LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 151, 2 December 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wc are indebted to the collector of Customs at New Plymouth for the following returns of Customs collected ait New Plymouth for the month of November:—Duty, £3545 Oa, as compared with £2722 Gs Sd for the, corresponding period of last year. The beer duty for last month amounted to £BG 9s as against £O4 Is in 1913.

| A return has been issued by the Timiaru Harbor Board of the valuations of the harbour district for the past ten years. In 1905, the total valuation was .€«,() !i),555, while next year this increased by nearly a million. The increase has cijntinued since then, and this year lias reached the grand total of ■tU,828,750, being £1,078,042 greater than the total valuation last year. The harbor rate of %d. in the £ for 191-! yielded £7723,

A strong contrast was noted by the Rev. A. M. Johnson, vicar of St. Paul's, during his sojourn-in England'in war time and on his return, via Melbourne, between the grim reality of life in the Old Country and the general vague ideas

as to the vital issues (> f the war as reflected by life in Australia to-day. At llljoine most of the well-to-do people have put aside their motors, and all classes are exercising the most rigid economy, partly in order to be able to contribute more liberally to the various funds and partly an account of the feeling that any form of luxury or extravagance would be out of place when their fellow-countrymen are serving at tho front.. Some of the great Rugby football clubs are not playing at all this season. Association matches are being played, but before poor "gates." The theatres have been badly hit, and many of them were closed.

harming is no longer the occupation for men who are failures in other branches of trade; it is becoming each year more highly specialised, and it calls for the exercise of our best 'mental faculties, as well as patience land steady application. It is well, there|fore, for farmers to experiment for tlicmiselvis, and compare results with their neighbors. The agricultural community owes a dee]) debt to chemists for 'their researches into the. secrets of Nature, the kindly mother who is ever ready to answer the diligent enquirer; it now remains for the practical man to make practical use of those secrets which she lias yielded up to them -through her .scientific enquirers.

| A report issued by the Agricultural Department siiows that the American wheat crop will be the largest on record, and there will be approximately 300,000,000 bushels for export. There will bo little Indian corn offered for export, as the crop is short. Last year the crop was also, short, and corn was imported." A scarcity of cereals at this time is of serious consequence to the United States, as the country was relying on foreign ■purchases of foodstuffs to pay off its European obligations, the demand for American manufactures and raw materials having heavily slumped since the. commencement of the war. Last year tlie United States exported cotton worth ■C110,000,000, but from present indications the year's exports will fall far below that amount, and the same heavy decrease in copper exports will also be seen,

I At the Magistrate's Court j r esterday, before Mr A. "Crookc, S.M., judgment I for plaintiffs was given in tlie follow--1 ing undefended cases: —E. C. Hughes v. Archibald McDonald, £4 lis Gd, and 1 costs 10s; Commissioner of Taxes v. Arthur J. Richards, £1 7s fid, and costs 10s; same v. Bertha C. Jamieson, £1 7 a fid and costs ss; same v. Frederick C. Ktapleton, £3 2s Bd, and costs ss; Frankley Park Extension Coy. v, Andrew Xcilscn, £5 ISs, and costs £1 7s 6d; S. B. White and Sons v. James Briggs £5 Us and costs £1 13s 6d; J. S. Fox v. Coker Bros, judgment against R. Coker for £135 10s and costs £7 10s Cd; A.B.C. Boot and Shoe Company v. fielwin Park £1 18s, and costs *10s; Taranaki Oil Wells Development Co. V- A. G. T. Simons, £176 6s 9d, and costs £8; Edward Walsh v. William Keith, £2 18s 6d, and costs 10s; Macky, Logan and Caldwell v. S. B. A. Sparworth, £l6 14s, and costs. £1 10s 6d. A judgment order was made in the case of William R. West v. Thos. P. Smith for.payment of £1 4s by the judgment debtor before December 10, in default

Mr. Ofcey, M.P., will address the electors in the Theatre Royal this evening.

The Taranaki Clntmbcr of Commerce will hold its general quarterly meeting on Friday evening.- December' 4tlh. The business will include a discussion, on t'ha best methods of capturing German colonial trade. A good meeting ought to eventuate.

The new municipal swimming baths in Hobson street, Auckland, have cost* £IO,OOO. They are said to be the finest of their kind in New Zealand, and should be even more popular in the winter time than in the summer, as they will be filled with warm salt water. The epidemic now prevalent in Auckknown as English cholera, is exceedingly widespread (says the Star). At Onehunga, it is estimated that there are 1500 cases, and yesterday a dozen men engaged on the Onehunga wharf had to leave their work during the day. The epidemic takes the form of cramps, vomiting, and diarrhoea, and seems to attack adults in. virulent form.

At last Mr. Massey has paid a tribute to the Japanese. Speaking at Waverley, lie referred to the protection afforded to New Zealand by the, Australian Navy, when a shrewd member «f the audience said: "And the Japanese." Mr. Massey replied, "I am willing to admit that we have to thank the Japanese, and the French Navy, too." Now that their leader has made this admission, will Reform candidates please drop the silly twaddle about the Australian Navy having saved New Zealand! —Eltham Argus. The New Zealand flax industry is feeling tlie effects of the war probably more seriously than any other branch of primary production in this country. The chief grader (Mr Ferris) reports that during the quarter ending in September only 14,809 bales of hemp were milled, as against 28,G51 bales in the corresponding period of last year, and this notwithstanding a much more favorable period for milling this year, combined with a better supply of higher-quality fibre. The decline in production will be more rapid from now oii, as the majority of i the; mills which have been operating | have been only operating in j order to complete contracts. In some J districts milling has practically ceased. From a beekeeper's point of view, the present season is the best which Wairarapa apiarists have experienced -for some time. The regulations under the Sale of Foods and Drugs Act of New Zealand allow up to "26 per cent of water in pure honey. I An interesting development in butter | factories visited by Mr h. Clifton in Sail | Francisco is the preparation of ice-cream. | Writing to the Agricultural Journal ' Mr. Clifton says: "It was explained thai at one time it was difficult to secure the necessary quantity of fresh sweet cream during the period of warm weather. With the rising of the thermometer the consiimpiion of ics-crcam exhibits an inordinate volume. This is now provided for. Fresh sweet cream is received at any time and in any quantity. This , is manufactured into butter that is I permitijcd to remain unsaltcd. When-! the increased demand comes for the ice- I cream this sweet butter i» passed wit'.i 'a proportion of fresh milk through an > nnulsifier. Tile result is fresh ci' Mli!. 'This is used for the preparation of the I 'iced product so extensively consumed by tile American people. Cone cups of biscuit material are made, in .the Jac- • lory, and these are the containers for ' the eheam. An enormous street and slio;) business in ice-cream is done all over America. Owing Lo there being dc abt as io ? ;he truth of the statement.'.' au:K !>.' Government candidates that lion. 11. MvKenzie held the (!;>v,V~;mienl' ire from blame iu reference to the Huatly disaster, Mr. T. Y. Scd'don. the Liberal candidate for Wesfjand, put the matter to the test. lie telegraphed to Mr. McKcnzie informing him tlwt it wais being slated at llokitika that ho was defending the Government in connection with tlie JTnnlly disaster, and received the following reply, w'iiicii speaks for itself: —''Conditai ning the Government and holding them responsible for ihe ITimtly accident at all | my meetings. No truth in rumor you I refer to. — (Shrned) Roderick McKenzie, ' 'Wakefield/' S

Tt is not generally known that Lord Kitchener is in direct communication by telephone with Sir John French at the front. Lord Kitchener can sit in his "llice in London and communicate with the battle-front, and with the complete system of telephoning that is in vogue, in France, Sir John French is acquainted with everything that is in progress at the various battle points ami Lord Kitchener knows the results immediately.

Only tlic weather remains to l)e settled for to-morrow's sale of work at the West End. A charge of sixpence is being made for adults' admission to Kawaroa Park, but, apart from the sale of work, there will be a biff sixpenn'orth of 'fun. Every penny of the profits will be spent in the development of this pretty picnic spot, and the public are invited to view the work that has been accomplished. For some time past, and particularly since the war commenced, people have taken a keen interest in the manner in which the day's news is printed, and many interested visitors havis gained some knowledge of the time-savin" devices applied (says tile Southland Time?.! On Monday night, an unexpected visitor ' turned up. He was a very much emaciated cat, whose mien was' inordinately mournful, but despite these blemishes he was successful in obtaining a first class insight into the anatomy of the rotary printing press, the machine which turns out newspapers for sale at the rate of about twenty thousand an .hour. This machine-is made up of two decks, each comprising a series of cylinders, which revolve at the rate of about one hundred revolutions a minute. Tile visitor strolled into the machine room before operations commenced, and made himself comfortable in one of the cylinders . referred to. He must have gone to sleep there, for he next asserted himself when the rotary had" got fairly under vay. In response to his howls the machine was pulled up, but as the search made by the machinists were unable to discover anything extraordinary, the big machine again rolled on. From time to time, weary howls were heard, but the puzzled machinists were unable to discover anything extraordinary, and the machine was not again checked until the issue was completed. Then the attendants went to their places to lift' tli-i composition rollers which convey the ink to type plates, and it was while thus engaged that one of them saw Thomas. He crawled out of the cylinder a sorry spectacle of dejection. He was soaked in oil and seemed to have drawn fully upon his reserve lives, but the machinists considered that a cat that had passed through such experiences was worth some attention, and a quantity of milk was obtained, and the visitor picked up a little after the refreshment thus afforded. He remained on the premises for some time after his lucky escape, but eventually went forth apparently none the worse for his experience. Being a combination of roots, barks and herbs, condensed into drop dssojj KURAPEPyiC cures most obetin-/ nte cases of Indigestion, K not yst obtainable in your town, ybufr' ptor®. y