LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 70, 1 July 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Sixteen horses and 300 sheep went forward to Auckland by the Rarawa last evening. In our report of the annual meeting of the New Plymouth Club we were in error in stating that the entry fee would be half a guinea. No entry lee is at present charged, but after September 1 the sum of 5s will be charged. One of the 'best crops of maize in the Tauranga district has recently been liarvested by Messrs Merriman Bros., reports the Bay of Plenty Times. It is estimated by the owners that it will shell about 900 sacks—some of the .paddocks giving a return of nearly 80 bushels to the acre. It is believed that dairying in the Wairarapa is going to be a more important industry in the near future than it is at the present time. Particularly in South Wairarapa does dairying give promise of making great headway. According to the Wairarapa Age a number of farmers in South Wairarapa have already sold their sheep and purchased cows forthcoming season. One farmer expects a herd of 500 cows. The Roman Catholic .priest, Father Sheridan, at Lithgow, New South Wales, has commenced a crusade against what is termed "indecent dancing." The indecent dance is a particular kind of' waltz with the faces pressed close together.' At the mass on Sunday week, Father Sheridan denounced this form of dance in very strong terms, and declared his resolve to do all in his power to put. it down. If members of the congregation participated in the dance he said they would not be permitted to approach the sacraments. Commercial travellers report business fairly good up and down the West Coast, though there is a general agreement that trade up the Main Trunk line is on the slack side (states the Poverty Bay Herald). "The railway is through the middle of . the Island," said the commercial man, "the boom is past, and the Main Trunk towns have now to stand on their rock-bottom and start again." Another business' man endorsed- the opinion, saying, however, that the resources of the inland country were such that there need 'be no apprehension for its future. V

In returning thanks for his election as president of the Park Tennis and Croquet Club, Mr. R. Cock said last night that as chairman of the Pukekura Park Board he felt that the Board was imposing too much on the club in asking them to clear away the rubbish on the road. The Board should first clear it thoroughly, and then leave the club to keep it clean. The Board had .been notified by the Inspector of Noxious Weeds to clear these weeds, and it was unfair to saddle the new club with this expense. Mr. Tisch concurred, and these gentlemen promised to use their influence to have this condition modified or deleted. There is an extensive brake of gorse and blackberry, which will probably cost a considerable amount to re-j move. •

When in England, Mr. McNab saw the administrative side of the office, qfed the extensive preparations that had been made since the Boer War to render impossible f i repetition of the condition of things'that obtained in 18D9. "I discussed," he said, "with men of almost all' ranks in the Army and in civil life the general conditions of England's defence, from the Chief of the General j Staff down to captains and lieutenants, and their view was largely shared by! colonials now residing in England. It was marvellous how uniform was the opinion that, in regard to defence matters generally, sufficient attention was l not being paid. It is generally consider- | ed that there is not much to complain |of in regard to the Navy. It is the [land forces that-call for improvement."

An Auroa correspondent writen to ah exchange:—The annual exodus from here is going on with a vengeance. The trek lias been an unusually big one >ius year. I can count as many as fourteen of our settlers within a. moderate radius who have shaken the dust of Auroa from their feet and struck out for fresh fields and pastures new. This, I suppose, is in the nature of things. But what we may reasonably complain of is that there should be such a proportion of bachelors among those who have taken their places and settled down among us for a time. This is not as it should be and does not fit in with the

injunction that "it is not good for man to be alone." It is also bad for our public institutions, including our school. I hope this.will not go on. It,is a wellknown fact that the personal charm, beauty and good sense of the damsels of Auroa have no equal in the whole of Taranaki. There is no excuse for the miseries of bachelorhood and as a blot on the community it should go.

At the last meeting of the Hawera Hospital Board, a notification was received from the New Plymouth Board declining to pay an account in respect of a person who had been in the hands of the Hawera Board, and who was alleged to have come from the New Plvj mouth district. The chairman said with some warmth that the New (Plymouth Board usually repudiated any claim made upon them bv the Hawera Board,

tat in the case of any chav.se made upon the Hawera Board by the northern Board..Hawera ■ met them like lambs. Mr. Goodland remarked that he had often the chairman speak about the way New Plymouth Board treated the Hawera Board, and he purposed giving notice of motion that the agreement entered upon bv the New Plymouth, Stratford, and Hawera Boards be rescinded. The present arrangement was certainly not satisfactory. The Chairman: No. Mr. Taylor said it seemed to him that the Board hadn't got any legs to stand on, whereas New Plymouth stood on the three legs. (Laughter.) At the request of members Mr. Goodi land decided not to submit his resolution, as intended, for the present, but instead he proposed that the chairman interview the Board's solicitor with a view to f ascertaining the actual position of the j Board. Tn the course of some further remarks the chairman said: "It is all ! New Plymouth, New . Plymouth—and i New Plyir.6uth gets it!" Mr. Goodland: I And thetf will get it so long as we sit still. Mr. Bridge seconded Mr. Goodland's 1 lotion, which was carried. Send your order for; printing to r ,he "Daily News" Printerv. Prices right satisfa< Hon | guaranteed;