LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 1, 13 July 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Reserves Committee of the New Plymouth Borough Council desires to thank the following for donations of tiees, shrubs, or bulbs for the cemetery:—Messrs-. L. A. Nolan, N. King S. W. Shaw, J. Buttimorc, Jno. Crockett, D. Murphy, Mrs. -Brave, and Miss Better. The Government is to be requested bv the Wellington City Council to include in the proposed legislation with respect to motor vehicles clauses dealing with the danger caused by the dazzling head lights used on some motor ems, and also with the question of signals msed on such vehicles.

Ihe Invereargill correspondent of the Lyttolton Times states that a resident in the south part of the town had a rather exciting experience Ithe other night. Hi» wife had retired just abo t 't midnight, and he, after turning out .the gas, was finishing his pipe (before the fire when fcne front gate clicked. A little while afterwards be heard the diiung-rooro window being raised Dashing out, he got within a few yards of the intruder, Who bolted and scal-d the adjoining fence with a good lead A stern chase ensued, but the would-be housebreaker ms too speedy. The a"sistanoe of a cyclist was solicited by the pursuer, but was not given, and the chase was discontinued.

A petition was presented to the House of Representatives on Thursday by the Hon W. H. Harries, «n behalf of Alexander Mackay. Petitioneclaimed that (he was the first discoverer of gold m 1863 at Waihi, on the ground now held .by the Waihi Company: and also at Kamngahake, •Waitckaur'i, and Ukliaroa. aflic Provincial Government Mr. Mackay states, gazetted' a 'reward "« 1808 of £3OOO for a payable field 22 Miles from Thames. In consideration of those facte, he considers that he is entitled to consideration as an applicant for a reward in fulfilment of promises made to him by the Government ot that day, that as soon as the fields proved payable he would receive his rewards.

ihe straying cattle nuisance, and particularly tile working bulHwks'. a «ain occupied the time of the Kgmout County Council on Friday. The subject was introduced by an irate raf "payer who wrote: "When will this confounded bullock nuisance he stopped? It is little use a ratepayer taking a pride in his frontage and trying to improve. it while these hungry brutes are left to roam at will and trample down and destroy what one tries to build. The Wa- j t!ii« road seems to bs the happy limit- I i«g ground for these stray destroyers. Please pass- cm; more resolution "(not to be rescinded at next meeting) that all stock are to be impounded' bv the county ranger from the road- within the county." Accordingly, when later in the meeting Or. VVillcox's notice of motion that no working bullocks 'be allowed to graze on the roads \vw brought forward, it passed through af- I ter sonic discussion. In future county contractors, who have been tacitly allowed by the council to irraze 'their •working bullocks on the road whilst

engaged on contracts', will .'have I to find paddwking, .which is said I to 1)0 ii-lmo-t impossible jn.st now. j .Some of the members objected tn theresolution on flic grounds Hint it was tying the council's hands too much, but Or. Maxwell stated tlmt at present the coimeil was in a dangerous position. If an accident occurred through a motor car miming into a bullock—and be knew of several narrow escapes the council would be liable, as tlio.v were a party to a In-each of the law. Hesides the question of liability, the conned had its duty to the public lo consider, and should not allow -a public danger to remain. Members of the Equitable, Building Society of New Plymouth (First and Second Groups) are notified that subscriptions will bo due and payable today (Monday), at the Secretary's office, j Cunie street, from 0 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., j from 1 p.m|. to 5 p.m., and 7 p.m. to S ' p.m.—Advt. i

At tie meeting of fflie New Plymouth Brotherhood yesterday the Revl T. G, Hammond delivered a moat interesting .address on "The Mind of the Maori," ■which will be published to-morrow. Sailors are not usually credited wifli having particularly tender hearts, yet a party of seamen in one of the Northern Company's _ steamers at Auckland the other evening noticed a cat which by some means had fallen into the 'h'arbor. The unfortunate feline waa making desperate,efforts to keep itself from drowning. TUe hearts of the -watching sailors were touched, and a boat was promptly lowefed. It was manned and directed to poor pussy, so feebly struggling in the water. The boat arrived just in feme, and pussy was saved from a watery grave. Owing to dissatisfaction amongst military men in the Poverty Bay district in regard to the working of the territorial scheme, practically the whole of the officers and non-commissioned officers of the "0" Company, the crack infantry company of #he which won honors a: the Auckland military tournament and also at the Orini and Takapau camps, have tendered their resignations, states the Auckland Star. If they are accepted, a. corps< of 170 men will be left without efficera Colonel Hislop. officer commanding the regiment, will visit Gisborne this week to inquire into the matter A rather sad ease was brought before the Inangahua Hospital and OhariUaw Aid Board at its last meeting, whien Dr. Cholertori, eye specialist, notified the Board that a lad, aged 14 years, was going blind, and recommending that the lad So immediately sent to Dunedin to receive treatment from Br. Ldrido Ferguson. The Board decided to comply with the request. On its being known in the school, some of the lad's scho >l- - expressed a wish to assist in providing some necessaries for him, with the result that the sum of £4 12s oVj.d -was handed to the headmaster, who forwarded it to the Charitable Aid Board. The Deutsc'ie Bank of Berlin, one af the great banks of (Europe, in its annual report, commenting on the affairs of the financial and commercial ■worid, speaks o f the transoortation situation in the United States as follows:—"The American railroads need higher freight rates; their present rates 1 are the lowest in the world—repiesenting, for instance, but.a factioa of the English! railway this in face of the fact that wages in the United!, States on the average are fully twice as high as in Europe. This latter question is "one of paramount importance for the economic welfare of the whole country, because the earning power of the gigantic net of American railroads is an essential' condition for the possibility of their seoiring the urgently-needed additional capital, whereon in turn depends the prosperity '>f important industries and the opportunities for the employment of Is.bor."

"Wet feet are responsible in many cases f«r the ill-health of a child in: after life," was the remark made by one of the members of the Southland Education Board at a recent meeting, when n matter concerning the health; of school children was heing discussed. It was stated that in many instances where children came to school witfli wet feet

or damp clothing the teachers say that they received a change or had their garments dried before commencing their school lessons, hut the question was looked upon as being a very important one, and it was deemed advisable to bring the matter before the inspectors for report tihereon. One member stated that neglect ir. thi9 respect was the foundation of many serious diseases. It was resolvied—"That inspectors be asked to report upon the matter and svggest what measures sh'uuld be taken to prevent children sitting in school in damp clothes." According to Mr. S. Gibson, a storekeeper of Pongoroa, who has taken a very active part in fprwarding the interests of Akitio county, the exodus of farming families from that part off the 'East Coast, owing to the aggregation of land, continues. He states that in Pongoroa alone, since Christmas, no fewer that six families have sold out to their neighbors and have left the district. Going into another part of the district, he finds that the country from Waione to Weber (about eight miles), which was once a small farm locality, "is now practically, owned by two men, two brothers in the district having displaced no less than seven families." There is no suggestion that such aggregation is illegal; in fact, no aggregation is illegal unless it conflicts with the limitation part of the Land Act, which limitation is fractional in its operation, and is faulty even where it does operate. But, whether legally or illegally, a large amount of aggregation, according to trustworthy and independent evidence, is going on in a number of districts, resulting in the exodus of fanning families. If the Government would endeavour, through the land boards and the Crown lands rangers, to test the matter, it would certainly find, after sifting the evidence, that sufficient fact remained to be well worthy of the dose attention of Parliament.—Wellington Post. I The Wenehow correspondent of the North China Daily News contributes an interesting account of the re-building of Tsingtien, "the city that was. lout,'' which he has visited for the (rust time

since it was wiped out by a typhoon in August, 1912. Tsingtien was a, walled city of over 3000 families (sav 20,000 people) standing on the Wu lliven- in Chekiang, about /twenty miles " almve. Wenchow, on the coast. On August 2!l, 1(112, a. typhoon struck it, and 1 during the night the river rose 50ft.. filled the city like a cup, and floated mas-es of houses bodily over tihte wall a.nd away out to sea. At a conservative estimate at least 2000 persons were blotted out. To count tlv; number that perished- in the surrounding country would be impossible, but forty-three towns and hamlets in the surrounding dii-trict. Mere .partially or wholly ruined. When the North China News correspondent cx- ! pkired the ncighbourlhiood « fortniVrlit ago he found wastes of sand where prosperous towns once stood'. Slowly and laborious!v these deserts aire being reclaimed. The deposit of rand lie's from -2ft. to 3ft. deep, and ail this, be it observed, has to be removed in baskets, by band labor. The Chinese have no other way. Tnside the city many new .houses are being built, and .business is slowly reviving. Fortunately, lu-t year's crops were the best within memory. But the population of Tsingtien is not half-what it was, and years must elapse before the district recovers from the visitation of ]!)]2. So does Nature keep down the teeming millions of "the country that produces l four generations whil Europe produces three."

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