LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 271, 8 April 1913, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

IX is estimated that the cost of entertaining the officers and men of H.M.S. New Zealand (about 100U) during their stay of a fortnight in Auckland will run into £10(10.

llow much money Great Britain is pouring into Argentine may be gathered from the fact that in the past three years that country has received £tioo,000,000 of British capital publicly subscribed. A native in a debt case at Feilding, asked how much work he had been doing, said: "Oil, work three weeks, knock off for a month! We not like Europeans, work all time. You know, Maori he have to knock off sometime." The Taranaki County Council decided ) to vote C7O towards the proposed Taranaki court at the Auckland exhibition, provided all the other local bodies contribute in terms of the schedule submitted by the secretary of the provisional committee. A sneak thief who had "gone through" the yachts in Auckland harbor for trilles j left by absent owners made a find the other day. Suspecting a visit, one owner left two benzine tins sealed up, full of water, and the thief actually made off with them! The latest fish story comeß from Mangaweka. It is as follows:—"On Sunday last a local angler eaught a trout weighing between four and five pounds, and on being cleaned a mouse about eight inches long from nose to tip of tail was found inside of the fish." The Taranaki County Council decided that provided all other loeai bodies contribute to the proposed Taranaki court •at tiie Auckland Exhibition, as per the schedule submitted by the secretary of the Provisional Committee, they would contribute £7O towards this purpose.

Recently, it is understood, one of the immigrants by the steamer Rotorua was, oil the recommendation of the Port Health Ollicer, permitted by the Customs : authorities to land, as lie was in a dying condition. He was admitted to the Wei- J linglou Hospital, where he died in a few j days from consumption. James Burgess, of Warca, was rfeported 011 Saturday as having stated to the I'j'emier at Warea that whereas basic slag cost only £3 5s a ton in Wellington, ii cost £7 or £8 at Warea. Mr. Burgess says this was not what lie said, and that this fertiliser cost £0 S.s to C 5 9s at his farm, the cartage charges being £1 .5s per ton. ''ln the old days the Maori was not a worker. The salvation of the Maori to-day depends on his becoming a work- , er, and the perpetuation of a system of Maori landlordism is not going to be of benefit to him. His ability to secure enough to live on, and enough money for 1 a certain amount of dissipation, is not good for him. and is in opposition to the common weal."—ln words sueli as these Mr. J. W. Foreman referred at Waitara 011 Saturday to one phase of the native land problem. luck of the ballot is a peculiar thiiig. Time and again land-seekers have gone to ballots and come away unsuccessful, but on Friday (say 9 the Auckland Herald) a strange run of luck came to one man. Several small sections were being disposed of, the first of these falling to the man in question. The next three sections, being adjoining ones, he was eligible to enter the ballot, and such was his luck that the firet two of these fell to him. A' sigh of relief stirred the room when he decided not to enter the remaining ballots. Banquet promoters in Manaia have some Ihing to learn as to the fitness of things. At the banquet given to Mr. Massey in the town we have named, Mr. Wilkinson, the Parliamentary representative for the district, was not called upon to speak, but Mr. Pearce, the representative of a neighboring constituency was. Xo word of complaint, we are sure, will ever be heard from Mr. Wilkinson; but his friends are a bit sore at the scurvy treatment meted out to him. With Mr. Hine 011 one side and Mr. Pearce on the. other, it is quite evident that Mr. Wilkinson is not going to be burdened with the trammels of political etiquette. We are somewhat surprised that the Prime Minister did not notice that the members for Paten and Stratford wore not giving the member for Kgmont "a square deal." —Eltbam Argus.

Tlic question of the Faster Holidays was under discussion at tlie Taranaki County Council meeting yesterday.-There seemed to be some doubt among the foremen as to whether they should be paid for the holiday on Good Friday or not. The clerk stated that some years ago the foremen eomplained that the day or two's broken holiday which they got at Christmas and also at Easter were of very little use, but if they were lumped together it would enable the men to spend the vacation away if they wished. The Council accordingly agreed to allow a week's holiday on full pay at Christmas time, all other holidays to be either worked or payment stopped. The chairman questioned if any other local body in Taranaki treated its men so generously. It was pointed out that many of the foremen, being comparatively new, were not cognisant of this arrangement, and they will be circularised to that effect.

The question of taxing motor-ears and cycles towards the upkeep of the roads was the subject of discussion at the Taranaki County Council yesterday. The ,subject was introduced by a letter cn'dorsinir a resolution passed by the ■Woodville Borough Council, which f.uL'gested that Parliament. should be petitioned to tax all cars—a hi«her tax on hire ears—such tax to go to the upkeep of the roads, and a board to be set up to allocate the tax among the local bodies interested. Councillors were of opinion that the principle was right. Cars should be taxed; indeed, it was stated that car owners were quite .agreeable to some tax, provided the money was expended in improving the roads'. The question of a board to allocate the proceeds was. however, considered a debatable point. The Council ultimately supported the resolution, deleting the portion with reference to the apniiinlment of a special board to allocate the proceeds of the tax. The new by-law for the regulation of heavy tralTic. over the drafting of which the members of the Taranaki County Council spent much time and thought, caused considerable perturbation among contractors and ratepayers generally, indeed. even now its effects are not generally understood. At vesterday's meeting of the Council, Cr. Hill put a question that should help to elucidate the matter in the minds of many. What be asked was: What was the position in connection with a settler wishing to have a couple of chains of metalling done? The settler had approached one_ of the Council's contractors, who told him that he could not do the metalling, as he would have to pay £lO, in accordance with this Council's bv-law. The queslion was: Could this settler cart the metal himself without taking out a license? The answer of the Chairman was that provided the settler does not take over one ton and a half on the load, lie can cart metal without taking out a license. Tn response to Cr. Andrews, it was stated that the same would apply to firewood carting also, t,hou"h in this case three-fifths of a cord estimated at one ton.

Bullock hides arc selling in fnvcrear* gill at Is per lb. The Star suggest® that at this rate it would pay farmers to breed cattle with thick hides, and not pay so much attention to the beef. Amongst other things that were offered for sale at the auction mart in Paten, recently were a quantity of sandwiches that were cut for a Sunday school picnic, which was not hold owing to the ruin,

Some ingenious American suffragists have hit on the "cute" idea of buying up new-laid eggs by the thousand and indelibly stamping "Votes for Women" upon them ere they are despatched to the breakfast tables of the public. During the course of his Turunaki tour Mr. Massey has had to listen to some eloquent orations concerning the, advantages of the Pa Lea harbor as against New Plymouth. We have not a word to say against the Paten harbor. But it was quite noticeable that those who ,had the greatest linaneial interests in tlwf freezing works at Patea had also the largest supply of eloquence.—Eltliam Argus. When the Prime .Minister was down the coast on Friday he was introduced to a settler, now retired in New l'ly- | mouth, who took an old photograph from his pocket and showed Mr. Massey the figures of a pair of brawny, bewliiskered individuals, lie was asked if he recollected the figures. No; the Prime Minister could not. '-They," said the settler, "are we two when we were working together in 187.)'" Then Mr. Massey ''placed" his friend and gripped him again firmly by the hand, and commenced talking of the old times when they were comrades in pioneering labor. There are eighteen coal hulks in Wellington Harbor, the aggregate coal-carry-ing capacity being about -20,000 tons. These hulks are constantly engaged in ■ supplying coal to steamers, the amount ! handled per month being from 20,000 Ito 80,000 tons. Most of this eoal is j handled at the wharves, the ocean steam!ers being supplied while discharging or loading their general cargo. Intercolonial and coastwise vessels are treated in . like manner, and in most eases the vesI sels carrying coal are berthed at the I wharves and discharge eoal on shore and J into hulks at the same time.

Two bullets have now been extracted from the wounds received bv Mr. Skeates, who was severely injured during the shooting sensation which took place at Takapnna (Auckland) recently. One was taken from his eyelid, and at the same time part t of a slug was removed from the scalp; and in the course of the operation ii was found that the other part of the bullet had penetrated the skull. The X-rays were used, and the missile having been located, it was successfully removed a day later. Some danger of meningitis was feared, but the risk seems to have been averted.

Mr. W. Pringle. of Wcraroa, had his orchard robbed last week—robbed on a wholesale scale. Twenty-five trees were completely stripped of fruit. It is supposed that the theft has been done by travelling dealers, who came fully prepared. They had evidently had a trap or dray at Mr. Pringle's. and even theh tliev must have got more than one load. This sort of thing, says the Levin paper, is too prevalent in the district, and traps should be laid for the thieves. Mr. Marco Fosella had a like experience last year with his fruit, but this year he was prepared bv being in possession of two dogs and plenty of barbed wire and saltpetre.

According to the Wanganui Chronicle, there lias been a big slump in the timber trade, the tightness of the money market being responsible for a very considerable decrease in building, while those having money for investment are placing it in motor cars and other directions than house property. This decreased demand is naturally having a corresponding effect upon the output from the mills, and as a result some mills have reduced hands, whilst in a couple of cases, it is understood, the mills hnve been closed down altogether for a time. The declining demand is felt mostly in connection with rimu, and there is a feeling that the depression is likely to last for some time. A Chinese woman is rarely seen in public in Xew Zealand, and it is a still rarer occurrence for two of them to settle their differences of opinion in the public street. That, however, is what happened in the busiest part of Ridgwav street, Wanganui, on Tuesday afternoon. The cause of the disagreement could not be gathered by bystanders owing to their ignorance of the Chinese language, but there was no doubt about the earnestness of the two Celestial ladies, when, after the free exchange of what appeared to lie compliments of the "left-hand-ed" varietv, tliev engaged in active "tooth and nail" warfare. Tt was a willing "go" while it lasted, hut a Chinaman interfered and sent the more aggressive lof the combatants about her business, but she got in a shrill last word as she strode off with tremendous disnity.

The Pukckura Park Hoard met last evening, Mr. C. W. Govett presiding. Other members present were: Messrs. R. C. Hughes, W. (}. Newman, Harris Ford and 11. Cock. It was left to the chairman to see the Borough Engineer regarding the supply of gravel for the paths. Hearty votes of thanks were accorded donators of plants and shrubs. The report of the curator (Mr, W. J. Smith) stated that a week had been devoted to clearing up and burning rubbish on the slopes. A week had also been devoted to sawing up pine trees. Owing to the threatening position three pines bad been removed from near the cottage in the Park, and two others required removing also. They had also spent some time in repairing the worst portions of the paths. This 'work would be attended to during the next month. It would facilitate matters if the Board could procure some ashes or sand, so as to enable the work to be finished as they proceeded. He was anxious to get ail the walks attended to before the autumn rains set in. Since last meeting he had received packages of native trees from Mokau, per Mr. William Arthur, and from Mrs. Bloxam, of Napier, and also a packet of seeds from an unknown donor. No damage whatever bad resulted to the Park from the high winds lately. Mr. Newman was appointed visitor for the month. MEN'S WINTER WEARABLES AT THE MELBOURNE. LTD. With the passing of Easter, one'» thoughts naturally turn to consideration of cold .weather requirements. Men's clothing winter needs are specially catered for at the Melbourne, as the following items will testify:—Men's merino shirts and pants, 1/11, 2/0, 2/11: natural shirts and pants, 3/C, 3/11, 4/11; men's fleecy singlets and pants, American make, 2/11; men's knitted pants, colonial make, 4/6 pair (grand value); men's splendid quality all-wool Crimean shirts, 6/11 (special value); men's Mosgiel knitted socks, three pairs for 2/0; men's warm Roslyn all-wool socks, black or plain grey. 1/- pair; men's warm saddlctweed suits. 39/0; men's heavy saddle trousers, 8/G; famous Oamarii saddle trousers, 13/0; new Hydrotite overcoats, 37/0: mens' superior raincoats. 30/0 (very dressy); men's riding oilskins, 12/9; men's new oiled canvas coats, guaranteed waterproof, 37/0. Hundreds of other good values. Ladies! Warner's Corsets are comfortable; guaranteed so; tliev shape fashionably. The bones cannot rust nor can the fabric tear. Order now. Local drapers.