LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 215, 18 February 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It was stated at yesterday's meeting of the Tarunaki Hospital Board that the contributions for the new hospital wore coining in very satisfactorily. ''The sooner the County is shut of amateur lawyers, amateur doctors and amateur engineers, the better."—The chairman of the Stratford County Council at yesterday's mooting. A meeting of the Re'dly Relief Fund Committee was held at the Town Hall last night, when it was decided to close, the fund at the end of the. current month. The amount now in hand \v.:s reported as .C2S 12s ll'/ a (l, and it was decided to take stops to procure an artificial limb for Mr Reilly. Ocater Auckland still 1 grfywK. A Press telegram states that the proposal that the Raiment, road district should amalgamate with the city <u Auckland was carried at a poll of ratepayers yestordav bv i) 45 votes to 235. Tile straying cattle nuisance is a perennial subject with local bodies, a possible solution was offered the Stratford County Council yesterday, when'vi resident of Midhirst asked tlie Council if it was prepared to issue a license for grazing county roads, and offering to take a. liemso to graze tlie hack streets of Midhirst township at an annual fee for each animal. The suggestion was uuaniinoudy thrown out without discussion. iPukekura. Park luu probably never looked better than at th u urcsent time. The growth this season has been almost phenomenal, and the native and other tree:! are looking at their best. The mam- improvements effected in fche grounds during the past few years, and the many evidences of the care of ; t n enthusiastic curator, caused a. visitor to remark yesterday that Mr W, W. Smith was as great an asset to the Park as the Park is to New ,'Flvmouth. At the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board meeting yesterday, Mr Macßeynolds drew attention to what be considered was a defect in the Old Age Pensions Act, in that a widow with children received a pension, but if the widow died there was no provision for the children, who certainly required help far more without the mother than when under her care. He considered that the pension money in such cases should be paid to the Hospital Board for the support of the children. This view was endorsed, by the members present.

Tn connection with the treatment of accident cases at the hospital, Mr E. Maxwell, at yesterday's nieetiiu' of the Hospital Board, drew attention to the position of the Board with regard to the patients' fees for maintainance. He pointed out that the legislature compiled employers to pay compensation for accidents so that the sufferers should have the means of living, but if they, went to the hospital they expected to live there for nothing. 'lie considered that a proportion of the insurance, money should he payabl,. to the Hoard in such cases. Tlie chairman promised to bring the matter again before the annual conference, but intimated that hitherto delegates had been opposed to the course suggested.

'.Tilt.' lust experiment in agricultural instruction taken up bv tin- Wangaum I'.ducation Hoard was at tin; Taranaki '•lid of tins district (writes Mr T. .l'irani to t/'i e Dominion). There ,\I,- ]sraik released ATr IJrowuu from a >rooil deal or his woi'k to deal with the farmers. ||,.. held ('hisses of adults in the, daytime when hj,. discoursed nuiinl-,- on graving and. fodder crop;, fertilisers and their i'.-e. and the treatment of the soil generally. He also undertook to prescribe for rarins— his patients were numerous "ml liis success ditto. I'or six momlls tlii'M' classes earned £:i<m. and til' opinion of the educative value of his work was enhanced by the direct iie.anciiil gain to farmers which follow;!. Most of tlie merchants adopted the nisi meter's mixtures for fertilisers, r.n-l t'v whole varum i ; an unbounded snrc.'is. Tile great virtue ill it. however, i; Unit it has reacted on the youths' cbvsrs, l,v gaining the couCilouee of fh,. adults and •nroving to I hem that l;o»k-lcarniyr< is -omotinie-; able to produce practical results. Anofiior of the eniovable series of motor trips organised' hy the Taranaki llotor Transport Co. has been arranged for Sunday nexl, when, if siil'lii-ieiil 'inducement oilers and tile weather is favourable, the commodious and comfortable eiiar-a-banc will run to U-enui and lack." leaving the centre of (he town j at. 1 p.i 11., and reluming about (i o'clock, j The- y.-i-hiug to lake' pari in 111;, ,].- \ turn fare is (is. I

ilr. S. Teed lias received the following j from ilr. ,). P, Smart, of Tikorangi:— "If any gentleman would think it worth while running out here with his car, we 'have 3c\vt. or 4c\vt. of plums that could be sent, to the troops at Trentham. I could, perhaps, also give vegetables as well." ilr. 'Teed will be pleased, to hear of anyone who will kindly run out for the fruit, etc. ' The commander of the Kmde:i L credited with having issued the f<. owing orders: ''lf we sight a Jap...,ese warship we will run away from them, for they will show us no mercy; if an I'inglish warship we. will stand and light, for if beaten we will be well treated should the occasion arise; if.our opponent is an Australian ship we will light and sink her, for she will only oe manned by cadets." The commander, has, no doubt, revised his views since. The Stratford County Council resolved to draw tlie aUiition of the noxious weeds inspector to tile spread of St.. John's wort within the county. Cr. Buskin stated that 'Uliei'c were, now acres of the weed where a few years ago there was only a plant or two. During discussion on the matter it was pointer! out that the noxious weeds inspector had first drawn the Council's attention to the weed, and had suggested that it should be put on the schedule, a suggestion that the Council had.adopted. A bank opposite ttlie iMidhirst dairy factory eonstiuies a great danger to travellers: as it obstructs the view of the railway and tile Jiiain road from Kent Terrace. At the Stratford County Council yesterday Cr Baskin suggested that the Council should remove its portion of the bank and ask the ißailwav Department to do likewise. H c enumerated several cases of accident and quit" a number of narrow escapes at this spot. The chairman stated that the Council would shortly be renewing the To Popo bridge and the. earth from that bank could be utilised for filling at tile bridge. The matter was accordingly held over. Tlie. business shrewdness of America is shown by the fact that the war depression leas resulted in increased advertising. When an American's sales begin to go down lie commences to stimulate them by judicious advertising. When lie has to cut expenses, his advertising account is the last he dreams of cutting. When b ( . cannot afford to use advertising as a means of reviving his trade, he knows that the game is up and it is time to meet bis creditors. The man who stops advertising really takes down his signboard and puts a bull-dog on the the doorstep. The Taranaki Motor Transport Co.'s thirty-seater char-a-banc made a trial trip to the Mountain House yesterday. Tlie big machine climbed the steep gradients and negotiated the sharp ■corners with ease, the actual running tim,. from town to the House being one hour and a half, the return journey being covered in ten minutes under this time. It is probable the company will later on arrange excursion trips to the Mountain. Next Sunday afternoon the char-a-banc will Tun Ha 'Uremiii and back. Impudence must have reached its limit on Fridap (says tlie Manawatu Standard) ■when a man stole a pair of boots from /outside a local boot shop and walked inside and purchased P. pair of laces for the footwear. The salesman, however, espied the boots under the man's coat, and handed him over to the police. The sequel to the incident was related at the -Magistrate's Court on Saturday, when Charles Woodward, a stranger* to the town, was fined £5, in default seven days' imprisonment, for the theft. Accused attributed his act to drink. An order was made for the return of the boots to the owner.

Tn aiv interview at Dimedin ilr. Hill, manager of th u Bristol and Dominion Producers' Association, referred to the likely effect of the shortage of shipping tonnage on the rabbit industry. He said he understood that various freezing works ivere not taking rabbits for .freezing, being desirous of retaining the storage space for meat. The only way he could see out of the difficulty was the adoption of proper methods of canning. This would relieve the block and give a large quantity of food to the consumers of th e United Kingdom, as tinned goods could b 0 carried in nonre frigerated space. If the shipping diilicr.'.ly were prolonged, and the canning not proceeded with, it would mean a wholesale poisoning of rabbits, which would mean a loss to all Concerned. A slight breeze varied the monotony of proceedings at the meeting of the Stratford County Council yesterday.. Cr Baskin ha.d moved that the engineer .be instructed to see. that some trees overhanging the Ueaeonsfield road <,n the south side near Jlidhirsi are removed. Alter waiting for a while, Or Smith rose and seconded the motion pro forma, stating that there seemed to be some feeling- b tween the chairman and ihis colieaeiie in tiie riding. When a danger existed, lie thought riding members snouhl unite to get rid of it. The c'hairi an hotly denied that there was any such friction, and said ho required no pin-pricking to do his duty. After a little discussion, in which iio one seemed to know whether the trees were on the road, or on private property, the resolution was iput. Only cn t! response was given. Cr Were voting m the negative. The chairman declared the motion carried, 'but on a division being called the whole Council, including the mover, negatived it. (Finally it! was decided, on the motion pf the eliair- j man and Or. Cliris'tofTel, that the engineer find out tilie actual location ov the trees, and if they are on the road, have th'-iu removed, tind if on private prinertv. serve the owner with notice to cut ihnn.

There is a point of interest in regard to the original Northern -Wairoa horticultural undertakings (says the New Zealand Herald.) Over one hundred years ago peach stones were planted on the river banks. They were the result of Captain Cook's visit, 140 years ago, when he distributed peach stones' amongst the Maoris, who, in their peregrinations, disseminated the kernels of the successive fruit crops. In time extensive peach groves appeared, and in these old plantations there are to-day found under the present trees lavers of peach stones a foot and more deen, and of abnormal size. For a century and a half, the successive trees had no pruning otherwise than the accidental breaking of brandies, and yet the offspring of the original growth continue, in many instances, to bear lucious, large peaches, and in all cases luxuriant crops of beautifulhyolored and richlyllavored fruit. So to-day, profiting by sueh an onject lesson, many settlers annually raise hundreds 'of seedling peaches by the simple, mode of scatter" iug the stones over their cultivated areas. The young trees arc then plant- i ed in rows a f:;w feet apart, and at the expiration of a -ew years, if their ' yield;; prove unsatisfactory, they are up- I rooted, anil space is loft for furthet. seedling-. In scores of-cases the best! samples of peaches hav ( . been so obtain- i ed. Similar results have been obtained ' with oranges, the seeds of which half a century ago, were planted by the pioneers. To-day in the, Tangiteroria dis- ' trict the outcome of such experiments is discernible in the line, healthy trees which annually produce the best of sweet oranges, particularly when hedged in with tall manuka. As in the case of the old poaches, these trees are hardy to a degree, and will withstand the insect and other pests which cause devas-f-iiior. amongst highly cultivated varie-

A. Chinaman at Manaia named Lui Moon Lun has (iled a petition in bankruptcy. / Tho search for Mrs. Dixon, senior, ol Bunnythorpe, was continued on Saturday anil Sunday among the sandhills at the Foxton beach, but without result. I An Opimako resident lias just reI turned from a trip to Wellington per motor-car, and he states that the worst roads in the whole journey are the Eg- . mont County's. The danger of playing with dynamite caps was (says the Auckland Herald) illustrated by a case at Otahuhu on Saturday last. A seven-year-old boy, Ivor Kelly, _ who lives with his parents in Huttoii street, Otahuhu, was handling a dynamite cap, when it exploded. His right eye was severely injured, and he was taken to the District Hospital. It is not known yet whether the sight ot the eye will bo lost. Recently the committee of the Auck- ■' land Racing Clnb made a donation of! £5 ss, which has been contributed for • the past three years, to the funds of the Remuera Children's Home. At the meeting of the committed on Thursday a letter was received from the secretary, which acknowledges receipt of the amount, but at the same time regrets having to return the cheque. The letter further states that at. various times, after publication of the annual reports •wjth list of subscripions, certain of the subscribers have protested at the Home receiving subscriptions from brewers and racing clubs, and the board have, in consequence, resolved that in future it would .neither solicit nor receive subscriptions 'from these sources. A settler on the Stanley road, writing to file Stratlord County Council aueire the noxious weeds discussion at the last Council meeting, cays that during th'' past thirteen years she had been on tho road sh'l had cut tho daisies twice yearly, and had kept, tlus section clean. Two years ago sue .purchased an adjacent 117 acres, poition of a section that was very bad with daisy, and by culti vating one-half and heavily stocking the other with sheep and cattle, had | considerably improved it. Those wlio had the remainder of the section had never, to her knowledge, endeavoured to check: or reduce the daisy, and she asked if this was a just action towards people who' tried to do their duty to themselves and to their neighbours. Jn conclusion, she expressed the hope thai, things would be looked into in a just | manner towards the just and the unjust. It was decided to inform t'iie writer that the Council had not altered the Act in any shape or form. The establishment of small flourmills each to supply the requirements of a narrow district, is being seriously considered by branches of the Farmers' Union (says the New Zealand Herald). During an organising tour, as far south as AA'aitomo, the provincial secretary Mr A. Schmidtt, discussed the idea with several of the branches in districts lacking convenient railways accessible to the ordinary sources of supply. He found that farmers who had to pity heavy bills for railage and cartage on their supplies of Hour were much impressed with the economical advantage of & district mill, preferably conducted by co-operative enterprise, which could grind a sufficient quantity of wheat grown in the neighborhood to satisfy the needs of the settlers. It 'was anticipated that there might be difficulty in securing sufficient employment for such mills, but 'Mr Schmitt suggested that this could be avoided if the settlers would guarantee to devote a certain area to the production of wheat annually.