LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 172, 19 January 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The first war with the Maoris dates back some sixty-seven years, having begun on January 17, 1845. A black and white rabbit, which is exceedingly rare, was killed recently on a property near Masterton.

The heavy downpour 'of rain yesterday at midday was the reason for bowling and cricket matches being postponed. The East End seaside picnic, which was to have taken place yesterday, was postponed until next Thursday on account of wet weather.

The fortune-telling business must be booming in Auckland, An Auckland paper last week contained advertisements from nine of these pretenders jvho profit by the credulity of the public' According to the Wairarapa Age, Mr. W. Piatt, of Masterton, can indicate the presence of oil as well as water, and that he is offering his services to some Taranafei people to assist them in "striking oil."

People anxious to get an early choice of seats for "Hamlet" appeared at Collier's about midnight, so as to be there when the box plan opened at 8 a.m. At 9.30 all the dress circle seats were booked, and also eight additional rows in the stalls.

Mr. Alfred Seifert, the well-'known flax-miller (says the Manawatu Herald), has lodged an application for letters patent for an improved apparatus for sorting blades of flax, and another for gripping and conveying flax for scutching and the like purposes. A report on the Bendigo (Victoria) cemetery, reveals a shockingly insanitary state of affairs. Vaults full of water overflowed into a creek supplying residents with drinking water. Paupers' coffins were found within 16in of the surface, and so flimsy as to be unable to bear the weight of the covering of earth. The potato crops in North Canterbury districts are reported to be rotting in the ground, and though large areas have been sown with potatoes, it is not expected that farmers will realise more than sufficient to pay for the seed. The crops, in addition to suffering from the wet weather, are affected with blight. The Wanganui County Council is considering the matter of bringing the whole of the county roads under its own control by the abolition of the five road boards which hold subordinate jurisdiction under the Council. A conference of representatives of the Council and the road boards concerned will be held shortly to discuss the matter. A striking tribute to the value of press publicity was paid by Mr. C. L. Conacher, traffic manager of the Cambrian Railways, when he presided last month over the annual meeting of the Cambrian Resorts Association at Barmouth. "Newspaper advertising," he said, "affords the best medium for bringing claims before the general public. Advertising in the press is a sound, commercial investment. The public are impressed by its systematic, persistent appeal." The inevitable small boy in the county of Waitaki is at the present time deriving a thriving business in birds' eggs (states the North Otago Times). The clerk of the County Council is kept particularly busy on Saturday mornings receiving consignments varying in quantity from hundreds to thousands. These, together with birds' eggs, are paid for at the rate of 'ls 6d per hundred, or 15s per thousand, so that this work of despoilation is for the small boy -a fairly profitable one. '

We acknowledge receipt of a copy of the Dominion Year Book and 'Almanac from Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. This carefully compiled publication contains ■valuable information relating to business, shipping, finance, farming, municipal and Government legislation, and also includes statistics and tables, postal regulations and household information. Anything on which a man desires' knowledge pertaining to everyday life is to be found in this handy book, published at the moderate price of Is. Word has just been received in town that Mr. Herbert John Mynett (son of Mr. Mynott, of Vogeltown) was instrumental in saving a young man's life from drowning in Vancouver. The young man was out of his depth and had sunk for the third time, when "Jack" Mynott leaped into the icy-cold water and managed to hold him uptil a .boat came to the rescue. The rescued man afterwards presented Mr. Mynott with a dressing case for his plucky action. This is the second life "Jack' has saved from drownI*g.

Opotiki, for many years an outpost of British civilisation, manned by the Armed Constabulary, has now a cinematograph show each night. Tauranga, which used to be a fashionable centre .for balls and parties in the old Te Kooti fighting days, is about to follow suit with a permanent picture show. After the march through the Urewera Country it is related that Sir' George (then Colonel) Whitmore and his officers were invited to a ball in Tauranga, but the only costumes they could raise were the shawls (puckered in kilt fashion) which they had worn while chasing Te Kooti. They were permitted to enter the ballroom without dress suits on that occasion.

Everyone is aware, remarks the North Otago Times, that the Oamaru district is a "dry" one, although farmers this season may feel inclined to dispute the assertion. The drought we wish to refer to, however, has a direct application to the difficulty in obtaining ardent spirits. This difficulty was ingeniously overcome in the southern part of the district last week. An individual, whose visits to the Kakanui river could only have been for mixing" purposes, set out on a round of the neighborhood at night time, carrying the story with him that certain persons had been taken ill, and that only a drop of whisky would save their lives. He varied his story by giving the names oj several different persons. In this way. he gathered to .gether four or five bottles of whisky, and is now no doubt sitting behind a convenient hedge engaged in the congenial" occupation of making one long carouse out of his duplicity. He has, however, exhausted his method of relieving the drought that afflicts him.

Some years ago a tearful hero burst into Sotheby's aiul pleaded that his Victoria Cross should not be sold (says a London newspaper). Somehow or other it had left his possession, and, until the announcement of its sale, hr had completely lost traee of it. The chivalrous owner generously returned it to him. A pathetic stow of another kind was revealed a few weeks ago at the same rooms—an heroic tragedy of father and son. First came a little group of Crimean medals awarded to Farrier-Sergeant Atkinson ( it was an Atkinson who wrote up the Victory's lojr-book), and he was one 'of that little band who captured the Russian cannon from which the Victoria Cross is made. Tie lived to realise in grief and pride what he had done. For Fate_ willed it that at Paardeberg his heroic son—Sergeant A. Atkinson—o,f the Yorkshire Regiment, should win the Cross and die. By a merciful army regulation it was handed over to the old Farrier-Sergeant after his boy's death. The awards to father and son were not divided when sold by the order of Mrs. Margaret Atkinson, 'of Armley, and in the end a purchaser gave £7O for them.

'The year just ended is the first during the last -20 years in which a boat has not gone ashore." This was a paragraph from the report submitted by the pilot of the Patea Harbor Board at its last meeting.

Last year Mr. W. T. Wells bought i'.-i the large number of <iOO calves I'}'rough the Waimate Plains district at an average of "25.-, and he was able to dispose of them at from £3 to £4 a head.—Witness.

According to our wires the drought at Gisborne was broken yesterday. It looks as if we have had all the rain and wind on this side of the island. A more wet or more unseasonable, summer than this Taranaki has never experienced in the ken of living man. Mr. W. R. Lawson, the well-known financial expert, writing in the.Outlook on American trusts in British markets, says that the historical Smithfield is rapidly becoming a foreign outpost of the Chicago packers. These monopolists buy out the English salesmen one after the other, and bring their shops into the trust. "As soon as they hear of, one retiring they are after him with tempting bids for his goodwill. As much as £ 15,000 has been paid for the goodwill of a single shop." Though the trust has been only a few years at work in Smithfield, it has, Mr. Lawson asserts, already got the lion's share of the business. The cables yesterday stated that Mr. Oscar Hammerstein had intimated that unless opera lovers subscribe more generously to boxes and stalls it would be impossible to continue his London Opera House, which cost £350,000. Mr. Hammerstein, formerly director of the Metropolitan Opera Housg, New York, completed the erection of a splendid new Opera House in Kingsway, London, some three or four months ago, with the idea of producing grand opera on a sqale hitherto unknown in London. He is evidently finding that it takes a deal of money to run grand opera, even in London. Grand opera seldom pays. It never does in New York, where it is backed by millionaires, and in France, Italy and Germany it has to be heavily subsidised by the State.—Dominion. There has, says the Hawera Star, been considerable comment locally among theatregoers at. Hawera being omitted from the itinerary of the Henry Irving Shakespearian Company, while Eltham is included. On making enquiries from Mr. A. M. Conroy, it was ascertained that J. C. Williamson, Ltd., had pencilled in January 22 as the date on which Mr. Irving should appear at the Hawera Opera House. This arrangement was subsequently cancelled, Mr. Conroy stating that he was not at liberty to give the Teason. Subsequently he offered the management a substantial guarantee to play here, but without success. On pursuing enquiries in other directions the information was gleaned that the reason for the company passing by Hawera was some little difference regarding hotel accommodation.