LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 125, 5 September 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There was a big gathering of children on Saturday at the first practice for the Fire Brigade ball, and the ladies gave them a good hour's instruction. The Taranaki Garrison Band played a splendid programme of music yesterday afternoon in the Old People's Home grounds, to the delight of the inmates and the enjoyment of a large number of visitors.

Upstairs: A meeting of veterans, many of them gradually losing their hold on the thread of life. Downstairs: A hundred wee children (and some bigger ones), outlook joyful, with feet not yet firmly planted on the risky ladder.—Seen at the Drill Hall on Saturday. j "It isn't easy to be a Christian. The [man who says it is has never tried. You try to stand up for Christ in your own home when all are against you. Is it easy? Xo; it is hard. . . It is a lifelong battle.''—Extract from Mr. Joe Harris' Sunday afternoon address to men. In our report of the Hunt Club 'ball on Friday morning the names of Meadames Chaney and J. Smith were inadvertently omitted from the ladies' committee. The ladies responsible for the talde decorations were Misses Bewley and Leatham, the stage decorations being the work of Mrs. C. Webster.

Messrs. J. B. MacEwan and Co. received cable information on Saturday to the effect that the appeal by the Hartnett Patent Milking' Machine Company against Mr. Justice Hood's judgment restraining the company from infringing the Gillies' teat cups patent, has been abandoned, and that therefore the judgment holds good. A correspondent of the Lyttelton Times states that the recent dry weather and north-west winds have dried up the Selwyn river, with the result that large numbers of big trout which went up stream for spawning have not been aJble to get back, and shags, which are very plentiful just now, are having a royal time poaching in the holes as they dry up. "This is a self-excusing age. We take hold of the worst sins, and call them

by the softest names. Does a man gamble? We say he 'has a little bit on a horse.' Does he drink, and get drunk? We say 'lie takes a little drop too much'; and the man who ruins a woman and drags her down in the mire—we say 'he's a little bit gay.' " —Mr. Joe Harris' style of mission address. At a meeting of veteran soldiers on Saturday a committee consisting of Messrs. *W. Humphries, J. C. Davies, JBlack, T. Allen and R. Langman, was appointed to watch proceedings and act in connection with applications now being made (by old soldiers for grants as a reward or recognition of naval, military or voluntary services in the Xew Zealand War. It was decided to endeavor to have the conditions altered so that members of the militia might benefit as well as regulars and volunteers. Mr. J. O. Davies presided. The Sydney Morning Herald reports a wonderful cure of cancer by means of radium. ■Mr. James Rowan told the doctor at the hospital that his own medical adviser had told him that the only chance of recovery was to cut away a large portion of his head, nearly all the' upper jaw, and the whole of the ear. At the hospital, however ,the radium treatment, which is perfectly painless, was adopted. After 127 hours of exposure to radium rays, the man was completely cured, and there is now not a single mark on his face. A remarkable reason for divorce recently came before the Court in Chicago. It was a plea of a man seeking divoree from his wife. He said that he wanted divorce because his wife set plates on the table at each meal for the deceased members of her family, and, not satisfied with this, she held imaginary conversations with the deceased during each meal, the conversation generally relating to the cooking of the menu or to striking incidents in the lives of these relatives. The man averred that these uncanny proceedings got on his nerves. Lecturing before the Cremation Society in Sydney recently, Dr. Avery Harcourt said that 1600 years ago cremation was very much in vogue. Urns containing ashes, were still being discovered. It was, therefore, .apparent that the method of disposing of the dead by burial was a retrograde step. The subject was rather gruesome, but if it were realised how many people were Iburied alive the subject of cremation would become more congenial. Coffins had been opened, and, bodies found turned completely over. | This showed that burial had taken place before life was extinct, and the bodies had been twisted by fruitless efforts to I escape.

It is customary amongst all kinds of clubs to hold competitions for trophies either presented by the institution or some friend. It is also austomary to allow the winner to selee't and buy his trophy, the bill for the same being paid by the -club. Still another custom is for the winner to select some little keepsake or souvenir to remind him of his victory. Quite recently -a winner of a trophy supplied a big surprise for his club by spending his trophy money, valued at half-a-guinea, on half-a-dozen teacups and caucers, a flower pot, etc. Economy and thrift are good attributes, but when they are pursued to such an extent as in this case they lose their value and cease to be virtues. An agitation Is on foot in Western Australia to seeure legislation that will provent white women within the Commonwealth from marrying colored aliens. The Western Australian State Ministers hold that the Federal Parliament should take action in the matter. The Minister for External Affairs, however, believes that until the Federal Parliament deals comprehensively with the marriage laws, the State Parliaments should exercise the powers they possess of legislating in regard to marriage. It was not likely, he said recently, that the Federal Government would introduce a BiTl specially to deal with the question raised in Western Australia. It seemed to be a matter which affected Western Australia particularly, and the Western Australian Parliament should therefore legislate upon it.

At Saturday's meeting of veterans Mr. Davies exhibited a pass issued by the Drill Hall authorities many years ago to Mr. R. Wells, of Waitara' road, entitling him to free admission to all horticultural and ao'ricutural shows and displays held in the haJl, in return for his donation of his share of the "old volunteer fund" to the funds for the erection of the hall. Mr. Davies said lie intended having more lasting "passes" made of vellum or some such material, and he would Hie pleased to present one to each holder of the original passes. The mention of the matter brought out a lot of history, and a little bad blood, until the ehairman had to apply the closure. It is quite evident that many of the veterans have not yet forgiven the authorities who thus disposed of a fund 'which they had hoped to hold in trust for the purpose of assisting from time to time any old volunteer who might b'e "down on bis uppers." ~

Whitebait is said to be plentiful afc the mouth of the Tuki Tuki river,. Hawke's Bay, and parties of Maoris are reported to be putting in full time fishing, and making excellent wages..

A beautiful rainbow illumined the heavens yesterday afternoon just after an exceptionally heavy hailstorm and rain. It was the most extraordinary feature of an extraordinary day. Mr. Hudson Maxim, of New Jersey, U.S.A., declares that he has perfected a gun which will meet every demand in aerial warfare. The new weapon, he says, will fire from every point of the compass.

During recent months (says a London correspondent) the port of London authorities have seized and condemned several large consignments of sheep's kidneys, including one lot of nearly half a million from New Zealand.

A Marlborough man has had the misfortune to lose a valuable calf, through a strange circumstance. By some means the calf swallowed the hooked end on a length, of fencing wire, the extraction of which caused such laceration that the animal had to be destroyed. Italy, a land of stone buildings, has a fire loss of Gd per head, Germany 2s, thirty of the largest European cities average 2s Cd, 52 of the American cities 12s, all New Zealand 9s, but Palmerston North for the past six months left them all standing with a tally of £2 per head! Most certainly Palmerston doesn't want to remain "on top - ' in this direction.— Manawatu Times.

Gillies and Nalder continued their spring horse fair on Fridav with good results (says the Star). *The market was steady all day for very good sorts. The majority of the horses sold were purchased for the Australian markets, which must be encouraging to local breeders. Bourk's estate topped the market with a draught mare stinted to Great Scot, the priee paid being £4O. Unbroken and broken draughts from the same estate changed ownership at the following satisfactory figures: £37, £34, £32, £2B, £2(l.

Canada notes an immigration influx of 1600 per day, and the north-west provinces are growing "'to beat the band." In 1!HM) Edmonton was little more th»» a fur-trading post. To-day it has a population of •25,(101), an assessment of 26,000,000 dollar, fifteen public schools, 42 miles of sewers, more than 50 miles of water mains, and 4% miles of paved streets. Canadian banks have now 2328 branches, all but 50 of which are in the Dominion itself, and 747 west of Oif tario, where loans to grain-raisers are a profitable source of income.

It is understood that the financial affairs of Captain Knyvett have been satisfactorily adjusted, and that he is in a position to pay his creditors 20s in the £> (says the Auckland Observer). It would appear that the captain had singularly hard luck in being taken to court at all. Considerable sums of money were owing to him locally, but were not available at the time, including, it is stated, a large amount that was due from his old corps for money disbursed by the "Skipper" on their behalf. This money has, it is understood, been lying at the bank, awaiting certain formalities. These have now been complied with, and that sum alone should more than cover Captain Knyvett's liabilities. It is gratifying to learn that he will now be under no necessity to file his schedule.