LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 312, 11 February 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Borough Council meets this evening instead of on Monday next, ,the usual meeting night.

The local branch of the Navy Leag:ie to-day to make arrangements for the entertainment of H.M.S. Pegasus' officers.

The Reserves Committee of the New Plymouth Borough Council visited the Council's reserves in the Stratford district yesterday, and will report at tonight's meeting. The complete failure of New South Wales butters at London dairy shows has caused much uneasiness amongst dairymen in the State. It is realised that the methods of New South Wales are far behind the times.

The chairman of the Ilawera District Hospital Board lias received a eiroulir from the Inspector-General ox Hospitals .(Dr. T. H. A. Valintine) stating that the election of boards under the new Act will be held on Wednesday, March 16.

An election for a seat on the Stratford Borough Council, rendered vacant by the resignation oi Mr. J. D. Morison, took place on Wednesday, and resulted as follows:—W. H. Young 249, C. D. Sole 199. Much interest was taken in the election.

Twenty thousand farmers in North America (United States and Canada) are breeding Shorthorns' for the dairy. Since the foundation of the Shorthorn Herd-book by Mr. Lewis Allen in 1844 the pedigrees of 750,000 animals have been recorded. The Southland Times states that the amount of 'beer duty collected in Invcreargill during the month of January was £l7O 4s 6d, an increase of £29 13s over the return" for the corresponding month of last year. This represents an increase of 2372 gallons in the consumption of locally manufactured beer. Says the Inglewood Record, anent the suggestion to erect a toll-gate near Inglewood:—"The real consideration in the event of untoward exactions is of course the propriety of severance fro.n the Taranaki county, and the formation of a new and compact county from the ends of the present two adjoining counties."

Theodore Roosevelt, if his utterances are to be taken as gospel, thinks highly of the farming community. He 6ays: " The country, the farmer, and the rural population are the resources and the fundamental producers of wealth — the foundation of national existence — and through them only can national existence be made possible."

The Stratford school excursion yesterday provided the biggest influx of visitors that New Plymouth has had for a good while past. Two heavy train-loads of nappy school children, accompanied by their parents, teachers, and a very considerable proportion of the population of the Stratford district, arrived here during the morning. Some hundreds detrained at the town station, and soon distributed themselves amongst the shops, the houses of friends, and the Recreation Grounds. The rest went on to Moturon. and from the time of the arrival of the train until late in the afternoon the beach was a sight to •••e remembered. All sorts of amusements were provided, and the youngsters had a good time. There were about 2500 picnickers, all told. The discovery of the Black water re?f demonstrates (says the Greymouth Star) the value of systematic prospecting subsidised by the Government. The men named commenced to prospect on the Blackwaler field in October, 1905. Helped by the Government subsidy, they discovered the payable reef less than a mile from a spot where a good deal of money had been spent in an unsuccessful attempt to reach payable quartz 'n .a gold-bearing reef at Snowy Creek. Their find was nearly six miles from the nearest payable reef, but its quality was ao undoubted and definite that the Consolidated Blackwater Miners' Company spent £IOO,OOO in plant and labor to develop the reef, and sine? starting crushing in September, 1908, has obtained an average of over loooz. of gold monthly. This fine yield was doubled last November.

In reference to the complaint made in the local Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning about the delay in service of .summonses in the Stratford district, ,'we are given to understand that the

difficulty is caused by the fact that the bailiff in Stratford is the sergeant of police. His time, and that of his constables, is said to be fully taken up with police duties, and they are unafil-e to give the requisite attention to the service ot summonses, and so on. The time has arrived, it seems, for the *\npointment of a hailiff in Stratford, apart from the police force. There is no spare officer on the court staff to undertake the work, the Clerk of the Court not even bein? given a cadet. The Justice Department has achicvd the reputation of beinrj the most penurious of all the State departments in the past, and such inconveniences as insufficient staffing and uncomfortable and unsuitable accommodation for the transaction of Court business have to be borne patiently for many years before any attempt is made at improvement.

The town clerk, Mr. F. T. Bellringer, received a letter last night from a blue jacket who was one of the crew of H.M.S. Cambrian when she visited New Plymouth last year, and who is the only one of her full complement who is still on the station. The letter is da tod at Sydney, and the writer says it is sent at the request of the men of the Cambrian "to convey to you all their heartiest appreciation of your kindness* to them'* during their 'visit to this port. "It is not often," he says, "that a bluejacket praises anyone or anything, but I don't think tliey forget the good old people of New Plymouth. . . Captain Lewes spoke to me before no left the ship, and asked to be remembered when we visited New Plymouth. They 'gave 'three cheers for New Plymouth, and asked me to convey to all at New Plymouth old Plymouth's he/artv greetings, We are comma: to New Zealand, and New Plymouth is m our programme." and the writer promises to arrang" a concert ashore. Tlv new shiji's company, he sayp, are a lively lot of fellows, and as they have been told of New Plymouth hospitality Iliev are looking forward to jolly tini'.n here.

A few of the sale prices ruling at I "The Kash": Silk handkerchiefs Is. ! stripe denims 3s sd, brown denims Us j Ud, blue denims 2s 9d, bathing cosi tumes Is, saddle tweed trousers (is l lid, ' woollen box 3 pairs for 2s 3d, cashmere j sox fid a pair, heavy tweed trousers .5s ' lid, Brazilian straw hats 2s fid. Just try n pound at "The Kash" to see how far it will go, you'll be surprised at the splendid results.—Advt

As justifying the action of the Couiry Council recently in prosecuting thy owiiC''_of a biiil which strayed on tne punlie roiul, flu* county foreman at Tariki now reports that a hull which was tiling driven along the main road with 601)10 cows turned and ch.irg:d ilie drover's horse, goring it so severely as to cause death almost instantaneously. The drover apparently esca.p; d without injury.

Poor old Chinaman! A market gardener nain-'d doc Wong was before ' iie Court yesterday on a charge of uunccssarily wasting water from the munieial supply. Mr. A. H. Johns!one. who appear",l for the defendant, undertook that no rV.rlher waste would be allowd. and th'ii a necessary connection with a stopcock would be made. The Chinaman was f!n:d 2s (id and ordered to i>a v 7s costs. If the borough inspector ;< looking for gardeners who wa*te ihe ■municipal water supply he ncc !n't comfine his attention to the ahnond-ey.d gentlemen who "glow eabbagee.'' The Vogeitown patrol of Boy Scon Is met at Major Sandford's house lastnight for practice. The work for , lie evening was a practical lesson in making a comfortable camp mattress from straw or fern, an art well known to old military men and to some of "ur pioneer settlers, On the previous Thursday the time was devoted to pneti-.'al astronomy, and course-finding at night by use of the principal stars. A meeting was held afterwards, and a sicond ■patrol formed. A letter was read from the Hawera seout'-master inviting thsir patrol to join them in the trip !o Wellington to meet Lord Kitchener. A couple of sample uniforms were also received, and it was decided to 1-e measured for uniforms at once, the boys adopting khaki, the recognised color of the Boy Scouts' uniform the world over.