LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 207, 10 December 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. D. Berry made an important announcement at yesterday's meeting of the Taranaki Petroleum Company. The Premier had wired him that the Government would be prepared to pay a bonus on crude oil obtained, and not on refined oil, as heretofore offered. Sums 01 £2500 would be paid 'at intervals: £2500 when the first 250,000 gallons ol crude oil. including all sales, are obtained; the second £2500 on similar condition; the third on the production of 500,000 gallons, making one million gallons; and the balance when 500,000 gal lons of refined oil had been produced. The announcement came as a pleasant surprise. It may be mentioned that his fellow-directors knew nothing of this important information till Mr. Berry made the announcement. A full report of the proceedings appears elsewhere in this issue.

The local operatic ■ society have been approached to put on "Dorothy" at Hawera, a guarantee being probably forthcoming.

It is stated that if Mr. Massey proceeds with his action against the Wellington Times for alleged libel, interesting developments may ensue.

The sum of £176 16s has been collected in Hawera towards the welfare of the widow and children of the late Mr. Frank Whiting, who, with his little son, was accidentally drowned. The pioneer vessel of a revived industry, namely, that of whaling, returned to Auckland the other afternoon after spending a successful season in the north. Sixteen whales were captured. In the Hawera Magistrate's Court on Thursday before Mr. Kenrick, S.M., F. J. Gane, farmer, of Normanby, was on the information of the police charged with having cruelly ill-treated a cow. No fine was imposed.

At the Petroleum Company's annual meeting yesterday the chairman announced that the directors were considering the admissability of inviting the newspaper editors all over the Dominion to be present at the anniversary of the No. 2 well, which will have flowed without interruption for twelve months on- January 4th.

That Taranaki petroleum is a profitable proposition was shown by' the chairman of the company at yesterday's meeting. No. 2 and 3 wells, on the basis of producing 75 and 30 barrels a week, respectively, would, when the oil was refined, give a return of eight and onefifth per cent, on the total capital oi £92,250. - Then there were the other wells. That Mr. Carter errs on the side of caution is evidenced by the fact that No. 2 has l produced regularly 100 barrels a week, whilst those in a position to judge estimate that No. 3, which is really not yet in working order, will produce even more than 100 barrels.

Taranaki has become famous, or infamous, for the "swapping" proclivities of its settlers, or no small proportion ol them. What must be accounted a record in this connection, even 1 for Taranaki, came to light during the bankruptcy proceedings in the estate of Reginald Noel Heppell at New Plymouth yesterday. Bankrupt, a youth of 22, married, with one child, started busjne?? in February last year, Sinje then he' igjfl "swapped" fcu'ms or businesses seven or eight times. He started with nothing, but borrowed £250 from his wife, and his list of creditors, admitted and disputed, totalled no less than £2746 9s 9d. Assets were returned as nil. The creditors could not grasp the intricacies of bankrupt's operations, the D.O.A. could shed no light on them, the lawyers could make neither head nor tail of them, and the unenlightened but lightened creditors went home without doing anything. . New Plymouth's share of the weather served out during the past few days has consisted of beautiful rains, and intermittent sunshine. Other places are Jess fortunate. A Feilding telegram reports that UigrS TO a hailstorm accompanied by thunder in Fdldiflg €®rly yesterday morning over the central portion of the town, intermittent showers falling later. The rain will do a great deal of good. There was a severe thunderstorm at noon, with very heavy rain. A thunderstorm of brief duration was experienced at Gisborne on Wednesday evening. The chimney of the Girls' College at Kaiti was struck by lightning and cracked from top to bottom. A large macrocarpa tree at Whataupoko was stripped bare and set alight Thunder occurred again at midday yesterday, with a heavy hailstorm at Ormond, where the hail lay fully an inch deep. Terrace End, Palmerston North, was visited by a cyclonic disturbance at noon that lifted the iron roof off Pittam's stables, took it from fifteen to twenty feet in the air, carried it two hundred yards, deposited it in a paddock, levelled a wire fence, tearing up the posts and wrenching the wire from the staples, and almost completely demolishing the verandah of the house occupied by Mrs. Kelly and family. No one was injured.

It is not often that one owns property without being aware of the fact. Generally, the rate-cards keep one will iiv formed of that fact. Such, however, was the experience of the Clifton County Council when a ratepayer named Mr. Godinagh waited on the members at the meeting yesterday, and asked what they intended doing with a small Teserve of about 2% acres near Onaero. It was, he stated, at present a hot bed of gorse and blackberry. These were coming into seed and fruit now, and he wanted something done to prevent the section being a menace to the whole district. "I can slave away," he said, "and clear my prapertv, while the Council owns land and does nothing to it. They should be asliamed of themselves." The chairman said their excuse must be that they did not know they owned the land, and further explanations elicited the fact that the land had been cut off by the Roads Department some years ago, wheu the road was deviated. The question now arose did 'the land belong to the Council ? Personally, it was a surprise to him, as he had no idea that the Council owned the land in question. It might be a road reserve, in which case each property owner would be liable to clear half of it. The Council certainly was not justified in allowing noxious weeds to propagate, and if he found the land really did belong to them, he would at once give instructions to have the ground cleared. YOU SHOULD BEAR IN MIND That by usins the Commercial Eucalyptus Oil, which is no->v bought up at -6:1 per lb. weight and bottle, and, on account of the large profits, pushed, you are exposing yourself to all the dangers to which the use of turpentine will expose you—irritation of kidneys, intestinal tract and mucous membranes. • By insisting on the GENUINE SANDER EUCALYPTI EXTRACT you not only avoid these pitfalls, lmt you have a stimulating. safe and effective medicament, the result of a special and careful manufacture. remember: SANDER'S EXTRACT cm-, bodies the result of 50 years' experience

Getting ready for tlio thirsty weather! The Corinna brought (from 'South ozr Thursday 10,000 {gallons of beer. The Eltham Swimming Club has a membership of 83, and will affiliate to the Wanganui centre of the New Zealand. Amateur Swimming Association. Mr. Geo. Willoughby's English Farcial' Comedy Company play "Mr. Preedy and" the Countess" at New Plymouth onBoxing night, and "The Night of the' Party" on the following night

Mr. J. O. Batchelar, of Palmerston North, has been unlucltv enough to lose his purebred Jersey bull, Bright Star, through an accident. The animal wag worth at least one hundred guineas. King Frederick Augustus of Saxony is about to go on a hunting expedition in the British Soudan, the neighborhood of I ashoda being his goal. He has arranged to start for Africa in February next and 1 to be away two months. A young man arrested in Auckland on> a charge of insobriety was apparently a smoker. Besides a tin of tobacco and' a pipe, he had ten packets of cigarettes, and a dozen loose cigarettes were discovered in his pockets.

An error crept into the report of the Stratford Show. In.the Jerseys, Mr. C. Clarke's Queen Magnet iwas second in the aged cow, and was t'he reserve champion. Butter Tree won the two-year-old class, and Rose Tree the yearlings. Nineteen young Chinese, postal officials are about to undergo a six months' training in all branches of the Austrian postal, telegraphic and telephone services, with a view, on returning home, to undertake the reorganisation of the Chinese postal: service.

A cablegram from London conveys the startling intelligence that one of Mr, H. Lawson's supporters travelled specially from Monte Carlo to Cumberland to vote for him. People in this district would prefer a few more details of the * !??' an< * * ess Consequential stuff of this description.

mitr! fT 111 " ' 3 113 to warn the public of Taranaki against an individual * ® the round of the towns with a somewhat novel advertising scheme The latter, the firm states, is allright, but the man, they allege does not believe in paying for anything he procures, or for board or lodging. . the Waitara races a number of folk, balancing up after the day's sport, found that the money they thought they possessed did not tally with themoney in pocket. The average sport in. a little reticent about his wins or losses, but the word "pickpockets" explained the situation satisfactorily as far as : niost folk were concerned.

Two Auckland! bowling clubs are affected by the new licensing laws, viz., Epsom and " r ey Lynn, both being in prohibited areas. The abolition of the locker system came into force at mid-day on Thursday of last week, and Grey Lynn bowlera have had to clear their lockers of intoxicating liquors. "Bowls and whisky," waa a term applied at one time to the pastime of trundling the wood, but the trend of public opinion, and the increased stringency of the licensing law, has brought about the divorce <>t this happy couple. The High School senior cadets went into camp at nine o'clock yesterday morning at the Rewa Eewa rifle ranee: Messrs. Sole Bros, having given the necessary" permission to use the grounds. *JIS day was spent in pitching tents, building ~C99k«' flUftrters, .etc., and they were fortunate enough to have the tents pitched before any rain fell. Staff Ser-geant-Major Sanderson is an camp with the cadets. Captain Ryder is. in command, and Lieutenant Clarke is actingQuartermaster. Mr. Pridham visited the camp at 11 a.m. . ,

.The general goods and stock traffic on the Isew Plymouth-Wanganui section of the railways is pretty heavy just now; particularly is this so between Hawera and Wanganui. The, officials at the Hawera station have had an unusually busv time for some weeks. One day this week no fewer than six specials were .despatched to and from the local station, and on Wednesday forenoon a heavy special goods tram arrived from the south; Instcac} of the Main Trunk diminishing the goods traffic in Taranaki, it seems as if it is increasing it.—Hawera Star.

M yesterday's meeting of the Clifton County Council the following letter was received from one of the surfacemen: I notify you that I am resigning at the end of this month, as I am not satisfied with working alongside a man getting 9s per day. So, for my part, y<yu„ or the Council, can get another man in my place," The chairman remarked that this surfaceman, who. was receiving' 8s per day, would not have objected to a man being sent out to supervise him at iss per day, andi Evidently objected take put under an 'overseer at 9s per day.. The fall of Christmas Day on a Sunday is causing a good deal of doubtful scrutiny oj the Act. For example, it is asked: What is the position of shopswhich habitually close on Saturday afternoons ? The only clause in thft Act dealing with this reads: "Nothing in this Act shall render it unlawful for the occupier of a shop to employ his assistants till eleven o'clock at night on Christmas Eve and New Year's °Eeve; or, when Christmas Day and Xew Year's Day fall on Monday,' then till eleven o'clock at night on the Saturday preceding those days."

When discussing traffic by-laws yesterday at the Clifton County Council meeting a, member of the deputation referred to the necessity for regulating motor-car traffic. Always, he said, when he met a motor-car he pulled one wheel off the metal and allowed half the road, expecting the motorist to do the same' but in the majority of instances the car kept right in the middle of the road, and did not swerve. Several members of the Council were sympathetic, stating that on numerous'occasions motorcars they rushed quite close to their traps the occupants of which were considerably scared. A member referred to the fact that a traction engine—driver ui case of trouble had to his engine' and render assistance, Iml a motorist never even troubled to look behind. The. chairman remarked that it would be rather derogatory to a gentleman in a motor-car to have to stop "and assist a country "chaw-bacon." , An important suggestion was made by the Prime Minister' (Sir Joseph Wardi. when speaking on Saturday afternoon last at a gathering of the Parliamentary Press gallery. The pressmen had wished Sir Joseph all success in his important mission on behalf of New Zealand at the coming Imperial Conference, and in replying he expressed the opinion that it would be a remarkably good thing if one or two New Zealand journalists were sent Home to attend the Imperial Conference and the Coronation ceremonies. He also suggested that arrangements might hwiell be made to secure a, special uews j service from London to the Dominion , through the Pacific cable duriiio; the time ; that the Conference was sifting. The ordinary service was a good one, but he had' found that on such spee'n-l occasions as the Conference people of New Zealand■ did not, under the existing conditions, get what lie thought they we're, entitled to, a full report of the proceeding He. there- - fore thought that this time, there should", he special reprosen£ati.oij in Lnnj™ - #-