LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 170, 4 January 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

English and American mails, via San Francisco and Wellington, will arrive here this (.Monday) afternoon.

Beginning tills week, the (Rarawa will take up her tri-wce'kly running between Xcw Plymouth and Gnehunga. This week she will sail to-night, Tihurschiy and. Saturday, thence every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,

Tile Customs dutes collected at New Plymouth during the month of December amounted to £3,618 17s 3d and the excise duty to £9O las. The figures for the corresponding month of the previous year were £3,973 19s Od and £9O respectively. The total receipts for the quarter just elided amounted to £12,301 12s 10.1, against £IO,OBO 13s for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The retail butter .merchants of Wellington have- decided to increase the price of butter by a penny per pound from to-day. Bread, meat, sugar, oatmeal, medicines, and other commodities have already been increased in prices as a result of the war, and it is stated that a still further increase is contemplated. The reason of the rise in butter is _ that as a consequence of the high prices given for the New Zealand produet in London, the farmer has to he given ( a higher price for his butter-fat.

"Side by side the French and German soldiers lay. 'lis sont superbes ces braves!' a French soldier said to me, indicating the Germans, and a dying German soldier whispered, hoarsely": 'I would never have fought against the French and English had I known howkind they were! They told me I was going on manoeuvres.' His hand was fumbling near his pocket. Ho was searching for his wife's and baby girl's picture and when we gave it to'him, he clutched it, and the tears poured down his face. T never even said goodbye to them,' he cried. A passionate glance at the picture, a sob, and the man sank back on the pillow, and passed away." Mrs Haden Guest, in T.f\*s Weekly.

The official opening of the Catlins railway to the terminus at Tahakopa has been unavoidably delayed (the Dunedin "Star" reports). There is still some work to be done on the last section. But the final stroke is so nigh at hand that the parties concerned are talking about fixing a date for the flag-flying and the speeches. The local preparations for the entertainment of the Minister for Public Works by the Railway League are practicrjly complete, and nothing remains but to "name the day." In that connection the "Star" has been permitted to use the following telegram from the Minister to Mr. Waters (secretary of the league):—"As far as I know at present, any date from January loth to 16th would suit me for the opening of the Catlins railway, but I will inform you definitely on January 4th."

There is likely to be a rush of sportsmen to Lake Kotoma, where fine hauls of trout have lately been made (says a Ectoriui message). One basket brought in by one fisherman contained sixteen rainbow trout, varying from 5% to 11 lbs., in the pink of condition, and created considerable envy on the part of less fortunate sports. Pvotoma is a little lake some miles beyond Rotoiti. The presence of trout in it is no new thing, but the water has not been accessible till lately. There is now an accommodation house on the shores, and a boat on the lake. There are other lakes in the district, Government officials say, where cr.nall.v fine fishing can be obtained, but they have not so far been used on account of the difficulty of getting to them. The fishing on Lake Rotorua itself with the rod is not very good at present, but on Lake Tarawera both good fish and good sport are available.

Lake Taupo is widely known as being the greatest and best fishing ground for trout, and sportsmen come from all over the world to enjoy the fishing there, amongst them being the greatest experts in the piscatorial art. Such being the case, it is no mean thing to establish a record, and yet that was done on Monday l;t -i by Mr. C. C. Buckland, of Monavale, ( .unbridge, and his brother-in-law, Mr. A. C. Wilshire, of Powel riv«r, British Columbia. Hitherto the record catch of trout at Taupo for one day was 84, which fell to three rods; but Messrs. Buckland and Wilshire beat that by catching 85 to their two rods last Moriday. The average weight of the 85 fish was 51b., the largest rainbow trout weighing 101b., and the largest brown Sib. Mr. Wilshire, who is considered an expert in British Columbia, speaks in the highest terms of Taupo and its fishing, and says it exceeds anything ho has ever met with. The whole of the fish were caught from a launch.

Early last Wednesday morning, as briefly recorded in a Press Association telegram, evidence was discovered that a diabolical attempt bad been made overnight to wreck one of the night excursion trains near Temuka. Two huge boulders, weighing over a couple of hundredweight each, had been lifted from the Orari river-bed and placed side by side on either side of the line, in such a way that any train meeting the obstruction would probably have plunged into the Opihi bridge, and thence into the river-bed. The fiendish arrangement was discovered by the railway gangers when they went out on their custoimVy inspection in the early morning. The obstacles were removed, and the police communicated with. is no doubt, remarks the Christchurch Press, that the abominable scheme would have succeeded had it not been for the fact that no night trains were running • that night, the last train leaving for Timaru at 6.30 p.m. Obviously the miscreants were unacquainted with this fact, hence the scheme went agley. The attempt seems to show the necessity for patrolling railway lines at night when excursion trains are running.

An instance of neighborly helpfulness has just conic to light which redounds to the credit of Southlanders, whose hospitality is proverbial. Some little time ago a man acquired a farm in Southland, and, after getting settled down, his wife took a well-deserved holiday to visit her relatives in Dunedin. A couple of days after her departure the husband took seriously ill, and had to be removed in an ambulance to a hospital, where he underwent a serious operation. The hasty news proved such a severe shock to his better half that she became prostrated with illness, with the result that the farm had to be left entirely in charge of their son, who is a mere lad, There being no other alternative, the boy was left to act upon his own initiative until one of his relatives made a hurried journey from Dunedin to see how he was getting along. On arrival lie met a neighboring farmer, who at once reassured him with the statement that at that moment half-a-dozen teams from adjoining farms were cultivating the fields during the enforced absence of the owner, who could rest assured that his farm was being well looked after. "But what about the house and the live slock?" queried the astonished visitor. "Just make your mind easy on that score," was the encouraging reply. "Two of my own daughters are in charge of the house, and they intend to look after the establishment until our sick neighbors are able to return home again."

(According to statements made to Mr. H. G. Ell, M.P., Christchurch is at present short of flour, and already five or six bakers are expecting t» have to close down next week.

A mushroom, weighing lib., was gathered by Mr A. Jlopson on his Bristol Road farm, near inglewood, last week, and left at this office on .Saturday, where it was on exhibition. Those who viewed it were unanimous in the opinion that it was the largest ediblo mushroom they had ever seen. It was nine inches in diameter and 27 inches in circumference. ,