LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 52, 22 July 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In the. Magistrate's Court, New Plymouth, yesterday, before Mr. A. CSrooke. S.M., judgment by defendant was given in the following cases: —Gibbons and Knott v W. Whelan £l6 3s 2d (costs £2 os' 6d); and N. S. James v. Bernard Byrn, £l6 (costs, £1 10s 6d) Following on the taking over by the Agricultural. Society of land at Waiwakaiho for a show ground, it is possible that a deputation from the Society will wait on the Borough Council with a view to having the tramway system extended bo the foot of the Manga one Mil. Tlhie Band concert on Sunday night reali'sed £lO 10s 9d. Out of this £3 was paid, for the Tent of the Theatre, leaving £7 10s 3d for the object for which the concert wis inaugurated. The Band desires to tft&nk the Taranaki News and the Ikpinaki Herald far free advertising, and the Theatre Company for a reduction in rent.

According to Mr. Scott C-olville, the well-known theatrical manager, the Kennedys, who appear in New Plymouth to-night, are the finest musical combination that have ever visited New ZeaThey are equally at home with all tastes—from the popular to the classical. They are equally at hime with all classes, hence their success wherever they have appeared. At a meeting of the committee of tlhle TaTanaki Agricultural Society last night, it was reported that at the end of ttee financial year, there, was a. debit balance of £374 17s fid, a,< against £3OO last year. It was pointed out bv the chairman that although the position did not seem oil the f.vee of it to Wive improved. it must be remembered that the Coronation Hall had brought in no income during the year, but on the contrary had cost some £2OO. It was also mentioned that £SO had been paid off the liability on the ball.

That a salary should be paid to the leader of the Opposition in New Zealand, in addition to his honorarium aa n •member of Parliament, is the opinion oi the Mayor of Auckland, Mr C. J. Jarr, C.M.G. In referring to the matter the othfT dav, Mr. Rvrr remarked that the leader of the Opposition in New South Wales is paid fOOO a year in addition to the £SOO he receives as a member. Mr Parr said he supposed it did not really matter to Sir Joseph Ward, but it might occur that a man in other ways entirely fitted for the post might be prevented from accepting it because he could not afford to give his time for the duties of office. The leader of the Opposition should be the "watchdog of politics," and should have an official salary as well as his honorarium.

Considerable time was occupied in the Magistrate's Court, New Plymouth, yesterday, in a case in which the point in dispute was the reasonableness or otherwise of a carrier's charges, and the amount in dispute, £-2 6s Gd. Jolliii Hov km (Mr. C. H. Weston), sued Tj. Keith (Mr A. H. Johnstone), of New Plymouth, oil driller, for cartage on rubbish from his house to the Morley street tip, and on timber from Brown and Co.s yards to the defendant's house. Defendant paid into court £2 2s 2d out of a claim of £7 8s Gd. the balance being the excess of the plaintiffs charges over what defendant thought inns la fair Charge After hearing evidence on both sides at sonu» length. Mr. Crook*. S.M.. reserved his decs,on m order to go into the items

The secretary of the New Zeai'and Society of Accountants has written to the secretary of the New -Plymouth Employers' Association (Mir. T. L. Buxton) asking him to bring before the public, and especially employers of la bor, the chief points relating" to the constitution and membership of the Society o-f Accountants. 'He 'Joints out ttliat the inauguration of the Society was with the object of making provision for the training -and education of accountants and intending accountants, to control and regulate the practice of tfliat profession and to protect the interests of the public against unqualified, practitioners. The examinations .provided are a preliminary (which alter 1915 will be the matriculation) and the professional course which, comprises eleven papers in accounting, auditing, and commercial law—a three years' course. It is pointed out particularly that the only toons legally protected are "Public accountant." being persons in public Ipractipe, and "registered accountant" being -all otlhcr members of the Society. Non-members of the Society may describe themselves as accountants by any other designation. The letters of the Society are, for public accountants, | "F.P.A. (N.Z.)" and "A.-P.A. (N.ZI)" and for registered accountants, "F.R.A." "Regd. Acct." These facts are emphasised because of misunderstanding in commercial circles, and the Society urges that, as it sets a standard which compares more than favoraMy with that in -otlhier iparts of the world, business men will -recognise these qualifications.

The lowest temperature, for three years was registered at Mangatoki on night, wllien there were 27.0 de greos of frost, though it turned to rain before morning. Our Stratford correspondent telephoned late, last night that the Stratford school committee bad passed a resolution asking the Mayor to call o public meeting to protest against the proposed abolition of the Taranaki Education District.

The value and benefit of pasteurisa tion of milk as a preventive of the spTead of disease in stock is. shown bv a return available from Rongotea (says the Manawatii Standard). Of 413 pigs sold to the Feilding Ba-con Factory through their agent (Mr. E. Valleridge) during the past two months,, only one was condemned. The pigs came from the Rongotea and Glen Oroua districts. The Home Rule crisis has had its reflex in a mild way in New Zealand, as elsewhere, reports the Awkhmd Star. Recently "loyal Uistarmen" in Auckland were advertised for, and 300 young' men gave in their names as ready to go home and. if ne<id be, fight for the repulsion pf Home Rule. This was followed by a counter invitation to "loyal Trisahimen" to send in tlieir names in the event of a- contingent being required, fcr the. preservation of law arid order in Treiand. Mr. T. P. CSullivan. of Devonport, was the secretary 'of this movement. and he states that 450 name'have been sent in. exclusive of another 100 who have signified their willingness to leave from Wellington if required. ■Nothing has been heard of the Genehal Grant salvage party for some months. The expedition left San Francisco in January for the Auckland Islands via Tahiti and Bluff. Whether they have carried out their business at Tahiti or not it is not known, but the party's vessel has not yet reached Bluff. The vessel is a brigantine of 600 tons gross, with a 250 h.p. auxiliary engine. When she was at 'Frisco, she was classed at the best equipped salvage packet that had been seen there for many a day. The Bluff agents states that she may have made the Aucklands without calling at Bluff, but his instructions were, that she was to call at Bluff for stores, as the best equipped salvage packet that line, the probability is that she will hold off until the early part of next year before venturing south because the more favorable slants of weather are then available. "Georgia" Lett, who was a well-known figure in the streets of Wellington some twenty years ago, died at the Auckland hospital late last Friday night. He was a dwarf, and followed the oc?u-' pation of a newspaper runner. After leaving Wellington he' went to Palmer' ston North, and became equally wellknown there. Latterly he had lived at Auckland. His death followed arrest on a clharge of drunkenness. At the inquest (reports the Star) the father of deceased stated that some unknown man had given his son drink, as a result of which he ba-d died. Deceased, lie stated, used to "drink heavily, but so far ho (witness) knew, lie had r.evey in his life paid for it. It had been forced upon, him by others. His son's age. be added, was thirty-seven. Dr. T. GiriUer stated that he, had conducted ii. ]K>st-mortcm examination on the body and found that death was due to pois'oning of an internal organ and broritfMal pneumonia. The coroner returned a verdict accordingly. A boardeT at Barrett's Hofyl. Wellington, on Sunday evening was suddenly startled by hearing a loud crpsh oI splintering glass A hurried investiga tion downstairs resulted in the discovery of an individual coolly drinking a bottle of ale which toe had opened by the simple expedient of knocking the neck of the bottle off against the side of the gutter. Asked how h.e came into possession of 'the liquid, the man .replied. "Oh, I put my foot through tihfe window • there, anil took it." The window, which was of valuable plate-glass, bore unmistakable signs of the contact with the boot of the thirsty one, and had a h'ole quite large enough far any die■predatory individual to help hi'mseir liberally to the contents. The man, who appeared to be quite sober, was escorted to the nearest policeman and given in charge. The sequel waslhfeard in the Magistrate's Court, where William I-lenrv Cooper was charged with wilfully damaging a plate-glass window to the value of £3 18s, and witili! theft of a bottle of .ale to the value of Is. A plea of guilty was entered on both charges. "Whatever made you do such a stupid, silly act?" inquired Mr. Cooper of the accused, who, however, remained silent. A fine of £3 18s was imposced on the first count, with ,an alternative of one month's imprisonment, while on the .second cfci.rge Cooper was ordered to pay the value of the beer, a shilling, or e'se spend three days upon the Terrace. He choose Ihe latter alternative.