LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 225, 2 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Owing to the continued dry weather the price of milk in Mastert'ori will he w£ q V d v quart from lst March t) suth September.

A man namd Albert Aldridge was Thursday when a piece flew up and gouged out his eye. P H, Ml L'!' ®' Medle: T' re » is trar, supplies the following .particulars of New HvJnouths vital statistics for February, those for -last Feruary being giVen i. Kit), and deaths 12 (11), During the month of February the Customs duties collerted. at New Hv mouth amounted to £3563 9 9 Bd, and he ,heer duty to £75 Is. The fibres were £3122 Ss 4d and £74 & r-spectivc-A desire to assist tho3c distressed certainly prevails among the school child™. Okato children have added their quota by unanimously agreeing to contribute their picnic prize-money— amounting to over £4-to the relief funds. Such little acfa cannot but malce u 3 Icjl proud of the bairns, and tell us that in future years (England's greatness will still find safe guardians. On Wednesday morning some excitement was caused at the back of the Harbor Board's offices at the Port, savs the Napier Telegraph. Close by 'a shark was seen swimming about. "Four young fellows immediately set out in p.. Hat-bottomed dinghy, and after several narrow escapes from being capsized suctfecded in killing the brute. IV V „« °ru ,°- ut of the water ' and 't neaiurcd sft 3m.

The ushal weekly meeting'of the Egraont Lodge 1.0. G.T. was held last night. Ihe programme for f,h e evening was fou r Chief Templars in charge" The following items wers rendered :'-Son-i-s. Clarke; recitation, Sis. B. Lens-Bro-'r 'ITS. miMtes ' bro G W. Hartnell; harp solo, Bro H Uicketts; recitation, Sis. B. Lege, rccitation, Bro. A. Pepperall; song, Sis Watmm; Miss E. Mur,ph T; 80 ng, Mas M. Watson. A T «y enjoyaWe evening was spent.

The fortnightly meeting of the Moturoa Lodge (No. 19) U.A.O.D. was told w c }?'}$ e room last ai eK A.D. Bro. V\. b. Gilbert .presiding over a fair attendance.- two clearances were granted to .brothers who have left the district and, the bards* report being favorable," sick pay was passed to three members. In anticipation of several new members joining the Order, a lodge of instruction was hold, and a pleasant and profitable timo spent, .

The takings at the sacred concert at Brooklands," Mr. Newton. King's rcsicence on Sunday afternoon amounted to i2Sl2sdd. Of thiß £lO 10s 3d was'colpm d 1 p y , a . nUmW of y° lm K ladies, and A IGs 3d was taken ait the afternoon tea. The thanks of the promoters are accorded to those who donated the provisions. The piano was lent by Mr Hoffmann. The only expense incurred was for carting the forms, seats, crockery, etc., so that there should be a substantial balance for the Belgian reli 'f fund.

_ Fur the election of five members of the Taranaki licensing Committee six nominations were received, namely, all the members or the old committee and Mr. F. P. Corkill. In order to save the expense of an election, Mr. H. J. H. Okey, M.P., who has been a member of the committee for several years, withdrew his nomination. The committee for the ensuing tliree years will therefore consist of Messrs W, Ambury, J B. Con-nc-tt, P. P. Corkill, D. H. -McDonald, and W. L. Newman. Mr. A'. Crook'e, S.M., will be, ex officio, chairman.

We are much afraid that there are instances in which some people are taking advantage of the war By absolutely exploiting the people. Wo are told that chaff has gone up to £8 10s per ton on the railway trucks at Marton, and one of our informants describes this as an "absolute robbery." We cannot pose as authorities on the question of what should be the price of chaff, but if there j is any 'robbery" going on, the Government might well look into the matter.— Eltham Argus. ,

Both {!»■ Wellington Boys' College and the Wellington Girls' College have had a successful year (1014) from the point of view of examination pusses. These were as follow:—Boys' College Junior university scholarship 1, senior national 2, credit pass on junior university 3, matriculated 3, 'matriculation 2!), senior Education Board scholarship n. junior Education J3oiird and national scholarship 3 and credit 3, senior Civil Service full pass- fl and partial pass 4, senior free place (11, Civil Service en-

trance -12, junior free place 17—total lS(i. Thirty-six credit places were gained in tlio senior free place and Civil Service entrance, Ciirls' Collegr—Senior national scholarship 1, mntricuhition 24 (out of 30), public service senoi' ">. junior university 5 matriculated, junior Kilucation Hoard scholarship 2, seninr IMuf-ilioo Hoard 5, free place examination 7.1 )>assed; proficiency certificates 11, junior free place extensions 1 14.

Th 0 lDli! term of the evening classes at tlio Technical College have now commenced. Last evening fancy work, com.mtrcial correspondence, and pi limber j' classes were held. This evening, the classes to be held are advanced bookkeeping and auditorship, dressmaking, cahmetmaking, machine drawing and construction. Students desiring to "take any of these classes should be atittlic college shortly .before seven o'clock, in order to arrange in regard to the work. A supplier of the Omata dairy fafifcorv writes calling attention to the receipt bv the factory manager, Mr. C. Jensen (who for the last ten years lias been rospon sible for the output of the highly prized' "Lily" brand of butter) .from an-English firm of the following attractive advertisement: "New Zealand Butter, Lily Brand, better than Danisli. Try it." He congratulates. Mr. Jensen on the high compliment paid 'to Miftj-.and 'e° n " skiers that the shareholders are fortuniitc- in haviner such a capable and efficient manager. The card ean be seen in Messrs Okey's window.

A large and most enthusiastic meeting of farmers was held at. Wairoa (iHawka's Bay) last week to disciiss the question of establishing freezing works. Over 200 farmers were .present. The meeting was addressed toy Mr. W. D. Powdrell (Hawera) and M'r. A. S. Mitchell (Wellington). It.was< divided]to establish a company with a> capital oi £IOO,OOO in f 1 shares to start co-operative works. The meeting appoint the following provisional Messrs I. Hunter Brown, A> Si&oto&r, O. C. Otmerod, M. Nilsson, G. E. Ormond, J. Corkill, A. B. Ca-rmichael,, J. M. Tavlor, J. Wjthell, i\V. D; Powdrell, T. Powdrell, T. Byrne, JrSi.Jcsseip.. The shares taken up in the- room represented £21,895 without'.an. oamnass.

, At a meeting of the Stratford A, and P. executive committee a sub-committee was set up to interview the statioiimaster with regard to train arrangements for the Gymkhana. It was decided to hold a turning competition, This had proved! a very interesting tvu-n at the New Plymouth show. In order to encourage- the boy scouts the caeca-' tive decided' fo put on special events, and it is-understood that patrols from the different districts will take pai't. The report; of the band contest committee was deferred till next meeting; - Post,. b

AJSwckn officer writes:—Xljß.iji.ojit coaiisal sight I witnessed wag Corporal Mario's, passage from the kitchen to .lis trench, witht a bowl of steaming sjjup. The. pp»r fellow was hit in the foot, but he limped on, balancing the- bowl and sheltering it with his body, as though his life depended on its not being spilt' "Are- you hurt?." we all called, going as far as we dared to meet him. "AHittle, in the left toos," he. said, "but for heaven's sake don't sejjd me to the ambulance till I ha.ve my share of tbn soup! I have ndt tost a drop!" We gave him a doubly portion. The element of scare has not be*n created among the Australian public i v the threatened submarine blockade by the Germans. Messrs Thos. Cook and &on_report that all the passenger liners caving Sydney are well filled, and' berths are,not easily obtained by thog.« steamers included in the March timetable. It was imagined that the passenger season between Australia and England would be influenced, detrimentally by the war and the blockade threat, but such is not" the case. ThOrient liner, timetabled-to leave Svdne}' on March 10, was well filled over a fortnight ago.

What surely must be a record for work of,the kind 1 has been establish* i by a small boy in Christchureh in connection with the sports carnival held at Lancaster Park, says the Christchureh Press. Impressed with the need of the Belgians, this' youthful enthusiast sot out to sell tickets. On Thursday he astonished the secretary by ealmlv asking for another 220 to sell His record was then looked into, and it was found that already h e | ] lad aold g^ 3 Ihese figures are correct, and arc nor merely the efforts of a commerce traveller m drawing the long bow. The lads success "on the road/' however seems to make his destiny plain-aft lad who can. sell 1000 tickets for any show- is fore-ordained to be a traveller

to L n I- 0 " C ° Unty toner brought to the Guardian office a few days fgo ■•? extr »<"<iinar y oat B ampl e ./ a |" traw resembled bamboo, and was'fu y ' seven feet IjJ height. The stalks were W^ ade Ar d Pr ° liflc - The-?ec U lua fact about the sample, however, is that it wa s grown amongst boulders on a portion of .the Stronschrubie Eun, above Mount Possession, near the head waters of the Rangitata' Eiver. Several acres were sown of a variety of oat obtained rom home, and it has proved its virility under adverse circumstances, for the crop must have experienced several falls of snow and some fairly severe frosts.

The effects of the war on German food supplies and prices are but now becoming apparent and it is" certain that the winter will see the greatest economy ,n the use of the existing fPP le , 8 : By the middle of November (SSL W P ractical 'y disapjeami ftom the public markets; even the lentils and beans are scarce and poor in a q tan y '^ at all.Fruits are rare, and many are out of the market. Potatoes, which arc haw ry J n Tf ant item in G ™ food! liave reached oppressive pricese, owing to the large use of them for dialling petrol, or rather spirit, for Jhe rise in grain prices was such that t c lederal Counci had to set a limit on them. The prices thus fixed were as iollows on November 19, three months ago:-.-Wheat, 7s Id per bushel indrye.Ts 2d,J barley ' 6e od - :

I The tendency of the local money market continues in the direction of rather easier conditions, and there is apparently a fairly plentiful supply of money available (says the Trade Beview). Funds are coming in from the realisation of our produce, and the season promises to eclipse all previous records. . . The increase shown is phenomenal, amounting to <i6 per cent., but it must be remembered that last season was seriously affected by the strike, therefore the returns for the lull season cannot be expected to main-' tain nearly such a high rate of progress. Against' this there is evidence that our imports will not maintain the high level recently established, and a very satisfactory margin of exports is bound to be shown when the figures are available."

Indian Opinion, the well-known Natal newspaper, has issued a "Golden Numrecording the story of the recent passive resistance movement in South Africa. After giving a history of Mr Ghandi's work in the cause of his compatriots, the editor says:—"One result has been that distrust and contempt have been replaced by trust and respect. A new spirit of conciliation has resulted from the hardships, the sufferings, and the sacrifices of the passive resistors. Tlie flag of legal racial equality has been kept flying, and it is now recognised that Indians have rights and aspirations and ideals that cannot bo ignored. The struggle has more than proved the Im-

mense superiority of right over might, of soul-force over brute-force, of fove and reason over passion. India has been raised in the scale of nations, her children in South Africa have been ennobled, and the way is now open to develop their capacities in peace and concord, and thus contribute their quota to the building up of this great new nation that is arising in the South African sub-continent."

- . Hjg Honoß ..Mjf. J-nsffi* Hojkjag art in,the Supreme.Court,, yesterday morning, to consider the application to have the petition, against Mr. Vernon Reed's election f w , Bay of Islands removed from the file, on the ground that it was not lodged within the legal time. His Honor stated that this involved a pq«it,tq.ho,decididißjr the Full Court at Wellington on Marcbi 22ad. A motion to amend one clause in the petition nas agreed to by consent.

The desire, oiteanm Auckland factories - to work their hands for a smaller numbcr of days par week, all a daily warn fixed on,|th'e Kaais; of the weekly rata at present. in ; force, was mentioned in the Arbitration; Court on 'Monday, by Mr C. Grosvenor, secreaary of the "Auckland branch of the New Zealand EraployeraV Association. Mr Grosvenor urged that the commission, appointed under, the, R&guTation <rf Trade and Commerce Act, showld be asked to modify ' the Shops and Offices Act to enable this to be done; ffis Honor Mr Justice Strin. ger stated that if the factory owners concerned would draw up- their reason* ' for making this request, submit them to ' ' someone, representing the workers affected, to enable the latter to state , their case, and then forward the complete.- documents ,to the commission the <• matter- would be considered. ' ,-

J* IS J"ot likely that the re-marking of ■ tli9r-«dls> which has been proceeding for • the last three days in connection with the Taumarunui election, will be com- '' pleted, for three or four days yet, said' tfie Auckland Star pn Saturday. A clean roll has been taken, and Mr Terry ' Registrar of the Supreme Court of* New '-" Plymouth, with'scrutineers representing-:' ' the, two parties, is going through th* I seven thousand- odd votes cast in tlw election, and marking them upon the roll By this means it will be possiM* , to check air the cases of apparent dual voting that occurred during the elcottion, and probably alstf to account, for the three hundred odd voting papers which were jssued over and above th* number shown on the rolls marked bv the returning officers. -The result of ' ;Mr Terry's count is to be coßwmni- ' cated when ascertained to the judges and to counsel .in ftie case, but it is not ■ I hkely tp be made public until the law - 'f°U Co™* **" Me deCidß * by *•"

One of the additions to, the British Empire made during the war is th« Nmiru, or Peasant Island, in the east- ' ern Pacific. Nauru is noted 1 for its valu. able deposits of and before the outbreak of the present -war it was a German possesion. The steamer ' Wonganella, which arrited at Auckland • the other day from Ocean, Nauru, and Makatea Islands with a cargo of phos- « phate happened to b» at Nauru dnrinjr ' part of the very short period of 'German rule that followed the declaration of war. On arrival it was found that ' • the Germans had taken into custody -• the captain of the British Bteamer Messiha, but, being unable to detain Mr- ' vessel, had 1 put him aboard again. With- " ' in-a-few days the cruiser Melbourne! J.i put in an appearance, and immediatel* took possession of the island, and hoistL I ed the-Union Jack. When the Wonga* %: ella visited the island again last nxrfitn .- everything was going on as usual, exeepfc '• that a British administrator was hi charge, with a few Australian troops. By that time practically all the Ger. ma " s on the island had been' deported, '', and the new administration appeared to be having no trouble with tha natives. The phosphate deposits are worked by a British company, whose operationanave gone on without a break.

The Maori i a nothing if not cute [ (sayg an exchange). In tho Far North some time ago a determined crusad* was organised against the depredations of the trout-swallowing shag, and th« . local council was paying 3d aoiece for ' the birds' heads. The office of the conn: oil abuftel on to the river, and as the ' heads were brought in the clerk would' consign them to the waters. An old Maori who was handicapped about the pedal extremities was a frequent visitor to the. counoil chambers, usudly taking ' a dozen heads, and these were invariably wet. The clerk became suspicious of this man, and set a watch. .When he oame in" one day with his dozen wet heads he was followed out and down to the mouth of the river, where he took ' up a long vigil. The heads were duly cast into the river behind the ehamber, and Hori sat all day waiting their ar» rival at the mouth. By and by he was observed to be re-catching them with a net attached to a long manuka pole, and next day he was at the council'with the same old well-worn heads. He did not ' get his 3d apiece that time.

The story of the discovery m Australia of relics of a 1 prehistoric man was given by Mr D. M. S. Watson.'.palaento- * ' logist at the London University College ■ who went through Auckland on Tuesday on Ins return to England by .the Ma- . Kura. During the progress of the congress of the British Association at Sydney Professors Wilson and David had . given them a human skull found in the darling Downs, Queensland, which wag very old indeed. During the last month or two Dr S.«A. Smith and Mr Watson had been watching the preparation of the skull, which, when- it was found was all covered with stone, bard mud etc., and they had been chippim? the accretions away. The skull turned out ' to be an extremely interesting one Itv was that of a typical Australian black, but m manywwasy s very much more primitive than any others existing. It was not impossible, said Mr Watson, that it might have something to do with the T flw \ T , a . sma " ian raoe > °f which only a few half-castes remain. In any case, ST"' ? £ te / e3t was ~kaWe tor its undoubted association with the question. The skull was tv iclie of the pleistocene, or great ice , age traces of which are still to be seen ' on the mountain tops of New Zealand, South Wales; and Tasmania. It was too early yet, added Mr Watson, to announce a „y conclusion in regard to the. .discovery, hut it was obviously of • " as great importance as any of the famous finds in Europe of pre-historic men. The face was extremely powerful and was typically human so far a B the skull was concerned, and it had. an enormous muzzle and a great square Jaw. ~ The skull resembled that of a young chimpanzee as much a a anything else.