LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 197, 17 February 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The "Tehing Pao," which is the official gazette of Pekin, and has just celebrated its thousandth anniversary, is the oldest newspaper in the world. Ever since its inception a copy of each issue has been earefully preserved in the archives of the Pekin Palace. Accuracy has always been the keynote of this paper, and, in order to maintain its high standard, several journalists on its staff in the past paid ,the penalty of mistakes with their lives. Dismissal, "and, at x the worst, imprisonment, is the punishment meted out at present. The fact that the trip of the dredge Paritutu to Wellington and the overhaul and the improvements to her there cost £I2BO, led one or two members at yesterday's meeting of the Harbor Board to inquire if a slip could not be erected at Moturoa in order to avoid the loss of, time and expense in sending the dredge to Wellington. The saving in the heavy insurance rat? should alone, it was held, induce the board to seriously consider the scheme. As a means of revenue it was suggested that small coastal steamers might also make use of the slip. The chairman mentioned that the harbormas'ter (Captain Newton) was of the ■ opinion that a slip could be constructed for a very reasonable coßt. Without going deeply into the matter the board decided to ask its consulting engineer (Mr. Marchant) to report upon the proposition on his next visit to New Plymouth.

An understanding exists between some of the merchants of New Plymouth and some of the shipping companies to the effect that big Home liners will visit the port at Moturoa for cargo as soon as the present scheme of improvements to the harbor is carried out. The improvements involve the dredging of an area 600 ft by 200 ft at the wharf for berthing accommodation. Originally it was hoped to inaugurate the service of the Home traders early in May of this year, but from what Mr. Newton King told the Harbor Board yesterday merchants will have to suffer postponment in the fulfilment of their hopes. The companies will not, he said, send their steamers until the whole of the area is dredged. In this connection he commented on the fact that the dredge had been transferred to the fairway. No matter - how deep the fairway was the boats would not come until the deep sea accommodation desired alongside the wharf was provided. In the opinion of the chairman, the wisest plan was to continue as at present and keep the dredge on the fairway during the summer months while the weather was fine. They could dredge the inner area when the sea was choppy. The matter was not further discussed. Of the proposed total length of 600 feet, some 460 feet have so far been dredged, leaving only 140 feet to complete the berthage—a by no means big contract.

The Anniversary Services of the Whiteley Memorial Church are to be held to-morrow, and will he combined with the Harvest Festival. The church has been beautifully decorated and special music will be rendered by the choir. The minister of the church will take as his morning subject: "What is behind the face of 'Nature'?"; and in the evening the question will be considered: "Is the Church a spent force 7" The offerings for the day will be devoted to the extinguishing 'of the debt upon the church properties. On Tuesday evening there will be a conversazione, when the annual report will be presented.

A Parnell retired plumber has just discovered that he lias still something to earn. He was fined 10s and costs 28s for repairing a waste pipe on his own property, when he should have employed a licensed plumber to do the work. A Welsh centenarian who has just died attributed his longeivty to plenty of hard work as a lad, the regular life he led, and in a great measure to the systematic way in which he took his holidays. He retired from active work at the age of So.

During the four-weekly period ending .the 10th February 26 vessels worked the port of New Plymouth inwards and outwards, aggregating a tonnage of 26,818 tons. The total imports for that period amounted to 3937 tons, of which 862 tons comprised coal (339 tons for the Government railway and 523 tons for private use). The export of produce and sundries ran into 1710 tons.

The Seaside Improvement Committee, which has already done much good work, intends to erect a ladies' bathing shed at the Breakwater. Permission to carry out the,work was granted by the Harbor Board yesterday, and in regard to another request of the committee it was resolved to allow that body to connect the shed with the board's water supply, with the understanding that it was liable to be cut off in event of any shortage. In applying. for an extension for a year of his option over his oil-bearing property at Moturoa, Mr. T. Knowles y in ; a letter read at yesterday's meeting of 1 the Harbor Board, stated that owing to, unforseen circumstances it had been im-'i possible for him ,to commence boring. The chairman reported having told Mr. Knowles that the board would probably ; extend the time, but seeing that the conditions had altered it was a question whether it would not want more royalty, i Without discussion the board granted the application, without any stipulation as to increased royalty. » When a solicitor defending a man for a breach of the peace remarked at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning that the accused had had great provocation, and then in the same breath went on to say that his client had struck and then kicked "the other man," the Magistrate sharply interjected: "He may have had great provocation, but he has no right to kick a man in that way." He added that he felt very strongly in a ease of brutality where kicking was resorted to, even though the agent of it might have struck the first blow. A fine ,of 20s with costs 7s, in default seven days' imprisonment, was inflicted on the accused (Henry Vincent McSweeney), who had "an important engagement in Wellington," and was represented by his solicitor. The other man (William Neary), whose face (it was in a very injured condition) bore the impress of something harder than a man's fist was let off lightly. "You have," said His Worship, "been sufficiently punished. You are convicted and discharged." i We understand that at the Technical College this year opportunity is to be given to those holders of proficiency certificates and to others who do not intend taking up secondary work, but intend learning a trade or entering commercial occupations, of taking up a course of a _ more advanced nature than the primary schools, and bearing directly on the occupation which is to be followed. This is a good thing, and on the lines followed by other centres throughout the Dominion. For those who purpose taking up commercial life, a course is provided dealing with correspondence, accounts, shorthand, etc., and for othern who purpose learning a trade an industrial course is at their disposal. There can be no doubt but that a year or two ■ at such courses would be a most useful preliminary to a youth entering an "office or workshop. It would enhance his chances of promotion and increase his value to his employer. The courses are to start early in March, and parents desirous of having children admitted should make early application. A distressing affair is, according to the American newspapers, causing acute embarrassment to Mr. Frank Cottrell, a well-known timber merchant of Chicago, who refused an offer*of marriage made to him by Mrs. Edna Robinson, a.' wealthy woman, of Portland (Oregon),' who was recently divorced. It was at an after-theatre, supper party that Mrs. Robinson, recalling the many years of friendship between herselt and her host, suggested that a marriage based on such foundation was bound to be successful and happy. Mr. Cottrell politely and as tactfully as possible rejected the proposal. Next morning Mrs. Robinson called him up on the telephone and informed him she loved him deeply and could not live without him. He replied that he valued her friendship and wished to maintain it, but he did not cherish the feelings of a husband towards her. "Then listen, Frank," came the woman's reply. The next moment the repo/t of a revolver shot crashed along the wire. When Mr. Cattrell reached Mrs. Robinson's hotel he found her with a bullet wound in the region of her heart. "I meant to kill myself outright," she whispered, "but, you see, I have made a mess of it." The doctors declare that though Mrs. Robinson's condition is grave there is a faint possibility that she will live.

A distinction without a difference somewhat concerned a delinquent at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, who resented the charge of being "a rogue and a vagabond within the meaning of the Act," having been found by night without lawful excuses on the premises of West's stables. When asked how he pleaded he replied with a wince, "Guilty to being found on the premises, but not to being a vogue and a vagabond." The clerk of the Court then informed the accused—a young man—that it was all the same. By admitting being found in the stable he had, ipse facto, pleaded guilty to being a rogue and a vagabond. The man in the dock, however, still appeared to resent the stigma conveyed by the first half of the charge, in which attitude he found a certain amount of sympathy in the presiding magistrate (Mr. A. Crooke). It was explained that accused, who was in town for the races, was in regular employment at Hawera, and had lodgings in town, but preferred to go to the stable and sleep off the effects of liquor. This led the Magistrate, after being informed that this was the man's first offence of any kind in the criminal callendar, to remark: "The assumption of this section of the Act is that lie is there (at the stables) for some offence. The mere fact of a drunken man going into a back-yard would not really be an offence, although technically it would be bo." He added that under the circumstances the accused (Archibald Lawson) would be convicted and discharged. At the same time Mr. Crooke remarked that

the police were quite right in arresting him. Robert McNamara, Lawson's com-

panion on the occasion, who was similarly charged, was also convicted and discharged. McNamara has had one previous conviction against him for drunkenness. Both accused were defended by Mr. Standish.

Special harvest festival and church anniversary services will be held in the Fitzroy Methodist Church on Sunday. The morning service will be conducted by the Rev. R. J. Liddell and the evening service by the Rev. H. A. Sharp. Appropriate music will he rendered by an augmented choir. The annual tea will be held on Tuesday evening in the Fitzroy Hall at fl.lfi, after which a public meeting will take place in the church, commencing at 7.45 p.m:

i' Mr. F. W. Marchant, consulting enI gineer to the New Plymouth Harbor • ; Board, is booked to leave New Zealand • i early in March on a visit to Entfaiu:. Mr. Frederick Townsend Martin, one of the most prominent of New York's 400 millionaires, announces that he will henceforth devote his life to the salvation of the poor, down-trodden and unfortunate. "My future mission/' he says, according .to.the.London Daily "(News, "is to try to abolish crime, solve the problem of poverty and banish misery. lam tired of puzzling my brains to devise means of entertaining the idle rich, and I shall count myself supremely happy to be known as the poor man's friend." He says there are three fertile fields for his activities—the Whitechapel district of London, the Bowery, New York, and the slums of Chicago. Mr. Martin goes to Europe (very summer, and is widely known in London, Paris' and Rome. So far as London is concerned, he will study the East End next season.

The vicar of the new Evangelical Garrison Church in Berlin, in his determination to keep abreast of the times (says the Standard's correspondent) recently introduced something of a novelty in church services, the celebration of . the first Advent Sunday : being illustrated by cinematograph and magic lantern pictures. Above the altar was stretched a large linen screen, and with the first notes of the organ the church was darkened. As the congregation sang the opening hymn in darkness, the star of Bethlehem appeared on the screen above the altar. As the preacher, invisible among the shadows, told the wondrous story of the birth of Christianity, his words were illustrated by picture after picture depicting scenes from the life of the infant Christ. The experiment was so gr<»it a success that the vicar has decided to hold many further services along the same lines.

The Commonwealth Casein Company (working a New York patent) have established themselves at the Bacchus Marsh Co-operative Factory, and expect to put through 5000 gallons of skim milk daily. This is the only works of the curd, by adding sulphuric acid in large cheese-making vats heated by steam. The whey is then pumped into tanks and carted away; but the curd, after undergoing various processes, emerges as a fine flour and is to be sent to America in flour bags. Casein in the form of flour cannot be made in sufficient quantities to meet the demand jn America.! There it is converted in two hundred different purposes, such as the manufacture 01 celluloid, ceilings, mantelpieces, paints, and many other commodities. The various uses are also constantly increasing in number.