LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 215, 16 October 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Members of Parliament who ought to know what they are talking about predict that the session will be shorl and swift and free from storms.

It is stated that out of 1012 public iicci mi ..nits who have been registered und.,- ihc new Act only 400 liavi nas-c.l the .icrountancy examination. As •iii.-taucing the increasing demand for suburban property in iS'trnlford, the I'ost mentions that twenty acres on Flint ii'oad. bought nix weeks before 'or £05(1, recently changed hands at .£102"). Mr. David Lloyd-Giorge, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is to receive uu address and suitable memento fumi the Welshmen of the Buller district as a mark of their appreciation of his perseverance with the British Budget. Some idea may be formed (.says the Daily Tines)) of the .revival in the- timber .industry by the fact that on a retent afternoon a, special' train arrived ulTalbape from the north consisting of (amongst other goods) twenty-live heaviJv-laden trucks of .timber.

It war; recently (reported that an ni'tion for libel was, pending uctfiveen Mr. M. (.'. Kcn,ii«,(assistant «litor of the Dominion,, and the proprietor of the Triad. The October number of tile Triad contains an a;pology to ,Mr. ( Keane and an expression of regret for the appearance of the article in which'certain statements allecting him were made. Spoken to regarding a cable messagi in Saturday's paper that the skeleton of a man 'buried 20,000 years ago had been found in the s.out!i of France, Mr. R. Speight, M.A., lecturer on Geology at Canterbury College, said there was nothing remarkable in that, as similar discoveries had been made before, and man had been on the earth mure than 20,000 years. While 'the S't. Aubyiirstrcct Quoit Club's match wa* in (progress on (Thursday afternoon a sonie'what painful n'i'air occurred. Mr A. Morshciul, white playing the g'amc, evidently ,approacheu too close to his opponent's quoit, which, struck hinron the forehead, but fortunately he was not injured seriously. He was conveyed 'to tihe nearest doctor, where his wounds were right. On the co-operative works in Xuw Zealand there are now 4,307 men em plovcd, according to the official report in tli L . Labour Journal. Of these 4,041 are working o:i the construction of th ■ various railways in hand. The Slrat-foi'il-Onganic, (ll.)4) and the. (iisbovnc Roloriia (.j"i3) lines employ the largest numbers in the North Island. On the Spi'iuglicld section of the Midland railway 4IS men are at work, and 42 il the ()tira end.

A illawcrui gardener has secured wh.it appears to be a. remarkable cross between n 'tomato and a iCape gooseberry. Last year these plants griw slide by side, mid upon shedling a certain gooseberry (he fruit, to all .appearanices, was a tomato. It may, of course (says the llawc'ra Star), lie a freak, biit the grower is inclined to regard it a* a <;['nuiue cross. If a new' blend lias been discovered, and t lie .seeds come to anything, something new in the way of jammaking fruit 'inay soon be available.

On Wednesday afternoon at the first of the octave of services to mark thu opening of the new St. Luke's Anglican Church in Christohurch the offcrtor.y amounted to £10(10. Subsequently, at the afternoon tea in the schoolroom, £240 was subscribed by tile parishioners in ten minutes, and the remaining £3!io required to enable the building to be consecrated on Sunday free of debt was eonlideiitly expected' to be raised on Thursday. St. Luke's is not a rich parish, and the collection of the money required for the new church ( £1)300) has been going on for four years. The fit. Auhyn-s'trec't Quoit Club's match waslheld in Mr. J. -J. Stagpoo.b's paddock on Thursday afternoon. The day was splendid, and there was a four number of spectators. Til;- challeiye was for a. eold medal. Following are the lesults:—First iliont: Richardson, 22, beat Mclvor (scratch), 47; C. Clarke, | 21, .beat R. iC'olseu (straiten), 11; Richardson, 21, beat ,1. J. Stagpoole, 43; Morshcad, 21, beat !C. Clarke (scratch), S; .Stagpoole, 21, beat Roulton, 10; iMorsJliead 1 , 0, heat illenic, 4. Second bout: Richardson. 22, beat Morshcad, 10; Bailey a, live. Final bout: Bailey, 20, Richardson 21. Thus Mr. Richardson is the winner of the gold "medal. It may be of interest (savs the In-spector-deneral to the Education Department in his report to Parliament] to give the expenditure per head of population in some other places and countries: For primary education, public funds (general and local) contribute per head of the population in .England and Wales. 12s 3d; London, 17s; Wales alone, 13s 3d: Scotland. 12s 4d; Ireland, (is 7d. In New York. Hie cost to the public purse of primary and secondary education (excluding the cost of new buildings) is CI 4s 7d per head of fie. population, as against 13s 3d (or 17s 1(1 including the income from reserves) in New Zealand.

Opunakc cannot complain very much on the score of coach services, says tie local Times. A dailv coach leaves at 4.30 a.m. for KHham and catch's themail train to Wellington. Then another coach leaves at 5 a.m. for Hawcra. which also catches the mail h- ; 'i. At a. quarter to six a.m. a coach leaves for New Plymouth. These .coaches ar> all so timed a« Io make early risin" a necessity as well as a virtue. To people in robust health this early risimr may not do any harm, but those'of dc|E cute constitution feel such a task van trying. It would in our opinion be ii very great improvement if one of trie coaches going towards the railway li.ie were hmicil face about, and instead of leaving ( )),„,,„ k , in thl , mi( , (]]( , of tl)c night, as it is facetiously termed, it was made to leave Elthnm. say, early in. the morning, arriving here by noon at latest. 1 „s would enable the southern mails to be delivered here four or fi-c hours earlier, ami would give ample time to reply to correspondence for despatch the following morning. If the matte,, were represented to the postal authorities and tie advantages of such. i a service pointed out. «-, have no doubt I steps would be taken to rdve eflVt to it. Having a coach leaving Opunakc somewhere close to midday would be a boon very mneli appreciated In-people who are desirous of travelling but «'„„ are. not bound to time, anil who do not care Io undertake a sixtccn-hour jour-j ney onciid Again -to people who live outside the bounds of the town (|, O present service necessitates I heir leaving Incir own homes the night before and spending the night at (he hotel, so as to avoid "missing lb,, > mls ."

If your property is not, insured call at or rim? up the United Insurance Comnany, Ltd., Devon street. Telephone 118 Webster Bros., district agents. Insurance effected on the most favdra'jle terms,—Advt,

Tlio Rev. 11. Mason, tlie water-diviner,' visited Tututawa, near Stratford, the I other day and succeeded in locating a fine strenm of water.

At the Harbor Board meeting jester day .Mr. K. F. Blundell, local manager of the Bank of New Zealand, advised that the first payment of £7425 in connection with the contract for the conslructiuai of the new dredge, "Paritutu," had been paid in London. A young lady was riding on a footpath "at Vogeltown early the other evening and sounded her bell as she approached an elderly gentleman. The latter did not budge, but waited ti'.l the- cyclist got within reach, when he unceremoniously pushed her off her machine!

In our issue of yesterday we made a startling calculation in regard to the value of hotter which passed through the freezing works since July. Tno amount of butter was 24,081 boxes, which, at the rate of 50s a box, should be worth £00,202, not £12,040 as stated. The error was obvious. A good story is related in connection with the Tariki fire. Just after the outbreak was discovered the landlord awakened the inmates and warned them of their danger. In one room he left a caudle, telling the boarder to "get :\ move on," a.' the Haines were not far away. TJic bnnrdcr not putting in an iippcuvaiH'c downstairs, the landlord lushed upstairs again, went iulu Hi:room mid—lo and behold the hoard"!-

had put nut the candle, turned over, and gone to sleep again! The Ha vera correspondent of the New Zealand Times telegraphed that a meeting was held there on Thursday afternoon for the purpose of floating an-

other newspaper. The meeting deciled | to form « company with a capital of CIO.OOO, in £lO shares. It is understood that a large pari of the capital has already been promised. Representative men throughout the district have agreed to act as provisional directors. The majority present were of opinion that the lime had come to establish another paper, it being essential in the interests of the district generally. The Harbor Board is in a quandary about timber. It lias expert advice that Tasinaninn stringy bark is excellent stuff for wharf construction, and it is much cheaper than ironbark. The Hoard referred the matter to the consulting engineer, Mr. F. Y. Alarehant, C.E., and his telegraphed reply was as follows; "I consider ironbark imperative for deep berth piles, and mixed New South \Ya]«s hardwoods for superstructure. Tasmani an stringy-bark weak and perishable, is used for split palings, not for permanent wharves." The Board is arranging to consult the engineer further upon the matter.

The port regulations were under discussion nt yesterday's meeting of the Harbor Hoard, the matter under review being the complaint of the I'nion Steamship Company that one of their vessels berthing just before midnight and leaving within an hour after midnight was charged berthage fees as-' for two clays. Captain Hood said that a mistake had been made. His deputy had attended io the •steamer, and entered- the, particilars whie.li lie (Captain Hood) misread. The entry showed that the vessel-left at 12.30, 'hit he rend it as 2.30 a.m.,and made the charges accordingly. Tic also drew attention to the fact that the coi(litmus lnlit.am.ing 'hero were mot the same as some other ports. In Wellington, Lyllclton, and some other places, if a man was' required to catch a line or assist in mooring or casting off a vessel, the steamship company had to pnv for that man. In Grcymouth the harbor authorities would not touch a single mooring '»'<'■ I' ol ' o a t w T > '. v " mnith the Harbor Hoard provided a stuff for Ibis dutv. and they alwavs attended to (he mooring and dc-pitch of I vessels at all hours of the rtnv or night.

A social under the auspices of the Ne,v Plymouth East Flying Club eventuated in'the Brougham Street Hall on Thins day night and was a decided success in every way. The music was supplied by an orchestra comprising Mrs. IT. .1. Movorlev (piano). Mcssre R. Ellis (vi >- lin). R.'.l. Dearc (flute) and N. Loved (cornet), the darners being loud in their nraises ol its excellence, whilst extras nere given by Misses I. Bishop, M. Pearce. C. Brewer (piano) and Mr. W. Da vice, of Marlborough (violin). Songs were rendered by Miss F. Ward (w'ao was in excellent voice), Miss I. Bishop and Mr. Dsivies. accompaniments being played by Misses A. Ward. C. Brewer and I. Bishop. Uecitations were given bv Miss 11. Ifehop and Mr. A. Lovegrove, whilst Mr. Arnold gave a bagpipe selection and also supplied the music for the. Highland Sehottische in his ■ well-known style The duties of M.C.'s were entrusted to Messrs IT. J. Moverley. W. 11. Boulton and T. Lovegrove. the trio keeping the evening going smoothly and well reg'ilateil. Tin' supper ai'i'iingiiients and decorations were in the hands of n ladies' committee, consisting of Mcsdiiincs A. Lovegrove. G. If. .\l>,4!ahey, H. J. Afoverley, Misses L. and M. Boulton. M. Pearce. and L. Johnson. and were well carried out. The committee Minimised Messrs W. Lints. 11. J. Moveilev. W. 11. Boulton, F. James and the 'ccveiavv (Mr. A. Lovegrove, wlnwe tact and ability in carrying out. the arrangements left nothing to be desired.