LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 202, 5 December 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Parliament concluded its session on Saturday night. It is estimated .that there are at present fully one hundred motor-cars in use in Masterton and district.

The Roman Catholic bazaar at Dunedin, which ran for a little ov?r a fortnight, resulted in £2OOO being taken. The expenses amount to about £SOO. X-rays are being used for the treatment of consumption in London hospitals. They make possible the location of the exact spot where the disease is most active. It is reported that young men of Wellington, between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three, who wish to obtain liquid refreshments from the hotels, now carry their birtih certificates with them. An Otaki settler recently picked up something which, he estimated as worth anything up to £[>oo. He exhibited it with pride, but later ascertained it was not worth a cent. It was not ambergris. A case of ptomaine poisoning occurred at Motuibi on Monday last. °A native partook of sardines which had been kept in an open tin since the previous day. The .usual emetics were administered, .and the patient is doing well. Mr. John Stevens, of Bulls, has organised a party to make a further attempt to secure some of the now nearly extinct huia birds. The party of natives is in oharge of Mr. A. Cameron, and wall make a search along the western slopes of the Ruahine ranges. The latest eel story comes from Mataura. The curator of the hatcheries reported to the Southland Acclimatisation Society last week that one eel caugiht at Mataura was found to contain three ducklings in its stomach, and another was found to have consumed a goldfish. According to the Masterton Daily Times Mr. Lenz, the Wairarapa apiarist, disposed of no less than 30 tons of honey last year. At 4d per lb. this works out at a revenue for the year of £ll2O. Of course, expenses 'have .to come off this—interest on value of land of the different apiaries. The committee of the Horticultural Society will hold an enquiry this evening into the circumstances attending the af'leged "fake" of an exhibit at the Waitara Horticultural Shorn recently, when the exhibitor concerned (who is also a member of the local Society) will be present and make an explanation.

The beautiful weather yesterday afternoon attracted a fairly 'large crowd of people to "The Pines" 'at the East End, when the Garrison Band discoursed sweet music for the delectation of the crowd, the programme being a varied and wellselected one. The collection in aid of the band funds was well supported. The three sheep which figured in the weight-judging competition at the Taranaki Agricultural Shown turned the scale at the following weights:—Small wether 491b, ewe 671b, big wether 841b, total 200 lb. The exact total was guessed by Messrs. Tom Woodard, New Plymouth, and K. Clout, Hawera, witoo wall divide the £3 prize money. The guessin" ranged from 1031b. to 3161b.

Mr. Newton King has received a telegram from Mr. H. Okey, M.P., informing him that among the Supplementary Public Works Estimates is a vote of £SOO (£for £) as a subsidy towards the cost of the proposed new North Egmont Mountain House. This sum will enable the committee which took the matter in hand some time ago to proceed at once with the project.

Eight of Britain's new warships, including that are intended for the colonies, will mount the formidable 13 1 /,- inch guns. The greatest secrecy is being maintained "with regard to those new weapons, for whiah the designation of 12-inch A is being used to conceal the actual size of the bore. The projectiles of these guns weigh 12501b. or 2701b. heavier than those of the biggest armaments of the last four German battleships. An interesting position is created by section 42 of the new Licensing Act, which "raises the age at which- a youth may be supplied with liquor from 18 to 21 years. By this section, not only does'the licensee commit 'an offence, but also the person supplied, and the latter is liable to a fine of £lO. Thus a youth under 21, if arrested for drunkenness, instead of escaping with a nominal fine, may possibly be penalised to the extent of a ten-pound note. Dame Fortune has 'her fancy in horticulture as well as dress. Just now swieet peas are the fashionable flowers. The Horticultural Society are arranging to have a monster collection at their show next Thursday, and growers are requested to remember this and send an exhibit, either for competition or exhibition only. Children who are competing in the bouquet and button-hole classes at the show on Thursday must make up their exhibits at the Theatre on Wednesday night. A remarkable will case has been decided by the Civil Tribunal in Paris. It was one in which Mme. de Rainneville, who died two years a*o, had left £50,000 to the Pope. This will, however, was revoked by another, under which the fortune was bequeathed to the Archbishop of Paris, but the latter, upon the death of Mine, de Rainneville, refused to touch the money. The family of the testatrixthen came forward with a claim, and Mme. Oheremeteff, a sister of the deceased, has just had judgment given in her favor.

King Manuel, dethroned ruler, is likely to remain in England until lie feels that his position is sufficiently • strong to justify his striking a blow for the recovery of his lost throne. It is reported that he intends to apply for a commission in the British Army. The effort to raise a foreign legion to aid him in recovering the throne may or may not be a determined one, but it is said that several wellknown British soldiers have been .approached with a view to inducing them to accept commissions. The lovely appearance of Messrs. Newton King and C. W. Gov.ett's gardens yesterday afternoon, when these grounds wiere thrown open to the public, was an eye-opener to at least one visitor from the south. This lady, who has had an opportunity of seeing some of the best gardens in Ca-nter.bury, ■notably Mr. John Grigg's, which horticulturists'know well by repute, states that the comparison is remarkably in favor of our productions at this time of the year. What the black frost of October did not accomplish in destruction, the drought, which has been prevalent for months past in Canterbury, finished off completely. The tomato house and the greenhouse of Mr. King's were the sights of,the place, whale the collection of sweet peas and the irises on view were at their top condition. The fruit trees at Mr. Govett's were remarked upon by the lady visitor as the best she had ever seen. The plot in the hollow was marvellously fine, the fruit, especially the plums, literally pushin? the foliage aside. It was reaJly an education in horticulture to manj' of those present. Kent Road Primitive Methodist Church, Wednesday evening, December 7. Farewell service to Rev. John Nixon. Mr. Warren will speak on "What I saw recently in America and England," and the Rev. Nixon will speak .on his "Personal Recollections of early New Zealand statesmen." Collection in aid of the circuit fund.—Advt. -;,.<,

A dentist named Kreitenmayer was sentenced to six months' imprisonment recently at Halle (Germany) for extracting fourteen teeth by force from the mouth of a patient, who wanted a tooth stopped. He admitted that his object was to obtain an order for a false set.

In Belgium cock-crowing competitions, are very popular among the working classes. The cocks are ranged in cases, and markers note the -number of crows. The chanticleer who has sounded hisshrill clarion most times in an hour carries off the prize. In a competition? recently held at Poulseur a cock gave voice 143 times.

Hives of bees were introduced into certain Cumberland- orchards of unsatisfactory yield, and some of the trees covered with muslin. At blossom time it was found that the trees to which the bees had no access bore no fruit, while the trees from which they were not excluded produced more fruit thanin previous years.

What is said to be the first lighthouse built for airships has just been erected on the top of a small railway building: at Spandau, Germany. It consists ol 38 powerful electric lamps, which shoot a glaring light skyward. Its purpose is to guide the dirigibles of the Cermait Army at night. One of the great gun plants of Germany is located at Spandau. r

The tennis courts at Vogeltown were visited yesterday by large numbers of people and surprise was expressed at their forward state. Lady members will hardly need reminding of their meeting, to be held in the Town Hall to-night, to make arrangements for the club'sgarden party, the proceeds of which will be applied to the erection of a clubhouse.

>.ow farming lands in the Dominion are being rented and purchased at inflated value, it is interesting to note the rates prevailing; in England for .good agricultural land. In the south-west generally, rents are from, say, 30s per acre to as high as double that amount, the former rental being a fair average. In the eastern counties probably 2,5s per acre would be a fair average. In Lincolnshire, possibly the best farming county, and for the rich agricultural lands adjacent to the Wash, the estuary of several rivers on the East Coast of England, a rental of 70s down to 50s ner acre is readily paid.

A newly-married couple recently became sadly separated at Paekakariri, the bride being carried on Wellingtonward and the husband left lamenting on the platform. They bad vacated their seats (in the midst of a sea of confetti and rice) in ,t!he railway carriage to have tea at the refreshment rooms, which stand between the two platforms, and the mistake arose through the bride going out of the wrong door on to the platform and getting into the wiW train A wire was sent to Plimmerton instructing the lady to disembark there, and no doubt husband and wife became united in due course,

An amusing story was told of the Bishop of Gloucester at the annual meeting of theJEton branch of the Zululand Mission, regarding a letter written by a Kaffir boy to the Bishop on furlough, who had worked for some time among the Kaffirs. It was a regular boy's letter, the Bishop said, and told how the lad has missed his reverend friend, whom he hoped soon to see back. The postscript is short, but very telling, and in the custom of many English people, contained the point of the whole letter. It ran: "P.5..-Am sorry to tell you that I have got no trousers, as mine are broken. Still lam not asking I am only reporting." °

A nice little romance is just now being investigated by a family of the Forty Mile Bush. A member of the family dreamt that he had suddenly become possessed of considerable wealth through reading a book with a red cover. He was in an auction mart in Wellington, and saw a book being sold which answered the description of that he saw in his dream. He purchased it, and found that it was a well-known publication in which enquiries are made for next-of-kin. A perusal 'of the book revealed the fact that his mother, who .is still living, was being enquired for, and that a fortune awaited her. The necessary steps are now being taken to establish identity.

The basis of a cheese export industry for the State of Victoria was laid last month by a shipment of 73 tons, which was forwarded to Europe by the steamer Cornwall, says the Age. Officers of the Agricultural Department have,been endearoring to arrange for large shipments in December and January, and cheesemakers have been awaiting an announcement with great interest. Dairymen and cheese makers consider that* if fair freight charges can be secured a cheese export trade will be a good paying proposition, but the freight has already been increased this year to %d per lb, and it is rumored that shippers demand a further increase. Cheese-makers are holding back until the Agricultural Department can say whether it has secured the December and January accommodation at %d. This represents considerably more than freight charges for butter, and is considered the limit on which cheese export can be undertaken. The New South Wales Government is out with its measures for ensuring that there shall be no more freeholds obtained from the Crown in that State, and the farmers and rural population generally know now what is the effect on the land question of having a Labor Government. Nominally the prohibition takes effect from January 1 next, but actually it is as much in force as though the date were to-day's, seeing that the apparent object in dating it ahead is that faith may be kept with those to whom freehold, by conversion, or otherwise, has practically been promised under the law as it stands. With this exception, which the Government was in honor bound to allow, living areas are only to be obtainable on lease, though a holder who has less than the necessary area will be permitted to complete it on the same tenure as he already enjoys. And so that the change may be made thoroughly, the Conversion Act and condition purchase legislation are to be repealed as soon as possible. In this sweeping and sudden change, says the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Labor only fulfils the policy,that it has proclaimed all along, and makes a start toward nationalisation of the land. SPLENDID TAILOR-MADE SUITS. SPECIAL, 59/0.

For fashionable and striking apparel these suits will win you at once. They represent the highest achievement of the MELBOURNE methods of producing distinctive suits ready to wear. We pride ourselves upon the fact that in all the essentials of fashionable appearance these suits are equal to strictly to-measure suits. It is because designers and tailors, with experience in the making of the better class 0$ suits, are producing MELBOURNE garments. Their class and exclusiveness are assured by the fact that they were reproduced expressly for us from a very expensive English model. The value is assured by the fact that made up for' regular business, they v would be priced at 755. Materials are handsome brown and green worsteds, indigo coatings, and fancy vicunas.