GENERAL NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 264, 17 April 1915, Page 6

GENERAL NEWS.

The Education Act of last year makes several important alterations in tin; method of conducting school committee, elections. At the coming elections, i'l a borough of over 8000 people, nominati'm ■; for committees must reach the chair: : \:i of the committee not later than 8 p."i. on Monday, April II). No nominate li will be received at the annual meel.. : ;ig for such districts. Previously candidates could be nominated prior to and at tin; annual meeting of householders. Seveial elections in the Wanganui education district will be conducted under the altered conditions; but in the Taranaki Province school committee elections will be conducted on the old principle—tint is, nominations may be made in writing prior to the annual meeting of householders (April 2(ith) and also on the night of the meeting. "Viator," in the Patoa Press, writes: "The freezing works are just now wooing at full pressure, and though new chambers have been added, capable of holding nearly 10,000 carcases, the want, is felt for still larger freezing stores, and no doubt in the near luture they will 1 e a necessity. The new slaughterhouse is at present only working at half its capacity, so that it will bo seen that the possibilities for the future are not bright. Plenty of stock are offering, and tne works will no doubt in time grow !o meet the supply. The question is oflm asked, 'What would Patea do without the freezing works.' and with some reason, too; the weekly pay-sheet runs inta close on £4OO, which needs no comment and speaks for itself. Still growing, the works promise in the near future to be if they are not already—Patea's best asset."

According to a story in Power a state dinner was to be given in a castle ;n Germany in which there was 110 heating system, but as this mediaeval eondit' in could not be tolerated in modem times, for the dinner was a function of recciit occurrence, the engineers were asked to heat the building for the occasion; but it was specified that no portion of the heating system was to be visible in chc room. The result was accomplished by means of stored heat. For a number of days previous to the dinner, the floor of the dining room was covered with steam pipes, and these pipes were hot by means of a temporary boiler, itw day before the dinner all the pipes '.voie removed and the stored Jieat in the walls maintained the room in a perfectly comfortable condition for a number of days, although the outside temperature was well below the freezing point. A large area of swamp land' around Katiiia, on the banks of the Awanni, away north, is about to be reclaimed i y a scheme which is being undertaken by the Government. When this work is successfully accomplished, a large aroa of valuable land will be rendered available for settlement. Some (iOOO acres belonging to the Government and others areas privately owned will also be benefited by the drainage works. Near Raitaia the Auckland Gum Company is now about rrruly to start dredging on a swamp of about a thousand acres. Already a trial run has taken place, and holes sunk have demonstrated that gum is there. The idea of dredging for gum (says the Auckland Star) is quite a new one, and the result will be awaited* with considerable interest. It is somewhat unfortunate that, now the dredge is about ready to work, the gum maricet should be depressed on account of the war. Swamp gum, in particular, is affected, as large quantities of this article formerly went to Germany and Austria for the manufacture of linoleums. A number of people in New Zealand and elsewhere, writes a correspondent, were under the impression that General de la Key, who was fatally shot in September while proceeding in a motor-car from Johannesburg to Potchefstroom, a South African military station, was :n----volved in the recent rebellion. But Mi Smuts (the Minister of Defence) made] a statement in the Union Parliament jii March 1 which entirely clears the General. of complicity. He said: "We all agreed, the General with us, that the movement was not only bound to conu to a failure, but would bring disgraoe on the Boer nation. . . I knew General de la Key as well as any man in thi-i country. We were friends for many years. Wo were almost brothers before the war, during the war, and after the war. I can say with absolute sincerity that I have never come across any man of higher moral character or a man less likely to have taken money for doing certain things. He departed this life under tragic circumstances, and without a stain on his character. However, other names may be forgotten, his name will remain in our history as the name of a great warrior, a noble patriot, and a great man." The writer adds the following interesting paragraph:—During the Anglo-Boer war a few New Zeu.l- - joined the Cape irregular troops. Part of their operations consisted in driving Colonel Brand and his commando out of the mountainous country of Colvinia. This officer was one of those who remained faithful to Botha in the late rebellion, and took an active part in fighting the rebels. As showing the. dangerous condition the country was in last September, our informant states that in one town in the Transvaal 30(V burghers enlisted for active service for General Butlia, but no soon;:- had they been provided with rifles and ammunition than they forthwith refused to fight, and joined the rebel forces.