LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 178, 27 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A water diviner is at present, in Oamaru, and is stated to have he.-n successful in locating water h one or two places where its presence was scarcely anticipated. It is. reported that road laborers are Being paid lis per day in Kaitieke, where Mr. lioy Tarkin, of New Plymouth, is carrying out some large muling contracts for the county council. 'An Australian who returned recenllv from a visit to Japan said that hi ever'v school there the largest map v.as that of Australia, and the children were taught that Australia was the future home of the Japanese people. When a horse at liallarat saw an elephant for the first time .it dropped dead with fright. Tile elephant was in Wirth'.-, Circus street procession, and as the huge beast approached the hor.-e began to tremble violently and display obvious signs of terror. Then it dropped dead.

The price of lisli in Auckland is ab siudly high, says the Mayor of that city, and he is of opinion (bat if an improvement -is not brought about after •the council establishes markets, the corporation should seek legislation empowering it to run trawlers of ils own.

The u.-ual weekly session of the Kgmonl: Lodge, Xo. \\i. "1.0.11.T.. w i„ hell last, night. Tin- rhiei Templar presided. The regular M uaricv!y elect ion of officers was held, and re-nltvd in some keen competition for the honor of hohling offito during (he next quarter. After a little further Imsiues--. the meeting was closed in the Usual manner.

Tliree Kngli-h ion:i-fs. who look their rlepartiire from the- Thill" by last Melbourne .steamer after having spent several weeks in New /"ahtmi's various tourists rcsoris. were charmed with the rugged grandeur of the Alpine peaks, the magnificent lakes, and tic thermal wonders, hut, most of nil, with the climate. The tourists, being broken in health, hail decided to make the trip principally for the purpose of i-erupe,ation. anil the change of air ill Xew Zealand, they slated, bad done them a wonderful amount of good. Thev would return to England with renewed he.illn and \igoi. ami would always have hapiiv iccolle.-tion-of (heir visit to the Dominion.

AH Photo Supplies ct-f a !;;&.!;]« :it il:c Diyifj I'fe.ormcy.

The New Plymoui i itoiuan Catholic parochial schools ■.. i'! re-open on Monday, February 2, ami the Sacred llea.t Iligll .SdlQoi on tlii' following day. At the meeting of the Borough Conn oil last night, Thursday afternoon wilf. Ji.voil for the statutory' half-holiday for shops in the Borough of New IMyin'outli. A scathing commentary on the ways of Ihe long-winded debtor was passed at si meeting of ihe creditors of a. Ni\v Plymouth bankrupt yesterday, when t'.ie meeting expressed tlie unanimous opmion that, in most eases, the recovery of 50 per cent, of the listed book d'fi'iU of an e.-tate wa* a creditable performance.

'fliu question of the large quantities of disinfectants and other chemicals poured into the sewers from the New IMynioiith public hospital, and its effect on tin; working of tln> .septic tank, came in for some discussion at the mectiii" of the Xcw I'lymouili Borough Council last night, and it was decided to ask the Chief Health Officer for a report on the matter.

Said Cr. lfcaly during (he discussion on billiard saloons at the liorough Council's meeting last night; "I have, no ' sympathy at all with the churches in this matter. They do nothing for young men. If they would organise chilis to which respectable youths could go, it would do them more credit than to come, howling at others about the ways of the'present generation." All howlers takincr Dart in the tournament to-day are reiiuestcd to assemble at the New Plymouth green at 8.4,5 a.m., where they will be brieily welcomed by the president of the Taranaki Centre. Iliose engaged to piny at t'itzroy will find conveyances waiting to take them to the green. .Day will commence at 9.30 a.m. to-day, and on \Vedncsdav. Thursday, and Friday at 9 a.m.

A special meeting of the Xew Vlymoutli Borough Council will be held on .Monday evening next, to discuss a notice of motion tiled by Cr. Colli* to rewind the resolution 'of the Council pas-ed on September !), resolving th.it, the election of the proposed public convenience in Brougham Street he proceeded with. The Supreme Court session opens on the following tiny! At the Borough Council meeting last night, the Borough Kngiueer applied for p.'i->n:—ion. to purchase, a destructor suitahle for dealing with two tons of refuse , per day. at a cost of £4o.">. The cost of housing thi! plant was est inn. ted at £l4O. The plant would include a vertical hoiler suitable for heating the water in the salt-water bath*, or for power purposes. The, matter was referred to the Baths Committee.

Tiie amount of heavy trau'ic caused in connection with the cartage of material to the, site of the new hospital has hcen causing considerable damage to Xew Plymouth .streets, and with a view to obtaining some recompense for this, the Borough Kngiineer has been instruct-

Ed to (Inline the routes to be used by

the carters to the site of the hospital An independent engineer's opinion will he. obtained, together with the Borough Engineer's opinion, as to the present condition of the street?.

Philanthropists, looking for ways and

means to benefit humanity, usually over look the. weather. Yet. according to Dr Mill, Director of the British Hainfall Or

ganisation, no entcrpri.-e ean confer so great a benefit at so .small a cost as a properly-equipped meteorological station, will) which the name of the giver ean he permanently associated. A sum of £IOO would be ample for such an installation in a locality that docs not present special difficulties, and even DO may -ull'ice. Xew Zealand, needs many sn.-li stations.

Although the tomato plants in the Hull Valley were iu a very forward state in (.lie spring, the seamm is now backward, the result being .that high price- are ruling when the fruit should he extremely plentiful (says the Wellington I'ost. The scarcity is mainly accounted for by the unusually ' wot weather which prevailed ill November and December, while Wight also interfered with the growth to some extent. One grower, who keeps a garden at Kpnni Hamlet, only picked his i'x;t batch oi ripe .field tomatoes a lew days ago. Ho expects that from now onward- the crops should gradually increase ami prices drop correspondingly. As regards potatoes, the season has also bee-i bad in the Jlutt di-trict, this also being due to the damp weather and blight. Strangely enough, the prices ruling at the market are very unsatisfactory to grower?, and fomnaro unfavorably with of last yar. It is thought thill grolvers will secure better returns for their products as the season advances'.

A startling story is (old by a Melbourne newspaper -regarding me phase of the le.liday-making at seaside resorts neat- that city. Hundreds of people in Victoria, mostly young folks- living in Mell'ieii-a--" and landsiiie suburbs, -mak.' u-e of i-'diday camps at the seaside in snmn.-r. They camp principallv in tents set mi along the shores of llopsou's Hay, within eomeui-nt train distance of Melbr.iini". The tents are generallv provided by t.h • owners or 'A land", who in si.n.e make as much rent atliey i,'..--i'.iy can by crowding many tents, ei a sin nil block of land A sen sali-.n ha- been caused liv revelations in the pie-.- a- to the doings of a cert.-, hi da-- ■■:' t'a campers. It appears that tin 1 po ..'.1.... e:iiupiiig resorts are becoming ,a.i.„-i,.-,i-, in turn. This year Chelsea '■:;-.; i:ic uiicir.iahle reputation of baring ;j 1( . greatest proportion of 100.-., liver- in its camps. Parties of mixed ■sexes make up -camps, Sometimes they are cieipevoued; sometimes not; and i' is -aid that, sometimes the supposed chaperon., is the "loosest" of the lot. Again, a party of girls will form a camp, whie.'i soon becomes the resort, day and . night, of youthful campers of the oppos- [ ite -ex. In plain words, more or b--s veiled immorality lis indulged in at some of (h- camps, and With a large class of holiday--.-c.iers is regarded as part of the holiday. The respectable campers, area a, may La imagined, the most emplena ;■• condemnation of the irregular ..i ta.'.:- aieidav'dwellings. To (heir ,<■■■ m-hi :'-.:■ i: ■ snpp-vssion is added the voi.-c o: jeople eoi -ii-cd for (he move.'.of th • vo-.iuir. and who fear the d --.-'on lllel.l U .-• ilhlcou- evil. The police, who ai.ee-: ~rl.au. be n v.celc.'fiil of f-ici-\n:o "a "i.-.ve iiltr-cted (be -!!.-„< ion ~' eve.-.i,. ,;,. ~),„_ ],.,,,„ i, ~,ii,„i ,„„,„ for ■ ■■:-.. -I- upon fh induct n? sea side cue ...' |„ |l.e a. aali-.-- nar." I ; arheing liieed to make strict inrptirv a- te- the ehav.-efi- of th- .0.-.im.-e----pi-.e.',;. (o att.-ud. end to ie.,i,ir,. narliulail. as (,-, (!,e Imn.i !Mc. of :l-.'0!.-:> \V"..,u la -ii.-.iiit. uny-n Kodak-die pi,-, I. ..' Vh.rf.i.cy tv-vp- ('.:.•-;?.

Denmark still sends Great Britain more butter tlian all other foreign oouutries combined, and shows for 11(13 an excess over all the others of 5012 tons. Denmark, Russia (Siberia) and Sweden each sunt more than -New Zealand, while Itussia and Sweden sent more than Australia and New Zealand; ami the Continent, even apart from Denmark or Uilssia, sunt nearly as mueh an Australasia. The greatest, competitor of Denmark is Itussia. whose butter is sent from two widely divided areas, Siberia and Finland.

A tribe of giants known as ".lien.;, inhabitating a district of the iV'iit' Xilc, in the Soudan, a thousand mil-.-south of Khartoum, has been describe! to Reuters Agency by the l!ev. (J. I.eilWilson, the leader of a medical mission/ There are about 8000 people in the tribe, and they live, in the neighborhood of the lluhr-lihazal, the lagoon east of Lake Tchad. "They are among the tallest tribes in the world," says .Mr. LeaWilson. "They are jet black, typical negroes, and do not. practice either cannibalism or human se.crilices. I have never seen among them a case of cruelly to women or children, j-'or some reason apparently unknown even to themselws all adults have mx of their lower teeth removed. They have a habit, when at I rest, of standing on one foot like I storks."

Some mysterious happenings are reported in connection with the i'etoiw borough water supply (says a Wellington paper ).. Some, inexplicable agency appears to be at work robbing the borough of its water on a very large sca'c. Whether it is human or otherwise Is

not known, but Uio fact remains Unit on I tlie morning of Saturday, January 3rd, I between seven and nine o'clock, the.prcsaure dropped, without a warning, <to nil, and that during that time about lift of water was drawn oil' from Die settling tank, representing approximately lOft,000 gallons. After nine o'clock the normal pressure was being restored. Importing this incident to the Council the borough engineer remarked: ''Where this large quantity of water went to lias not yet been discovered, but that it was drawn oil' is undoubted. Investigations are being made, but it is groping in the dark. This is not the first time that something of lliis nature lias happened, . not only in my own time, but also in that of my predeeessor, and it is of the utmost importance that its recurrence should lie prevented." Meanwhile the re- ( suits of the investigations are awaited with considerable- interest. At tin! inquest in Melbourne last wcek into the circumstances of the death of Henry Deline. a snake ehanuer, who was bitten by a tiger snake at a side-show at St. Kil.la. on December loth. Harriet Uii-hnnlsnn, a domestic servant, said she saw an a.l'.eitiseiv.ent for someone who had a gooil nerve. She met Deline at a regi try oiilee. and he put a liuake in her hands and around her neck and seemed satisfied. The witness was never afraid of snakes, and as a child had played with them. She was engaged to perform

and on the Saturday night when they had shown for the lirst time, Deline wis bitten on the left. hand. The witness made an incision, and he got better, but he seemed to get careless, and did not appear to be right 'in hi- mind. He talked in an eccentric way, and the witness thought be handled the makes recklessly. On the Monday night he told her to cut the ma;!; ami s U ek the wound, her to cut the marl; and siica the wound. She did so. Thcie were a lot of people looking on, and she could get no one to assist her. She was not able to leave Ule pit as the snakes were crawling about. Deline too used to tease the snakes at times. She performed the night after Deline was bitten, and handled the tiger .snake. It was a quiet snake.. She had never been told to provide antidotes, ami the snake- were a'l known to be venomou-. If snake-, were handled properlv, there w.is no danger. Men were not alwavs kind (.> them, and the triiubb. with Deline was that he was careless ; ,nd handle,] Uiem roughly.

She di<l not think ther-> would be anv danger it snakes wet re kept in bou-i" and left abnie. {Laughter.) The witness Hated that the snake that bit Deline was "(ill taking part in the performances.