LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 188, 15 January 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Government have placed on the Estimates a sum of £IOOO for the purpose of erecting an old men's home in Marlborough, the institution to be under the joint control of the Wairau and Picton Hospital Boards. Canon Maud, who was one of the band of Anglican misisoners who visited New Zealand last year, and who was offered the Bishopric of Auckland, but was unable to leave London, was to have been consecrated .Bishop of Kensington in St. Paul's Cathedral a few days after Christmat.

The small bird is said to be levying heavy toll on the crops in various parts of the Dominion just now. A report from Mastorton states that the birds are working devastation in some of the oat crops in the district. The sparrow is said to be proving particularly destructive.

At a certain lime in the year there is a weird natural phenomenon which takes place in Egypt. The sun goes down and darkness comes very suddenly, continuing for a space of twenty minutes or half an hour. Then, with equal suddenness, there is a change, the hills and sands take 011 a marked paleness, and in another moment everything begins to brighten, and it appears as if the sun were about to rise out of the west.

The Voice of Labor contains the following significant paragraph:—'The success achieved at the polls by the ReformLabor alliance in the north, as contrasted with the Liberal-Labor alliance in the south, not only bears eloquent testimony to the soundness of the Voice's political policy, but is pregnant with deep meaning to the whole of those who are interested in seeing Labor secure adequate and independent representation in our national legislature."

An interesting report, furnishing striking evidence of the progress of Auckland city, was presented by the city valuer (Mr. E. Hickling) to the town clerk (Mr. 11. W. Wilson) last week. The report is based upon the valuation list for 1912-13, which has just been compiled, and shows that the capital value oi the. city (comprising land and improvements) for the present year will be advanced by £1,404,560, giving an increase in rateable value of £70,2-28.

Most readers have heard of the remarkable learning tower of Pisa, a province of Italy, built entirely of marble, and nearly 200 feet in height. It took nearly two hundred years to build. It was almost a century ago that it began to lean through a portion of tlie foundations giving way. A recent English paper says it is quite safe, and the bells in it are still rung as heretofore. Measures have, however, been taken to detect and register any further tendency to tilt over. It is quite evident that it cannot defy for ever the definitions of euclid and the deductions of Sir Isaac Newton.

•It will be remembered that a short time ago an accident was narrowly averted by two fishermen, who left the beach in a launch on a fishing expedition, on account of the engine refusing to work. It was understood that in future the Customs officials were to see future fishermen were to be forced to carry sails, so that in case of any mishap to the engines these could be utilised. Apparently this has not been done, as last week two launches were seen drifting about in mid ocean off Waitara, waiting for someone to tow them in. This kind of thing might lead to a disaster if no steps are taken in the directions mentioned.

We might remark, says the Opunake Times, that there is a growing feeling of interest in the country in the movements of the Opunake harbor and the authorisations under the Harbor Bill. The interest, which has been brought into the conversational stage on account of the heavy and congested traffic up and down the Main South road, and relief is expected to come from Opunaike, besides a big saving in the cost of haulage. Whether this interest will be quickened into activity depends to a large extent upon the settlers themselves. When their interest is moulded for cheapening their own imports and exports assured success will follow closely on initiatory efforts.

Surfacemen of the Parihaka Road Board who were working in a pit on the Waituka road received a rude shock the other morning. As usual, they turned their horses to graze on the long paddock, and on searching at 5 p.m. could see no trace of them, for the very sufficient reason that they had been driven to pound by a person who is, it is stated, not even a ratepayer. At all events the men had to walk four miles to Opunake carrying their saddljs, and it would have fared ill with the individual had they met him. At the Road Board meeting the matter was reported, and the Board decided to obtain legal advice as to whether the perse* could legally the animals. Mr, A. Caselberg, of Afasterton, who has returned from a lengthy trip to England and the Continent, stated to a Wairarapa Times reporter that from a rural point of view England was the finest country in the world. He had travelled through a very large area of the grain-growing districts, and had found the crops well grown. The methods of cultivation, however, were/

years behind those of New Zealand.

The properties were of small area, subdivided by hedges. The past summer was one of the hottest ever known in

England. In the manufacturing centres water was very scarce, and works had in consequence to be closed down. In and about Bradford—the great woollen district—there was such a shortage of water that the supply was cut off at 6 o'clock each day for some weeks. A strange tragedy took place at Lake Colas, Victoria, last week. Nicholas King returned home under the influence of drink. Becoming demented, he seized a tomahawk and attacked his daughter, Daisy, who struggled with him and eventually succeeded in escaping, screaming and bleeding profusely, from the house. What occurred subsequently in the house is somewhat of a mystery. It is thought that King became calmer after a while, aijd concluded that Daisy's wounds had proved fatal. With this in his mind he resolved to commit suicide. The younger children who were in the house state that "daddy kissed us and went away." In the meantime Daisy informed the neighbors of what occurred, and with Constable Downer they commenced a search for King, whose body was found hauging by a wire in a plantation. Miss King's injuries are not considered to be serious.

A story which tends to support a widely prevalent suspicion among the general public that surgeons are "sometimes too handy with the knife," is reported from Paris (says the London correspondent of the Melbourne Age). A railway employee entered one of the principal hospitals there suffering from disease in the right arm. An operation was declared to be necessary. The report states that it was duly performed by one of the hospital surgeons, but on recovering from the anaesthetics the patient discovered to his stupefaction that the left arm, instead of the right, had been operated upon. There was nothing to be done but to submit to another operation. This time no mistake was

made, but because the victim made a

complaint about the "mishap" he was released from the hospital, although he was told that his arm was not healed, and that it would require to be operated on again. The unfortunate patient is

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A zoological garden is about to be established at Dunedin.

During the last two months the Ashburtou County Council has puidused' 400,860 birds' eggs.

At Waitara there are over two thoubales of wool ready to bo put on bu:* :~d the Morayshire. Over four hundred people recorded their names in the visitors' book at "Aotea" during the past week. It is estimated that over £IOO,OOO in dividends on dredging shares has come to Masterton during the last ten or twelve vcars.

As instancing the number of visitors in New Plymouth at present, the hotels and boarding-houses arc full every night, and when people make application they cannot get a room until the books are examined to see who is leaving by train or steamer.

Important developments in connection with the use of oil-fuel by the Admiralty are foreshadowed by a well-founded report that naval experts have under consideration the establishment of a great oil fuel depot at Port Edgar, situated on the Firth of Forth, about a mile to the west of South Queensferry. The Bay of Plenty farmers are going in largely for dairying. One shipment from Tauranga to Auckland recently included 410 cases from Te Puke factory, 144 from Tauranga factory, and 42 from Matara factory. The direcV. trade with Wellington, that was talked of a few years ago, has not yet come to pass.

The Prisons Board is at present meeting in New Plymouth, their duty being to consider cases of habitual criminals in the local gaol. These men are ..given an opportunity of explaining their cases to members of the Board, which consists of: Sir Robert Stout (president), Mr. Waldegrave (Under-Secretary for Justice), Dr. Hay (Inspector of Prisons), and Messrs. F. C. Ewington (Auckland, J. B. Blair (Wellington), William Reece (Christchurch), G. Fenwick (Dunedin), with Mr. J. L. A. Kyle as secretary.

There are a number of Maoris amongst the employees of Wirth Bros.' circus, and Mr. G. Wirth gives them fine characters as workers. He is emphatic in his •denial of the popular belief that Maoris are lazy; his men he finds have been mot loyal to him, and have ofen gone ahead with their duties in weather which has made tho white workers knock off. Many of the Maoris, he says, join the circus for a round trip only, but very often they have yielded to the desire to live in bigger places than the Dominion holds, and have settled on the other side.

At the annual meeting of the Court Pride of New Plymouth, A.0.F., held last week, the District Treasurer (Bro. H, R. Cattley) and District Secretary (Bro. C. Tunbridge) paid a visit to the Court, and conducted the ceremony of installing the newly-elected officers as follows: C.R., Sister Jessie Kibby; S.C.R., Sister A. Gleeson; treasurer, Sister E. Russell (re-elected); secretary, Sister A. M. ■Furlong (re-elected); S.W., Sister M. Freethy; J.W., Sister D. Reilly; 5.8.. Sister D. Tunbridge; J. 8., Sister Yensen; delegate, Sister Ivy Kivell; auditors, Sisters L. Tunbridge, A. Gleeson and M. Freethy. The Court was complimented on its financial position, the funds amounting to over £7OO. There is a membership of 132. Yesterday afternoon was perfect for the large number of people who attended "Aoatea" to listen to the selections given by the Garrison Band. The property, the use of which was kindly given by Messrs. Sole, is an ideal spot, and visitors had the opportunity of roaming amidst the ferns, threes,, shrubs and flowers. The tracks are all in good order, and being sheltered from sun and wind, and with music floating in the air, the outing was delightful. A collection was taken up in aid of the funds of the Band. This institution is a very deserving one, and as it is impossible for it to be a credit to the town without financial assistance, it behoves those who are interested in music to give -as liberally as possible whenever occasion offers. It had been suggested that the Band have a Subscription Saturday for collecting funds, the same as is in vogue in other places, a suggestion which could be acted on with advantage. Messrs. Reynolds & Co.'s window has been a centre of attraction for the past two days, there being on view a model of a Maori pah. Te Work, which is original and unique, was done by Mrs. W. Davy, of Mangorei, and exhibits the habits of the Maori in various phases of life. The Maori is shown up to date, wharepuni and all. Models of figures represent three generations—the pickaninny (child), the lovers of amorous tendency, and the warrior and wahine, displaying the dignity for which they are noted, and look very realistic. In a natural scene is a wahine, who, either from curiosity or jealousy, is constantly raising herself and obscuring what is going on by the lovers, and then retires behind, the rocks to conjecture over what she has seen. This scene is ingeniously worked ))y hidden mechanism. The cow is shown, milked by a member of the tribe, and there are also other pets of the whare. The production is clever, reflecting patience and and is well worth anyone's while to see. This sterling piece of work is to be sent to England for exhibition, and will only be on view for a few days.