LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 281, 24 May 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Exceptionally large hauls of schnapper are being caught at Moturoa at present, one boat the other day bringing in 93 fish. The scarcity of labor in Ashburton county appears to be growing even more acute, and it is almost impossible to obtain the services of a man to do odd jobs. "It's no use cringing to asybody," said the Hon. A. M. Myers at Timaru. "I am independent of" politics, and intend to do what I think right, irrespective of what anybody may say or think. If the people don't want me they have only to say so." The secretary (Mr. Whitcombe) of the Education Board has been advised by the chairman of the Opunake school committee that the Rev. Mr. Hammond has withdrawn from the election for a member of the Board, for the Western Ward.. The election will take place on June 3. Mrs. Charles Nechter. one of the most heavily insured women in the United States, carrying £240,000, has made her fortune in Chicago real estate and in the department store business. The store, when she assumed charge, was a tiny affair, struggling along in an aimless way. It is now many-storied and covers much of a city block. An interesting experiment was made at Cherbourg, France, on April 5. An old boat weighted with twelve tons of lead (this being about the weight of a submarine) was sunk in the harbor and raised by special balloons covered with haircloth and indiarubber and protected by metal. The balloons when filled with hydrogen drew the wreck to the surface with ease.

In a letter' to the Borough Counoil, the Hon. Mr. Myers, Minister for Defence, notes with pleasure that it has passed a resolution approving of Mb ad-. ministration of the Defence Act. He conveys to the Council his thanks, stating that it is naturally gratifying for him to learn that his actions as Minister of Defence have met with such approval from all parts of the Dominion. Asked his opinion as to what would happen should the present Ministry he defeated, Mr. Newman, M.P. for Rangitikei, replied that it -would he a very difficult thing to forecast. Personally, he considered it was the duty of politicians to sink minor differences and aim at securing a strong moderate and progressive Ministry, and this could only he done by the obliteration of party lines as they existed before last election. A scathing indictment of the men who lays odds was made at the Magistrate's Court in Ohristchurch by Mr. H. W. Bishop, S.M., in a case where an alleged bookmaker was charged with betting on the racecourse. Counsel for the defence contended that, as defendant had given up bookmaking, he was not now a bookmaker, and he drew as an instance the case of a solicitor, who, having been struck off the rolls, was not now a solieitor. "The parallel does not apply at all," said the Magistrate. "The standards of regard in the cases of a respectable calling and of a disreputable calling are entirely different." BARKED YOUR'SHINS? Well, use Dr. Sheldon's Magnetic Lini ment. It will take away all the pain and stiffness, arid you will forget all about it. Price, Is 6d and 3s. Obtainable everywhere.

A Judge of the Supreme Court of Chicago ordered the inventor of a hair restorer to demonstrate the value of his invention by applying it to the head of a bald policeman. "We are living in the midst of a revolution as true and as deep as the French Revolution of the eighteenth century," declared Professor Wilson, in a lecture in Sydney last week. He said that it was an age of phenomena which most of us only half understood and many did not understand at all. Class consciousness in the worst sense was sure to eventuate unless we made a more serious effort to understand one another. One of the distressing conditions of this time was the suspicion and distrust with which certain of the more cultivated and richer classes were regarded by the poorer classes. An American firm of electrical manufacturers, in making a demonstration recently of the various ways in which electricity may be utilised profitably on a farm, fitted up a general water supply by means of an automatic electric pump, a water supply for irrigation purposes with a centrifugal pump, a refrigerating machine, a cream separator, a churn, an electric truck, a large threshing machine, corn shelters and chaff cutters, laundry appliances, milking apparatus, a silo, a sheep shearer, ventilating fans, cooking ievicei, and electric lighting. The generating plant consisted of a dynamo driven by an oil engine. "I notice," writes the London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, "that there is talk of casein-making plants being put up in New Zealand. Before that step is taken it would be well for the dairy people to acquaint them' selves with the present state of things regarding the output of that article. Some time ago there was a shortage of it, and plants were erected all over the world, with the result that the market has become flooded. Casein, used for industrial purposes, is only wanted in small quantities, and is easily overdona as to production, and this is the case at the present time. The price of casein varies according to quality and the country of production; it ranges from£2o to £3B per ton." The plight ,of the Victoria College, Wellington, through lack of funds, was impressed on the Minister for Education yesterday by a deputation from the Victoria College Council. It was pointed out by the deputation that the college differed from other institutions in that it had practically no endowment, and its income was derived from fees paid by the students and Government grants. The income from all sources was estimated at £OO7I, and the annual expenditure at £11,134. The Minister said that the matter of all universities was being investigated by Mr. Hogben, and until his report was forthcoming he was unable to commit himself. He was impressed with the strong ease that had been put forward on behalf of Victoria College. German writers are beginning to raise their voices against what they declare to be the rapid Anglicisation of Germany, particularly in Berlin and other large cities, which are simulating the ways of the English, adopting their methods, and learning their language. Some of the writers are taking advantage of the present anti-British sentiment to call a halt to what they declare to be the German inclination to ape England, one declaring that the people are absorbing English ways so rapidly that they are in danger of losing their identity. Few persons of the better classes wear scarcely anything but the latest English styles. One of the fashionable clothing shops in Berlin is called "The Prince of Wales," and another is known as "Old England," while many of the best hotels affect such names as "Windsor," "Westminster," "Bristol" and "Carlton." A Buenos Ayres contemporary reports that during the recent dock strike a laborer was working at a winch, when one of the strikers' delegates appeared on the scene. He called the laborer, and ordered him to leave work, in the most insolent terms. The laborer, becoming heated told the agitator that he was going on working whatever others may say or do. The agitator then pulled out a revolver and fired three times at the workman, without hitting him. A mounted policeman was attracted by the altercation, and on seeing the shots fired he spurred his horse on to the assailant and slashed at him with his sword. The blow was so powerful that the head was quites evered from the body, and the trunk and head Tolled in several directions. An ambulance was quickly in attendance, and the remains of the agitator were proniply carried away. Despite the fact that some two or three thousand young people passed the Junior Civil Service examination last year, there appears to be a considerable diffidence on the part of the successful candidates to accept offers of employment in the various departments (says the Wellington Post). The number of cadetships to be filled every year is considerable, and even at this early stage some eight hundred of the successful examinees, taken in order of merit, have been offered employment, and yet a sufficient number has not been procured. Some of those who have refused the offer have no desire to enter the servide; others from the country who have been offered cadetships away from their homes are averse to leaving the parental roof; and others, again, are desirous of continuing their education. It is not suggested that the position is serious, but it is significant that of the eight hundred or so whose names appear first on the list sufficient cannot be found to fill all the vacancies. . The Prime Minister (Hon. T. Mackenzie) maintains that the work of administration is not suffering through the frequent absences of Ministers from Wellington. "I can assure you," he stated, "that if we accepted ten per cent, of the urgent requests that are made to the Prime Minister and members of the Ministry we would never be in Wellington at all. There is an intense desire on the part of the people outside Wellington to see Ministers, in order to place before them the almost innumerable matters that demand attention. No less than twenty telegrams asking me to attend various functions within the next two or three days are to hand. Those are for myself alone; other Ministers are, I am sure, in much the same position. It is absurd to suppose that we are anxious to subject ourselves to the wear and tear of continual travel, especially' considering the enormous amount of work that has to be done in connection with the work of administration, but it must not be supposed that we are shirking our work when we move, about. We work every moment in the train and every spare moment at other times. The work goes on just the same, whether we are in Wellington or anywhere else." RELIEVED AFTER MANY YEARS. "Chamberlain's Tablets have been the means of relieving me of Indigestion," writes Mr. James Coffey, ex-stationmas-ter at Mentone, Vic. "I was for many years with the Victorian railways, but am now retired. In the rush of work there one is apt to neglect oneself and fly to all sorts of alleged remedies. In Chamberlain's Tablets I have found the best remedy I have ever tried." Sold by all chemists and storekeepers. For Influenza take Wood's Great Peppermint Cure. Never fails. 1/6, 2/8.

At the trial of Peter Musso, accused of robbery in New York, the speech delivered by the counsel was so moving that the prosecutor, the judge and jury forgot that Peter was present, and he walked quietly out of the Court, disappearing outside among the crowd. Oddfellowship is a big thing in Australia. The total membershfp (males only admitted) is 34,000; lodges in New South Wales number 2G6; total funds, £551,000; amount invested at 5 per cent., £317,683; sick jvy to members for 1911* £30,800; funemi donations paid, £ll,525.

The German Federal Council has adopted the draft of the new Nationality Law which makes the loss of German nationality more difficult, and its resumption easier than before. It is provided that a German living abroad who has not performed his military service before the end of his 31st year shall lose his German nationality. The total number of German emigrants in 1911 is stated to have been 23,500, as against 25,531 in 1010. The appointment of an outsider as Superintendent of the Dunedin Fire Brigade has aroused great dissatisfaction on the part of local members of the brigade, and in response to a protest by them the Board has decided to hold a special meeting on Monday. There were rumours that the men intended to strike, but they have given the chairman of the Board an assurance that they will not do so in the meantime. Inspector Hugo conferred with members of the New Plymouth Fire Board last evening with reference to the necessity of providing better fire-fighting equipment, consequent upon the Board's increased responsibilities now that the borough has been enlarged. The conference was held in committee, and it is understood that, as a result of its deliberations, it is proposed to acquire a motor fire-engine, besides generally bringing the whole plant more up-to-date. One of the most ingenious of modern smugglers has been trapped. A lady vrho travelled frequently across the Atlantic had a Belgian dog which was always with her. Not until many trips had been made did the Customs officials discover thai in addition to the shaggv coat provided for 5t by nature the dog had been furnished by'its owner with a second skin, formerly the covering of a larger animal. Under its artificial coat the dog carried a small fortune in diamonds every time it landed in New York. Several important land transactions have recently been brought to an issue in Auckland. Captain Langford's Tataraka farm, Northern Wairoa, has been purchased by Messrs. Mourie Bros, and Parsons for £3O per acre. A block of 13,500 acres in the Mangakahia Valley has been sold. The option of Yates' Parenga station, North Cape, has been purchased by a southern syndicate. This station, which comprises some. 70,000 acres freehold and 20,000 acres leasehold, is an isolated little colony in the far north. The properties involved total a value of £loo,oot. The news cabled the other day that the case of the Hon. Winston ' Churchill against Blackwood's Magazine for slander, has been settled, and an apology tendered, recalls an incident of General Buller's campaign in the South African war. Mr. Churchill, who was acting as a war correspondent, was captured by the Boers while walking along the railway after a skirmish in Natal, the Boers evidently regarding him as a combatant. He made a dramatic escape from Pretoria, and gained a reputation for brave conduct generally. His soldiering career commenced when he was 19, and today he is First Lord of the Admiralty, at the age of 37. He saw the Spanish campaign in Cuba, and served as an officer throngh the Indian frontier wars. In the Soudan campaign of 1898 he took part in the Lancers' charge at Omdurnian. It is pleasing to know that the cloud which had come across his military career has now passed away, leaving him even more to be respected than hitherto.

To the farming community the most interesting and the most educational event in the year is the Winter Show, and Taranaki farmers are looking forward with keen interest to the show to be held in New Plymouth on June 5, 6, 7 and 8. The value of such an exhibition has never been doubted, and its importance is recognised in town and country alike. Not only does such a show possess undoubted attractions from a competitive point of view, but there follows in its wake a social pleasantness, and farmers will have an opportunity of renewing acquaintances and making new friends from all parts of New Zealand. Friends gather round the stalls of exhibits, shake hands with genial good humor, and talk over stirring incidents of the past. The red-ticket badge of victory is ever present in the conversation. Those who have not entered their exhibits yet should communicate with Mr. Arthur Cliff, the secretary, at once, as entries close at 9 o'clock to-morrow night.