LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 41, 10 August 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

We have received a donation of £3 from "G.H.M." towards the T. E. Taylor Memorial Fund, a list in conneotion with which lies at this office.

The Dunedin Evening Star mentions "on dit" that a. well-known citizen is prepared to donate a suitable organ if the scheme for building a town hall at Dunedin materialises.

It would seem that defaulting husbands and fathers are getting rather plentiful in New Zealand. There are frequently six or seven cases in one day 'before the Auckland Police Court. Something like twelve hundred pigeons formed part of the commissariat at the Maori meeting at Waahi on the occasion of the recent visit of Sir James Carroll. A native interpreter, with other Maoris, shot some six hundred of the number required.

The number of butter boxes and cheese crates manufactured by the Egmont Box Company during the year were 238,204 and 129,585 respectively. The total number manufactured since the inception ofi the company were 1,187,413 butter boxes and <51#,221 cheese crates.

A start was made on Tuesday with pulling down the back buildings on the section! adjoining Abbott's building and clearing the ground preparatory to the erection of the new theatre for Mr. G. H. Saunders. Everything is being done to expedite the erection of the new building, which is to be of ferro-conorete. 'At a meeting of the Wav Benefit Fund Committee last night it was reported that- arrangements were complete for the benefit performance at the skating rink on Friday night next, the programme of which is now being advertised. It was announced that Mr. Saunders' cinematograph entertainment in aid of the funds would be held during the early part of this month. The euchre party and social will be held during September.

Thirty-three of the competitors for the "Round the Mountain" cycle race are in town. Many of them have made journeys over the entire course of 110 miles, and] are well pleased with the state of the roads, and' particularly with the nature of the hills, these short, steep climbs evidently having no terror for the men who are accustomed to a long up-grade drag of two or three miles in some parts of the Dominion. The longest hill on tho route is said to be only about 300 yards long.

A well-authenticated story reaches the Patea, Press which illustrates the fondness of the "weka." for allying itself with the common or barn-door fowl. A (settler's wife who had a number of hens laying about waa hunting for nests when she suddenly came upon a weka in calm possession of one of the fowl's nests. The bird at first made no attempt to move, and I 'it was. only after being roused in no gentle manner by means of a stick that it condescended to get up and walk a/way. It was then discovered that it had been sitting on some half-dozen hens' eggs.

The Waitaia i>jad race will take place to-day. The course is from Waitara to Inglewood, to New Plymouth, and thence back to Waiters. It is expected to get the limit men away from D. George's shop, Waitara, about 2.30 p.m., and the scratch men will leave 20 minutes later. The first men will arrive in Inglewood about 3.15 p.m. From Inglewood' the racers will proceed along the Junction road, and will pass Crocker's corner, on their way back to Waitara, between 3.45 and 4.15 p.m. Messrs. W. J. Williams, E. Whittle and J. McKean will act aa judges. At the meeting of the St. Aubyn Town Board on Tuesday night a letter was read from the Hospital Board with reference to the proposed new hospital, and: stating that tho town district's contribution on a building costing £30,000 would be approximately £2Ol. It was decided to acknowledge receipt of the letter and to enter a protest against being made responsible for finding a proportion of the monoy necessary for the erection of the new hospital without having direct representation on the Board, and that the time seems opportune when the Boftrd should be composed of members appointed by local bodies.

A meeting of the St. Aubyn Town Board was held oil Tuesday night, Mr. P. Lealand, in the unavoidable absence af the chairman, presiding. There were also present: Messrs. F. Hodgson, H. Putt and W. J. Russell. The town clerk wrote that the Borough Council would erect an extra street light on the South road on the same terms aa pjeviously. The Valuer-General notified payment ol subsidy amounting to £6O 13s 3d. The Public Works Dcpaxtmept wrote approving of plans in connection with Glen road. The town clerk notified that the estimated cost of improvements to Cutfield road was £l2 lOe, and that provided the hoard agreed to pay half cost the woitk would be proceeded with. It : was decided to confer with the iborough engineer. It was resolved to notify certain people to cl«i r their frontages erf noxious weeds, and to cut overhanging trees. A plan of the town district is to be prepared. The footpath on the South road between the school and Belt road is to be made up and gravelled. Tho annual meeting of the Egmont Box Company was held at Kith am on Tuesday. The report stated that satisfactory and substantial progress had' been made. After allowing ,L 13(1(5 6s (id for depreciation on buildings, plant. a.nd leasehold, there remained £lß3l 14s Id to be dealt with. The directors recommended i the payment of 6 per cent, per annum on the paid-up capital, amounting to £ll(i(i 12s fid, leaving a (balance to be | carried forward.' During tho year the i company's principal line of tramway at Ohutu liad been pushed on, and is now Hearing completion, and at the company's railway tcroninus a siding has been constructed !by the Department for the company's use. A considerable quantity of milling hush had been acquired during the rear. The chairman (Mr. Marx), in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said the psist yean's work had been one of solid progress. The. company was mow in a very good wa.v. The timber rights which they had acquired were going to pay them handsomely. The milling timbeT business was rapidly increasing. The heart of totara alone wan going to give them a dear profit of 10s per hundred, ami would eventually pay for the whole outlay on the bnsh and mill. Tie advocated the erection of a reserve fund of anything up to £3OOO as «, scit-off against the money the dairy factories had invested. He was pleased to say that in all they had done during the year the directors had been unanimous. THE REASON SO MANY EMPLOY US To do their forwarding work is because we always give our clients the best service we can. This is invariably prompt, reliable, reasonably-priced. This service retains old customers, brings new ones, and accounts for our development into the biggest and best carrying company south of the line.—N.Z. Express Company, Ltd.—Advt. YOU WILL BE SURPRISED How much better you feel if your stomach is in good condition. Dr. Sheldon's Digestive Tabules will improve your digestion at once. Price, 2s 6d. I Obtainable at Bullock and Johnson's.

There -was a. very goo<l attendance of ladies at the Town Hall 'last night at the invitation of Mr. G. W. Browne, chairman of the Western Park Boaid, to discuss moans of improving the board's finances. It was decided to institute a series of entertainments to be carried on at intervals to the end of the summer, and then to commence operations for a bazaar, which they intend shall he a record affair. The first entertainment of the scries will be a euchre party "and dance in the Brougham street lrnll at an early date. Mrs. 11. Ward was appointed chairwoman and convenor of the ladies' committee.

A meeting of the schedule committee of the Taranaki Agricultural Society was held on Tuesday evening, when -work in connection with revising the schedule was commenced. Several new classes were added, including the following: Hack owned and ridden bv a Maori; best light harness horse owned and driven by a Maori; farmers' light harness horse (open to fanners only); ladies' riding competition, side-saddle; motor-car competition. A special prize of £5 5s was donated, by Mr. E. Wheatley, of Leppertom, for best lady rider in side-saddle. Prize money was considerably increased, especially in the jumping competitions. The maiden hunters' ria-s was increased to £7 7s, the open hunters' competition to £27, and- a valuable trophy presented by Messrs. Hawkins and Smith, North Island agents for Heather Blend whisky. The committee will meet again on Saturday. \

Some months ago we reported that some sneak thief was paying nocturnal visits to the firewood neatly sawn, split, and stacked in the Recreation Grounds by an elderly workman who toiled industriously the day through at this work for his livelihood. The owner of the wood had thoughts at that time of laying a trap for the thief. The police were informed of the matter, but. despite the publicity given, the wood still continued to disappear mysteriously during the night. On Tuesday evening, at the instance of Senior-Sergeant Dart, the old man marked several pieces «f wood on the top of the stack. Next morning this marked wood was missing. The sergeant and Constable Egan during the morning paid a visit to a house in the neighborhood. Some of the marked firewood was found there. Shortly afterwards two cycling policemen might have been seen pedalling their way to the police station, each with an armful of split pine wood. The sequel will be hefird at the Magistrate's Court this morning. The Post Office has considerable difficulty in dealing with correspondence enclosed in "transparent" envelopes—Le., envelopes having in front a panel of transparent paper through which the ad-' dress on the enclosure is read. In many instances, through the insufficient transparency of the material forming the panel, the indistinct writing of the address, or the careless folding of the enclosure officers are hindered in reading the addresses. In order to avoid the delay thus caused, which may have serious effects in respect of the whole body of mail matter in hand at a given time, a regulation has been framed providing that letters or other articles contained in "transparent" envelopes, the addTeseea Of which cannot be easily read, shall be put aside to be dealt with when work is less pressing, even if they should be delayed in despatch or delivery. Articles with enclosures folded in such a manner tliat the addresses cannot be read will bo treated as undeliveraWe, and articles enclosed in envelopes with the transparency placed crosswise instead of lengthwise in the envelope are prohibited, and will be dealt with accordingly.

Patrick O'Connor, who arrived in Australia last week, looks down upon the rest of his fellow men from a height pt Bft 3in. When he comes into the room, bending instinctively to pass the doQr, the startled beholder's first impulse is to hide. But a glance at his good-na-tured face is reassuring (says the Melbourne Argus). "Sure," he said, 'l'm a terrible long way from Tipperary—l2,ooo miles, no less. It's a bit awkward for mo at times being so big. The only athletic game I can play with another man is golf. ■ They wouldn't look at me in a football or cricket team. No team that played me would get matches. I used to play football once in Tipperary, and I've got the marks of the boys' feet on my shins now. There are 'boys' over there Oft and Oft 2in, who would pay for training against .lack Johnson. It's the clean life and the pure air. Yes, I'm Bft 3in. 1 weigh 22st (2-Jst now—l put on 2st on board). My cliest measurement, unexpanded. is .jtiiii, my neck 21in, biceps 19in, calf 20'/ s in. I went over to England recently to parade among the tall men of the Kingdom in the Festfval of Empire. The next man to me was 6ft 7in. I think I must be the tallest man in the Empire, or pretty near it." It is said that a. "hustling" American journalist who went over -to London a fow years ago to show the natives how a paper should be run, was dumb-foun-ded to find that the. Hank of England had no telephone. England, however is now waking up to I.be value r«f that convenience, and the lil>eral policy of the' Postmaster-General will no doubt hasten the process. The concession to farmers of a telephone service' for £3 per annum if five people combine to use one wire, should do much to popularise the telephone. The Daily Mail has an interesting article on the results of an experi* inent of this kind made at the Yorkshire village of Brandsiby. "I can assure you,*'' said the squire, "that the farmers of Urandsby would not do without it now that they have once learnt its value. The I 1 tinners Co-operative Society h(*re, of which all the farmers are members, gets through its work in half the time, and the saving of expense, labor, and trouble is incalculable. Five minutes talk over the telephone and we can do more than could be done in two or three letters passing to and fro. I know that the subcommittee of our Agricultural Organisation Society, and our local society, contrive to get through their work in days' less time than it used to take." By means of the telephone the farmers til Brandsby aro becoming as highly organised in co-operation as the Danes who are a model to the world in this respect. It is aJso reported that the telephone has begun to revolutionise the fruit-growing industry in the EVesham district. It is anticipated that the increased use of the telephone which the Postmaster-Gen-eral hopes to see, will lead to the introduction of automatic exchanges, the abolition of the "flat rate," and the substitution of a system il>y which payment depends on the numlter of calls made. Communication with other countries may also increase, for every year it is becoming easier. It is now possible to talk from the General Post Office, London, to Marseilles, and telephonic communication with Germany and Italy is Wing tried. The Old Country has. however, a long way to go bofore it can compare with America, as a user of tlx' telephone. There aire 050,000 telephone* in use in Great Britain, and 7,000,000 in America.

LAMB BACK. This ailment is usually caused by rheumatism of the muscles and mar be cured by applying Chamberlain's Pain Rnlm two or throe times a day and rubbing the part vigorously nt encli application. Tf this does not afford relief bind on a piece of flannel dampened with Chamberlain's Pain Balm and relief is aura to follow. Sold by all chemists and storekeepers.

The timber trade is becoming appreciably brisker. The export from Greymouth during the first six months of this year was nearly eight million feet better than for the corresponding period of last year.

The bruising of cattle when going through the "races" at the Auckland abattoirs is found to be greatly reduced by the adoption of the use of electric prods to hurry the cattle along, instead of hammering them with sticks.

Napier borough is apparently in a pretty bad way financially. It is said that almost every department's expenditure promises to exceed the estimates, with the probable result that before long the legal limit of the overdraft will be reached . The new theatre will probably cost .€2OOO over the amount asked for, the tramways perhaps £IO,OOO, and the sewerage and other works probably a considerable sum over the amounts which the ratepayers voted for them. Engineers announce that by July, 1019, the Keokuk dam, the • largest in the world, except the Assouan, will be completed, harnessing the Mississippi. When the waters, guided by engineering craft, pass through thirty turbines, they will generate 250,000-horse-power, enough to light every private and public lamp, run every street car, and turn every factory wheel in practically every Mississippi Valley city, from the Saint on the north to the Saint on the south. Keokuk will become one of the largest power-distri-buting centres in the entire world. Already contracts have been signed for the transmission of 60,000-horse-power to St. Louis, 175 miles south, to run the street cars and light the streets of that city. Negotiations are under way to transmit, the power north and south, east and west, from St. Paul to Memphis and from Chicago to Omaha.

"Since the scion of a well-known family, endowed with one of the oldest peerages in the United Kingdom, was sent to penal servitude for fraudulently obtaining the signature of a friend on the back of a bill," writes Sir Henry Lucy, "there has been no tragedy that has created such a profound sensation as the trial and sentence of Lieutenant Cameron and his wife in connection with the now famous pearl necklace. Friends of the still young couple describe them a* charming people, popular wherever they went. Of the two she was the brighter, and it is believed that in her active brain was devised the elaborate but almost childishly foolish scheme, the working out of which whelmed husband and wife in disgrace and ruin. It was characteristic of Mrs. Cameron that in the Criminal Court, whilst the prosecuting counsel drew closer and closer the .toils of conviction, she daily appeared in a fresh frock, the climax of attraction forthcoming on the day preceding the one when she was carried off in the prison van, thenceforward, through' three years, to suffer amongst other things the monotony of convict dress."