LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 179, 28 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Breakwater Seaside Committee has been granted control of the beach from Bayley road to the breakwater. The committee proposes to improve the beach for pieknicking purposes. liowlers will note that the Government meteorologist announces the dovclopnient of a storm area to the "westward. May it stay there, at least till the howling tournament is over! The. Xcw Zealantl Defence Force General Orders state that it has been decided by Cabinet that no further claims for the New Zealand War Medal are to I bo acknowledged after March 31, I!)U. j ''The Germans cton't know everything; j they don't always know how to translate English and Scotch words," said Sir Frederick Bridge, in an address at tho London Institution on ''The Beg- | gar's Opera." The song for 'Tolly" was set to a deligihtful old Scotch tune, : ''Gin (if) thou were mine awn thing," . and the translator, not knowing tiic ; meaning of ''gin," looked up the word lin the dictionary and translated it j schnapps!"

The Foxton paper says:—Several know ing ones (invested a fairly large sum of money on a certain horse in one of the races on tho first day. The inner information concerning the gee gee was beyond question. The horse failed to come up to expectation, and the group were chagrined to see a Chinaman, who knew nothing, gather between 60 and 70 sovereigns from the tole oil' tinsame race and place them in a dirty handkerchief, with a bland smile. It was amusing to watch the facial expressions of the group as they eyed the. wily John.

_ The latest thing in fly specifics in as simple .18 it is ingenious and effect ivo. It consists of a small, narrow and shallow trough set into the botton of the upper portion of a window. Kerosene is placed in it. The sun, which attracts the flies, apparently makes slight fumes of the keroseno to go up the windowthough they are not noticeable in tlx room—and directly a fly readies Hit window it seems to lie unable to get away, and drops, inevitably to perish, in the kerosene trough. A large boarding 'house was cleared of flies in thiway in the past few weeks by troughs on two windows, and no one who was not told about it could liavo detected the apparatus 011 the window at all.. Sir Charles Waldstein, tile noted arch-

aeologist, and Lady Waldstein gave evi deuce in New Vorlc on December 4, lie fore the. Supremo Court, in the action which is being brought to decide whether the fortune of £'250,000, left l>y

the lato Mr. David Einstein, a woollen manufacturer, was bequeathed to Lady Waldstein, his daughter, to use at her own discretion, or whether the will provided that the fortune should he shared

with her 'brother, Mr. Lewis Einstein. Sir Charles indignantly denied tin* suggestion that he had in any way obtained his title by monetary contributions. The King, he said, only honored those who

were deserving. Lady Waldstein said she had distributed some of the money among charities, but had not supported the funds of the Liberal I'arfcy. The years aro sometimes spanned mi

a remarkable way by human lives. A correspondent of the London Spectator mentioned recently that he remembered speaking to an eyc-witness.of the foundering of the Royal George, which went down at Spithead on August 20, 1782. He himself was now in' his eightieth year, and the man who had seen the

great disaster lwd boon at the time a cadet on board a transport bound for India. Tliia statement was capped at onco by a correspondent who bad spoken to a man born in 1738. "[ am only in

my eighty-third year," lio wrote, "and my grandfather was born in 1738, seven years or so More the battle of l'rcs-

tonpans. In the year 1835 I saw and

spoko to the old gentleman, who died the following year at the age of ninetyeight." It would be interesting to know

what cases of a similar kind New Zealand could produce. Many an amateur gardener has bad cause to regret his carelessness in handling milk weed. The weed when bruised or cut exudes a liquid which somewhat resembles cow's milk in appearance, but is very poisonous. If one is gardening and allows any of the inillc to get into his eyes he suiters acute pain for a time, and unless relief measures are taken the consequences are apt to be rather serious. Some sufferers have been blinded for hours and in acute cases the sight: has been lost for days. Last week a resident of the Thames, who has a, line garden, was foolish enough to brush away some perspiration from around bis eyes after he had been puling up some milk-weed, and as a result he became quite blind and suffered great pain, lie was hurried off to the hospital, where tlm applications of lotions gave him relief, but it will be days before bis sight will bo properly restored.

The Cunard liner Caronia, on her arrival at Qiieenstowu from New York brought the following sensational story: —The largo Ixmdon-built steamship Centennial, 2075 tons, manned with a crew numbering over 30 all told, which sailed from Japan six years ago to San I'Vancisco, laden with sulphur, and was never heard of afterwards, is now reported to bo stuck fast in the ice oil' Sagharin Is,and, Ikhetsli Sea, Siberia. Members ot a Knsssian expedition, bound through the Okhetsli Sea, discovered the missing steamer. Her boats were all gone. The name was partly obliterated, and the whole of her iron frame was corroded. There was no sign of life on the ship. The crew must have all perished. It is supposed that tlie Ceiitenial was driven from her course by a storm, and became wedged in the ice, where her remains now"are. The vessel was built by the Tliames Iron Shipbuilding Company, London. At the Magistrate's Court, Ilawera, yesterday, Mr Kcnriok, P.M., adjudicated upon a case of some interest to Taranaki painters and decorators. The Inspector of Awards claimed £2O damages from ('!. Velbirs for breach of a recommendation <H' agreement made between the master decorators and (winters, and the Decorators and Painters' Umuii «f Taranalii. The Inspector pointed out that tiie-e accepted recommendations were enforceable ill the same lnannei as an industrial agreement, lie did not press for a penalty, as the case was bromdit s a warnim;. Mr li'Dea. for defendant, explained that the else awe out of two men. after a bail week, aski„s their employer il they might wake up" lost lime by working ou Saturday afternoon. The asvecinent was peculiar on account of the absence of any provision for overtime. The Magistrate sa»l that, while the law stood it could not be allowed tfTb broken, and be imposed a fine of £!. and 15s for the Tn-peelor'; sinenses, jjf

"When in doubt., buy n Kodak i'ivi Davies' riiarmncy have tlic-ffi. > ,

In the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr. A. C'rooke, S.M., renewals of land agents' licenses were grantde to H. \V. Whitcombc and L. A. Nolan. The Taranaki Agricultural Society has decided to ask the Prime Minister and the lion. James Allen to be present at its autumn show, to be held oil February 2o and 20.

In the Magistrate's Court yestenlnv. before Mr. A. Crooke, N.M., 'judgment for plaintiff by default was given in the following eases—Duncan and Davics v. John R. firalmm, £3l (is 4d (costs .L':2 14s). In the judgment summons ease, Barnitt and Tait (Mr. Standish) v. George. (hikes, the defendant did not appear. An order was made by consent for payment of 7s <Jd per month. The plaintiff who at the last silting of the Magistrate's Court bad "urgent private business" which precluded his attendance, applied yesterday through liis solicitor (Mr. A. R. Stanilish) for a further adjournment until March 11. Mr. Johnstone, on behalf of the defendant, objected, but his Worship granted the adjournment, on the understanding that no further postponement would be asked for, and granted defendant's solicitor £1 Is costs.

There has been a movement for separate tables at meals among the convicts at the prison ''hotel" at Camp Ilill, Isle of Wight, where convicts under preventive detention arc confined and are accorded special privileges. Meal times at Camp Hill are a social function which tho warders arc not permitted to disturb. These old habitual criminals who have been granted many comforts by the authorities have after-dinner chats, which are often of a strictly confidjutial nature. ''.Lately a distinct "caste" feeling has sprung up. The more notorious men have formed a clique. They decline to discuss subjects with men of less repute. Apart from this purely professional jealousy there are sharp cleavages of opinion, religious, moral, and political, wiiieli have, been so marked that further controversy on gentlemanly lines is out of the question. The result is that things have not been so happy as formerly at the long tables in the dining room. Several men have the habit of leaning across the table confidentially and ignoring their neighbors altogether. These slights have not been unheeded, and thus the demand has arisen for the abolition of the o'.d boarding-house manner and the provision of smaller tables. At present the authorities have declined to make any change. Dominoes is a game which has recently found popularity among the residents of this"hotel." It is played as keenly after dinner as it is in the cafes in the city, and is preferred to cards.