GENERAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 277, 15 April 1913, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

l'atca has refused to contribute £7.") towards the cost of the Taranaki Court ;',t the Auckland Exhibition. The court will cost £550. In twelve months the Ipswich Gas Company removed sixty-live, tons of copper from slot meters. Caruso, the famous tenor, who will ; e shortly reappear at Covent Garden, London, will receive £>UO a night for his performance. n- Writing privately to a friend in Welsh * lington, a Sydney resident in business er says: "I would not be surprised if there I c is a slump later on here. Money is l,t tight, and I don't fancy Easter (show time) has been so great as was anticin. pated all round. The labour market is e . very disturbed, and strikes are frequent. Perhaps a little less prosperity [ will do some good. People here are spending money like water, and it is hound to receive a check. Prices for ' r everything are phenomenally high." it A company is being floated in Ilastfi_ ings for the purpose of fostering the er tobacco-growing industry. The project n . is being taken up enthusiastically and e operations are expected to commence r £ shortly. It is proposed to plant out 100 acres to commence with and to extend 0 the area as the industry develops in pro;u portion. ls A laugh is not a customary interlude , r in the civil business at the Magistrate's 1 Court, but a really hearty outburst took (j. place at Auckland on Tuesday morning. r . A solicitor asked that a case, be >(. adjourned, and when the reason was ins. quired, gave the reply that his client appeared to be lost trace of in tho bush [' and he had not been able to get into touch with him. The solicitor for the ether side dryly remarked: "This man is said to be a cook. He nearly poison- , ed a whole camp, and he very wisely is keeping out of the way." When the ' In ugh had subsided, it was announced that the man had been sitting in the Court the whole time, which resulted in 0 more laughter. e Captain Precco. of Palmerston North. |t stated to a representative of the "Wanr Ganui Chronicle" that as far back as 1ST!) a man named Ootch grew tobacco j. at Opotiki. with results which gave every promise of its becoming a thriving industry. Captain Preece savs that the industry was nipped in the bud bv the Government of the div. who feared that the establishment of tobacco-grow-,ing on a large scale would-have a dis- : astrous effect upon the revenue. Tn r Captain Preeee's opinion, tobacco-grow-ing would do well in manv parts of the 0 >*o"th T*lnnd. an<i hj" points in support. I_ nf his opmion to the ease with' which the jj Maoris cultivate "the weed.'" iij Writing in a leading Fncli«h iournal. -( a tourist who lately visited New 7on- . | land, savs:—"V fact which .greatlv im- )} pressed me and others whom T met from oth»r parts was the ah*»ne» of the mad ' 3 rush after wealth which' i« ev'dent in various parts of the Anglo-Saxon wm-1,1. : and more esneciallv in the United . States. , T venture to sav that the avert n "e New Zealamler gets more out of 5 life than his fellow subjects elsowhere. , 'Can yon imagine business men in Oan- , ada or the United States milking their wiv to the local bowling green at 3 or 3,30 in the afternoon, npd spending tbe .rest of tho day in such pleasant recro- ' ation?" , Much amusement was caused early on 1 Friday morning in Svmonds Street. ; Auckland, by the stubborn behaviour of a cow which had st raved frorp a neighbouring paddock. The animal in ouestion. with srreat determination, took up its stand in the track of the trams, I a'id for some little time resisted all I efforts to move it. Two trams were held ] up for a short time, the cow threatcn--1 ing with its horns all who felt disposed j f o dispute its right to the public road. I Finally, amid much laughter, a little j sH, who was obviously known to the animal, called'it bv name; and the cow followed her peacefully back to its usual haunts. A Dunedin firm of solicitors recently secured an eligible tenant for a property belonging to a client, and the lease for a long term was prepared and waiting for nothing but the signatures, when' suddenly the ingoing ladv refused to go on with the transaction. What bad happened ? Had the tenant found that the rental was too high? No. Was the hover in the house? No. Did she fanev it was rat-infested? No. What then? Simply this, that the Citv Corporation had renumbered the houses in this .street,, and made this particular place ! Xo. 13. She flatly declined to go into' a house carrying that number, and everything is "off." It is now facetiously suggested (savs the Dunedin "Star") that, the solicitors may bring an action against the mayor and burgesses for loss of the profits on the stilled transaction. Among the revised rules and regulations for the guidance of postal officers is the following:—"Postmasters and officers in charge of staffs have the grave responsibility cast upon them of seeing that tho private habits of their assistants are beyond public reproach, and . their conduct not likely to bring them ; into trouble or to discredit the DepartI mciit. Should anv case come under re- • view which a postmaster or officer in f charge might reasonably (have been i expected bv proper oversight to have prevented, the circumstances will be seriously considered. It need scarcely be pointed out that nothing 1 bordering on espionage, or action likely to injure the self-respect of any employee, is desired or necessary to enable responsible officers to keep in touch with the outdoor habits of the officers or other employees on their staffs." The best view of the mountain was obtained during the run from llswera to Stratford. On account of the recent . warm weather, there was very little n snow oil it, but on Sunday there was [1 snow vigiit to the base, and clouds hid y the view of the summit. On Saturday s tile party visited tlie breakwater at lt New Plymouth and indulged in crab fishing, which was very exciting, and (. after lunch they motored to the. boauti[•t ful Recreation Grounds where every1, tli'iig was almost beyond description—s —Thus a writer in the "Wanganui Chronicle." r- The High Wycombe (England) babv d W'llignmtlv endowed' In' iicr pareuls with the mimes "Lloydina Gcorgina," y some comrades in misfortune. Dnrh. in l .' the fioor war a number of imhanpv v infants had strange and weird collection i- of names of generals and scenes of >r victory bestowed upon them. oiu> bov ie being christened I'aardcbere French TJadie en-Powell ? v „dd. A -till heavier burden if in the way of names is borne bv a resiio dent who figures on the voters' list of s- a provincial borough, Horatio Hamlet v. Prince Denmark.