LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 March 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The nett. customs duty received at New Plymouth during February was .£4244 Gs Gd, and beer dutjt- £ir>o 4s. Last year's figures were £301,1 9s lid and f 105 4s sd.

The following is ii return of the number of births, deaths and marriages for the district of New Plymouth (Mr. ,T. S. ,S. Medley, registrar) for the month o! February, the figures for February, 1017. being in parentheses: Births 34 (37), deaths 8 (11), marriages "> (5).

Mr. Poison, one of the Wellington North candidates, was "slating" the Defence Department He complained of the high death rate in c.imp, and in deep, tragic tones, dramatically asked "What is the cause of this?" A voice from the rear of the hall promptly' nnswereii "Stew." Tragedy ended, comedy had its turn, and the huge roar of laughter could be heard over on Somes Island.

The increase noted on the customs and beer duty collected in Christchurch for January of this year as compared with the same month last year is also noteworthy in connection with the returns for February. Comparative figures are as follows: Net customs duties, 101?;, £30,100; 1917, *32,049. B<"t dutv: 1018, £3022; 1017, C2or>9. Totals: lflis, £42,129; 1917, .-C24.105. The increase for the two months of 1918 as compared with the two months of 1917 is £20,0G9. —Press Association.

A farmer in a county in Taranaki recently called at the office of the County clerk to p'iy his rates. After beinf.handed his receipts the farmer asked what was the amount of the rates of one of his neighbors, whom he knew was in distress, and he desired to pay the rates for him, lest, throuah forgetfulness, he might incur the 10 per cent, penalty. The clerk, who is well known to have a keen sense of appreciation of such actions, commended the farmer for his considerate and said he did not remember having ever met anyone before who had made such an offer on behalf of a neighbor in distress.

An especially attractive matinee pro"rnniiUe ia being screened at the Empire Theatre this afternoon. The chief feature will be "The Pendleton Bound TJp,'' and supporting this theiv? are four ■screaming comedies, Fatty Arbnckle in "The Telltale Light," a Christie comedy "Our for the Coin," and two Keystone pictures, "Raffles, Gentleman Burglar" (two reels) and "Ambrose's First Falsehood." Children will be admitted for threepence. Landowners whose properties are near the. Manawatu River are becoming alarmed at the spread of the weed called goat's rue which has come down in flood waters through the Gorge from near Woodville. It has completely covered a formerly ext.remelv rich flat of 200 acres at the Woodfille end of the Gorge, the property of Mr. J. Uolden. The plant was, it is understood, originally planted at Wood,fille. It is now well down towards Foxton, and has obtained a fairly strong hold in cleared land in adjoining areas. It is there growing luvuriant, and the. seed pods are now showing. Neither cattle nor sheep will touch the weed nor keep it down. It bears a white and pale mauve flower, and when bruised in the hand smells like broken scarlet runner bean pods.

Mr. Aikenhead, chairman of .the Waitcnmta County Council, wdio is on a visit to Hawera, told the local Star that the miles and miles of perfectly smooth surface that lie had travelled over between New Plymouth and Ilawcra were a revelation to him. He said there was nothing of the sort up North, excepting a couple of streets in the cit; of Auckland. "I am so impressed," he added, "with your roads, that I have fully made up my mind to move in the direction of adopting similar methods in our county. And as a result of enquiries that I have made I see no reason to prevent us making as great a success of tarred roads a* you have. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking the members and staffs of the various local bodies for the kindly and cordial manner in, which I have been met and supplied with full information, and also for the further information which I intend to get before ileaving Taranaki. "Not only your roads, but your system of administration appeals to me. You are rin lit up-to-date in all respects. Your boroughs are replete with all modern conveniences, an(! everything in connection with your local ibodics goes to prove that you have the right men in the right place." The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency, Co., Ltd.. Stratford, draw attention to the clearing sale thev arc holding on account of Mr. A. W". Blennerlmssett, at their Tarata saleyards on Friday, March 15. Full particulars later. BEST FOR ALL THE FAMILY. Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery is the mother's fielper and the children's friend, and banishes all coughs and colds. It can be given to the youngest, child, and to the sturdy school children, to the eollcre student, or to the father of a family. Wherever there is a cold Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery is the shortest pathway to good health. Price Is 6d and 3/-. Obtainable everywhere.

'"Tin 1 loaders of the Labour Parly live on labor, and not by labor," declared the lion. AV. Karnshaw when speaking in Masteilou on Monday evening. '•You .'annot, toll me anything the Railway Department is not capable of doing wron.ul. 1 .." nail! Mr A, K. W'livi■' ill: i\lr .l!iandi)ir.'i meeting at lielbiirn (he other evening. Mr W'liyt" added that if the Sew Zealand railways were a fair sample of Coverimient. control then it did not. sav much for it.

"There is no greater fallacy in Iho world I ban (lie old saying, 'There is no sentiment in business,'" said Mr V. Wilding. K.C., in the Supreme Court at ( iirisi.chnrch. "Business is full of it.

Sentiment U everywhere. What is it. ilia! send.; on; 1 hiave boys (o the front, that leads our gallant ladies to Ked Cross work, but sentiment'' KvcryOiiiiif Dial is good and noble in the world rests, on sentiment." /

The Knmara correspondent of the Greyjhonth Kvening Star says that all that now remains to remind one of I lie once prosperous gold mines of the Kumara field—heaps of stones—are now being turned to profitable account, :«« they serve as a ran for hundreds of sheep, which appear to do remarkably well. This is instanced by the fact that one sheepowncr shipped wool, representing the season's clip, to the value of close on £4(10.

At a special meeting of the Ilorowhenua County Council, held last Saturday, it was decided to erect a toll gate at the Waiknnae bridge for 1 days, a toll to be taken for Hi hours a day.' Tlii,; is the first move of the Conned in the direction of creeling toll gates through the County, and is for the purpose of inking u tally of the through .motor traffic. "These boys have got a now scheme for evading drill now," said a sergeantmajor in the C'hristchurch Magisi rate's Court, when a number of Senior Cadets wen' -barged with failing to attend drill. "They go harvesting now. That is a very good tiling in itself, but the rem.irknble feature is that they don't deckle to go harvesting until the day after the sumnioss is served on them."

Tlic splendid Metro ''"The Lifted Veil," from Basil Kind's great novel, v.-ill be screened for the last limo :it ilifi

'impire to-ni.slit. Ethel Biirrvmore Is 1 In? star of 11, is production anil gives a tine portrayal as the heroine, Olorinda fiildersleeve. The pictures of "The Pendleton Round-Up - ' are included on this programme and also show for the last time this evening.

The family' of Mr W. .11. Thompson, of Wakapuaka, litis a splendid record for war service. Sergeant-Major It. K. Thompson, who left Xew Zealand with the Main Body, was killed in the Sonum 1 offensive in July, 101(1, and he was succeeded in bis company by his brother, .Sergeant-Major N. ft. Thompson who was awarded the Military Mcdn'i for enll«intrv ill. Mcssines, and is now studyisg in Knglnnd for his commission. The third son. Trooper T). T). Thompson, left New Zealand with the Seventh Mounted Reinforcements, and has served throughout the whole of the operations in which the Xew Zealand Mountcds have taken pfi'.t. At the sittings of the Military Service Board, Mr. Thompson withdrew his appeal on behalf o? his fourth son, who has attained his twentieth birthday, as the young man was keen to go to the front. Two young women had a trying time one afternoon last week whilst attempting to negotiate the break in the Tero.makau River bridge, near fireymouth. They were returning from a bathing expedition, and all went well till the cage was reached. After they were comfortably seated, the cage - was started on its journc-y, but diu not proceed far before it stopped in the centre of the stream, and despite Hie strenuous exertions of the occupants it refused to move either one way or the other. Darkness was fast coming on, and the probability of having to spend the night suspended over a raging torrent was anything hut cheerful. However, after iiope was almost gone, a local resident appeared on the scene, and after some trouble in sending the wire rope managed to land the cage and its occupants on shore. Eight years ago Driver Hainswortli, in charge of the mail train, climbed out on the engine platform to attend to some defect (says a Bathurst message to the Sydney Daiiy Telegraph). The train was nearing Penrith at the time, and in passing a bridge the driver's head struck some projection and bo was killed. Recently his son, Hugh Hainswortli, also ■in engine-driver, met his death under somewhat similar 'circumstances, but. stranaest of all, the accident happened near the spot where his father, eight years before, had been killed. The sequel to this grim story of coincidence was enacted at Bathurst Quarter Sessions rocestly, when an application under the Workman's Compensation Act was made by two sisters, the only surviving relatives of Hugh Hainswortli, who claimed £SOO for the loss of his life. Jiidge Scltoles made ail order for the amount claimed, the money to be equally divided between them.

Singleton's centenarian, Mr William "Ross, was horn outside Sydney Honda in I]io ship lied Rover, on .Time 2, lSlfi, f.nd is, therefore in liis ]o2nd year (says tin' Sydney Sim). At seven years of njio lie was an orphan. His mother died ■when lie was five years of age, and two years later his father went down in a ship which foundered with all hands in the Bay of Biscay. The fattier was the chief mate of the Rod -Rover. At the, aire of IS Mr Ross married a Miss Carter aged 17, in West Maitland. There wore einht daughi ers of the union, all of whom are living outside of New South Wales. His wife died 39 years afro. Mr Ross has "been working since lie wa» l, r < years of age, and can still do a fair day's work. Dunnß last, week lie was engaged catling grass with a seytlie and lawn-mower. In his earlier life he was an accomplished horseman, and frequently voile buel'jnmpers. He is not a. total abstainer, and is a smoker. Yet he has never iiad a day's illness. A crop of accidents, in the shape of broken limbs, has, however, come his way. Mr Rett Ridge, speaking in London, said: "Tn a military hospital, a man asked mc whether 1 could L'l'f him 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.' ilo said, '1 began it twenty } ears ago. I borrowed it from another man. Somehod y pinched it from me when I was half-way through it, and I've never had a chance of getting to the cud of it.' T found iho hook, and took it to him. He said, Tin very glad to have it, 1 hegan it twenty years ago--' I said, 'Yen, .but you've read a largo number of books since Jion, haven't you!' The man replied, 'Oh, 110, I never tried another'! "

Newton Kins; notifies that the 105 acres 011 the Ohnra road advertised for sale on March 9 lias been withdrawn. Bear Mary.—lt's all settled! Jack saw dad mid I've fjot the ring. Meet me at Rennie's to-morrow at 3. Mum and I are picking out some lovely underwear for the trousacau at bargain prices. Am so happyl—Your friend, May,

The execution of Ejects, the Runangn murderer, has been lixcil for Tuesday morning at S o'clock— Press Association. Tin; hijjli wages paid io clever workmen in Britain ( recently revealed as Mansfield, when evidence was given that a workman summoned for not paving income lax earned .£9OB a year) is' not an isolated case (»tate» the Daily Mail). In Woolwich Arsenal there is a highly 'skilled workman who tempers steel in '.me of the forges whose weekly wage is .€ls 11 we k.

A very large number of slice]) were 1 rucked at the Kltham railway station or Tuesday and Wednesday, states the Argus, the total being no less and 45 trucks. The wajprily were fats from the ()ii|o:iiia. districts, and appeared to be in particularly prime condition. Some were consigned to Smart Road and the remainder to l'almerston.

A Patea resident who visited tho towns of Kltham, .Stratford and Inglewood rcecntlv, states the Cross, returned with the impression that 'Patea now compares very favorably \yjlli any of them. In Stratford anil Inglcwood in;particular, the grass-growing in the main street

.'rave the towns a more or less uncareO for appearance. Kltham fvith its tarred streets was in marked contrast to the other towns.

The actual weight of the bullock that lormcd the subject of one of the guessing competitions at the show was 700 lb. E. Whittle 7001b, T. Bottnmley Cf)9llbs and A. I-lastie 69911)3 were the prize winners. The sheep weighed lfl'2lbs and Messrs T. Wright 1 (St lbs, A. Hoakin, J. S. Fox, and a name undecipherable, Puniho, each Hi3lbs divide the prize money. The owner of the Puniho ticket should communicate with the secretary.

Constable Squires, of Marton, had rather nil exciting cha«e after a voting man named George Wallace Kelly" with several convictions, who was accused of having committed a common assault on a married woman at Morton Junction. Kelly wan hiding on the racecourse, and as soon as lie saw the police making towards him he made off, with Constable Squires in hot pursuit. Several hurdles were negotiated, but eventually the eoiHiible proved tUv fleeter runner and caught his man. Kelly admitted the cillenec, and was sentenced to one month's imprisonment with hard labor.

A particularly clever and pretty child nstress will he seen at Everybody's to. night in the person of Madge Evans, who still's with Ethel Clayton in the World film feature, "The Web of Desire." The 17th episode of the "Iron (law' is a'no showing, and with only three more, episodes to follow the picture is growing in sensational interest.

That the public has at last, begun to seriously realise the economic position is apparent; at the Melbourne's great stocktaking sale where shoppers are showing an eagerness for bargains never hitherto displayed. The manager reports unprecedented business and moreover sliopi>ei': an' having much larger parcels than formerly.