LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 89, 10 September 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Three men, Jeaoph. Cotter. John Hayes and James smith, were convicted at Te Kuiti of receiving stolen whisky, utid were sentenced to six mouths' hard labor. The. whisky, stolen fn>m the polieo station, was partly drunk by accused tuid partly planted. Some of the plant was recovered by the police. The chairman- at last night's meeting of the Expansion ajid Tourist League mentioned that in the first year of tilie Leagues operation* juist on 2UOO extra liolid.iy-niako.r-s hud been aUraetod to I New Plymouth. Last year, us near nu they could ascertain, tihe number liad increased to between l 4000 and 4500. This result was mainly duo to the publicity campaign conducted by the League.

A firm .of Wellington liradesmten. wrote Dim Wellington Chamber or Commerce recently to know if they ougmt to my a sum of £4O which they owed t'o a -local firm of German*. The chamber considered (the letter, and while some members were of the opinion that all debts should be paid, others doubted if a payment would be right within the tonns of a certain proclamation. No answer was decided on, but it is not unlikely that the question will be referred to one of the city bankers, and that ins advice will be sent on to the iiriu which is seeking Die information. "There is no reason for alarm about supplies of wheat," was the opinion expressed by ilr. '('. Virtue, of the Northern Roller Milling Co., in the course of a talk with an Auckland reporter. The outlook, Mr. Virtue considered, was decidedly a bright one, notwithstanding the cabled announcement that flour had risen to £lO 10s a ton in Sydney (a rise of Ms). He saw' no cause for abandoning the optimistic view he- had taken when tho war broke out. The stocks of wheat and (lour, both here and in the Commonweatlh, were ample, and the i Australian harvest was due at Christ- ) mas. The New Zealand harvest came , m February, and all the indications were of the best. Tho quarterly meeting of the Indcpon- ) dent Order of Sochabitcs was held on j Tuesday evening, there being a good atr tendance. The quarterly balance-sheet | was read, showing good balances in each '. fund, and adopted. The following oflicers were elected for the ensuing six months:— 1'.0.R., Bro. Fred. Good'acre; C.R., Bro. E. Chatterton; D.R., Bro. Geo. . S. White; secretary, Bro. J. Buttimore; treasurer, Bro. Bert. J. Clark; cash steward, Bro. 1\ Hopkins; book steward, Bro. T. (!. Sole; levitee, Bro. Gillespie; guardian, Bro. VV. W. Hughes; trustee, Bro. W. Ambiiry. Arrangements were j made for holding the Taranaki sub-dis- | trict meeting in New Plymouth on Thursday, the 17th inst.

An Auckland member of the Kuirmncy Board, Mr. D. Teed, has received a great many Jtlters from all puts ot tile .Dominion approving his Motion in calling attention to the fact that the wholesale house,, had raised the price of drugs and foods to chemists. 'llie.se com-immieations nave come to hand from ns far south as Invereargill. A letter of interest is that which has just been forwarded to Mr, Teed bv the. secretary of tho Waihi Hospital and Charitable Am Board. In Wii fi commuuk-ation the secretary states that at the last meeting Dr. Hvde. reported that the price of anaesthetics and drugs had gone up in sonic eases ss high as 100 per cent. The floatc! passed a resolution strongly protesting again&t the action of the wholesale hour«o in raising prices before stocks ran out. and suggested to Air. Teed the advisability of collecting evidence. <and placing the matter before the corn-mission which has been appointed'. "Can English chemists manufacture those drugs that hitherto Germany has monopolised V" was a question put to I'rofessor H. ]!. Dixon, a visiting scientist, by an Auckland Herald reporter. "Of course they can!" was the reply. I'rofessor Dixon continued that Germany applied science very much more than England, had done. The Germans had realised the immense possibilities there were in using the brains of chemists.

They had not been afraid of paying high prices for first-rate research men, and had not spared money in experimental work to discover new drugs or cheaper ways of manufacturing old ones. '"There is no reason, in tho nature of things." Professor Dixon added, "either in the supply of raw chemicals or in the supply of scientific men, that English manufacturers should not do as Germany has done. But we are. a conservative race, and English manufacturers will not go further ahead than they can plainly sec." Says the New Zealand Herald.Whether the duration of the war is shortened or prolonged, its effect upon our trade and commerce can lhardly oe very serious, for the amply sufficient reason that our main products are -in high demand, and that they may be expected to reach go-cdi markets without great delay. In Australia, whica lias depended largely upon its local wool sales, it is thought'that tile disposal of the wool in London will be a. slowmatter, and that the realisation of pro ceeu will he thus delayed. New Zealand! may lie similarly tempered it' local wool sales are not successfully In*;.-!. but all other agricultural produce will go forward in the ordinary way under the rapidly developing to mee. the extraordinary conditions. A long series of good seasons and fa-var-alile prices havo made both Australia and New Zealand strong financially and there is no visible danger of any marked disorganisation of trade and commerce virough the inability of either counrrv 11) meet the financial strain im-

posed by tho war. As showing the enormous hold cricket has upon the natives of the Samoa!! Islands, it -became necessary to pass a laiv prohibiting the game and making it a penal offence to play it. The game ins played in the islands, although -it !ias the essentials of the game as we know it, is on a much larger scale. Opposing ii'sims may be composed of two hundred phi.vera each. Play is commenced in the early morning ami may lie continued for a fortnight, or even longer. Each bowler and batsman has x barnickcr, who does hw best to dis- ) concert the opponent of his champion there is an umpire for each batsman and bowler, and When a dispute arises a fon-iili.ilion is held wilili a referee ar.d the point ia decided after much wringing. The whole cf one team is in the Held, and the opposition is placed round the playing ground, chanting -the whole H'.!'..> anything that comes to llieiimind that m-iv be detrimental to the Held tea-ni. When; the game is concluded, or nertiaps before, argument isoiii»tlTiics bi--(-i>mes so heated that it culinin:it"S in a free liaht, diirinsr which a number on c-ii'h side may be "kilted, w ;i* .-.'.' .--.-( ■■' - very seriously hurt, M .\D!'. ,\ NEW MAN OF ME. "IV i- - -■!' time T suffered with liver utti'i"!;.- and billinn»nrss." sars Mr I. 11. Matliic ,u. CVii-daMe, Hnvelock, N.Z. '"At Uij.ce' I would be quite dizzy, and I'-mdil hardly know how t-o walk down the -t~< -t. Rrownlee and Co. advised me ) ;':■■■ (Tbainherlain's Tablets, which I .>;.,;, '■'■• ■vhui'dy T had tried nearly evev ,h : - •■ and can honestly -say th'it Ciei!' 1 ■ !:'it>".'- Tablets wciv/the only medbl-ie Cat. did me any good and they have mad.- a new mar "* *nc." All chemists fiwl stores.

Mr. R. Gibson, of Rivcrlea., raovod a resolution at u meeting of .shareholders ,of the kaponga Dairy Company on MonLilay supporting the suggestion that all [.dairy companies should contribute onehall' per t-ont to the I'atriotic Fund' so long as the war continued, and, like a true patriot, showed that he was personally prepared to make sacrifices beyond what he might" he called upon to do in the ordinary way. To strengthen his resolution he announced to the meeting that lest there might be amongst thi shareholders some who really could not afford this £3 per man, lie (Mr. Gibson) would help those men out and would he prepared to make up their deficiencies to the extent of £2O. Needless to say (says the Hawera .Star) his public-spiritedness was deservedly applauded. One of the shareholders, in opposing the motion, remarked that it was equally important to the. people in England to liavo the colony's produce as it was for the producer to get it there. He argued for a war tax, which would fall on everyone equitably, and quoted the case of the working man who was dependent on the employer's prosperity. Tlie suggestion that the working man was not contributing his quota Wiis quickly challenged by another shareholder, who instanced a number of oases where employees were setting aside one day's pay a "month for the Empire's defence funds.

The New Zealand Trade Review. iir*| reviewing the financial situation, admits that "it- is still very difficult to form any estimate of the ell'ect oi current events on our local money market." ■ Conditions remain fairly normal. The usual season's' demands on the banks for assistance in gathering and moving the season's produce are beginning to set in now, but the supply of funds , continues sufficient .for all legitimate requirements, and lending rates are steadv. Kates of exchange on London, however, have, stiffened somewhat. The dairy export season starts this month, and meat shipments will start a month or so later. There appears every prospect of excellent prices ruling for Dese products. With wool, however, it is difficult to say how values will rule. "The great thing for our export trade is for the trado routes to be kept open, and there, appears to be a very good prospect of this being maintained. Given this, a good export season may fairly be expected, while on the otner hand importation will probably, be curtailed somewhat, and this will leave us with an improved "balance on our trading and a consequently improved supply of money."