LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 270, 7 April 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

"1 am glad to see that the managers of this Institute are not so mealymouthed as some people," said his Honor Mr. Justice Cooper, at the. annual meeting of the Boys' Institute, at Wellington, "i notice that boxing is included in the list of athletic exercises taught and promoted. We all detest prize-lighting, but boxing is a useful exercise to learn. Jt teaches a man to take care of himself." ■ How often dues the Income Tux DeJ p.'utment figure as a creditor in a bankj rut estate? remarks the Post. In the I statement of a .Stratford : bankrupt, an J amount appeared as being money ow- . ing to the Income Tax Department, and j its presence, there was commented upon by creditors. The D.O.A. explained that the item might be, explained by.a. careless bookkeeper who based the income tax returns on the gross receipts, A novel method of punishment was recently meted out to fifty young women who were arrested in an anti-vice crusade, in Cincjnatli. When they were found guilty, the Magistrate, instead of levying lines or sending them to detention homes, sentenced them to four weeks' consecutive church attendance, in the hope that a spark of womanhood might he raised in them. They were given a free choice of churches, the only stipulation being that (hey must report themselves to the minister in charge. At the end of the month, a statement signed by the minister, to the etfect that the culprits have been regular in church attendance is to be presented to the I Court, and anyone found guilty of evasion will then be sentenced to a period in a detention home. A resident of Auckland has received a letter from America asking for particulars regarding "a great earthquake that occurred at Wellington on the 2Cth February last." his reason for writing being that he had a brother in "the all'licied city." The writer enclosed a cutting from an American newspaper with a big double-column heading. "Many injured in (.'real New Zealand KartlKpiake." The report is daled Wellington, New Zealand, February I'lith. and reads as follows: "With a report as of artillery discharged, a heavy earlhrpiake shook this city today terrorising the inhabitants, shaking down chimneys and damaging many houses. Nobody was killed, although may were cut by falling bricks from the toppling chimneys. The shock was the severest ever felt in New Zealand."

Speaking at 'Maiinia on Thursday.'the Premier said he would not say where the route of the proposed Opunake line would be. hut be would say that, no matter wnat route was decided on, „\lanaia. would be given a connection. Mr. Powdrell, in responding to the toast of ''The Dairying Industry, - ' said that in IS'.IS the produce from kaupokonui factory realised C7IIUO. Last year the amount was C 1.1-1,000. During the last six months (he increase in production was something like 20 per cent. At the present lime eight factories are carrying their produce \5 l /n miles to the Hawem railway. Should the railway go through the suggested route this produce will hare to go over only one mile, and a half. That woidd mean a reduction of It miles on a carriage of 4001) tons, lie had no hesitation in saying that a railway through the dial riot would be the !>est (taring investment in Xew Zealand.

Several fanners in Rowan district suffered heavy losses as the result of the recent gale, and the spread of a lire from a •liuni-oll" over valuable property. Haystacks siiHVred considerably through the gale by having the tops taken off, while tanks were lifted bodily from their stands and hurled iiway. Milk-cans, buckets, etc.. were treated in a like manner. To add to the chaos. Urea lit for "bnrning-ofl"' on some properties spread with great rapidity, and towards 3 o'clock n good stretch of country was burning fiercely, much damage being done to fences, etc. Some of the settlers suffered heavily, notably Mr. 0. Hill, whose shed and milking plant were totally destroyed. Some farming implements were also damaged. The insurance only partially covers the loss, so that Mr. Hill stands to lose considerably. 'Mr. V. Mellow was also hard hit, by having his haystacks burnt, while other settlers had an anxious time of it. Towards evening the gale lessened in its severity, and the much-hoped-for rain set in.—Dominion correspondent.

' At a public meeting called by the. Tradesmen's Association at Eltham ou. Friday night, it was decided to oppose the Saturday half-holiday movement. The slice]), which formed the basis of the guessing competition at the Frankley Koad Sports on Thursday was weighed* at Webster Bros.' Mart on Saturday. It scaled 1771b5. Mr. W. Loveridge, of Hurford Road, Omata, was the nearest competitor with 170lbs. It was stated at the Clifton County meeting on Saturday, that cattle ara running over the J'ukoaruho cemetery reserve, where several old soldiers are buried, and it was resolved to write to the Commissioner of Crown Lands and ask him to take steps to fence theground. An example of the hatpin nuisance occurred at the t'oikling races on Monday. A Maori lady wearing a large hat going to the race to collect a dividend. suddenly turned round and the point of a hatpin just missed a gentleman's eye and stuck deeply in his nose. After the pin had been extracted the wound bled freely and smothered the gentleman's clothes with blood. The, practice adopted by some people of driving with only one lamp attached to their vehicle, and that often on the wrong side, has been the cause on two or three occasions lately of "mix-ups" that have nearly ended in'accident. The Borough Council's inspector has according-ly-been instructed to prosecute in nil cases that come under his notice, where, one light is used in place of the two as required by the by-law. The New Plymouth poundkeeper got a pleasant surprise on Saturday morning. He had impounded a wandering horse early in the morning, and. on going later with its owner to release it, discovered that some drover had placed about sixteen head of cattle in the pound paddock adjoining, apparently for safety. To still further ensure their safe custody the poundkeeper at once locked them in. The temporary accommodation would prove rather expensive for the drover when he came to release his cuttle.

Settlers of the Ohura district, near Tiiuniarunui, arc taking steps to bring before the Government their dissatisfaction at the delay in the construction of the Stratford-Te Koura railway. A bottler says:—"When I took up my land, ten years ago, I was assured personally by the Commissioner of Crown Lands that the railway would be pushed through in from three to live years. Again, when after years of agitation, the line was started from the northern end. we were assured that two or three years would see the line at Ohura, and more settlers were persuaded to take up land. Thus have two successive Governments failed in their pledges."

The Clifton County Council ha* hem in communication with the Telegraph Department with a view U> having Kotnre and Waitaanga connected by telephone, ami so link-up the northern and southern telephone systems to enable through communication to take place between New Plymouth and Ohnrn. The Department has now replied that the telephone circuits between New Plymouth and Kotare had reached their Working limit, and that it would not he practicable to give a working service between Oliura and New Plymouth without incurring a very heavy expenditure. It was therefore regretted that the desired communication could not be established at present.

- "To what do vou attribute the low birth-rate?" asked Mr.' C. C. Kettle. iS.M., of Mrs. Kmily Nicol, when the latter was concluding her final address at the St. Helens Hospital inonirv at Auckland, with a reference to the declining vital statistics of New Zealand. ''To the curtailing of the family circle," was the reply. When further n-ked to state exactly what she meant. Mr-. Nicol said: 'T mean the practice of parents deciding to have so many children and no more." She could not blame them, she said, because the tensians of life were so tight that something must Vie done to relieve them. The commercial conditions of the world were such as lo produce a high scale of living, which hiade it impossible for working people 'to bring up families.

In a letter to a friend in Carterton, Sir Walter Buchanan. M.P.. savs: "My fortnight up the Nile among the ruins of an ancient world of three to four thousand years ago, and eight davs in Naples. Piome, Pisa, Genoa, and Milan opened out a new world to me, which I much enjoyed, the more especially that I was fortunate in the congeuial companionship of people who had travelled much more than I had, and had a good knowledge of French. The one thing wanting was a little more time, but we utilised what wc had to the utmost. With all that I became an inch or two taller when T got my foot once more on British soil, even though it be smoky, foggy old London. I hope in a few days to see my own heather hills once more, and foregather with the very small remnant of the friends of my youth who still survive the 55 years since I left them."

The "Wanganui Chronielo" says Hint at Wailar.i on Tuesday, what was apparently ft joke was played in tho railway oflioo, but it remains to bo seen whether the-DcpnrLnieiit will accept as an excuse for the little bit of fun Hint it wns All Fools Day. It npponvs that (he tickets issued early in the morning wore stamped April 3 at the back instead of April 1, and as passengers offered their passes Ihev were submitted to severe, cross-examination at the hands of the guards, and in some eases were rather viewed with suspicion. One party on their way to Wellington had their names and addresses taken bv everv guard en route. Full explanations had to be given to each guard. Tf the joke was simply duo to a desire on the part of the machine to get ahead of the times in> general and the >7cw Zealand railway trains in particular it will probably be

forgiven. The Woodvillu Borough Council is moving in lite mutter of taxing motorcars, and to this end passed a resolution .which is' bping sent to other Councils, with a view to obtaining their suryiort.t The resolution slates that the Oovernmi'iit should lie to i]r,',-f: ;i moderate tax on motor cms and motor cycles, the proceeds of such tax to he handed over to the local bodies for expenditure in maintainin« and improving the roads affected by motor tr:'!Tic, a special board being set up to allocate the distribution of the proceeds of such tax ti higher tax beinj,' imposed on cars plyinnr for hire, this came before the Clifton County Council on Friday, when it was decided that the matter was not one to be dealt with without eareftil consideration, and it was therefore held over. "Motor earsare already taxed very heavy in this Council by the toll gate," remarked a Councillor.

Members of tho Equitable Building Society of Now Plymouth (First and Second Croups) are notified that subscriptions will be due and payable today (Monday), at the Secretary's office, Currie street, from f) a.m. to 12.80, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.— Advt. To every man upon this earth Death eoineth soon or late, And very few, if any of us, Ever know our fate. But this we know, of it we're sure, No matter what we may endure, Tliat we can soon get well and strong ■ By taking Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. u