The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1912. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 239, 9 April 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1912. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Before Mr. Hickman Russell, J.P., at the Magistrate's Court on Saturday morning, one first offending inebriate was convicted and- 'discharged. | A large number of visitors to New Plymouth who intended visiting the mountain on Sunday had' to postpone their outing on account of the wet weather. During the nine months ended March 31st 152,152 'boxes of butter and 43,373 crates of cheese were put through the Freezing Company's works at Moturoa. For the corresponding period of last year the ibutter ran into 168,106 boxes and tihe cheese into 32,623 crates, i The unheralded entry of a .303 bullet considerably startled the occupants of a house at Fitzroy on Friday afternoon. The missile, which went through ; the wall of the house and embedded' itsell in the lining of the room, was, it is sunniseti, fired) from the direction of tihe Waiwakailro river. It now appears that the Prime Minister will arrive in New Plymouth this morning earlier than was at first expecte'd. According to a telegram received by Mr. H. Okey, M.P., he will arrive here at 10 o'clock, and leave during the afternoon for Manaia. During the morning he will receive deputations and visit the oil works. Presumably he is coming by motor-car and not by train. The shop and dwelling in Devon St., oceupie'd by J. F. Burke, which was gutted l by fire on Friday night, was insured in the State office for £IOO. The adjoining premises, which were occupied by F. Von Lubbe and owned by F. C. Griffiths, of Wellington, were insured in tlhe same office for £2OO. On going through his stock, Mr. Von Lubbe estimates his loss at £7O, much higher than lie at first supposed. Owing to the extended] boundaries of the borougih it will now be necessary for the New Plymouth borough council to consider the question of reticulation of the new areas. In stating- this fact in his annual report the town clerk adds that the greatest revenue of the extended borough will not be sufficient to make very rapid progress with this work, and it will, therefore, be necessary to consider whether it would not be advisable to raise a loan for this purpose. To his mind it would be better if those areas affected were to each raise a loan over its respective area, and have the money spent in such a way as would best suit their own requirements, rather than raise one large loan over .the whole borougih. The Egmont Motor Cycle Club held la reliability test from Eltiham to New Plymouth yesterday. Eaclh competitor started from Eltham with 7V 2 Ib of benzine, and the cvclist who arrived l in New Plymouth on the smallest consumption was adjudged the winner. A number (did not coinplete the journey. Tfhe winner proved to be Parkes, on a Triumph, whose tank contained 2'lb 9'oz of benzine on arrival. Bird on a Rover had 211) loz, Crawfor'd (Bradbury) lib 13oz, ATlison (Bradbury) lib 7%0z, and Meul'i (Bradbury) 12oz. One motorist who was unfamiliar with the road took the wrong turning on arriving at the Devon line, with tihe result that he found himself in iWaitara. This is a mistake that it is quite easy to malie, and a sign-post in this locality would be a convenience.

. A message from Suva states that Torn Ilcgan, the ex-Australian champion, supervised ty a committee, completed forty houi j' ball punching. This is claimed to be a world's record. An ex-Taranaki farmer went on to 50 acres of land at Waharoa (Waikato) a few years ago. He paid £■'} 10s an acre for it, which now carries 30 cows, six horses, two heifers and four calves. His factory cheque for February was £4O odd. His neighbor, a mile away, refused £2O an acre recently for his farm. Very unfavorable weather greeted the Defence Rifle Club last evening for the opening progressive euchre party and dance of their winter series, which was held in the Brougham Street Hall. There was a very fair attendance. The winners of the euchre prizes w,ere: Ladies' Miss E. Phillips 1, Miss H. Phillips 2; gentlemen, Mr. P. Allen 1, Mr. E. Loveridge 2. After a tasty supper dancing was resorted to and kept up with vigor till after midnight. Miss K. Bennett provided the music, whilst Mr. L. Bullot officiated as M.C. Miss Christie's Easter Sunday lecture upon the coming of the Worl'd-Teacher drew a much larger audience than the first two of the series, and was to most of her hearers somewhat of a startling nature. For instance, the clear distinction drawn by the lecturer between the Lord Jesus and) Christ; the statement that the name Christ i& the name of an office, not of a man, although that office is held and the name borne by Him who is at the head of, and is the founder of, all religions. The Christ, so said the lecturer, is the highest 'being or divine man who can wear a human body, and when He comes at tlie beginning of a new root or sub-race to give a new keynote to religion, He never wears His own rarefied physical body, but takes the body of a disciple, a body specially prepared for Him by that disciple, a pure body, a body of a high class, but one which is accustomed to resist the commercial impacts born of the strenuous concrete and competitive thinking of men and women of the world. "It may he thought," remariks the town clerk in his annual report, "that in a town the size New Plymouth there would be no necessity to take steps for the prevention of overcrowding or of the creation of slum areas, but in view of the fact that in the recent subdivision for residential purposes of an estate within the borough some 'of the sections are shown as of'a less area' than one-tenth of an acre, and that some of the railway subdivisions in Molesworth Street for sale as residenti- | al lots are less than one-sixteenth of an j acre each, it will bo seen that the matter requires immediate attention. By I section 31 of the Municipal Corporations : Act, 1010, the council has power to make by-laws prescribing tlie minimum frontage and area of an allotment of land on which a 'dwelling may be erected in the borough, and I would recommend that the council take the first opportunity oi passing such by-laws as mar be necessary." Reviewing the operations of the borough during the financial year just ended, the clerk touches on a present source of much inconvenience in the following strain: "In one respect there is no doubt that New Plymouth is more backward than other boroughs of equal size, and that is in the matter of the numbering of houses, The importance of the town certainly demands that tlie houses should -be numbered. The council recognises this, and- has decided that provision shall be made in the estimates | of the ensuing year for this work to be attended to. Any system introduced I should be a comprehensive one, so as to obviate anf change for many years-, no matter what number of new buildings may be erected. Ample provision should be made for all_ vacant allotments, and plans recorded in the engineer's office, so that the numbers allotted) to any vacant section .should be obtainable without any trouble by oivners as buildings are erected."

Mention is ma'de in the annual report of the town clerk of the New Plymouth borough that owing to the large number of amendments and additions the bylaws, originally a simple code, have become somewhat intricate. The addition to the borough of portions of the suburbs also necessitated that some of the by-laws sihould he altered so as not to apply to those areas. The need for consolidation and' revision was therefore apparent, and as the stock in hand was now depleted the time was opportune for this work to be taken in hand. Tlie report also adds: "It is a matter well worth noting that the general by-laws have (been in force since the beginning of 1903, and although on occasion the validity of one or two of the by-laws has been attacked, not one single cla.use has been held to be invalid. This speaks volumes for the care andl trouble taken by the committee of the council who drafte'd the by-laws, and even more so for the borough solicitors (Messrs Govett and Quilliam), who put the bylaws into legal form." •Members of the Equitable Building Society of New Plymouth (first and second groups) are notified that subscriptions will be due and payable on Wednesday, April 10, at the secretary's office, Currie street, from 9 a.m. to 12.30, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. —Advt.