LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 80, 13 July 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A party of surveyors is now engaged m cutting up a block of 0000 to°7o()U acres in the Ohura, The land lies on both sides of the road.

It is stated that over thirty butchers were paid off at the Islington freezing works, near Christchurch, a few days ago, on account of the season drawing to a close. °

A New Zealander in New South Wales has informed Mr. W. T. Jennings that he estimates there are 30,000 ex-New Zealanders in the Commonwealth, excluding Western Australia.

The annual meeting of the New Zealand Jersey Cattle Breeders' Association will be held at the Town Hall, New Plymouth, to-day. The delegates will be entertained at a smoke concert to-night. The Taranaki County Council has received a letter from Mr. H. Okey, M.P., to the effect that he will be pleased to support the Council's application to the Minister for Public Works for a grant of £ 1000 towards the Main South road. A Board of Enquiry, consisting of Colonel Okey (president), Captain Weston, and Captain-Adjutant Bellrin»er will sit at the Town Hall, New Plymouth, to-night, to enquire into the particulars surrounding the recent cases of typhoid among local volunteers supposed to have been contracted during the Kitchener camp.

We have received from Messrs Raphael Tuck and Sons, the well-known London art publishers, a copy of a facsimile ot the Queen Mother's autograph letter to the nation. Her Majesty has arranged that this facsimile should be issued, the proceeds of the sale to be applied to some charitable purpose selected by herself. An allegorical border typifying the Mourning of a nation has been designed hy Sir Edward Poynter, President of the Royal Academy. A sitting of the Magistrate's Court was held yesterday, Mr. L. G. Reid, S.M presiding. Judgment for plaintiff in the absence of defendant was given in each of the following cases: John Taylor (Mr. Hutchen) v. Ngawera, claim £3 13s Od (costs £1 ss); John W. Wilson (Mr Standish) v. IPatrick L. Harnett, costs only, ss; Wood and Zemba (Mr. Standish) v. P. L. Harnett, casts only, 10s 6d; Michael Jones (Mr. Grey) v. Mark Stanish, costs only, 10s. A Wairarapa resident, who has retur»ed from a visit to Australia, says he and a companion spent an eveninw in going through the Technical Schoof of Sydney, which holds 3000 pupils. Thev saw about 000 students at work in the various branches of mechanics and arts. The buildings are very large and convenient, and cost, roughlv, a sum approaching £IOO,OOO. "It "was a grand sight to see the young fellows spending their evenings in self-improvement, and one could not but feel that tlie monev was well spent." •

A unique record is held.by Cliefden Station, now owned by Messrs Rothery Bros, (says the Sydney Morning Herald). This fine pastoral property wa3 acquired by their father in 1832, and for the past seventy-seven years their annual clip has always been consigned direct to London, and there sold by the same firm. In this period there had not been a hitch in the smooth working of this method of forwarding and realisation until this season, when forty bales were held up for three weeks at Lyndhurst railway station, as a result of the block in the railway traffic caused by the coal strike. This is the first time 'in the long history of Cliefden that the owners have, directly or indirectly, been inconvenienced by a strike.

From_ a Government return we learn that thirty-six savings 'bank offices were opened last year and ten were closed, leaving 619 offices open at the end of the year. The net gain in the number of accounts was 17,637, the total number being 359,714, or more than one account to every three persons in the Dominion. The net amount added by depositors to their savings was £111,799 in excess of withdrawals, plus '£395,804 of interest earned and credited. The total amount to the credit of depositors is £12,666,898, representing £35 4s 3d to each depositor, or £l2 5s lOd per head of the entire population. The cost of working was £27,000 last year and the cost of management 4s 3d per £IOOO of the total amount at the credit of depositors.

A meeting of the committee having in hand the arranging of a concert in aid of funds for the purchase of a piano for the Old People's Home was held in the Council Chambers yesterday, there being present: Messrs. N. K. MacDiarmid and Hannah (Presbyterian), A. Amburv (Baptist), T. Wooctord and H. M. Bannister (Anglican), E. A. Golding (Primitive Methodist), M. Rudd (Methodist). A. McHardy and J. H. Parker (Catholic)! Mr. MacDiarmid was appointed chairman, Mr. McHardy treasurer, and Mr. J. H. Parker secretary. A programme committee was set' up consisting of Messrs. Golding, Bannister, Woodard, Rudd,_ Hannah, and Crawford, and subcommittees were appointed to arrange details. The concert will take place on or about Ist August. On the recommendation of the Tramways Committee, it was decided at the New Plymouth Borough Council meeting on Monday night that Mr. P. Black, A.M.1.E.E., be appointed to report upon the proposed tramway undertaking, including extension of plant at the lighting station to provide the necessary powei" at the remuneration mentioned in his letter, namely, forty guineas and the reimbursement of hotel" and travelling expenses, the total not to exceed 'fifty pounds. Tt was also decided that the question of what proportion of the above fee should he chareed to the electric liMit department be left in the hands of the expert to decide. Various councillors have perused Mr. Black's report on the Napier scheme, and it is significant that the opponents of tramways are in favor of Mr. Black being engaged to report.

■An incident. At the Havmarket on Saturday Mr. Shaw was selling. Mr. .). R. Hill was standing with Mr.' Richards on the platform, and Mr. Shaw close by. Mr. Hill stooped. "Hello!" he said, picking up a small object wedded between two-boards; "here's a greenstone pendsint!" Mr. Richards was obviouslv interested, and looked it. He had dropped it in the Havmarket on the previous Saturday. Another true incident of a like kind. Train, running on the Inner Circle, Underground Railway, London. Passenger alights at a station, discovering that he has lost a valuable diamond ring. Ho. of course, suspects pickpockets, and tells the officials so. At any rate, he waits on the platform in some agitation, wondering how he mav recover the ring. The train passes right round the circle while he waits, and draws up exactly at the same place as before. The ring is Iving on the footboard of the carriage from which he had alighted. Tt had travelled under London in perfect safety.

The inquest on the body of the man Larsen, who was found drowned at the. harbor on Sunday, will not be held today, owing to the delay in the arrival of the steamer Himitangi, members of whose crew are material witnesses. The inquest will be 'held upon her arrival here.

A sensation was caused in dairy produce circles in London about the end of May by the authoritative statement that an annual loss of 75 kroners ( £4 2s 8<1) per cow, equal to a deficit of 54,000,000 kr., or nearly three millions sterling, on the butter produce of Denmark is being made, owing to over-production and the rise in feeding cakes. Captain Fletcher has relieved the minds of the members of the Poultry Society's committee very considerably-. They were wondering how they were to accommodate the babies entered for the baby sho\y next week, together with their nurses and mothers. Captain Fletcher was applied to for the use of the Taranaki Kities' orderly-room for the purpose, and he promptly agreed to place the room at the disposal of the society for Thursday afternoon. So far thirty babies have been entered.

On Monday evening at the Whiteley Hall an interesting set of scientific slide's was exhibited by Mr. J, M. Spear, eyesight specialist. The slides showing the anatomy of the eye were very complete, showing the position of the'eye in its orbit, also the internal and' external ocular muscles, the arteries and veins, and the nervous system. Such defects as hypermetropia, myopia, pieslyopia. astigmatism, diplopia, and others were also illustrated. At some future time a lecture on "Diseases of the Eye" will be delivered. Mr. Spear is at present staying at the White Hart Hotel. An accident which it was feared would result very seriously to the victim occurred at the port yesterday on the Harbor Board's new dredge iParitutu. Several men were working aboard her and using one of the cranes. The man in charge was unused to the gear, and released the wrong lever, with the resuult

that the 'heavy boom descended rapidly, striking Frewin, one of the deck hands, on the head. He was rendered insensible. Dr. McCleland was summoned, and fears set at rest by the man recovering consciousness under his treatment. The fact that the boom struck him partly on the side of the head saved his life by a few inches.

At last night's meeting of the New Plymouth branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants the following resolutuion was carried:—"That this meeting of members of the New Plymouth branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, representing all branches of the service, strongly resents the imputation of unfairness that is being levelled at the Executive Council by members of the local association who are unwilling or unable to publicly debate the question whether it is or is not in the interest of local men to secede from the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants; and, further, this meeting expresses its confidence iu and approval of the action of the Exxecutive Council in their effort in preventing the disintegration of the society." A resolution of confidence in the editor of the Railway Review was carried unanimously.

There was a good attendance at the euchre party and dance held in the Westown Hall last night in aid of the funds of the Frankley School. Sixteen tables were engaged, and card-playing was indulged in until.about 10 p.m., wtoen a very tasty supper was handed round by the* members of the school committee. On counting up it was discovered that six ladies had tied for the prizes, and oh playing off Miss Manson won the first prize, (a handkerchief box) and Mrs. Brownlow the second (a hairpin box). Among the gentlemen, Mr. James Garcia won the first prize (a shaving mug), Whilst Mr. N. Sole won the second (a case of pencils)',> after aplftyjAg. off with Mr. A. Sadler. The booby 'prizes were won by Miss Lobb and Mr." F. Sole. The tables were then cleared put by wijling assistants, and a dance followed, excellent music being provided by Miss Crozier, whilst Mr. A. Marett made it capable M.C. The chairman, Mr. .). Downs, in presenting the prizes, said the function had proved so successful that the committee intended holding another in about three weeks' time.

Despite wretched weather and counterattractions, there was a very fair attendance at Whiteley Hall last night, when Mr. Heigh way, a Methodist Church missionary, gave an illustrated lecture under the auspices of the missions in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Solomon Islands, New Guinea, and New Britain. The lecturer stated that the missionaries were working amongst 95,000 people, of whom 85,000 were adherents of the Methodist Church, whilst of these 40,000 were members. The work was carried on in 1200 villages, each with its church or chapel. New Zealand contributed £241)0 annually to the mission, and Fiji £BOOO. Mention was made of the serious problem which faced the missionaries in the introduction of Indian coolies to the sugar plantations. About 37,000 of these had been imported, with all their heathen rites and immorality, and their temples were in some cases erected alongside the churches. Three missionaries were now working amongst them, and four sisters. Amongst the views were some splendid slides of the recent devastating hurricane in Fiji. The lecture was intensely interesting, and was most appreciatively listened to.