airship garage in Xew York—it is on the .summit of a lufty, fashionable hotelhave been- filed. In the meantime, the 'brothers Wright, while expressing the belief that then! is a great future for the aeronautics, announce that they will not sell a machine to anybody unless lie signs in agreement not to lly over cities.

A representative of The Dominion was told recently that llax-millers around Foxton, Palmerston North and Shannon are at present busily engaged making preparations to open their mills I again. Two or three mills have continii--1 od cutting right through the winter, but these are exceptions. Jt is l stated tiiat two, perhaps three, mills will reopen within the next fortnight, and each mill will absorb some twenty-two or twenty-1 three of the unemployed. Several other mills will start again during September, and a large new mill near Levin will op ( .n in October. Life has thus been infused into the industry, owing to f/ie fact

' that tile price of lienip has increased ' by nearly t!2 a ton since it touched bottom some nionlhs ago, and there arc* several buyers in the market at the ad- j vanced figure. Jinquirics made by a Tiniaru reporter I from various ladies at the head of char- . itable and other organisations revealed la sentiment of decided pessimism in regard to the prospects of the future generation. "What the girls of the present day are coming to," one good lady exclaimed. " I am sure 1 don't know. Why, some of them that pass through our home' here cannot even cook a potato !" To the feminine mind nothing possibly could be worse or more hopeless. , The attractiveness of factory life—the freedom, the short hours ami the good] wages—is blamed for lack of knowledge I in the domestic arts disclosed by tin I young women nowadays, and it'is felt | that the fact that parents neglecting to make the homes sufficiently attractive j; is responsible for the late" hours and I, "gadding" that have become so pro-J ■ nounced a characteristic of tin, weaker j.sex during late years. I

I _ lii connection villi ti, o spiritualistic ' demonstrations ««■ Winer given ir. Wellington by diaries liaiicv, the .Mel nourne iiu'iliiiiii. llv. William UcLrr.i; lias informed the New Zealand Timui that lie has deposited one hinidred sovereign? with a Wellington editor lo cover the challenge which appeared in the Xew Zealand Times on August l'l from .Mr. Thomas H'. Driver, professional conjurer, The challenge was as «olloivs:—"1 claim, ui|eriuiyocal|v and without reservation, that the so-called phenomena of spiritualism are produced entirely by human agencv, and denounce mediums, one and all, an tricksters. The uliovc sum will be wagerctf that I can fully, completely and satisfactorily perforin any manifestation ,of so-called spirit power which I am permitted to witness three times. Through vonr piper [ challenge' Mr. Win. '.McLean to allow me to lest Mr. Charles Bailey under rigid conditions. A few days am .Mr. .McLean t () :,| ,„,. | !aj |,, v w(lg ," n t , 0 .,. jurur. Let me prove to Wellington. H»l himself that a conjurer knows nurc than' he docs about a spirit „ IC( lin..i. Wc have had quite enough theory from i spiritualists; let „s now have" some- i thing practical," 1,

You can lose your situ, a tii.n. You can lose your rank or station You can lose your reputation, You can even lose your wife! But if th)_ advice you follow When ytrur cosgli sounds harsh and hollow-, And Peppermint you swallow, row will never loso your life, 4

The total area of Stratford County is 180,002 acres, and the rates to b'u collected for the year 1009-10 amount to £7603 2s 3d. The death of cows is' still reported in tlie Waimate district. Sonic fanners have suffered losses, tlie cold weather being mainly the cause.—Witness. Tlip Kaupokonui Co-operative Dairy C'oinpan,. will pay its annual bonus this month, tlie sum for distribution totalling about £70(10, or £BOOO with interest included.

At a meeting of the committee of the Eginont At and I'. Association on Saturday a committee -was set up coconsider tlie mutter of holding <i winter show under the auspices of the Association..either at Eltham or Hawera. Money seems to be once more flowing towards Xew 'Zealand 'for 'investment in broad acres. Morcjliau one agent in Masterton is instructed to advance exceptional)' large sums of money. Possibly the political unrest at Home may be a factor in this new turn in the tide. The Greyiiiouth Star states that four men went to an employer of labour not many miles out of Gfeyniuuth. The hitler took them to a place through which a road was required to be made. Pointing to the work, the employer said his manager had estimated it to he worth- £lO or £l2 to do, but lie wiaild givethem £ls and provide them tool.-.- if they made a good job of it. Tli,. men, without further ado, refused to take it on. Contending that they were not going to work for 4s a day, but tne employer insisted that they could make 10s a day at it. Still tliey rctused unless the employer would guarantee them 10s a day each. This he refused, and negotiations ceased. He subsequently found a couple of men to take the job at £ls; They made a thoroughly good job of it, and netted 20s a day each.

The man John Marshall, who has lately provoked attention by making two attempts on his life —one at Manilla and the other at Xew Plymouthwas on Saturday morning arrested in Hawera for alleged insanity (says the Star), lie came from Xew' Plymouth oh Friday (where the previous day he was before the Court on a charge ol attempted suicide and had been ordered to conic up for sentence when called upon) and was found in Hawera early on Saturday morning wandering in his mind. The man imagined that detectives were after him, that he was going to be drowned, and was emphatic in his declarations that he was going to die at 12 o'clock on Saturday night. He was medically examined and certified as being insane. Marsha 11 w-as taken to Porirua Asylum yesterday. The German Emperor's view of Anglo-

German relations has, according to the Paris newspapers, been frankly revealed at a luncheon given by M. Gaston Mcnier, the French millionaire, on his yacht Ariane, at Kiel. "The real struggle between Great Britain and Germany," the Kaiser is reported to have said, " will not take place on the battlefield, but in Hie industrial and commercial world. It will be an economic, not a military or naval war. Great Britain is passing through a nervous phase which is only transient. She will eventually realise that what she may have lost in economic spheres can be regained—not by a destructive war, but by increasing her productive activity." According to Lo Matin, the Kaiser expressed the fear that the " Yellow Peril" might some day menace Europe, and for that reason, if for no other, he desired the maintenance of European peace.

At the last meeting of the Palmerston North Chamber of Commerce a discussion took place on the agitation, for an alteration in the time-ta'ble of the Xew Plymouth railway service with a viewto enabling persons from Napier to get through to New Plymouth in one day. At present the journey occupies two days. It has been suggested that the mail train should be delayed in leaving Wellington, and thus connect with the express from Napier at Palmerston. The alteration would mean that the Taranaki express would arrive in New Plymouth about three-quarters of an hour later. A communication was received from the Hawera Chamber of Commerce approving of the suggested alteration. It was stated at the meeting that the matter had been brought under the notice of the Minister for Railways by a big deputation. The proposed alterations had been well received by the Minister, and it was thought would have been granted but for the fact that the Xew Plymouth people were against the change. The Palmerston Chamber decided to bring the master under the notice of all the Chamber, north of Wanganui with a view to •ro<ting the matter settled.