LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 296, 11 June 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

One orchardist of Hastings has no less than fifty-two tons of apples in pits at the present time. According to a London cable, Marcus Cotton, a Birmingham jewellery merchant, won £IO,OOO in the Calcutta Sweepstake. A gentleman from the West Coast of the South Island told an Age reporter on Saturday that business on the coast is very dull just now, and hundreds of residents are leaving for other parts of the Dominion, and for Australia. Mr. M. L. Holah has kindly placed his Krit motor car at the services of the Entertainment Committee of the Taranaki Cycle Road Race during the progress of the euchre parties and dances being held in: the various towns around Mt. Egmont. The Bell Block Dairy Company has been very successful with its exhibits of butter at the winter shows this year. Last week it added another win to its credit by securing the points prize at the Waikato Show. The pri'zc (a gold watch) goes to the manager of the company (Mr. J. Rutherford), who has just received a. congratulatory telegram from the society on his success.

The Temuka News chronicles a kindly act. Two men, one a sailor, the other a resident o'f the town, got on "tile spree" together and landed in the lockup. Result, convicted and discharged. The sailor did not have a penny on him, but the other man had 7s Gd, and he, gave the sailor Gs Gd to help him on his way, keeping the shilling for himself (all the money he had). The News remarks that considering the men were total strangers to each other the assistance so willingly rendered to a brother in distress was all the more commendable.

The Rev. Father O'Connor, preaching at the 9.30 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick's Church, • Napier, on Sunday, rather startled some of his growing-up young friends (says the Herald). In announcing certain banns for the third time, he. said he regretted not having a fresh couple to announce, and he wanted to know the reason for the backwardness of the young men. He said there were young men in the parish earning good wages—aye, far more than their fathers earned when they got married and set up housekeeping—and he wanted to know why- they were so long "companykeeping." With the wages earned nowadays he did not believe in long "com-pany-keeping," and he warned his young friends that if they did not come and request the banns to be published, he would publish them himself! Such a threat coming from a pastor so loved and revered has caused considerable' consternation among certain young people. Almost every day there is a report of some new activity in maritime circles engendered by the approach of the completion of the Panama Canal, and as often as not the plans include provision for ships to Australia and New Zealand (writes the San Francisco correspondent of the Post). The latest announcement is that the well-known Holt Line has under construction eight new liners to be operated through the canal, two of which will be for the Australasian service. These latter will be vessels of 12,000 tons and about 600 feet long. They will have excellent passenger accommodation, well suited for carrying passengers from Europe to the Antipodes. The other steamers, it is understood, will operate between Great Britain and the port of San Francisco. Other forftign lines that are also said to be preparing fleets for operation through the Panama Canal are the Harrison Direct Line, the Maple Leaf Line, and the Danish East Asiatic Company. "Legal tender" writes:—"Re the banker and the £1 note transaction. You ask some friend to tell you what has been lost on the transaction and by whom. The answer is that £1 has been lost and the loss falls on the banker. He paid a debt of £1 by a fraudulent note and thereby placed it in circulation, which ended in his receiving the £1 note from his washerwoman in discharge of a debt of £l. He. is the last holder of the counterfeit note, which is valueless. He cannot recover from any of the temporary holders, and it is highly probable that his butcher would sue him for attempting to pay a debt with a counterfeit note. The butcher could have demanded legal tender, that is, a sovereign or twenty shillings. Even a good note is not legal tender, but I suppose the butcher accepted the note as good on the reputation of the banker. The banker acted very foolishly. He ought, as a good citizen, to have handed over the note to the police to find the ovrner."

There is every indication that there will be a scarcity of dairy stock in the coming spring. Buyers from other provinces have already taken big drafts of heifers, and the number of herds that have already been disposed of privately is also evidence of the keen demand. Messrs. Judd Bros.' sale at Tariki on the 17th inst. will afford those in search of first class dairy stock an opportunity, which they will be wise to avail themselves of. Messrs. Judd Bros., by heavy culling and careful selection, have got together a herd which now-a-days is seldom offered by public auction. .The combination of the Holstein and Jersey strains undoubtedly has resulted in a breed of cows that, for quantity and quality of milk, have proved to be of the highest productive value and fully justify the favor with which the cross is regarded by many experienced dairymen. Besides the Holstein-Jerseys there are also a few very fine Ayrshires, and with the heifers and yearlings, which are particularly choice, makp a very fine muster of dairy cattle, especially as all have been well done and are in first class conditon. No fewer than seven millionaires went down with the Titanic, and the approximate extent of the wealth of these millionaires is as follows:—Colonel Astor £30,000,000, Mr. B. Guggenheim £19,000,000, Mr. T. Strauss £10,000,000, Mr. G. D. Widener £10,000,000, Colonel W. Roebling £5,000,000, Mr. J. B. Thayer £2,000,000. Mr. Jonkhur J. G. Reuchlin is another reputed millionaire, but the amount of his fortune is unknown.

On Monday last week about 250 prisoners assembled in the Auckland gaol chapel to hear a lecture on "Charles Dickens" by Mr, Horace Hunt, who chose as his theme the "Christmas Carol" and gave four scenes from that inimitable story. The lecturer was followed with the closest attention, every point of the narrative being evidently appreciated. This is not the first occasion on which Mr. Hunt has addressed the men in prison, and his love of Dickens has induced many of them to borrow his books from the library and to become bettor acquainted with one of the finest writers in the English language. On behalf of those present the chaplain expressed thanks to Mr Hunt for his kindness, and the singing of "God Save the King" brought the proceedings to a close.

FEI/T SICK AND DIZZY. 'Tor two years I suffered from headache, caused by liver disorder and irregular action of the bowels," writes Mrs. Jane Royes, Eavenwood, Q. "A few doses of Chamberlain's Tablets quickly rolinved me, and after taking them regularly for a short time my liver was in perfect order, and I was no longer troubled with sick headache. Now if T feel a little bit out of sorts I take a dose or two of Chamberlain's Tablets, and am • prv mon nv.'sPif nin " Sold ►jy a:

Two feet of snow surrounds Lhe North Egmont Mountain House at present. We have to thank Mr. 11. Cole, of Westown, for a box of the apples that scored so well at the Winter Show. A Gazette Extraordinary was issued yesterday, summoning Parliament for thi despatch of business on Thursday, June 27. At its meeting last night the Stratford Borough Council decided to instal electric radiators for heating purposes in the Council Chambers. The public r. venue for April ami May, 191-2, amounted to £1,347.14!), compared with £ 1,205,278 for the corresponding months of last year. The railways revenue increased by £103,250, land an income tax by £3848, and Customs by £8282. A peculiar golf accident took place at Ilythe recently, when a player drove a ball through the window of a tramcar that was parsing near the links. After hitting a woman passenger with some force on the cheek it bounced olf into the lap of another passenger. The secretary of the New Plymouth Amateur Boxing Association has been notified by Captain Lampen, of the 11th Regiment, that officers of the regiment and officers commanding cadet companies in the Taranald area are being asked to obtain entries for the postponed boxing events. The entries, which will have to reach him not later than June 12, will be subsequently forwarded to the New Plymouth Association. "If I milk on 50 acres," said Mr. W. . D. Pqwdrell at a farmers' meeting at Hawera on Saturday, "I would not have a machine on the place." Thereupon one of the farmers present; rejoined, "Leave the machine alone; if I only milked ten .cows I would use machines." Mr. Powdrell admitted that milking machines had been a contributing factor to the rise in the price of land, but he held to the opinion that the owner of a herd would get greater profit by having his cows milked on two-fifth shares than by buying and paying depreciation on machines. The old vicarage premises in Robe street have been completely renovated in order to house; the New Plymouth branch of the Girls' Friendly Society. A large room, replete with piano, books, and other furnishings, is to be utilised as a club room for members. With the opening of the premises a long-felt want is to be supplied by providing luncheon from 12 to 2 o'clock. A cup of tea will ) always be obtained for a very small sum. The five bedrooms in the building will be let. either furnished or unfurnished. The kitchen has also been refitted on up-to-date lines. The home will be formally opened as far as members and associates are concerned this afternoon. The public are invited to visit the home on Thursday.

Trams received brief" mention at last night's meeting of the Borough Council. "I should like to ask your Worship," remarked Cr. Ambury, ''when you propose to discuss the tramway question." People, he added, were getting very weary of the delay,. The Mayor replied that there should not be any worry, as he had some time ago distinctly given the people to understand that no scheme could be proceeded with until the Greater New Plymouth scheme had been put through. He was getting further information from a gentleman who had recently arrived from England. The Tramway Committee would meet soon to discuss what scheme should be put before \ the ratepayers. The Council would liot, however, take the latter step until the Minister's assent was obtained to the St. Aubyn-Moturoa amalgamation petition which had just been despatched from New Plymouth. Taranaki is the first district of New Zealand to take advantage of the great possibilities of trade in frozen meat with the sister Dominion of Canada, to which attention has been drawn so often by Mr. W. A. Beddoe, the Canadian Trade Commissioner (says the Auckland Star). The Zealandia, which sailed for Vancouver last week, took 711 bags of beef and 40 quarters of beef, and this is the first shipment of any size, apart from sample lots, which has left for the Canadian port. Considerable interest is being taken in the consignment, and the result will be eagerly looked for by pastoralists. The ship' also took 80 boxes of butter, and it is rather remarkable that the market for this commodity has kept up so long, the Canadian spring being now well advanced. Probably the admirable quality of the New Zealand article has kept up the demand so late in the season. In addition to the meat and butter shipments, the vessel took 309 bags of hides, and 35 bundles of sheep-skins, 2CO bags of peas, and a small lot of potatoes and onions.