CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 200, 13 January 1913, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE YANKEE WAY.

The growth of the »on-housekeepinp lialut m New York has brought into existence a most elaborate system of residential apartments, which'are as unlike the average London Hat as could be imagined. Rents of these apartments run l, ?Jn - iIS ln " cl ' ils £IBOO ;l vrar. while i.OOO is an average price, and .€l2O is the absolute minimum. One of these ''apartment houses" has its own park and is, in fact, built round the park' Another boasts of its beantifmlv arranged conservatories. A separate la.indr* equipment is provided for each tenant, Mass partitioned cabinets for the storage not of old china, but just hats in eyery-day use are provided in another o.these dwellings. A private refrigerating compartment is offered as an°iiiducement in one house, while another announces thai every apartment i„ Ul(1 house is provided with filtered hot .old and iced wafer.

GOOD FARMING.

A gentleman who knows the land of Taraiiaki pretty thoroughly informed the ]\ews the other day that it will not he long before the land in the Tikoraim district will have ae great a stock carrying capacity as the best land in South Taraiiaki. He instanced the paddocks of one! progressive farmer there who already was feeding as many animals as lie could do on an equal area on the Waimate Plains. This improvement has been brought about by the systematic treatment of the land with manure and ploughing. As a matter of fact, the Tikorangi land is carrying now double the stock it was seven years ago. And it has not reached, its full carrying capacity hy any means. With the methods that are used <hy the progressive men of this locality the land will yield greater returns every year. The climate is genial, it is kissed throughout the day by the sun, the soil responds immediately to treatment, and, what is of some importance in these shifting days, the farmers

are satisfied to Btay on their holdings and make them their real homes. GOOD BURNS. Farmers in the new country behind Uruti have had good burns this season. What with good prices for wool and mutton they are in great heart. It is safe to say'that the prospects before the fanners of the province, be they in sheep or dairying, were never so ! right as they are at present. PROLIFIC CROPS. Forty-five bushels of wheat 'to the acre is good for Australia. This is what portions of the Riverina di-trict in New South Wales will (according to the cables) produce. Some years ago a Taranaki man, n former resident of New South Wales, visited the Riverwia and

with a friend purchased a block of land. That season they had a prolific yield. The return paid for the land, the preparation of the land, and all expenses. This is what big wheat crops and big prices mean to the Riverina.

i AMBASSADORS' SALARIES.

Mr. Bryce, in resigning his post at Washington, resigns also .UIO.OOO a year, a sum which probably gave rise to Sala's phrase concerning special correspondents, that they have the "salary of an ambassador." ' On the other hand, the late Mr. Whitelaw Reid had to represent the. United States in London on a salary of £3500. Mr. Reid's predecessor, Mr. Choate, used to declare that £IO,OOO would scarcely cover the expenses of the office. An American biographer tells how a man was found wandering in the dead of night around Tralfalgar Square by a kind-hearted constable, who recommended him to gV> home. "Home?" exclaimed the wanderer, "I have no home. I'm the American Ambassador!"

A MYSTERIOUS AIRSHIP. The English mail brings us the report of a discussion which took place in the House of Commons a few weeks ago on the subject of an airship, or aeroplane, that kid passed over Sheerness at night. Mr. Churchill stated, in reply to questions, that he could not say if this machine were an airship or an aeroplane, hut it was a foreign craft and did not land. He was happy to say that Great Britain had many naval fliers who could fly over the sea or across country at speeds approaching 70 miles an hour and upwards. In reply to Mr. Joyson-llieks, the First Lord of the Admiralty admitted that Britain had no airship equivalent in. size or power to a Zeppelin, or any airship capable of travelling at the rate of GO miles an hour.

TERROR TO DAIRYMEN'. The Act affecting the work of dairymen lias now a. provision that fills them si'j] with terror. It is that when the case is considered a fitting one, the Magistrate may order that the offender and his fault he published in newspapers circulating through New Zealand or in any particular district. When certain cases regarding the quality of milk were before the Court at Christchurch, the inspector asked that," as it was desired to assure the greatest help to the public, this provision should be brought into play with all second offenders. As the cases were all adjourned, it is not to be known yet whether the extreme course will he followed. Afterwards the solicitor for one of the parties said that he would rather have the maximum financial penalty than publicity, as complete ruin would be almost sure to follow.

DUTIES OX LUXURIES. Tobacco is taxed to the tune of over half a million a year in this small community. It is taxed "as a luxury"—because it is a 'luxury. AVe have never been able to fathom the reasons for this levy on the public's smoke. The notion that the tobacco tax hits wealthy more than poor people can only be entertained bvythose who are prepared to deliberately close their eyes to all the facts. The bootmaker earning 40 odd shillings a week may be a heavier smoker than the millionaire wool-king, and has a perfect right to be; but the tobacco tax docs not affect both alike, to say nothing of extracting a larger payment from the richer man. In the one case, the tax come:-; to an appreciable percentage of the payer's income; in the other it is as nothing. The idea that heavy duties on luxuries relieve poor people from taxation is a large popular fallacy.—Wellington Times,

BOVRILISED BIOGRAPHY.

"Massey, Hon. William Ferguson, Prime Minister of New Zealand, "a. s(i' Is an 'lrishman, who came to New Zealand forty-two years ago; is a typical 'settler,' who from small beginnings has acquired a modest competency. Amon<* other experiences of a varied life he 'followed on the plough' for two years as a farm-hand on the well-known Lonwbeach estate in Canterbury. Is now the owner of a successful dai'rv farm north of Auckland. Entered Parliament 1894, and became leader of the Opposition 1003. and Prime Minister 1012. Is not distinguished for tactics, not even for tact; but shrewd common-sense, a happv gift of speech, and an unblemished honor make him a worthy successor to the Fitzgeralds, Eollcstons and Atkinsons who guided the colony's affairs in past days." Thus the Daily Mail Year Book for IMS, which has an enormous sale throughout British dominions and the United States, "Jbovrilises" the career and character of Xew Zealand's Prime Minister.

POPULARISING THE' MOUN(TALXv Everyone who has made the trip will admit that for spending a week-end there are few places so unique, enjoyable and health-giving as the Mountain. With the new house and the road in good repair the trip can now be made In comfort. The cost of the trip, however, has been an obstacle to its popularity anion" the class of people who do not possess the purse of Fnrtunatns. For some time past that alert hody, the Expansion and Tourist League, has been endeavouring to arrange for a cheapened service, and we understand they have succeeded in obtaining a tariff from the livery stablekeepers that will bring the Mountain within the reach of all. Tt is intended to institute a week-end vehicular service from the town, leaving at 2.30 on the Saturday afternoon and returning from the Mountain early on the Monday morning, giving trippers Cue whole of Sunday and Saturday evening at the. Mountain resort. The stable-keepers have agreed to a charge of 12s fid per head inclusive, and 10s if the conveyance returns on Sunday evening. Tt, is probable the League will guarantee the service for a certain period. We would suggest that the hostel charges also be reduced so as to make the charge for the wliole trip a guinea. A cheap rate like this, being within the reach of most people as it is, should attract a steady stream of visitors in the summer months to the incomparable Mountain.

AUCKLAND TTTTC WONDF/RFTTL!

Auckland is a wonderful place. Tt is the first citv in New Zealand, if not in the whole of Australasia: its harbor is the "dateway of the Pacific," and the finest in the world from a scenic viewpoint; it shelters within its gates the best footballers: the whole of the east, coast, even to Gisborne, not to speak of the Waikato. the Ohura, and the great roadless North, comprise its back-yard and act as feeders to it. Tn fine. Auckland in IT, in capital letters, and the

rest of the Dominion, at leant, in Us estimation, is of little consequence. It is a case of Auckland first, Auckland see- | ond, and Auckland all the time. This is the idea that its newspapers are for ever conveying and propagating. And it is little, wonder the people have become so parochial in their outlook. The papers claim everything as belonging to Auckland; if they cannot consii-t.ent.ly do so. they lie low and say nothing. A oa<e in point. Some beautiful falls have recently been discovered in the Tangarakiiu district—the Waitaanga Kalis, they have been named. Of course. Auckland claims them as its own. Two excellent photographs of the fall-; appear in the Auckland Weekly News, and under them is this inscription: "Still another great tourist attraction in .the Auckland province!" The fact that they are in the Taranaki district—as a matter, of fact they are hut 17 miles as the crow flics from Tongaporntn —does not matter to Auckland. It is so used to claiming and purloining everything that is worth while that a. little thing like this iR neither here nor there, to it. Tt has already laid claim to the Mokau and Mount Messenger, and it would not surprise us to read before long in its illustrated journal words like these at the foot or pictures of ML Egniont: "Still another tonrii-t attraction in the Auckland province!"