LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 377, 30 April 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Taranaki County Council's May meeting will he held on the• second Monday, instead of the first as usual.

Mr. Xcwton King Ims received 11) following cablegram from Sydney: "Hides one-eighth of a penny higher. - '

Should Jim Jeffries heat Jack Johnson on July 4, Jell'ries plans a comidc'." around-the-world tour, accompanied V, moving .picture operators, photographers, and an army of other help.

The timber reserves of the Fris.T River lumber mill h:ive been sold to a West Canadian company for £4.<l!)o.<in'i. The deal is the targest one of the kind that has ever taken place in Canada.

The dredge Thomas Kin«r was iloate 1 oil" the gridiron on Tuesday last, but a mishap occurred to the pumping gear. This has now been remedied, and "ve'sterday the wonderful little vessel started work again in keeping the berths open..

The sisal fibre industry in India is. according to the Rev. J. *Takle, a missionary who is now visiting Christchurch, going ahead .by leaps and bounds. The natives find' that it pays better than tea, and they are planting largely in the tea gardens at Assam. The plant is altogether different from jute, but the fibre is said to be superior to jute for bag-making and other allied purposes.

A week or two ago a cable informed us of a lad having been killed \>y a savage swan in England, which dragged him into a lake and caused his suffocation. Fiction in this case just ai/Jeipat ed fact. The March number of the Cornhill Magazine contains a grim story bv Mr. Claude E. Benson, called "The Arrow that Flicth," which hinges upon this very idea. A gigantic swan, which has seen its mate done to death by hooligans, turns against man, and is the. cause of two tragedies which look like mysterious murders before its lerocitv is discovered.

Information of a private nature has been received by a well known business man of this city (says the Wellington correspondent of the Auckland Star) which points to another big shipping company extending its service to New Zealand in September next, and probably a month or so before that date. If the extension of the service conies about. Wellington, it is said, is almost sure to be made the port of call of the company's steamers. A foreign company, whose vessels now trade to Australian waters, is also said to contemplate inchiding New Zealand in its itinerary. Successful play writing certainly pays (remarks the New York Press). The latest English estimate of J. M. Barrie's earnings from "The Little Minister" is about ViO.OOO dollars (about tlOO.ODO). The guess at the value of the total Carrie fortune is 2,.100,0(I0 dollars( about £500,000). But there are not "many writers who can turn out a "Peter Pan," "What Every Woman Knows." and a "Little Minister," not to mention "The Professor's Love Story," The AdmiraHe Crichton." and others now almost forgotten, but which .paid handsome royalties. The first Barrio play. "Walker, London," was produced nineteen years ago. In counting up the source ol revenue, don't forget that Barrie )i;is also been a popular novelist for twenty years; yet one of his plays brought him more money, iprobably, than all the novels put together. Colonel .Tim Gordon, the veteran senator from Mississippi, who describes himself as poet, soldier and statesman, has made a remarkable speech in the United States Senate. He traced hi? rise in the world from babyhood, when his mother told .him that if he behaved Himself and lived a clean life he would one day be an ornament to his country, lie continued:— "T have had a varied life, but I must say T was never luippv until I got rid of several millions which I unfortunately inherited; Some I snent in freeing niv slaves, and the ret I snent on my friends, like a gentleman. I have been listening to the speeches hei'evcrv carefully, and the more I heard the sorrier I felt for millionaire?. Thank God. I am not of that class. I heard a senator from .Arkansas make a speed; recently abusing poor old Ito-kofellcv. If there's a man in the States I am sorry for it is Rockefeller. I cannot helu sympathising with a fellow that everybody is cussing. - ' Referring to the fact tint he had been a Confederate soldier. Colonel Cordon said: "T fought and bled, but 1 did not die. However, 1 skedaddled frequently." He concluded by quoting some of his own poetry.

Yesterday was an unu-ually Imsy day at Moturoa. It was a day of records, too. The gross tonnage berthed at the wliarf represented' close on 401)0. probably never before reached in the history of the port. Tlie:i the amount of cargo handled by the Railway Department on the wharf amounted to over a thousand tons. And all this was handled without any inconvenience to any party concerned. We have been informed by shipping authorities that New Plvmouth is the best railway port in the Dominion, as regards the expeditious handling of cargo by the railway authorities. Yesterday's work must surely have added to the port's reputation, for at one time during the day the Corinna was able to discharge 1.10 tons in an hour and twenty minutes. This, of course, could not have been done without the smart work of the railway staff in taking away the loaded trucks and providing empty ones. The Te Anau was equally well served. A busy time is expected at the wharf to day, but the shipping agents are certain that .Mr. Day and his capable stall' will have everything in readiness to enable a prompt despatch of the vessels. An interesting letter from Archdeacon Harper, giving a few notes on his experiences in London, appears in the April number of the "New Zealand Church Xews." Writing ot the great city out of doors, he savs: Considerable change has taken place in London in the last ten years. It is still the same in its main outlines, but one notices many a fine new building. Especially noticeable is the great improvement of traffic. Motors of all sorts have to a large extent taken the place of horsed vehicles. There are some 15,000 taxi-cabs plying for hire, not to speak of motor-'busses and private cars. The "taxis" are as comfortable as vour mn car, and are driven with marvellous skill a7id rapidity in and out the throng of vehicles that fill the streets. There is less noise, and the streets are much cleaner than before, and, as ever, the police management of the trallic is'perfect. Another change for the better has greatly impressed me. I have been about on foot a good deal during the last fortnight, and I have not seen a single case of drunkenness ' the streets; and in the large restaurants, and at the hotels, at lunch and dinner, it is noticeable how few indulge in wine or beer. Londoners tell me that this is the ease now generally. If your property is not insured, call at or ring up the United Insurance Company. Ltd., Devon street. Telephone 1!) S. Webster Bros., district agents. Insurances effected ou the most favorable terms.— Advt.

H is stated that a quarter of a million </i money is coming from Australia shortly for the development of gold-mitt* iiif, in the Hokitika district.

Messrs. Ilallonstein. Uros. liave forwarded to the New Plymouth Fire Brigade a cheque for il'i 3a,in acknowledgment of i(> services at Saturday night's lire.

Yesterday morning the vairarie? ot a woman in a gig. dr. ,■!.-.„• a .wnte pony, attracted the attention of Devon-street pedestrians, and Constable Mclvor intervened to save her from herself.

The muttonbird season has commenced. (says the Southland News), and a few supplies are expected a'iy day. Several cutters which took pa. ties to the Titi J-.land have boon lying up awaiting the Inst baskets, and when those are ready the cutters will make a start for the liluff.

The other day the inmates of Mrs.. l'iUsinimon's Hotel, Wairio, were rudely awakened at two o'clock l»y two men in horseback (says the Western Star). who drew up in front of the hotel and pioceedcd to hurl rocks through the window's in all the rooms before lnountrng their horses and galloping off. One ot the inmates was awakened by the sound of breaking glass, and was rising from liis: bed when a rook came through the. vtiulow and struck linn on the hand,. causing his lingers to swell up considerably. The matter is in the hands of the police.

Passing through the Recreation Grounds to-day, one finds it hard to believe that only a few short weeks ago this was a scene of devastation. On all sides were lying huge fallen limbs, uprooted trees, dying twigs, and leaves. Now the curator has cleared all tile paths and restored them to their usual state of tidiness. Slopes that were thick with debris have .been raked down, and great piles of rubbish have been disposed of. Mr. Smith has no reason to be displeased with the result of his labors since his return from his brief holiday. Of course, there still remains much to be done.

dales Guerin, who has just died, in Talis, will long be remembered (says a Luiidon journal) in connection with the siege of "Fort Ghabrol." In 188!) a warrant was issued for his arrest along with I'th'T Royalists, for high treason, and he barricaded himself in the offices of the Crawl Occident, in the Rue Chabrol. and from this fortress defied the police and military forces of Paris. For a whole mouth he was beseiged by thousands of men, at whom he pointed rifles and revolvers from his windows. Behind his formidable armed front ,lic had a great time. He was the jolliest and most amiable of men. lie received anyone who was not a policeman or a soldier, aiijl sat grinning at his table, on wnich huge revolvers, pistols and cutlasses lay ready at hand. Royalists and Nationalists took the Fort Chabrol in dead earn- ' est. So did the Government. At the end of the month the joke had lasted lonp enough . and artillery was brought upon the scene. "To avert bloodshed" .rules Ouerin nohlv surrendered. He was tried by the High Court, and sentenced to banishment for ten years but reprieved after five. Returning to Paris, he dropped politics entirely, and set up in Imsiness.