LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 243, 19 November 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is stated that a settler on l-eni-<uoke mad awoke on Wednesday running to find that during tile night a piece of fencing, sonic twenty-one chains m englh, on his properly had lieen cut in hi less than twenty-two places'.—Stratford I'o.st.

A further extension of postal faci/i----■jus tlial will lie appreciated by the pnliie is the announcement that' from the first of December a daily delivery of a.I parcels beyond three pounds in'weight, 'i- bulky ones below that weight, will ui made hy the letter-carriers.

Not infrequently, says the Lyttellon 1 urn's, we lind a man getting into Parliament whose qualification is his knowedge of I lie parish pump. Parliament would be better without him. and would lie without him under a system of otoporiional representation.

The recent dilVicully between the

■ilralfurd Hospital Hoard and the Medical Superintendent of the institution lias (says the Post) now been satisfactorily settled, and Ik. Paget will continue t'o act as medical superintendent under an •irrangi.nu'iit satisfactory to the Hos/ piluU Department.

"iou wheei gravel in y ol ,r wheelbarrow?" asked Mr. Sponce of a county foreman yesterday. "A'o, I wheel "l'okcn metal." "The same thing," remarked the lawyer, "broken metal is gravel.' That's a point upon which Mr. Spcncu would form a different opinion ithe had the two to .pay for. In tlic dog section at (.he Waicinui show the following awards were secured by -New Plymouth exhibitors:—.Messrs Olivers (two firsts), S. C. Crisp (one Inst), If. Oaliaghan (two third,! lir I'ookcs (two fliinls and v.h.c.) Mr vi. 0. Firth secured two lirsts and a second with his black field spaniel, and with his Inlcli in the same class be tool; lirst for colonial-bred animal and champion for best bitch in the show. Saturday's (lisborne Herald savsHarry Willoughby left for Pakatoa ' shind by the Northern boat to-dav. it i s stated that the will which Henii Willoughby was to have signed on the day following the night of t |„, t; ital lire was l«'i|iieatiling everything to the husband. One estimate puts the total value of Hie properly at CS. 1.1 inn. bul there are some important points involved in i-cnnl lo native ownership. ulll | it is probable that j a good ileal may yet, be heard concern-' mg tecliuii-al issues i„ the dispositi-,- \ of the properly. ,

A concert for the entertainment of tip members of Hie Old People's Home was held at the institution last night under Hie auspices of (.he vicar of Si. Man's Church (the Itev. V. (!. Evans), i,.i' lr , organise,! by Mr. R. and (lie Miss's Maker. A 'programme of about fifteen Hems was presented and met with the very warm approval of the old people who wci'e very liberal with their encores. Songs were sung by Misses W i and R. Raker and R Standish, the lie V s j I'- 0. Evans and H. 0. Hunliv, and Messrs T. Woodard and 11. Uaker. a' couple of part songs were given by t le Misses and Mr. Raker, and'two pinnoj forte solos were contributed bv Miss Douglas, who also shared with Miss W. baker the playing of the accompaniments. It was a pleasant evening's entertainment, and after supper had been served, and the audience had heartily given expression to their thanks for the concert, the gathering concluded with ho singing of "Auld Lang Syne" and I lie National Anthem.

; The inquiry into allegations against a ■li-iiartmi'iriiil lii'n.l. wliieli lias lieen eon■iMcfprl liv two judges of tile Supreme f'onrt. was (lie subject of a rjiiestion m Parliament on Tuesday, (he leader of the Opposition (\r,-, vy. y, Masscy) ini.inrintr if (heir honors had reported, "ml if their reiinrl would he laid before I'lirli.-iinent. The Prime Minister /Sir •loseph Ward) replied that, it was qui<e correct tint Iwo judges were ns'ked to report upon chari-es made against, (lie chief executive officer of an important I fli'iuirlnient. hut as Ihe subject mailer I Mated to Ihe private business of iico.mV I in Ihe Taxing lleiwrtment. (lie veeort certainly could not, come before PiiTi.-i----ment. The TTou.se would, however, he informed Tliat was done. "Mr. T. V, . T-i.-ior suggested tliat if a public officer I'-Hl been inipeiicliod by Ms subordinates tin' TTou.se had n. riglit to know. Sir .Tosepl, Ward replied that unlil be m reived the report Tie could pot answer Hi.' question. Mr. Mastw: Will <•'"■ '"ilc a statement to tlie House? Sir 'oseul, Ward: T will be ..lad I" inform "i" Mouse what, the finvcrnnionl intends lo do.

Wiry 00 TmVflTtY' Tr -.-our stoniocb i= weil; niul ion are =.-frev ; .m f.-o,n in-li>es' ; "". do"'t si-riuW I <"" n--.l||, i<,-1 comfort. T>r all tlic ' '•■il,llc>n..i„ foo.l vnu v..,t. Th"" r<lfce ' <•"■■ of IV. Sheldon', T)i"es|iv" Till"!"" ' after each ij«i TW ai-psf. yom f""' 1 .. ' ■>> i.i Hi.it. nourish mid lmihl yon n"."while ' ihe stomceti is its nature' ; W„. }, Pd per tin. Obtainable <■»«»• ' where. n

Mr. J. D. Morison, of Stratford, lias \ purchased an auctioneering business at Te Ai'olia j Waikato, anil will leave for that town at¥n curly date. "I do not think that people who owe rent are entitled to go in for tailormade suits. It seems to me a hit of extravagance," remarked Mr. \V. A. liarton, S.M., in the hearing of a civil anion at the (lisborne Magistrate * Court (reports the Poverty Bay Herald). The Advances to Settlers JJepartine it, | since its inception in 181)1), has carncu I prolits amounting to £3.54,181, which have been disposed of as lolloW'S: Loan notation charges written oil', .C2')!).245; transferred to reserve fund, JJ.H.IHM); transferred to sinking fund. ,L'l-l.lS'.i; balance in prolit and loss' accounL, £50,7-12.

This incident happened iu a town not a hundred miles from Mastcrton:- - Dry and thirsty soul to policeman: "In | the name of heaven, can ye tell inc where 1 can act a drink in the place?" Policeman: "Uo you see that light away down I lie road? Well, that's the police station. Don't go there. Vou can get :i drink anywhere but tlicrel" A ladv traveller writes in an cxchange: "when staying iu the Sandwich Islands I find an amusing experience with my Hawaiian servant. Now, these servants insist on calling you by your

ihst name. Ours was always saying to mv husband, ''Yes, John," and to me, ■Vcrv well, Mary," etc. So when we -,, l u new cook I told my husband to avoid calling me -Alary," as' then, not nowiug my name, lie would have to sav "missus" to me. So John always I called inc "sweetheart" or "dearie," never ".Vliirv," but the watchful fellow .rave me no title at all. One day we had sonic officers to dinner, and, while awnitiu" the repast I hold them of tne ruse I had adopted, and added, "By this servant, at least, you wo'fi't hear me called Mary." Just then the new cook entered the room, lie bowed and said lome: "Sweethcarl. dinner is served." "What';" I stammered, aghast at his familiarity. "Dinner is' served, dearie," answered the new cook.

Olio of tho proposals outlined in th IHi(l"ct, which is uf considerable uitorcs to the travelling public, i* that in rofci once to the alteration in loiig-distane railway fares. At present the fares ar reduced on a sliding nalc, according ti distance, but under the new proposa long-distance passengers will rcceivo n< advantage, it being intended to make the fares uniform for all distances, viz, l'/,d per mile first class and Id per mil second class. It is expected that thi alteration will result in an increase o £ 100,000 a year in the railway revenue The cll'ect 'in regard to passengers 01 the Main Trunk railway, particularly tc second-class passengers, will be some what considerable. At present the first class fare between Wellington and Anck land is .CI 10s Id, but under the propos cd Tiew scale it will be increased to £! 13s :id. an increase of 14s 2d. The sec ond-clasa fare at prevent is .£1 la 2d, bin the new scale will raise it to £1 15s tid an increase of 14s 4d, or to nearly thi amount of the 'present first-class fare It will thus lie seen that the effect o; tho proposed new scale, if carried int( effect, may have appreciable effect or the traffic on the Main Trunk lino, tc the advantage of the steamer route,

Prior to the commencement of business at the Inglewood Magistrate's Court on Monday, Mr. H. J. M. Thomson, on behalf of the local bar, extended a welcome to Mr. Kendrick, and expressed the hope that he would find the work of this district not uncongenial. 1 Mr. Thomson said the time was ripe for the establishment of two sittings each ; mouth, instead of one, as at present, as ; the work became very congested at times 1 and dill'icuit to conduct. There was also 1 a great deal of annoyance suffered by 1 the long time it tool; to get even the I smallest cases attended to, and if his Worship could see his way to give an additional sitting in each month it would be a very great boon to everyone. Mr. Kendrick said lie thought it possible that the congestion of work just now might be llic result of the unfortunate changes which had been rendered necessary owing to causes which no one could control. He had only three days in the month at liberty, and in it he evrat of any sitting occuping an extra day, against which it was not always possible to guard, he would not even have those, lfc would, however, see how the work could be overtaken, and if it appeared to him to be necessary lie would endeavor to arrange for . another sitting each month.

itcports are again current in London financial circles of u great Scotch whisky combine. The first report, although denied, mentioned three firms. .Now a Scottish correspondent to the Financial News definitely mentions that the firms concerned are John Dewar, dames Buchanan, John Walker, Andrew Usher, and John (Irabbie. The first-named are known as "the Big Three." and their profits, with those of Usher's, are in normal times .000,01)0 per annum each. As a matter of fact, last year Dewar's profit was' over £10(1,(100. The linns mentioned •are heavily interested in the cxpoit trade, and it is largely with a view to the development of tins side of their business that the combine has been mooted. For several years the whisky industry has been passing through severe depression, which lias not, however, atl'ectcd the "Big Three" to any great extent. The one bright spot was the export branch. It is recognised that the shipping trade, especially to Englishspeaking countries, holds out vast possibilities. It is believed that on the settlement of the llritish Budget oiie. way or another, the suggested combination will show out more plainly than" Is' at present apparent. Tho subject is one possessing much interest for local importers at the moment, as mnv he under- J stood, when it is shown that New Zo.i I land is fifth on the list of consumers.