LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 241, 11 April 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a Wellington marriage ceremony recently, an unusual occurrence came to light. The bride and bridegroom, and ialso three witnesses who signed tha register, all possessed the same surname. No previous tie of relationship existed between the principals. This is believed to constitute a record.

With regard to the discussion in the Appeal Court some days ago on will forms, the Public Trust Office wishes ii to be explained that the will which raised the discussion was not drawn upon a form prepared in the Public Trust Office, but was merely on one of th« blank forms used by that office. Tha office itself hud nothing to do with tha drawing of the will. The Westown scout camp was broken up on Tuesday morning. Six of the smaller boys left for home on Monday evening. The tents were quite dry inside, and two were left standing fo* the use of the Stratford boy&. Thanks are due to the gentlemen who lent tli# tents, and to the ladies who made cakea, tarts and apple pies. The heary rai* on Monday prevented any outside work being done, and the boys were glad to have a verandah at the house for a dining-room. Reporting on publio building® in tha borough, Mr. F. C. J. Bellringer, supe»intendent of the New Plymouth Fir# Board, recommends. that firemen should be employed, at the rate of 2s 6d pei night, in the following ratio:—Theatre Royal, two; Drill Hall, two; Empire Theatre, Whiteley BalJ, and 1.0. G.T. Hall, one each. This would apply to every time the buildings were open to the public. Various recommendations as to additional provision against fire are made in the cases of the Theatre Royal, Empire Theatre, Whiteley Church, and Brougham Street Hall. In regard to the last building the superintendent states that several matters require attention before he could recommend it for a license.

Owing to the heavy rain the Stratford scouts did not leave for New Ply* mouth on Tuesday. They left yesterday by an early train for' Inglewood, 13 in number, and marched via the Junction Road to New Plymouth. They were met at the Henui bridge by some of the N«w Plymouth scouts, and were escorted to their quarters at Tainui, Vogeltown, where a billie of hot tea was served out. After a rest, the town was visited to make the necessary purchases of provender, and 6 p.m. found the boys putting into practice the theoretical fire lighting and cooking lessons already learned. To-day they will visit the petroleum wells and generally "do tJbe town," leaving on Friday morning for the return march. The scouts are under the command of Scoutmaster Rev. Mr. Butler.

According to Mr. W. T. Jennings, exM.P. for Taumarunui, a more straightforward or honestly sincere class of men than the .present Ministry would be hard to find at the present time. Speaking at Stratford he saM that each and everyone of these gentlemen were honest; they were sincere; they were energetic. He would promise them' that there would be no seats lost at the next election owing to the apathy of some of the Ministers. He knew himself that that was the case with two seats, and probably the case also with his own, if a little energy had been put to it. However, the men who now guided the destinies of this country were men filled with honesty of purpose and intelligence, and he was quite satisfied to give them a chance to see what they were going to do. Mr. Jennings then went on to refer to "the gentleman who supplanted me in the House." He said that that gentleman had been reciting a piece that he himself had recited in the House in 1008. The Town and Country Journal had stated that they had it on the very best of authority that Mr. Wilson was the author of that piece, "The Mingy Cockatoo." As a matter of fact, the author was Mr. Bilski, who lived a few miles beyond Toko.

The discovery of the North Pole fel to the Americans, and the South Pole is the prize of the Norwegians. This is made very clear by the return of the Term Nova, as on January 3 Captain Scott was ISO miles away from the Pole, whereas Captain Amundsen had reached it in the middle of December. The question of luck enters largely into such matters, but there is no luck about the superiority of Orescent Blend Tea. It has won its way into favor through sheer merit, and this position it will ftlwftjfl ■ ■ maintain,--Adyt,

A new type of motor car, threewheeled, with seating accommodation for three, has just been imported by an IJtham resident.

Before Mr. A. Crookes, S.M., at the Magistrate'© Court yesterday morning, •Be first-offending inebriate was constated and ordered to pay the hire of ■ cab.

The development of the ironsand industry, following in the wake of the boom, should shortly make New Plymouth the centre of speculative interest in the Dominion.—Patea Press.

From the member for Egmont we learn that at a recent meeting Cabinet decided to appoint a Commission composed of two stipendiary magistrates to inquire into the matter of the West Coast Reserve leases. This is a matter of great importance to many residents of the Opunake district.—Eltham Argus. The Bucharest correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette writes: —Miss Tacaaesco, a lady lion-tamer, of Jassy (Roumania), fainted in the cage at a moment when the animals were perfectly quiet. She was n moved before they did more than show signs of restlessness, and on recovering consciousness exclaimed: "Until the beetle crawling on one of the bars is taken off, I am not going in again!"

'According to a comparative statement prepared by the engineer (Mr. H. Black), in 1907 the receipts for electric current amounted to £1128; 1908, £2306 5s tOd; 1909, £3341 10s 2d; 1910, £4019 Ds lOd; 1911, £4428 Is 7d; 1912, £5329 Oa 7<t. The number of connections at March 31, 1907, was 167, and at March 31, 1912, 906, the amount of current consumed being 115,860 units and 334,030 units respectively. The Government was about to enlarge further in regard to its fruit farms on gum lands at Wairingi, said the Prime Minister at Manaia. Shipments 'of fruit »ent Home had been subsidised, the last consignment leaving New Zealand about a month ago. If the results were satisfactory—and he felt confident they would be —operations would be considerably enlarged in the direction of laying out more fruit farms. The Government was also going in for plant breeding. The Secretary of the Department of [Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland has published a list of Irish exporting manufacturers, which has been compiled by the Department from information supplied by the manufacturers whose names appear therein. The list was prepared in response to numerous inquiries from the colonies and foreign countries for information as to the names of Irish firms making .woods suitable for foreign markets. It is further believed that the list will be of practical use to Irishmen and others abroad who are anxious to help the development of Irish industries and the expansion of Irish trade. It may be noticed that the various classes of goods manufactured for export are enterrd in the list in five languages, namely. English. French, German, Spanish and Italian. A copy of the list, which is nicely bound, has been forwarded to the local library.

At the banquet at Ma:taia on Tuesday evening, the Prime Minister referred to tlia question of the purity of seed breeding. He alluded to the opposition raised to the Seeds Purity Bill introduced by him last session bv certain Taranaki. country members, and he would take the present opportunity of informing the farmers that he had been told by a seed merchant that a good dpal of seed was on sale at the present time containinj <0 per cent, of impurities. The depart- j ment had recently tested two samples of! •white clover. One sample cost ll'/Jd per pound and the other Is 5V„d. The aheaoer seed contninerl 80.000 vppd seeds to the pound and onH- ?8 pfr cent, of •the clover terminated. Of the higherpriced clover 1 per cent, was impure and the germination was 00 ner cent. Of course if the country members who opposed his Bill continued their tactics bo Act would be placed on the statute book. The farmer in New Zealand •hould not only be assured regarding the purity of the seed he purchased, hut lie should also have a guarantee that the seed would germinate and possess the high qualities of the plant he was paying for. (Applause.)