LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The tax payable to the Government by ►the Taranaki Jockey Club as the outcome of its Christmas meeting amounted to £1173 9s 2d.

j> Information has been received by the [(Minister of Defence that the 31st and |.)32iid Reinforcements have arrived at a oort of call. —Press Association.

In view ef financial stringency, the r W'aihi Borough Council has considerably reduced the number of its laborers. In <cight months the gas receipts decreased •by over £BOO, and the borough is £ISSB worse 01T than it was a year ago.

Statistics'issued bv the Austrian Government show that 1J.300 church bells Since been melted down for war purposes in Austria ajid Hungary. The aggregate weight of metal was 74<H tons.

An important feature at t'ne Pieton 'hospital is an open-air maternity ward. .'From the time the chikl is bom, except when bad weather renders is inadvisable. the mother is kept on a large and spacious verandah, which is a prominent .part of the whole institution. Under "this treatment not one death of a mother >has occurred, and the deaths of infants have been remarkably few .

Some farmers candidly confess that they do not think city men can do effective work oa the faun, but there is a <>rouiineni Canterbury funnel' wko donanot share those viewt. lie believes that the ordinary healthy and intelligent city mail, after two or three days, can do .rea.lly good work on the farms He has anungesbto employ two city men at harvesting, one a member of the Christ■church City Council. After three antl a-half years of war, Gewaan Christinas cards are still being (sold t» the ©omiHaon Colored greeting «ards, plainly marked "Printed in Ger--inany." were displayed openly in a shoo, in a provincial town not very far from Wellington last week. One purchaser, who did not detect the enemy origin of the «ards until he had left the shop, Was so disgusted that he tore a whole packet of them into snred« rather than send German-made greetings to his friends. Cards marked in Havana' or Prussia, or otherwise showing enemy origin, are exposed for dale it; shops on Lambton Quay.

Report? frcm the West Coast state that number of licensees have applied through the Court to have tiie rents payable to their landlords reduced. It is anticipated that early in tiie new year some old-time hotels oh the West Co;ist will he handed back to their owners, the tenants being unable to pay the rents. One owner, who is pavitig a double-figure rent, has appiied to the Court to reduce bins rent to practically nil, or compel the to toke over the stock and furniture. Another tenant is wtbliung right out of one of the largest hotels, having slost kite time and money.

Dr. CSiappeil, formerly M.P., of New iZealand, who gave up his Parliamentary ■duties to do war work, in a letter to Mr. J. C, Field from England, state* that he 'has been worked very hard, h-ut the American doctors are now coming over .in large Numbers and relieving the tension, He had only two weeks off duty since the war 'broke out, and had performed about 1300 operations. He was ,then surgical specialist in operative sur,»ery, and had very little else to do but operate, the American assistants doing all the (hissings, etc. Br. Ohappell added that America could not. do much in the field fcifi next yen*, aadiier pressure willnot'be felt til! the middle and end of ■im

ofl Sunday morning a particularly maan theft was perpetrated by some person or persona wfeo removed a. horse and gig from tlie grounds of WWtele-y Church during serviae time. Mr. C. Warren had driven in frot\ Spotswood to service, accompanied by his daughter'and a friend. They arrived a few minutes •before 1-1 o'clock and the horse and g»f?< were driven well up inte the yard and secured with a strap and holder, hi addition to the head rope. The SHrprise eft the owner of the conveyance when lie discovered his loss was only equalled by the mystery which surrounded its disappearance The horse was a good bay, and known to lie a. good "o-oer." The was a serviceable vehicle, the moat distinguishing feature hems Rs red painted wheels. The matter was at once ®ut into the hanita of the police.

At .tlie inquest, touching the death ' ,of Mss. Oorfeill. of Pihama. 011 Saturday, Mr. T. G. Corkiil, husband of deceased, deposed that lie left his wife asleep, when at 4.38 a.m. on Saturday Ire went out to the milking shed. At S;3O a.m. he returned with J. Black, avid observed ■ -thai breakfast was unprepared. On going to tlie bathroom lie found his wife face down in the batli in about nine inches of water A rope was round her neck, and to this was attached a piece of old axilc tree. J)r. Kliarpe was iimned-' lately sent for. Witness had always been on the best of twins with his wife. They had been married about eighteen months. She had been in indifferent health for some six months, and had been treated for luefltal trouble. He kaew 110 reasea wiiy she should have taken her life. Mr. ,T. Black corroborated the evidence of tlje previous witness. Dr. Sharpe deposed that he vat*, cabled at about 9 a.m. on Saturday. Fe found life was extinct. Btailt m«s cassed by sspliyxia due to drowning. There were several forms W mental disease which suddenly developed suioidal tendencies. Acquired melancholia was one of them. IHie jury found that death was caused by drowning while deceased was suffering from teiftpouary melancholia, and expressed deep sy-mpa>thy witfli deceased's relaitiqas. M»s. Corkiil was a daugW.ev . of Mr. and Mrs. 6. Looney, very old ; »nd respect*®" settlers ;h tflie district. xmvmmK active. Bear Bad, —The Ladies' (Jatnp -is a. great saesjte, if Ucwyi don't get too hot.. " WerSeHom light a fire; just W»e billy ion fe hot .ambers and make -a. delicious ; eup el AfiiS&BTA TEA, a»d*«ur nervesifiawr fail us. —Flo. Flatulency aiHkaeid&y 0f th* tan&t SSsbmaW

A party 01 five, including Mr. i!. l'\ Taylor, solo comet-player of the Citizen:;' Band, made an ascent of Mount .K#mont tn Sunday, Mr. Taylor takiiig his instriinierel, and on reaching the summit, played (lie cornet solo "Australia, - ' which n-ade a very beautiful who effect. The party left the house at <S a.m.. returning "■■at 4 p:ui.

It, is practically certain that a small group of the re-eaptrred German prisoners of war will be confined 011 Ripa Island, the site of the old fort on the .-■anthem side sf Lyt.telton harbor This small island, which was used as a place of detention for youths who would not drill before the tvar, is considered to offer facilities for the very close guarding of the restless German prisoners of war. Donations to provide Christmas cheer for the inmates of the Hospital and OldPeople's Home were received from the following: Messrs Newton Kins, S. \V. Shaw, Leong Ting, W. Bernini 1, A. E.i Svlces. Burgess, Kraser ami Co., Steffenson, T. Avery, Paul's Brewery, A. It. Halcombe. Stratford Hospital BoarA, ■■Renown, C. H. Dot Club, Red Post Furnishing Co., Sargood, Son and F.wen, S. B. White and Sou, J. C. ilorey and Mrs. Standish.

1,. The results of the doll voting competition in connection with the recent bs.nd carnival have now been announced by the secretary (Air. A. Bullians). The winners of the doHs were: 8.K., Grace Baldcck. 2.535 tickets; band, Winnie Knoxvles, 723 tickets; Hart's , Ronald Bellringer, 144 tickets. Graee Baldock also wins the special prize for selling the greatest number of tickets. The amount raised by the competition was £44 lfls .'id, and the committee express appreciation of the children's efforts in realising so large a sura. New Year's Eve passed .iff very quietly in Mew Plvouth. There was a largo crowd of people in town, \ttd business ithe shops appeared to lie fairly brisk. For the most part people betook themselves home early, there being comparatively few "left to celebrate the passing of the old end the arrival of the New Year. The crowd was very orderly and' not even the sound ef the customary crackers was herd in the streets. When 12 o'clock struck the steamers in port sounded their whistles, the railway engines sounded, bugles, bagpipes and other instruments tortured the air.

The weather yesterday morning created grave forebodings in the rami* -I" those who organised the big beach picnic at Ngarootu. and the worst fears were realised when rain began to fall it an early hour, aiul continued heavily up (ill about noon. The eammittee were forced to abandon the idea of going on with the programme as arranged, «■■.{ it was verv wiseiy decided to postpone tiie whole affair until to-day. The origins! t-rogramme will therefore be carried out, commencing at 11 a.m. with the pillow fishling even;:, which will be Wowed by the children's races atxl ether items as set out. the weather brightened somewhat in the afternoon and despite the fact that the wind was somewhat boisterous there were a good many visitors to the beach and ninth merrymaking on the sands and in the surf. The railway authorities did not facilitate the selling of tickets to passengers bound for Stratford yesterday. Consequently many had to take out tickets for Elthaiii and Ilawera, and not a few, unable to get tickets at the station, simply boarded the train without them. The policy of the Government is hard to understand. H the Government wishes to stop racing, why does it not take the courageous course, and straight out refuse permits? It. will not do this because, of the political consequences, but it, stoops to placing nil manner of vexatious restrictions on train travelling to race meetings. If racing in w*r time is against the interests of the country, wipe it out; if it ie not., ther. show a. little common sense and ran the trains 'to sait the convenience of the public. 'The railways sue supposed to beloag to the people, but they are conducted in the most despotic and asinine way, the aim evidently being to cause as muck, irritation and inconvenience as possible,, revenue being no consideration whatever. Traffic on the trams o« New Year's* eve was particularly brisk, the traias carrying ti!)B9 passengers, and the revenue being £sl 12s, as compared with £52 4s (id laist New Year's eve, which fell on U Saturday. The heavy ram yesterday morally cwsiderably militated against the traffic, but. between 2 and 6 p.m. the trams were thronged, the sum of £4s 17s Ud (approximately) being ►received in passenger revenue. This is a considerable decrease on last New Year's Bay, when .£B2 i2s !ld was tftken, tiiat being the record day's revenue at the time, a«KI only exceeded once since; but. it must be regarded as very satisfactory, indeed, considering that the weather was such that the Ngamotu picnic had to be abandoned.

The • • *itara beach picnic, which wae, postponed yesterday owing, to Ae wet 1 weather, vnU oe held t«-day.

Visitors to town should i:.a.ke a point" of purchasing a big supply of the Melbourne. Ltd.'s, famous stockings at thefollowing prices: Mercerised lisle thread hose. Is lid pair; pure wol oaehmwe hose, 2s :i(! ; ribbed ditto, 2s Hd; plate cashmere all-wool llama finish, 3s Sd; fine lisle thread with eashmere feel fciid tops, •■Jason' wake, 2s Hd pair; fine llama hose, 3s lid pair.

T f A national pride. This is no wH-e boast. Smokers throughout tho Empire unanimously agree that State Express, the Yimous ail-British cigarettes, are absolutely unequalled in quality, purity, and high-class methods of manufacture. Obtainable at aH high-class tobaoonists throughout Xew Zealand. Although the price 0/ Swiss embroidery has increased so enormoHsly <it late* the Melbourne. Ltd., lias much pleasure in offering shipments jus-t received at extremely moderate prices, the goods« •having been contracted for as far back as lDla. Prices lange from 3d to is lid per yard. MELBOURNE, LTD., SHIRTS AN© 11®' TfIEY ABE CHEAPER. First and foremost we liiarmiactiwe. our own shirts. Secondly we import our omhi materials direct from manufacturers ii England, America aHtl Japan. Thirdly we sell for spot cash only. To a»y thinking person any one of iHie above reasons would he sufficient to afldessell our competitors but when it comes to the whole three, why. we simply lose them. Here are seme prices and.remember the joods are here when voi: catl: Menis white teiwis shirts, 3s fid; Horroekses' matte 'tennis shirts, 4s fid; mercerised striped •or plain twill tennis shirts, 5s fid; Horroekscs' mercerised repp tennis starts, sii lid; navy "Advance." drill shirts, "is 1 ifii'; famous "S.S.S'.* pMa.aajjy or stewed drill shirts, 5s Wd ; ffttx afetg, 3e fid; ■4s fid. 4s M*; blue grandriil shirts, 3s 6d, 4s lid, os Mtl; mercerised Wack i«ntc«n shirts, 4s Wd; boys' -wtfte teiwßs -shirt*. 2s 9S; me*is sunramjr woi&ingj HaywMd's FLA<2 BSifcND.IKKSfcjS/S fer fliagging appetites=Mic • Itnent «f tbe-yeriod. Pure. laical. .*»»»» nunc,