LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 308, 25 June 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. Mitchell, of Mangorei, with a view to improving the condition of wool, has secured a line of stud ewes from one of the best Merino flocks in the South Island. The inward Australian and English mails arrived at Auckland late on Sunday night, and will come forward by the Rarawa, arriving at New Plymouth this morning. The Carrington Road Cricket Club's ! annual dance will be held in the Carring- : ton Road school on Thursday evening next. A brake will leave the Bank of New South Wales corner at 0.45 p.m., returning after the dance. A piano that is attracting a good deal of attention just now is one recently secured by Mr. Hoffmann, of the British and Continental Piano Co. The instrument in question is of the famous Bechstein make, renowned throughout the world for richness of tone and wearing qualities. It is in a solid oak case, with steel fittings, and of the design known as the "mediaeval Engliih." Chinese Freemasonry is not as old ai the hills, but it is sufficiently ancient to boast a substantial numerical strength in Australia, Seventy-eight years ago the first lodge was opened in Sydney, and since the granting of the charter there have only been two Grandmasters. The present occupant of the chair is Mr. Moy Sing, who is in his eighteenth year. There have been four Grand Presidents, and the Jiolder of the office to-day is Mr. James Chuey. The membership roll in New South Wales comprises a total of 4000, while that of the Commonwealth is 12,000.

An accident of an extraordinary nature happened at the establishment of Mr. E. P. Capper and Sons at Maitland, New South Wales. Mr. H. E. Hughes, a resident of Braxton's, who had been making purchases, mistaking the exit, walked through one of the show windows, the doors of •which were open. He smashed through a large plate-glass window and fell on the footpath among the fragments of glass. The only injury he sustained was a deep gash in one hand, which necessitate 1 seven stitches. Otherwise he was unhu: fc. The glass in the window was a quarter of an inch thick. The Inangahua Times discharges an editorial broadside into the ribs of the Federation of Labor. It says, inter alia: "They have failed in their objects. No working man is richer by their action. Hundreds of working men are poorer. They have signed documents which their own members have consigned to Hades. They have taken hundreds of pounds from the Inangahua Miners' Union. Where has it gone! They have created out of the individual mine-owners of the country one strong, compact and formidable body. They have, through the Waihi blunder, lost the toss and have to take the bat on a bad wicket to the miners-owners' bowling. They have asked for disaster, and it is at hand. Their finance has been spent in travelling and organising—in fees and folly. The recent conference in Wellington cost anything between £IOOO and ,£ISOO. We follow in the footsteps of the Federation and find no good thing. In its wake we find ruined homes and districts unsettled. We find at the meetings of its followers bullies and arbiters and bruisers are the ushers. Speech is invited, but free speech condemned. Reason is appealed to, but free discussion is barred. Two thousand men take th« bread out of an innocent girl's mouth. Honor is set aside, truth is vitiated, patriotism is decried, civil war is inculcuated, enmity is encouraged. They arc not rogues. No rogue would be insane enough to wreak such wanton misery. They are fools, ignorant incapables dub themselves leaders of men." Thwheels seem to be running pretty hot down about Inangahua!

The recent Dominion Dairy Show at Haw era resulted in a net profit of £202. The tender of Messrs. Coleman and ' Sons, at £287, has been accepted by the Borough Council for the erection of a stableman's cottage in Lemon street. An adjustment of accounts with regard to that portion of Ilurworth riding now in New Plymouth borough, lias been arrived at at a joint meeting of thei committees of the Taranaki County and New Plymouth Borough Council. The adjustment has yet to be confirmed by the .respective bodies. Owing to the increase in telegraph business recently the Postmaster-General has decided to re-open the telegraph j school at Oamaru forthwith. A draft of twenty .boys (mostly telegraph messengers) from various offices in the Dominion will proceed to thaf place within the next fortnight. Mr. J). M. Mcintosh, of Masterton, has been selected as dn»peetor. The death of the peacock at Pukekura Park was reported by the curator to the Board last evening. It was undergoing a severe moult, which it could not overcome. He had written to two gentlemen with a view to s< curing another bird, as the peacock was always an attraction to young visitors lo the park. All the acquatic fowl were in an excellent condition at present. A remarkable instance of pluck and endurance has just been revealed in connection with the inter-Collegiate football match played at Athletic Park on Saturday. P. F. McCarthy, playing first fiveeighths for St. Patrick's College, had the third finger of .his left hand broken in the early stages of the first spell, but he continued in his place right to the end of the game, saying nothing about his injury. Even after the match he did not complain, and it was not until Sunday that the fracture, which was a bad one, was discovered.

i)ogs are officially banned from Pukekura Park-. It would appear, however, that, the much abused canine, or at least certain of his species, are not without their virtues. While not Wind to the scenic beauties of the picture, Mr. Corkill said that in viewing' the -film at the Empire Theatre descriptive of the Recreation Grounds, he was struck with the number of breaches of the by-laws of the park that were disclosed per the medium of the cinematograph. There were, he remarked, dogs by the scores to be seen in the picture, to which another member rejoined that they were there that day for a purpose. In fact, they were allowed in the grounds for the purpose of putting life into the picture. Another speaker put in word for the dog, stating that an Irish terrier recently accounted for a weasel and a number of rats within the park bounds. If dogs were totally excluded lie foresaw difficulty in keeping the pests mentioned in check. "I again regret to say," reported the curator (Mr. W. W. Smith) at last night' 3 meeting of the Pukekura Park Board, "that some unscrupulous individual has lately been helping himself to cuttings <jf the -rarer native plants in the park. Two young plants of the rarer Mexican agaves have also been removed from the bed. Three pots of seedlings of European leguminous plants disappeared last week from the back of the tea-rooms." In commenting on the mean-spiritedness of the depredators, members pointed out how hopeless it was for the caretaker to cope with the difficulty. In tile work of the sneakthieves the caretaker, it was mentioned,, divined the handiwork of professional gardeners. After, much discussion the Board decided, on the motion of Mr. Govett, that it was desirable that some .person should be appointed. to recover in a summary manner all penalties and forfeitures under the Taranaki Botanic Gardens Act. The appointment will be made at the next meeting of the Board. The question of the Maoris' proneness to chest diseases was mentioned by the Mayor of Levin (Mr. B. R. Gardener) to a reporter, who discussed the subject of tuberculosis in general with him on Saturday. Mr. Gardener said that without doubt the Government ought to at once handle the subject of the treatment of the Maoris. Anyone who took the trouble to observe the natives could easily discern their tendency to cliest troubles. From the insanitary conditions under which so many of them lived and from the way in which they neglected themselves, it was obvious that consumption was more or less prevalent among them. Of course it was hard to say the number that might die from the disease owing to the fact that they were not compelled to make registration of their deaths. The main objects should be to Bee that their surroundings were made healthy and that precautions should be taken to prevent the disease spreading among them. If compulsory examination of the whole of the native race in the Dominion were insisted on surprising fucts would confront the public. "Keep your eyes skinned," was the advice given by the Mayor, Mr. D. McLaren, to the working people of Wellington when Sipeaking at the Labor Party's meeting in the Opera House on Saturday night. Mr. McLaren said lie connived it to be his duty as Mayor to point out whatever he took to be an attack upon the rights of the people. Such an attack was now being made. It was a movement to endeavor to alter the municipal franchise and apply the system of dual voting instead of the principle of one-man-one-vote. An attempt, too, was being made to extend the period of office of those elected to borough councils, and there was also a movement to have Mayors elected by t'he councillors instead of by the citizens. People would be wise to keep this power in their own hands, and he advised them to keep their eyes skinned in regard to all these reactionary movements. The powers of the .people in local government and municipal affairs should all be retained, and any men found attacking them must be made to understand that others were alive to the situation. (Applause.)

The Government has just appointed to the Legislative Council three politicians whose ages aggregate 221 years. Each and every one of these men has given more or less useful service to the community in legislative and administrative capacities, but not one of them can bring to the assistance of the revisory chamber the alert and vigorous brain capacity which such a position obviously demands. It is not their faults, but the handicap which naturei nflicts, that this is the case. That the Mackenzie Government has merely followed precedent in making these appointments we are well aware, says the Wellington Times, but that does not affect the essential point, which is this, that if the Legislative Council is to effect any useful purpose at all it must be officered by men of outstanding ability and keen, alert and diseriminating intelligence. If precedent prescribes that the Legislative Council shall be merely retained as a rest 'house for bardv campaigners and men who have outlived tlipit usefulness, it will not be before an enlightened public opinion will dernand_ its supersession by some other institution, less expensive and more likely to give satisfactory results.

WIDE AWAKE BUSINESS MEN From Hip "RliifF to Auckland nro realisintr pvorv flay fhr> advantage of emplovincr tis. 'Hum- '.ret <?oorl work, prompt work. and "pnnnnMfal work. Cartinfj or fnrwirdwork, or pawls .le'iv'-rv—- '' iii-':.-* no difference —we exec! in all IIS know "'lr:l von -lone. ami hp sure it w' M vrr"iyp •vi, »< "\iip''t attention.—'Tli' \7 Vx("Vv., Ltd.—Advt.

Tlio New South Wales Cabinet has decided. to raise the minimum wage of unskilled workmen employed by the Government in the open, whose occupations compel them to Jose time during wet weather, to correspond with the increases which have taken place in the w.xges of skilled workmen, and with the increased cost of rent and living generally. TinCabinet decided that the present conditions justified the establishment of a minmran rate of «,ls per day, to take the place of Ba, hitherto recognised. When is a heifer not a heifer? This was a problem which took eoine elucidating at the Ekctahuna Magistrate's Court. One witness contended a heifer was a heifer until she was dried olf after the. first milking. Another stated the generally accepted term was that a heifer remained a heifer until after the second calving, and another that a three-year-old beast rightly came under the category of heifer. The S.M. quoted "Webster," whose definition of a heifer was a young cow, and the problem remained unsolved.

The greatest known depth in the ocean prior to the Planet's sounding as cabled on Saturday has been the Nero Deep, near Gwam. The depth there ijs 31,000 feet. The greatest heights above sea level and the greatest depths below are of the same order of magnitude—Mount Everest rising to 29,000 feet- The. area of the great depths at sea is, however, much greater than the area of the great heights on land. Above the height of 20,000 feet there is only about "12,R00 square miles of mountain country, while there is no fewer than 2,100,000 suuare miles of ocean bottom over 20,000' feet in depth. The greatest depth between Wellington and Sydney is about 10.000 feet. Near the Kermadees a depth of 80,#80 feet was obtained. Numerous Loyalist risings have takeii place in Northern Portugal since the establishment of the Republic, but little success has attended them. The Lisbon correspondent of the London Daily News wrote some months ago: The latest news of the Monarchist conspirators is that they have received a contribution of another million pounds and are reorganising their forces. "El Mundo" states that their present strength is 100 officers, about 000 men, and 120 priests. They are well armed, but it is not known whether they have artillery. The soldiers are paid Is 9d a day, corporals 2s 3d, sergeants 3s 2d. officers 4s 2d. plus a good bonus according to their grade. Amongst the Royalist force is the flower of Portui guese aristocracy, both followers of the dethroned Manuel and the pretender Dom Miguel, between whom complete union now exists. The Government have naturally taken all necessary measures although convinced that the Monarchists have not the least chance of success. What is stated to be the greatest depth man has ever gone beneath water was attained in the Bay of San Francisco a few weeks ago, when the submarine Carp, of the United States navy, with a crew of eight men, went on her trial 200 ft below the surface. Previous boats tested at this depth had no persons on board. The trial of the Carp was a scnastional one in all respects. It was intended she should stay below ten minnutes, but, owing .to a jlimbing of the boat's cable with a cable that had been used in lowering her, she was held down for an hour and a-half. The Carp re- | sponded to the searching test to the utmost satisfaction of the navy board. [ When finally she got loose from the cable that was holding her down she flew to the surface like an arrow from a bow, at an angle of 45 degrees, and leaped clear out of the water to half her own length. The navy officers who were anxiously awaiting her return feared that a tragedy had occurred on the floor of the bay, but it is stated by the lieutenant in charge of the Carp that there was ( enough air stored in the steel flasks to have lasted the crew for two months.

At the Firo Brigades Confeernce at Brisbane last week Mr. S. Mauger read an interesting paper on fire brigade work in Great Britain. He said that he had yisited eighty or ninety brigades l in Great Britain, and was much impressed with what he saw. Summarised, the main points of his observations were:—(l) The fine personality, bearing, address, character and efficiency of the British fire brigade; (2) the efforts to have standardised the various parts of all kinds of motor machinery, so that the exact part needed could bo secured without loss of time; (3) great attention to scientific fire prevention by fire brigade commissioners, municipal authorities, and other volutary organisations, notably the British Association; (4) payment of retiring pensions to officers and men by the London and Glasgow brigades, from ordinary revenue, and the efforts being made to extend the principle; (5) the attention given to tfte training, education, housing and general comfort of the rank and file of the brigade; (6) "right of way" given to fire brigades at all times and under all circumstances when proceeding to a fire in all large cities: (7) increasing use of Pompier gear for lifesaving purposes. A communication ftas iteen received by the Federal Minister of Defence) Senator Pearce) from the British Naval Office, recommending that the Commonwealth should use the improved type of aeroplane adopted in Britain for military purposes. The High Commissioner in London (Sir George Reid) has 'been , in communication with the War Office with regard to the calling of tenders by the Commonwealth for four military aeroplanes. The tenders have been received by the High Commissioner, and the Commonwealth Defence Department is awaiting a communication from him containing the recommendation of the War Office. Applications have also been received in Australia and Britain in answer to the Commonwealth's advertisement for two aviators, at a salary of £4OO a year each. Surprise has been expressed by aviators that so small a salary was offered, and it has been said that £4OO a year is the salary usually paid by an aviator to his mechanic. The Commonwealth defence authorities, however, do not appear to be very enthusiastic, although the aviator is destined to occupy a prominent position in sea as well as in land warfare. The avowed intention of the Federal Defence Department to abolish the kilt in Scottish regiments of the Commonwealth Forces has given rise to considerable indignation among Scotsmen resident in New South Wales. However excellent the reasons for such a sU;d, whether of economy or of safety in warfare, it is felt on all sides that to abandon a dress so distinctively national, so picturesque, and so surrounded with the best traditions alike of Scotland and of the British army, cannot be regarded with feelings other than of the most profound regret. It is urged, moreover, that for actual service the kilt might bo composed of a tweed of neutral tints, which would be both inexpensive and less conspicuous to the enemy. The strong feeling on this point found vent at a crowded meeting of the members of the Highland Society of New South Wales last week. A unanimous resolution was passed recording an emphatic protest against the proposed action of the Defence Department. It was further resolved (hat the Minister for Defence should b<> approached with an earnest request for the retention of the kilt under conditions which would meet all requirements of modern warfare. Per Children's Hiking Cough at night. Wood's Great Peppermint Cure 1/6, 2/7