LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 March 1916, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The new scheme for collecting rubbish in New Plymouth will come into operation from May 1. Householders will required to provide a proper receptacle for rubbish. A Taihape drover recently took a mob of sheep to Bulls, and when in that township one of his dogs, which had never been in that part of the country before, disappeared. The drover returned by train next day, and on the following morning was surprised to And that the wanderer had returned home. Thus Dr. Newman, M.P., speaking at Wyndham: ".Sometimes I go around the (farmers; and all they ask about is when rain will come, and the market price for produce. But they are only 'sticking it up'—you know the meaning of the phrase. And then I retort: 'lf you are keeping any of your sons or any of your friends from enlisting, you are playing traitor to your country.'" Norfolk Island is playing its part nobly in this war. Out of a population of 800 fifty have gone to the front, several of whom have been killed and others wounded. They also contributed last year £3OO to the war funds. This from a people who are not by any means wealthy is a proof that the Norfolk Islanders do not in any way come behind any part of the Empire's dominions in patriotism. Recruiting officers are sometimes puzzled to know why men who have volunteered and passed the required examination, fail to respond when called upon to go to camp. A ease in particular is reported in one district. This would-be recruit volunteered some time ago, has been called up several times, and has gone so far as to attend a public farewell, but has never yet reported to go away. In such casea #ergeantmajors are in something of tf'quandary to know what to do, but fortunately they are not frequent. That moving pictures excite the emotions of people susceptible to soulstirring incidents was demonstrated at the screening of the Nurse Cavell picture at Palmerston North the other evening. In one of the scenes a German officer seizes a one-legged soldier and violently hurls the cripple to the floor. A young lady sitting with a soldier friend in the auditorium, on observing the manifestations of German kultur, excitedly clutched her companion by the shoulder and exclaimed: "Belt into 'em, Bob, when you get there!" Bob nodded his assent with a much embarrassed smile.

Spoaking at a farewell interview before returning to the Commonwealth, Mr. Webster (Postmaster-General) said of his visit: "The only feature I saw with regret was what I took to be the horns and hoofs of the American Beef Trust; it is establishing itself at Waßganui. Fabulous sums are being expended, and such savors of the Trail of the Trust. I hope lam wrong; if not, then I fear the stock-raisor s of New Zealand will realise how deceptive are the ways of man, and ever regret placing their trust in Trusts. Maybe you can control it; many have tried, but none succeeded. Wait and watch.

Some British soldiers are reported as saying that if the authorities knew as much about hand-to-hand fighting as they do, the rifle would disappear for ever. In its place would come a much larger number of machine-guns which can he carried by one man, while the only personal weapons would be a revolver and a long dagger or knife. Trench fighting at close quarters often means that the riflo must be thrown away after the bayonet has been taken from it for use as a dagger. The rifle remains a pitifully ineffective weapon in comparison with the machine-gun, which, as ha s been said, can be carried by one man and operated by two.—The Argonaut.

A new principle in regard to Reason tickets which has been adopted by the Railway Department will be brought into effect next Saturday. The currency of all season tickets issued after lvxt Friday will commence <->n the lir*t day, and will expire on the last day of a calendar month. All quarterly school season tickets will expire on the last day of June, September, December, or March. In the past, season tickets have been issued for the particular period from the date of application, and the new system is designed to simplify book-keeping, and to facilitate the official supervision of the use of such tickets, of which between 15,000 and 20,000 are issued in the Auckland suburban area every year. A similar regulation applies to season tickets for distances up to 100 miles on the New South Wales system. The career of Mr. George Weddell, inventor of Cerebos salt, whose death is announced at the age of 61, is a business romance which supplicß one more example of a man who made a fortune by advertising. About 22 years ago Mr. Weddell, then in partnership at Mewcastle with Sir Joseph Swan, the chemist and inventor of the incandescent lamp, invented a table salt, for use in his own family—a salt highly refined and with phosphates added to replace those lost in the cooking of food. Afterwards Mr. Weddell placed his new salt before, the public, and eventually spread its fajnc throughout the world. Among the people who made fortunes through advertising, and who have died in recent years, are: Mr. T. .T. Barrett, Pears' soap ( £405,5G4); Mr. James Crossley Eno, Eno's Fruit Salt (£1,011,607); Mr. George Taylor Fulford, Dr. Williams' Pink Pills i £1,311,000); Mr. Geo. Handysiile, Han- 1 dyside's Consumption Cure ( £147,860); Mr. Walter Tom Owbridge, Owbrid»e's Lung Tonic (£112,214); and Mr. Henry Charles Lane. Nugget Boot Polish (£111,505). Spending in ordinary Government departments lias been closely watched during the war, but an era of more stringent economy has arrived. The heads of departments were called together by the Minister of Finance last week In order to enlighten them as to the position, so that the announcement of surplus (hoped for at the end of the financial year will not encourage moneysponding enterprise. The work of preparing the estimates is now in hand. Tlie recent conference will have the result of making the figures very modest. Despite the success of the public works local loan there is a prospect of public works being further slackened off. This process has gone on easily and gradually during the past year, men leaving cooperative works for private employ during periods of labor'scarcity, and not being re-employed. Material is so difficult to obtain and so expensive when available, and skilled labor so scarce, that the carrying on of any but urgent-ly-needed work in extremely expensive. The Minister of Public Works promises to make an announcement of policy at the end of the month. Tt can be predicted that he will declare for a further slackening off, on the ground that an attempt to preserve normal construction under the difficult conditions is extravagance '

It is probable that the now hospital at New Plymouth will bo occupied tomorrow. A rumor freely circulated yesterday that there were further cases of infantile paralysis at the New Plymouth Boys' High School is unfounded. Our Inglcwood correspondent writes that Mr. Newton King has purchased the old established auctioneering business of Matthews, Gamlin and Co. The blight and fly have just about destroyed all vegetables in Taranaki, and the outlook for the winter is not cheering. The unusually long spell of hot weather is responsible for both the blight and the ily. At the meeting of the Works Committee of the Borough Council last night the engineer was authorised to proceed with the asphalting of Devon Street East and West, Uill Street (both sides from Currie Street to Liardet Street), and Liardet Street. To meet the requirements of the Agricultural Department the dates of the South T.iranaki Winter Show have been altered to July 4, 5, 0, 7, and 8. This is being done to give the Department mora time to get their exhibits from Palmerston North to Hawera. Mrs. James Wilson who is in charge of the Red Cross Mart in New Plymouth, ha s received a letter from the secretary of the Y.M.C.A., Wellington, thanking her for the contribution of £125 from the mart towards the Y.M.C.A. National War Fund. The usual weekly meeting of the Egmont Lodge, No. 112, was held last evening. The programme for the evening was postponed till a later date. The sewing for the Red Cross is still being carried on, and tho sisters work during lodge hours. The directors of the Oaonui Dairy Company, whose factory was burned down on Saturday, propose rebuilding in ferro-concrete right away. The company has arranged to deal with most of its supplier at the Arawhata branch factory, and to use the hall at Oaonui |as a temporary curing room. NeighI boring factories have come to the rescue of the company, and are taking suppliers that cannot be dealt with at Arawhata. A request from a number of residents on the Old Hospital Eoad that the corner of Devon Street and this road should I be made "a request stop," for the trams was agreed to by the Tramways Committee of the Borough Council last night. In view of this the stopping place at the Henui Bridge will be abolished. It was further decided that Hobson Street (now compulsory) should be request, Paynter's Lane (now compulsory) should be request, and Sackville Street (now request) should be compulsory. The notices indicating where cars stop 3 will be placed on both sides of the road instead of only on one side as at present.

An unusual find was made on the sea beach near the Mokau heads on Saturday, when a live snake was secured amongst the driftwood. The reptile was put in a bucket of water and next morning it was dead. It measured 2ft 4in. A smaller snake* was seen amongst the driftwood, but was not captured. The snake was almost black on the back and light underneath, the skin, in the words of our correspondent, "resembling the wrong side of a very finely woven carpet." The snake, enclosed in a bottle of spirits, is on view at Mr. W. Jones' old homestead. How the snakes found their way to the Mokau beach is a problem.

A young soldier was arrested yesterday morning at Ngacre named Michael McCann, End was brought before the Eltham court yesterday afternoon on a charge of having stolen a bicycle at Hawcra. Constable Townsend stated that as he had arrested accused only that morning and there were other charges to be made he would ask for a remand to Hawera. The case was accordingly remanded, the accused to appear at Hawcra to day. McCann belongs to the Eleventh Reinforcements, and as he said himself, "he had taken French kave."—Argus. The Manaia Town Board, according to the local newspaper, is taking encrgetis steps in the matter of sanitation. Mr. Weaver is to be employed at £1 per day to make an immediate inspection of each house in the town and report at once to the Board; and those known to have cess pits will be written to and given 12 hours' notice to have them cleaned and their use discontinued, and that the foreman be instructed to spray the concrete channels thoroughly three day* each week with a disinfecting solution, also that the parties interested be written to pointing out the necessity of disinfecting the pig-yajds in the town. Another lesson in geography is furnished in the intimation that the invincible host of Russia has entered Ispahan, which is one of Persia's famous cities and the capital of the province of Irak-Ajemi. It is situated in an extensive and fertile plain on the banks of the Zenderud, 228 miles south of Teheran, with a population of over GO,OOO. Though its former glory has departed, Ispahan is still an important manufacturing centre. There was a time when the walls around the city were 24 miles in circumference, and contained 102 mosques, 48 colleges, ISO2 caravansaries (inns), and 273 psiblic baths. In those ancient and nourishing days Ispahan wa s the centre of the Persian empire, snd it had a population of 000,000. Today its glory i s ;tuostly represented Dy ruins. The Afglians took the city in 1722, but held it for only five years, since which time the Shah has made it a place of residence. It had some magnificent gardens and squares and buildings, but to-day its most notable features are its bridges, one of which has 33 arches. Its streets are narrow, winding, irregular, unpaved, and the transactions of its merchants are large enough to affect -prices in India. Trinkets, firearms, sword blades, glass, earthenware, expensive velvets and satins are among its manufactures.

"How We Beat the Emdon," a motion picture record of the smashing of the notorious German raider, is stirring the patriotism of lairge picture audiences throughout the Commonwealth. The story of the fight » placed in the mouth of an Australian iboy who was on the Sydney, and who came back to tell his mates on the Tingira how the German 'terror of the seas?' was finally smashed to scrap iron by ilhe 6-inch guns of the Sydney, and driven a total wreck upon the reefs of Cocojs Island. This film will be shown at the Theatre Royal on Thursday next. The Melbourne's* showing of ladies' new winter coats is unique, inasmuch as it comprises all tiie very latest models at prices that arc exceedingly low for the season's beginning. See special window displays. Forms of application will be received from Mr. D. McAlhim, P.O. Box 82, New Plymouth, for a limited number of shares in the proposed li.-on Sand Company in Taranaki. —Advt. '

[ Tastes differ, of course, but it is surprising how many people prefer "Desert Gold" to all other teas. Grocers sell it 'a* t» $, is 104 and S»

Between 200 and 300 British ships have been sold to neutrals since the war began. A juvenile offender appeared .before Mr. A. CroQke at the Juvenile XSourt yesterday, charged with stealing £l. The boy was admonished and discharged. A telegram from Rotorua says that ft Maori child named Marjorie Katene, who fell into a hot spring on Friday, has succumbed, The travellers on the temporary tram service in New Plymouth on Saturday numbered 3102, and the revenue amounted to £2O 0g 4d. The Taranaki County Council sat yesterday as a recruiting committee. Councillor J. Brown presided and there were also present: Councillors A. E. Laurence, W. Binnie, C. Andrews, D. McAlhun, A. Morton, J. S. Connett and J. Andrews. Mr H. Okey, M.P., was also present. It was decided to employ four canvasser* to thoroughly canvass the county with a view to assisting recruiting and securing information for filling in the recruiting report card of every eligible man in the district. The chairman and Councillors Connett and Morton wei» appointed a sub-committee to appoint canvassers, and they have selected Corporal L. Ford, Private A. Mason and Private A. Hardgraves (all returned troopers) as canvassers. A meeting of .he East End Reserve Committee was held last night. Offers were received from Mrs. George and Mrs. Brewer to provide music at the social on Thursday night, and were accepted with thanks It was reported that the committee's share of the proceeds from the recent gala day amounted to £3B 13s Gd. It was decided to draw the Borough Council's attention to the poor supply of water at the reserve in the event of a fire. Mr. Morgan (of the City Meat Stores) offered a fa.t lamb for the-Easter . picnic and Mr. R. Cock offered a special prize, while donations were received from Mr. W. A. Collis, and from the Carrington Koad, Mangorei, and Eltham District High Schools. Thus tho Auckland Observer in reference to interned Germans:—"Herr Seegner, who is at present a guest of that part of his Majesty's Army quartered in Auckland, naturally finds it necessary to make periodical visits to the city, and his motor-car, in charge of a soldier—New Zealand soldier servant —is of interest to the populace. It is noticed thaf the distinguished visitor to Auckland occasionally alights to enter shops, where, presumably, he makes necessary purchases, and is kind enough to permit the soldier-servant to remain in the car to nurse his unobtrusive bayonet. Speaking of tho excellence of feel, ing which guides a guest of the Crown in his kind treatment of servants, it has been noted that other gentlemen originating in the Central Empires have bo soldier-servants when they drive abroad. Ii is understood they have not yet made application. Could one hint to the corpg that supply soldier-servants to these gentlemen, that it seems unneceesary for them to wear sidearms? Where, for instance, a corporal's master leaves a public building ten minutes before the corporal leaves, the bayonet would seem to be a farce. The corporals should be armed with hat-brushes, iced drinks and moustache curling papers. If these corporals fail to salute 1 or bare-their heads when their masters step aboard their motor-cars, the authorities should be notified. It has also been noticed with great distress that wounded soldiers have not been ordered to salute guests from the Central • Empire. Will the authorities at the forts be good enough to complain to the O.C. the-Die-trict, who will see that proper respect is shown?.

The annual meeting of the Kaponga Atheltic Club will lie held in the Kaponga Town Hall to-night. The thirteenth episode of "Tie Million Dollar Mystery," will be shown for the last time, at the Empire Theatrf j to-night.