LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 233, 11 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The price of flour in Christchurch hi;s been increased to £l7 10s per ton.

The jurors at the Supreme Court at Greymouth yesterday handed their fees to the Belgian relief fund.

The G.P.0., Wellington, advises that the Auckland-Vancouver despatch of 20th .January arrived at Vancouver on lltli .February (due date) and readied London on the Bth inst—eleven days late. J

A correspondent, writing from Colombo to an Auckland paper, attributes tlie advance in the price of tea to the depredations of the Einilen, which w said to have sent 7,0()0,0001bs of tea to the bottom of the ocean in the various vessels sunk by her.

Mr K Jenkins, who represented the Mastcrton Fire Brigade at the U.F.B.A. conference at Timaru, states that the ambulance had a busy time, at tlie fire lirigade competitions, then/'fiuing'over forty accidents, just about a record for any iire brigade demonstration ir. -Stynr Zealand.

At Wellington yesterday Ellen Sullivan pleaded "guilty under provocation" to a charge of assaulting Tier mother by stab'bing her in the neck. Her mother gave evidence that her daughter had been a good girl. The present trouble was duo to drink. Sullivan was committed for sentence.

The Veterans' Association has adopted the suggestion that was thrown out recently that the picnic and banquet >vhich was being arranged for the 25th inst. snauld be postponed and held in conjunction with the monster cathering to take place at Kawaroa Park on ■Easter Monday.

At a meeting of the creditors in the estate of Raymond Hepworth, share-' hroker, at Christchurch yesterday, the statement showed a deficit of £1175 12a lOd. Bankrupt said he had no means, no assets, and no prospects. Counsel for the petitioning creditor asked the assignee to tak e advice whether bankrupt had kept proper hooks. He was a rea-is-tered accountant, and the matter was serious. The assignee agreed to do so.

An admission was made inadvertently in the Auckland Magistrate's Court bv ft witness that he had gone to Melbourne some time ago to escape compulsory training. ' "And you are not ashamed to admit it," remarked Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M. The witness, however explained that it was before the war occurred, and lie knew better now the need for all receiving military training. Ho explained that his objection to compulsory training was that a man could not choose the company in which he was to serve.

At a bankruptcy meeting at Oamaru, a creditor inquired of the judgment debtor if he gambled on the racecourse, and received a reply in the negative, "lie could not bet on £2 5s per week," said bankrupt's counsel, sympathetically. "But it h&s been reported that he was successful on the turf," retorted the creditor. "Well, said counsel, "if each creditor will put in a fiver and will send the debtor on to tiic racecourse they might have a chance of getting things squared up." Asked if he would put a five pound note into the sweep, counsel demurred.

A Japanese journalist, Motosaku Tsjchiya, ivho is visiting Australia and New Zealand with a view to developing Japanese trade, was a passenger to ftnv Zealand by the Mahe.no. He said, in an interview at Auckland: "We hope our trade with you will develop tn such an extent that we will have a direct line of steamers running botween Jauan and New Zealand. This would obviate the cost of transhipment at Sydney. The Nippon-Yusen-Kaislia Japanese Maij Steamship Company could extend its service from Sydney to New Zealand, but there would be greater advantages in a direct service. At first the service might need to be subsidised by the Japanese Government, but later on the subsidy could be dispensed with."

The need for a guarantee for seels was a matter that received a good deal of attention lroin the Morrinsville Farmers' Union this week, Mr Campbell stated that in certain pans of the United States and also in Germany a purchaser of seeds could get a guaran tee that, under a fair test—say, in a' Government. laboratory, or by a damp flannel in a room—he would get about DO per cent, of germination. Be quoted a case where a farmer had purchased cheap ryegrass which showed only SO per cent, of germination. If aT farmer was willing to pay for good seed, he should' be able to get a guarantee that the seed would germinate under the conditions he had mentioned. He also quoted a case where a iar m er had purchased white clover »eed and 70 per cent, had turned out to be crimson clover—a much cheaper variety. It was*' resolved to bring the matter up at the approaching provincial conference, by a remit from this branch.

"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Year Book 1913 14 " j 8 a publication which contrasts strangely with the clash of great Powers. Here is the.opening passage of Mr Carnegie's letter of Hth December, 1010, rea d at the first meeting of trustees.— "Gentl--men,—l have transferred to you aV trustees of the Carnegie Peace Fund ten million dollars of 5 per cent, first mortgage bonds, the revenue of which « to be administered by you to hasten the abolition of international war, the foulest blot upon civilisation. Although we no longer eat our fellow men, nor torture prisoners, nor sac k cities: lulling their inhabitants, we still "kill each other in war like barbarians. Only wild beasts are excusable for doing that ,„ tiic twentieth century of the Chr.gt.an era, for the crime of war is inherent, since it decides not in favor o the nght, h„t always of the strong He nation is criminal which refused arb.trat.on and drives its adversary to a tr.n.inal which knows nothing' of righteous judgment."

.It is by 110 moans onry men who transAmb,i, of womra have been caught io<l-handod, "and, I'd ratlier tackle thr-'e mon than one woman," remarked In-' spoetor Bennett, fervently, in relating a tiw of his experiences to an Auckland Herald reporter. "I had one once who fought hko a tiger. S i, e came down Lo ixamgtoto , n an excursion boat, with a nVr •■"', ''!!' 3 ln „ a hum V<*. and had }us< (,-ysn,,! idling them for her fishshop ■>'■ ■!"" f came round tlie corner. ,Sho «•"., tlie worst ease I ever tackled, lU id Xve had some pretty hard ones!" $ n bard m fact, that since one poacher sprang at him with an axe, the inspector lias made a point of carrying a very handy weapon, a marlinespiko !',!'" "L ni * sl(>evp . vvn «" on watch at night. . "1 don't suppose many of tliem know what a useful little weapon T carry —it might be just ae well to drop them a hint," he added thoughtfully. Mr. ■ Bennett's record capture for on'e day is 15, all found poaching on Kangitoto,'and Ins return to town that night'was something of a triumphal procession, no fewer than five confiscated boats rollickin" merrily astern. One boat contained no fewer than 00 sacks of oysters, and fully 100 bouts hare been confiscated at different times, these usually being returned on payment of a fine. There have been about a dozen arrests this summer.

The Captain G. C. Griffiths whose tent in the New Zealand expeditionary force camp in Egypt was run over by ft transport wagon, was a brother Air E. Griffiths, of New Plymouth.

The annual swimming sports, in connection with the Girls' High School will be held at the Municipal Baths this after_ noon.

As far as the local freezing works are concerned, very little difficulty "has been experienced in shipping dairy produce. Up to the present all the butter has been shipped, and there is no congestion of cheese.

Sydney cabled last night that Mr. G. B. Adams, a New Kcalander recently returned from London, where he gave trials of his life-saving apparatus before Board of Trade officials. He has received instruc : tions from the officials to immediately return to England in connection with the apparatus, and he returns to-day.

The borough engineer is convinced that the mishap to the electric lighting system caused by the gate at the intake being closed, was the work of some mischievous person, for gates are, very difficult to close, and could not possibly Tall themselves against the rush of water. He recommends constructing a float in the dam to regulate automatically the level of the intake gates, at a cost of about £SO.

The Borough Council last night, on (he motion of Cr. Collis, rescinded the lcsolution'futhorising the paving with concrete flags in Devon street and on both sides from Robe Street to Brougham Street. It was decided to authorise the paving of the north side, from the White Hart to' Brougham Street, part of which-'has already been done.

A member of the Post Office staff noticing smoke issuing from some old building at the back of Messrs P. C. Pratt and Co.'s premises in Princes street yesterday morning, made investigations and discovered an incipient fire in one of the old loose boxes. The straw was all ablaze, and the fire had eaten through one of the piles and burnt a large hole in the wall next the Post Office. A garden hose was requisitioned, and very soon the fire was out.—Star. ,

The "Moderate" ticket was successful in tho Egmont Licensing Committee elec tion. The figures at the Eltham booth dere: E Parrott 220, L. Hill 187, W. C. Dudley 174, A. H. Guy 172, A. H. Christie 145, W C. Clement 12!), L. Strack 110, <•}. D Sow 118, J D. Bashford 07, R. W. J. McNeil 35, Informal 10. The final figures declared by the Returning Officer (Mr. T. C. Stanners) were as follows: Dudley 525. Guy 511, Christie 471, Parrott 407, Hill 457, elected. Clement 315, Gow 274, Bashford 205, Strack 225, McNeill 109; informal in.

Under the heading of "Clearing the Pigeon-Holes." the Inglewood Record discusses the New Plymouth borough finances and the Mayor's statement in particular. New Plymouth ratepayers, sava the Record, are 4caling very liberally in tiie loan line, but there is no question that if a borough is to be progressive improvements must be made,'and to suppose that such necessary improvements as those outlined by the Mayor can be carried out from rates is simply absurd, consequently, if retrogression is to be avoided there is only one course-open'and that one is fully outlined by the Mayor, and New Pymouth is to be congratulated on having a leader strong enough to bring it forward.

Says the Inglewood Record with reference to the recent successful fete in New Plymouth for the Belgian Fund "The fete was 'run' by the Mayoress' of New Plymouth (Mrs. J. E. Wilson) and affords eloquent evidence of the advantages accruing from management by ladies as against management by men. What we want specially to emphasise is the expenditure side of the accounts, the total of which was £9, or/just under 3} pr-r cent, on the gross takings. ' Can anv gentlemen's committee show" a result equal to it? If they can we should like to be able to publish it, and in the meantime will offer our congratulations to New Plymouth's Mayoress and her assistants on the wonderful results achieved both as to the gross .results of their work, and especially on the 'nett' amount carried to the credit of the Belgian Fund ft is unfortunate there are not more like thorn."

Ihe first case in New Zealand for the avoidance of a trade mark granted to an enemy subject has been brought by Messrs Baldwin and Kayward, on behalf of the Australian Manufacturing and Importing Company, Ltd. The trade mark in question was registered some years ago by i. firm of manufacturers m Berlin, and the object of the present application is to have the mark expunged and therebv to enable the A.M. and I. Company, Ltd.,' to manufacture and sell similar goods under the same trade mark. The Governor-in-Council has appointed Mr. J. C. Lewis, the llegistrar of Trade Marks, to hold an enquiry into the matter, and the hearing is set down for the 12th inst. Similar proceedings have been instituted by the Australian Manufacturing and Importing Conipany, Ltd., in Australia and Great Britain.

A meeting of the Central School Committee was fold on Tuesday evening. The headmaster's report stated that the average attendance for the last four , weeks was 524.8, 525.8/538.5, and '534.3, or an average c or the four weeks of 528.1, being 94.2 per cent, of the average roll 500.2. The number at present on the roll was 504. During the month 22 pupils had been admitted and 18 had left. The highest attendance was 63!) on March 3, and ' the lowest 500 on February 11, race day. The attendance, as a whole bad been particularly steady since the beginning of the year and most cases of absence were unavoidable. The [punctuality Jofi tfhe children had also been very good and was improving. The board notified that Miss Oleeson had been appointed seventh assistant and Miss Williams temporary eighth assistant. The visiting committee reported that the hedge had been out and some minor repairs were authorised. Tlie inspectors' report on the school was read and considered satisfactory. It was pointed out that under the new Act the accounts of committees are to be made up to December 31, although the new committees do not come into office till May. This was considered an undesirable change.