LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 67, 6 August 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Yesterday was the coldest day experienced in New Plymouth .this'winter. The Tara-naki County Council yesterday decided to declare gorse, ox-eyed daisy, and foxgloves noxious w«eda within its district. lieicre jtr. A. Grooke, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, one fv ; t of!ending inebriate was convicted and discharged and ordered to pay for ciia hire. The tender of J. O. Russell, at £4 Os per chain, has been accepted fey the. St. Aubyn Town Board for the kerbing of about one mite of .streets. Mr. Russell balloted with S. Hurlstone, who also tendered at £4 Os per chain. The Turanaki County Council yesterday decided to support a resolution of the Kiwitea County Council that the present charge of sixpence on all bureau connectionis par medium of private telephones with a distance not exceeding 25 miles from the Government office used by such private lines, where such Government office is not a telephone exchange. be reduced to threepence.

Tt is apparently a risky thing to beitow praise on dogs. At a recent meeting of the Pukekura Park Board canino visitors to the park were being severely "keel-hauled" on account of their destructive tendencies, when an interjecting member .put in a good word for them, stating that they had accounted for more than one ferret and &unidry irajts. This was several wefeks ago, and it now appear that the canines were tihe recipients of misguided sympathy. It was reported to the board last night that during the last month clogs had burst through the wire-netting and demolished three -guinea fowls and partially accounted for a pea hen. A well-known nursery firm in Christchurch is sending six consignments of native plants to London by the lonic. These have been packed by expert packers, who have given extra time to the work, so that even those plants which are most difficult to. successfully land in England will have every chance to arrive in perfect condition. Included in the consignments are a great number of -crimson manuka, the plant which has created so much interest in English horticultural circles since it gained the gold medal for the best,new plant exhibited at the great International Horticultural Exhibition held in London in May last.

A year or two ago a newly-wedded couple who received a sunny day for the ceremony in accordance with a general forecast issued by the Weather Office, gratefully sent Mr. Bates a bit of 'bridal cake, and glowing words of thanksgiving. •Apparently (savs the Tost) he was regarded, as .personally responsible for the sunshine. In violent contrast with that gift came a little package on Monday from the Wairnrapa. A woman's hand had penned a remonstrance against the dreadful 'weather, painfully true to tin: specifications outlined daily by Mr. Bates, and she enclosed half a dozen liver pills in the hope that the result would lie a brighter outlook for Mr. Bates, and better weather for the Wairarapa. from the County Councils' Association that plantations should be exempted from rates was unanimously endorsed bv the Taranaki County Council yesterday afternoon. Several, members expressed the opinion that tlie Counties' Association should go on further and *>ncourago people to plant hedges fronting the roadside by exempting the land taken up by them from payment of rates. Hedges 'were, it was explained, of distinct protection to metalled roads, when they ware on the right «sid« of the road. Cr. Hopson, in approving of the idea, feelingly remarked thiat the valuer had put £4O on to the value of (his property because lie had made it a little more ornamental. According to tilre chairman parts of the country -were practically useless for anything else but -planting. It was also mentioned that blackberries could mot thrive under, pinus insignia trees. (Nor will (anything else.)

S One of the finest features of newsI paper advertising is the facilities that i are .offered for changes. If a tradesj man advertises in an lalmanac or a directory, or on a railway station hoarding, ; there the same advertisement rennvins until it palls .upon the public taste and loses all attractiveness. Of course, if the subject that is advertised is something of world-wide consumption, such as certain pills, cocoas, mustards, patent i medicines, etc., then changes are not required. But for the average retailer to allow his advertisement to remain without changes is quite a mistake. If lie gets new and attractive lines of goods to sell lie can, if his advertising be in newspaper form, at once change his advertisement and announce his new goods. If he is advertising in almanacs or hoardings' he cannot announce his new goods. Well, if he is advertising oil hoardings he can change, but only at a prohibitive cost. Without a doubt the local newspaper of any town affords the very best and (most remunerative methods of advertising. It pays tradesmen to support their local newspaper,, or newspapers.— Wise words from the Eltham Argus, A writer in the Saturday Evening Post of Xew York has been industriously compiling figures in connection with the cost of running opera in America. The outlays -mentioned are those incurred at the Xew York Metropolitan and its allied enterprises in Brooklyn and Philadelphia. Il.v the end of the season recently concluded, according to this authority, the 1 total expenses worked.-out at something like £340,000. The average cost of each performance is estimated at £IOOO. The salaries of thirty-six artists are put at £7340 per week; those of nine conductors at £500; the orchestral players—including ''"extras" and stage band—receive £l4O-0; the chorus £(T00; the ballet £180; while "scenic, and wardrobe" expense* are estimated at ,-£2OO. The same writer is responsible for the statement that Caruso is paid £440 for each appearance; Tettrazzini £360; Destinn, Geraldine Farrar and Leo Slezak £240. Olive Fremstad, Johanna Gadski, and Maurice Ilenaud, £200; Carl Burrian and Carl .Torn £l5O. Pasquale Amato is said to receive £6OOO for seventy appearances and Kiccardo Martin £4OOO for fifty. For each performance of "La Boheme" Piie- ; cini's publishers, it is added, claim £7O; for "Tisca." and "Butterlly" £80; and I for the "Girl of the Golden AVest" £IOO.