LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 221, 25 February 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Astoreman at the Auckland railway station was th e lucky drawer of £SOOO m "Tatts" on the Hobart Cup. Press telegrams relate that nuinv towns in th c Dominion are urging that the Government should take national action to contribute towards fie relief of distress in Belgium.

In one of the streets of Eltham on Tuesday afternoon almost in the middle ol thj town, there wa 3 seen a Jien pheasant and one chick, reports the Argus.

. The resignations of Misses A. J. Finlay ' (cookery assistant) and M. Watkin (assistant at Huiroa) were yesterday accepted by the Taranaki'' Education Board. Miss P. Mills, was granted a month s leave.

On Saturday night, at the Salvation Army hall, a public welcome .will be extended to Commissioner and Mrs Hodder who are General Bramwell Booth's re-' presentative, for New Zealand. His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. E. Wihohj has consented to be present. A gentleman who doe 3 a lot of motor «ycle riding throughout Taranaki says that the stray cattle nuisance is becom'ing almost intolerable, and at night time is a positive source of danger. Ho thinks that the nuisance is most pronounced between Eltham and Hawera

Bush fires which started on Tuesday evening near Rowan, are, says the Star, •causing some apprehension. Towards •evening they died down somewhat, hut a breeze sprang up and revived them and there are now fears that considerable areas of grass country may .be endangered.

A leading copper authority estimates that Germany uses 30!) tons of copper daily in ammunition. She would require to import 72,000 tons yearly to maintain tiie supply of cartridges and shells.. The pr:ec of copper in Germany has increased 100 per cent since the commencement of the war,

Throe 20-franc pieces have been extracted from the skin of Private Boissey, while lying wounded in a Paris hospital' A piece of shrapnel pierced the pocket of another soldier, who had the coius, and who was marching ahead of him. The projectile and the coins lodged in Hit; hg of Boissey, who had not a penny .on him before being wounded. '

hays the Argus:—We are pleased to hear of progress being made by Eltham laus, who are with the troops. Lionel ixniustone has been made "galloper" to the Staff. It takes a plucky, reliable and intelligent man to do this work, so •young Grimstone must possess all these qualities. Jago has made further progress. He was Paymaster, and now he is Scout Sergeant.

His Worship the Mayor has received a telegram from the Mavor of Dunedin informing him of the resolution passed there recommending the Government to vote J&>.000 monthly for the relief of the Belgians, and asking for New Ply. month'., support of this movement, Mr Wilson has telegraphed to the 'Premier to that effect.

hays an English piper: Ono of n ur young and enterprising officers in •hargc of a ceituin fnr-uway hinterland received from his s'lperor officer at the base some time in August this message: "War has been de-..tre,i. Arrest all enemy aliens in your district." With commendable promptitude the superior officer received this reply: "Have arrested seven Germans, four Russians, two Frenchmen, five Italians, two Roumanians and one American. Please say who we are at war with."

. A somewhat remarkable coincidence is related by W. Rees, formerly employed in Hamilton, and who is now a member of the Ambulance Corps witli the troops in Egypt. Writing to a friend in Hamilton, he states that during the big route march through Cairo h c was told off with a squad o do ambulance duty, and with others, was lined up at a certain point where the troops passed. Suddenly a young trooper fell out of the raiiKs, and the writer and another were ordered forward with a stretcher to take him in. "Imagine my surprise." states Mr Bees, "to find that our patient was mv youngest br.-:i!- •• who I didn't even know was with the force "

The v■'•• ut imported by the Govorn"int is said "by millers to be "dirty," that is, to contain a fair large quantity of rubbish (says a Southern exchange). One sain[de was found to contain 71b of rubbish to the hag. as against the usual allowance by North Otago millers of ;H In where our own wheat is concerned. For milling purposes the loss is inconsiderable, in the face of the need which the wheat supplies, hut some of tile imported wheat is, it. is understood, required by farmers for sowing. In this latter Oi.se the greatest care should be exereis- I eii to thoroughly cleanse it before use. us among a sample shown us is a variety of a diminutive thistle of sturdy habit, unknown to those who have so fir seen it.

"Girl from Prosperity" star drama— Empire and Theatre Royal to-ni-'.t.

A naval officer on board a destroyer writes: The North Sea is pretty wintry at the best of times, and has been quite seasonable, I can assure you. We spent our Christmas at sea, drowned a man, and lost an anchor and cable. The forecastle of a destroyer cleared for action ie a dangerous place, all the rails being down. I have visions of an impromptu bath some day myself, but it is all in the day's work, and much les3 uncomfortable than the trenches.

During the voyage of the Himitangi, which arrived at Lyttelton from the Chatham Islands on Sunday afternoon, a Maori woman who was a passenger on board gave birth to a daughter. The steamer had a rough trip up, but mother and child were given every attention possible. The child was appropriately l'amed Moana Himitangi. Moana meanh'g Hie sea and Himitangi was bestowed in honor of the vessel.

An unusual application was before the Lyttelton Licensing Committee yesterday. The licensee of the Sumner Hotel asked for permit to close the hotel from March 1 to June 30, lill.-j. Tlie owners supported the application. The police said there were three'hotels 1 in Sumner, but only business for two. The Magistrate, Mr Bishop* "This is the first application before me of tha kind during thirty years." The r«quest was granted, and probably the hotel will be closed altogether.

Die difficulties and disputes which so often crop up in connection with property exchanges were exemplified again in a case which has been occuupying the Auckland Supreme Court for the past two or three days. M T Justice Cooper, discussing a point which arose on Friday, expressed the opinion that exchanges in property should not be entered into unless an independent party were appointed to value the respective properties He added the opinion that there should be three or four gentlemen appointed by the Government as valuers and before an exchange of property was concluded a certificate should be obtained from one of these gentlemen as to the value of the properties.

The Department of Agriculture has notified -the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce that the list of articles for which French manufacturers desire New Zealand representatives is:- Basketware and wickcrwarc, materials for bicycles and tricycles, brushes, brushware and brooms, carpeting and druggeting, chassis and materials for motor vehicles china, porcelain and parianwarc, clocks chocolate confectionery, drapery, cream of tartar, drugs, chemicals, and druggists wares, dyes, earthenware; fancy goods and toys, gelatine and isinglass, -glass bottles, mirrors, looking-glasses, glass ware, electric machinery and machines, lamps, lanterns, and lampwicks, millinery, perfumery ,silks, spirits and wine tinware. .''

According to Mr C. M, Luke, president of the Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce, who has just returned from a trip to Sydney, the commercial life of that city is more depressed than on any previous visit lie has paid. This it is thought, is due to the drought experienced throughout Australia, rather than to the war. Signs of much unemployment are visible, and the people affected seem to be clamoring for Government assistance. Despite this, in Mr Luke's opinion, Sydney shows signs of much progress during the last ten years.. Trade appears to be good in Melbourne, the unemployed problem not being so acute in the southern capital. But Melbourne has not prosressed to the same extent as Sydney. What particularly struck the visitor, on the train trip from Sydney to Melbourne, was the parched aspect of the ground .the country bearing all the '.in.pcarancc of a desert.

A very interestig and instructive address was fiiven to farmers and others last night at the Borough Council chamber by Mr W. S. Hill, of the Moumahaki LxpcrimentFl Farm, on th e subject of autumn fodder. There were between thirty and forty settlers present, also a lf g T c °" t , inffenfc of High School boys. Mr J. a Connett presided. The lecture, which was illustrated by lantern slides, was followed' with the closest interest and at the close a number of questions were asked and answered by Mr Hill who strongly advocated lucerne, which he advised should be planted in 'March. A of 2 I 0*? , «" «,e .notion ot Mr Marfell, accorded to Mr Hill for meeting. a ' ble information fcnpartad to Hie

I Mr Newton King has kindly offered to throw open his beautiful grounds to uie public on Sunday next, when a r-ol-lection will to taken up in aid of the f.^ mi W Fnnd - A committee of vi'V' 11 ? ,Bpen ?° after tea, and Mrs George's orchestra will render a Programme of music. Just now Brookamis is looking perhaps at its best, tho teds of beautiful begonias being a bhw of colour and furnishing a sight that cannot be excelled in New Zealand. Given a fine day there will be no doubt a krpe attendance of the public, who, in addi™,l I ''" Tv" 1 , 6 a pleasant afternoon amid beautiful surroudings, will Imvo the satisfaction of knowing they are av sisting to ajleviate, if even in a small measure, the sufferings of the starving millions pf stricken Belgium.. ■ In one of the Sydney courts last week a cake manufacturer was proceeded against for selling adulterated food In spector Allison, an officer of the Board o. Health, said that when he visited deZ, ,! P , remiSe3 he saw a b °y P aßsi «g ugs through a slicing machine. The r>, were fermented, weevily, and maggoty'. Inspector kench said he would like the magistrate (Mr Love) to examine- a ba* of figs. Mr Love did so. He picked uS out on the floor of the court) hastily dropped them, and resumed.his'seatX the Bench. The defendant said: «Fi«s are one of the most awkward things "a tor thorn, and it is quite impossible to feet a large quantity without finding one no, lh° t, i at , ar( 'r t S00(l The .V ««»t 10d per lb, which M 3d more than ever I paid them"' T>l! T* T *,"/ ma S^ ots in tliem. 11l oat one." Mr Love: "You may do so if you Hke> but j wouU J vise you not to eat too many." Adams Kench; Another cas e for the hospital." £n °, Pr def "ndaiit) : "I fin'. you £2O, and if I could I would have fined s,°n'i T' ! Y, Tt 1? a wr y mh * thing to »d hgs like that out to the public. I*PT, S to '"" a <**-' for imprisonment The olicers of the Public Health Bepartment deserve cr,dit for bringing Xt,V■'"''•• The aHp ™«tivo is three months imprisonment." The sale of stock to be held on the showground on Friday, by Mr Newton King, promises to be very successJul, judging from the enquiries which .are l>einp received. The order of the sale will he sheep and horses at 11 o clock after which the pedigree Jerseys and other eattlo will be sold.

riie Melbourne, Ltd., is showing a very fine range of men's soft hats, especially in tile popular colors. Price" range from /is fid to 7s -fid for wool mixture hats and from 2s fid to 10s Od for pure fur hats. Fine range of colors to choose from.