LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 242, 12 April 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A petition is being circulated and largely signed asking Mr. J. S. S. Medley, J.P., to consent to stand for the New Plymouth mayoralty. Comprehensive information relative to petrol tramway, cars was received yesterday by the town clerk (Mr. F. T. BelJringer) from the High Commissioner's Office, London.

There was a short sitting of the court yesterday, before Mr. D. Berry, J.P when Albert Hughes, of Pahiatua, who made no appearance, was fined 2s with costs 7s for having cycled without a light.

JIVe have received some samples of excellent apples grown by Mrs. Roster, of 'Mona" house, Carrington Road. The samples demonstrate that first-class apples can be grown just as well in New Plymouth as in other districts. _ .The clerk of the Waitara West Road District has written to the chairman of the county council inviting him to attend the annual meeting of the board at Lepperton, when a proposal to merge with the county will come up for discustion.

The New Plymouth Methoflist Church circuit, at its meeting on Wednesday night, unanimously approved the basis of union with the Primitive Methodist Church, and endorsed the action of the conference in this matter. The resolutions of the quarterly meetings throughout New Zealand make possible the final arrangements for the completion of the union of the two churches.

On tlie voyage of the steamer Surrey from Liverpool to Auckland a seaman fell overboard when the vessel was halfway between Capetown and Australia. A saloon steward named C. Leon de Lance immediately dived overboard to his companion's rescue. He unsuccessfully searched for the missing man, whose Mame was Porter, when suddenly he was viciously- attacked by an albatross, and had great difficulty in beating it off. De Lance was rescued with difficulty, but no trace of Porter was found.

The number of complaints received from train travellers respecting railway management is on the increase. One prominent Wellington resident complains that after carefully checking his luggage at Rotorua for New Plymouth, via Marton, he discovered after arriving at the junction that his luggage had not come on by the same train. It had been taken off the Rotorua-Auckland train at Frankton, but not put on to the first south-bound express. After strenuous telegraphing he managed to have it placed on the second express. The go-as-you-please concern by which people are transported to and from the Wairarapa (remarks the Age) is becoming more irritating to the public every day. The journey between Masterto'n and Wellington now occupies anything between four hours and a day. * The trains (if such they can be termed) appear to have been pvercome with a persiftnent fit of the "slows." For three successive nights they have been more than an hour late in their arrival at Masterton. There is no excuse, no a P o! °gy, no refund of fares to the exasperated travellers. The public, which is waiting for its mails, is allowed to stand on the' doorstep and breathe silent anathemas. The country is prospering. The finances are buoyant. We have a new Minister for Railways. Everything is going splendidly— except the Wairarapa trains. And these—well, these beggar description. _ '"'One of the Party" supplies the following account of an incident in the life of the new Prime Minister. Mr. Mackenzie with a party of three ascended the Spey River to try and find a low level pass to connect with Thompson or Doubtful Sound; at the head of the river he found three branches and decided to take the centre. After getting well through the timber belt and into the snow-grass country, we came to a sheer face of rock that it was impossible to scale, and it Joked little better to right or left. The question arose whether we should to back some 2000 feet down and try another way, or attempt to scale. Mr Mackenzie decided to scale to the left* After travelling some distance it <*ot from bad tp worse. Clinging to «rass and treacherous ledges of rock, the party slowly made way. Mr. Mackenzie, who led the way, was handicapped with an ? vy swa " and a tomahawk. While endeavoring to notch better footholds for those following, a piece of rock crumbled under his foot and he fell Each one of the party could look under their .feet 2000 feet sheer down. Fortunately. some six or seven feet below there was a small tree growina out of a rock fissure, which broke Mr. Mac- \ nd terribly shaken and hurt, he showed up well. With great presence of mind he slowly gathered himself together, and after a great straggle he finally got up , t o the line and again led the way, declining to be relieved of his swag.. Some considerable distance had to he <rone before decent ground was gained. It was one of those instances when all that is in a man shows up (for strength or weakness), and for cold courage and clear resolution kenzi'e W6re trU ' y iproud of Mr " Mac "

What he described as united labor's m was tcmche <l upon by Mr W. J. Reardon at a local trades union function last evening. He referred to the necessity for educating the children of the workers on proper lines. When a child reached the age of about 14 or 16 years its parents often found that T, wou,d have to launch it on the world with only a rudimentary educafi,! 1 ,' 8 was <h,e to the fact that first of all the more advanced tuition was not free to all, and secondly because the parents had to send their children out to bring in a few shillings. Members of. the labor party were determined to see that their offspring were not sent into the world with only a smattering of education to answer the first employment advertisement that appeared in the .paper. The school teachers 'of the country should he in a position to watch every chiJd during his school years, for the purpose of ascertaining, if possible, the particular bent of his genius. If this were done, and the child was educated ror the calljng for which he was adopted, much better results would accrue. Touching on the relationship of master and man, Mr. Reardon averred that as things were an employer apprenticed a boy, not in order to feach him his trade, but rather with the objeet of getting cheap labor. Since this was the motive which actuated the employer, it was the duty of the Labor Party to provide technical education, not as'at present, however. that the apnrentiee should attend the school at niffht so that his learning might benefit his employer during the daytime. Two-thirds of the boy's Tvours of labor should be given to his employer, and the remaining thir<l to technical instruction Instead of giving a bov military training the ideal of the United "Labor Party was to give him physical exercises until he was 21 years of age.

The discovery of the North Pole fell to the American?, and the South Pole is the prize of the Norwegians. This i? made very clear by the return of the Terra Nova. ns on January 3 Captain Scott was 150 miles awav from the Pole, whorpas 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 Crescent Blend Tea. It has "won its way into favor through sheer

A London cable states that the British Australasian Trust has declared a dividend of 5 per cent, and a bonus of 2 per cent.

It is estimated that a sum of nearly £120,000 was put through the totahsators at the various race meetings held in the Dominion on Monday. The building trade is at present very brisk in Hastings and the surrounding districts. In the month of March fifteen buildings ivere erected in the borough of Hastings. A strong argument in of St. Aubyn town district joining the borough was provided early this morning, when a house was burned down without u hand being.raised by the fire brigade to save it, because it was not within the borough. The building might easily have been in the midst of other buildings, instead of being isolated as it was, in which case the loss would have been Very serious. The residents of the town district should take the lesson to heart. "I am afraid we haven't seen the worst of labor troubles yet by a long way," writes an ex-Auckland now living at Chatham, England. "It seems to me that it must end in revolution. 'Practically it is revolution now. And What is the result? The poverty in the industrial centres is appalling. No one can say where this strike will end, or what it will end in. The cry everywhere among the workers is for higher wages and better conditions. And really they have cause for complaint as regards Both."

A recent visitor to the Chathams say.! the people of the islands appeared to be a happy and contented community. For anything that has been required in the shape of a church or other buildings for the benefit of the people generally they subscribe amongst themselves. They have a neat little institute, containing one of the best libraries the visitor has seen, and—happy to state —there are no rates and taxes, no country or borough councils, and ho road boards; in fact, there is no need for the latter, as there is only one road.

The St. Aubyn Town Board met on Wednesday evening, when there were present, the chairman (Mr. G. E. Blanchard'), Messrs F. Hodson, H;' Putt, P. Lealand and W. .J. Russell. Correspond once was read from the town clerk, stating that a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Crs. Mannix, Gilbert and Morey, had been appointed to confer with the Board with reference to work on Ctif,field road; and from the Xew Zealand State Guaranteed Advances Board. The foreman's report for March was read. He stated that he had been employed in usual road repairs. He had used 50 yards of gravel on Devon road to Torua street. He reported that the Belt road .bridge was unsafe for traffic. Mr, 'Parkin had re-commenced carting metal to the South road. The balance-sheet for the year ending March 31, 1012, was read. Several accounts were passed for payment. 'Mr. W. J. Russell handed in his resignation as a commissioner, which was accepted with great regret. The returning officer was instructed to hold an election to fill the vacancy. Mr. W. A. Veiteh, M.P. for Wanganui, speaking at a railway "•social" at Wanganui on Saturday evening, said he was not going to attempt to prophesy what was going to happen in Parliament in the future. However, in his brief experience, he had learned much, and he had been surprised to find how many really '"good fellows" there were in the House; men who were bent on doing their duty to the country, with self as a second consideration. Though the present position appeared precarious, he was convinced that the turn of events would Anally resolve into good for the country; at any rate, it had had the effect of drawing the attention of the people more closely upon Parliament, and public interest was badly needed. He leininded his hearers that Parliament had many problems to grapple with, chief among these being that of the cost of living, which Was generally put down to increased wages. He, however, was eortain that the root of the evil lay in the fact that so much of the commerce of this country was controlled by monopolies, and but little improvement would ■ be noticed until the power of these combines could be broken. Most of the wholesale importers were so well organised that a few men could meet together and fix the minimum price at which their goods could ,be sold. If this were allowed, surely it was equally lawful for the State to fix the minimum.