LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 356, 6 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Although the police are scouring the country day and night for the .perpetrator of the outrage on the Foxton line on Saturday night, and also for the escapee Joseph Powclka, there is as yet nothing further to report in the matter. It is generally considered that Powelka was the author of Saturday's robbery under arms, and that he hides by day and robs houses by night for sustenance.

Mr. William A. Prickitt. Consul-Gen-eral for the United States, states that the latest information from Washington is to the effect that the Humphrey Ship Subsidy Bill has received a favorable report from the Committee of Merchant Marine and Fisheries. The vote was 10 to 7. Mr. Prickitt considers that the Bill has a better chance of passing now than heretofore, and should it become law he is very hopeful that a new service will be established between San Francisco and Australasia.

A peculiar incident occurred recently at Rotorua, says a northern paper. A farmer made .a* drinking trough of concrete. The stuff did not appear to set very well, however, and seeing a child playing near it, he called the youngster away. Hardly had the child moved a dozen yards when the trough literally blew up, the pieces being scattered in every direction. Had the warning came a moment later the child must have been at least severely injured. No reason for the strange explosion has yet been discovered.

Tn connection with the East Coast Railway-, the first sod of which will be turned by the Minister for Public Works early next week at Tauranga, it is proposed to constitute a new public, works district, to be known as the Tauranga district, and Mr, G. L. Cook, at present District. Engineer at Stratford, will be placed in charge. He left for Tauranga yesterday. Mr. C J. McKenzie, Assist-ant-Engineer, will be promoted to the position of Resident Engineer at Stratford. Mr. is. J. Harding, at present Assistant-Engineer at Nelson, has also been promoted to the rank of Resident Engineer.

A correspondent of a. Waikato paper says: "I met the advance guard of a Taranaki syndicate the other day. He was not particularly communicative, but from a brief conversation I learned that there is a movement on foot on the part of a number of men from that province to purchase some larcre estates in Waikato and the Thames Valley, and. having divided them, place a number of small farmers on them whose first duty will he to engage in dairying. The gentleman I was speaking to was particularly pronounced on several Waikato landholders who refused, he sard, to lipte'i to term=. but w-in ted ca»h down even at a lower price per acre." Siv of the local volunteers who attended the recent encampment. :it Jc'tisonville, on the occasion of Lord Kitchener's visit, are now suffering from enteric fever. Enquiries were made amongst the officers and men by a "News" reporter, and he ascwr-ained that the two New Plymouth companies were sent out on a march of twenty miles. The men drank at several streams, and also from an old iron tank at an old hut on top of Magee's Hill. This water was not pleasant to look upon, or very palatable, either, but the men were fairly famishing for a drink, and they nearly emptied that tank. The state of the water and its fitness ov unfitness for human use, were mentioned at the time, one officer remarking. "Well, enteric or no enteric, here eoes!" And he drank his fill. Mr. R B. Oardiner. the district health inspector, has been in communication with the Health Department in Wellington, but so far he has not heard of any other volunteers who have contracted the disease. Of course, no others were unfortunate enough to strike this whare. and its tank. Most of the victims are doing well.

Speaking at Auckland on Wednesday evening last, Colonel Pollen, president of the, British Esperants' Association, said that Sir Joseph Ward had already grasped the full signifiennce of Esperanto as an education implement. A study of the subject would bring its own reward. Tt was, in short, the poor man's Latin, and a very little expenditure of time and money, would place 1 ne laborer's son in possession of classical education. Behind the language was the great ideal of brotherhood and justice among the people of the earth. This international idea of Esperanto, he snid, was known as Esperantissmo. The lecturer then described the wonderful rapidity with which the language had spread. Speaking as one who had studied many laucruages. Colonel Pollen declared that if Esperanto did not succeed as an international language, nothing else could, ft was all very well for theoretical perfectionists to declare that a better language could be invented, but the fact remained that Esperanto was the only language that had caught on. In these days of rapid travel, what people wanted was an easy code that could be used immediately, and Esperanto was such a code. It would not impede the spread of English, or any other language, but would lielp the study of all, and hurt none.

A taxi-cab made its appearance yesterday mornine on the ranks, and for the future will be found, when disengaged, on its stand in Esmioht-streot opposite Messrs. E. (Jridiths and Co.'s seed warehouse. The '"taxi" retirements the latest enternrise of Mr. W. A. Jury, of the East End livery stables, and should soon have a brisk connection. The cab is painted and upholstered in dark maroon, and is very comfortable, with seating for four passengers. The motor is a 10-12-h.p. De Dion, which is only another name for reliability. Mr. Jury has been fortunate in securing as driver Mr. T. Salter, who, from his long service with Dr. Lent ham. has a se<>ond-to-none knowledge of the streets in the town and suburbs. The fares elmnrcd are the usual cab fares provided by the borough by-laws.—Advt.

The suppliers of the Maketawa Dairy | Company are holding a picnic to-morrow j at Maketawa. Just bofore the conclusion of _the \ West End Bowling Club meeting 'is»t night Messrs Johnstone aud Gilbert suggested making an application to the Mavor to run the iirst tram car to the official opening of the club'w green, rue president ruled tho motion out of order.

The Taranaki Solicitors arc forwarding a requisition to the Minister tor Justice urging the appointment of a permanent relieving magistrate for the North Island, also for the curtailment of the Hawera magisterial district, sio «« to cnnblo one Stipendiary Magistrate to mora easily cope with the work. During tho course of liii remarks «t tbe social last evening Grand Mntver Rellringer, in referring to the centenary of Oddfellowship during the pre*nt vear, stated that a cable had been received that H.R.H. the Prince of Wales had consented to preside at the meeting in connection with that function.

The sand at Moturoa is saturated with petroleum. The other day suine of the "beach combers*" .get fire to a pool of oil there. It burned furiously for three hours and presented a unique spectacle. All the shell fish in the locality are tainted with petroleum, and consequently unfit for consumption. For weeks past strange tales of foreign magicians cleaving the bine desert air in mysterious buzzing machines have been told in the Cairo bazaar*. The natives, although sceptical, were sutlieiently impressed by the rumor concerning the new marvel from rest,ess Europe to assemble in large numbers on the afternoon of Sunday, (ith January, at Ileliopolis for the opening of the living meeting, at which prizes worth nearly £Boolfarc offered. The road to tlw aerodome was lined by summing Aral», groups of Nubians in white robes. 1 clusters of native women with silver bangles round their naked ankles, grave, turbnned Turks, and ragged IVdouin camel-drivers. When M. Kougicr. the hero of the dav. Ilew round and round at a height of ;!(M) feet, the astoni.linic-:; i of these crowds was most amusing n> see. Some were terrified, some laughed aloud, all chattered at the top of their voice:-:, and v.aiehed with greedy eyes. •Racial feeling (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) among the seafaring men o'f Newcastle reached bursting point on Saturday afternoon, March 19th. The tug-of-war had been decided at the show ground. Tt was generally considered that the committee was deserving of censure for including such a contest in the programme, because on previous ocsions deep-rooted bitterness was the only outcome. After the Germans were declared the winners their leader held aloft the Teuton flag, and the rest of the team walked beneath its folds, being followed by the Norwegians. When the Britishers'came abreast of the foreign victors the old bulldog breed could not be suppressed, and one aggressive spirit rushed at the German leader. Hefore the Hag-bearer had time to prevent the onslaught he was felled with a we!.'-, timed right swing. A free fight appeared imminent, but the immediate intervention of the police acted like oil upon troubled waters.

A student of sociology luu reeentW compiled a ~tatemont showing the relative positions of women iu the variou* countries of Knropp. In' this Italy seems to he the most backward, seeing that a married woman v.-:■,'.-,li sign i\ e-hequc for her own money, nor can she give evidence in a court of law. In France married women may g'.vo ev»deuce, but not without the consent of their hutthamU. Nor may they seek employment without a similar sanction. Women may practise as attorneys, hut they iiwv not he judges. In Germany one-fourth of the female population is .'U'lf-.-iupporting. and wives and husbands have a joint- control over the '.: : 'h':-n. In Norway thi> work of enrran''ii:»<.-inent is nearly com])lete. and i: i* \ ".n'.'-ahlv the onlv country in which women are regularly drawn for jurv scrvic. Turkey stands at the head of the list, in spite of the harem system. A married woman is financially independent of her husband. He must endow her with n separate estate, and over this lie ha a 1:0 control. Probably more law* for thy protection of women exist in Turk*' than in anv other country in the world.

The Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, in reporting the death of Mr. Bertram Armytage, says that he was a most reticent man, shy and diffident, and subject to a'! kinds of varying moods. He went out to Africa during the war, and obtained the Queen's Medal, with three clasps. Prior to that he had been a lieutenant in the Ueelong Battery of Oarruon Artillery. He resigned, however, from the Commonwealth forces, and during his last trip to England his great ambition was to obtain from the War oit'tce a military appointment which would give him some definite occupation. He his South African experience, as well as his share in the Antarctic expedition, in support of tjiis request, but though Major-Genera 1 flutton assisted him infailed. The reply of the military minorities was that he was too old. This fniluro was a great disappointment to him, and seems to have been whet drove him to take his own life. He came hack to Australia gloomv and discontented, (hi his dressing-table after bis death were found his three-cla>p African medal and the two medals presented to 'iim for his work in the An'U'-t : '. He had apparently been gazing a' them for the last time. He had hoped great things from those medals, and what thev stood for. His hopes had all been dashed, and his lonelv introspective habits had magnified the disappointment until he could endure it no longer. Though a charming man personally, there was always a trace of eccentricity about him. lie loved to do things which other men feared. On one occasion he paddled a canoe from Melbourne to C.eelong, had it carried across to the Bnrwon river, and then paddled down the Barwon. across the open sea. through the Rip, and right ron»'l Van Philip liav to Melbourne. He was educated partlv in Australia and partlv in England, hi 1885 he went to the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, and was a pupil, there for two wars. He left to go to a college in England, from which he went to Vainhridge University. His life for manv years had been spent—who not out in sporting expeditions—in Melbourne and London. He was equally familiar with and well known in both cities.

m. SHELDON'S MAGNETIC LTVrMEXT ■\Yi!! relieve at once rheumatism. lumbneo, lamo hacks, nits, bruise? or hum-, nnd continued applications will effect a «ur<> in- a remarkably short time. Price Is R'l -mil 3=. Obtainable everywhere. 4 Peonlo who have onoe used fh-imber-lain's Colic. Cholera and Diarrhoeo F«emedv nlwavs keep a bottle in the house. T't is the most successful remedy in the world for the cure of pains in the stomach, colic, cholera and dysentrv. This reiw'v has cured more pnin and =nfF>r)"n<T tn*n any other medicine ever manufactured. '' 4

On Monday night Mr Holler, c«rn«c mot with an accident at Kaponga. He was driving into his own gateway when ho placed his weight on the brake o) the waggon. The )>olt had slipped out of .the brake, and the result waa that thure was no resistance when Mr MoHer pressed upon it, and he fell under onf of the wheels. Tt is thought that hesustained a broken rib.

A rather Liaod si on- ;* told by the l.yttoMo'i TiiiM-s of „„ absent-minded ch-rgwnaii ai «. hrislchuivh. A couple h/i-i anrn.'e.! to he married in his church. At tiie appointed day p.nd time. th« briil.-. the clergyman, and all who. were inteie-red. assembled except the bridegnom. They waited and waited. and as the errant man did not appear, « mis-eii..".- was m-iii, to his house. where lie was found, (le hastened to th-.' e!i::iv!:. vith the explanation that he h->.! i:.'-:.iV u tile tin,,., thinking it \v;.s liter .':i :!i,' ihiy. Tile clergyman severely frowned him down, and after the service was one of the foivmost in cxpivs-,1.1- his opinion of the bridpgn>ii]>;'> ::;c\, u-uMo :>r .-"ifu'n->s. .\ few days later another marriage was arrange 1 to ' •• solemnised in the church. The p.t'.i'tie- and their friends assembled at the appointed time, but there was no clergyman. As on the previous occasion, they waited impatiently, and then mu::io;;c v. ■ :r. |:<,st.-!l.-|.,te ij; ,ill<> of (. De . traps 1..- :!;■' vicarage. The clergyman was di-.'-ovrcl there, smoking and .-cadiiitf and taking things very (juietlv. He j had completely forgotten ahon- :ii» appointment.

Tardily, hut not too late, Wane* ha* iveoinpeiw-.i the life work of a niai whose mechanical geniu* may be said to have had an epoch making influence on the oro-jvess of the world. The Official Journal announces the bestowal of the Cross of the Ijegion of Honor on M. Eernand Forest, who, as the inten,tor of cylindrical motors and elcctrfc spark ignition, is in reality the pione* of the .'licoi'-i-i.r, and after it of (he aeroplane. M. Forest's only fault was that ha came too soon. Lack of funds and the vagaries of the French patent law, u'lnl.lned with the circumstance that the world was not ready for the light motor, deprived him of the fruits of his geaitts. His inventions were swallowed up and perfected by others in the motor-craze at the beginning of the century. In ISBB M. Forest produced an explosive motor, which was the first to realise in a 'practical form the idea which was occupying the thoughts of maiiv inventors. In his modest dwelling at Sur.snes, where his <i\ sons are working mechanic*, M. Forest is still turning out inventions. Tie cherishes no bitterness against the state of legislation which has permitted him to be robbed of the benefits of his work.