LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 248, 19 April 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The on-Iy business before the MaeisX W Which was Prided over by Mr A Crooke, S.M., yesterday, was a application for a which -was granted. ' A reader suggests that Dr. Ilarnardo's Homes would be considerably helped if agents were appointed in all the towns of the Dominion, or, if such agents are already in existence, particulars were placed before the public. He feels sure tnat the Homes would receive many a pound sterling if this were done. "If he gets drink while there is an order against him, what is the use of taking an order out?" remarked the Magistrate during the hearing of a case for the issue of a prohibition order yesterday. Later on he informed the witness that if the police were informed when any prohibited person secured drink steps would be taken to discover who supplied the liquor. Interviewed in Wellington, Sir Joseph Ward said with regard to his future New Zealand plans: "I have received a great number of invitations to go to various parts of the Dominion, and I shall be able to accept a number upon my return. For obvious reasons. T have avoided doing so just now." "Will the work of the Imperial Trade Commission interfere with your attendance at the sittings of Parliament?" Sir Joseph was asked. He answered in the negative, adding that he expected the Commission to sit first in Australia about August. If that clashed with the session he"\vas not bound to be there, but the Commission would come on to New Zealand afterwards. Whether Sir Joseph will make Wellington his home is a matter he will decide upon his return. He will be tendered a reception in the capital, and another function of that character has already been arranged in his own electorate.

The Petone Borough Council has been advised by its solicitor that a borough electoral roll can be purged only once in two years. Mr. Grimmond, in a speech at Kumara, said that some men had said that "a cow made New Zealand." "The man who said that," said Mr. Grimmond, amidst roars of laughter, "made an Irish bull." The Hawera Star's Wellington correspondent wires that the Opunake Railway Commission will also inquire into the question of tramways, as this matter is so closely allied with the general question of transport in the district. An idea of the size of the ill-fated Titanic may be gained from the fact that its length was equal to the distance between Messrs. Berry and Co.'s store in Brougham Street to Dr. Walker's in the same street, with a width twice that of the street. Mr. W. Jenkins, who has been Mayor of Waitara for the past four years, has been returned unopposed for another term A largely-signed requisition of the ratepayers was presented to Mr Jenkins, in which his past good services were set forth, asking him to continue Mayor of Waitara. Play was suspended for aome time yesterday afternoon during the course of the County v. Borough Council cricket match as a mark of sympathy with Mr. A. Cliff, secretary of the Agricultural Society, in the bereavement he has suffered through the death of his wife, whose funeral took place yesterday. A solution of the Chinese problem in this country is offered by Dr. Thacker, of Christehurch. His suggestion is that we buy all the Chinamen's property, pay them back their poll-tax with compound interest, hire four or five of the fastest steamers and ship them back to China, and then impose the education test on any fresh Celestial* coming out this way. A New Plymouth man recently on a visit to Auckland was struck by the number of dwellings going up in'wood. Inquiring the reason, he was informed that it was due to the high price of bricks. The whole of the brick trade of the town, so he was assured, was in the hands of a ring, who demanded £4 7s (id per 1000 for the bricks, the cost of which runs into about 27s fid per 1000. The number of Territorials from Waitara who are taking part in the camp at Hawera is 17. They left by the 2 p.m. train on Wednesday, under the charge of Sergeant G. E. Andrews. When they were lined up on the railway platform the order was given, "From the right, number," and the numbering started from the left. This was repeated several times before the right hand man noticed the error. Evidently the men have not been instructed as to which is their left or right flank. On Monday evening next at Waitara a presentation is to be made to Mr. W: T. Jennings, ex-M.P. for Taumarunui. This presentation represents the southern portion (North Taranaki) of the Taumarunui electorate, which Mr. Jennings represented for ten yearn. The Hon. G. Laurenson, Minister of Labor and Marine, and probably the Hon. Dr. Te Rangihiroa, will be present on the occasion. On Friday, April 20, at Te Kuiti, a King Country recognition of Mr. Jennings' services is to be made. The Prime Minister and other Ministers will be present at this function. A speaker at the Manaia banquet last week had a sly tilt at Scotsmen in general and the Aberdonian in particular. He related the following anecdote of an Englishman, Irishman, and a Scotsman, who were being enrolled as policemen. Each was asked if, in case of a number of men on the street being uproarious while he was on duty, he would use his baton. The Irishman said he would, while the Englishman would whistle for assistance; but the Scotsman said, "Na, na; I wadna' use it." "Well, what wad ye do!" "Awed, if they were Aberdonians, ;, wad tak off ma 'helmet and gang roond for a subscription. That wad scatter them quick."—Hawera Star.

A most successful congregation social ■was held last night in the St. Andrew's Church schoolroom, the hall beiri" crowded. A splendid programme was given, songs being rendered by Mrs Armstrong, Mrs Cutler. Misses Leitrh and Rea, and Messrs. Mclsaac and Walker. The recitations of Mrs. ILwlam, Mrs. Grant and Miss Taylor were greatly enjoyed. A novel feature of the social was the presence of a "silver tree," upon which envelopes containing contributions from those present were hung, the amount realised in this way being £ll 3s 2d. A heartv vote of' thanks was given to Mr P. Von Lubbe for kindly lending the piano. A word of praise is due to the committee of ladies who decorated the hall very tastefully. It is ridiculous to find that the main passenger trains between Palmerston and Wanganui take 4% hours to travel over 63 miles of railway, and there should not be the slightest difficultv in speeding-up these trains, at any rate, especially considering there are six, and often eight, goods trains traversing the route daily (says the Feilding Star). Mr. Myers has already arranged that the Auckland-Helensville train, which tak«s 2hrß 50 minutes to travel 38 miles (about the same speed as the WanganuiPalmerston train), shall be speeded-up by 50 minutes If this improvement were applied to the Wanganui service, it would shorten the journey by about lhr lOmin—a very important consideration. What about Taranaki, where the trains run slower than in any other part of the Dominion ? A dastardly act of vandalism occurred at Tarurutangi on Monday night. A resident in the locality who keeps a few hives of bees, in which he takes great pride, as he also does in both horticulture and floriculture, received a rude shock on Tuesday morning on discovering that some mischievous or malicious miscreants had, during the previous night, overturned the whole of the hives, fight in all, removing them some distance away, and had torn up by the roots and destroyed everything in the garden, besides breaking several implements that had been left about. That robbery was not the motive was clear, as nothing was taken, though much was destroyed. It is evidently another case of irresponsible larrikinism, or possibly the attempt of some evil-disposed individuals to revenge some grievance, real or otherwise. The matter has been placed in the hands of the police, and residents of the district are anxious that the miscreants may be brought to book early. A PRICE-LIST OF PRICELESS BARGAINS AT THE MELBOURNE.

I 1 ouths' displaced post office overcoats, 9/«; hoys' knickers, 2/11 to 4/11 youths' smart tweed top-coats. 13/6 to 17/6; youths' raincoats, 21/0 to 26/9; boys' oilskin coats, 8/H; men's riding oilskins, 12/9 to 19/6; men's blue military coats, 23/G to 27/6; men's saddle trousers, 6/9, 8/6, 10/0 to 13/6; men's Kaiapoi tweed suits, 23/6; 'Pctone. tweed suits, 35/-; splendid saddle-tweed suits, 39/6; smart fancy tweed suits, 39/6 and 49/6; genu ine indigo coating suits, 65/-; men's raincoats, 29/6. 32/6 and 39/6; "Hydrotite" coats, 37/6 and 49/6; famous "Pegamoid" riding coats, very light, 55/- ; men's Kaiapoi socks, 3 pairs for 2/6: men's strong shooter boots, nailed or plain, 7'/fi: women's chrome 2-bar shoos 5/11; children's chrome boots, 5/11 H 6/11; boys' splendid heavy chrome bootwith slugged soles, 10/9, sizes 1 to 5; hov' strong school boots, 6/11 and 8/11; menfamous welted boots, 16/9, in.seven tV ferent styles. Blankets and rugs! Loo' out for special prices next week.—Advt.

Our 'Urenui correspondent states that grass is abundant there, and stock should weather the winter well, as at preseat they are in good condition. Sheep fanners in and around Carterton are complaining of considerable mortality amount their Hocks, especially amongst young sheep. The cause has been ascertained .to be a red worm. The Chronicle states that Mr. W. A. Veitch, M;l\, has received an. undertake ing from the Prime Minister to investigate the 'propose'-v to run a State service of steamers <m the Wanganui river. "Everybody who goes into a library needs watching," remarked Mr. C. Wil--son, Parliamentary Librarian, at the Libraries' Conference in Wellington recently. "In fact," he added, "some of the most respectable-looking people are the moat dangerous." Questioned at Hastings, Sir James Oarroll said: "I never felt better in my life. I have nothing to say on the subject of politics except that 'A day, an hour in virtuous liberty is worth a whole eternity in bondage.'" Sir James is at present in the Gisbome district. "Whilst a moving picture operator was busy (preparing to photograph a view of (the Mokau Falls, Waikaremoana, during the holidays, one mem'ber of a (lisborne party, who had clambered up a high rock to get into the .picture, missed his footing and slid some distance from the rock into a deep pool. An interesting picture is anticipated. The name of the Leader of the Opposition (writes a London correspondent) has proved an unexpectedly hard nut for the .'British press to crack. In the most accurate journals Mr. Massey has generally been -spelt, at the best, with only one "s." "Masey" is quite a. common form flf it, and "Messey" has also appeared more than once. A reference to' "Who's Who" shows that "Massey" is generally a very rare name. It happens to be the family name of Baron Clarina, but apart .from that there is only one "Massey" in the volume, viz., Mrs. Gertrude Massey, the celebarted miniature painter. There are only 20 Masseys .in the London Directory. "The feeling in the country Is distinctly good." remarked the Prime Minister (lion. T. Mackenzie) to a Times representative on Wednesday evening, when asked his impressions of his Taranaki trip. '*l could gather from what was said by people of all shades of political opinion that they considered that my work would make for steady progress on safe.lines: that the country desired practical work now. and less theorising; and they were prepared to give the party that would adopt these methods a chance to cam- them out. The country is tired of fireworks, sclflaudations, hitter political expressions, and desires performance, in preference to works. Tn a word, what is required now is constructive work." Another phase of the cattle grazing on roads nuisance cropped up at the Egmont County Council's last meeting,when a To Kiri settler complained that the council's newly-appointed poundkeeper was most energetic both by night and by day, and his energy almost amounted to persecution; he seemed to have a groat eye to business and moneymaking. No doubt that would suit the council, but it fell rather heavy on the ratepayers who lived 12 or more miles from the pound and who happened to have a stray dairy cow on the road. Just fancy, he said, a dairy cow being driven 24 miles there and' back. The alternative 12s was pretty rough He urged the council to erect pounds at reasonable distances—say, not more than a five mile drive—or," at least, to authorise the ranger mft" to impound. Practical farmers on the council would know how odd cows would poke about and get through fences. The chairman said this impounding business was extraordinary. They complained that the last ranger was not doinj his duty, and now that a ranger did his duty? thev also complained. Councillors thought" that the best solution was for settlers to keep their odd cows off the road.