LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 228, 5 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tiie \\ aitara school is closed on account of (liptberia. Tlie Waitara Municipal Brass Baud is being resuscitated. A New Plymouth baker had to pay T ton cash to a local wareouse for flour on Tuesday. People wo «. dor why bread is dear. A Carterton message states that heavy lain fell over the whole of the south \v airarapa district yesterday morning, the first m some parts for about aix

As a result of the Warca Show on Wednesday the Belgian Relief Fund will benefit to the extent of fi)»-a particularly gratifying result. The sale of thv Belgian flag realised £0 12s fid

Mrs Jno. Foreman and her daughter driving home to Tikorangi on Saturday, were thrown out of their gi" through the horse falling, each sus° taming bruises, says the byreederETA taming bruises, reports the Mail.

A Hawke's Bay Maori who allegedly sold one block of land three times to dillere.nt individuals, receiving a better price on each deal, is now said to b > wondering what will be the outcome of the enterprise.

1 hough the detailed figures of the trail ic census taken at the Bank of Now Zealand corner, Christchurch, recently are not available, it is now known (savs the Press) that between the hours V H a.m. and 5 p.m. over 10,000 vehicle p-ssed tiie tally man, over 7000 of the vehicles were "push bicycles."

The genus boy i„ the Pieton district does not always fly the right flag wlpn lie trades in birds' eggs. A member of the Road Board stated that he had touml out one ingenious lad in the trick of inking starlings' eggs, which are not panted, and palming them oft' as thrushes' eggs, which arc a marketable commodity.

A poll of ratepayers was taken yesterday at Christchurch on the proposal to revert to t.i e system of striking the general rate on capital values, in place of the existing system of rating on unlmpfoved values. A close poll saw the proposal lost by 1i)29 to 2080 votes rress Association.

The South Taranaki Winter Show directors have decided to offer five gold medals m the dairy section at the Hawera show this year. There will b e one each lor butter and cheese from factories t,u \.¥° rth l3 ' an( l outside of Taranaki. ■I lie fift.i nfedal is to accompany the Shaw-Savill Challenge Cup.

Dorothy Seoullar, otherwise Soutar, and Lesley Reid have been committed tor trial on a charge of stealing £l4l 5s from the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel on J'ehruary 10. It was stated that £53 i.is 8u had been recovered, and -the balance Siad been spent. The girls were arrested at Woodviille and afterwards confessed to the police.

Substantial progress has been made during the past month or two with th" construction of woollen mills for the rommomvealth Government at Geelong. Ail the buildings are up with the exertion ot the power house, and the contiact for that portion of the mill is well in hand. H, t . installation of machinery for the power-generating plant is to Pe entered upo„ within the next few weeks.

Mr S. Topless lias brought into Waitara a sample of a paddoc'k of Partridee peas, which he is growing this season and winch is by a long way the heat' he has ever grown. The length of the vine is 9ft,, and on each root there is an average of 40 pods, averaging five peas to each pod. Th 0 plant, however, as still in full growth and flowering, says the Mail, so that even the above figures «iU bo exceeded.

t A wiale is ashore on the Dutch coast with a mine attached to its tail •" © f . VM a T Sydney Sun cablegram from London, It. is not stated whether some wicked German caught that whale and let him go with the dread instrument of destruction attached, to rudder or whether it was a British merchantman's trick to sink a submarine. The news is hardly important enough, one would t Jmk to cable, except as the latest fish tale."

A Now Zealander, writing from Egypt says: "New boots have also been" issued. They are marvellous—a sandwich sole, two layers of leather with a laver of rubberised leather ill between; double tongue. They are very soft leather, and bind wit.li leather; j„ fact, they we more like Sunday boots. They are said to be the best boots ever made for the anny and are supposed to have cost, tlie i.oveninient 18s per pair.''

J. lie general committee of the Xew iHyniouth Horticultural Society met on Wednesday evening at the Town Hall, it Was decided, on the. motion of Mr. K. Aten, that. a chrysanthemum and autumn Mowers display lie lield in tlie ,: »"d Templar Thill during April, the date. t»'l>o fixed later. The secretary V, ''V to write t„ those «•!„, ni hip eliisiscs fo]- '(lei'onifci] ■it the society s spring show, iuvitinir entries for table deeorations. ihe iiiile-. ni"' of whie:i v.'ill he by miblie vofei anil iio prizes ..iron Tt was also decided'that tie afternoon (ea arrangeimsits should (Ins year bo left entirely j n til,, hand: of t ie men of the committee.

It is astonishing how many people there are who get summonses for debts, yet fail to read that portion of the document which states that if it is desired to defend the action notice must given of sucli intention. Every Tuesday people attend the Auckland Magistrate's Court to defend cases in which they have failed to give due notice. Another manner in which failure to comply with the requirements of the law frequently occur is failure to give notice of consent to an order being made. This enables the lawyer on the other side to claim his costs.

A tall Maori appeared at the Auckland Magistrate's Court the other day to explain why he had not paid a debt. He smiled amiably at the Bench when asked ;f he owed the money. The man could not talk much English, but evidently understood the question, for he gave a brief oration in his Native language. Mr C. C. Kettle, S.M., asked if anyone present could speak Maori, but no volunteer interpreter appeared, whereupon the Maori, with another big smile, said:—"lt all right; I pay two months," which offer was accepted.

At the weekly sitting of the Magistrate's Court yesterday, 'before Mr. A. Crooke, 5.3 i., Prudence Mary PeppereU (Mr. Hutchcn), JessSe Waters (Mr. Nicholson), and Esther Bertha Charteris (Mr. Johnstone) were eaeh fined 10s and costs for keeping private hospitals without a, license. Alfred Cave was convicted and fined 5s and costs 7s for leaving a horse and vehicle unattended in Leach Street; W. J. C. Avery was fined 7s 6d and Co9ts 7s for riding a bicvele .on the footpath in Courtenay Street; and Frederick Goodacre was convicted and fined 10s and costs 7s for using a stationary hose for watering land, "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 Review.) Funds are coming in from the realisation of our produce, and the season promise- to eplipse all previous records. The increase shown is phenomena], amounting to 60 per cent., but it must be remembered that last season was seriously affected by the strike, therefore the returns for the full season cannot be expected to maintain nearly such a high rate of progress. Against this there, is evidence that o;ir imports will not maintain the high level recently established, and a very satisfactory margin of exports is bound tp be shown when the figures are available."

Writing to a frieml in New Zealand fi resident of' Ararat (Victoria) says We are haying the worst drought ev->r experienced in Australia, and it is plav"P with trade. I have had all hands oil for some time; in fact, I cannot find enough work to keep myself employed. Il things get worse I may consider the advisability of closing Up. Our town "-s short of water which is turned on 'or six hours a day.only. In some cases it is cut oil altogether. The railways liavc* to bring train loads (30,000 gallons) daily to supply the engines, from Beaumont, 32 miles distant. Last year wo only had twelve inches of rain.' In the Malice and Wimmera districts, at New iear the ground was as bare as the miles°" the StrCCt for hundm,s of

Some senior cadets were prosecuted yesterday for failing to attend parades, v-wgt..-Major Hesp, who jippeared for tiie Defence Department, stated that the percentage of attendance on t'he part of '.9 eal cadets wa3 very jioor. A great number were dodging their military training, and t'.ii 3 was having a bad effect on boys who had been regular at tenders. He had picked out some 01 tlie worst offenders, and asked that substantial fines should be imposed. lie said some of the lads were employed in the post office, and on that account seemed to think they could attend parades when they thought fit. Mr A Grooke, S.M., remarked tHiat boys in the Government service should set others an example, and in imposing a fine of 5s and costs 7s on each offender, made it clear that a second offence would see much heavier penalties imposed. An Invercargili message states that a supposed German spy wandered round the Bluff on Tuesday on a hawking expedition, and called on most Bluff housewives. His poor English appeared to give the show away, and the police v%ere made "wise" to the matter. The man had a light flaxen beard, spectacles and a slouch hat and carried two -swags of drapery good?. The police trailed him along Barrow Street, and then pounced on fiim. The "spy" expressed surprise, and admitted that he, was a foreigner, but denied that he was German and produced proofs that he was Russian. He said that h e lived in Ireland for 13 years and came to New Zealand to try to earn an honest living. He was in Christchurch for a while, but business was bad and he had to talie on hawking. The police were satisfied with his papers and allowed him to proceed. Inquiries as to the progress of affairs in connection with the Taranaki Farmers' Meat Freezing Company show that a halt has been called for the present. This is officially announced in the following circular which has been issued by the secretary (Mr. Jos. McCluggage): "Owing to the continuance of the present lamentable war and the consequent unsettlement of trade and finance, your provisional directors have resolved that it will be inadvisable to proceed further with the scheme at this | time. In the meantime it is desirable that the liabilities incurred in .preliminary exipenses be liquidated, and it has therefore been decided to anate a levy for the purpQse. I shall accordingly be glad to receive your clieaue for-same.! Due notice will be given at some future date when your provisional directors deem it advisable to again take -up the scheme, which must eventually be of very great benefit and importance to tlisettlers of Taranaki." ,

Tlie children of the Inglewood and surrounding schools held their annual picnic at the Kgamotu beach yesterday. Unfortunately the weather, which had been firi; for the previous few weeks, broke rather unpleasantly yesterday morning, and this detracted from the attendance, only 1)00 making the trip, as against 1200 last year. Children and parents from the Inglewood, Tarild, Durham, Dudley, Lincoln and Waiongona schools arrived iby special train about 10 a.m., and left about 5.30 p.m., the train being made up of ordinary carriages, not one improvised waggon being utilised, as is usually the case on these excursions. The dtatapiiko children, who are somo seven miles distant from tlie railway, arrived by the ordinary morning train and left by the ordinary evening train. The blustery weather to some extent spoiled the enjoyment, which was not assisted by a lieavy show'i 1 in the afternoon. Despite these drawbacks the, youngsters managed to enjoy their day by the. seaside, and quite a number indulged in paddling—a Very high tide and heavy back-wash caused those in charge of the picnic to forbid bathing as dangerous. The improvements on that portion of the foreshore wer,. favorably commented on, but the necessity for some adequate shelter was very apparent.