LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 110, 17 August 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

I * The Speyside distillery at Kingussie, Inverness-shire, has been sold by auction in Edinburgh for £7OO. It occupies 10 acres of ground, cost £30,000 to build in 1896, and "has been famous for pure Highland malt. i _ Mr. Fitzherbert, 6.M., ruled yesterday in Court that he could not allow the expenses of witnesses in an action where the witnesses were not subpoenaed and whose evidence was not heard. The ruling would not apply, of course, to witnesses who were subpoenaed, or those , who attended voluntarily and gave their evidence. | A Duneddn gentleman, in an account of a visit to the United States, observes in the Dunedin Star:—Judge not the American citizen by the occasional bombastic, insufferable specimens that we meet sometimes. I met him in bulk, and found him a frank, hearty gentleman with just the contempt for his pse.udo type, too suddenly grown rich, that inspires us here. In bulk, the American 'gentleman is a gentleman. "He knew I was an undischarged j bankrupt, and had no business to trust me/'—A piece of good logic, but not 1 necessarily recognised law, stated by a i defendant in the Magistrate's Court yesI terday morning, when his grocer sued [him for hig grocery account for neces'saries supplied. Lest there are others | who have the. same idea of their liabil- | ity for debts contracted by themselves ; or their families whilst in the unfortunate position of this debtor, it would be | as well for the little corner-shop grocers in the outlying portions of the town to keep an eye on the Bankruptcy Gazette, ! a business rule which the bigger business men usually adopt. Despite strenuous efforts to earn an honest living, an old woman of Lisbon and her three beautiful daughters were unable to pay their rent, and so decided to commit suicide. They chose a spot near Estoril, -where a great perpendicular rock stands high above the ocean, forming a terrible abyss called "Hell's Mouth." The four women kissed one another good-bye and placed themselves I in Indian file on the edge of the preciipice. Making the sign of the cross, the ; mother plunged first. Then the two i elder daughters followed. The youngest, j however, seeing her mother and sisters wildly struggling in the waves and hearing their screams of agony, hesitated. As she lifted her hands in a prayer for courage, she was seen 'by fishermen. They rushed to the spot and were in time to save her. ~ Every now and again, in the local Court, evidence is taken of defendants in suits brought against them 'by the J Cyclopedia Company, of New Zealand, I Ltd. The cases arise out of the refusal of the defendants to pay for copies of I the Cyclopedia of New Zealand, whose canvasser made a raid: on this district some years ago. The regular plea of the defendants is that the book was not up to expectations, that it was not delivered until long after the promised date of delivery, and, in many cases, that the price charged for the work was in excess of the amount agreed upon between them and the original canvasser. There were two cases before Mr. Fitzherbert, S.M., yesterday. In the first, the defendant, JR. W. Bond, had declined' to take delivery on account of the failure to produce at due date. The agent, however, placed the book on his premises, and he had no knowledge of where it was now. He had written the firm, cancelling the contract, and they had' regretted their inability to accept the cancellation "at this late stage." J. J. Stagpoole, the next defendant, admitted having ordered the book and paying a deposit of a guinea, which the canvasser represented was half the purchase money. He had been led to believe that the book was to contain a photograph of himself, his biography, and similar photographs and life stories of all the leading people in Taranaki. Mr. Fitzherbert interjected: What about your dog? And the defendant smilingly remarked that he wouldn't have minded so much had the dog's picture been included. He had never had any idea, until the man came to deliver the book, that he was expected to pay four guineas, and he did not think that that amount was stated on the order form which he signed, despite Mr. Weston's assurance that it was, and that he had Stagpoole's signed order in his possession. The agent left the book in defendant's shop, the latter stating: he did so at his own risk. The cases are to be heard in Christchurch, but the evidence of defendants was taken here to facilitate matters.

Tie demand for Roslyn manufactures, such as boy's land men's 'high grade clothing, blankets, rugs, tweeds, worsteds, yarns, unshrinkable flannel, socks, stockings, jerseys and ladies' and gent's unshrinkable silky nuiderwear, Delta finis!h, continues with undiminished force throughout New Zealand.—'Advt.

The coming season promises to be a remarkably early one. Already many factories have found it necessary to run every day, owing to so much milk coining forward. This is quite a fortnight earlier than last season. Overheard at the barber's, •.vfiilst a prosperous-looking, and bulky Maori was having his Whiskers removed: "Land Court sitting. Too slow. About 784 cases to go through. Yes. ftapai for el e J aW ' Vers ' 110 g°od for anyone

Ihe Eliot road loan, the raising of which has occupied so much of the time of the old Eliot Road Board and the Paranaki County Council, lias at last been successfully negotiated, mid the money has been lodged with the Council's bankers and placed to the credit of the Hurworth riding account. The principal "barraeker" at a football match at Lyttelton the other day was a man who had equipped himself with a phonograph horn, fitted with a a tin mouthpiece. He used the improvised megaphone almost constantly to «ive running comments and flippant instructions to the players, and the amusement derived from his performance by the onlookers fully equalled their interest in the play.

As an illustration of the difference between the Eastern and Western minds Lord Cromer referred recently to the fact that several cases had occurred in Egypt of railway officials being run over when asleep on the lines. In order to obtain early intimation of a train's approach a stationmaster would often lie down with his head on the line. In such a position it was easy to fall asleep and to 'be cut to pieces by the engine when it arrived.

In connection with the great earthquake which took place in Italy on December 28, 1908, Mr. C. Rhodes, the Consular Agent for Italy in Auckland, has just received a communication that ■the Government of Hi 9 Majesty the King of Italy has decided to confer medals upon those who rendered conspicuous service in respect to the relief of the victims of the said: earthquake. Amongst the names thus honored is that of Mr. Arthilr Myers', M.P., exMayor of Auckland. The bronze medal struck is awarded to Mr. Myers as a token of Italy's gratitude for the sympathy and the generous assistance rendered by the people of Auckland while he was Mayor, as well as for his personal services in initiating and organising a local fund towards the relief of the ruined and suffering survivors of the catastrophe.

Members of the New Plymouth Operatic Society are reminded that the usual weekly practice will be held to-night (Wednesday) over Collier's Music Warehouse at 8 o'clock sharp. A full attendance is specially requested.—Adva.