LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 391, 17 May 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Allan Hamilton theatrical company opened a season at Auckland yesterday. They will be in Newi Plymouth on Monday, the 30th inst., when they will stage the play "Revenge." In the good old times, when oil was used in lighthouses, a six thousand can-dle-power lamp was considered immense. The latest electric lighthouse built at Havre (France) will have Wie power or 2,500,000 candles.

At a meeting of the New Plymouth Cliiqral Society and others interested last evening it was decided to form an operatic society and to call a meeting for the 25th inst. in connection with the project. A strong ladies' committee was formed to further the interests of the proposed society.

No less than four motor cars are at the disposal of the Wellington ulficia! Assignee. What is to be done with them is a matter for future serious consideration. The latest addition to the Assignee's garage is a motor 'bus. it is fo,u,nd rather difficult in the present state of the market to dispose of motor cars in bankrupt estates. —Post.

When the new Federal Labor Ministers took charge of their departments last week there was only one member of the old' Ministry to receive them. Most of the Ministers just walked into their departments, sat down, and started work at once (says the Sydney Tolegra.p'h). Mr. King O'Malley, who is a wealthy Socialist, and has the Home Affairs Department, began by addressing the messengers as "brother," a form ot familarity that may afterwards prove emta.rassing, suggests our contemporary. Some Maori carvings, claimed to, oe the oldest in New Zealand, have been sent to the Dominion Museum from tiie Urewera County. T'hey are certainly very venerable-looking effigies, especially one which has been lying in the open, covered: up with vegetation for many yeairs. One figure is named after the great Tuhoe and the other after Puelni, one of Tuhoe's ancestors. The age ascribed to one of the historical relics is six generations. There aire also three or four well-carved doorways, and one exceptionally well-treated piece of> timber designed for a position over the door- | way.

A special correspondent, who has been touring in the heart of China, says that all the women met with, old and young, have mutilated feet. Chinese .writers in English journals speak of the custom as having been already abandoned, but nobody who travels m the interior of the Empire is yet able to note anv apparent improvement. I doubt, adds" the correspondent, whether, all told, in spite of all the work done iby Mrs. Little and other philanthropists, five per cent, of the women of China are 'blessed with natural feet. I believe that the feet of 05 out of every hundred females in China above the age of eight are mutilated.

lii cross-examination by Mr. Herdman in Wellington recently,a, witness named Simpkins described evidences of a burcrlai'y which had taken place at his grocery shot in Brooklyn. From the appearance of the .place next morning, it seemed that the 'burgla/r had treated 'himself to biscuits and lemonade. A lemiontule bottle left on the counter bore finger-prints wlhich 'had assisted the police materially. Cross-examination was directed to t-'he condition of the crates of lemonade bottles, and the shopkeeper explained that iliis shop had been opened for the first time on the day of the burglary, and there had been no sales of lo'iionade. or, indeed, of anything else. ( "This was my 'first customer," added the ■shopkeeper, amid laughter. STUBBORN AS A MULE. A bad cough is more stubborn than n mule, and, if the right method is not used, it is more difficult to conquer. Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery for Ooughs and Colds conquers the most stubborn cases. It is a safe and certain remedy f or couehs. colds, and all Inn? trounip». Small dose. Pleasant to take. Every bottle guaranteed. Obtainable everywhere. I 1

The next meeting of the Harbor Board will foe iheld 011 Thursday, l'Jth instant. The Tarannki County Council meets on Monday next. The Borough Council meets 'the same evening.

M. Rostand's 'wonderful farmyard drama, "Chantecler," is to be produced in London in June, with the original French, cast.

Owing to there being no holiday on Empire Day 'this year, the Education Board will hold its ordinary moiuh/y meeting on the usual days, Tuesday and Wednesday next.

The settlers in the vicinty of Molesworth are at present having a trying time with rabbits. It has been reported that some of the places there are simply swarming with t.he pest, and despite the onslaughts made upon the rabbits with traps, dogs, guns and poisoning, there is no apparent decrease in their numbers. Factory occupiers are advised that the usual Thursday half-holiday must be given this week to all women and boys under the age of eighteen years. The question of granting these employees a ■holiday 011 Friday rests with the employers themselves. Shopkeepers, however, may observe cither Thursday or Friday at will.

The billiard-room at the Xew Plymouth Club, which has been closed to members since tine recent fire in tihe buildings, was reopened yesterday, the damage having now been repaired. Whilst tihese works were in progress several little improvements were effected, which indd to the appearance of the room and to the comfort and convenience of members.

The Defence Minister has approved of the site and plans for a miniature rifle range in connection with the West End School, and a subsidy of £1 for €1 tip to £lO will be granted. The range w.ill be established at the rear of the school. By tile kindness of Mr. Evetts, the firing .base will be made on his property over the creek, and the target will be on the school side of the stream. A small footbridge will be constructed to give access to the base. A meeting of employers interested in making a local industrial exhibit at the winter show to be held in Xew Plymouth next month was held last evening. An offer of a circular space in the centre of the main hall was received from the Agricultural Society, and it was decided to have plans drawn and estimates prepared for an octagonshaped bay, suitably decorated, .the centre land top to revolve. It expected that eight spaces of reasonable dimensions will tiros he available solely for local exhibitors, and a committee ■was set 'up to dispose of these and make all arrangements.

The Taranaki Bifles' orderly-room committee notes in its annual report that t ! he "art gallery" does not contain a .portrait of the liate King Edward. The attention of tihe committee was drawn to 'this by a ibluejacket of H.M.S. Pegasus, who remarked that ia picture of the Sovereign should be in every orderly-room. Upon -the matter being mentioned at last night's meeting of t!he corps, mrious members promised pictures of the late King Edward, lung George, the late Queen Victoria, Dow-ager-Queen Alexandra, :and Queen Mary, whilst another undertook to frame them properly. Tll concluding his address to the Taranaki Ri.fles Past nigiht, Captain Fletcher referred to the complete reorganisation of the defence torces of t'lie Dominion land the formation of the Territorials. He hoped that the members would continue to serve as members of .this company. "We have," 'he "got together a good Joi of "members, who, L am glad to say, are not frightened of a little 'hard work 'when called together to do it, and members who know howto behave themselves when away from home at any voiunteer encampment. The conduct at tine last two camps Bas been excellent, and the members have not caused me. or lany of the officers, any anxietv whatever."

The difficulties in regard to the raising of the Elliot road loan, originally undertaken by the Elliot Road Board and .passed on by that body to the County Council when the merging took ■place, are not yet over. The Treasury luas now discovered that the loan cannot be issued under the Local Bodies' Loan* Act, but only under tihe State-Guaran-teed Advances Act of last year. A new special order will have to be made. The security, however, is not sufficient to raise .t'!)74 under the new Act, as under the previous legislation, but only £00!). If the full amount of £10111) is required ! a special order will 'have to be male under section 1!) of the Local Bodies Act, 1!)08, to provide the increased security.

There's a* good story going the rounds in town just now, and "it's a -pity that the joke should be enjoyed by only a. few. It will be known to most o>i our readers that a bowling club has recently been formed in the West End of New Plymouth. The work of making the green having been satisfactorily arranged for, the eagle-eyed and indefatigable secretary descried one day the "one thing needful—a pavilion. It wasn't an elaborate affair, but it was at one time used bv the New Plymouth Tennis Club. He approached the owner of the s ectio:i on Whicih it stood, and that gentleman, bimsplf a- loyal West Ender, very readily agreed to make the club a present of it. Rut the place was being used us a fowlhouse and storeroom. The occupier received an instruction from the secretary aforesaid to remove .the fowls and clean the building .for removal. Omitting a lot of inconsequent but evcitinor detail, we find that the "pavilion" had been sold two or three years ago to the owner of the poultry, and there was something in his threat to placard it warning trespassers to beware.

Mis<=. E. C. M. Brown, writing in "Travel and Exploration" about the adventures of lieivelf and Miss Sheldon, M.D., another missionary lady, in Thibet (they crossed it'lie border from Xepaul), says that they made the jongpen, or head of the monastery at Takalot. «, present of some soap, an article li<ttle used at elevations of from 12.000 to 15,000 feet above sea level. '"Once in treating a Thibetan lama, who was suffering from dropsy, Miss Sheldon recommended a lwth on, a warm day. The wife held a consultation with'our Thibetan Christian women as to the efVeet of such 'heroic treatment. He iliad never had & bath in his life, she said, and she was not quite sure whether 'he would survive one! Their (prejudices were overcome, the man was bathed and eventually recovered. Since then there 'have been similar cases. ia,nd a few days before the penning of this article a sick Thibetan woman, who came to t'he mission, was in such a filthy condition t'hmt vermin seemed to be consuming her. She was too far fMne, and succumbed in a very .ahort time. Others of her family were, also ill, but were cleaned up, and gradually recovered. Their former garments had to be burned or buried." For Influenza take Woods' Great Pepper mint. On?- Never fails. 1 /«. 2/6. Send vour order for printing to the "Daily News" Printerv. Prices right and satisfaction guaranteed.

In St. Peters l*uw recently there died a Chinaman with tie name of T&fontai, whom the papers describe as the Chinese Rothschild, he owned at Harbin and i) tiller place .breweries, factories, milltf and stores, as well a 9 a fleet of stupe. During the Russo-Japanese war, Tafonlai had been a great army contractor to - Russia.

The hardships of pioneer settlement are not yet a, th'"; <;f l.he past. Dr. \alintine told the Hospital Board at Pnlmerston Inst week .tnat while in Tanuiaki (lie other day, a fallow-medico ■kul told him that he ihad just bee* Mieakinir to a woman in the tor-back, who had not seen one of her own sex for seven months!

There are no fewer than 30,000 bookmakers in England at the present time, stated Mr. John Hawke, .secrotary of the Anti-gambling League, at a meeting at Yarmouth, whereas at the beginning of last century tihey numbered only 20. In the period of five and a-half years hk society had traced 80 suicides," 320 embezzlements and 19!) bankruptcies to the betting evil.

At a meeting of the directors of the Moa Dairy Company yesterday it was agreed to pay, on 20th •tune' next, a bonus of Id per lb. of butter fat supplied from Ist August to 31st March. A letter was received from the Make-r-awa Company stating that their factory would be closed down during the June month, and asking if the Moa Company could take in tlheir suppliers' milk during that month, and asking what terms the Moa Company would require if able to take the milk. The question was feft with the chairman, secretary and manager to arrange terms. Considerable discussion ensued in regard to the question of local sales, the chairman stating that they could not sell locally quite as low as the net English iprice, the matter eventually being left in the hands of the chairman and secretary. Accounts amounting to £2OOO 18g »d were passed for payment, of which £2496 was for milk.—Record.

We are in .receipt from the N.S.W. Bookstall Company, of a novel by J. H. M. Ahbott, aanthor of "Tommy Cornstalk." etc., entitled "The Sign of the Serpent." It is a most interesting 'oook. A seciret society, instituted in England in the smuggling days of ''The (ieorges," has the .scene of its operation;) transferred to Australia, where the descendants of the smugglers happen to be. A priceless jewel in the form of 41 serpent encrusted with .precious stones, that ha* been the sign of ithe society for three generations, is coveted by the remaining members, and .there is lots of trouble before the ownership is definitely settled. There is mucih scheming sind shedding of blood; while Cupid, in 'his usual irresistible way, decides the vexed question to the satisfaction of all concerned. And how? Well, it is worth while to find out. The company is endeavoring to establish a school of Australian literature by offering substantial money prizes in open competition, and we hope it will meet with t'he success at the hands of the public it undoubtedly merits.

The trial marriage is an ineraaicabk custom among the Esquimaux (writes Commander Peary). If a young man and woman are not suited with each other, they try again, and sometimes several times; but wihen they find mates to whom tihey are adapted the arrangement is generally .permanent. If two men want to marry tihe same woman t'hev settle the question bv « trial of strength, and t'he best man has his way. These struggles are not fignt«, as the disputants are amiable. If a man grows tired of his wife, 'he simply tells her there is no room for her in 'his igloo. She may return .to her iparcnts, if they are living; she may go to a brother or sister, or she may send word to some man in the tribe that she is now af liberty, and is willing to stare life ngr'n. In these cases of primitive divorce the husband keeps one or all of tihe children if lie wants them; u not, the woman takes them with her. On nr.- last expedition, as on those of ior-n:c-r \\-ni\s, I found that a number of matrimonial changes had taken place amoiv.o' my northern friends since I was previously among them.