LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 105, 24 October 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The population of Vancouver is now 115.000, an increase of no less than !M),IM)I) in the past ten years. In 1887 the population was only 2000. In a quarter of a century Vancouver lias passed through the various stages from a mere village to a city of the front rank. A knowing Italian professor recently paid ,t!2 for some fragments of a statue found in a hack shop in Florence. lie has now stuck the pieces together and disposed of the lot for £,">000. The statue, it seems, represents Omphale, the mythical Lydian Queen, who ensnared Hercules. Somewhat superfluously it is explained to be a statue of marvellous beauty.

With a view to settling motor-tyn. troubles, a gentleman (says the l<'eildiiig Star) has been working at an invention 1 which he expects will'entirely do away with punctures and their attendant delays. The new idea is a very simple one, ami consists of a cork interior to the outer cover wrapped in canvas. It is claimed that the cork will have sufficient resiliency to preserve the cushion pro perties of the tyre.

Queen Alexandra lias kept all the letters of sympathy sent to her on King Edward's death." They have all been classified and bound into a volume with a cover of red calf. The letters range from those of royalties and her Majesty's most intimate friends to others from quite poor people, subjects of King Edward, who spontaneously wrote their sympathy to the Queen. There are, too, several from children, and. all cvidentlv are highly prized by Queen Alexandra. '

Two remarkable disciples of the oocnair life have been living for the past fourteen years in a chalk .pit a few miles from Barham Station, East Kent. They are Molly, aged eighty, and Billy, aged «0, mother and son. They live there from choice; they will not have a roof a'bove their heads. Some time ago a friend presented them with a hut, thinking they would appreciate it. They slept in it for one night. The next niorning they set lire to it, declaring that it was '•too study a place to sleep in."

There is considerable and increased unrest in labor circles here, wires the Wellington, correspondent of tbe Napier Herald. Tbe laying up of the smaller coastal fleet of 30 vessels is already causing inconvenience along the coast, and there are some fears that the demands of the seamen, which will have to be considered soon, may precipitate further trouble next month. Some of the leading merchants are now laying in large stocks in case of emergency. A prominent labor leader is my authority for stating that there is every probability that a strike will originate* in Auckland early in the year with a section of the transport workers.

The weekly session of the Egmont Lodge, Xo. 112, 1.0. G.T., was held in the Good Templar Hall on Monday night. The C.T.. Bro. J. Salt, presided over a good attendance. A friend was proposed for initiation, and two wore 1 initiated. Bro. Canuicbael, from tbe Rescue Lodge, Duncdin, spoke a few words in appreciation of the welcome extended to him. Sis. Grimly was present, and also spoke a few words. She reported that a meeting would be held at Westown on Friday evening. Professor Mills will hold a meeting in the Good. Templar Hall on Monday week. The .District Deputy. Bro. J. C. Le»g, visited the Lodge and gave a good "report on Good Tcniplary.

Father Bernard Vaughan, in opening a sale of work at Kastbourne, Kngland, said that he was proud to think that we had on the throne to-day a King and Queen pre-eminently fitted to be an example to us. King George and Queen Mary were doing a gTeat and good work fur the Umpire ''by the lives they lived, by the domestic, social and religious life which they set up before the people. He noticed that they went nowhere without having some fund ion in which they showed the people their recognition of God. They went nowhere without taking their children. Instead of having lapdogs up their sleeves (laughter) thev had their children. That was a grand lesson. The lives of the King and Queen were consecrated to dutv.

Mr. T. L. Buiek, of Dannevirke. who is now en route to the Dominion from Knglaud. published some years ago two books entitled "Old Marlborough" and "Old Manawatu" respectively. For it considerable time prior to leaving for the Old Country Mr. Buiek had been engaged in writing a volume dealing with the life of Te Bauparaha. the noted N'gatitoa fighting chief, who was such a force on the West Coast of the.Xorth Island away back in the middle of last centurv. The publication of this work was the chief reason for Mr. Buick's visit to England, so as to secure, if possible, a wider range of readers than would be possible were the publication to take place in the Dominion. Mr. Buick has been successful in his mission, and the work is to be ready for issue this month.

One tiling that all dairy companies* should recognise, says Mr. I{. Ellison, is that there is almost a certaintv of the home separator system coming into vogue in New Zealand. Alreadv all the country north of Auckland is worked on that plan, and it has also so t a very strong hold south of Auckland i u the Waikato, and is graduallv «ettiii"' a hold in most other districts. Mr. Ellison says that, generally -speaking, the effect of this system will be to lower the quality of New Zealand butter. From his point of view he thinks that some control should be exercised over the delivery of the cream, so that the quality could in some measure be safeguarded. 'Otherwise withm a very few years the high reputation at present enjoved by Xew Zealand butter will rapidly fall down to the level of Australian, the bulk of which is made from home-gathered cream.

For several years past, the standard (if the illustrating art in tin- Dominion has been set by '-New Zealand Illustrated." the Christmas Annual of "The Weekly Press." This year's issue has placed it higher than ever. Xew Zealand boasts the most beautiful and most varied scenery in the world, and in "Xew Zealand Illustrated" we have placed before us magnificent views of bush, river, beach and mountain, from all parts of the Dominion, making this Annual one of the finest Christmas presents which the colonist can send to bis friends in the Old Land. Living as we do in a sea-girt, country, the Xew Zealamler may almost, be said to have the sail of the sea in his veins, and Ins blood will be stirred when be turns to the expansive sea pieces, the racing yachts, and the majestic vessels which form a special feature of the book, New ground has been broken in devoting considerable space to the sports of the people, which the Xew Zeahinder, who is second to none in all kinds of manly sport, will welcome. The children, are. always prominent in " The Weekly Press" Christmas Number, providing many pleasing subjects themselves, and having others provided for their special delectation. Tn this issue liberal space is devoted to photographs of Tlappy Childhood, and to animal pic)nres, which will bring many happy hours to the little ones when they turn over the pages. We anticipate there will he a rapid and heavy demand for this annual.

A well-known Sydney architect estimate that it costs 33 per cent, more lo build a cottage to-day than it did six years .i«u. The increased cost of labor accounts for i 5 per cent. Mis* Anderson Hughes, in the course of a lecture on "Egypt, and Palestine," in Diinedin lately, said she was often asked if the Jew-, are going back to I'alesUne. Her reply was that they were going back in thousands and ten's of thousands. Twelve years ago the Sultan/ fearing this movement, would not allow more than St-OI) Jews to live in Jerusalem, but now the Young Turks were in power, and they were rather sympathetic than otherwise to the Zionist movement. Already there were from li.), 000 to 7.-»,0(l() .lews in Jerusalem, and they formed more than half of the population. The Turkish military system however, which compelled all young men over 21 to serve years in 'the army, caused all the young Jews to leave the country before thev reached that a»e Another hindrance to the Zionist movement was the Jaw forbidding any but Turkish subjects to hold land in Palestine. As no devout Jew would consent to become a Turkish subject, they had to lie content to live there as tenants.

In speaking at the opening of the Anglican Synod at Auckland last week, liishop Crossley said the curse of colonial' Me. as he had observed it, was suspicion. Had Christians not suspected one another they should have had In all Australasia facilities for Christian teaching long ago. He believed they were coming to a better and more generous state of mind. The church of the province had approved of the. principle of what was known as the New South Wales system. It was working admirably in at least the half of Australia. Tie confessed that he still needed a little conviction to satisfy him that it was right or wise to impress upon a headmaster, who may be a conscientious unbeliever, the duty of teaching the Bible even as a literary handbook. He would wish in this respect to give a conscience clause to teachers. It would be availed of, he was satisfied, by 'few teachers. It would, however, satisfy the claim of fairness all round. The provision of a handbook would be a difficulty, but it had been done well elsewhere, and whv not here ? .Would they be prepared to'allow the Roman Catholics to have a handbook for their children in the. Douay version? They had made a stand, at much cost to 'themselves, for the principle of religious education, and if this should in anv way clear the ground for them to fall in line he would give it his support. He appealed to all other Christians to applv those verified experiments to the schools of New Zealand. "1 am confident that it would win approval, elevate school life, and he free from the remotest suspicion of ,proselytism."