LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1917, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

November 29 has been fixed as the date of Hie Technical College sports meeting, which will be hi»!d, as in previous years, on the liecre&tion Grounds. The New Plymouth Plunkct Society has received from the Central and Courtenay Street schools 17s, West End school lis ad, and Clietwode school 3a fid, being the penny collections' dnring Baby ~Week,i y A reminder is given of the meeting to be held under tlie.-auapieog of the Women's National Eeserve, ■ in. the ".flood Tomplar Haiti at-8!o'clock this everim* when Sir James Allen has kindiv consented to be present. A cordial invitation is extended to all soldiers''wives and mothers. The erroneous impression held hi' some people that the management of Pukeknra Park had sacrificed native flora and forest trees for the sake of a few flowers and lawns was corrected at the monthly meeting of the board of trustees oil Tuesday night. Mr. Newman pointed out that the park could not claim to possess native bush. When the first shrul) was planted many years ago there was not a native tree iii the park, excepting tutu, the ground being covered with bracken and fern. The secretary of the Taranaki Education Board received notice from the Department on Tuesday last that the plans for the technical school to W erected at Waitara had been approved, and the Government £ for £ subsidy of £220 placed to the credit of the'board. A start will therefore be made with the building as soon as possible. Material for the new school at Awakino is now on the site, and building operations will b? commenced to-morrow. Amongst a batch of Australian soldiers who returned to Sydney recently, was a smiling youth. The first words he said were: "Well, I'm still single, notwithstanding that I've been to Scotland." Then he explained. "Nobody seems to know why, but the Australians and the Scotch are balmy about :one another. The start of it is in the trenches. They are great pals in the 'firing-line. Any Australian on furlough is sure of a great time if he goes to Scotland. Believe me it is hard to remember your girl in Australia when ,vou get those Scotch lassies around you. Their admiration is frank, without being bold. I don't know how else to put it. This sort of stuff is not hard to take. One consequence is that hundreds of marriages have taken place. I don't know what our girls will say when they know that of a batch ot men who will Teturn shortly, 30(1 are bfinging wives home with them. There'll be some heartaches over that, I'm thinking. T don't blame the girls over there, hut it seems tough on ours here, .because they won't look at a man who stays at home, and lots of the fighters are making other arrangements. It sounds a joke., but it is a dashed serious problem that will have to be faced." A well-known North Island ,growcr< of early seed potatoes has notified his Taranaki agents that owing to the excessive wet weather and scarcity of labor he has not been able to plant so far this season. This means that there may not be any Gold Coin. Sutton's Abundance or Sutton's 26 available from this source for planting next season. Local growers should bear this in mind and save their own seed. It should be borne in mind that seed for these early varieties should not be saved from the main crop as the tubers will be so long out of the ground before next planting season that the vitality will lie much weakened. A better ' method is to pick tubers from the main digging and re-plant to be dug !)ay in March or April. This second crop would have the vitality so essential in early potatoes owing to the danger of blight and frost. Attention is directed to the Marble' Bar advertisement on page one announcing the closing down of their present business premises and re-opening the following Saturday in new premises. The furnishings are to be in oak specially designed for the business. The appliances used in the manufacture of ice cream, etc., arrive in a few days from Australia. Pure American fruit syrups only will be used in the dispensiiig of drinks. The ladies are to he specially catered for by the addition |i the menu of morning and afternoon toas, home made cakes, scones, etc., all being made on the premises. The uniforms to be worn by the staff are quite a novelty, being the first of their kind to be introduced into New Zealand. The staff will be under the supervision of the manageress (Miss Martin), while Mr. Carr will conduct the business generally. The new .premises, including the ice cream factory, will at all times be open to inspection by the public. On the opening day Mrs. Moverley's Symphony Orchestra will be in attendance afternoon and evening.—Advt. The Central school's plain and fancy dress ball in the Coronation Hall tomorrow night promises to be most successful, and a large attendance is guaranteed by the interest shown by parents of the children and friends of tiie school, not to mention the children themselves. As something like 380 children, mostly in fancy dress, will take part, the grand march will be divided, and the .two inarches will be carried out at the same time. The children have put a lot of enthusiasm into their practices and have become proficient. Several prizes for fancy and poster dresses are offered, and the children's dancing, from 7.30 to 9.30, should prove a. very bright and attractive spectacle. At half-past tine the adults will take the floor. To-morrow morning an express will go round to collect dishes for the Central school ball. As there is a very large number to ocllect, the committee ask those who have promised contributions to kindly have them ready at nine o'clock, so that there may be no delay. friends of the Boys' High School are reminded that the annual sports commence to-day at 11 a.m. Should the day be wet, the presentation of the Imperial Challenge Shields by Sir James Allen I will take place at the Coronation Hall at 3 p.m.

j The Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen) does not visit the town schoJi'j: this morning, but is due at the Girls'High School at !).3U a.m., and subsetjuently at the hospital. The newspaper man has to dodge a great many pitfalls, especially in his use of the English language. The other day a Waikato paper fell into one. Dealing with a typhoid outbreak, it stated:—"Several Maoris are .being treated by the Health Department near the river for fever and already "three . deaths have taken place. The Town i Board have entered a strong protest against the Health Department for bringing Maoris affected by fever into the township'.'' for treatment." Probably the-health official's opiniontnf the;, suggesti»n Junwittingly conveyed in:' the first wmtencc would be best left unrecorded, Methodist dav at the Mart on Saturday next should prove very successful provided the weather is favorable. Arrangements are being made both in town and country to make "Rose Dfty" a memorable one. No less than five stalls, apart from the mart, have been arranged for. The Frankleigh Park friends are arranging their stall in front of White's and Ambury's; the Fitzrov, Hillsborough, and King and,, Uplantl Eoad districts at Hannah's corner, the St. \Aubyn, Omata, Carrington Road, and Mangorei in front of Morcy and Sons, whilst the Rose stall, pot plant and fern stalls will be arranged at Hookham's corner. Other features of the day will be enumerated in a later issue. Whoever invented the blouse conferred a boon on the world of womenkind. If you are fond of stylish blouses see those advertised by the Big Store, Waitara, on appearance, delightful to wear and very easy to buy. A meeting of members of A'Company, llth Regiment, will be held in the company's orderly room on Monday evening to discuss the question of holding a territorial ball, to proceeds to be devoted to tho Soldiers' Comforts Fund. The visit of Mr. I. B. Grabham, of Grabham, Ltd., Wellington, to this town is of special interest to the motoring community. Mr. Grabham is at present staying at the White Hart Hotel, which place he is making his headquarters for the next few days. He is demonstrating with the Dayton airless tyre;, for which is claimed that the service given is quite 2} to three times that of the best pneumatics on the market, their average life being from 10,000 to 20,000 miles. Punctures and blowouts are absolutely impossible, and it is therefore unnecessary to carry spares of any description, and he is anxious to meet all motorists and give them a practical demonstration on his car, which is fitted with these wonderful tyres. It may be interesting to note that the orders booked for these tyres in Wellington, Auckland, and other centres, are somewhat phenomenal, and in view of Mr. Grabham's visit, motorists will have an opportunity of personally judging the claims and merits of the Dayton Airless Tyres. The Minister in Charge of Munitions ( has an important notice in tlu's issue to users of black iron, steel, and terne plates.