LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 219, 4 February 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■Ml'. I'. (bible. Of (Hulto. Ilil, be, ,| appointed toll collector at I'uiiiho tollgate. A restaurant ]ini|)rii'i.or at Bilbao, Spain. rewarded a chatiU'eur who returncd hint a bag containing .C:570. which Inhad lel'i in the call, with a ticket for a meal at a charily soup kitchen. An enterprising tobacco company in Newcastle has made arrangements for the delivery of goods in surrounding towns by means of an aeroplane. The machine will he. capable of carrving a load of 2(l(llb.

Polls are shortly to be taken at Taurauga and Ohakune for loans in connection with drainage, electric light, and street improvement works. ,\(, Ohakniie a loan proposal for a wafer scheme will also he placed before the ratcpavers.

The Fitxroy h'ire Brigade will be represented by the. following at the U'angaiiui demon-fraiion: firemen I. Area, 11. -Jenkins, K. Tanner. A. Cnlsou It' Haw. 1!. Kibbv. Deb-atr: Seeretirv It. 11. I Sell ringer. The Taihsipe < ::i\ ~,,,ndi lit nf the Auckland Stir writ: ■: The I'owern Ciiurch was destroyed on Monday afternoon by being struck by lightning. The spire of the building v.;:, ..bsrrved to be alight immediately ai'h r a Civid display of lightning, and within a short lime (lie structure wn, totally destroyed.

On Sunday week a lire broke out in (be lion. W. I'. Massey's residence at Mangere (Auckland). The outbreak at lirst looked serious, hut in the end was coiiliued to the kitchen, where it originated. This room was gut led. The building was fully insured, but (here was no insurance on the furniture.

"I do not understand why women will persist in coining into these courts and chattering.'' said Mr. kove, N.M., indignantly, at the f.'lebe Police Court. Svdney. last week. "Do stop those people lalking! Do anything with (bent-put them out into the street. Whv don't they stay home and cook their huVbands' dinners?"

During December the Kanpokoiiui Dairy Factory Company paid out £17.0.">2 iw for butter-fat, The total amount of milk received was fl,l 14.7(12 11). and the butter-fat produced totalled 341.157 Hi. Among the largest cheques paid out were the following:—£.'i72 Ss (id; £4.'{] \j< Kid; £42:1; £441 (is Id and £2:.!) !!.-, 2d. An efl'ect of the recent shooting case in Melbourne is that there, has ■been a largo increase in the sale of revolvers in Australian towns. Kver since the mruihcr of burglaries increased, eighteen months ago. a much greater number of firearms than usual have been sold, but owing to the scare produced by the Filzroy murder ihe sale in Sydney lias risen enormously. A leading gunsmith stated that nearly "i per cent, of his customers are purchasers of the handy and easilyportable revolver, the favorite pattern bring the Belgian make. He also said that during his twenty years' experience li>.' could not remember when the trade in firearms had been so brisk before. Another gunsmith stated that in one week he bail sold as many automatic revolvers as he would ordinarily sell in three months. He was of the opinion that the increased sales were the result of the alarm caused by the Melbourne outrage.

"AVhales caught in cold latitudes are certainly the better fish, but the same applies to all fish," said n seafaring man the other day in the course of a discussing about whaling and other sea pursuits. The difference due to climatic differences in temperature, in the edible qualities of lish. was said to be very noticeable even in the case of blue cod caught in the Cook Strait sounds and those caught in Foveaux Strait. The latter were the superior in quality and richness of flavor. The fish caught in cold climates kept longer, and that, it was asserted, accounted for the fact that lish caught at. Stewart Island could be k< pt for a much longer period than those caught on the plentiful fishing grounds at the Chatham Islands. An exception to the rule existed, however, in respect to lish caught al the Camphell Islands. Fish are very plentiful there, but they are so soft, and pulpy in substance as to be practically inedible. As the climate is cold there the fisb should, on the contrary, be linn in fibre and appetising in flavor. 'the softness of those li-di is attributed to some peculiarity in their feeding resorts.

Soin/' fnither information is published in ilic Auckland Herald rcoavding flic of Mrs. Forsyth, at Okerc, near Itotorua. it appears' that the lady was fishing with hoi- husband about 8 o'clock in (he evening, at a ]inini where the current sets very strongly through a narrow channel. She slipped on a rock, mid was precipitated ''.iff, -'•-> river. Her husband insfanf.lv wen! in al'fev her. and .succeeded in reaching licr.. Ip. foii-rht wiih flic current to ,-a\" her mifil' lie was eoniplerely exhausted. .\, they were both sinking. Mr. Ramsay, auotiier of the lishing party, reached ihein. and succeeded in grasping Mrs. I-"ov-=vHi. He endeavored to support her. but eventually he was unable to retain his hold, and lost her in the darkness. Tt is now clear. I'rom the medical evidence fhal, .Mrs. Forsyth must, in licr gall, have .struck her head and been rendered unconscious at the moment .she entered the wafer. She- neither cried out. nor spoke, ii'if was she able to render any assistance at any stage of her attempted rescue Mr. l'orsylh and Mr. Kamsay were ea.tight ill an eddy and drawn to the bank, where, with great diflieullv. thev extricated themselves. Hut for this circumstance more than one life niitsf. have been losf.

.flic Lorenzo Marques ein-vcspoiHiiMit of flu- Transvaal Leader wiitcs:--\Vha( is called (he "missing Jhik," in the person <)l "-lack Melville," a young chimpanzee which fins just fallen into the hands of -V linisoni. of the Beach Hotel, Lorenzo Man ( nes. will ,hurtle appear in Johannesburg for a brief season. .lack L now onh e!e\i'n niontlis old. yet, he is as '■lever as a. human being much, older lhaii In' L now. and is >o iulel'igenf and s o promising a youngster that in days to come, when he has been propeiiv itiiiticd. lu> will he capable of doing almost anything (iiat a human being is ii'ile lo accomplish. Jack was caught "i I lie hinterland of Sierra Leone, and was disposed n f lo the captain of the 'steamer Melville, iheu at: Sierra Leone. 'l'!"' captain ami his crew soon found thai .lack could be made to do almost iiiiyihiiig but speak, and on the arrival <>f the .Melville (be other day at Lorenzo -Mar,,,,,.,, he was sold to Mr.' linusoiii for 'i-iini of am). .\io.st people would say flint, tin's was an excessive price for a mere monkey: but Mr. linisoni is not "t Mia I o])iui, m . as he consider* Ihat •lack is more intelligent now than the famous chimpanzee "Consul-' ever was although the latter was born in eapli;'iiy and might, therefore, he expected f " ''<' more adaptable (o civilised ways •'ml milnm>rs (ha,, Jack. Lt is considcr- ''<'. however, that Jack is in every sense I he superior ~f •■Consi,!," and that if lie ;l"es not. <:u\-iy •!„. w-orld that, he is ll<c -uiL-nng link." ~o olher mom k, -y Wl " ever do so. At present he is "ndpvilt i„ l„. i; , h |. !,„,, ~r i, .u l aml 1)lns . cular and ,„ !i is garments of civilisation. <> which he lakes to the manner born. he i* .ins! a playful, mischievous youngster, yet obedient withal to the vleVe of nnihoriiv. This «mi= B i„ £f link" to '1,:.,,;, , M ,i before he Plains Hie arc of maturity.

file asimunoii Borough Council' ha* decided to confer wit!, the County Council Willi a view l„ A.shburton bein.r represented at the Auckland Exhibition.

JJimng January (i.(i,S indies of rain fell in New Plymouth, as agaist 2.0!) inches in January. 11112. The maximum rainfall for one day was 2.0-1 inches on New oiir's Da v.

Complaint wa.- made by several Councillors at yesterday's meeting of the Tnranaki County Council thai, .some of the valuations in the Moa Biding were not' high enough. As the upshot it was decided to n-k the Valuer-C.encral to explain how certain valuations in the riding were arrived at.

The opening „f the New Plymouth High School to-day will usher in a new departure ill the shape of separate ,-chools for hoys and girls. The whole of the school building proper will be occupied bv the bovs while the girls will be located in the late Air.-. Capel's residence. Devon street, next to Dr. Wylic's. The accommodation in only temporary, the ISoard having in uiind the erection of an up-to-date school for girls.

Schools in the Taranaki lulucation District re-opened yesterday. At the Central School .").")(I scholars put in an appearance, and they will ehortlv be supplemented by a number of children who are at present, a war on holidav. In tile inf.vjH school in Ci.nrlnev street the roll call showed an increase of 22 compared v ith this da\ last year. Some l.w children were moved n]i to the Central School yesterday, leaving 100 on the inlants' roil. Safisfaclorv attendances were also recorded at the West Km!, I-'itzroy. and Kranklev B oa d Schools.

The Coventor was tlio. gueist of the New Zealand Club at luncheon in Wellington yesterday. His Excellency spoke on the absolute necessity of sea power to a nation that has oversea dominions, lie gave an interesling outline of the development of British sea-power from thp day* of Pitt the Younger, "The o T ent, Commoner" and the. true founder- of British supremacy at sea, to the state of affairs to-day, demonstrating from'the lessons of history, the necessity for the. maintenance of the dominion'over the sea.

An up-to-date tar spraver has been imported by the .Borough Council and has already undergone .successful trials in Vivian street, opposite St. Mary's Church. The apparatus consists of' a. large, portable, boiler with a capacity of 150 gallons of tar, which discharges'into long pipe, connecting with a sprayer. The tar is heated to a'temperature suitable for spraying, and pumping (bv hand) and spraying proceed simultaneously. 'lhe tar is ejected throu»h the pump on to the surface with a force of (iOlbs to the square inch, forcinn- the tar into the ground. This makes for an even surface and a lasting job, and, as IB anticipated, a considerable reduction in cost compared with the old system bv winch the work was done bv hand. Die machine is being used for'tarring footpaths, and excellent results are being achieved.

Mr. J. C. Da vies writes anent mountain safeguards as follows:—'Referring to the recent accident on Mount Egmont it might be of interest to relate an incident that happened to myself and Mr Holdsworth, late Chief Postmaster here! AVe paid frequent visits to ihe top of ihe mountain, and on the ascent, at about -)D()fl fed. we noticed a fog comin* in from the north, and, thinking we might have to go through it on the return, decided to blaze the track by placing bits of a weekly newspaper under a stone at intervals of five to ten vards., It was fortunate that we took (bis precaution, as on the descent we had to pass through a dense black fo"•'['•l l»ck -up ih<~ (rack by means of the '"is of paner. Newspapers are useful sometimes!"

•Should the boats on the lake be available for hire on Sundays? The knra Park Board had the question betore it hist night. Mr. Harris Ford opposed the idea, but the Mayor (Mr (! \\. Browne) did not see eve "to eve with bun in the matter. There were, he said a numb,.,- of people "tied up" in ollices torn Monday morning till Saturday and they needed a little recreation on' s„n'n\ ,\ i"' d '' (, i oine d that boatiuy on the lake had onee been vogue on Sundays and they had seen the abuse of tie practice TMr. Browne still persisted that he could see no harm in it. li< all other (owns they had week-end traNns and the like. Mr. Ford rejoined that people Mr. Browne had in mind would not use it. Onlv the larrikins >,,,.,,,, Wkc advantage of if. -y.. SirSi (.„,.•.,■„ ".■IW.-a!- ,;,,,,.«,, the 1H(1,,- ,-,,,, 1? , n-.nlion that <„„. <biy boatmg be prohibited. Mr. llu'dies remarked that the great charm of the lark was its quiet and peace. This would tend io he disturbed on Sundays 1.1 diere wa- rmatbv? nn. the. lake. Mr. (■</vci!, said thai 1.,, was inclined to favor t-ie idea, hut wouid supnort the motion as he did not think there was verv much cicmand lor a Sunday service in N'e'w Hynioiilh. Tn big!/..,- centres the <»,,„, v.'ould mil applv. 'Mr. Humes' niolion was earned.