LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 114, 22 August 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The local branch of the Veterans' Association has a membership of 65. Mr. A. Morton having found it impossible to get away, Mr. H. Trimble will accompany Mr. W. L. Kennedy as the Taranaki Education Board's repre-| sentatives at the Conference in Wellington next week.

The Boy Scouts were mentioned at the meeting of veterans on Saturday,' and their thoughtfulness highly praised. Sergeant D tiffin said that on a recent visit to the Henui cemetery he had noticed that all the old soldiers' graves had been cleaned and trimmed up. 'mis was the work, he had found, of the Boy Scouts, and he moved that the thanks of the Association be tendered them, i Colonel Ellis seconded the motion, wnich was unanimously and heartily agreed to.

The statutory meeting of the Camer-I ated Conrete Company of Taranaki Ltd. I was held in the Council Chamlbers, Strat-1 ford, on Friday afternoon last, all the shareholders except two being present. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson was in the chair. It was decided to transfer the registered office of the company to Eltham. Mr.' C. A. Wilkinson was re-elected chairman,] and Mt. F. W. G. Amoore was appoint- : jed secretary. Satisfactory results were j i forthcoming of work in progress, and | many new buildings in all parts of Taranaki were spoken of as going up in camerated concrete in preference tr> other modes of building. i Another of the series of eucrhe par j ties and dances in aid of the Frank!e; , school took place in the Westown Hal |on Friday night. Miss Russell won th j first prize for the ladies, and Mrs. Rus sell the second after playing off wit! Mrs. Bendall, whilst Miss Wills won th booby prize. Among the gentlemei Messrs. Fred Sole and H. Crozier tiec and on playing off the latter had to b content with second prize. Mr. Be! won the booby prize. An appetising supper, provided by the committee, wa then dispensed, after which dancing wa indulged in to music nicely played b Miss Crozier (piano) and Mr. H. Sal (violin). Mr. Marett acted as M.C. At the Veterans' Association on urday a member suggested the necessit, for obtaining colors, and expressed th opinion that the ladies of New Plymout' would willingly present them if askec In reply to various objections, the firs speaker said that whilst now the vetoi ans on State occasions followed th colors of the old Taranaki Rifles an Taranaki Militia, they had all th trouble of borrowing them. Colone | Ellis' remark, "We don't want flags t carry about with us, and I hope the meef ing won't ask the ladies for them," wa received with a chorus of assenl "Kaipai te old colors," said one; an "We'll carry our own colors when w carry any," said another. The move in the matter said that it was all .ver; well for the former members of th Taranaki companies, but he and man; others had not been connected wit' them, and had no right to march unde the historic flags. The matter was allowed to drop.

An important sale of town property took place in Timaru last week, when two shops in the centre of the town, with a frontage of 30ft, were sold for £6OOO, or £2OO per foot frontage.

The last Gazette announces letters of naturalisation issued to three farmers, one Roman Catholic priest, one commercial traveller, and five gum-diggers. The 'latter are all Austrians.

Our new Governor is keenly interested in sport, and one 'afternoon last week lie spent some time inspecting the display of deer-heads in the Christchurch office of the Tourist Department. He said that the heads obtained in the Rakaia district were Ibetter than any he had seen in Scotland, and that the whole collection impressed him as being a very fine one.

An old man, \Vho claims to be over 100 years of age, and to have been the first European in the Waimate district (South Canterbury) was removed the other day from a tent in which he has led a lonely life for some years in the .bed of the Wailrao river, and taken to the Waimate Hospital. His tent was simply a network of holes, and his bedcovering consisted of sacks. He gave ; Lowrie as his name.

The Mayor of Hastings has received a letter from Messrs A. D. Riley and Co., submitting a scheme for a gas electric] 'motor tramway service for the town. |The cost is estimated at £21,000, the | receipts from passenger traffic, carriage of fruit, and other freights from Frimley and l Havelock at present being calculated to provide a return of 5 per cent, on the estimated cast, inclusive of working expenses. The proposal will be brought before the Borough Council. "On Tuesday evening at Paekakariki," writes a correspondent of the Wellington Post, "I went on the beach to pick up driftwood. About thirty feet above the ebb 'tide I saw what I imagined was a log of wood. 'I approached it with the idea of testing its weight and seating capacity. Conceive my surprise when the large head and open mouth with canine teeth, of a six-foot seal were revealed. It lay asleep on the sand and final closed l by its side. At my approach it woke up and snapped viciously and made for me slowly. I retreated and threw a small pebble at it. 'lt deliberately yawned, buried its nose in the sand, and after the lapse of a few minutes flapped vigorously towards the water and disappeared in the breakers. The oldest inhabitants of Paekakariki cannot recall suoh a visitor, I am told. So the incident s'hould be of interest to students of nature in New Zealand. There is a scarcity of teachers for the small country schools of South Canterbury, especially for those which have salaries ranging from £9O to £IOO. One member of the Board of Education told a Timaru .Herald reporter that the rea- , sons for this were quite clear. There were absolutely no attractions for young people to go into the backblocks to teach. It was hard to get suitable places to board at, as many of those available were merely apologies for boardinghouses. Young girls, he knew, would rather enter a dressmaking establishment and earn five shillings a week, and be surrounded by friends of their own age. Another member speaking at the , Board's meeting said that it seemed to him that some kind of compulsory service was required if they were have a full supply of competent teachers. A young man who stood in the prisoner's dock at the Supreme Court in Christchurch on Monday, had had, according to his counsel, a most remarkable career. He was born in England, and afterwards visited America and South Africa. Wihen the war broke out he was living with his brother in South Africa and he joined Brabant's Horse. Later ' on he joined Kitchener's Horse, and be--1 came galloper to the Commander-in-Chief. He had apparently distinguished ' ihimself during ihis military career, as he ■ became King's sergeant, and for bravery on the field was recommended for the

Victoria Cross. He was ultimately given tlie Distinguished Conduct Medal for die-' timguished conduct in the field. At the conclusion of the war, out of consideration for his wounds and his conduct, he was awarded a life pension of 3s a day, winch, if commuted, would probably entitle liim to £BOO or £OOO. He had been three times wounded while serving during the war.

A rather amusing story is told of a farmer who recently purchased a holding in a district in Otago that is somew!hat badly infested with rabbits. He had not had previous experience with rabbits, his land was in a bad state, and the inspector was alert. He consulted his neighbors, and from one of them he obtained! the necessary recipe for mixing pollardi poison. Having got together the needful ingredients, he proceeded to manufacture. At length, after extinguishing numerous outbreaks of fire in hia mixing tin, he had the dough ready, andi aiter cutting up he proceeded (despite the protests of the elder eon) to bake his batch in the oven. Later in ■the day he might have been seen on his rounds delivering a few miniature loaves at each burrow. An early start was made next morning, to collect the fallen, but he found the rabbits as lively as ever, and all his precious baking just where he left it. Thinking he had been misled, he proceeded wrathfully to the home of the man with the recipe to get .satisfaction out of him. What happened has not transpired, but it is said that to the newcomer the subject of the poisoning of rabbits is at present distaste, ful.—Otago Daily Times.

Eggs a la soubise are a great favorte with onion lovers. Boil onions until 10ft, and rub through a sieve; there Jhou'ld be one cupful of onion puree. Welt two "tablespoonfuls of butter, add >ne and one-half tablepsoonfuls of flour ind the onion puree. As soon as thorjughly ibeaten, add one-third of a cuptul of milk. Bring to the boiling point, ind add the yolks of two egga slightly jeaten. iSeason to taiste with salt and pepper, and add five hard boiled eggs jut in thin slices. Just before serving, sprinkle with one-half tablepsoonful of finely chopped parsley. Eggs and onions prepared in this way are very delicious, and make an excellent dish for tea. Not a little depends upon the tea if the palate is to be pleased. Connoisseurs prefer one or other of the delicious blended teas placed on the market 'by the 'Empire Tea Company. These blends may be briefly described. ■ The "Dragon" brand, at *2s 8(1 per pound, is a tea of extreme merit. It is absolutely pure, and of rich drinking qualities. The liquor is strong and the texture is silky. The " Elephant" brand, at 2s 2d per pound, is another tasty tea, the bouquet and aroma are distinct, and the tea gives the utmost satisfaction. The "New Crescent" brand, at 2s per pound, is the great favorite, and finds it way into mansion and cottage alike. It is a tea of special merit, and seems to please •very palate. The "Crescent" brand, at Is 10d, will please most people with its rich fla/vory quality. The "Mikado" brand, at is 6d per pound, is the best family tea at the money; though moderate in cost, it i 9 rich in quality. These teas are procurable from nearly all storekeepers.—Advt. ' , i( - For children's hacking cough at night, Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, 1$ 6d, 2s (ML ■ ... .