LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. Wilkinson lias given notice in the j House to introduce his-Bill for the abolition of tolls. The official opening of the Park Tennis.' and Croquet Club will be held to-day. The tin-can band competition in connection with the evening Band Carnival programme on Monday was won by the West End band, that from the Easi End being second. The following is a list of men leaving New Plymouth with the 48th draft, on November 0: W. H. J. Adamson, E. A. McKoy, A. Pearce, S. Wooldridge, N. C. Morgan, T. O'Shannassey, E. N. Whit-1 combe, B. Collinge (entraining at Wellington). The annual sports of the New Plymouth Girls' High School take place at the school ground to-day, commencing at 10 a.m., and at 2 p.m. A cordial invitation is extended to all friends of the school. Afternoon tea will be available, the proceeds being devoted to Dr. Baniardo's Fund. There was only a fair audience at The Empire Theatre last night for the benefit entertainment- on behalf of the New Plymouth Citizens' Band. The screening of the various films was received with much appreciation, and the vocalists (Messrs. S. H. Dunstan and li. L. Cooper) were heartily encored for their songs. An inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Frank S. Drury, who succumbed to injuries received at the Taranaki Oil Wells on Tuesday afternoon, was opened before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., district coroner, yesterday, Sergeant Trehey represented the police, and after hearing evidence of identification the coroner adjourned the inquest sine die. Mr. W. T. Jennings has given notice to ask the Minister of Education whether he has further considered the extreme urgency of the erection of a custodial institution in the North Island for the confinement of low-grade, feebleminded children. He mentions that investigations made in connection with this important matter revealed that ' there are over six hundred feeble-minded young persons under the age of twentyone years in the Dominion. Parents of such people experience great anxiety and difficulty in looking after them in their homes. The choir of St. Mary's Church held a very successful social in the parish hall on Tuesday evening in aid of funds for the electric lighting of the Sunday school- The musical programme was supplied by Miss B. Hirst (pianoforte solo), Mrs. Wilkes, Misses M. Thompson and Hine, Messrs Wood and Benaud (vocal soloists). The accompaniments taken by. the Misses W. and H, Crooke Blythe, Messrs Benaud and Wood. A farce, in which the leading parts were taken by the Missses W. and B. Crooke and S. Thompson, caused much amusement to those present. The choir and sewing guild provided a dainty supper. The members of the butter and cheese committee, representing the factories and producers in the dairy industry, met the Prime Minister on Monday to discuss the disposal of the exportable surplus of butter and cheese to the Imperial Government. The terms of the offer have not been announced officially, but it is understood that the prices proposed are 10|d per lb for cheese and 181s per cwt. for butter. The conference sat for some hours, but did not complete arrangements. The Prime Minister stated subsequently that the price to be paid for the cheese had been fixed, but there were some points remaining for discussion with reference to the butter. He 1 would require to communicate with the Imperial authorities. The local price for butter is fixed at Is 8d per pound by regulation, and it is not likely that the Government will permit any departure from it. Charlie Chaplin, the inimitable, stars at Everybody's to-night and to-morrow in a new comedy picture, "Police." In I this picture Charlie is a burglar bold and causes the police quite a lot of troublo before he is laid by the heels. Edith Storey also stars on the same programme in a Metro five reeler, "The Claim," a story of western mining days. The tremendous evidence of khaki and navy blue impressed Mr. Poole, M.P., on arrival in San Franpisco. "I saw," said Mr. Poole, rt a regenerated race of people. I saw a nation that had thrown aside the secondary affairs of nationbuilding. I saw the organisation of the greatest Republic ip the world, developing and organising and shaping its forces for the great victory." His opinon was begotten cf a very strong demonstration of national spirit and determination of the material evidence of America's sincerity. The United States had speedily and magnificently answered the call to hurry ii£ with the dispatch of her men, and he"had been told that in some of the transports, so many men did they carry, there were three relays of men sleeping in the sanje ham-mot-ks, and the allowed to so on deck only one hour per day to get fresh air. To his mind the two greatest miracles of the war had been the organisation of the British Army and the volnntarv discipline of America. President Wilson had been brought into contact with one of the greatest problems a President had ever -been called upon to face, and, Mr. Poole believed, his understanding with the Allies justified him in taking as much time as possible in getting into the fight;"NAZOL" for InfluehiS and" Catatrn.

On behalf of the Red Cross Society "Our Day" mart Mrs. Hugh Baily desires to acknowledge with thanks from Mrs. E. J. Cannon (Waitoitoi) and Mr. C. Gill (Okato), proceeds of sale of a sheep, also, from employees, Waitoitoi factory, £1 10s, making a grand total of £337 10s. Mr. James Simpson, who gave an address on prohibition at the Good Temper Hall on Tuesday night, stated that from investigations he had made personally in America and on the Continent of Juirope it was abundantly evident that iMble-mmdedness nvas . now common amongst children whose parent's were alcoholics than amongst the children of any other section of any community. mrkef T ?i "f haV6 been the nf T ly v haS led me G °vorn. numt of Japan to issue a decree f biddmg the exportation of matches that than Ij mdumetres square, or of which more than 5 per cent (lo'per cenT or /"' tave useless sticks or loosely PaCked W b ° Se3 that d ™ l X ' C ° m ' kts laye "™de good" du ing the war, and Sir E. RufglesBnse, chairman of the Prison CoSnfa-j wonew, related at a meeting Tn™ don the case of a man who hid received th.ee sentences of penal servitude.' This man's past showed him to he of violent character. On his release in 1910 ho enlisted. Whilst invalided af- - unteered to save another man's life During the operation he contracted Wood poisoning, but he recovered, and on returning to the front the man won mg officer reported: "He « one of the best n.co s and has rendered splendid service throughout, and, that X three montlhs i n the hottest part-of the raf W. Ta ! lor Smm ' rat to the Forces, preaching at Westminster Abbey, told a stjy of ae fsacrifice. A wounded Australian soldier in a military h asked about his home and family in Austral*, B aid : -«There were six % £ ads and mother. We all enlisted, and left mother alone. It was her wisji fcihe said she hoped no boys of hers would (hold back when the MoLer Coun try called. And now live of us are asleep, buried on the battlefields of France, and I am the only one left." There were a few moments of silence, and then he added.—"But I have not told you the worst. When I got this wound someone cabled to my mother that I had been killed, and that telegram killed her."'

The ever popular George Walsh stars at the Empire to-night in the latest Wilwl<:F°* c ° medy . drama > "The Yankee Way. George is a real live wire in this picture and will add another beat or two to the hearts of his numerous admirera amongst tlhe fair sex. As fhe American papers lave for weeks past been printing photographs of the super-Dreadnought of the air its appearance on the Western front, it is disclosing no secret to the enemy to say that if this gigantic bomber is only half as formidable as it looks the Germans are in for a particularly dirty time (says Lloyd's News). It woula not be surprising if one of these monsters which in length extends to wfliat the Americans call a "block," was the first machine to cross the Atlantic by air. They have on trials covered more than tho distance between America and Europe, at an average speed of ninety miles aji hour. It is scarcely an ex«<rgeration to say that each of them could carry a platoon of "Yanks" across tfhe ocean, in addition to petrol and provisions. To stimulate work in the American ship-building yards during the war, the Government offered a pennant to the yards making the best output as a kind of challenge trophy. At his meeting on Tuesday night, Mr.. James Simpson said the yards which had secured the pennant were those in the States in which prohibition had been in force, and the place to get the biggest hold on the trophy was Seattle, and into the yards there be said there went 10,000 bottles of milk every day, instead of beer. He laughingly appealed to dairymen to support the prohibition movement on the ground of the chance of bigger business for them. Mr T. W. Welch, in a replace advertisement in this issue, calls attention to seaside residences he has for sale within a few minutes' walk from Post Office. ■■> . The Melbourne Clothing Company have opened out new stocks of boys' and girls' summer washing hats at the following prices: White drill hats Is Od, wMte pique hats Is lid and 2s lid, Japanese tussore silk hats 3s 6d, white silk hats (good quality) 3s 6d, fancy mercerised cotton tussore hats 2s lid to 4s 6di