LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 190, 9 February 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tke Commonwealth Meteorologist Bureau claims that 89 per cent, of its forecasts for 1911 were correct. The' Prohibition party of New South Wales has decided to introduce a common {fighting platform, aiming at the prohibition of liquor traffic by majority Tote throughout the Commonwealth. A Kaiapoi lad, aged 16, probably heads the list of best attenders at school,.having a record for full marks for attendance for eleven years. .Since he was five years of age he has walked to and from school three miles daily. A man, aged about 36, giving his name as Edward Saunders, was arrested at the Hawe"ra racecourse on Wednesday on a charge of picking pockets. Accused was brought before Mr. Kenrick, S.M., yesterday morning, and at the request of the police, was remanded for one week. Accused was unable to find bail, and was l taken to New Plymouth. He says he is a dentist, "residing in Wellington. The police are making inquiries about him, says the Star. During his reoent visit to the Marlborough district, Dr. L. Cockayne rediscovered a native plant, which was found only once previously, 60 years ago. The plant is Helichrysum Sinclairie, named in honor of the original discoverer, Captain Sinclair, R.N., who was drowned in the Raagitata river. Dr. Cockayne found it growing on rocks on the Langridge station, in the Upper Awatere, at a height of about 3000 ft. It has "everlasting" flowers, and some day it may be an important garden plant. Apparently more trouble awaits employers. This time it comes from Greymouth. At the recent waterside workers' conference held in Wellington the Greymouth men were not represented. Word was received in Wellington yesterday to the effect that proposals had been drawn up by the Greymouth waterside workers, and these have been submitted to the employers. The men are now seeking a conference, and it is stated that if they do not receive an answer to their demands by to-morrow a strike may take place at the port of Greymouth. We were handed yesterday some of the finest samples of peaches we have* seen. They were grown by Mr. Sandford, of Vogeltown. One measured 9y 2 inches in circumference, and two others 8% inches, whilst the combined weight was 18 ounces, an average of six ounces apiece. They are the equal of the best Parra matta. peaches, in taste as in size, and show that when the growing of fruit is understood Taranaki aan do as well as other parts, and quite as well as it used to in "the good old days," when a sackful x>f peaehes could be bought for a shilling.

A creamery has recently been opened in Coromandel, and the farmers within easy reach of it cart their own cream, but the majority of them live a long distance away (writes a New Plymouth resident who is at present tripping in the north). A launch makes two'or three trips a week, ealling at the various bays for the cream, and it is then taken to the «reamery, a distance of half a mile from the wharf. Although the cream is kept for several days, all the sourness is taken out of it, and the manager so far has not made any second-grade butter. There are about 30 suppliers, with between 350 and 400 cows.

In the Native Land Court, sitting in New Plymouth, on Tuesday, his Honor Judge Rawson granted a succession order to Hapahuhu Tohotaua for 80 acres in the Ngatitupaea block, near Haw-era. An order was originally made in 1901 to Tairoma and others, hut the Native Land >Court in September last granted special leave to Hapahuhu to appeal against this order to the Appellate Court, and at the sitting of the Appellate Court in November last an order was made cancelling the original order to Tairoma and others and granting leave to Hapahuhu to apply for a succession order to himself, the result of which application is the granting of this present order in his favor. Mr? A. R. Standish (Messrs Standish and Standish) conducted the eases throughout on behalf of Hapahuhu.

The Municipal Baths will be open to ladies for night swimming between the hours of 7 and fl this evening.—-Advt.

No dairyman or farmer can afford to he wthout a copy of Sykes' Journal for 1011. It is compiled in a very interesting manner, and in addition to its great utility on the farm has much information that may prove valuable. Tables for recording each day's milking for the year are given, also memoranda of stock purchased and sold, breeding table, herd register, seed sowing table, etc. In fact the Journal is full of information that every dairyman must know to be successful. Copies can be obtained on application.—Advt.

Speaking at a cricket function last night Mr. Walter Matthews remarked that Inglewood held the record of havinc the most "old men eleven" in Tar.uiaki, if not in New Zealand. He instanced how the other day the combined ages of two of its members batting together was over 95 years.

As the result of a rough and tumble recently on the Waiwaikaiho bridge between an irate driver and a bridge contractor, the former party appeared in the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday in answer to a charge of assault. Defendant, who admitted having struck tha contractor on the spur of the moment, was penalised to the extent of 10s and costs.

The New Zealand Trade Review has the following in its money market column: Tho banking returns disclose a particularly heavy growth in advances, resulting in a reduction of £2,669,802 in the excess of deposits over advances, which means a decreased supply of money available, and probacy a firmer tone in lending rates. Ample funds are, however, held outside the Dominion by some of the banks, so that ,no stringency is to be anticipated.

Forty years ago, when the NapierWoodville line approached Te Aute, a great lighting chief sallied out in full war panoply to stop the first engine that came his way. He got .the shock of his life when he saw the iron monster approaching, and swiftly recognised the hopelessness of the position. To-day his grandchildren use the railroad as the most natural thing in the world, and even drive motor cars about the streets of Napier and Hastings-. v A most unusual occurrence took .place in a rural district in Southland; when a chop of some 300 acres of oats and wheat on some shingly land was completely shrivelled up iby the hot nor'-wester which was experienced throughout the whole of (Southland.' The crop, 'which' was an average one, being on light land, appeared to be affected by the dry weather which and the scorching wind put the finishing touches to what promised to be a fair-yielding crop. In addition to a widely voiced complaint about the need for better grounds, several speakers v (including Mr. J. McLeod) at the North Taranaki Cricket Association's function last night dwelt upon the necessity of paying more attention to the fostering of the game among the young players of New Plymouth, particularly at the public schools. Mr. McLeod instanced how at Dunedin Association football had made wonderful progress on thie account. Another matter of interest to cricketers was broached by Mr. Avery, who contended that at the end of the season it was only reasonable that footballers should hold a benefit match in order to put the Recreation Ground in the same condition in which it was handed over to their tender mercies.

"Without doubt, golf ia tie finest game there is," remarked Mr. W. Bewley at a gathering of cricketers last evening. "It brings out," he added, "more food qualities than any other game, 'ou have to trust to a man's honor that he does not cheat. In golf, unless you trust a man he can't play, or should not. It is also a game requiring a very great amount of skill. . . . It is a sociable game, and at the same- time it is, fishing excepted—and fishing is hardly a game in.the true sense of the word—the only game you can play by yourself. Golf is a game you can take up at any age, It has* been the salvation of many elderly men. It is going to be the most universally played game in the world. The only difficulty is that it is rather expensive, and that it is difficult to obtain suitable grounds." Subscriptions to the Tisch Memorial Avenue totalled £llO, and the present scheme is to put a carriage drive from Weymouth street to right round the band rotunda, circling it and coming back, thus forming a loop. Below the drive and above the baths the ground will be cleared, levelled and planted for picnicking. The Mayor (Mr. G. W. Browne) told a News reporter yesterday that the drive will be eventually carried right through Kaiwaroa Park, and that then it would be necessary to approach the Railway Department before a strip of land sufficiently wide could be obtained to continue the drive to its ultimate destination—Moturoa. The Mayor j will interview the Taranaki Land Board at its next meeting and make application to have Kaiwaroa Park vested in the borough. Opportunity will be taken to visit the place during the course of the board's meeting. Formerly the land belonged to the now defunct School Commissioners, and subsequently it was placed under the control of the board. A romance of New York mission work culminated recently in the novel spectacle of a wealthy and beautiful lady giving her hand in marriage to a burly denizen of the Bowery slum quarter, whom her missionary zeal has converted to a life of Christian industry. The wedding was solemnised in the Hadley Rescue Hall amid a chorus of prayers and fervent ejaculations from a congregation of rough human derelicts, to whom the bride had ministered consolation. It is a little more than six months ago since Miss Anna Butler, leaving her magnificent home at PittsfieM, one. morning at the Rescue Hall in the Bowery, and informed the superintendent, Mr. John Callahan, that she wished to be enrolled among the settlement workers. She speedily made friends among the None was too low for her, none too confirmed a backslider for her words of cheer and encouragement; but her attention from the first was specially directed to Charles Kronenberg, a giant ne'er-do-well, whom his fellow unfortunates nick-named "Sunny Jim." In his hours of leisure she was constantly at his side exhorting him to repentance. Kronenberg, the settlement workers are all convinced, is now a permanently reformed man. He says the one ambition of his life is to assist his wife in her missionary work and show by deeds his gratitude for the happiness he has undeservedly won.

MORE MELBOURNE SUIT TALK. The majority of men desire to get as much for their money as tkey possibly can. That is the basis upon which sensible people plan their expenditure. They have to, because it is easier to spend money in this day of "high cost of living" than to earn it. You have probably decided in your own mind that you ought to get a good suit at a reasonable figure without the "frills" that are supposed to give "class," and that you are in the throes of weeding out the different "makes" that do not meet the ideal you have created about the "kind" and "price" of a suit you want to buy. Then let us advise you not to be misled into paying a fancy price for something that you could have bought equally well, if not better, from the. Melbourne at a very much lower cost. Remember this, that when you buy a Melbourne suit you purchase a guarantee of workmanship and material that invites comparison. Whatever we claim for it it will do—wear well, fit well, and give you all the suit comfort vou desire, and plenty of service. But come and see our beautiful array of splendid high-grade suits, all tailor-made anfl ready to put on. Try one on. Go over its construction inch by inch. Feel the texture, and notice the finish. Test the cloth and purity of the dyes. Take note of the high grade linings and the superb cut. Then, most important of all, note the low prices, ranging from 49/6 to 65/-. It will be a strange thing indeed if you do not become a purchaser.