LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 273, 24 December 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There will be no issue of the "Taranaki Daily News" to-monnv (L".-i-u----mas Day) or Monday (Boxing Daj). Following the nBUal custom, the Tar.inaki Garrison Band will play enrols in various parts of the town to-morrow morning, commencing about 4 o'clock. The mail train was again late lasi. night, this time being 60 minutes. There was a very large train, includin;/ ten passenger carriages, which woic crowded with holiday seekers, 1 Replying in the House, the Hon. .1. A. Millar said he had been asked to define the railway policy. It was to endeavor to make the railways pay the rale of interest ou_ their capital, 3% per cent., and it would be found that for the eight periods of this year the revenue was £214,200 better than last year, for an extra expenditure of only £70,0(10, the position being £138,000 better than before.

As tie beach is now being patronised by hundreds of people daily, and the numbers are increasing daily, we would advise those in charge of barefooted children to exercise a little care, as numerous pieces of broken glass from "dead marines" have recently been strewn about the sands between the railway station and the baths. People responsible for wantonly endangc-rng the safety of the beach, if detected, wiJ: be severely dealt with. With the completion of the Main Trunk Railway system connection with the Wanganui river can now be made at several points and approached by quite a number of different routes, from south of New Plymouth the trip can be made up-stream from Wanganui, or by either of the north-bound special expresses from Wellington, connecting with New Plymouth-Wauganui trains at Marton junction, reaching Taumarunui at 11.30 p.m. and 8.23 a.m. daily. The river boats leave Taumarunui on Tues days and Thursdays at 6.45 a.m., and on Saturdays at 0 a.m. A splendid week-end excursion is to go north to , Taumarunui by the Friday's second ex- , press from Wellington, join the downriver steamer at 9 a.m. on Saturday, spend Saturday afternoon at the houseboat, thence down to Pipiriki on Sunday, arriving there about 1 p.m., stay iit Pipiriki overnight Sunday, and connect with north and south expresses at Wanganui on Monday, thus making the finest week-end excursion in New Zealand, if not anywhere, embracing as it does all the best of the Main Trunk and 150 miles of the most magnificent river scenery in the world.

The A.B.C. Boot Company are givin« a special discount of "2s in'the .if as a Christmas box during Christmas an'l New Year weeks. Take this opportunity ancl save money,—Advt,

The Public Works Department hasr accepted the teudur of .1. W. Boon (£1700), for the erection of slntim buildings, 6tratford*Ongarue railway. Declined—J. W. Tong, llawera, £lß2s; R. J. Scott, Stratford, £1975; W. Howson, New Plymouth, £2393 lis; N. J. King, Stratford, C249G; J. Ryan and Son-, Manaia, ,€2554. Dr. Fitchetb describes most graphically, ill the January issue of "Life," the last fight made by the Kelly jGang, which ended in their extermination, it is a strange and always interesting ■story, and has never been related with such accuracy and picturesqueness as I here. The section in this number begins with the siege of the hotel at Glenrowan, and ends with the hanging of Keliv. But Dr. Fitchett promises, next month, to publish, by way of supplement, some valuable and interesting correspondence and photographs. That the editor of "Life" can write even more delightfully on the literary topic is shown in an article entitled "How 1 Made the Acquaintance of the 'Cornhill Magazine.'"

A paragraph in a recent issue of the Napier Daily Telegraph says: "It was suggested a day or two ago that i icre was' a falling-off in the railway 'II it: owing to the inconvenience of the new timetable. One reason may be ili.n. people are looking round for a speedier means of travelling, and are following in the footsteps of a local stock ageii.. who has purchased a motor bicycle, a> he finds that the new train service ties | him to a place many hours after a sale has been completed. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Wnat with threats of a decline in traffic, withdrawal of business' people from the private postal boxes, and keeping people in a continuous state of uproar, those peculiarly-visioned luminaries who have to plead guilty to the extraordinary I inconveniences residents have been subjected to must be feeling decidedly un- ■ comfortable."

A raid on sly-grog shops at Waihi was made by the police on Tuesday morning. The poliee party operated simultaneous- j; 1 ly oil five different establishments, three ft being formerly hotels. A large lorry 01 was used to cart the liquor away. The c< raid concluded at 8.30 a.m. No opposi- e{Ton was met with. Roughly speaking, a about 39 kegs of beer or beer kegs, 20 h cases of bottled beer, two jars of s whisky, and a quantity of empty glasses' c; were seized. A number of the nogs o were empties. From one establishment '1 alone no less than 18 canes of bottled g beer ajid 13 kegs of beer were removed n by the poliee. Two private establish- f ments, known as "The Pig and Whistle" t and "Hammer and Cad," were included f in the raid. The only hotel not raided c was the Central. A number of prosecu- « tions for alleged sly-grog selling wi;l ' follow, and tliev will probably be heard i before Christmas. For some time past t it has been known to the police tihat a good deal of sly grog-selling has been ] taking plaec. The Auckland Star corre- , spondent understands that this sci/.ure. of liquor contributes a record in con- , ncction with similar raids. The methods ■ I adopted by the police worked without a i bitch. j Whilst at Home Mr. 11. T. Wells, of ; Pilanaia, came across the following item : !n the agricultural columns of the Leam- , Ington Courier, and has handed it to us hs an item of interest to New Zealand | producers: "Without the slightest warnin'g or any reason apparent to out--1 Aiders, the price for all frozen mutton has jumped out to the extent of %d jto I'/, d per lb in the wholesale market. I Oil Wednesday, 13th October, a retailer • I going to the London Central Market for liU usual supplies of this article, nut of which he has been getting something j 'like a cent, per cent, profit, must have "found awaiting him a rather unpleasant 'surprise. The wire-pullers of the foreign ■meat trade manage their business well, ■hnd generally seem able to manipulate Values to suit their own purposes, 'whether they arc called 'trusts,' 'rings, 'or by any other name. This latent , move' brought about an extraordinary j. 'states of things which touches British f ■farmers in a tender place. On the day , in question, looking round the vast t . market at West Smithfield, our retailer . would have found that while he was i' being charged 3s per stone (81b) for s 'New Zealand frozen mutton, he could q have got plenty of prime ewe carcases ,1 from the West of Ungland at 2s and 4s, t fresh Dutch wethers at 3s to 3s 4(1, and j. I>rime Scotch at 4s. The extremely low •I price of frozen mutton lias tempted the i- t'otailers to buy and force it on their i- customers, and hence we have heard is touch talk of 'no demand for English.' d This has been one of the chief causes ot r the slump in sheep, and the nearer the d wholesale price of frozen approaches y that of English mutton, the more chance ■i there will be of the much-desired re'l Vival of our home trade." ' v Mr. Justice Edwards has frequently 10 made contemptuous reference t# the : 1 ' Consolidated Statutes, and expressed the [ 5 opinion that the only results of the ■ consolidation will be to make the labor '' ot tue judges more difficult and provide work for lawyers (says the Wellington 10 Tin < ). From a judgment delivered by ■j his Honor on Tuesday, however, it would a[: jar that there is another result—- ' providing an open door by which illicit £ traders in opium can escape the conse- ° qucnces of their offending. A telegram from New Plymouth states that his 'l Honor upheld an appeal against conviction for possessing opium on the ground that the Consolidated Act of 1908, reiy latiug to opium, permits as a good dej] fence the plea that opium found in the J.. possession of a person had been purr chased or imported prior to August of [y that year. This judgment seems likely ,'. r to have far-reaching effect. Hitherto so it convenient a plea has been barred, since j. importation itself was supposed to be in contravention of the law, but it would n now appear as' if opium will nd? be so ,t dangerous a commodity for the indus,u I trious Chinese to have about his premises. If the drug is found in his possession all he will have to do will be to plead that it had not been purchased against the provisions of an Act passed last year, throwing upon the prosecution the almost impossible onus of proving the contrary. It is, of course, decidedly unfortunate that the consolidation should have brought about this state of affairs, and it will tend to intensify the suspicion with which the statutes are,- as the result of judicial findings and deliverances', coming to be regarded. There is the possibility that Mr. Justice Edwards may have been making a mountain out of a molehill in some of his comments, but in the case under notice be has certainly found an instance of defectiveness in the law '' law which gives point to his general t- homily. The Main Trunk tine threatens to become flic resort of pickpockets, and already a number of complaints have , been heard. Last week Mr. .J. C. Moutefiore, of Hawcra, had an experience which for sheer audacity is' above the '■ ordinary theft. After a tiring day in ■ Auckland, Mr. Monteliore took passage " at !l o'clock, and towards midnight, '' feeling weary, he adjourned to a nonsmoker which was occupied by males u and females. This was a precautionary c measure, as in tile smoker there wcr" r some suspicious - looking characters, f Being fortunate enough to secure two .. seats' to himself, the passenger settled e himself to rest, and presently fell asleep. ? His next sensation was of someone r twiddling with the gold ring on his i, linger! He challenged a man who had n occupied the next scat, and upon becoming thoroughly awake a lady in the 1 carriage, beckoning him, said: "That (. man has your watch and chain." The j watch was a valuable one of gold, the I chain was «]so nf thp precious metal, s and at tlie other end was a gold case i containing two sovereigns. Boiling with ( natural indignation, Mr. Monteliore , threatened the stranger with personal j violence if he moved before arriving > at the next stopping-place—ten minutes : oIT. First there were indignant protests of innocence, then a smile of affected amusement, and the thief, remarking that lie was only having a joke, calmly ' handed hack the missing property. \ Upon examining the case, however, it was found that the sovereigns were missing, as was als'o some silver whi"li had been in the waistcoat pocket. Being ! again challenged about the money, the , pickpqcket became abusive, and used such bad language in the presence of the ladies in the carriage that Mr. Monteliore refrained from pursuing the matter any further, ai)d walkpd back to the smoking carriage. Presently the stranger came through, and (apparently in fear of lieing given in l charge} violently protested Jjis innqcuoep. He turned out his pockets, took off his coat, his waistcoat, lira trousers, and finally ripped .off his shirt. standing stripped to the skin and unashamed, to prove that the money was not about him. The man, who is said to have just been discharged from gaol, was not handed over to the pqliee. "1 didn't see the fun," said the victim, "of spend- : ing £lO to chase £2," The authorities ■ should see to it that the Main Trunk ' trains are not permitted to become tht ' hunting-grounds of the light-fingered fraternity.—Star. DR. SHELDON'S NEW DISCOVERY ' For Coughs and Colds cures when all . else fails. Price, Is 6d and 3s. Obtain- . I able everywhere.

• ol,t "very hundred criminals in England hay© icd bur,

. i I "One can't belp being struck with the immense activity of business in| America," said Mr. C. H. Izard, of Wei-! lington, to a Wellington reporter, oil his return from a tour. "There is very much more vim in business tliere than in England, and England will have to wake up if she is' going to keep in the forefront of commerce. Germany has an enormous hold on Britain cominer- ! cially, and so has the United States. > There is no getting away from that.

-Whilst Mr. 11. S. Benjamin, of Tokaora, was driving a cart along Regentstreet, Hawera, on Friday afternoon, he had occasion to pass a stationary motor ear, which occupied a good deal of the l-oad. The horse became restive, and a young man came to tTie driver s assistance bv leading it past the car. Hardly bad the horse been let go when it made a plunge forward and fell to the ground dead. A little boy, four years old, was thrown from the cart, and narrowly

escaped being crushed by the horse. The cart had a shaft broken. The owner of illie motor car had only just left the ear to run into hw garage for a letter. (—Star.

The llawera Star reports that a most Successful canvass has been made of that listrict for shares for the l'atea Freezing Works. Practically the whole of t/hc shared required have been applied for, [ind it is proposed to allot them/if possible during the coming week, lit is satisfactory to note that a large num|ber of shares have been applied for outride of this district. A number of (settlers have approached the directors ire going in for a bacon-curing works, (and the matter will be considered when (the directors meet. It is urged that would be an ideal place, handy (to railway and port, and as' there is (already a freezing plant and manure (plant for treating oll'nl, farmers could start works much more cheaply by increasing the capital of the Freezing (Company.

A letter from Cherson, Russia, in describing an execution, says that military trials' and the speedy executions which follow them have been of such common occurrence that the public mind has become blunted. "Sentenced to death and executed" lias become a stock phrase, and the oft-repeated gallows, stories have influenced the minds ot children to such an extent that they have a game called "trial," in which the brutalities of which they have heard are enacted. The writer says that the playing of this game by a number of boys in that town nearly resulted in the death of one little fellow who had been selected to play the part of the prisoner. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to lie executed. Only the timely interference ot elders prevented the tragedy. Wh::t hope is there for a country where the rising generation shows this spirit? asks the correspondent.

A stirring act of comrade*! \ related in. connection with r .iccident to a bushman which occurred at the end of last week ( writes an Auckland correspondent). John Davis, while working in a valley on one of Dr. Rayner's Karekare timber reserves, was pinned to the ground by a rolling log. liis position was perilous, but his sole companion, Harry Wilkins, succeeded alter great I muscular exertion in "jacking" off the : pinning log. Davi9 being by this time i quite unconscious, Wilkins bore his 13st burden up the steep hillside until assistance could be summoned. Even then Wilkins was foremost in the efforts at revival, and when the injured lumberman eventually came round it was to find his mate "spraying him with water from a spring. After being borne by willing carriers for some distance in a stretcher, Davis was driven to his home, at Avondale. Although severely crushed, he has been making reassuring progress.