LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 248, 29 March 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Railway companies in the United Kingdom must take out an annual license costing £1 for each restaurant car thev run.

A conscience-stricken assisted immigrant has forwarded £lO conscience money to the Hon. Minister of Immigration.

Service in the Italian armv or navy is compulsory and universal. "'The total period is nineteen years, beginning at the age of twenty. Arrangements are being made for "Punch" and "Judy'' to visit Stratford to-morrow afternoon, probably arriving at the District High Sc!>oo: corner about three o'clock, per motor. : Private A. I\V. Sworn, R.A.M.C., was only 1" years of age when he won the Legion of Honor, and is the youngest soldier on whom the decoration has been bestowed. It was awarded to him for saving a French officer under fire.

A carrier pigeon arrived at the homestead of Mr. W. D. Foreman, Tikoranlji, on Friday, and has been looked after since by that gentleman. It has a metal ring marked 127 Wg., li) 14, also a rubber ring marked K2D, and a blue ring without any/ mark.

American eggs have arrived to supply the shortage in New Zealand—a shortage occasioned by the killing off of fowls owing to the high price of fowl-wheat. By the Maitai, which arrived from San Francisco on Friday, G34 cases of eggs, each containing thirty dozen, arrived, consigned to Wellington merchants.

A Feilding telegram states that the Freezing Company has instructed Mr. L. G. James, architect, to prepare plans for works capable of handling 1500 sheep per day, and with a storage capacity of 00,000. The buildings will ( be erected by day labor, starting within a fortnight. The Russian Government has ordered the confiscation of the Warsaw <»asworks, which belong to a German company. The city officials in searching the company's safe, found 900 000 roubles (about M'nO/KlO) in gold, which had evidently been stored up to send I to Germany.

I'igures compiled by the. Department of Labbor. make it clear that the supply of domestic labor offering in New Zealand is not nearly equal to the demand. In February, emloyers made 070 applications to the Department for women assistants, and the number of workers offering was only 378. Employment was found for nearly! all of these workers.

There is no doubt in the minds of the people "down the line" as to t!w location of the East End Reserve, &,s the schools from all parts as far away as Whangamomona make this reserve their annual picnic ground when thev come in for a day by the briny. On Easter Monday, on. the occasion of the Monster Picnic, it is safe to say there, will be congregated at the East End Reserve hundreds of people from "down the line," for there will he in their minds happy remembrances 'of former! (lava spent at this popular reserve, where there is every convenience for picnickers.

A touching incident occurred outside tlie Auckland Magistrate's Court tlie other dar. A case had been heard and adjourned in which a wife applying for a .separation order and maintenance had hcen telling a fairlv lurid story of how her husband had ill-treated her. Moanwhile, a little girl about three years of age, who had been living witli her mother since the husband had left home by mutual agreement with his wife, was climbing all over her recovered Father, while' tho complainant was relating what a bad man he was. When the en=e was adjourned, the child ran awav from the mother calling out "Dad, dad!" and bad finally to be taken away svnother road erring bitterly because <h.j. was separated from her father.

Oonsiderablei- aimusetaeafc. was; oausad: in the town,on' Saturday afternoon and evening by, : masqueraders; i« grotesque head-pieces and costumes. A giantess was the chief attraction in the afternoon and a camel in the evening. Over seventy of'' tltose..fanciful creatures have' boon secured by the West End Foreshore Committee for its big procession on Easter "Monday,, and: th'ey Should; prove a big attraction. The-greatest exhibitions xif swinrnir.g and diving ever lield in: Taranaki iscarded for.- Monday next at the New Plymouth Municipal . Saltwater Baths, which are to be warmed for the occasion. Messrs. J; Swanson, who has figured in Scottisli national championships; P. Schwartz, holder of'the Boyal' Life- Saving Society's diploma, and Brett, a prominent figure-for some years in Sydney swiinmming cit-cles, are all" giving of" their best'. .' The Kaiser, where ho ought to be. — IWilhelm will figure behind wire entanglements in a great steam-drawn trolley next Monday, heading the great West End menagerie procession, followed immediately by tlie Austrian EmperorFranz- Josef. The- Borough Council's steam- tractor will haul the trolleys, whose caged royalties will' be guarded by Boy Scouts. The- procession ft going' to attract hundred's to Kawaroa (Park, where the West Enders give the best picnic- and sports scheduled' for Easter. At a, large meeting of the Hillside (Dunedin) tradesmen; the- following r«i solution was passed:—"That this meeting of Hillsido tradesmen in the railway workshops considers that the Government is showing a, lamentable weakness in permitting the- public to be exploited by the high price of foodstuffs, especially in allowing the- Floumiillers' Association to charge £l7 10s a ton for flour- milled : from State wheat, Which was sold to millers to enable them tosell flour at £'l4 10s per ton, and that we protest against this exploitation being permitted' to. continue-.''' According to the chairman of the Cattle Insurance Fund (says the Christchurch Sun) there is a handsome reward awaiting anyone who can devise a certain and practicable method of identifying cattle in respect of which claims are made on the fund. At pre? sent there is no systematic method of identification of insured cattle,,,, 1 , and branding schemes which so far have been proposed have been considered so cumbrous as to be unworkable. No definite case of 'ringing in" has been established, but under the present unsatisfactory condition,-there is ofteni room for suspicion.

Some time ago residents of Puniho procured a piano for the iwe of the school, and also for use at any social function in, the township. By dint :ii hard work on the part of a, few enthusiasts, well supported by resident of the district, various entertainments have 'been held, and the piano lias been paid for, with the exception of a small balance. This it is hoped to secure at a euchre party and dance, to bo held in the Puniho school on Wednesday evening. Th e committee have generously resolved to donate to the Belgium Belief Fund any money received in excess of that required to pay the piano balance. '

Cesar Thomson, of the Brussels Conservatoire, was, like Leopold Godowsky, caught at the beginning of the war at a Belgian seaside resort near Ostend and finally succeeded in making his way down into Italy, arriving there practically penniless, and with no baggage except his Stradivarius—presumably it is a Strad. Through the efforts of the Duke of San Martino, a leading Roman natron of music, he has been appointed head of a special master-school of the violin at the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, reputed to be the oldest music school in existence, a position similar to that which he has held for years in the Royal Conservatory of Music at Brussels. It i s good to"be able:to record that the veteran master, long a great favorite in Italy, has found a secure berth in these troublous times.— Musical Courier.

In the course of a speech at Gisborne and referring to the matter of imposing a war tax, the Minister of Finance (Eon. James Allen). said that a question that had been raised, and a very important one, wa 3 the matter of ex-' emption from a war tax of those who had Voluntarily subscribed to equip the troops and to the relief funds; Mr. Allen., said, he had already under consideration a method of dealing with this question per medium of the income-tax. ih e Department iiad prepared and submitted to him a memorandum suggesting that contriutions to the funds stated should be deducted from the income in assessing income tax. He could not give them a definite promise that this would be carried out, 'but it was receiving consideration, and be was inclined to "think that it was a reasonable thing to exempt from payment of the income or ■•and tax those ,who had been kind enough to provide for the equipment of troops and for the relief of distress

Writing to its agent in New Zealand, a Sheffield firm of cutlers, which does an extensive business throughout the Empire, writes:~For the last few months business has been in a very difficult position. Orders have been few and far between, except for pocket cutlery, for which vvc have mW orders than we can make under present circumstances. Apart from the fact that a large number of our men have enlisted, the Government requirement for heavy pocket knives have been so> large that manufacturers competed against one another for the available workmen, which, of course; has sent up the price of labor enormously. That, fact has been that most of the cutlers in Sheffield who make this class of knife.have ha7l their whole time taken up with them, and it has been impossible to manufacture, any of the cheaper grades of pocket-knives. This state of affairs wo hope will come to an end shortly, but the extra cost of living and the high wages cutlers have been earning on Government work, has caused a demand for higher wages throughout the track.

Mr. F. Nichols announces that he has moved from the Royal Steam Laundry to the Belgium Laundry, next th e foundry, in Molesworth 'Street.

With the temperature continually on the fall the matter of keeping warm at nights will necessitate ladies choosing warmer night attire. The most .suitable is now beinjr offered at M'orey's. . See their advertisement.

Hoodlums., were again in evidence in town last evening, when they interfered with some bicycles standing in the Salvatisn Army premises in Brougham Street. Not satisfied with the usual foolish, trick of letting the tyres down,' they took the "valves from tori or a clown machines, thus rendering them useless until a new supply of valves can be procured.. These foolish tricks should ,bo> promptly and effectually dealt with, .for scarcely a week passes with some pne> suffering from the depedations. One or-two of the- cyclists had to walk seven or eight miles home. An old South African war story, of ; which the, Australians were once the ;l)utt, is now being told at the expense of the Canadians. It runs:—The commanding officer took up a position with the object of determining for himself just,how the soldiers'behave towards sentries, and whether the'troops seriously recognise the position as regards pic;.kets.. Presently the tramp of approaching footsteps was heard. "Halt!" Who goes there?" demanded the oflieer. "Scots Greys," came the clear reply. ".Pass: pit, Scots Greys," ordered the officer. More footsteps. "Halt! Who goes. s there?" "Grenadier Guards!" answered a respectful voice. "Pass on, Grenadier Guards." Then in the darkness. ,the- steps of some more soldiers. "Halt! Who goes there?" exclaimed the' officer., "Mind your own business!" came the reply. "Pass on, Canadians!" ordered the officer. Mr.. Billiard, Commissioner of 'Crown Lands, and Mr. J. It. Hill walked over from Dawson rails' House after, the meeting of the National Park Board on Friday, doing the journey in a little over two hours and a half. The tank was considered by them to be in very fair order, though some part* required a little attention. A party of young ladies staying at the North House walked to the South House and back again on Thursday l , and then to th e summit of Egmont on Friday. Mr. Dullard and Mr. Hill thoroughly enjoyed. the social evening spent at the North House, the singing of the young ladies being excellent indeed. Mr. Hill contributed a couple of items towards the evening's entertainment. Visitors speak in eulogistic terms of the l\o\\m and its surroundings, and of th e attention received. 11l order to give a better view from the North Egmont Mountain House il 'hag.been decided to cut away some of the .bush, that at present intervener This will give a splendid outlook over the surrounding country. The Inglewood Library. Committee is evidently in for a sbaking-up. The "Record of Friday had the following:—At the meeting of .the Library Committee the applications for the position of librarian were considered, when Mrs Evans received the appointment. 'We arc informed by the chairman that there was not any alteration made in the hours of attendance in the condition and duties of the librarian and that in consequence the free library, for which th« Government pays an annual premium, and eading-room will continue to . be unopened for a considerable period on each day and each week from Wednesday evening until two o'clock on Friday afternoon, a disability which cannot be permitted to continue. In deference' to the library committee's gratuitous work and arrangements in existence we have left the question undisturbed, but the committee had ample notice when applications were called for the present appointment that present hours could not be permitted to continue. The committee has Been pleased to think otherwise, and consequently, the public must demand from their own representatives in the Borough Council that present management must cease, and the publie's convenience be considered. It is impossible for any town to hold its position under such disastrous management of its public institutions.

The Women's Chrisian Temperance Union will hold their monthly meeting in the Lodgevoom on Wednesday, Marco