LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 9, 5 July 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Messrs. Smith and Tweedale's provisional specifications have been accepted by the ftitenfs Office for a new process m extracting metal from Taranaki ironsand.

The fund for the relief of the widow and family of Hepple, who with his two eldest sons were drowned off Petone some time ago, is now £857 3s 3d. Hutt and Petone expect to raise £IOOO outside of the money raised in Wellington. llrs. Hepple and family of seven were left totally unprovided "for. Tlie footpath in Lower Carrington road, near the <!ood Templar Ilall, is slipping away into the old bed of the fluatoki stream. The Borough Council should make up its mind as to the course to be pursued in reference to this sidewalk, which is absolutely dangerous to tra/lic, and should be cither dosed or repaired.

The Hawera Star thus refers to the enterprise of the Kaponga people in deciding to proceed with a water and drainage scheme: "Of the direct and indueet advantages of a water supply and diamagc system, it is not necessary to speak at this time of day. They are too obvious, and any town is quite right in securing a system, not onlj- for the convenience of it, but for the guarantee it allords oi the promotion and maintenance of public health.'

A local dairy company was on Monday offered 14'/,d for butter in bulk, and revised the offer. The amount of butter in coo! stores in the dominion is said to lie only siifliciciii, to enable holders to lill their contracts. If some other article of diet could be reduced to compensate for the huge price of butter people wouldn't gtowl so much. But to be charged Is 3d or Is 4d a pound for butter, ex freezer, and not free from "taints." is rather hard.

Die following pupils of the Frankley Road School made full attendance for the quarter ending June 30, 1911 Standard VI.: Leslie Newell, Nellie Bendall, Alex. Warren. Standard V • Robert Lovcll, Elsie Lobb. Standard I v.: Gerald Boswell, George Garner David (Irant. Dorothy Hansen, Phyllis' Heal. Standard HI.: Keith Ben'dall. Jack Lovcll, Cedric Newell, Alexander Reed. Standard ]I. : Aylmer Putt, David ( rcstney, Eileen Ballantyne, Elsie Cole wmnie Douries. May Garner, Dora Ileal. Maggie Lovcll. Standard I, : Keith Allen, Ivo Grant, Claude Reed 1 rimers: Ronald Bendall, Clarence Prentice, Douglas Ballantyne, Alexander Bosweli, Cecilc Heal, Marjorie Lister Jul en Cornoy, Mary Downs. Tlie comlmttee gratefully acknowledge gifts of seeds and manure for the school gardens from Mr. Newton King. The Pill in the bottle of Wood (Lnxq-Toriic, of course, understood) The P:li for the nation, ' The Pill for creation, Xhe Pill that does everyone good. Laxo-Tonie Pills, 10>/ 2 d and Is fid. Obtainable at Bullock and Johnston's.

"I never saw so many land speculators in my life, as in New Zealand," said Professor Mills in a soul hern town recently. .New Zealand, he also said, had established more public enterprises in the past twenty years than any other country.

Tim special buckets designed for the Paritutu's rough work bv Mr. Henderson and manufactured in Dtnmlm. have been placed in position on the dredge. They are very massive in construction and should stand the rough wear they will get better than l.lie imported article. A good trial will be given tliem when the dredge re-commences work on the western side of the whari. In a ease in the Stratford Court a debtor admitted that he had had several drinks that morning and had paid for them himself. Mr. Spence, who appeared for the creditor, submitted that if a man could afford to pay for drinks he could afford to pay his debts. Mr. Kenrick, S.M., also took this view and said a man should not drink at all while his debts were unpaid. Judgment iby default was entered m the following cases at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning:—A. IT. Herbert (Mr. F. E. Wilson) v. Michael Barrett, claim £1 Is Sd, and costs ss; same v. Albert 11. Martin, claim 13s sd, and costs ss. An order for payment forthwith of the full amount, in default seven days' imprisonment, was made in the judgment summons ease of L. Marks (Mr. Hutchen) v. 8, Harrison, of Otakeho, on a debt of £8 7s, the order to be suspended so long as the debtor pays instalments of 10s a month. A boy named Harold Eliot, who lives in Court'enay street, had a nasty experience on Monday evening. He was crossing St. Aubyri street near the West End school, and, being very nearsighted, did not observe the approaching Breakwater 'bus. lie foil, and "he 'bus passed over the ankle of one foot and the instep of the other. The driver did not notice the accident, and weni on, but Mrs. D. Berry was attracted by the boy's cries, and she bore him off the road. Mr. T. G. Sole happened to come along in a gig, and took the boy home. Almost marvellous to no bones were broken. A great deal of public curiosity wa9 aroused by a harem skirt wedding at St. John's' Church, Invercargill, recently, more than usual interest being taken in the eternal question of "What the bride wore. ' There is little doubt that more attention was paid to the attire of the ladies than to the ceremony, which was solemnised by Archdeacon Stocker. Afterwards the bridal parly was driven to a studio, where a photograph of the whole outfit was taken. A crowd of people (mostly men)' thronged in the vicinity to see the party, hut the brides and bridesmaids bad in the meantime donned ordinary skirts, and their journey from the photographer's door to the waiting carriage was greeted by a gasp of disappointment. A striking example of the value of limo to light partiallv-draired (surface drains only) swamp land is to be seen (says the Thames Advertise;) at the Raukura ! experimental farm. Part of a field was j selected for the liming experiment. Onej third of the plot received 'one ton of \ ground burnt lime, another equal portion half a ton. and the third portion sowt. The first season a crop, of oats ! was grown, but there was no sign whati' ever of any effect of the liming. A j catch crop, consisting of peas, oats and j barley, followed, , At once the benefit of the liming was demonstrated. Where J the ton had been applied the growth i was luxuriant and vivid the • rate of development decltnirifpuifi "the ) reduction in the lime content of the soil, the unlimed portion being in strong contrast to the rest of the field. Word reached the Waverley police recently (says the Sydney Morning HerJ aid) that a man had hanged himself in I a little reserve on the Bondi.road. A constable was immediately despatched to the spot, and saw what he took to be the body of a man suspended by a rope from the bough of a tree overhanging the footpath. He climbed the tree at once, and cut the body down. Judge his surprise on reaching the ground to, discover that the supposed suicide was merely a stuffed suit of clothes. Insult was added to in jury when peals of childish laughter and derisive cries came floating across the darkness of the reserve. The dummy suicide had been carefully prepared .and was attired in ! the latest mode. The maker had even | gone to the trouble of furnishing the ) face with a beard, (lood boots were attached to the trouser legs, with the evident intention of making the deception as lifelike as possible, while an ingenious form of joint gave the limbs a truly human look.

As the provisions of the Land Settlement Finance Act become more widely known there is evidence of an increased desire on the part of those anxious to do so to take; up land under the system laid down by that measure. At the present time some twenty associations, with a membership of ivell over a hundred, have heen formed, and close 011 twenty thousand acres now actually held by settlers who have acquired the holdings in terms of the Act. In the Auckland district ten estates have been acquired, with an area of nearly 10,000 acres, 011 which ti7 persons are settled. In Hawke's Hay only one association has been formed; it consists of seven memhers, who farm nearly 800 acres. In the Wellington district two associations,with a membership of twelve, have acquired 1")00 acres. In Caiiti-rbnry four associations have been funned, consisting of twenty members, who farm between tlieni over .'WOO acres, .uid in Southland sixteen people are fanning -MOO acres under the scheme. Negotiations are now proceeding (some are completed) for the acquis!:ion of considerable areas in the Tiniani, Palmerston North and Waikato nistriels, and several other similar trailsactions are in contemplation. "We understand, says the Waimate Witness, '"it is the intention of the dim-tors of dairy companies at the opening of next, season to refuse to give employment to men who are known to be unionists. Tliis decision is the outcome of the refusal of the union to take their grievance into the Arbitration Court for settlement, and to the further and more serious fact, if fact it be. that a strike is projected at a moment involving either the dislocation of the industry, witfi lieavv attendant loss, in default, of granting (lie terms of the men. \\ ith such a possibility iu view the implication bv Ihe secretary of the union ' that men seeking employment might, deny thev were unionists, is instructive. The morality of such advice is a very open question, and equally doubtful is the question of its success, flood causes arc never helped by such means, and n cause of any kind that depends upon such assistance is hopelessly damned in advance. The statement, publicly made, that, men work seventy hours! a week for a wage of Jos, is one that demands some explanation. It naturallv must, appeal to the sympathetic judgment of the general public, and it is somewhat surprising that it has not been followed by an authoritative explanation of some kind from officials of the, dairy companies.