LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 93, 10 October 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

During last month the Palmerston Egg Circle handled "2700 dozen eggs, the awrage price received being lO'/id net. Whitebait is now very plentiful in the Patca river, andi on Sunday whitobaifcing was indulged in by a large number of residents. i

The following advertisement appeared in a Wellington paper: —"Advertiser, 3-2, total abs'tliiiiner, wishes to marry into, farmer's family; thorough knowledge of agriculture; no means; live and work as .one of the family."

The Chief Postmaster has acceded to the petition of the settlers to open a post oiilicc on the lower Mangorei road. The olliw is to he at the municipal waterworks cottage, and Mrs. S. Hooker will act as postmistress^

The flooring of the big Town Hall in Wellington, though only about eight years old, is found bo be badly decayed with dry rot. Cause, rinm timber, and no ventilation. Moral: Build your houses well off the ground. The Audit Department has advised the Borough Council that Section 2 of the Municipal Corporations Act does not authorise 'the Department to audit a bal-ance-sheet on the electric light department drawn, on commercial lines. ft will be necessary for the Council to appoint an 'auditor for these accounts.

Probably the cow which holds the highest record in the Dominion as a buter-fat producer is a Holstein-Friesiiin in the possession of the Agricultural Department at the Weraroa Experimental Farm. From this cow last season was obtained 5851b of buter-fat, which at lid per lb works out at the splendid sum of \ £2O 10s 3d. Recently the Department was offered 300 guineas for this beast, but refused the offer. At the sale of •tud stock last year, after the Palmerston Show, a hull calf, from this cow, brought To guineas under the hammer. The fortnightly meeting of the Loyal Egmont Lodge, 1.0.0. F., M.U., was held last evening, Bro. L. Brabant, KG., presiding. A letter of recommendation was granted to a member leaving the district and a letter of sympathy was authorised t« be forwarded to a member who has recently suffered a bereavement by the death of his wife. P.P.G.M. John* Bennett attended the lodge and thanked them for the honor they had conferred upon him by electing him one of the trustees. It was decided that the hour of opening the lodge during the summer months should be half-past 'seven. The weekly session of the Egmont Lodge, No. 112, 1.0. G.T., was held in the Good Templars' Hall last night. The Acting-Chief Templar, Sister B. C'onnett, presided over a good attendance. Reports were received from the Snowfiake Lodge, No. ISO, Eltham, asking the Egmont Lodge to visit the lodge the first week in November; also from the Lifeboat Lodge. No. 101, Timaru, Victoria Lodge, No. 22, Auckland, and the Hunterville Lodge to send postcords for their mail hags. The Egmont Lodge will visit j the Recliabites to-night for their openI ing in the Good Templar Hall. The lodge granted IDs to the funds of the I Pride of Inglewood Lodge. A committee was formed to form a Tairanaki Guild.

When Inspector Tippins visited t'lie rubbish heap on Friday he found it on fire. The paper had blown about, and had not th<>* engineer and Cr. Buttimore been thi'iv to stop the fire spreading it would have come through the trees to .\fo\ lluttMww's house. He reported the

.matter to the Borough Council at last

night's' meeting. Cr. Gilbert said they would have to do something about this paper. Cr. llartnsll remarked that the paper was blowing about all over the place, and. was* a source of danger, as well as causing an untidy appearance. Knrt Niger. om> of the east ward reM'rves which had recently been cleaned up and .improved, was littered with the stiilf. It was dccid'cd, on the motion of (.'iv. Clarke and Gilbert, that the eng?»ieer send a man whenever necessary to gather up and- burn the paper at the rubbish reserve.

■Speaking before the Medical Congress Dr. A. A. Martin (Palmerston North) said the two great dangers in surgical operation* were blood poisoning and shock, and. though they had almost eliminated the danger of the former, it was sounder surgery to prevent the onset of the latter. Both the operator and the anaesthetist must work together to prevent the onset of shock. They must consider the patient, the physique, the vtamina, the nature and duration of the operation and the surroundings. Too large a dose of anaesthetic would produce shock. The influence of fear had a decided bearing on shock. Many patients approached an operation in a state of terror. Fear was a great mental factor to be combated and allayed. For certain diseases it was a. predominant and challenging factor. Speed in operations was essential. The rapid operation, other things being equal, obtained the best results. Delay increased the risk of shock.

Tt is sometimes said that the, .successor to General Booth is unknown. This would seem to be a mistake. Mr. A. M. Xicol considers that there is only one officer qualified for the post, and that is the General's eldest son, Mr. Bramwell Booth. "T have no bias (Mr. Nicol goes on to say) in favor of the role of the prophet, and therefore a.m not disposed to say that Mr, Bramwell Booth, is either the man that will 'rise to the occasion' or signalise the beginning of the end of a great cndea.vor. I simply say there is no man at present fit to .follow General Booth in the leadership of the Army. Some predict that the movement will begin to disappear from 'the stage of religious life from the very day that the grand old EvangelistGeneral passes away. I do not believe it." Coming as it does from one qualified to si]K>a,k with authority, this last admission will gratify supporters of the Army, and is sure to interest those who maintain that it is merely a one-man concern.

Writes a correspondent:—Members of school committees sometimes have very har<l nuts to orack, and the cut-off-the-nose-to-spito-the-faec" methods of parents who do not care, to take on. the onerous duties of the committee was the cause of an edifying conversation at a meeting of school committee delegates recently. It appears that a chairman of a certain committee hail a sum of money placed in his charge to he devoted to tire prize fund of the school. This money was raised partly hv subscription and partly the proceeds of concerts. In the meantime his absence from the district precluded his being returned to the committee and. naturally, the new committee asked for all monies to be banded to them when the gentleman returned. The request was refused unless' the wew committee signed a pledge of a description they rightly have no cause to sign . The consequences are that a 'householder holds something like Cl2 from the responsible parties, and. from what I can gather there seems to he no way out of the difficulty. What the Education Board is thinking about is a puzzle, for snrcly it is not right that tine, 'committee has to incur expense by law in a matter of this description. The question ot how the books 'have been kept by the previous committee and how they 'have passerl the aawlit is one that should bear Jookjing into, surely.

"Some men pray for a neck as long as Ja ■giraffe with a taste all the way down," said the Kev. It. >S. B. Hammond during the course of a lecture recently. The Borough Council has referred to its by-laws committee the matter of framing heavy traflic by-laws. In the ■ past the town/ clerk has n&ually managed' to collect heavy traflic fees by arrangement with the people conducting the trallie, but it is thought necessary ' to put the matter on a more (sultan- I tial basis. ▼

In the House of Commons one night last month a sum of £51,538,881 for carrying on the affairs of the country was voted in half an hour. A vote of £!),!)02,4O0 for the Navy and one of £15,181,000 for the Army were agreed to without division. In a little over an hour upwards of X (17.000,000 was voted without discussion.

The sale of the estate of the late Mr. George Death, of Whenuakura, was held at Hawera atv Saturday, the following being the prices realised:—Lot 1, 051 acres, occupied by Mr. A. E. Death, £23 per acre; purchased by Mr. J. Winks. Lot 2, 78 acres, occupied by Mr. A. E. Death, €+o per acre: Mr. J. Winks. Lot 3, 492 acres, occupied by Mr. T. Death, £27 per acre; Mr. .1. E. Death. Lot 4, 4fll acres, occupied by Mr. F. C. Death, £23 per acre; Mr.-R C. Death.