LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 63, 23 June 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is reported that Mr. E. May has purchased the well-known residence of the late 'Mr. J. C. George at Devon street' west. I It was stated in our issue of yesterday that the estimated cost of the mile and a half of road linking up the Junction road from Matau with the railway at Ki Ore was £IB,OOO. The figures should have read £IBOO. { The usual weekly session of the Hope of Egmont Juvenile Temple, Xo. 25, 1.0. G.T., was held last night in St, Mary's Hall. CT. Sis. D. Eva presided over a good attendance. One new member was initiated. The sisters were the winners of the banner for good attend-, ance and behaviour. Tt transpired at the Old Bailey recently that La Milo has the income of a Cabinet Minister. That is not bad. -butl it is a long way behind Little Tich, who is earning wealth at the rate of £15,000 a year. He got £.300 for appearing at. Edinburgh recently; and he had even 1 more in Glasgow. He keeps his motor I car, and as he cannot be bothered with rehearsals he sometimes sends his chauf-l feur to run through the music of hisi songs with the orchestra so that theyj may get the cues. i A little girl had a narrow escape from' being gored yesterday by an infuriated cow in Devon street east, iieaf the Red House Hotel. The animal rushed headlong down Gover street from Courtenay street to Devon street, its horns red with blood which it bad drawn from the horse of one of its two drovers, in a savage attack. The beast charged along the pavement, and a little daughter of Mr. S. Hooper, who lives close »by, started to run away from it. The cow overtook her, however, and caught her, on its horns, carrying her some twenty yards before she fell to the pavement. l The made beast continued on its way to Fitzroy. The little girl was picked up and carried indoors, where it was found, that she had fortunately escaped seri-, ous injury, although suffering from severe bruises and shock. A third pursuer of the cow was Mr. Ben Tipprics the borough inspector, and it is probable that more will be heard of the matter.

The Ministry are a queer lot, according to a southern critic. "There's an Irishman at one end, a Maori at the other, and a lot of Scotchmen between. What, sort of a crew are they?"— Hon. '!'. Mackenzie at Te Wera. The (lovornment has decided to establish a State coal depot on its land at Thomdon, near the railway wharf. Authorities for expenditure in connection with State mines have been approved to the extent of £41,045.

Our Makalm correspondent writes:— The immetalled portions of the roads are cutting up, owing to the wet weather. Our teacher (Mrs. J. Cameron) is to be congratulated on obtaining fifth position under the Taranaki Education Board. Speaking to a deputation at Te Wera on Monday, the Minister for Agriculture remarked that the people of the Dominion did not seem to realise what splendid feeders light railways were to , the main lines, and what they would \do for a place. The cost was only £ISOO a mile, very little more than it cost to construct some of the backblocks roads. At a householders' meeting at Pohokura on Monday evening the following school committee were elected:—Messrs'. D. Hickford, C. Prideaux, R. J. Speck, J. M. Spence, and Geo. Coates. Mr. Hickford was elected chairman for the ensuing year, and Mr. Prideaux secretary and treasurer. A vote of thanks was accorded the outgoing committee Own correspondent. A settler stated at the Te Wera banquet that the shareholders of the Makahu Dairy Company had more to contend against than any other factory in New Zealand. It took them twelve months in which to get the necessary timber, and it was not until three months afterwards that they could get the machinery. On top of this they 'had to build two bridges to enable suppliers to reach the factory.

There was a very proud man at To Wera on Monday. He was Mr. O'Neill. When he rose to reply to a toast, he explained why. He had gone into tDat country some years ago as a pick and shovel man. He had worked hard, had taken up a Government section, and was now the possessor of a thousand acres of good land, and an employer of, labor. He was grateful to the Government for what they had done for him, and he did not intend to kick away the ladder that enabled him to reach his present position.

The usual weekly session of the Egraont Lodge, No. 112, 1.0. G.T., was held in St. Mary's Hall last night. The C.T., Bro. C Legg, presided over a 'good attendance. One new member was proposed for. initiation. The programme for the evening was as follows: Pianoforte solo, Bro. Lewis (2); recitation, Sis. L. White; harp solo, Bro. H. Ricketts; recitation, Sis. B. Legg; lecture on chins by Bro. G. W. Havtnell; reading, Bro. J. C. Legg. Light refreshments were handed around, and the meeting terminated.

There is no province in the Dominion that has such a great extent of rich back country as Taranaki. Mr. Joe McCluggage made this observation at Te Wera. He was down in Canterbury the other day, and met a man with whom he discussed Taranaki's possibilities. The Canterbury man was very enthusiastic about some of their sheep land. What could it carry? Well, said the Canterburyite, one sheep to two acres, providing special feed was grown. He was greatly surprised when Mr. McClugga'ge informed him that Tarariaki's back country would carry two sheep to the acre. In fact, he said, " Tell that to the marines! I've been in Taranaki, and know that it's all swamp almost from Ngaere to New Plymouth!"

Reference was made by one of the speakers at Te Wera on Monday to tlie amount of work that had to be performed by a Cabinet Minister nowadays. Though the work had increased several times over during the past twenty years, the number of Ministers remained the same. A member had to work morning, noon and night, and unless he was able to take a holiday, he could not stand more than five years of the strain. Another remarked on the heavy deatli toll among our chief administrators, which plainly showed that the path of political glory led to the grave. The Hon. T. Mackenzie said the work of the Ministry was now beyond the ability of eight men, and the marvel to him was that they did not make more mistakes, and that they did as well as they did.

Writing from Vancouver, British Co]-j umbia, to a local friend, Mr. W. A. Simpson, late manager of the Taranaki Petroleum Company, says:—"l landedi here on April 7, and was so taken up with this part of Canada that I have remained here until now. Vancouver is! improving at a marvellous rate. Street' after street is being opened up. They' are all graded and metalled, though but three months ago they were covered' with timber and stumps, from two to ten feet thick.' The roar of the blasting' powder blowing up stumps on every side of the city sounds like cannonading. 11 had to get into the swim. I arrived] here on Thursday, and on Mondav I bought a ISOOdoUot or paddock, 33x120, { The corporation was blasting the stumps' in front of it when I bought, but in a[ week, when I went to see it, the street was finished. The lot facing mv prop-1 erty is now making ready to build. Thai tram is nearly to my lot, and will run within 300 feet of mv place. They have one of the finest tram systems in the world here. Electric engines go out into the country and draw lumber and freight and settlers' effects. The roads run in every direction iip to six miles from the city. This will he the largest city on the Pacific Coast in a few years. I also bought two residential lots in one of the best sections in the suburbs, so that T am going home pretty heavilv in debt. I am leaving for old Ontario to-dny. T have not heard how your oil industry is getting along, but I suppose U must be a big success by this time."

BOOTS AND SHOES. WHO SAYS HTfiH PRTCES? Buy vour footwear at the Melbourne's Great Rebuilding Sale, and you need not pay more than you did a year °r two years n*ro. and'your savings will be greater than ever. Undoubtedly the price of raw material lias advanced, but our buvin<: or«ankition—ever on the qui vive—anticipated the rise, and contracts were .placed at the old prices bv our manager when in Ensrland. which will carry us well .on to the end of 1010. Most stores—were they in the hawv position we're in—would sell at advanced rates—fully 20 per cent.—and pocket the extra profit. But that is not the policy of the Melbourne. We sell as we bnv. Talce as an example our famous 10s fld welted iboots for men. Here is a boot that other stores sold at 2.is. Now put on an advance of 20 per cent. This, vou will see. brmga the price up to 30s. Had we to do the same thins with our famous 16s Dd line we'd have to ask vou 20s for it. But we're not doinc it. That is the point. We're still selling at old prices; hence the increased savings above mentioned.—Advt.