LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 385, 10 May 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Egmont Road district has been abolished and merged into the Taranaki County. i A slight earth tremor was felt In New Plymouth shortly after 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon. , The price of oatmeal has been raised 10s per ton, the current price being £l2 per "ton for 251b bags and £l4 for 71b bags. The sittings of the Public Service Board in connection with the Income Tax Department enquiry will begin on May 23. The Maheno arrived in Auckland early yesterday after a stormy passage from Sydnev. A steerage passenger,. Mrs. Harris* died during the voyage, and was | buried at sea. Confidence in the Waihi mine has not, | as a result of the recent panic, suffered much here (says the Waihi Telegraph), the position being better understood from a mining point of view. Mr. F. G. Holmes has been appointed foreman of the western division of the Waitara riding of the County, which lately comprised the Egmont Road district recently merged into the County.

Three houses in Ponsonby were burglarised early on Saturday night. Small hauls in money and jewellery were made at the residences of Messrs. Maurice Casey, E. T. Hart, and K. Phillips.

The Egmont Road district, now merged into the Taranaki County, has seventeen ,roads claiming the attention of the road foreman. The total length is about 29y 3 miles, and approximately 19 miles are metalled. • The reward of £IOO offered for information leading to the arrest of Powelka will probably be divided between Constable Thomson (Wanganur) and Gallagher (Wellington), who secured him in a hay loft at Ashhurst. "Probably we in Auckland need some less prosperous years to convince us- that, as a matter of prudence, it would be wise to make every upper school-girl to face the question of earning her own living." —Headmistress of the Diocesan Girls' School.

The Tramways Committee set up by, the Borough Council last week to consider the decision o£ the Council to 1 take up the tramway proposition as a municipal undertaking, has decided in favor of that course, and will report to the Council accordingly.

A resident of Masterton claims that he can make honey from quinces that so closely resembles the genuine article that it will defy detection, on the nart of the ordinary consumer, at least. He also claims to be able to make preserved ginger from carrots, and coffee from parsnips.

Dr. Pomare has been visiting the Maori typhoid patients at Jerusalem, on the Wanganui river. There are at present six patients, two of whom are in a critical condition; the others- are doing well. Two nurses are looking after the invalids, who are isolated in a large building. The Greymouth correspondent of the Lyttelton Times states that all those who attended the reception to Mr. AY. F. Massey at Greymouth recently are to be prosecuted under clause 42 of the Licensing Act for being on licensed premises 'after hours, as the proceedings did not terminate till 11.25 p.m. There is a good deal of comment in town concerning the delay in postponing last Saturday's football fixtures. The proposal to do so was strongly contested by several players, and by some of the club's representatives on the management committee, a meeting of which had to be held to decide the point. Steady progress is being made with the establishment of the southern whale enterprise (says the Southland Dailv News). 'Hananui, the native name of Mount Anglem (Stewart Island), is the appelation bestowed upon the cantu vessel, ■which lias been built at Home for the company. The vessel is now on the way to ->e\v Zealand. A steam craft to ply between Campbell island and the. Bluff is at Auckland, And will be ready for service by the time the capture steamer arrives. Captain Mcßryde, late skipper of the schooner Jessie Niceol, will probably take command of the carrier.

A special summoned of the Loyal Egmont Lodge, 1.0.0. F., M.U., was neld last evening, Bro. A. B. Carr, jVoble Grand, presiding. There was a large attendance of members. Considerable discussion ensued on the advisability of the continuance of the hospital fund. It was decided to continue the 2s levy for the remainder of the year, and that the hospital benefit be for contributing members only. It was decided to forward a letter of condolence to the wido>v of a late brother. One candidate was proposed for membership. After the formal opening of the Lodge it was adjourned; for a short while as a mark of condolence in connection with the death ot the late King. "It would be a good thing," said Mr. T. E. Taylor. M.P~ in the course of a lecture at Christchurch on Thursday evening, "if every citizen, before assuming a public ollice, were compelled to make a tour of the world, and thus have his views broadened and enlightened." Many people, he said, doubted whether any good could ever come out of Russia. They did not know that Russia was at the head of the world so far as university education was concerned. They did not realise that Russia had a mojt distinguished style of architecture, nor were they aware that it possessed a literature of its own of which no nation would be ashamed. Mr. Taylor should take the trip.

A solicitor's hill of costs was considered "unusual" by Mr. Justice Cooper on Friday last. The original hill hbeen for one hundred guineas, for services rendered in connection with the. estate of a Maori woman, hut when the bill came to .he taxed and it was referred hack to the solicitor with instructions to particularise the charges, it was presented as a bill for nearly £270. It •was explained that the solicitor had omitted to include a number of items in the original account. His Honor remarked that hills of costs, when referred back to be "itemised," were very often rendered for a slightly larger amount, but there was a remarkable difference between £lO5 and £270. His Honor did not suggest that the bill of costs was incorrect, hut. he would consider whether the second hill could he substituted for the first 'while making an ordor for taxation.