LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 249, 26 November 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Clifton County Council, sitting at Wadtara on Wednesday, passed a resolution protesting against the proposeu new railway timetable, and asking tliut i the present -arrangements be adhered to.

i'lie s.s. Riniu arrived at tlie breakwater from Ivawhia at i" p.m. on Thursday. She is expected from Wanganui on Saturday, and will leave tlie breakwater for Ivawhia shortly after amvui on Saturday.

Tlie money raised by the Central School two or three years ago lor u school swimming bath was put into the construction ol a pond in the Kecreation Grounds. This lias proved useless, We water filtering away. Air. Dempsey lias not given up his' idea of having schooi oaths, and intends that the new .bauusi shall be constructed in the playgroumi, and, if possible, the boys themselves are to do tlie work of excavation.

In pur report of tho presentation to Mr. J. VV. foreman at Tikoraugi on Tuesday evening he was credited witn having been chairman of directors of the iaranaki Producers' Freezing \\ orks Company. Mr. foreman asks us to correct this, he having been a duccioi only, Mr. J. 13. Connett having occupied the chairmanship from the inception o, the company until the present year, when he retired and Mr. A. Morton was elected.

A Stratford' Jehu, who dun/ a Cortland and pair of horses to wiian"anmmona recently, informs the Post" Unit for about lifteen miles past Tu U era tlie condition of the road was, with a few short intervals, such as to preclude the possibility of proceeding at better than walking pace. On the way out ue passed a bullock dray, laden with aboui half a ton, which was resisting the efforts of seven span of bullocks to shin it from its anchorage on the road a little beyond Te Wera. The Strathmore Saddle road is now in pretty fair condition.

At a meeting of the Hallway Ainalgamated Society the following resolution was carried: "That this branch enters a, most emphatic protest against u>c proposal of the Hon. Minister to reduce the percentages in the first grade of engfncinen, this being tantamount to a reduction, of pay of men who arc already insufficiently paid." Says The Dominion': "It has in the past been the invariable practice to fill the percentages in (.lie various classes of railway employees up to a maximum number. Owing, however, to the financial stringency, and the fact that it has been necessary to make retrenchment ia the Public Servile, it was decided that no promotions would bo made in the railway service during the current year, except to fill vacancies': henco the percentage of engine-drivers has not been filled up to the ma.xiimim. Apart from this, the time has armed when it is quite out of the <|ii<--t!<.-•■ In have fully one-half , 0 f the engine-drivers I in the first grade, and receivin" w:i"cs tip to 12s fid per day, as this will iicits sarily mean that a considerable mini bcr of the older men who are in receipt of first-grade pay will be cnga-cd I, important runs or shunting, wliil,. mi . n in the second grade arc doiic the more important class of work, Even ul Ihe present time there are men in the lit-sl-graalc running unimportant train services on branch lines, ami „)«„ j„ Vllrds sllllnt . ing. and the Minister for Railway* is of opinion that this practice cannot,'iu fairloess to the men who arc doin- the more important work, lie continued. ~\nv altcration Unit is made mush necessarily be in Ihe direction of obviating'tin's condilion of all'airs. The Minister cannot assist men with large families who arc moving |, v railway from one employment to another by the issue of famiiy tickets at specially' reduced rates, or b'v ti'ie carriage of their belongings free of charge. The assistance, it is held, -would involve preferential treatment to a certain section of the community, ami would l lead to general dissatisfaction among the | great majority of railway travellers. There is to be a great slaughter of prices at the A B. C. Boot Shop. T'ic fir.d Tias boon successful in securing he stock-in-trade of the late Wm. Hancock. A big sale is) now preceding, and a discount of 10s in the £ will be allowed on all marked prices.—Advt.

l'robally the last survivor of those who took part in the battle of Waterloo baa been removed by the death at Queenstowii, .South Africa, of Desircz Cornelius Alcsdom, who was born on imi August, ISUJ, and who, as a boy of ten, was a drummer i" Napoleon's army at Waterloo, his fathor being also present as a soldier in the ranks (says the Standard). Desircz also fought in the Crimea in the French force, and during that campaign he lost nine brothers, and was wounded ten times himself. He arrived in South Africa in 1857, and became caretaker of the Dutch Reformed Church at Queenstowll, which post he held for nearly forty years. A traveller from Germany to England says: "Due leaves the land of manifold imperfections) and enters the country ot one-sided perfections. We Germans cannot help admiring the English perfection this parliamentary system which works so excellently, this splen did, disciplined population, the quid way in which the most complicated at' fairs are transacted, and the common

sense which rules the whole life of tin nation, the administration of justice and so forth. Those who have lookx into British business life and lirilisi pleasures, who have travelled on Eng lish railways, and who have lived ii 'English hotels, will olten lie surprise.! li.v the leaden air which hangs over the whole country, which produces in the inhaliiliiuts that joyless mood whin makes Continental peoples unhappy, hut which the Englishman himself does no. feel, because he docs not seek happiness so much as comfort and perfection, i do not know why it is that in Englaim. in spile of the excellent quality of provisions, eating is never tasty; that the women, in spite of their beauty, produce no warmthi that the men, in spite of I heir wide experience and good manners, are seldom really interesting or attractive. The full importance of these things was) 'brought home to me on my return to Germany. The Lloyd steamship was full of Germans with terrible manners. Tlicy shouted, they drank, they were noisy during the deck games, and on parting they sang sentimental songs in chorus. I was surprised to find that for tlie first time in my life I did not find this conduct improper, having experienced a certain revulsion of feeling due to English modes of life. Suddenly I love all these German imperfections after I had admired so many perfections in England during maty montlis."