LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 185, 3 February 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A number of Masterton settlers who consigned their sheep last year to the London market are selling straight-out to the freezing companies this season. The first mushroom of the season m New Plymouth was gathered in Messrs. Smart Bros.' backyard yesterday morning. It was a splendid specimen, measuring six inches in diameter. The latest departmental returns show that there are '5967 co-operative workers in the service of the Public Works Department', 3216 on> railway construction, 198 on buildings, 28 on development of water, power, and 2525 on roads. In. a- recent issue we stated in a local that up to a shilling had been offered for wool in the country districts. The item was culled from a southern exchange, and, of course, referred to southern conditions, which are this year entirely different to conditions in Taranaki.

A meeting of the Equitable Building Society was held in the Town Hall last evening, Mr. S. W. Shaw in the chair. The ballot for £3OO in No. 1 group was drawn by Mr. G. Eampton, and in No. 2 group by Col. Ellis; £3OO in No. 1 group was sold by tender for £4O, and in No. 2 group for £6O.

A resident of Macraes (Otago) recently purchased from a travelling circus a bird known as an Australian crane. He installed the stranger in his poultry yard, with the result that his fowls and ducks, and also those of the neighbors, stampeded. Up to the present very few of the birds have ventured back to their

roosts, and the owners are demanding the instant execution of the queer-look-ing specimen of the feathered race.

To judge from the number of shooting men with abrasions on their noses at the Waiwaikaiho range yesterday the uninitiated would think that the championship belt and teams match were decided by fisticuffs. Such, however, was not the case. All the competitors use the new B.S.A. aperture sight, and they get the sight right up to their nasal organ so as to get a better shot. The recoil of the gun gives the competitor a knock, and this happening, say, 40 times a day, soon removes any superfluous epidermis.

By means of an ingenious trick a

London thief obtained sufficient pairs of expensive boots to set him up in footwear for some time. The manager of the Sloane street branch of the London Shoe Company recently received an order to send a number of their most expensive boots on approval to the address of a well-known doctor. To be on the safe side he sent a parcel of seven right boots to the address. Shortly after they had been delivered a stranger called at the doctor's, and on the plea that "a mistake had been made," went off with the goods. The mystery of what use could be made of the odd boots was shortly cleared up. Very soon afterwards a message came to the New Bond street branch of the same lirm ordering footwear on approval of an unusual customer. His right foot, he wrote, was deformed, and he only needed ''lefts." A parcel of left boots was immediately despatched, and it was only when the. managers of the, two branches compared notes that they found they had'lost many complete pairs of their best boots.'

The services at the Whitcley Memorial Church to-morrow will bo conducted by the Rev. J. W. Burton. At the morning service tly? ..message from the Ecumenical Conference/hJß]d''at Toronto will be read, and in the evening Mr. Burton will preach upon "The vastness of our possessions."

A sitting of the Native Land Court is being held in New Plymouth, Judge Eawßon .presiding.

Yesterday morning* a couple of traps came into collision in Patea, one of the horses being penetrated by a shaft and killed almost instantaneously. The occu-

pants of the traps were unhurt. It is not generally known that a durable wood for fencing posts can be obtained by steeping pinus insignis in coal tar. The tar is used cold, and the timber is steeped in it for a fortnight, and becomes thoroughly impregnated. It has been found that the posts will last in the ground for years.

Berlin, the city which never sleeps, haß long since outdistanced all its European rivals as a city of night life. In addition to its sports of all kinds, its all-night cafes, daybreak restaurants and theatres, which open, their doors only at midnight, Berlin has now a magnificent bathing establishment which is open every hour vi the twenty-four.

"The eyes of the world are on us," said an Aucklander, solemnly on a recent momentous occasion. "Don't ever let that idea possess you," returned a travelled townsman cruelly. "I was in England for two years, and the only time I heard New Zealand mentioned was when a man told me that he'd shipped his scapegrace son out there to shoot a few tigers and come to his senses."

At the fortnightly meeting of the Hawera Fire Brigade, held on Wednesday evening, a letter was received from the New Plymouth Brigade with reference to the formation of a Fire Brigades Association for TaranakL It was resolved to support the proposal and to ask New Plymouth to convene a meeting of delegates from the. various brigades •to further consider the suggestion. In the more inaccessible parts of the Sierra Madre Mountains, in Northern Mexico, live a curious people, called the Tarahaumaris. They dwell in caves and in small villages about 8000 ft .above the level of the sea. They are small in body but possess much endurance. Their only food is maize, and they manufacture a drink called teshuin from the same cereal. Their language is limited to about SOO I words, and they cannot count beyond 10. At the Police Court ,'at Manaia on.

Wednesday, Mrs. Bashford, the wife of a local hotelkeeper, was charged with assaulting Arthur. H. Parkinson, on election night, December Bth; The evidence went to show that plaintiff stuck a pin into plaintiff. His Worship held that the case was proved, but said it was a pity it was ever brought. He was satisfied the case was one he was justified in treating as trivial, and he therefore dismissed it. One guinea, Counsel's fee, was allowed prosecutor, otherwise each party paid their own costs. The old whaling trypot which was "unearthed" by a News reporter at Moturoa this week has been offered to the local Carnegie Institute as a donation by Mr. W. J. Honeyfield. The vessel is supposed to have belonged to Dicky Barrett's ship, and it must have been in use prior to 1842. Another one' is said to be in the Bell Block district. Barrett's diminutive cannon nowadays commands a position 'on the hill behind the band rotunda in the Recreation Grounds. The grave of the ancient whaler is located at Moturoa.

While a young man employed by a Pahiatua farmer was returning from the factory a day or two ago he got down from his cart to pick up his cap, which had blown off. In getting back into the cart his foot slipped off the step and he fell under the wheel. Something startled the horse, which set off at a good pace, causing the wheel tp pass over the whole' side of the lad's body. The weight of the milk was somewhere about 14001b, but the wheel just missed the young man's head, and except for a very considerable bruising no apparent injury was sustained, and he was afterwards able to drive'home.

Inquiries made in New South Wales by a detective from America have resulted in four persons resident in New South Wales, all in rather humble circumstances, being informed that they have become joint inheritors of about £30,000. A few months ago the dead body of a man named Alan Cunningham was found in his room in a lodging-house in the poorer portion of San Francisco. Although it had been believed that Cunningham was a pauper, and obliged to lead a very narrow existence, a search by the police showed that he had been possessed of large sum of money in- banks, and also held mortgages over very valuable property. Inquiries for next of kin resulted in an Australian due being obtained. This was followed up successfully by a detective, who found at Kaymond Terrace two brothers, Patrick and Michael Cunningham, and two sisters, Mrs. Wills, of Berry Park, near Raymond terrace, and Mrs Katherine Kane, of Surrey Hills, Sydney. Mr P. A. Stringfellow, of Lithgow, New South Wales, had an exciting experience on the 10th inst. On the previous day his stock, and furniture had been sold at auction, and Stringfellow was sleeping on the premises for the last time. About half-past one he heard footsteps approaching the side door, and he slipped into the shop. Thje intruder !.came in. and made a rush for the bed, as if to overpower anyone upon it. Stringfellow, seizing a rifle from the shop counter, knocked the man down twice, and then secured' a revolver. Armed with this he made the visitor hold up his hands. The man was dressed in clothes which were almost rags, while he did.not have anything in his pockets. Mr Stringfellow now found himself in a difficulty. Owing to the suddenness of the alarm he had not been able to put on his clothes, and was cla-d only in his shirt, so he marched the man into the street, and whistled for assistance. There was nobody about, and as it was impossible for Stringfellow in his scanty garb to take the man to the police station, he adopted the alternative of hitting him full in the face with his revolver, held in the palm of his hand. The man fell, and then rose and ran for his life. The police were informed, but so far no arrest has been made. Stringfellow says the man certainly bears on his face the marks of the encounter.

BOYS' SCHOOL APPAREL AT THE MELBOURNE. The parent, guardian or schoolboy who wishes to be sure he is not paying too much for his outfit must shop at the Melbourne. There is nothing else for it. A selling supremacy that has survived the last fifteen years will be maintained stronger than ever throughout the yeai\ Prices like the following simply stagger opposition. Boys' braces 3d, boys' celluloid collars with metal buttonholes 6d, boys' heavy cashmere stockings with double knees Is Od pair, boys famous "Viwear" hose Is !)d to 2s fid, boys' black stockings with turnover tops (diamond pattern) 2s Od to 3s (Id. boys' tennis shirts 2s lid, boys' Varsity suits 7s lid, 8s 6d to lis Od; boys' caps, Is; boys' knickers, all-wool and well made, 2s lid to 5s lid; pure all-wool saddle tweed knickers, 4s lid to fis lid. very fine value; boys' Kaiapoi Norfolk suits, 13s 3d to 17s 6d; boys' natty dark green Petone suits, 14s fid to 18s 6d; boys' superior grey tweed suits. IVtono make, 15s Od to 21s; boys' striped tweed and worsted continuation knicker suits, 22s Cd to 29s 6d; boys' flannels, 2s lid; boys' fine woven singlets, Is lid to 2s lid; boys' oilskins. 8s (id; boys' chrome school boots, sizes 1 to 5, 8s lid; boys' kip shooters, sizes 1 to 5, 7s 3d; boys' chrome school boots, sizes 10 to 13, 6s lid. Every line advertised thoroughly dependable and guaranteed to give good service.— Advt.