LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 202, 24 February 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tlie Borough Council proposes to pay «i visit to Barrett's Lagoon to-day. An unusual spectacle was witnessed in Napier one night recently, when a ,lirc brigade had to watch the house of 'ono of its members burn, owing to the 'locality in which the fireman resided having no water supply. The hou.se .was a fine new building. On the motion of (Jr. Oollis, the Borough Council will draw the attention of the Telegraph Department to the unsatisfactory condition in which the footpaths of New Plymouth are left after having been broken up by the Department's workmen.

In the Magistrate's Court yesterday, before Mr A. Crooke, S.M., Joseph Ingley appeared on remand to answer to a charge of having been found helplessly drunk in a public place. He was convicted, and ordered to pay medical expenses, amounting to 17s" (id. An item of £IOO,OOO appeared on the Estimates last session principally to cover the cost of raising and maintaining bodies of special constables during the strike at the end of 'the year. The Hon. das. Allen (Minister of Finance), when he was questioned on the subject by a Dominion reporter the other evening, said lie anticipated that the vote would prove to be more than sufficient.

An attempt is being made to gather together as many as possible of £ke Bth New Zealand Contingent of South African War troopers from in and around New Plymouth, to meet General Sir [an Hamilton when he visits New Plymouth on May 20 to inspect the cadets. Geaoral Hamilton was for a time in charge of the column of horse to which this contingent was attached in South Africa. All members of the contingent are. asked to communicate with Mr R. Pike, .sew Plymouth, who baa the matter in hand.

Cr. Healy is apparently still smarting under the editorial whip, as a remark which he made at the meeting of the Borough Council last night clearly showed. A councillor referred to the statement which recently appeared in the press, to the effect 'that the septic tank was, hi the opinion of a medical man, not working satisfactorily. Or. Healy was quick to seize the opoortunity. "It's- like a lot of the statements which appear in the press—not worth much!" said he, with a glance at the reporters' table. ,

Half the Reform newspapers appear to be engaged in attempts to prove that there is no rise of Liberal sentiment in the Dominion lately. Just why they are so concerned about what they profess to regard as the dying quivers of Liberalism they do not -explain (says the Lyttelton Times). The simple truth is that they find much cause for anxiety in the refusal of the average Liberal to accept political extinction as his lot. A little more than two years ago, they remember only too well, the total number of Liberal, Independent-Liberal and Labor voters was nearly 288,000, while the Reform, Independent-Reform and Independent voters numbered less than 173,000. The figures aro stubborn things even for a Reformer mathematician.

Press criticism was again tjie s»tg'ect of a discussion at the meeting of the Borough Council last night. Cr. Ki||r introduced the matter, and then read • long and carefully-prepared rebuttal of statement* made in a leading article published recently by our contemporary. He dwelt specially on the work at Do'ralto Road, which, he said, had been done in fulfilment of pledges given at the inauguration of the Greater New Plymouth scheme. He contended that the Council had used all possible exoeditijn with the tramways scheme, pointing out that the work could not be started before the suburbs had joined the borough. Certain works which the article had criticised be declared to have been done in fyst-rate manner. Tile Mayor supported his remarks retarding' Doralto Road.

The methods of road-making adopted •by some local bodies were criticised by Mr. G. Henning, who represented the Auckland Automobile Association at * conference held to consider the future upkeep of the main trunk roads. Ho said that it would be better if the local bodies used more labor and less material in their work upon the roads. Metal, he snjd, was often thrown loosely on the roads and left there. These local bodies evidently thought that it would grow, or that something would happen to it by leaving it like that. The metal was thrown down in patches here, there -and everywhere. In the Great South •road, between Auckland and Mercer, he said, there was sufficient loose metal to make a magnificent road if it were-pro-perly looked after andliound in position by men stationed at different points along the road. At present the metal acted as a pick under the pressure of passing vehicles, and thus helped to tear the road up.

Tho Conservative newspapers are displaying great avidity in picking up, out of odd corners, any stray words they .think commendatory of Mr. Massey, his followers and his political faith. The Government organ in Wellington the other day published a snippet concerning the Prime Minister culled from the Daily Mail Sixpenny Year Book. The snippet in question, if complimentary to •Mr. Massey at all, goes very near to helonging to the left-hand order of (lattery. With its term there is no need to quarrel, but to state that Mr. Massey is distinguished "neither for tactics nor for tact" seems to be a rather unkind Btyle of biography. Mr. Massey alone among New Zealand statesmen 'is mentioned in the interesting little brochure which lias happened to catch the eye of the Wellington journal. Even Mr. Allen, in spite of his London visit and his unparalleled acheivenienls upon the Stock Exchange there, is passed over in silence.

"A gorfd ileal has of late appeared in .Hie .papers about an experiment adopted in the first instance at Wanganui, and subsequently at New Plymouth, of handing- over the school contingent to the Defence authorities for a week's special training," said Mr. E. A. Belcher, headmaster of Christ's College, Christchurch, last week. Mr. Jlelehcr said that he hail read the reports from the headmaster of Wanganui and from .Major Temperley, who was in command, of the manner in which this experiment had been conducted, lie was so fully convinced of its wisdom that he had decided to do the same thing at Christ's College, and but for an unfortunate epidemic last term the boys would have been in camp for the last week of the term, under the entire control of the Defence authorities. Tha experiment, however, was onlv postponed. He trusted that it might i>e possible to carry it out in the course of the present term, and he was sure that if it were done it would greatly improve the efficiency of the contingent when general Sir lan Hamilton came to inspect it in May.

The Eltham Argus appeared yesterday in a new and improved form, being converted from a four into an eight-page paper. It is a very creditable production, and we have pleasure in congratulating the proprietor (the H»n. AY. 0. Carncross) upon his enterprise, which certainly merits success.

Among the new companies, registration of which were recorded by the Mercantile Gazette last week, is the New Zealand Aviation,' Ltd., whieh was registered as a private company on February 11. Capital: .tJoft, in 111 shares of ta'l each. Objects: For exhibiting aeroplanes in New Zealand, etc. "1 am a walking advertisement for New Plymouth now," scid one of the visiting pressmen yesterday, who was being shown over the Moluroa oilfields. The visitor Went on to say that his eyes had recently been opened to many things in Taranaki. New P'vmouth was an ideal holiday resort, and deserved to be well advertised.

Kvidently the West End of London is not the only place where dogs are unduly pampered. A motor-cycle and sidecar was being driven down Devon Street yesterday by a youth who, in idaee of the fair companion usually seen in such vehicles, had as a passenger a large black dog, who sat perdied on the seat of the side-car with an air of supreme dignity. A race for a baby by motor-car occurred between Palmorston and Feihling. stations on Saturday morning. A lady passenger on the New Plymouth express left her infant child in a carriage while she went for a cup of tea, and was returning to the train when she found it pulling out to resume the. iouniey northwards. A motor-ear was requisitioned, and tlis distracted mother raced in h#t pursuit of the train, which she caught at Feilding. The East End Reserves Committee met last night. A vote of thanks was passed to, the Railway Department for altering the, name of the station to East End, and to Dr. Walker for a donation. Swimming prizes are to be procured, and a lawn-mower and tools Miirchased. It was also decided that men be employed t« drag the river on Saturday. The report of the Sports Committee was held over, and the advisability of holding other attractions was considered, Votes of thanks were also passed to Messrs. Cooke and Nixon for donations. While the steam trawler Endon was at work in the bay last week (says the Napier Herald), the captain noticed a number of sharks swimming about. Two of these, he estimates, were 15ft and 18ft long, and each time the net was hauled up they made a rush at it, apparently in search of food. In one of the hauls one of the finny monsters was brought up, and when measured it was found to bo 10ft long. Tho skipper of the Endon said that while tho sharks were swimming alongside he poked them with a stick, but they still remained, seeming not in the least afraid.

"In the South years ago the public lands were sold, and the proceeds were devoted to the making of roads," said the Mayor of Auckland (Mr. C. J. Parr), at the conference of local bodies, which was held last week to consider tho question of the upkeep of the main roads. "In tho North we have made the mistake of allowing the Government to sell our public estate, and to put every penny of the proceeds into the general treasury." The Government, Mr. Parr continued, had" since expended money on railways by boring a big hole through tho Southern Alps, and by conferring •fcher luxuries on people who paid vorv INtb themselves towards such work. ' Jacques Picliard was on his way to be married at St. Ma-lo (France) at the end of December, when two gendarmes rsde. up to the wedding party and arrested tho bridegroom for stealing ft bicycle. Pichard admitted the theft, but tho bride eloquently pleaded th.it the priest was waiting at the church, and that a marriage postponed mii'lit not become a marriage at all. fire gendarmes talked the matter over, and finally permitted Piehard to be married while under arrest. They stood on each side of him while the ceremony was being performed, and allowed him to kiss the bride, and then took him off to prison.

The time-table for the right clasps at the Technical College is advertised in this issue. A very attractive list of subjects has been drawn up, and all classes of the community are well catered for. Tho commercial classes will he in charge of Mr V. Duff, while tha engineering classes will be conducted by Mr Kirk-pa trick. Mr Riddles will have charge of the eahinetmaking class, while tho elocution class will be instructed byMr J. Auislie. The dressmaking instructress, Miss Bell, arrived from Auckland at tho end of the week. The Director will h P at the College this (iuesday) evening, between the hours of seven and nine, in order to arrange with students the courses of work. "

The Egniont T.odge, \'o. 112. T.0.0.T., lield their iisuttl meeting at 7.30 Just evening, and at 8 p.m. the Rev. Rosevcarc presided at the usual quarterly concert given to the funeral public by the Lodge, which was opened by a song o welcome to the non-members' present Mrs Denton followed with a pianoforte solo, Mendelssohn's "Spring gong," and 'luring the singing 0 f "Won't You Buy My Iretty Flowers?" by Miss Watson, three litUe friends (Misses U \ y Hnrd . widge Maggie Watson, and" Betty Helen) went round with baskets of lowers and made a present of a buttonhole or spray to each one present. Songs w«« a so given by Miss Vera Morsbead, ■iiss Maggn- Watson, and Mr llard«>«BJ>, and recitations by Sisters Lew and Uimnerton; a violill duefc h a t * f.iiodwu, and Hartnell; a duet by Mes.lames Hardvvidge and Watson, and a jo by Mrs Watson, Messrs. nirdwidge and Watson. Rrotlier Bolton also gave 'i pianoforte solo, and the Kev. Bwoveare an address upon his experiences «l>ilel,v,ng for the most part of his life '» » prohibited area. A vote of symP*% was passed | 0 the Rev. and Mrs. ales, witli best wishes for the latter* «l>cedy recovery to usual health. Votes ot thanks were passed to the chairman, the accompanist (Mrs Denton) and the entertainers, as well «, to Miss Alma fln« .'"' , ar ™ B ff ,,, « the-baskets of fl mers. Kaeh l.ttlo girl referred to was P c cnted with a basket a. u memento ot tlie occasion.