LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 71, 2 July 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

As a result of a bequest bv the late I Mr. George Death, who formerly resided in the Patea district, the Patea Hospital will benefit to the extent of £l-80. De-| ceased left the sum of £IOO to the hospital, which will be supplemented by the' Government subsidy of 103 in the £. j

In certain quarters it is believed that' Mr. R. MeNab will be the. Government candidate for the Palmerston seat at j the next election. Questioned by a press! representative at the show, as to whether there was any truth in the rumor, I Mr. MeNab gave a non-commital reply. l

Ine grocers of Auckland and suburbsi notify that from the beginning of tho month they ar.e limiting, the credit of the larger householders by confining them to monthly accounts on terms ta be arranged, and require that all such accounts must be paid by the 10th oi the month following due date. j At the Clifton County Council meeting yesterday it was decided to make application to the Government for the following grants: Mimi-Mokau £IOOO, Okohe Loan £IOO, Piko £SOO, Kaka £2OO, Uruti £SOO, South Matau £2OO, Junction Road £IOOO, Mangatoro Bridge £IOO, making a total of £4700. The Patea Press reports that the land! recently advertised for sale at Whenuakura has been purchased from Mr. A. T Palmer by Messrs Symes Bros, and Wil-'j liamson Bros. Four sections, comprising 1097 acres, were included in this block,! and the price paid by the purchasers' amounted to the large sum of £30,100.! In addition to the above, Mr. Palmer! hate just leased another 4GO acres of' first-class land, situated at Alton, to his' son, Mr. Percy Palmer. j

It is hardly reasonable to suppose that the learned gentlemen of the law coujd negotiate a three-davs' hearing of a charge of sheep stealing without making a few slips. Yesterday, for in-' stance, the Crown Prosecutor could not understand what was meant by mustering a "face," meaning the face'of a hill. But the witness under cross-examina-' tion couldn't repress his merriment when counsel suggested, "Suppose vou only saw the hind legs of a sheep, would you know it was yours?" ' i

A whale hunt in the Sounds last week created some excitement for the Jackson- crew., who made an endeavor to "land" a fairly valuable specimen (or. rather, two. a mother and a. calf) off Whatamonga, says thp Marlborough Exf.rcss. They successfully harpooned the young whale, and their boat was towed at the rate of knots on a zig-zag course for miles. The mother defended "the calf i the whole distance, and managed to keep whalers from fixing another line. Off Kahikatea the parent whale instinctively bumped the calf and snapped the iron. Once free, the pair got away at great speed, and the chance of securing a "catch was unfortunately lost.

The services in Queen-street Church to-morrow will be as follows:—Morning, at. 11. T?py. John' Nixon: evening at Miss McGregor, of the Ramabaf Muktii Mission, India. All seats free.

Cadet Officers' School of Instruction was continued last night, when Q.M.I Sergt. Lister lectured on camps, distribution of food, cooking and sanitaryj arrangements, showing the need for absolute cleanliness. I

In the New Plymouth district last mouth there were 23 births, 11 deaths, and !) marriages. Following are thel figures- for the quarter ending yesterday (those in parentheses represent figures for the same period last year):—Births

A remarkable discovery was made by a chimney sweep at Moffatt (England! I while engaged in removing an obstruction in a chimney caused bv a jackdaw's nest. Two hundred and'fifty wooden clothes pegs were removed from the chimney, 115 'being new ones, and all- of them had been utilised for the purpose of nest building. What promises to be a very interesting function takes place on Monuav evening at the Whitely Hall, when Miss McGregor, of the Eambi Mukti Mission for Child Widows of India, will give a lantern lecture on the general life and work of the mission. The mission taKes the name of an Indian lady who started lit in 1889. The mission costs £2O a [ day to run, a fact which can best be 'realised when it is mentioned that the institution has 1600 inmates, the buildings and compounds covering 14 acres of land and fields for cultivation purposes.

The prospects of the Ohura district are referred to in hopeful terms by a recent visitor to that district. *i'he number of settlers is rapidly increasing despite the fact that they are »reatly 'handicapped by want of up-to-date°mean's of communication with the outer world. Quarter-acre sections in the township have recently changed hands at over £IOO, and all the residents appear to have full confidence in the future of the district. The capabilities of the district for pastoral purposes may be gauged from the fact that the 'butter sent from Home from the Ohura last season topped the London market. New County Council chambers are being erected, and other new buildings are expected to make their appearance shortly. i

Dr. A. J. Orchard, who has returned to Christchurch from a visit to the Islands, speaks very interestingly about Fijian, Tongan and Snmoan groups, and especially of the growth of the Hindu population in Fiji. The Hindu population of Fiji is now about 00,000, and the Government is importing them at the rate of 2000 a year. It will not be lons, 'apparently, before the Hindus largely exceed the Fijians in numbers. The two races .do not mix. There is on record one case of inter-marriage, but it is believed to be absolutely the only one. They have nothing in common physically, mentally, or in any other respect. The Fijian is tall, strong, childlike and simple. The Hindu is small, weedy and crafty. The Fijian despises the Hindu, the Hindu despises the Fijian, and both despise the European, while the European, as a rule, despises both of them. Dr. Orchard cnme into contact with a ■Hindu cook who was earning a servant's wages, presumably 10s or 12s a week. But he owns four or five stations or plantations, and three stores in different parts of the country, employing other Hindus to them for him. Some Europeans have hinted at the possibility of a Hindu rising in Fiji, but Dr. Orchard was led to understand that there was nothing of that kind in the minds of the Hindus. The Hindus jealousy preserve their own customs in their new home. In parts, indeed, Fiji is like a miniature India.