LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In oimnection with the death of Mrs. Emelino Webb, of Stratford, which took place in New Plymouth on Friday morning, under somewhat unusual circumstances, the coroner has decided that an inquest ij not required to he held. The Salvation Army (Band gave a very enjoyable programme at the New Plymouth Hospital on Sunday afternoon, the patients greatly appreciating the music. The matroa, on their (behalf, very kindly returned thanks. : The lawyers' day at the Red Oross Mart proved a great success. Business opened with a well-stocked shop and stalls for fancywork, produce, and flowers. The gifts received for the latter stall were a particularly fFne lot. The violets made a conspicuous show, and some 300 hunches of these favorite flowers wenj disposed of. Busy young lady representatives of the law offices disposed of a large number of the quaintily-de-igned badges, and "Dr. Dick" was insistent in his solicitations, and "netted" a sum of £24. The Mart and stalls accounted for £BO, and adding to this the amount raised ( SM) by the "Limbs of the Law" concert, the total contribution of the lawyers' day effort for the (Red Cross amounts to the splendid sum of about £l6O. The annual general meeting of the New Plymouth Park Lawn Tennis, and Cro■qypt Club will be held at the Soldiers' Club to-night. Members of the Equitable Building Society 1 of New Plymouth (Second Group) are notified that subscriptions will be due and payable to-day, Monday, September 2, at the Secretary's Office, Cnrfie Street, from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., from 1 p,m. to 5 p.m., .and'-T' pan. to-S 1 p^in. —Advt

Wc have received the sum of £'T Is I<l from the Koru settlers (per Mr. Julius Hansen) towards the Copper Trail, being proceeds of a concert held at Koru on Thursday night last. The amount is made up as follows:—Mis; Evans £l, Mrs. 11. Looney ss, door takings £4 12s 3d, Molly Morton and Evelyn Wardworth (selling flowers) lis fid, and Cyril Hinklev 12s 4d; total, £7 Is Id. The latter sang the song "Please Give Me a Penny, Sir." and the public readily responded by throwing pennies on the stage.

.Shareholders of the New Zealand Iron Ore Company will be pleased to learn that smelting lias been resumed at the Moturoa works, up to the present with gratifying results- The furnace was lighted on Thursday morning, and already several tons of excellent grey iron ef uniform quality have been obtained though it is not yet working up to ifc=, ftili capacity. Jjlr. Aubel, the engineer in charge, is proceeding cautiously and gradually accelerating the process of r.mcliing. The supply of coke and coal is limited, and the present trial is not likely to extend over a week or so, by -vyhich time the fuel and prepared ore will be exhausted. However, so far as it has gone, the trial is proving highly encouraging, the metallurgical side of the problem being apparently overcome.

The Citizens' Band gave a very successful and enjoyable recital at Kawaroa Park yesterday afternoon in the interests of the Red Cross Copper Trail. There wjis a large attendance, and the mildness of the afternoon made the whole proceedings most delightful. The collection amounted to £2O, and it 19 the intenttion of the Park Committee to donate the proceeds of the afternoon tea to the fund for whicli the recital was given. These are erpeeted to realise about £3. The band's programme included the following items:—Marches, "On the Road" (Richards) and "Wien the Boys Come Home" (Laidlaw); suite, "La Belle France" (Pecorini); overture, "Raymond" (Thomas); cornet solo,"The Sunshine of Your Smile"; mofceau, "Tristsse d'Amour" (Tellier); entr'acte. "Evening Bells" (Rimmer),; quickstep, "Honor Bright' (CVLeary); and benediction, "The Lord's Prayer" (arr; M'Leod).

Next Thursday afternoon, in the Relation Sports Ground, the fancy costume football burlesque organised under the auspices of the Pierrots, will be staged for the delectation of the public and to assist the Patriotic Committee's funds. Over 40 well-known local citizens in unique and fancy costumes will take part, and as the "diversion stunts" have been well rehearsed, the spectacular and amusing function should attract a very good attendances. The proceedings wijj be commenced with a procession from 'Devon Street to the grounds, wlierc, in addition to the exhibition of advanced football, an amusing obstacle race is arranged for. Surprise packet envelopes in connection with the main scheme will be on sale in the grounds, 1 where afternoon tea, etc., will be procurable. A feature of the proceedings will be a free treasure hunt at the conclusion of the game. The pedigrees of tho various performers will be published eaTly this week. The Citizens' Band has consented to attend and play a programme of music. Three Australian soldiers groped into a 'bus on the Strand a day or two ago, each with an eye bandaged and useless (wrote the Sydney Morning Herald's London correspondent recently). They were fresh from the struggle about Amiens, and though the one of them who told me this said nothing of his own misfortune, he said a good deal as to tho fighting of the Australians in general. And all that he said merely bore out what one hears <m all aides namely, that our men have gone into this new series of struggles ir. great heart and at the top of their lighting form. Wonderful, indeed, the dash and fire of their attack, said his one of them in description of his comrades, and no less wonderful their grit m defence. Time and again, he said, they have gone at the Germans with quite irresistible effect, so that there are towns and villages to-day in their sector of the struggle which the few surviving Germans who met them there will never forget. Mostly he liked to talk of a hand-to-hand conflict in a certain town 'where Australians fought Germans through the streets and in and out of the houses, and scattered them, and sent them flying in terror far to rearward. The Hun, lie said, h&d not tho slightest chance when it came to the individual stand-up struggle—and thj Germans dead in that town were a proof of it. As to himself, this young Australian did at last say something. A shell exploded very slose to him, blinding and deafening him. He' »ast one eye, and until a night or two ago was deaf. On that night someone playing a violin in the London hospital ward touched an extreme high note of piercing quality. At all events, it pierced the veil which was about the soldier's hearing, something snapped in his head, and his deafness vanished.

Five girls, all of them with coppereolored hair, are implicated in the mur-der-tangle which forms the plot o) "Empty Pockets," a film-version of the famous and daring novel by Rupert Hughes. It ig a first National release, and commences a three-night season at the Empire to-night. Like cotton goods, woollen fabrics are showing an abnormal rise, consequently no man shojrfd neglect the opportunity presented by the Melbourne, Ltd.'s, great sale of securing a suit at a solidlyreduced price. The great sale has only a few more days to run and the chance of securing a five-guinea suit at from <C5s tc 89s Cd will not occur again. [ Something else will take its place! War time is responsible for many unexpected substitutes, and owing to the I almost prohibitive price of carpets, economical people are using seagrass mats and squares, for floor-coverings. The Big Store, Waitara, tells you all about them on page four. Look, read, and learn! Be sure you sign the right Petition! Look carefully, or you may be induced to support a proposal asking for nationalisation of the Drinlc Traffic with all its attendant evils. The Allianco Monster Petition is the one that every patriotic citizen should support. Sign it and no other. If your Kidneys are in bad health, the whole bof./ is affected, so the sooner you get to work to right matters the better for you. Dr. Sheldon's Gin Pills are fine for Kidney Trouble of all kinds, relieving Backache, Nervous Depression, and Sleeplessness,, and will quickly right all wrongs. The effect of Dr. Sheldon's Gin Pills on the Kidneys and system generally is stimulating and enlivening. They are guaranteed. Take some home to-night. Price, Is 6d and l 2s 6d, Obtainable everywhere. If your throat is sore ana irritable lake K&ZOLj it Trill-give you relief.

A Government ofiieev v.'Ho is maiviiiy an investigation in the 'lonian txroup regarding facilities for trading . with New Zealand, states that most -of tiie trade with those islands is beinrj' diverted to Sydney and the United .Status. Before the war Germany hold a strong position as competitor for the raw products of the islands. "But for the war," the officer remarks, "I am convinced they would have completely ousted rue British competition, and America vociki have taken second place. England, Australia, and New Zealand would then have taken the crumbs only." He reports that there is a very pronounced feeling in the Tongan Group that for some inexplicable reason New. Zealand is deliberately neglectful of them. The resident British and the natives desire to trade with the Dominion, but nothing is apparently done by New Zealand t.o provide the requisite facilities. Two runholder3 were lost in the snow 1 foi several hours in the Mackenzie Couni try last week (reports the Timaru Herald.) "Finally they got into the ted of the creeJc, and after groping blindly about for a long time, they had the good fortune to come upon a hut which the Mackenzie County Counicl had erected for just such an emergency. Never was the sight of a shelter more welcome than by the two runholders in question, for it afforded shelter from the storm, and meant the difference between danger and safety. Though the hut was inhospitable enough in some ways, in that it had neither fire nor food nor bedding, it had a telephone connection, and by this means the travellers were able to relieve the anxiety of their friends. They had perforce to spend the night in the hut without food, bedding, or warmth, but thsy cheerfully paced the floor till daylight came, and then continued, their journey, wet through to the waist- * I Mr Sandera Spencer, writing in the Live Stock Journal, points out that the war, which threatens to materially reduce the pig population 01 tae Continent of Europe, "will in some portions of Germany, Austria, Roumania, Serbia, Russia/ etc., well-nigh exterminate the porcine population. The present conditions render it imperative that a strong effort should ge made, at least in the British Isles, to greatly increase the attention paid to pigs in order to furnish a more plentiful supply of flesh and fat and to render them less dependent on imports from abroad for the increasing amount of bacon consumed generally in the country. In addition to tms, it may be claimed that each society which is formed to register the breeding of the various local breeds increases very materially the attention paid to the breeding and feeding of pigs of all other breeds and crosses, and tends to the generation of that rivalry amongst pigkeepers which is so beneficial. A father who appeared More tlif> Second Canterbury Military Service Board in furtherance of an appeal for the return of a eon on furlough to New Zealand, after four years on active service, said lie could lay claim to having (he largest family of any mtub in New Zealand (reports the Christchurch Star.) He had been 53 years in the Dominion, and had 24 children Five of his sons had gone away at once, at the beginning of the war, and two had been ldlled. In re. ply to 3. question, he said he had been married twice. 'I have eleven daughters married, I might tell you, Mr Chairman," ne continued. '1 dont want to delay the war, but I would like this son back for a while, and he can return again* The father said he bad been farming for 50 years, which brought forth the comment from the chairman (Mr H. W. Bishop) that he had done very good work. "T was promised by Mr Seddon," said the father of many soldiers, "that if ever ho could do me a kindness he would." The Board decided to recommend three months furlough on full 'pay for the soldier son.

British horse buyers have recommended operations in America, and it has "injected life into the horse market, 1 ' adds the Chicago Breeders' Gazette.' It is intended to take 400 head weekly in Chicago, and a proportionate number m other markets, Prices and specifications have not been changed, the price for 1100 to 1200 pound cavalry stock being £34 5s lOd, with artillery horses 15 hands 2in to 16 hands, and weighing 1 1200 and 1400 pounds, at £37 10s. Two grades of draughters are being taken; one weighing 1400 to 1500 pounds at £42 14s 2d, and the other weighing 1500 pounds and over, at £45 16s Bd. These weights must be on the market scales, which means that the stock must carry an excess of aJbout 100 pounds in the country. The British buyers are taking 1100 to 1200-pound mules at £37 10s tp £42 14s 2d. .

To-night will be the_ last appearance of charming little Madge"Evans in "Gates of Gladness" a.t Everybody's. The attraction for to-morrow will be William Fanram in the Fox feature, "Playing Fair," and Margarita Fischer in a Mutual de luxe feature, "Miss Jacky of the Navy," "Playing 'Fair" went astray last week, font patrons are notified that the film is cow safely in hand. The entry of dairy cows on account of Mr. J. W. Ross at the Urenui yards on Monday has been withdrawn.