LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 281, 6 May 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Strafford to Wellington and hatk in fifteen hours' actual travelling time by motor'is Mr. Leslie Curtis's latest record, says tin; Stratford Post. Leaving Stratford in a,' Hover car at 10 a.m., ■Wellington was reached, and tliroe liours were occupied in business affairs before the. return journey was commenced, but ."Wr. Curtis was back at Ids homo in Stratford by four o'clock in the morniiiL'. The pace averaged twenty-seven wile?, an hour.

War gets in some queer blows. Lately, for 'instance, word went from London that business in (Australian rabbits was .slack. As a regular tiling the Commonwealth ships from 1 r>,0O0,(l00 to ■2fl.00»,(10U frozen rabbits a year; and, as the* food is good and cheap! and might therefore be expected to take the place of dearer meat in had times, the slump was very astonishing. Then the explanation came along, A verv big 'proportion of the. retail rabbit trade is done from barrows by night, the "market" being lit by Hares. Tint flares are prohibited, lest they shoii'd be a help to William's air-raiders; and it's a case of no (lares no rabbits. One result of the great extension of the. telephone system in the Taumarunui district, writes the Herald's correspondent, is that the pigeon service on the Wanganui Kiver is falling into disuse. Sometimes as many as a dozen pigeon were released on one trip of the boats from Tamnarunni to Wanganui or vice versa. Pigeons were used again and again to convey news of an accident in the hush, or to summon a doctor to eases of illness. One of the most interesting uses made of the birds was on an occasion when a valve of a boat engine was stripped during a river trip. The engineer made a detailed drawing on thm_ paper of the valve required and sent this off by a pigeon to Wanganui following it up by written directions! which were dispatched by another bird. When the boat readied'Wanganui the valve was ready to put in the eiTgine.

A despatch f—• Berne (says the Xew lork Sun) reports an announcement by the Wolff Agency (the official German news agency) that Germany is to turn a'l the business of Belgium, of every description, over to her own subjects and to those of he.r allv, Austria. The annmmeom-nt is to the' effect that General von Hissing, the German military governor, has directed the sequestration of business enterprises in the kingdom, owned by subjects or citizens of nations with which Germany is at war. The effect of this will be to close all banks shops, factories and otner business enterprises conducted bv Belgians, even in Brussels itself. It will affect the business of Antwerp, of Bruges and Ghent in a similar way, and will serve shortly to increase vastly the number of persons dependent upon the outside world for subsistence.

It will come as a surprise to most of our readers to loam that Mr. W. F. Massey lias never been out of New Zealand. Chatting a couple of days ago with a Press representative, wlio was passing through Wellington after a visit to the. thermal district, the Prime Minister .mentioned, incidentally, that although he had enjoyed a free railway pass he could not afrord to make a trip to Rotorua—only half a day's journey from his home—till 14 years after he had entered Parliament.' and then, the mission was on political business! "Yon Will recognise, therefore," added the right lion, gentleman, "how regretfully I had to decline. Mr. Fisher's invitation to attend the Premiers' Conference in .Sydney or Melbourne this month. But' in view of the European war it was quite impossible for mo to think of being away for even a couple of weeks. As a matter of fact, Good Friday was the only day on which I have not been busily at work for months past. A holiday is not to be thought «f till we have peace established." And even while this statement was made, the Prime Minister was busily engaged with departmental affairs.

When the news of the gallantry of the New Zealand troops was received at the Petone Workshops on Thursday there was great rejoicing and the employees considered that a holiday was necessary to fittingly mark the occasion. It i's understood that they asked if they were to bo given the same, privilege as the clerical staff and granted the holiday but no consent was given. Imbued with patriotic spirit, the men downed tools and took the holiday, onlv seven or ci»ht remaining at their work. .Next day they were asked to alter the pay sheet's for Thursday and to show 3«/| Hours' work instead of 8. They then sent two delegates to Wellington to ascertain at the head office if they were to be 'paid but the result of the delegates' visit is not known. At the luncheon hour the next day the men foregathered and one of their number presented iron crosses to each of those who had remained at work. The crosses, it is stated, were suitably inscribed. One of the recipients rose to return thanks for his present, but the men would have none of him, and he was hooted down. Tim incident caused quite a stir in the town says the local paper.

'T have just heard," writes a correspondent in an exchange, "the real story ol why (,'erman ollicers on the Mainz the light cruiser sunk in Heligoland ]ii»lit bred on their own ,erew in the water It makes that curious episode almost tin-' ,Vs the Mainz was sinking a .r.tish destroyer backed right up and ''".'''l «'Mt to the (Herman officers to nut Heir wounded aboard. They a"rce,T hut many of the crew, instead of looking to the wounded jumped overboard to save themselves. It was then that the men in the wafer were fired upon by their oimx The officers, i„ spite of - urgent oners from the liritish, refused to -o «I>o«.ij..sent to look after the won ,|. Some officers, however, were picked out o the water by another British dostroyer after the Mainz wet down Here was no doctor on the destroyer! and o show the versatility of a liritish nava officer (he British commander himM'at the Admiralty is putting medical I students on destroyers now" l

■Reeruits were trebled at Christchurcli on Friday, following upon receipt of 'the news from Turkey.

The Dannevirko County Council has approved Die principal of taxing motor cars and has 'decided to make a monthly donation of .t"2() to the war relief funds. —Press Association.

Judging from the remarks of tiro chairman of the Taranaki .County Council at Tuesday's meeting, the responsible position he lills has its full share of thorns anion}; the roses. "If," he, .said, "] were to stand on my dignity, i should be resigning two or three times a week."

At the annual meeting of .the Taranaki Acclimatisation Society the following officers were elected:—President, Mr. A. Bewley. vice-presidents, Messrs (i. (1. Grovcr and \V. L. Newman; .council, Messrs G Kiehardson, K S. Bayley, A. 11. Johnstone, L I. Ken, L. B. Webster, J. E. Wilson; secretary, .Mr. 0. N. Firth; auditor, Mr. W. P. Nicoll.

At the conclusion of the business of the Borough Council yesterday morning tlie Mayor invited those ore-sent to partake of his hospitality. Congratulations were extended to the Mayor on his re-election. SeveiW speeches were made, including one by Mr. K. Cock, who strongly advocated the, people of the town putting their shoulders together to push on its progress.

At Kawaroa Park the work of improving the surroundings of the bandstand is in progress, and a 1 ready the ground is taking on .a much more attractive appearance. The energetic chairman of the committee, Mr. jA. E. Sykos, is frequently .on the spot to supervise operations. In time the jiark should be one of the beauty spots of the town.

The interests attaching to a holiday in Now Plymouth are not being overlooked by people outside New Zealand. Mr. W. "(Jolli's, the secretary of the N'cw Plymouth Tourist and Expansion League, has received a letter I'rom' a gentleman in Honolulu, stating that he is arranging a New Zealand tour, and asking for information concerning the places of interest in this district

Last night the inmates of Hie Old People's Home at Westown were treated to a splendid programme of vocal items and also a service of song entitled ''Wee Elsie," which were given by a number of Sunday school children belonging to the Salvation Army. Adjutant and Jfr-. Home accompanied' the children and had charge of the programme, which gained the thanks of the matron and also of the imitates.

A visit to the. tramway construction works yesterday showed that extraordinary progress is being made by,the contractors. The scene lias all the busy appearance of a beehive, and the nick are working at top speed. Since the Mayor drove his .pick into the roadway on Monday a length of several chains of formation has been finished, and for a portion of the distance the rails are laid. At the same, rate of progress the line should be well finished before Christmas.

A charge of stealing a gig was preferred against William Pycroft at the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday. Pycroft is an employee of 0. K. Allen, who recently purchased several gigs, and it was alleged that accused had stolen one of the gigs, of a value of £3. The accused said that lie had been informed that Allen did not want the gig, and so he had. taken it home. The Magistrate (Mr. A. Crooke) convicted the accused, and fined him £3.

The High Commissioner reports under date London, May 4:—The outbreak ; n which a Malay sergeant of police was killed occurred on Saturday among the Malays of the Passir Putch'district.Kolantan. The cause is stated to be the disinclination to pay taxes. It was decided as a precautionary measure to send 200 men from Singapore. The British adviser at Kelantan reported on Monday that the first account of the disturbance was somewhat exaggerated, and that there was no reason, for alarm.

Tito Secretary of the Department of iAgriculturo and Commerce lias again written to the Sew Plymouth Chamber of Commerce asking for a list of merchants in the district desirous of getting into touch with French exporters of the following articles of French manufacture with a view to forwarding the names to the French C'liamher of Baskctware and wiekervare, materials for bicycles and tricycles, brushes, brush ware anil brooms, carpeting and (Iruggeting, chassis and materials for motor vehicles, china, porcelain and parianware, clocks, chocolate confectionery, drapery, cream of tartar, drugs, chemical and druggists' wares, dyes', earthenware, fancy goods and toys, gelatine and isinglass, glass Trottles, mirrors and looking-glasses, glassware, electric machinery, and, machines, lamps-, lanterns and lampwieks, millinery, perfumery, silks, spirits and wine, tinware.

Judgment was given in the Now Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday in the case in which (tcorge ~W. Tinning (Mr. Hon. Quilliam) claimed from Jesse J. Hills (Mr. A. K. Standish) the sum of £SO, this being a deposit paid by the plaintiff to the defendant in prospect of a land sale which did not eventuate The Magistrate (Mr. A. Crooke) said the points to be decided were: (1) Was there.unreasonable delay on the part of Hills warranting the plaintiff to give notice to rescind the agreement 1 and (■■l) was the notice of such unreasonable length as to allow Hills-to discharge the encumbrances on the property? His Worship held that the answer to each question was in the allirmativc. He accordingly gave judgment for the rcturujof the deposit, £SO, and allowed ( '" sts cr > •«• <>n the application of Mr. Standish, leave to appeal was granted.

In his report to the Taranaki Acclimatisation Society, the curator says"Having arrived at the end of the fourth year of my operations at the hatchery, it is with pleasure that 1 am able to say the past season may he considered satisfactory. From 100.(1(10 rainbow ova received there were 81,000 frv liberated, and there are 15,000 on hand' being reared for yearling to be liberated in the spring. Brown ova received, 100,000; fry liberated, 80,000; on hand to be reared for_ yearlings, 12,000. From the very satisfactory communications received from many angle™ and settlers generally throughout the district, I thought it well to rear a greater number of yeailings for tliiH coming season, especially as this branch of the work had such liberal assistance lust year in the liberation by many country' settlers. Several have already expressed their willingness to again assist in this part of the work next spring. I think I may add that this part of the council's work last year gave yory general satisfaction."