LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 84, 26 August 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A rather severe shock of earthquake was felt in New Plymouth early on Sunday morning. Having offered 26s a week for a ledger clerk, a London city firm had 723 applications by the first post. X sitting of the Conciliation Council will fee held at New Plymouth on, September 26 to hear the plumbers' dispute. meeting to form a New Plymouth branch of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society will be held in New Plymouth to-night week. According to statistics published in an English journal recently, there are at the Tokio Women's Medical School several hundred candidates for the degree of M.D. According to special statistics which have just been issued the aggregate debt of the world is £7,842,402,400. Of all nations of the world the little principality of Reuss, in Germany, is the only State without a public debt. On the motion of Mr. Quilliam (Govett and Quilliam), letters of administration in the estate of the late John Searle have been granted by Mr. Justice Cooper in the Supreme Court to William Searle and John Thomas Searle, two of the sons of the deceased.

[l r - Bond, the roads inspector, and the | ' oca ' riding foreman were on a visit I of inspection for a suitable site for the i stonje crusher, and chose a section at ■ the junction of the Koru and Te Kiri I roads. There is therefore hope of our roads. There is therefore hope of ■ liav L ing metalled roads at last in the Koru district.

Last week's meet of the North Tara t naki Hunt Club 'was held at Opunake, and was an outstanding success. In the evening a complimentary social was tendered to the club in the Opunake Town Hall! One result of the club's visit to Opunake has been a donation of £25 to its funds by the local residents.

The large attendance at the Sunday meetings of the Sew Plymouth Brotherhood, continue undiminished. At'yesterday's meeting the speaker was Dr. Home, who discoursed interestingly on "Personal Help." During the afternoon a violin solo was rendered by Mr. Symes, of the Empire Picture Palace, formerly of the Government orchestra at Rotorua.

Mr. J. Bennett has donated a silvef cup and Mr. B. Tippins two 'hunting crops to the Tai'anaki Circular Road Race Committee for one of the Hunt Club's events, which will be held on the racecourse on the afternoon of the race. The committee motored round the course yesterday, when they made arrangements for feeding the competitors en route and other detail matters.

Recently while standing in his father's yard at Ashburton a youth named Cecil Stringfellow suddenly felt a pain in his left shoulder. On investigation a small bruise was found' with a little blood oozing from it, and a hole was found in ( his clothing corresponding with'the position of the injury. This led his parents to believe that he had been shot by a pea-rifle, but as no sound was heard, and as the lad was standing in the open with the nearest fence more than a quarter of a mile away, the affair is shrouded in mystery. Yesterday afternoon a motor-car owned by Mr. C. L. Curtis, of Outfield, collided with an electric light pole at the Eliot and Courtenay streets intersection, in avoiding a collision with another car coming in the opposite direction. The pole, a wooden one, was snapped in two, and now hangs supported toy the wires. Curious to relate, the. car escaped very lightly, the axle simply being bent and the radiator damaged. The' occupants of the car were tossed out on the road, but practically uninjured. The noise of the impact was considerable. Mr. Curtis could not see the other car until ihe was almost right on it. The majority of the members of the Auckland police force do not appear to ■welcome the idea of the new military uniform which it is proposed to issue as the old uniforms wear out. They conrider that the present jumper is the most workmanlike and equally as smart as the new uniform. The substitution of the helmet for the shako is, however, generally welcomed, as it will afford better' protection against all kinds of weathers. Members of the force consider that the helmets and uniforms should be issued <at the same time, as they are of opinion that with a new uniform and an old shako they would present rather an incongruous spectacle.

"A survey of improvement in Australian mortality during the last 30 days,'' formed the subject of an address by Mr. G. H. Knibb (Commonwealth Statistician) in Melbourne, the other day. "There was only one country in the world," said Mr. Knibbs, "where the death-rate was lower than in Australia, and that was in New Zealand. The Australian. infant mortality had decreased from 130 per thousand in 18S0 to 112 per thousand in 1905, and to 71 at xhe present time. The record was quite phenomenal. Statistics showed that the great danger to child life occurred during the first five weeks. It was very remarkable that, -whereas the mortality from tuberculosis had been enormously decreased, that from cancer had correspondingly increased, until quite recently the number of deaths from cancer had overtaken those arising from tuberculosis. The statistics, however, showed that, whereas middle-age was the time of life at which people most often died of tuberculosis, the mortality from c;mcer went on increasing.

Members of the Equitable Buildinc Society of New Plymouth (First ami Second Groups) are notified that subscriptions will be due and payable Inday (Monday), at tile Secretary's Office. Currie street, from 9 a.m. to 12.30, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. — Advt.

During the couse of his sermon at St. Mary's Church last evening, the Bishop of Auckland referred to the question of introducing the Bible into schools, on the lines of the system in vogue in New South Wales, which lie warmly ad; vocated. He asked New Plymouth to give the rest of Taranaki a lead in the matter. The question should, he submitted, be referred to the people on a referendum, as in the case of the licensing question. He asked the congregation's ' support to achieve this end.

The strike fever seems to be contagious. An amusing incident comes to hand from one of the outlying districts not many miles from Greymouth. A number of men working at a sawmill clubbed together and decided to strike for higher pay. They took the bull by the horns, and while the mill was in full swing put on their coats (says the Grey River Argus), the strikers thinking the mill must stop. However, tlic strikers were sadly disappointed, for within three hours they were replaced by other workmen. The aspirants for Red Federation fame left the scene of their exploit sadder but wiser men. Bishop Crossley, Anglican Bishop for the Auckland district, arrived at New Plymouth on Saturday. Yesterday morning he preached at the Te Henui Church, while in the afternoon he held a confirmation service at St. Mary's. In the evening he delivered an impressive sermon in St. Mary's before a crowded congregation on the passing of Elijah and the coming of the Christ. The Bishop will remain in New Plymouth to-day, leaving for ■ Okato tomorrow, and also visiting Warea at 7.30 p.m. the same day. . He will be at •Okato again on Wednesday, and at New Plymouth the following day, leaving for Auckland on Friday, after having spent a fortnight in Taranaki. King Alfonso of Spain, the Queen and suite will (says -the San Francisco Chronicle) come to California next fall and pass the winter in that country and Mexico, according to a definite official announcement. The monarch is coming to the'new world with the primary object of forming a closer union between the Latin countries, and it is understood he will officially visit all those Governments both in North and South America, ,so that an alliance of far-reaching importance may be the-result. The Latin countries to the South: object to what they term usurpation of the name "America" by the • United States 1 , and their protest may be voiced through the Spanish King if he can bring about the unification desired. • The President's wife has a definite legal status in America, and strict rules are laid down for her behaviour during her husband's term of office. The lady of the White House must not accept general invitations, and outside of the Cabinet circle cannot attend a formal dinner in Washington. Away from Washington she may dine .'with anybody she likes. There is an unwritten law which allows her to walk through a quailrille with a high official, but no lady of the White House has;, ever been known to whirl in a waltz. In the event of her widowhood the law confers upon ner a yearly pension of 5000 dollars a.nd the franking privilege. ' Two ladies—Mrs. Garfield and Mrs. Grover Cleveland—are in enjoyment of this State recognition at the present time. In negotiating the awful Ohura main road during the winter months Tom Moore has to call up all his practical knowledge of coaching in the backblocks. For instance, a few nights ago the mail was late, but knowing that "Old Tom" is possessed of rare grit, the • people were confident that he would battle through somehow. About 0 o'clock he arrived with the mails packed on the coach horses. The vehicle was left behind at Toi Toi, where the pole was broken. After delivering the bags at t|ie office, Tpm went back, cut a sapling from the bush, and with this as a temporary pole, was able to hitch up the : horses and bring the coach to the township, reaching there about 2 a.m. A few | hours later he, was off' as usual on tno thirty .miles trip to Ongarue.—Taumarunui Press.

There have been several rebuttals of Mr. Thomson's (DunediA South) statement in the House last week that the whole of New Zealand's bituminous coal would be exhausted in i>o years. The latest comes from a good authority respecting the undeveloped Coal measures on the west coast of the .North Island. He says that the Mokau Estates Company, has 20.000 acres of ric-h coal-bearing country. The seams being worked there now l are five feet thick. There are two scams opened ' up, and prospecting has proved a third to exist. They overlay one another, the upper one being lignite, the second semi-bituminous, and the third an excellent cooking coal. He states that there is sufficient coal there to supply the South Pacific for hundreds of years, and that it is wrong to allow the impresison to go abroad that New Zealand's coal supplies are nearly exhausted. Coal and iron exists in abundance, and private enterprise only awaits State encouragement to establish large industries on lines profitable to the people of the Dominion. _ A bright and well-written little publication in the shape of the New Plymouth Girls' High School Magazine has just come to hand. The magazine, with which is incorporated "Te Kura Mounga" (the official organ of the Old Girls' Association), comprises 29 pages of matter of interest to present and past [ scholars alike, and two photographic reproductions, one of which is of the late Principal, Mr. E. Pridham, M.A., of Trinity College, Dublin. The magazine is published for the first time as a joint publication, in the absence of a school magazine, part of the w<srk of the present girls having been done in the past by "Te Kura Mounga," the Old Girls' Magazine. In addition to editorial matter, the magazine contains a comprehensive article on technical work and the cooking classes. The Taranaki Scholarships are reviewed under another heading, and perhaps most interesting of all to the younger generation are the chronicles of the various forms, some of which are set down in a racy and entertaining manner. Domestic science becomes the fashionable topic of the day wherever girls and women are to be educated, and the column devoted to domestic science is therefore very apropos. Most interesting are the pages given to "The Daily Work of a Typiste" and "Chips from a Wood-Carving Studio." Chatty notes are also to be found on the Reading Club, the Picnic, and the various branches of sport. A feature of that part of the magazine devoted to the Old Girls are three specimens of verge, comprising "Legends -md Traditions" (by "Riro-Riro"), "Paddy" (by "Gaudeamus"), and an ambitious poem by "Neptune," entitled "The Great Omnipotent." "Recollections of the Hill.' "A Back-blocks Dance." and personal items all help to make this publication well worth perusal. Life is full of pain and trouble.

Arduous toil ami ceaseless rave; Pleasure hut ail empty lniWo. Vet we seek it everywhriv. Though of sorrow we must liorrow, Needless colds we won't Finding solace ere the morr-w. In some Woods' <lr«»at T > -ppormint Cure'. _ fi You will he thankful tint th"re. is n Drench like Sykes's. That i* U r<m oime try it. Tf you have mv.- " 1 ■' •< l 'Ont it—ask your neighbor. TT-- <' ''' '"""w if it saved any cows of hi- 1 ~ ••• vir>W. hut it saved a lot of cnv- " lot of ldnces, and in quite a lo 1 ' i: rnes. PYKKS, THE FATOIET! c " r«K*TST.Advt,