LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 August 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the Inglewood Court on Wednesday, M. Moriarty was convicted and lined, £4 for using obscene language, and, J. Adams was acquitted on a charge of purloining two cow covers .belonoin'" to C. Tapp. ° "

The road near Waipubj and Tarild is m a very bad state at present, It is tasily the worst bit on the run between Wellington and New Plymouth and is tio credit to the Stratford County Council, which adds insult to injury by taking toll of the unfortunates compelled to use this dangerous road. The Mart on Saturday was run bv the ladies of tlio Red Cross Society and the- Women's Patriotic Committee, the Mayoress being, as usual, at the head of a, most energetic band of workers. The principal features were'vegetables and flowers, and of the latter there was a profusion of beautiful blooms-. Satisfactory business was done, the takings amounting to ,L'iJs,

'Particular interest centres in the new programme showing at the Empire tonight, firstly because the charming young Australian actress, Enid Bennett, stars in the Triangle feature, "Little Brother/' and secondly because Billie Burke appears in -The Vow Pullilled," the last episode but one of Gloria's Romance, hi view of the crowds certain to be in attendance, regular patrons are advised to tome early or arrange for reserved seats ut Collier's.

A New Plymouth lady now in England was in a town that was recently bombed by the aerial Hmie. AVi.en the first bomb exploded, .=ho was engaging a eliimney sweep, who forthwith proceeded to decamp, saying, "This is a raid; it is, no good to me: I'm oil'!" ''No you don't." replied the colonial lady imperturbaDly; "you must tell mc when you can come and swec; (lie chimneys for my landlady!" And the sweep had to stop.

Although no official reception was tendered to the soldiers returning from the iroiif on their arrival in New Plymouth i.jl Saturdav evening, the Mayor (Mr. C. 11. Burgess) and Mr. W. J. Chaney (secrettiry and vice-chairman of the Patriots Committee) were on the railway platform to welcome them home. It is biipposed that three or four of the men arrived, including Privates K. 0. Stoiir and C. A. Ward, hut they were so .-p.M'dily apinvpriated and monopolised by rekiUio.- :i.d li'iends that no formal ceremony was possible.

The Citizens' Hand gave a recital at lliti Xt'w Plymouth hospital yesterday iifio.-udon, their excellent music being jji'catJy enjoyed net, uiily by the patients

mul stali'. but also by a good attendance hi the public. The programme included, Ly request, several hymns, among them being the favorite, ''Peace, Perfect Peace." The new items were a quickstep, entitled, '•Gnl.hpoli," and Kimnier's tone poem, "Die Gray Cloister." At the close of the concert the band were heartily thank-d by Mr. J. K. Hill (nct-ing-e'iairman of the Hospital Board) and this ailing-matron (lister 15. A. Camphell) for the great pleasure they had afforded the inmates of the institution.

Tlie following resolution was adopted lit a special meeting of the council ol Hie Xew Plymouth Chamber of Commerce on Tliursday: "That this Chamber desires to direct the attention of the Finance Minister to the hardship 'which may result to small shareholders in joint stock companies if the full income-tax us proposed is levied upon the profits of the companies, since it means that persons who as imlh iduals would be exempt lrom payment 01 income-tax may have lo pay, through the companies in which they bold shares, up to 7s (id in the ,£. I'o avoid this hardship it is suggested that companies should not bo taxed upon the piolit.s they distribute, but that the tax should be levied upon the Individual shareholders according to their liability to pay income-tax." The resolution will be forwarded to the Minister of Finance and the. member for the disVict.

In the Ihiwora Magistrate's Court on Friday, Charles liroughton, of Whenuakuiu, an intelligent looking Maori, was charged that lie did, about or between January 2.3 and February 9, IW7, at' V\ henuakura, commit ihelt of five calves, «i' the value of AMo. the property of une William Limb. Accused pleaded (.".'.iltv. Senior-Sergeant Till explained that Mr. Lamb missed the calves on January 25, and lie later say one of the number in accused's paddock. Subsequently he found the remainder of the calves on accused's farm and he took possession. Air. O'.Dea, on behalf of the accused, stated that the calves were not taken by the accused in the ordinary way; Ihe calves had strayed into his property through a gup in the fence. The ■branding was done by a relative in mistake. ' Counsel asked that the accused be leniently dealt with, and called evidence, to show that Broughton had previously borne a good character. Evidence in this respect was given by Kov. I!, ltaildon and Constable Armor. Mr. O'lVa mentioned that accused belonged I to one. of the best class of Maori families on the coast, and he submitted that j this was a. case in which accused could be given the benefit of the Probation ■. A.-t. The Magistrate: I will do better' than that. His Worship then addressed the accused as to his dishonest action, pointing out that the high character which he had previously borne made his oll'ence the more striking. He trusted that the case would point a lesson to the members of the race who might bo tempted to depart from the path of honest v. Accused would he fined. £lo. 61**-

Military Appeal Boards aro not how treating shearers as indispensable, asut k reported that shearers are not so scarce as was suggested some months.-

Three hundred years ago, in England,, "it was customary to add beer to mortar to produce the required consistency. It was asserted that the beer rendered the mortar more durable than if it wer» made with water.

; A great shortage of kerosene is being 1 experienced throughout New Zealand, and it is stated to he quite unprocurable from wholesale firms. It is expected that the price will shortly reach 20s per case. The cause is stated to be . the shortage of shipping. A scathing commentary on the stale of the roads in the Auckland district |;was contained in a brief but succinct letter received by the executive of the Auckland Automobile Association. A member wrote: "In the absence of roads ! I have given up motoring, and therefore tender my resignation as a member of the Association.

Some wonderful operations have been' performed oil some of ti;e wounded men who returned to New Zealand in a hospital ship on Tuesday. One soldier had eight inches of bone taken Out of the shoulder end of his arm; lie could not move his arm in any direction, and yet use his fingers. Another man lmd had his left lung and chest taken away by a shell, yet his body had been practically rebuilt, and on first sight one would hardly know that he was injured. Many of them have served in Egypt, and a number of them were pre< sent at the big explosion at Messines, one man saying he had been blown 60 feet into the air by the force of this explosion and carried nearly 100 yards away. Another soldier had a similar experience at Armentieres.

If a burglar was found !r. the house the average representative of the ininine ses would probably quickly reach a state bordering on hysteria. There are, however, exceptions. At the Magistrate's Court at Wanganui (says the Chronicle), a lady resident of Wanganui explained what she did on finding a nocturnal visitor on the premises. She set out to capture him, but a badlyscared burglar managed to get out-into the yard. The lady followed hard or his tracks, and had a shot at him with a flower pot, but the aim, to use the thrower's own expression, Tas unfortunately not true. Thi.- burglar then took a blind leap into the neighboring yard.

Interesting souvenirs of the visit, pain to Whangaroa in January last by the ■Parliamentary motor party arc about to be distributed, says the New Zealand Herald. These mementoes consist of small pieces of one of the Australian logs that formed part of the. cargo of the vessel Boyd when she sank in Whangaroa Harbour in ISuO. The Maoris accidentally burned her to the water's edge, after killing nearly all on board, as an act of vengeance for the dogging of a young Native Chief, who was a member of the crew. A few years ago a number of the logs were raised, and one of these,' Which was in the possession of Messrs T. M. Lane and Sons, at Whangaroa, has been cut into small pieces, suitable for walking-sticks. The souvenirs, together with a list of.nauies of the members of the Parliamentary party, are now at the Auckland office of that firm in Quay-street East. Each member of the Party will receive one ol the sticks.

Mr J. W. Poynton, at a meeting of the Manawatu Philosophical Society last.week, stated that the Government should establish travelling scholarsnips in economic botany, and should send students to different parts of the world in search of i.seful fruits, nuts, limber trees, grasses and other plants. New Zealand's botany, he said, was of interest to outsiders, and seeds could he readily obtained in exchange. If about a dozen individuals co-operated in getting and distributing seeds much could be done pending the taking over of the work by some Government departments. •Seeds of native JSTew Zealand trees could be sent to a eti.tral member, who would act as corresponding secretary, getting in exchange and distributing "seed from abroad. Recently some thousands of packets of seed of the valuable carob tree had been distributed throughout New Zealand, and it was 'pleasant to learn that this grand tree was now grown in Jfapier, the Bav of 'Plenty, Palmerston North and elsewhere.

Bac smedo lt3 trßgßdj . and dealt with, and a strong indictment made against medical malpractice bv women wishing to evade the sesponsibilifcy of motheraood in the great propagandist picture, '•Where Are J[y Children," to be screened R t Everybody's next Wednes>KV Thursday, and Friday. By order i'l the censor no person between the a«es of <S and IS years will be admitted. 0

Lieutenant-Colonel Stoneham, of Duncdm in giving an opinion as to how iseeoiul Dinsion men are affected bv vouutary enlistment, saysr-Vohmtar'v enlistment hy a Second Division man does not withdraw his nKII ,. from thp ballot unless he is pas B ed fit. He must understand thoroughly that, if he enlists, it is not to go away when the Second Division men are called up but he must go in one or other of the next two drafts. No doubt the pay to him or to his dependents must be considerably altered by Parliament. This mav take some time before becoming operative. He must, therefore, be quite sure that, if enlisting before such date, tit* operations of sucli amendments will be retrospective, so far as he is concerned If any doubt exists, then better by far that he should await the call of the ballot, and allow the First Division to be completely called-up before offering Ins services. Personally, 1 hold strongly that it is his duty to do so. After that his duty is aa pressing as was that ol the First Division before him. I think also, that he should not be permitted voluntary to enlist, All should come m under the ballot. There should be no voluntary enlistment for service of any kind at the front for bovs under twenty yours of age. To allow such to .enhst is practically equivalent to conscripting them, as they will in many cases not rim the risk of being asked! '•Why don't you enlist?"

As a screen siren, Kitty Cordon in "Vera tl>e Medium," screened to a packed house at Everybody's on Saturday, is quite unusual. There ia nothing of the. female demon, only wishing to destroy, in her reading of the part. She is a warm, real winning woman, regal in manner and figure, but in licr gracious moments charmingly gracious and soft. "Vera the Medium" will be screened again to-night. A meeting of the members of the Returned Soldiers' Association is to be hold this evening at 7.30, when a full attendance is desired. All returned, soldiers and all men in uniform are requested to meet t the hospital at 2 p.m. to-day to attend the ftmeral of Private W. J. Bishop.