LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 78, 19 August 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

•)'.'■■■■- I A cowboy a£ Santa Monica, California eaw a workman fall off the pier head with a heavy wheelbarrow. He lassooed the man,, anil hauled him and the wheelI barrow out again. . I The ' two: prisoners who escaped from Point Harwell "on Wednesday are still [at liberty. As yet there is no clue to ' their whereabouts. A large number of : men are still searching. Members of the North Taranaki Hunt Uitb met at- Stratfurtl last Thursday, and,' were- subsequently entertained at the homestead of Mrs. Richmond. Next Thursday's, meet.will be hold at'Opunak,e. In the evening the Hunt will be entertained at a social. A[t a large and representative gathering , of delegates of local bodies held at Maijterton on Saturday a strong deputation was .formed to wait upon the Prime Minister' and urge the. claims of Wairarapa to the agricultural college to be Established in the North Island. A great volume of smoke arising from the.' neighborhood of the oil wells yesterday morning caused a rumor to be circulated that No. 5 bore had caught fire. The smoke, however, was the outcome of a quantity of oily matter accumulated on the beach being set fire to. According to the Sydney Daily .Telegraph of Augiut 1, in view of the high prifces current for fat sheep, a movement is |on foot to endeavor to arrange for a eoijplo of good-sized shipments from New Zealand. There is an import duty of 25,. and an inspection fee of Is, but desp&e these charges and freight there should be a payable margin at the prices ruling.

An astonishing series of pictures taken from a hydroplane in flight is the latest cinematograph sensation now being shown in London, It reproduces for the armchair spectator all the aviator's pleasant sensations, and none of the unpleasant ones, and was made by a Pathe photographer, who undertook a number of trips with M. Renaud on his Farman at: Monte, Carlo.

Mr. W. R. Tuck has offered to back W,' Webb against Barry for the sculling championship of the world, if expenses are forthcoming for a similar amount. It is an open secret that Webb showed a few of his -supporters a trial over two miles, which demonstrated that he was as .fast as on his best day, and he looks as ,well as ever. Had Amst brought the title back it was fully intended to have another match with him. but what will happen now is hard to say. A Wellington telegram states that at a meeting of the Wellington branch of thej New Zealand Journalists' Association on Saturday evening it was unanimously resolved to register under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Officers were elected and the rules drawn up jby the Dominion conference of the association representatives were adopted. A resolution was passed endowing what had been done by the Dominion conference, and heartily thanking the members of that conference. During Hie voyage from Sydney by the Tahiti, which .irrived in Wellington on Thursday morning, a heavy m-,t. camo over the bows, which threw W. Mason, an ordinary seaman, with soli force that his 1. ft thigh was broken About half-a-ilozen of the crew were on the forccasllc-hcad on Monday m"-uing making fast the ventilators and ether movable gear when Iwo mountii-ums head seas approached the vessel. The Tahiti rode easily oyer the- fir-T. ' hut she "scooped" up the second or- over her bows. T(. is estimated thst thirty tonsof water swept over the foreoiislle-head The men were hurled iu all directions, but managed to save themselves from going over the side. Mason was washed under an anchor. The broken limb was set and put in splints by Dr. Bavis, ship's surgeon, and the injured man was placed in the ship's hospital. All /if the men received minor injuries. On arrival at port Mason was transferred by the ambulance to the hospital.

The Empire Theatre has seemed a picture that has just taken Europe by storm. It is a colored drama entitled "Love in the Tropics," and will be shown on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next. The Hnwera Chamber of Commerce is co-operating with the other Tar-anaki public bodies in urging upon the Minis-, tor of Hallways the authorisation of ten miles, at least, of the proposed MoturoaTe Roll railwav.

Purebred dairy cattle are to be judged on a new system at a great show to be held in British Columbia. 'The plan, which has been tried experimentally at Chicago for two years, will, it is thought, be adopted by all the Canadian provinces. The judging by the new method is by points, 50 point's allowed for conformation, -lo points for records of ancestry, and 23 points for records of progeny, the latter being made up of five points each for daughters qualified for admission to the Canadian Record of, Performances. Three groups of cattle will compete for a champion trophy awarded in this way and offered by the liritish Columbia (iovernment. These are Hulsteins, Ayrshire*, and Jerseys and Ciiern.seys, for each of which groups there will be class prizes awarded in tin: same way as the trophy. An interesting announcement regard- i ing Sir (ieorge. White's real reason for remaining in Ladysmith during the Boer war instead of retiring on the Tugela, is made by Mr. A. E. W. .Mason, the novelist, in a letter to the Times. lie states that the explanation why the. reason was- not made public before is- that Sir -George White acted up to the creed that' 'it is not part of a soldier's duty to defend himself from criticism." ,lt appears that he had been warned that if he retired from Ladysmith it would be the signal for a rising of the Zulus and the Kaffirs against the Whites, which •\vbUld have added to the horrors of the war; and would have resulted in the murder of thousands of settlers. 'Tie had neither time ni>r opportunity to test the warning," writes Mr. Mason, "and the authority of the source from which it came was .indisputable. From -his point of view it left him no alternative. He had, 'been through the. .Indian. Mutiny. . vn.l strategical grounds he would, have sacrificed his material and retired. 'On grounds of high' policy he remained, ■ kno'wing well the risk he ran, but counting it small in comparison with the risk which ho avoided. There has been ,tu interesting meeting between two Essex centenarians. On one side of the pleasant little town of Rillericay there lives at Downham, Mrs. Brooks, who has attained her 100 th year. 'On. the other side, at Little Burnstead. 1 resides Dr. Elgin- Jones, who is now in his HKJrd year. The Rev. C. E. F. Ratciiffe. the rector of Downham, took Mrs. Brookes to .call upon , Dr. Jones. Although living so near they had not previously made each other's acquaintance. Dr. Jones is unfortunately confined to his, room, but Mrs-. Brooks is in the best of (health, and she insisted upon walking. . upstairs unaided. A Press representative saw Mrs, Brooks a niontji or. two ago, and saw her looking the picture of health and in the best of spirits. She has completed her century quite recently, . and on the morning of her 100 th birthday she received a congratulatory letter .from' the King. "I have lived under six sovereigns," said Mrs. Brooks, "but this is the first time I have been honored with a communication from any of them. 1 don't know who let the King know abbut my birthday." When talking to ; Mrs. Brooks it is difficult to imagine that she has reached this great age. Her 1)1 tie eyes flashed as she talked to one. Heir hearing is as good as ever. "I can ser; without glasses to read and sew,"-ghe isaid,-"although I admit I have taken to spectacles when I want to thread my needle."