LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 114, 7 October 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

_ A splendid and much-needed rain f-!1 in the Mangawingi district yesterday.

_ 'What's the good of the Government it they're doing nothing!" enquired one Of tha county councillors at 'Monday's meeting. "The CourccU sdiould poke them Mp," he added.

_ At tha 'Magistrate's Court yesterday judgment b default was given for plaintrffa in tho following eases:—B H Cbaney (Mr Standish) v. Rangi Kotuku, £1 17s (id, and costs 13s; Coldwater Bros. (Mr Hutchen) v. John Walter Wilson, £2 10s and costs la*; E S Kaiyley (Mr Hutchen) v. John Lovurldge, £2 4a and costs 10s.

Judgment orders were made in the following cases at the Magistrate's Court yesterday:—Elizabeth Patterson (Mr Nicholson) v. A. C. McDonell, an oidor to pay £7 I 3« before October 13, IB default 7 daya; A.B.C. Boot Co. (4Lr Uutchen) v. Sidney Stroud, ordered to pay 17a 0d forthwith, in default, 4S hours; R. O. Hughes v. Clias. Riley, ordered to pay £5 13b by monthly instalments of £l.

The old belief in election time being a favorable opportunity for getting grants from tha Government still exists. At the last meeting of the Taranaki County Council one of the members, in supporting a proposal that the chairman should) go to Wellington, said: "Election time is cominw on, and the chairman might get something out of the Government." This argument provailed. .

I Wliila Mr. Jeffreys and Adjutant Pearn, of the Salvation Army, were driving towards Fitzrqy yesterday aftorJ'oon, the hoTso attaclicd to the gig shied near tho Hcnui bridge and bolted, with the result that the Adjutant was thrown out, tha trap going over her. Dr. Blacklcy was summoned to attend the injured lady, and found that she was severely bruised, but that no serious injury resulted, and she is progressing satisfactorily. The runaway was stopped at the top of tho rise, and the driver alighted, leaving the trap to be. taken home.

A northern engineering firm strike an ■optimistic note in a circular letter to their clients They say, inter alia: "There i» no reason why business should 'not go on as usual. Certainly, if any. class should bo optimistic it' is the. farming community, for the future, holds out very high prospects for the 'men on the land. The Dominion as a food producing country has absolutely l'.othing to fear, and as our trade routes arc open there is no excuse for any serious dislocation of business. Optimism is 'catching.' If you can affect your customers to look on the bright—nnd right—side of tilings, you will get your orders as usual. We ourselves are so confident regarding the future that wo are keeping our full staff employed, and look forward to keeping all Lands busy supplying orders."

"Geirmany is now almost in a complete state of isolation," wrote a London correspondent on August SO, "fc-'horlly after tho outbreak of hostilities the eablo from the United States to Germany was cut near the Azores, and it in now stated that communication between the State Department of tli: United States and Germany has ceased. There aro altogether eight cables leaving Emden, the German Aorta Sea port. Three of these which land :;t Baeton, and two which land at Lowestoft, are under the control of the British authorities, and tho other three, which .In not land i» England, are now said to be cut. Two of them go to the United States via tho Azores, and th e third to Vigo, in Spain. The telephone communication with Berlin was cut off a weeik ago. It is said that agents in England are still able to communicate v.ith Germany by wireless by way of America." The problem of the deserted wife ; j causing the Auckland Charitable Aid Board just now to think over the defects of legislation in this respect (says the Herald). The army of wives seeking fugitive husbands is assuming 'such alarming proportions that recently there have been exceptional cat's vpo'n the resources of the Charitable Aid Committee by those unfortunate women who have beell ieri u}' ilih callous lit! ;- bends with the burden of a family up- ' on their hinds. Recently there were no fewer than seven such application:; before the committee, which felt so i strongly on tie subject that it passed a resolution rejomnisullng the Board to draw the attention, of the 'Government to the increasing number of cases of wife desertion, and urging it to instruct the police to bring the deserters j Ibfck. That committee's resolution further expressed the opinion that the present system of demanding a guarantee | of expenses before taking steps to brins tho runaways back was a premium upoi. I this form cf crime.

History is "tho repetition of history; but rarely, indeed, has the repetition been so close as at this moment. Compare what happenod when Frederick the Great provoked the war of tin." Austrian .Succession which is happening now or may happen soon: "The whol:: world sprang to arms. On the head of I'Vedrie is all the. blood which is shed in a war which raged during many years, and in every quarter of the globe, the blood of the column of Fontenoy, the blood of tho mountaineers who wore slaughtered, at Oulloden. The evils produced by his wickedness were felt in lands where the name of Prussia waa uniknown; and, in order that he might rob a neighbor whom lie had promised, to defend, black men fought on tho coast of Coromandel and red men ucalpcd each other by the great lake of North America." So wrote Macauley in his famous essay of Frederic the Great.

I The war in Europe is atlraeAiii'..' into the field scores of medical men from all parts of the world, some drawn by patriotism, others by ihei call of humanity, and boiiio, of course, J>y scientific ambitions. Tlie supply of medical men will certainly not exceed the demand, but Amiirican doctors say that doctors from all over the world have been offering their servicer through the conciliates. One of the most distinguished scientists inj the field is Dr. Alexis (!arvel, the famous surgeon. He is a Frenchman, and he happened to be in France at the outbreak <i\ the war, and like every other .patriotic Frenchman, ho immediately offered his services to the fJovcnuuftiif. Dr. Oan-1. according to a I'arig story, has discovered a. new method of patriotism, lie hits been looking for men who are willing, literally, to give 'their blood for their counlrV. for healthy men, tliat is to say, rend'- to pire blood for transfusion into tin., veins of wounded soldiers. Quite a. numbe.v of professional men in Paris had been attracted by the. idea, and were offering blood to the hospitals. Thi,-, is. Wio story as it is told, but of course it may have been elaborated before it obtained publication.

Sergt.Major Heap has resumed coiuBiand of the Territorial;! and senior oadets in the Wditara district. It is understood that tho Sergieant-iMajar is to b;j transferred to the Now Plymouth district.—Mail,

Tho teachers m camp on the racecourse, who we're given a surprise pjrty by the lady teacliers la&t ueok, returned tho compliment last night by entertaining the ladies at a roc'ial in the Good Templar Hall. There was a good attendance, and (he function proved highly cnjoyaible.

There hare been some excectioiallv good catches of whiteJbai'. during the last two or three days, which contradicts the allegation made last season that these succulent morsela were becoming less plentiful in tha _ Waiter* liver.—Mail. A settler at Tokaora, informed a Havera. Star reporter that a portion of a boat—l 3 feet in length—wag picked up on the Waingongoro bench lust wfi'k, The letters N.P.H.B. 3 appeared on it. Excellent progress is being made with the construction of the new fevro-con-tie to freezing Tsvorks at Patca, and it is expected that tho building will be sufficiently advanced to permit of killing on December 1. At the annual meeting of shareholders of the Patea Farm'.-rs' Co-op Freezing Co. the chairman intimated that the company had sent Home 20j bales of wool, and that the ac.-oiint sales showed a profit of £>3S on the first ffO bales sold. Word his just been received of a further sale of 47 bales at a still higher figure. To-day is the last day on which it will be possible to-'cnrol on the main electoral roll. It is tho business o* ivery elector to see that his name ii "(gistered, anl not to trust to the system or to chancci Every election time i's it come 3 round finds complaints :>n' moanings from people who wire contcn'. to think, and n>t to see, that .he': nanus app;ar on the roll. The Dunedin Star has the following: New Zealand is probably feeling the effects of the war less than any other part of the Empire, but the unsettled state of affairs is hitting in> some of our people pretty 'severity, especially the proprietors of hotels and boardinghouses. All up and down the ports the hotels are short of guests. In one c; them, capable of accommodating near ly a hundred, the average for the riaftt month has not exceeded twenty. The Slv.itfird Chamber of C'on.mirec, Borough Council ami Tradesmen's Association have been long vvoimjng the Government for a new post office, "'he yresent building is most imVhquale and inconvenient, and it really is a won hi" '.hat it still remains in a town of such impo'tnnce, while neighboring tnvns conducting fur kss pMft.il aitd telegraphic business havo pe*t officer almost palatial by comparison. Mr. ,7. B. liine, the member for the district, ■who has joined his efforts to those of the local institutions, has now ascertained that the Postmaster-General ha? definitely decided to place a sum on the 'Estimates as a first instalment of the fonount necessary for the woik.

. The present war is sure to cause the issue of a large number of new postego _ stamps, consequent upon German territory bwng captured by France and ;Lritain. the fimt war stamps to roach xNew Zealand came from Samoa, which was recently captured 1™ the New Zealand _ Expeditionary Force. Th.> stamps consist of the ordinary issue which lias Icon in use under the German .-iile overprinted with the letters "(J Rf ' (Georgius Rex'ft Impcrator), indicating that Samoa is now mid -r British authority. The central ligure of the design ih a warship, and the >amo design is used for the sUmps 0 f all the German colonics. These w:;r j-rovt-i'on-nls are well worth keeping, as tl.ev are sure to increase in value' before ' verv It ng. J