LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 113, 6 October 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Maori named Te Hirini, of Taratahi, had been adjudged bankrupt. His assets are set down at £8 10s and his liabilities at £55!) 5s Id.

An optimist is a roan who can see good thing* ahead of war time, and who lets nothing impede the view. Let's, all try to bo optimists-. Every optimist effectively settles a pessimist, mid creates more optimism. Writes the Auckland Government Tourist Agency to the Tourist and Expansion League:—'! should be very ghul of any .information re the regular motor service to the North Egmont hostelry or other routes up the mountain. lam getting many iiM]uiries here." At the meeting; of the Ta.raiuiki County Council yesterday it was decided to postpone confirmation of the resolution to schedule tpiderwort a noxious weed until afun- the merging 'crders take effect, so as to include the BfW areas in the order.

"Sugar will be ijolil this year," slates a business report from San Francisco. Messrs WinficM Heolt, writing on Septcinher I.explains Ilia! with Hass'ia, Alls, tria and Germany, tliu principal beet •sugar producers of the world, without egress to the, overseas markets, thevewill be ii great spurt in the sugar trade in California. licet augar is largely grown on tins Pacific slope, and it is certain that the American producers anil merchants will make, an unprecedented!)large amount of muney ibis season. ' They had been in the slough of deaeond dency over the. proapeets of being wiped out of business a s the result of the now tariff legislation, but the breeze of war had blown them good tidings. The appreciation iu sugar values in the Northern Hemisphere, it may be predicted, will have its rellex in the countries south of the Line. Fiji, Queensland and Java sugar, on which all Australasia depends, ia likely to bo in high demand aa the result of the northern shortage. Hero, incidentally, cornea in the value of legislation restricting excessive food prices, for however mucin, the millers and mersyndicates may resent interference- with their prc-fita, tfhe interests of i tho great body of the public are parawouat.

Attendances at the theatrea and the 'fine response made to various appeal lor cash subscriptions show that the pessimists' day h over. Cheer upl There's business on tho move.

The Pairk Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club lias prospects of an excellent season. The annual meeting of members is to Ibe held on Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock, at the Town Hall, and intending members are invited to be preE«nt.

The following is a text of a notice, printed in hold type and red ink, which ' ha* been issued in London:—Lork Kitch Cher's appeal, 106,000 men required ' -• the war. m en will bo refuse' 1 jW" aro physi'jally fit for active scr-' * ™ the ages of 19 and 30 m and o : 'ers up to 42. Late N-CO.' v«d soland ex-soldiers urphUy r^ '^^ A fc «h fe nisholo world contamed HMsOW tdep-ftica, of which tho Umtei. States h ad : B ;. Ss7 and al] Europe, only 3,1 )OW . The city of New York tilone Possessed 441,128, almost exWXf doubly ti re number possessed by London. Chicago stood third among the o.ties of tho world with 279,383 I telephones. [But Los Angeles and San Francisco hold tho percentage record, each liaving one telephone for about cve/y four inhabitants.

Mr. O. A. Wilkinson, M.P., has received a. telegram from the Premier (Mr. W, F. Massey) announcing tliat the first contract in connection with th.; Kltham-Opunaiko railway lias ibeen. let. This contract iw for the second or thiTd section of the Tins, not for the first adjoining tho main line, and includes the Matapu station. This is very satisfactory news.—Argus.

Tho Local Railways Bill will probably pass all ite stages with, safety (says the Bltham Argus). A return issued recently shows that during the three months ended June 30, 140,0(17 aliens landed in the United Kingdom from ports in Europe and the Medi-terranean-Sea, while 50,213 landed from other ports. Leave to land was withheld in 402 cases. During the same period 121,243 embarked for ports in Europe and 46,457 for other ports. The number of expulsion orders granted during the three months was lOli, compared with eighty-two in the same period of 1913.

"Maoris should not be allowed to sell their lands themselves," declared Hie Chief Justice emphatically on Thursday (says the Wellington Post) in a Maori land case. "All sales should be made through tho Crown and through Crown officers. That i a what I tried to get thirty years ago, but the people who were anxious to get hold of Maori land wero too strong. There is never any satisfaction in allowing a Maori to act for himself in the sale of land. Maoris can't be trusted to control their land, and I hold that all sales should be through Crown officers and by auction. Thore should be fair play to the Maoris, and that Hln's is not so is shnply due to the Legislature, which gavo the people a compromise allowing the Maoris some control in tho disposition of their land." The usual weekly moetmcr 0 f the, E<»mont Lodge, N0.,11-2, 1.0. G.T., was h-'d last evening in the of the Good lomplar Hall, when six friends were initiated into the Order. The programme for tho evening consented of {.liUitation songs and appropriate recitations, and was in tho hands of Bro. Welch Bro. G. W. Hartnell gave an interesting ten-minutes' address, in vtach he cornered the general imwovements m prohibited areas a.s against ron-prohibited area.?. After light refreshments were handwl .round, the meeting was brought to a close at 10 p.m.

A local trader remarks on tile somewhat thoughtless notion held '!>"• manv people that when they decline to Imv s. German doll, and TwfT out their "Rule Britannia" waistcoats, thev are helping the Empire and cutting into German manufacturers. As a matte* of fact, the only person who suffers is, the unfortunate British retailer, who has bought and paid for his goods Ion" ago, probably through a British middle" man. "The public fongcts," says this trader, "that these German goods have been brought in to satisfy the demands of the people themselves, who refused to pay the price for the British article." As dolls are not a big item of British manufacture there is a possibility that the stocks imported from the Fatherland will all be placed, and most of the German and Austrian fancy goods will also find Tjuyprs, unless our own people are to be penalised.

There are many false prophets in Auckland. Some of them at the. beginning of the war assured us that the clash of arms would bring disaster to our trade ami that great sums would be required for file relief of local distress

(says the Auckland Herald). Two months ago there were people who could not see a silver lining in the cloud. It was useless to urge them to keep thei* pecker up, worse than useless to ask them to keep their gloomy forebodings to themselves. Fortunately, the majority of Aucklanders had faith in themselves, their country, and their Empire, and the favorable state of trade and employment to-day is due to the faithful majority. Had we all been pessimists storing our gold against the evil day, we would not have had to look very far for distress and unemployment. As it is, only 240 men were found to be seeking work in the week covered by the last report to the Patriotic League and places were at once found for many of them. When w« consider the size of Auckland, and the unavoidable checks to trade caused by the events of the past two months, we can only wonder that we are doing so well. If wo can judge by the attendances at the theatres and the picture shows, Auckland as a whole has not felt even the need to economise. As to the future the time of crisis, so far as trade and employment are concerned, is _ovcr. Even the prophets of woo have 'become cheerful. The Kaiser's plans have miscarried, spring has come in 'Auckland; who can be sad at sucli a time? When business is booming, everybody can get a satisfactory share of it without much trouble. When there's little doing, yon must do your utmost to secure enough of it. 'I his is the time for an energetic newspaper advertising campaign, and the Daily News is the best medium always, because of its "reat. and well-placed circulation. ° Fifteen model.} miilt with Meccano 'lave been entered l,y l,r> v 3 ;„,. j ne j| <1( .. tano model buildin.; com.pcUtioii'liein" conducted by, JWv. Thomas Avery This competition is held with the object of giving t.h,. hov. -a. fecial incentive, to invent original models. Attractive prizes are offered so that the bovs building the winning models will be'well rewarded. Tiie lirst prize is a .Meccano outfit No. 1, valued at £J. second prize, a. Meccano motor No. 2, valued at f I Ss Od; and Wie third prize a Meccano motor No. 2, valued at fls (Id. flev. Bradbury and Mr. Sandford have kindly consented to act as judge*, and when their announcement i ft nuidc the winning models and as many others as possible will be on view i» Mr. Avery's window. —Advt.