LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 178, 6 January 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A general meeting of imembcrs of the V> est Knd Foreshore Improvement !-'oduly will be held at the Bungalow on -Monday evening next.

A mistake was made in publishing tac (inures for the dairy exports from the port of New Plymouth for the monl 1 ! of December, the amounts given Iving ' tho-.su of tile daily produce ill store. The correct export %um< of the dairy ex.ports were: 2J£si boxes of -butt. and j0.02S crates of cheese. r_...Y ~'J An excursion arranged by the Tourist i.nd Expansion League to'iXlt. Egmont yesterday lmd to be abandoned on account of the weather, but still some eighteen people braved the elements. ' .Mr Collis, the secretary of the League, is arranging a big party for Thursday or Friday.

:%i] Thomas Roberts, a fireman, was brought before a Justice of the Peace at Waitara yesterday charged with being drunk and disorderly End with, wilfully damaging a door while in such a condition. Accused pleaded guilty, and was lined £l,, to include the cost of repairing tiie door, and 10s on the other com:!. Accused had a prohibition order current against 'him, and it -is t'iie .11tcntion of the police shortly to take proceedings against well-known >\Vai,tara residents for supplying him with liquor.

For the last seven or eight years Mr Richard James and others have been endeavouring to secure grants to open .llill road as far as Kotuku road, in the Mangorei riding of the Taranaki <oimty. One of the reasons ur.ge4 >n favour of this being done is that it will open several Crown leases situated mainly at tiiie upper end of the road. Tlie county engineers recommended that the dray road be extended to Kotuku .road, and a sum of £SO lias been placed on the county estimates for the purpose. • : ■■ - ,

Says tlic Feilding Star:—"lt is reported that in a district not far from Feilding, where there are many German setllers, a number of these enemies of the Empire gathered round the Xmas goose and plum pudding, and drank the health of the Kaiser before starting on the goose. Many good Britons will feel their muscles contracting when they hear this, and will feel a desire not only to "toast" the Kaiser, but these aliens, too, in a more fervent way. When they are driven back to the Fatherland, which they were glad to leave, they will praise the Kaiser from whom all their blessings (low—we think not!"

1 A number of matters of interest to settlers in various parts of Taumarunui electorate have been submitted to Mr W. Jennings, M.P., during the past week, ■mostly by petition and deputations. A number of settlers in the Mairangi block saw tile member yesterday re u'O-.osji-ture of money voted for the Kosi:ra-tahi-Mairangi Valley road, and the Mangaone road. The representations of the settlers have been sent to the Minister for Public Works. The petitions of settlers at Moeatoa (Kawhuyj !■;>■ loan and road weflk. and the erection of Oj atu bridge (Ohura) were for\\ardod on to Wellington, and the Minister has replied that he is getting reports re these works.

American educationalists go about their studies in a practical fashion, as is evidenced by the account in an American magazine of an electrical exhibition at the Ohio State University. The shyv was given by an enterprising association of one 'hundred young men, constituting p the Ohio University branch of the American Institite of Mechanical Engineers. A string of lights from the university entrance to the electrical building, ail immense "electrical show" sign, an electric waving American (lag, a string of arc lights, and a large searchlight, mounted upoti the building made known to passers-by that the electrical show was on. The show was divided into two parts, one devoted to the exposition of commercial appliances, and the. other more particularly to demonstrations of curious and novel electrical ell'cets, such as 'experiments with high-tension and high frequency currents, frying eggs in ice with the aid of eddy current, demonstrations of wireless telegraph, apparatus, the.singing arc L , the loud-speak-ing telephone, and the like. Local electrical manufacturers supported the show with exhibitions of apparatus. Altogether there were about forty exhibitors in that section. The fact' that the receipts were three times as much as the expenses may be taken as a measure of th success of the show. All the standard features of an electrical show, such as arc given in the big cities, were to bo found on a smaller scale at this ex-po-sition.

A survey of the leading articles at present being printed in (Australian newspapers show tliat jthey have, with some expressions of reproach, entered upon a campaign of urging Australians to greater zeal in the matter of sending men to share in the actual fighting for the sake of the Empire. When the matter of speeding up recruiting was pointedly dealt with in the. Federal Parliament, just before the Christmas adjournment, it was pointed out by Federal Ministers that Australia had sent 20,000 men already, that 13,000 were going this month, and that thereafter reinforcements would be sent at the rate of 2000 a month. The Minister for Defence, Senator Pearee, resented a suggestion that Australia was not sending enough men. Yet directly afterwards the Minister for Defence made the most of an opportunity at a public function for an appeal to all young men who arc physically lit, and to tell them in set terms that it was their duty to 'volunteer for service. This appeal is being repeated daily in the press and elsewhere, and Australians are being told that it is a matter of necessity as well as of duty for them to go in the field in greater numbers than are now being enrolled and trained.

ttr.tnig to a friend hi New Plymouth, fa, gentleman living iu the Northern Teri'i- ' lory, says:—"ln the three years J. have been up here, Darwin has been considerably improved. One eutirelv now suburb has been built, and the advent of tlie freezing works means that vet another one is commending-. The gratifying tHnjr about the works is that this is being done entirely vit'i 1 rivatc capita!. The lirni who is putting tl'ctoi up luive taken up huge tract-; of country, t-nu tl>cir managing directo:' has entered iinto commitments in conmotion with the lands and tlie Works which will not leave him very iiHi-li ciange out of a luiilwn. IrnU-.1, he himself volunteered the state:;ii iu. th:U, if they could got the Co'iniiv Ihev wanted they Were pri-numl t.< that amount. Mining. ~f course. 'h. t s been pull'-d up with a jerk h\ (V- «r. .■till, the Maranboy Tinlield i. - >? i bv seme to pr.nnise another jtaiki-u iM. At all events, tlie State is putting up a battery, wliicli it hopes to l.im« (|M ration during tin- next dry and We shall seen know then whether the tie] 1 is g. ing tii be the big thing' we Kp'e it will. The progress „r .'mail Mttlr.m.'iit lu re lias been d/isappoin: iic.-. hugely. 1 tl ink. because we have the Wrong .'hi-, of people. .When >v(th rt who are 'breaking in' the country limi it lii-cesr-arv to send beer and wine i'i case lots f. i (heir bush settlements. vtn win understand that th< v find

selves hard up tor necessaries. TTn-wover, T think it i J usual in a new settlors: «t' to have to do n lot of weeding before you get down to good men. an.l'have no ucmht it will he just, the same here,"

f A 1.- of i'i- v,-.v 1. iaid ;ijj wiiii aii iiij.iiid ibji, Dairy factories report that Hie supply of milk is growing appreciably less, says the i'eilding Star. Owing to the dry weather, feed is becoming scarce, and the factory cheques .for the rest of thin season will not be nearly so valuable to dairymen, despite the good prices being paid by the companies for butter-fat.

Travellers by yesterday morning's liain from Whangamomona to Stratford state that a whare near l'olrakura, occu•pied by an eld man named Windmill, was seen to be on fire. There was no sign of the occupant, and it was feared that lie was inside at the time. Xo further particulars fould be obtained last night.

ilr Alex .UcDianmd, of Xc ,v Plymouth, had a nasty accident during the Christnias holidays. He was swinging on a rata to test its strength for the purpose of a children's swing, when tlie vine snapped, and he sustained a nasty fall, breaking a bone in his foot. The injury enfuices his laying up for tv.'.i wniks yet.

1 A meeting of Moturoa Lodge, U.A.O.L 1 .. \o. ,l!t, was ihuld on Monday evening, when A. B. Brother W. T. Gilbert oresided over a fair attendance of members. The valuation report of the .lodge was received from the Grand Lodge, showing the) lodge to be in a \ery satisfactory financial position. The membership 'has increased to 134, and the amount of sickness has been below the estimate by £BO, while the ratio oi (solvency lias risen very satisfactorily. After a lively discussion on proposed pjßendmuife lo the. rules, to be brought -'befoVH the Grand Lodge, the meeting 'dosed, / . ,

' All through .Monday night, and almost without cessation yesterday, the countryside received a welcome downpour of steady, warm rain. Its effect ;-n the gardens was most marked, and horticulturists declare that they could see the plants growing. The ground, thougli not very dry—for there were splendid rains during December—.was comparatively 'hot as tile result of 'nearly two weeks of the warmest weather experienced this summer, and the i moistening of the soil stimulated growth very considerably. The downpour was not particularly relished l>y the haymakers, and many partly built stacks which had leen left Uncovered on the ) fine Monday afternoon will now have to be tossed into the field again and _ the hay dried. The rains have had their tdVot, 100, on the roads, on which the loose matal was becoming all to 3 prevalent to be pleasant.

. A remarkable accident happened on Beach road, Auckland, on Friday evening. A motor-car, with three occupants, coming from the direction of town, was on its wrong side at Short street The driver put on a spurt and attempted to cross to hia right side ahead of a tramcar bound to Parnell He misjudged the pace of the cur, and the buffer of the tram caught the rear of the motor. The taxi was thrown across the road, and plunged through the corrugated iron fence protecting the railway right on to the railway line. Its occupants had a truly miraculous escape, and the car itself, when lifted back to the road by half a score of willing helpers, was found to be practically uninjured. Within a few minutes of its being got clear of the line a crowded race train passed over the spot.

"We have been in the thick of it with a vengeance. 1 cannot tell you details, but v.e were told to hold a certain position 'at all cost.' We did our job, astheh Koyal Welsh Fusiliers always do, and the cost 1 We were 29 otiicera and ILi 17 of other ranks at that time, but when we mustered yesterday only six oliieers and 200 other ranks remained. We shall probably collect 50 men, but 110 further oilicers. The German shell-lire was awful, awful. The colonel, adjutant, and myself are well, but the battle is raging all along the line and 011 the flank. This is a rest for me for a few minutes in the trenches. Our peckers are still up, and even our little lot can itself felt yet."—An officer in the kt Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers to friend at Weymouth.

The Nviv/ Zealand Field and Kennel Gazette, commenting on the Stratford 'Dog Silow, says: "This popular annual function was 'held in a large marquee on tile Show Ground at Stratford on December 2 ami 3, glorious weather prtvailing. Thy management, as usual, was in tiie hands of Air T, Kirkwood and his toiuniiV.ee of doggy enthusiast?, ami it is quite unnecessary to add that all arrangements were in apple piei order. Fanciers who have once visited this Show are never known to hesitate to k s<nd i?i «r aogs unattended, feeling confident i.hat they will be well eared for

and .icommouated during their absence. Each year since its inception t"ie Show has improved, both as regards quality and quantity, but this year's fixture easily eclipses all previous one. £nd it is quite safe to say that it was tlie be.;t show ever held in Taranaki. 'flip entries were something like two 'hundred more than the previous largest total number, while in most varieties the finality was excellent."

An accident occurred oil the slopes of the -Mountain on Saturday, w'hich may hare had ;i different termination to what it did had tiie night not been so calm, says the Stratford Post. A party left Dawson Falls House to take e, lcund-iibout trip through the Alanganui (forge, past Curtis' Falls,, ancl thence through the forest taking in the Stratford House. A gentleman and his wife failed to negotiate To Popo Gorge 011 account of di'sk coming on, and in re tracing their steps got off tiiie track, ' and were consequently compelled to stay the nig-ht in tile forest. Parties went out from Stratford House, also from Dawson Falls. From the latter Air Murphy went the round trip, starting .it .0 p.m., and negotiated the Alanganui Gorge, and got the track across to the Stratford House, but a gentleman starting from tile Stratford House had meanwhile located tile slray couple and piloted lliem to that IloiNe where, after a. spell and something to eat, they went on to Dawson Falls, none the worse for their u<[v< iu.ure. The night wi\s so ealM that Mr \\ illiains proceeded through tile ( forest with a naked caudle light, having , given I lie hurricane lamp to another larty. Air Alurphv bail only a candle '-or 11 iii'; before everything was serene I r »gain at the two Houses'."

An interesting and, in pints, thrilling letter ha? been received by the Rev. w! J. Cum lieitre, rector of Newington, from one of lu's curates now nt the front. The l!ev. Cuthbcrt T. Maclean, of flew /Vahnd. became ;l curate of St. Mary's, Xewington, but on the outbreak of 'the war he volunteered for service, and re' i eelved a commission in the British army. Writing from Franee a-, lately as Xovomber 3, Lieutenant .Maclean mentions, almost, casually, that he bad been iii trenches continually under lire for three weeks, and had not bad even si rough or taken o!V his boots. Tie lias had several wonderful escapes from death, even being hit in the neck, without, however, sustaining any injury. TTe then .'lives (his remarkable experience: "Tonr days ago T spent some hours sitting in my 'funk-hole' in a trench, and then T left for a little exercise. About twenty eiieiii'".; afle.-v T had moved out a hup' slml? hur-4 in the e?cacfc. spot, where T had been sitting for hours, and j blew mi the trench for some twenty | yards."

Ci;n:t, X.w 0!, x.t.tu*,, Uiljepd^ iv::v!ctHl aiij (lis* ceivod by the 'JiorougJi Couueir'f o j! position of assistant borough inspectorapplications l'or which closod yesterday '

Numerous applications have been re* ccived from . arious parts of New Zea* ( land for tile position of inspector of roads and bridges under the TaranftkL County Cumie'l. The position is a fairly remuiu'rntivo cue,, being worth ijjfiQ g, „year and tUu use 1 of ft motor. cycle.;' 4 '

As sliewfn#. the growing popularity of the Xortli Egmont Mountain House Mr C'ollis. secretary of the Tourist antf Expansion League has supplied us with figures showing that nearly 500 people visited the lfouae from Christmas Day to Jamiarv ."rd inclusive.

One of the pluckiest acts performed l by a British ollieer ntands to the credit of General Smith-.Dorrien. During the South African war, his brigade, which included the. fiordon Highlanders, moved forward to take the main Boer position at Doornkop. The Highlanders dashed up the hill impetuously, and General Smith-Dorrien, realising their danger of being surrounded, set off a< fast as his horsiftould gallop straight across tho enemy's front in order to. turn them back. The onlookers held their breath as a hail of bullets tore up the ground all round tho intrepid rider, but he came through unscathed, and having succeeded in his object, calmly returned to his position in the rear of the troops, and proceeded to develop his plans for attack as though he were exercising troops on the parade ground.

A story which illustrates to a large' degree the keenness which the young men of the country are displaying- in volunteering for service, was told to a Napier reporter. IA number of men had just come down from Gisborne. They left jobs of from £3 to £4 at stations north of,Gisborne, and hearing that they, would have no trouble in getting away, threw up their several duties and went on to the northern town. They pasßed the necessary examination, and after waiting about for several days, were told that there was no room. They werekeenly disappointed, and decided to come to Napier. They are now living on their own resources and are anxiously to b& called on by the military authorities.

A novel means of gaining a livelihood without honest effort was described by Inspector Hendry in explaining the charge of vagrancy against a. man who appeared in the Wellington Police Court on Monday. Inspector Hendrey stated that the man was in the habit of frequenting the streets with ti doctor's prescription in his possession and begging money from passersby on the pretext that he wanted to have the remedy "made up" by a chemist. When he was not doing this, he was very often "shepherding" drunken men down dark rights-of-way. He had four times previously been "onvicted 1 under the Vagrancy Act, a nil also on a charge of theft. The man's physical condition, said' the inspector, was such that a lojig term of imprisonment would' benefit him. The accused, who did not'deny any of the allegations, was sentenced to a term of six months imprisonment.

The new wheat crop is about to be harvested, and the farmer is naturally wondering what he is going to get for

it (remarks a Wairarapa paper). He knows beforehand that there will be a shortage, that lAustralia will have no' exportable surplus, and that before another harvest comes round, the 'Dominion will have to import wheat from America and elsewhere. In the absence of any interference by the Government, it is quite likely that wheat will go as high as it did in 1907, when it touched 6s a bushel, says a contemporary. But the Government has fixed the price at' 5s 3d, which the farmer, in view of the lightness of the crop, declares to be inadequate. It probably is, and no doubt, pressure will be brought to bear on the Government to raise the price, although if some of the reports one hears are' correct, it does not appear to mattermuch what prices are fixed. If the farmer cannot get his own price for his wheat, he seems to be able to get it for his sacks, and the result is pretty much the same.

A diggers' procession and tableau has been proposed by the West Coasters'" Association for the Wellington Diamond' Jubilee celebration. A suggestion has been made that a procession of diggers should be made through the eity, with pack horses, stage coach, and a band playing airs popular with the miners of the early days. It teas further proposed that some auriferous dirt should be secured and washed in an old-fash-ioned miners' cradle in the presence of the public in Newtown Park, the proceeds of the washing to be used for charitable purposes.