LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 175, 3 November 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Cyclists are becoming daring in the ir.atter of traversing tlie borough streets at night without lights. _ A party of AA est End polo girls will visit Eltham to-day for the purpose of attending the opening of the High School baths. Mrs. F. G. Morris will act as ehaperone to the girls.

In the absence of the exhibition oi the Johnson-Jeffries fight pictures, a couple of business men entered the arena yesterday morning. The encounter took place at the office of a well-known lieavy-weight business man, and his opponent was another who makes full weight his motto. No one counted the rounds, but it is said that one of the infuriated combatants received considerable damage to the tissue surrounding his optic, and then retired, protesting muck

The Chief Postmaster has received advice as follows:—The Japanese administration announces that Corea has been annexed to Japan, under the name of Cho Sen. Telegrams addressed to Corea, or Cho Sen, are to be accepted. What are claimed to be the finest superphosphate works in the world have been erected at West Guilford, Western Australia. They cost £IOO,OOO, and are designed for the manufacture of superphosphate. sulphuric, nitric and muriatic acids. The plant is capable of producing •20,000 tons of superphosphates per annum. Mr. John Barr, orchardist, at Havelock, i informs the Hastings Standard that last week's frost did absolutely no damage to the fruit trees on the llavelock hills Speaking of his own or liard he says that there is still more f' .iit in it than the trees can carry, and he expresses the opinion that the same conditions exist in other Havelock orchards. He says that the delegates to the Fruitgrowers' Conference in spreading the "damage story' all over the Dominion did far more •damage than the frost. The Xew Plymouth Swimming Club had no difficulty in securing from the public the amount ( £3O) of their guarantee in connection with the forthcoming visit of a team from the Manly Surf Club. The date of this famous "team's display here has not been definitely decided upon, but it is safe to say that a very interesting time is in store for the attendant public. The sea, with all its vicissitudes, is only one of the ma--1 terial factors that make for the future of New Plymouth and its aesthetics.

The person who has been selling at show grounds and in the streets of Hastings a scurrilous pamphlet entitled "Unauthorised Biography of Sir Joseph Ward," had his ardor most effectually cooled on Wednesday (says the Standard). He was parading Heretaungastreet offering liis abusive publication and crying, ''H'exposure of Sir Joseph Ward, most h'interesting buk yet c-e-r-k----i-l-a-i-t-e-d," when a bystander threw the contents of a bucket of beer-house slops over him, greatly to the amusement of a large and unsympathetic audience. During the course of the Stratford Hospital Board meeting on Tuesday Dr. Paget said: ''Certain people in the town (and. he had evidence from the best authority) had been interfering with his private practice, one party having gone so far as to attempt to induce a lady patient to cancel her engagement with him." Dr. Paget informs us that our reporter did not complete the sentence, no doubt because of an interpolation of a member drowning his (the doctor's) words, Which were: "because he was so much engaged at the public hospital that he was too busy to attend to maternity work."

There are those who say that religion is a "pawky" thing, whatever that may mean; that it makes a man soft, and robs him of his inclination even to defend himself against insult (says the Timaru Herald). But a little incident which occurred in Timaru on Saturday night when the Anglican mission meeting was being held in the main street of the town pat quite a different asp'ect on the matter. A young man who ought to have known better brushed roughly against the Rev. S. Trerice Adams, act-ing-vicar of St. Mary's (than whom probably there is no more courteous or inoffensive man in Timaru) and deliberately blew tobacco smoke in his face. The rev gentleman submitted quietly to the msult but gave the young man to understand that it must not be repeated. Disregarding the caution, however, and with a lack of the sense of decencv,the yowi* man deliberately repeated the push and the puff of smoke, with the result that he got the surprise of his life, as he received at the same instant a stingin" back-hander which made him look more sheepish than could be described by anything on paper The vicar was warmiv applauded by those who saw the incident tor his manly action in dealing so welldeserved a rebuke.