LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 84, 18 July 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

11 The population of Invercargill is now '.\ 13,000, Palmerston North 12,000, and ;l Wanganui 9000. !j Some 350 tons of steel girders and ;' stanchions manufactured in England are l to be used in the construction of the ;new General Post Office in Wellington. : | The New Zealand Axemen's Associa- " tion,. whose headquarters are at Eltham, 1 have cash and property to the value of l , £3OB. A loss of £29 was made on last i year's meeting. ,i Mr. H. S. Fitzherbert, S.M., has been ( appointed a commissioner to hold an enquiry into the matter of the cost of : maintaining the Junction road between | Inglevvood and Tarata. ; | The model of the dredge Pari tutu pre- .' sented by the builders, Messrs. Flem- , ming, and Ferguson, to the Harbor Board .: is on view in the window of Messrs. Am- , bury Bros., and on Saturday attracted , a good deal of interest, i The cost of repairs effected to the Tikorangi suspension bridge is £412 4s , Id. This is borne by the Clifton County Council and the Taranaki County Council, the proportions being £247 Gs lid and £164 17s 7d respectively. Mrs. Roosevelt tells her friends that she had often heard that her husband ! and the Kaiser were alike, but she hao. never realised the justice of the comparison until she saw them talking, gesticulating, and "enthusing" in each other's company. The Lyttelton Times is responsible for the remarkable statement that Bealey Flat had two feet of rain during <junu. Moreover, there were only fifteen wes days, but they were very wet indeed, for the rainfall amounted precisely to 23.20 inches, so that the average for each wet day was an inch and a half. On account of the Taranaki County Council having struck a general and separate rate over the St. Aubyn Towu District area, the Town Board has found it necessary to reduce their rate accordingly. They now advertise a rate of %d instead of 1 2-5 d as before. At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the New Plymouth Borough Council on Friday the specifications for the Powderham - street retaining-wall were read and approved, and his Worship the Mayor and Councillor Bellringer were appointed to sign the contract with Messrs. Boon Bros.

The latest mail from Sydney brings news of a new theatrical partnership for the production of high-class plays. The names linked in the new proprietary are Messrs. Harry Plimmer, Reynolds Denniston (both of New Zealand), and Mr.' Allan Hamilton. They have secured the rights of Clyde Fitch's'most popular play, "Lover's Lane," and are to commence a tour of New Zealand in September. On the authority of their manager, it is stated that members of the visiting American team found Wellington remind them more of their own San Francisco than any city they have visited. They came, he said, from a country that thought pretty well of itself, but they sincerely wished that San Francisco had as fine harbor facilities as those which made Wellington recognised as the leading seaport in its own

I j part of the world.—Dominion. I At the Hawera Show a tabulated | statement giving details of the growth l- of Mr. Newton King's hide, skin and [| wool sales at Stratford was attached to '| the display—a very creditable one, by ; the way—made by' Mr. King. The fig- | ures give one an idea of the huge 'i amount of business transacted at the J sales. During the period from July 6, I 1909, to June, 1910, the sales were as '! follows:—Hides 17,560, sheep skins '138,829, calf skins 43,373, bales of wool ' "04, sacks of wool 1603, casks of tallow ' 366, and tins tallow 570. .! A Feilding dentist examined the

Lytton Street School children recently. In his report to the committee lie writes:—"l examined in all 201 pupils. Of these there were 103 girls and 98 boys. I found in the girls 557 decayed teeth, and. in the boys, 520. There were only five cases in which the teeth were in a perfectly sound condition. Of the 201 children there were only 35 who had never had toothache —ls girls and 20 boys. I also found that there were 25 girls and 22 boys whose gums were in a very inflasmatory and septic condition. Only 25 out of 103 girls, and 17 out of 98 boys, admitted the use of the tooth-brush." At the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Borough Council on Friday night evidence was taken in connection with the complaint made bv the inspector against Councillor Dockrill. It was eventually decided: "That the committee is completely satisfied with the explanation of Councillor Dockrill with reference to Inspector Tippins' complaint re the alleged breach of by-laws by Mr. A. Hooker; that Inspector Tippins made an error of judgment in contributing to the press information on the case whilst the matter was sub judice by the committee; that Inspector Tippins be informed that in future after making any complaint to the borough engineer any information obtained by him subsequently to his lodging the complaint should also be furnished to the engineer. Members of the Equitable Building Society of New Plymouth (First and Second Groups) are notified that subscriptions will be due and payable today (Monday), at the Secretary's Office, Currie-street, from 9 a.m. to 12.30. from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.— Advt.

ft is reported that Mr. Cooper. manager of the Manga toki Dairy factory, lias invented a system for sterilising skim milk, and a successful trial eventuated at the factory oa Thursday.— Star.

'■■ l may mention in passing," said Mr. Ibirbank, manager of the American team, speaking at the Wellington Town Hall the other evening, ''that Americans have their eye on New Zealand." "That's all you'll get," came an instant, if impolite, rejoinder from a member of the audience.

The Minister of Railways has informed the Pahiatua Chamber of Commerce, respecting the desirability of making an alteration in the running of the Cross Creek-Woodville morning train so as to permit of a connection being made between the Wairarapa and New Plymouth in one day, that the suggestion is impracticable without similarly altering the south-bound service,.

An unusual incident occurred at the Dunedin Police Station the other day (says the Daily Times). Two men who had been arrested on a charge of assault and robbery were placed in the police yard for identification by the prosecutoi. and, as is usual in such eases, a police officer went into the street and induced a number of civilians to stand with the accused to ascertain if the latter would be picked out as the persons accused ot the offence. Included among the civilians who thus obligingly went to the assistance of the police was a young ma.ll who attracted the special notice of one of the sergeants, and at the conclusion of the identification process the young fellowwas questioned in regard to another offence of a different nature, with the result that he was arrested, and will in due course make his appearance before the court.

In remarking that greenstone has. since the early days been found in various parts of the Wets Coast, the Greymouth correspondent of the Otago Daily Times states that an extraordinarily larire block has recently been unearthed at Callaglmns, the historic mining settlement situated between Waimca and Sta'tford. Messrs. Havill and party last week in their sluicing claim laid bare a mammoth greenstone boulder measuring 7ft long and averaging in thickness "from ISin to 4ft, and weighing approximately two tons. This particular stone should prove a good one. From all appearances it is flawless, being absolutely free from the extraneous strata so commonly found in greenstone of a large size. Fragments broken oft' go to show that the stone is light in color and of a limpid nature. Light greenstone is highly prized by the lapidaries, and the lucky miners should obtain a iii»h price for their And. This is the first" time in the history of the Coast that greenstone has been'found in such large size free from faults.