LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 24, 18 June 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The next mccWg of the Taranaki Hospital Board will be held on July 8. A first offending inebriate was convicted in fcn« Magistrate's ICourt, New Plymouth yesterday, and ordered co pay cab fare 2s.

Betting slips in the possession of a man charged at Newcastle (En.) with bookraaking showed a profit of £5 on every £7 received. Poems composed by the late Dowager •Empress of Japan numbered 30,000, according to an official of the Imperial Japanese household.

Tlio mail train was about an hour late in arriving last night, wing to trouble with one of the engine cylinders between Kai-iwi and Wauotara.

The hump of William Kanicr, an old beggar of San Francisco, was found to consist of a tin containing £2200 in gold and notes. He had ibank deposits of £4,fl'oo.

•It is estimated that 43000 acres of land has been passed out of commission for the present in the Poverty Bay district owing to the siltage as the result of the recent floods. It is understood that the Government will intioduco a Bill during the doming lacssion • of (Parliament which win enable tue House to vote a very substantial sum of money for the encouragement of t»he production of iron and steel in the Dominion.

The following interesting announcement appeared recently in the "situations wanted" column of a northern paper: "£3 bonus offered to anyoae finding employment of any kind for steady married man, aged 35; not less than £2 2s per week."

There are fewer rabbits in the Wairarapa at the present time than has been the case for many years, said an old settler to an Age representative the other day. "The value of land has increased as much as £2 per acre in some parts as the result of the decrease," added the fanner.

The Secretary, of one of Inglewood's progressive institutions, writing to this paper, mentions the very large circution of the "Daily News in that district. The circulation can be proved by the figures, 'but progressive business men who operate in that territory prove it by the successful use of our advertising columns. A cash register for dealing with telegrams has been installed in the local Post Office. The register records the cost of a telegram, the date and the name of the office, and the nature of the wire, vfhether ordinary, prepaid, urgent or a cable. The machine should considerably facilitate the Post Office staff in its work.

A committee at Raihotu which recently raised money for a certain purpose found itself, when accounts were wound up, with a balance of Is sd. In order to dispose of the balance satisfactorily, the members took up a subscription, made up the sum to 10s Gd, and forwarded tliis amount to the secretary of the. Hew Plymouth Hospital Board as a donation.

Gentlemen of the mrotor-bicycie persuasion are rather prone to travel the streets of New Plymouth with a proprietary air £nd at an excessive speed One of these gentlemen yesterday rode down Devon street at such a speed that he very narrowly escaped collision with an express which was feeing driven across from Brougham street. It was due to no care on his part that an accident was avoided.

The advent of the motor-driven mixing plant is making possible a much greater amount of permanent improvements to footpaths than haß ever been New Plymouth's lot in the days that have gone. The korbing and channelling gangs are now at work in St. Aubyn street, and here provisions ,Jor next year's tram service is being made by the widening of the roadway and the consequent narrowing of the footpaths. Oomplainfa have recently -een made that tho letter boxes in the suburban areas, which should be cleared each day .11 time for Uio mail train, are not attended to, .vnd that consequently letters posted o\emight have failed to catch the train next day. A Fitzroy resident recently posted a letter in the letter ibox on the evening of June 11, iind it was not received bv the addressee at Marton until June 13. It bore the postmark "New Plymouth, June 12, 4 p.m." This is a matter which should bo looked into, as th»so boxes are looked on by suburban residents as a very valuable convenience,

One of the members of the bu?le band vihich was the subject of a paragraph in yesterday's issue, 'has compiained to a News representative that the band was distinctly playing in time, and that anyone who differ;, from this opinion is no musician and doesn't know a

graniaphone from a ,pied piper. Furthermore, that tliey were engaged in the charitable occupation of "livening up tho town," but since their efforts wore not appreciated, they will, for the future, leave the town to the tedium which it deserves.

When the case of Cenoni AYhite v. John Hole, complaints of assault, challenge to fight, and threatening behaviour was called at the fi.it. Court" yesterday, Mr J. C. Nicholson, who appeared for Hale, announced that terms* had been arranged between the narties by wliich he understood the charges would be withdrawn, lais was confirmed by Mr A. 11. Johnstone, counsel for complainant, and the agreement was that complainant should 'Withdraw the charge and undertake not to address any further letters to defendant's children, the defendant also undertaking not to oiler any insult, annoyance ot violence towards complainant and to instruct his children not to interfere in any way with complainant. In dismissing the information the Magistrate (Mr A. Orooke) remarked on the very satisfactory arrangements entered into, and on tho wisdom of settling the.=e cases out of court, instead of ventilating them through the press.