LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 120, 8 October 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A second express train is shortly to be put on between Wellington and Auckland. The new train will depart i're-m each terminus at about midday. The Prime Minister states that the offers of tire various companies or syndicates with regard to the dev-elopnusit of tlie iron industry in New Zealand are still under the consideration of the Government. Tlie usual fortnightly meeting of tlie Loyal Egmont Lodge, 1.0.0. F. M.LJ. was held last evening, Bro. .1. Morrison, N.O. presiding. Qwing to counter attractions the attendance was .rather sparse, Three candidates (two females and one male) were duly initiated members of the Lodge, and one candidate was proposed for membership. The usual weekly session of the Hope of Egmont Juvenile Temple was opened •by the Chief Templar Bro. Thompson at 6.30 p.m. with the Superintendent in attendance. The programme, set down as "Recitations," was gone through, proving rather lengthy. Next week the children are to be treated to another of the series of lectures arranged for by the Superintendent. Replying to a question by Mr. H. Okey (Taranaki) the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. ; ¥. Massey) said that arrangements were being made for butter manufactured from whey to be exported under a separate! brand-from "creamery" : butter. Care would be taken to see that "who}'" butter if exported would be known as such, so jus not to interfere with or affect the high standard of New Zealand made ''creamery" butter. A violent gale was. experienced in various parts of Central Otago on Saturday night. A steamer en route from Kingston to Queenstown had to shelter in one of the bays, and did not i-eaoh .the latter place till nearly midnight. At Arrowtown roofs were blown off outhouses,, and in one case a verandah was blown' over. Heavy rain fell on Sunday and the Molyneux river rose consideTably. It washed away a portion of the main road at Miller's Flat. The, committee engaged, in collecting records of the early settlers of the district will in future be known as the Research Committee of the History of Taranaki, with the Mayor of New Plymouth as permanent 'chairman and Mr. W. Humphries secretary and treasurer. Siibjeet to their consent, the following person's have been added to the commit tee:—Hon. Thos. Kellv, M.L.C., Mr. 11. Okey, M.P., Messrs. T. C. List, W. T. Jennings, Newton Kin,'/, W. J. Penn, T. Hamerton, J. S. McKcllar, W. L. New■laud. The committee has extended its functions for the purpose of collecting historjeal data of the foundation of Taranaki from the inception of the Pfymouth Company, and collecting photuxs ,and-,records of all those who were prominent in its progress during its minority-

A statement regarding the- success of the New Zealand' cadets now visiting Canada was made by the Minister for Defence- in the House of Representatives 'on Friday. Mr. Allen said that he had ■received) a cablegram from the New Zealand agent at Vancouver stating that the New Zealand troop had now six champion cups out of seven, and so far as the code message could be understood some other cups, and hud secured fourth place in shooting. "It will be very grati- . fying to ,the House; and to New Zealand generally," Mr. Allen remarked, '"to know that our budding manhood lias been able to compete with the budding manhood of other pails of the world, and come out so successfully. (Members: Bear, hear!) It justifies us in-sending the cadets and in sending the extra • number."

The usual weekly session of the Egmont Lodge, No. 112. was opened last Might by the Chief Templar Bro. ¥. li. Pepperell. Three members were 'initiated into the Lodge on clearance cards, two from Waitaua and one from lnglewo'od. A progress report was received from the •committee in charge of the Urand Lodge Reception. During the evening Sisters B. Legg, E. Reid and I. Connett. \v,ere presented by the Rev. Hales with the prizes 'won at the recent recitation contest. At eight o'clock the Lodge was "thrown open to friends, of whom a large number gathered. The Rev. It. J. Liddell occupied the chair, -ami the following programme was rendered, being greatly enjoyed by all present:—Song, Rev. Bro, Peat; recitations, Sister B. Legg and Sister 11. A. Reid; song.. Mr. iTunbridge; recitation, lit v. j!\ Hales; song. Miss L. Stewart: recitations, Rev. Bro. .Peat and Sister L Council; song. Mr. Tunbridge. Supper was handed round by the Sisters.

Last year the Tua'anaki County Council expended fSO in the purchase of the eggs of small birds deemed lo be a nuisance to farmers. This fact was mentioned by the Clerk Olr. R. Ellis) at yesterday's meeting of the Council in stating that the Government Auditor had tagged the item, Councillors were divided as to whether the money would not be better spent on the road.-. The small hoys, it was explained, who engaged in the lucrative pastinw> <>f eggoollecting were somewhat unscrupulous in their methods of dealing with the Council. Not content with liar vesting the eggs in the Taraimki County they made a practice of sending to the Council eggs gathered in N'ew Plymouth and in the Clifton amd Stratford' County Councils. Cr. Stevens also explained how the boys "farmed" the birds, bv extracting two or three eggs from a nest, and then waiting for the mother-bird to lay a fresh batch, and so on. Cr. Hopson proposed that twopence per dozen be paid for eggs this season, but the Board decided to hold the question'over in order to look into the matter of the legality of the payments. In the course of a letter to the Pnkekura Park Board the Hon. 0. Samuel vigorously .sets out his reasons why the Park should not be given over, not that it is proposed to do so, to the control of the Borough Council. "The present Board," he remarks, "consists of men specially selected for their ; ersonal love of the work and suitability to perform the special duties, whilst the Council arn selected for municipal work at large, and in particular for constructing and managing streets, buildings, sanitation and public, works generally, which I am sure tax the time and 'ability of the Councillors to the utmost. Moreover, any body which has to levy and collect rate's directly from the people, and. withstand constant pressure by the public to expend the rates in special localities, and special works, must inevitably fail in any attempt it may make' to secure voluntary contributions from the public. Against any advantages by way of income derivable from the Council'by mison of the change of management, not only therefore would the manasremeut in my opinion be, .by comparison with the present management, most unsatisfactory, but the voluntary contributions received.by your Board would practically cease, and the Canlens be pecuniarily also losers. Id„ not know 'how vou would feel, but T feel sure that ratepayers as a rule would refuse to contribute. Personally (and T like yourself contribute annually---last year' I cave £2i> and the year before £."if!) 1 s.kTmld give nothing if i] m rnsl of the Canlens were defrayed out of the rates, and its management vested in the Borough Council. Whilst to lose ianv pecuniary aid from the Borough Council would be deplorable, I do not think that the result would be as disastrous as would be that of displacing (lie Board and relegating the Gardens to the Borough Council."

The receipts from the Invereargill electric trams service for the first week of the operation of the complete system amounted to £2OO, which is a record for tie eerrice. On an aerial railway which an English syndicate is constructing in Colombia to connect Manizales with Marquita, over a distance of forty miles, the greatest height at which the eable will be carried is 10,000 ft. A commercial man in the Pahiatua district informed a Herald representative that the price for pigs, especially •stores, has shown a steady rise of from 20 to -25 per cent, during the last two or three weeks. Letters threatening his life have been received by the Hutt Borough Council ranger (Mr. A. Mills), and at the last meeting of the Council it was decided to point out to the writer "that the Council would not tolerate any threats or interference with the ranger!" Mr. C. L. Longnet, chairman of the Southland Navy League, has been advised that the Canadian Cadets will arrive at the Bluff from Australia on October 21. The Inveireargill branch of the Navy League is arranging to entertain them in conjunction with the Trafalgar Day celebrations. In connection with the salvage work of the Star of Canada, Messrs Langlands and Co. intend to employ bags of clay in filling up the holes in the bottom of the'ship. The holes will be boarded oyer and the bags of clay placed about six deep all round and on top of the holes, thus preventing the. water from flowing into the vessel. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals could make some fine "scoops" if it had an officer stationed in the vicinity of Belt road and Gaine street. The road'is : very soft there, and not only have horses to pull fairly large loads through the day, but many of them are unmercifully thrashed to inspire a greater effori Tho | Ghristchurch office of the New Zealand Shipping Company has .received cable advice that annual meeting of shareholders will be held in London on' Octobdr 15. The directors will recommend the payment of a dividend of 8s per share for half a year, making 16s i per share for the year. After placing £3OOO ,to the insurance fund, £21,550 will be carried forward. '

A cable message received in Palraerston states :,— "A better demand is prevailing in the butter market for lines of the very best quality. The price of Danish butter in London to-day (October 31) is 130s to 1325. The demand for Canadian cheese continues slow, and stocks'are not diminishing as, rapidly as expected. The price of choicest Canadian cheese is 04s to 665."

Instead of going to the ballot box in the ordinary way as one goes to the totalisator with a desire to back the winning horse, an elector should go with the knowledge atod conviction that what? lie was doing would exercise'an influence for good on every man, woman and child in the Dominion, remarked one oi the speakers at the meeting of the Trades and Labor Council on Friday night. The proprietor of a business in Waipawa strained his wrist one afternoon of last week. On the same day one of his assistants cut her hand badly, and another slipped coming down the shop stairs and sprained her ankle, while his male assistant gouged a piece of flesh from his hand while opening a box. The remaining employees wore 'quite a worried look by closing time, evidently feeling it might be their turn next.

AVha't is a coae.li? This question sorely perplexed the 'Taranaki County Council yesterday, and it had to seek the assistance of a solicitor, w.ho defined it as follows: —"A coach for' the purposes of this part of the by-laws sh-all mean and include any four-wheeled vehicle plying for hire with passengers and goods at intervals of not exceeding seven days, between any particular points in the County, or between any borough -and County, provided that the distance travelled .over the County shall in each case exceed seven 'miles." The Council adopted this definition, and incorporated it in the new by-laws which were adopted in toto. The annual license fee for coaches was fixed at £lO, after an amendment by C-r. C. Andrews in favour of £5 hail been rejected. The object of the Council in securing a special definition of coaches was to "rope in" the conveyances plying for hire between Opunake and New Plymouth. Waitara and New' Plymouth, and Inglewood and Tarata.

It is a perfectly outrageous thing that members of Parliament should he allowed l,o j tamper with the reports (says Frank Morton). It would not be tolerated in any State of Australia, nor in any country of Europe. Our New Zealand methods are often peculiar, but our method of dealing with Hansard is more peculiar than most. Some day I mean to amuse myself by publishing side by sidi> what memtars actually said and what Hansard represents them as saying. The difference will be found to be father tremendous. Mr. Massey is a reformer. Here, then, is an abuse he may with great advantage, reform. If members are to be permitted to write the reports of their own speeches, there is no justification of the expense and trouble of a Hansard staff. If we are to have a Hansard staff it should be allowed to do its work accurately, untrammelled.

Old settlers at Kaimiro still love to tell of an old monarch of the forest—a veritable giant —and never cease to mourn its wicked destruction. Speaking of its proportions to a News representative last week. Mr. Harry Peters said it was -22 ft through. About 30ft from its base there was sufficient room between three of its branches to build a small cottage. Tourists from all over the world came to view it when visiting New Zealand. Then one day it was without warning ruthlessly burnt down by men engaged in forming the road on which it stood. The tree stood opposite where the Kaimiro post office is now situated. Mr. Peters treasures what he believes to 'be the only piece of wood cut from the tree now extant. Fe has embodied it in 'an inkstand bearing the inscription, "Ninety-six links in circumference four feet above ground. Nil rut down in 1884." "I feel," remarked Mr. Peters, ''just as sorry as if I had lost a friend. Tt was one of those things' which can never be replaced."

One cow is nothing much to the number—more or less—in Tarauaki. One cow off your herd is something to you —if you lope it. Many a farmer has lost cne through neglecting some small ailment. Arc you neglecting anv ailment with s-.v.iT Vrd? If so see'SYKES, THE FARMEKS* CHEM'ST.—Advh Canadian patriotism has never been in doubt, because this Dominion has on numerous occasions displayed its strong loyalty to the Mother Country. Now Canada is to build three super-Dread-noughts to be placed at the disposal of the Admiralty. This magnificent gift equals in intensity the loyalty of the ladies who consistently drink Crescent Tea, the tea that is wholesome and good, and that pleases the palate at ail times. "Done up" after a day's work? "(.'imp Coffee" will alter that in a tick, with next to no trouble or expense. Just "Camp," boiling water, milk and sugar, that's all. 12.