LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 357, 7 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

< We are asked by Messrs. H. Collier *nd Co., the box office agents, to state that the "Peter Pan" box plan opens at 8.30 a.m. to-morrow, and that no seats will be booked per telephone. \ At Waitara yesterday six settlers were fined in the Magistrate's Court, for neglecting to clear their land of noxious Iveeds. One of the offenders was a Maori,-.who set up the defence that he was not the owner of the land in respect of which the information was laid by the noxious weeds inspector, but he was fined not as owner but as occupier. The fines were of £1 and costs in each caie.

At the pleasant little function at the Bank of Australasia yesterday afternoon, reference was made to the difficult position which a bank manager had to fill. He had often, one of the speakers remarked, to say "no" to clients in hard times, and if, after passing through a spell of hard times, a bank manager upon leaving a town was entertained and lauded by his clients, it showed that he had learned to do this very disagreeable thing in a very ntrreeable fashion. This, he said, Mr. Kimbell had done.

Mr. Cholmeley, noxious weeds inspector, is vigorously pursuing his State'impo.sfid crusade against occupiers of -land who have failed ti comply with the provisions of the Act. Over twenty prosecutions have taken place this year, and we are informed on fairly good authority that the Department has instructed the inspectors to proceed vigorously on these lines. The Department is *live to the necessity for compelling farmers to look after' their own inter-, ests and the interests of the whole district by eradicating blackberry, ragwort, and so «n.

The Loyal Excelsior Lodge of Oddfellows held a social on Tuesday evening. There was a good attendance. P.P.G.M. W. J. Cleland presided, and with him were the Grand Master of the New Zealand. Branch, P.P.G.M. C E Bellringer, P.P.G.M. J. Ellis, and Bros. Harris Ford, G. H. McGnhey. and H. Ainsworth. Grand Master ' Bellringer was warmly congratulated on attaining his present eminence in the Order, and suitably acknowledge.! the compliments. He said that of 22,000 members in New Zealand, 15,000 were affiliated .to the New Zealand Branch. Musical items were supplied by Misses F. Ward and Blake. Mesdames Moresby and Rich, and Messrs. Rich and Moon. Refreshments were provided.

The other day a cable message stated hat Miss Whitelaw, late of Auckland, had liwn appointed mistress of the Wycombe Abbey School. IReferrino- to the retiring mistress, a London correspond- •■'. under date February 18. writes ••Although Miss Dnve, mistress of the Wycombe Abbey School, mav not have ■'« en out to Xew Zealand,' there are many of her friends who know her wel' -past pupils and their parents—to say nothing of the fact that her brother, the /\u L - Dove - M.A.. is the new head ■of the Waiwanui Collegiate School. There is. therefore, a certain amount of New Zealand interest in the announced intention of Mis, Dove to retire from • nresent duties after twenty-eHit years* active work as headmistress. She -onsuW* the time has come when she should have a rest. It is fifteen years ;''i"e Miss Dove was chosen to control Y Wveombe Abbey Hiirh School for girls: prior to that the Abbev was a •".iiisinn belonging; to Lord mrrin**on. Tt may be remembered in New Zealand that Mis« Dove was nominated for the Mayoralty-of High Wveombe. but lnc.il nrejudice aeainst the election of a lady-mayor nroved too strong, and =o she was not elected." ■

A ta\!-"nb made its annearancc yesWdav morning* on the and for the future will lie found, when disonjraorod. on its stand ?n E<rmont-street onnositf. Messrs. E. Griffith., am i Co.'s swd frav>house. The "ti\i" vonrpsniits the latest enternrise of Mr. W. A. Jurv, of the East End liverv stables, and should soon have a brisk connection. The cab is naintpfl and upholstered in dark maroon, and is verv comfortable, with seating* for four nassensiers. Tho motor is n. 10-12-h.p. ]> Dion", which is only another name for reliability. Mr. •Turv has been fortunate in securing as driver Mr. T. Salter, who. from his ion» service with Dr. Leathern. hn« n se<wid-to-none know|pr)orp of *hn streets in Hi» town and suburbs. The fare= charged are th« usual cab fares provided by the borough, by-laws.— Adrt.

In Masterton a firm has reduced the price of bread to threepence per 21b to.u for cash. The latest gazette, contains a proclamation of the constitution of the St. Aubyn township. During February the Treasury received £1 as "conscience money" from some person unknown. In Christehureh the other day two motorists were fined for driving their motor-cars over the Clock Tower Crossing at other than a walking-pace. A "walking-pace" for motor-cars is fixed at four miles an hour. The City Council had erected at the crossing notices stating "Walk over this crossing." In connection with Sir Ernest Sluu-k----leton's recent visit to S:. Petersburg, an interesting story is told. When ;i;e famous Antarctic explorer crowed the Russian frontier at Wirballen, he wa* seen by a Kussian journalist, ignorant of his identity, walking up and down the station platform, wearing no overcoat or any other addition to his ordinary clothing save a light pea-jacket. The journalist, meaning well, warned him to beware of intlanimation of liie lungs: "This is Russia, not a southern country," he said. "1 am accustomed to frosts," replied Sir Ernest. "It is sometimes much colder in the South j.m here. Mv name is Shaekleton."

On Friday there came into force an I Act passed last session which raaKes it| necessary that in all civil cases heard; at the Magistrate's Court notice of de-1 fence must be given within five days of the service of 'the summons upon the defendant. The new procedure will pre-, vent a number of surprise defences, although provision is made to give the Magistrate power to allow a special defence to he made when notice is not given. The new summonses will contain the notice, and there should be little opportunity for mistakes. Provision is also made in a schedule to the Act for simpler statements of claim in cases concerning debts for goods supplied.

The Evening Post, reporting the professional cycling championship events at Wellington on Saturday, says: ''The championships, with possibly the exception of the five-mile event, were painfully slow and lacking in interest. For instance, the time in the half-mile championship was lmin 21 2-ssec, whereas ihe time in an amateur event over the same distance was lmin 13 1-osec. The time for the final of the one-mile championship was 2min 52 2-ssec. A spectators' race, competed for by individuals in long trousers, over exactly the same distance, was won in 2min 38sec!" The first stages of the championship were more of the nature of a joke than a race. In the five-miles race, owing to the snail's pace at which the other two races had been run, the officials put on two pacers, who took the job of leading the field lap and lap about.

. Mr. Foster Fraser'o slap-dash way of "writing up" whole continents in a few newspaper articles and dismissing the entire population of a country, manners and customs, institutions, industries, virtues and vices, good points and bad, with a few strokes of the pen is distinctly reminiscent (says the Lyttelton Times) of the method adopted by Count Smorltork, the distinguished foreigner who was introduced by Mrs. Leo Hunter to Mr. Pickwick on the memorable occasion of that gentleman's visit to "the Den, Eatenswill." "I want," said Mrs. Leo Hunter, "to introduce two clever people to each other. Mr. Pickwick, I you to Count Smorltork. the famous foreigner, who is gathering materials for his great work on England." "Have you been long in England?" enquired Mr. Pickwick. "Loner—ver long timefortnight—more." "Do you stay hero long?" "One week." "You will have enough to do," said Mr. Pickwick, smiling, "to gather all the materials von want that time/' "They are gathered." sni'l the Count. ' '

The Taranaki Ho-pital Bo;;:\k have 1 laid it down that even- resident is entitled tn public hospital treatment. In Christchurch they haven't progressed to that extent, for'at Friday's meeting of '. the North Canterbury Hospital "and Charitable Aid Board a letter was received from the honorary medical staff of the Ohristchurch Hospital drawing attention to a matter that had been laid before the late Board for a ruling, but had apparently not been decided by it, namely, the question ns to who was' entitled to hospital treatment. It had been held by some that all, irrespective of their means, were entitled to hosnital treatment, and recently there had been several instances of well-to-do persons anxious to obtain hosnital treatment, believing it was their risht. The honorarv staff held that only those who were unable to pay for trivate nursing and medical attendance shon'd receive hospital treatment, and it was on that understanding that thev <rave their services gratuitously. As the matter was, one of .great importance, sHff asked 'that the Board should aive it its con- 1 sidcration immediately. Tt was decided to defer consideration of the question until the following meeting of the Bowl and to invite the staff tn discuss the matter with the Board on that occasion.| The New York World nublisb.es a re- : markable interview with Mr. Andrew D.i White, the '''octogenarian sage of Ithaca", (Xew York), who denounces in striKmifj terms the maladministration of thoj criminal law in America. When he re-1 .linnuished the post of Ambassador atj Berlin eight years a?o. Mr. White began a systematic investigation of the immunity enjoyed by "murderers in the United States. The fruit of his investigations the former president of Cornell University now sums up in the words: | "Tt is safer to kill a man in the United t States than to kill a deer." "As we sit/ here to-day." Mr. White solemnly ob-j .served, "I will make a prophecy. It isl now January 28th. I say in all sincerity' and with profound regret that before the 28th of next Janua'rv 5000 men and women in the United States will have been murdered." The sympathy which criminals enjoy in this country is such that the savant sarcastically suggested that the State should purchase the Wal-| dorf Astoria, or some other hotel in New| York, confine all the murderers in it, and "dine and wine" them until thev die of gout. Mr. White proceeded: "Twenty years ago there' were about i 1500 murders yearly in the United States. There are now 8000. The percentase of murders in the United States to the nopnulat.ion is fortv-three times greater than in Canada and eight times erent»r than in Belgium, which has the worst record in Europe." I T>R: SHELDON'S MAGNETIC LTNf- i

MEXT Will relieve at once rheumatism. fum>m?o, lame bucks, cuts, bruises or burns, and continued applications will effect a «wo in a remarkably short time. Price 's fl<l ithl 3s. Obtainable everywhere. 4 People who have once u=ed Chamberlain's Colic. Cholera and Diarrhoeo Remorlv always keep a bottle in the house. I't is the most successful remedv in the world for the cure of pains in the stomach, colif. cholera and dysentry. This remeHv has cured more pain and sufferin? than any other medicine ever manufactured. , ~ ' 4

Mis Tloekrill has' been frequently asked in the past few day 3to state whether Br Allen'* lecture at the annual mooting of the Society for theProtection of the Health of Women and Children to-morrow night will be open

to the public, or for women only. D> Allen 'iiiviiiMf been consulted on the point. it is now announced that a hearty welcome is extended to the public. Another attempt was made yesterday, morning to rollout Lhe harbour dredge. Thu cranes lifted the vessel about four toot front the bottom, but then a weak link in the chain attached to the big crane broke, and the dredge tank again to- the bottom. The diver went down and found the vessel still intact. Tht Harbour Board, fortunately, has other chains of this stamp, and another has been placed in position ready for anurher attempt to-day;-

The annual meeting of the Taranaki No-License League was held in the Baptist Church on Tuesday evening.- The Rev. ~1. Laird was in the chair. The report was adopted. Consideration of proposed legislation was deferred.. The finance* are good. Officers were elected at follow:—President, Mr. G. H. Maunder; hon. secretary, Mr. J. W. Taunt; hon. treasurer, Mr. T. Frethey; vice-presi-dents, the ministers of the town and district, if willing, with the president of the W.C.T.U. These officers, with the addition of nine other ladies and gentlemen, form the executive committee for , the Tear.

There's a monster pie melon on Tiew at Mr. W. Rowe's seed and produce store just now, and it's quite a centre of attraction. This mammoth specimen of a very popular member of the gourd family, weighing 321b, was grown by Mr. W. A. Collis, and it found congenial soil in an old ash-heap, strengthened with well-rotted stable manure. During its growth the plant received two or three applications of nitrate of soda. There is no reason why the seeds of this melon, grown in suitable soil and given a little attention, should not produce oven larger fruit, and those anxious to try it, or to get good results from the melon patch, can obtain seeds from Mr. Rowe's establishment.

That comprehensive reslolution passed by the Taranaki County Council on Monday, calling upon the Minister of Agriculture to more vigorously enforce the penal clauses of the Noxious Weeds Act, causes a smile amongst those who know the state of one or two county reserves in regard to noxious weeds. The old Biblical injunction urging the removal of the beam from one's own eye before directing attention to the moat in the other fellow's, and the more modern saying that people living in glass houses should l not throw stones, force themselves on the mind. The County Council is on the list of property owners .which has been notified to clean one of its sections of weeds, and so far the weeds have not 'been eradicated. ■ 'T'OTHi