LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 195, 7 January 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The County Council yesterday passed a motion congratulating the' ValuerGeneral (Mr. Campbell) on his appointment to the secretaryship of the uryIntending competitors at the Taranaki Lawn Tennis Association's Tournament at New Plymouth, are reminded that entries close next Monday. Entry 1 forma can be had on application to tlie secretary, can- of Messrs. Webster and McKellar's office. 11l tiie Magistrate's Court yesterdav, David Morrow Crozier was charged with having been found drunk in King street on January 4, it being his third offence within six months. The same defendant was also charged with having obtained liquor during the currency of a prohibition order. The accused admitted the first oflcnce, pleading in extenuation that it was Christmas. On the first charge he was sentenced to seven days' imprisonment with hnrd labor. As regards the second charge, the defendant said the hcer was given to him in wood faith from a private house "to so liome with." The donor was not aware that lie was prohibited. He pleaded ijuiltv. and a fine of 20s with costs 7 S was imposed.

1 During 1912 the total amount of Cus« I toms revenue, exclusive of beer duty, ' received at the Port of New Plymouth' was £48,449 9s 7d, compared with £47,386 for the preceding year. The victims of the ptomaine poisoning outbreak have practically all recovered". One or two of the cases were somewhat serious, but they are now happily out of danger The demand for ice creams has diminished considerably since the outbreak, of which they were the cause. Mr. W. A. Jury, who is running the new mail service between Waitara and Awakino, proposes to put an additional coach on the road so that residents of Urenm and northwards can get in to catch the 9.45 a.m. train for New Plymouth, and also get back again the same day with a coach leaving for Urenui after the arrival of the evening train from New Plymouth.

The local boy scouts are doing excellent work in keeping in order the bed ol flowers, bordering and ornamenting the road adjoining the racecourse. That there are people in the community meaa enough to take advantage of the boys' public-spirited efforts was shown the other day, when a couple of people .calmly proceeded to pluck a bunch of flowers apiece from the beds. They would have denuded the beds of the flowers altogether had it not been for the timely intervention of a scout who happened to arrive on the scene during the plucking process.

And how many drinks did you have " enquired counsel of a witness for the other side, with playful suggestiveness. Jinough to make me sociable," was the reply in all seriousness. "Do you have to get drunk before you are sociable," persisted 1 counsel, but, not to be lead the -witness held that his first answer sufficiently explained itself. When asked how many drinks he had had, he answered somewhat ambiguously: "More than I can tell you." Was counsel to presume that he had had more than he would like to say, or, on' the other hand, that he was unable to estimate the quantity? At this counsel, realising the hopelessness of the situation, left it. Nothing seems to dishearten theaf trood Templars. In spite of reduced attendance through the holidays and rain, the Egmont Lodge met as usual last evening Bro. L. Pepperell, C.T., called the Lodge to order at 7.30 p.m. Miss trnmley, who was working in Good iemplary here about 18 months since, wiote to the Lodge that she was busily engaged in various parts of England 1 , and that at least one convert she had made to Good Templarv was now on his way to New Zealand.' The entertainment fpr the evening was a basket social, which induced brisk bidding by the brothers to be followed by brisker eating by both sisters and brothers. The New Zealand Templar was distributed during the evening, and its contents discussed. It was further agreed to make every endeavour to make the coming visit of the Grand Lodge a success; also • . thfi Juvenile Committee should meet in the Lodge room on Friday next. Ihe Lodge closed at the usual hour. Among the prospects for 1913 the New Zealand producer may, it appears, reasonably include the possibility of a reduction in freights on produce carried to the British markets. The recent tendency has been decidedly upward, due to the growth of trade between distant countries exceeding the growth of available shipping. For Australia and New Zealand there seems to be some ground to anticipate that this condition will be reversed in the year just 'born. According to Mr. Austin Wilson, special trade commissioner for the port of Hull a keener rivalry for the carrying trade ot Australia and New Zealand is immiMail contracts are falling out, and in spite of the ease with which freights can be secured in other parts of the world it is only reasonable to expect that shipping lines hitherto excluded from the profitable long-distance trade of Australia and New Zealand will readily seize on an opportune time to bid for a share in a trade which is not for to-day but for the years to eome. and which is certain 'to show enormous expansion.

The Stratford Post rubs it in:—ls it not time Eltham wakened up some? A few weeks ago the local fire brigade entered a team for the competitions at New Plymouth, hut they were rather late in sending the entry along, and were allowed to compete only through the generosity of the management arid the competitors! About the same time the Eltham Argus discovered for the people of the "concrete town" that their much-prized station, which had been raised a grade a few weeks before, had been badly side-tracked for years, wherebv the residents had been much inconvenienced in the matter of their goods traffic and were blissfully unconscious of the reason! Again, the cadets down there are a keen lot of fellows at the game, and they practised assiduously for months with the intention of competing at the Christchurch military tournament, but once more "the 'bus," or, rather, "the post," was missed! Now' however, comes the unkindest cut of all. A southern contemporary does not know that the biggest 4hing of the kind in the world (mind you) in the way that axemen's events is held at Eltham, and it gave the kudos to Wellington! As the axemen say: "Get a move on. mate!"