LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 136, 17 September 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

John James Meikle, whose claim for compensation on account of wrongful imprisonment has so often occupied. Parliament's attention, is again petitioning for "substantial compensation." The first copy of the Maoriland Worker, a .paper printed in Christchurch in the interests of the workers, is to •hand. It is edited by Miss Rout, and devotes a considerable portion of its spa-oe to Shearers' Union matters.

Mr. Okey is asking the Government whether in the interests of the petroleum industry of the Dominion, and with a view to .getting the most reliable information possible , they will invite Dr. Henry, oil expert, of London, to report upon' tlie .prospects of the industry in the Dominion. The local cycle agents are promoting a road race from New Plymouth to Inglewood and back, and have obtained a good list of special prizes, including a gold medal for the rider covering the distance in the fastest time. The race will probably be held in about three weeks' time. Last night, at the Jubilee Dining Rooms, Mr. Alfred Jordan, English draughts champion, played 51 games with local gentlemen, winning 45 of them. Six gentlemen drew with the champion: —Messrs. Bruce (2), Willis, Kinsella, Page, and W. Oliver. To-night Mr. Jordan will play for the last time in New Plymouth. . The Patea paper states that negotiations are now in progress to .procure another steamer to cope with the increased trade of that port. This step, it saya, lias been found necessary owing to the large increase in the dairy export trade during the past season, and the further increase in the demand for shipping space which' will result from the enlargement of the meat works.

Current lobby gossip is to the effect thftt some of the largest trading concerns in the Dominion have been ih the habit of making up their income tax returns in the same manner as Bowron Bros,j and that • there is a probability oi some very interesting cases coming before the courts.—Eltham Argus correspondent. The Taranaki Agricultural Society's club-room, at the secretary's offices, is to be opened this afternoon at 1.30 p.m. The room is furnished comfortably, and provided with writing materials and' periodicals of interest to .the man on the land. The intention is to have the room open to members of the Society from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m: each Saturday, and it is thought that this will be of value to the Society as a whole and to the members individually. Messrs. J. C. Morey and G. Ramson were in London at the time of the death of King Edward. Everybody, from costermongertf to the peers, loved the late King, whom they looked upon as a sort of close relation. The griei caused by his death was profound, and could hardly be appreciated by people living away from England. But it was short-lived, for a few weeks afterwards people .seemed to forget all about King Edward and were singing the praises of King George, whom they regarded as a more gifted, experienced and intellectual force than his father, but without the latter's bonhomie.

Captain S. Stringer, Acting-Superin-tendent of Marine, held an enquiry in Wellington on Thursday concerning the disappearance of a passenger from the steamer Blenheim, Lovell Rollingshaw, who was missed during the passage of the vessel from Blenheim to Wellington early on Wednesday morning. From the evidence of Captain H. Watson, the mate, engineer, an A.8., the ship's boy, and a passenger, „ Everything goes to ahow that Rollingshaw either committed suicide or fell overboard just inside the Wairau river or near the bar

Amended regulations are gazetted regarding the taking of whitebait. It is provided that no scrim or whitebait net is .to be used as a set net, or be set or placed in openings made in the banks of streams or rivers, or in dams constructed therein; and no scrim hand-net having an opening of more than 9 square feet shall be used for the purpose of catching whitebait. Whitebait ntfts having an opening of not more than 3ft by lft may toe used as set nets in the River Ashley and the' water thereof, and in l its tributaries the Taranaki and Waikuku creeks. This regulation does not revoke or affect the angulations as to taking whitebait in the Manawatu River and its tributaries which were made by order-in-council dated December 30th, 1909. Any person committing a breach of the regulation shall be liable to'a'fine of not less tlian £l, and not exceeding £2O. Yesterday's New Zealand Times states:—ln our issue of July 26th we published a letter from Stratford purporting, to be signed 'Edward Fineham, in which the writer stated that Mr. Hine had mo authority from Mr. iFinchaxn to use his name in connection witlh certain statements made by Mr. Hine affecting the Taranaki Land Board. We published the letter in good faith, believing it to be the genuine letter of Mr. Edward Fineham. Shortly after the publication of the letter Mr. Fincham informed us that the letter was not signed, written or authorised by, him. We have made the "most careful inquiries in order to ascertain whether or not the letter is a genuine letter, and ■we are now satisfied that the letter was neither signed nor written by Mr. Fincham, and we believe that it was not in any way authorised by him. We have therefore to express our regret .that the letter was published." It is generally acknowledged that the standard of the New Zealand newspapers is surpassed by nothing in the world. This is more particularly true of the illustrated weeklies and the Xmas numbers, which are invariably works of art. Whilst travelling in America Mr. J. C. Morey showed a copy of one of the New Zealand papers to an American pressma>, who would not believe that a paper of such excellence could be published in a country of so little significance as New Zealand. The American papers contained no news of the colonies, except to record the doings of boxer Tommy Burns, nor of Britain. "They are simply sensational mongers, having no regard at all to truth or decency," said Mr. Morey. He came across a pressman who asked him for his views on American things generally. Mr. Morey told him he was not in a position to say Omch, but next morning appeared a column 1 of "impressions" that he never gave to the pressman. This was characteristic of the unreliabilty of the American newspapers.

DR.' SHELDON'S MAGNETIC LINIMENT Cures rhemmtism. It will penetrate to your very bones, soothe and subdue the pain. Bub it in freely. It will not blister or burn the akin. .Rub it in, and the pain •will stop. It oan't help but do you good. Price Is 6d and 3s. Obtainable everywhere.

A bonus of £lO has been granted by the Harbor Board to Captain Mcßcth, who brought out the Paritutu from the Clyde to New Plymouth. According to a return prepared by Mr. Fleetwood, clerk to the St. Aubyn Town Board, the population of the town district numbers 592 souls. It is rumored that with a view of finishing and repairing its streets and erecting a new hall, the Fitzroy Town Board contemplates raising a loan of-£3UdO. The Gisborne dredge Jlaui, which is working in Bft of papa rock, continues to do good work in •excavating a channel between the breakwater and groyne. Some of the pieces brought up are so large that they fill the bucket, and have to .be chopped to pieces in ortier to let them down the chute.

At the quarterly meeting of the New Plymouth Circuit of the Primitive Methodist Church, the following resolution was carried: That this church re-affirms the decision of the Dunedin Conference of 1908 upon the question of Methodist Union, that a deputation be appointed to wait upon the next Conference of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, informing them of our desire for Union and expressing our willingness to enter into negotiations for union, and to confer with any committee they may set up in devising; a basis of union for submission to the members through the quarterly boards. At a meeting of the directors of the New Plymouth Theatre Company, held yesterday afternoon to discuss the attitude adopted by the Fire Brigade towards the Theatre, the following resolution was carried: Having perused thu report of the New Plymouth Fire Board on the Theatre Royal, the directors con-1 sider it is uncalled for. To meet the requirements of the Borough Council, the company during the past two years have expended the sum of £2OO on the Theatre to guard the safety of the public* in case of fire, to the satisfaction of the Council, and consider no further expenditure in that direction is necessary at present, and that the directors wait as a deputation on -the Borough Council at its next meeting in connection with the matter v - 'His Worship the Mayor (Mr. G. Tiseh) is in receipt of the fo'llowing telegram from the Prime Minister in regard to the celebration of the anniversary of Dominion Day: "It is proposed to celebrate the anniversary of Dominion Day on Monday, 26th inst., by having a parade of Territorials in the various' towns and districts. In the evening the troops to march through the principal streets. I should be glad if you could see your way to co-operate with the officer commanding the troops in your district in regard to the contemplated to.ur of the Territorials. All Government •buildings are to be displayed with bunting during the day, and if the citizens would do likewise, where possible, it would enhance the. interest in the occasion. I have requested the officer commanding the Territorials in your town and district to see you on the matter.— J. G. Ward."

The best country in the world and the best people are to be found in England—except New Zealand and New Zealanders—is the opinion ol Mr. J. C. Morey, who has just returned from a trip to Europe and America. It was a pleasure to meet and do business with Englishmen, said Mr. Morey, but the same could not be said of some of tfce other people he met. He was not all impressed with America #r the Americans, and has no desire to visit the country again. America is a country of big things, but he was satisfied that with greater population New Zealand would be equally as enterprising and successful. Everything considered, he said, he thinks New Zealanders have nothing to learn from America. In fact, he considers New Zealand well to the fore in everything—excepting population, which it badly needs and should strive by every means in its power to obtain. Four new theatres are being designed and erected in Sydney by Messrs Eaton and Bates, and: will cost nearly £200,000. One of them, the Adelphi, will be the largest theatre in the Commonwealth. They will all be located in the Haymarket district, but the same firm .of architects is preparing plans for a fifth theatre, which is described as "a large modern theatre in the centre of the city." But the new imeptus to theatrical augmentation is not to 'be confined to Sydney. Mr. G. T. Eaton has been commissioned to visit the other States with a view to selecting site and erecting other theatres, so as to form a complete circuit. The largest theatre in Sydney, the Adelphi, will be devoted to melodrama, which will be produced by Mr. Mariow's companies. The erection of these fine buildings on the site of Paddy's Market will go far to improve the appearance of the city, and wil] give, visit-' ors arriving by train a favorable first impression of the city proper. In regard to statements made in the Sydney papers to hand by last mail that a sculling match had been arranged between Webb and Pearce on the Wanganui river, for a purse of £2OO, subscribed by the Wanganui people, it is declared by Weibb's friends that a mistake has been made somewhere. Negotiations have been in progress for a match of £2OO a-side, and. a reply was some time ago received! from Sydney to the effect that Pearce's supporters were averse to putting up a stake for a race at Wanganui, but were prepared to consider the offer of a purse. Mr. W. L. Young, one of Weibb's backers, who is now in Sydney, was authorised to endeavor to arrange a match, and in the event of faillire, to say that a endeavor would be made to raise a purse, though nothing more was promised. Webb's party think it too much that they should be asked to relieve the Australian from all risk, and say that the latter, if he wants a match, should put up a stake so that the prospects of a purse being raised locally are not considered very bright. 'Great energy iS being displayed by the English contractors, Messrs Griffiths and Co., Ltd., in the construction of the great "Longitudinal Railway," states the Santiago (Chili) representative of the London Daily Mail. The railway, the contract price for which was £4,250,000, will take four years to build. It will cover 370 miles of exceedingly difficult mountain country, eventually joining the Arica-La Paz railway, and thus being ultimately connected with Central and Northern America. Forty English engineers have arrived for the immediate commencement of the work, and they will have the hearty co-operation of tffe Government engineers. Plate-laying will be begun with night-shifts, and the tunnel contractors have notified the Government that every effort will be made for the first train to pass La Serena in twelve months' time, and Capiapo in two years'. Four thousand men are already engaged, and the stores, plant, and material are be ins pushed forward with all speed. A favorable impression lias been made on the Government by the promptitude and energy displayed. TRAVELLING IS A PLEASURE When you have checked your baggage through us. You have no bother at all. We do all the work, collecting the baggage, checking it on, and delivering at other end by the time you are there.