LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The left wing of the 43rd Reinforcements arrived ai a port of call, all well. —Press Assoc. IToskin Bros., New Plymouth, have been advised that the supply of Taupiri coal is very short owing to the influenza epidemic. A first offender for drunkenness, who appealed before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., yesterday morning, was convicted and discharged. In a report submitted to the New Plymouth Borough Council last night bv the engineer, it was stated that in the last six months C 420 yards of metal had been put down .on 5% miles of roadway. _ Flags were flown in many parts of the town yesterday, on buildings, motor-cars and tramears. A string of flags representative of all nationalities was stretched .across Weymouth Street by .Messrs Hoslcin Bros. At yesterday's meeting of the Tara-nn-ki County Council, it was decided to engage the services of a working overseer, to supervise all road works for the county. The members of the Citizen's Band are reminded to asseijjide at the railway station to-morrow (Wednesday) morning at 7 o'clock, on the occasion of the departure of the local quota ot the 48th I'iciiiforeements. A Wellington message states: —The scheme of physical training used, with such pronounced success iu the Expeditionary Force camps is to ho extended to Territorials and senior cadets. Arrangements are now being made to appoint expert instructors-—Press Aasoc. The Taranaki County Council decided yesterday to ask Mr. S. 0. Smith, M.P., to oppose the Inglewood County Bill, on the ground that it, was against the interests of tho council. It was also decided to ask him to oppose the Abolition of Toll-gates Bill. Our Parliamentary reporter telegraphed last night that when ..the House meets to-day the Prime Minister will have something to say with reference to the Austrian surrender, and it i 3 probable that tho House will then adjourn until to-morrow in commemoration of tho occasion.

A grand entertainment is being organised under the auspices of the local branch of the Women's National Res'erv# and will be held in the Good Templar Hall on Wednesday, December 4, by a band of "Gipsy Revels," to be followed by a farce. The leading local talent will assist, and the public are assured of a good and bright evening's amusementFurther particulars later. In respect to the proposal to strike special rates in connection with the loans proposed to be raised by the New Plymouth Borough Council, the Mayor r.tated last night that it -had been suggested to him that some ratepayers were under tlie impression that the rate 9 were to be increased by Bd. He said the fact that the rate was to be struck did not mean that it would be collected. He licpcd there would be no necessity to collect the rate; the electric light loan rate certainly would not be.

On extraordinary occasions, such a«, yesterday, when the news cams through that Austria—the instigator of tho tho war—had accepted tho terms laid down by the Allies as the only possible escape from further disaster to her armies, it is only in the nature of things that the public, should feel cause for elation; but there is a medium, or should certainly be, to our jubilations. After his Worship tho Mayor had addressed tho crowd, tho crush in front of the Soldiers' Club melted away to look for fun in Devon Street. Fireworks entered largely into the "material" from which a big lot of people experienced no little pleasure. It is only right that our bubbling patriotism should find an outlot. and that the guardians of the peace lioukl "wink the other eye" There was a regrettable incident during the afternoon, an! perhaps if attention be drawn to it a repetition may be rendered improbable. A largo species of fireworks was thrown right into the assemblage of women and children, with tho result that 'it. landed right in the body of a, perambulator, exploded before any of the bystanders eould lay hand on it, and set fire to tho wraps under which a child lay aslpep. It was a narrow escape for the child- The hoodlum who threw the bomb knew quite well what he was doing, and may be marked off for future care. ' i

A splendid opportunity k afforded tho young people of the community to fittingly celebrate the fall of Austria in conjunction with the Guy Fawkes' proceedings at the East End "Reserve tonight- Fireworks displays will fee given by Messrs King Hon, George Yulca, and Lcong Ting, and as this display was to liave been given at the Band Car nival by these representative Chinamen, it should be worth witnessing. There will be the huge bonfire, fireworks by fhe Reserve Committee, and music by ; the Citizer.s' Band, to say nothing of the impromptu fireworks as a wind-up to the rejoicings over the glorious war news. Tlie proceeds are to be divided between the band and the Reserves Committee. and a popular long-night dance will conclude the celebrations. What the Irish Times said of Miss Sara Allgood's performance of "Peg o' My Heart" at Dublin:—"Miss Sara Allgood is the dominating figure. She gets right down to the heart of things, and makes her audience feel that she is just the unsophisticated girl that she. represents. In her playful mood she is captivating. But it is in her pathetic moments that she is most'effective. Her plaintive, musical voice is more effective in tragedy than in comedy, yet in both she 13 wonderfully good.' * It is, indeed, fortunate that we are to he privileged to see the original company in the performance to he given here, to-night -gad to-morrowAiiighJjl

.Tlie Taranald County Council de- _ yesterday that all road foremen required to assist in extraordinary work outside their own lengths, and which necessitated then- making arrangements lor board and lodging, be granted an additional lis per week. During Tuesday's thunderstorm a house occupied by Mrs McHarrie, at Kctsedale, near Hamilton, was struck by ightning. The bolt entered a double chimney, and demolished one side of the structure, stripping o if the bricks and ie ,i oof. l'ortunatcly no one was in the sitting room at the time, but had the other flue been entered there is every probabiJity that serious results would have followed, as all t'lie members of the household were in the room into wliicli it led.

The timber industry in Southland was ne\ei so active as at present (reports the Southland News), and millers are unable to cope with the demand. Urge oiuers hav« been received from Austra,iia for red pme, birch, and white pine, but, even supposing t'he production to be equal, to requirements, the curtaJiaieiit of shipping facilities would stand in the way of adequate exportation. Pressure on the resources of -the industry comes' mostly from the North Island, where there is said to be great activity in the building trade, which cannot be met by the mills there, numerous as they are. One SautlM&nd firm has orders for half a million feet of red pine from Wanganui merchants. So majiy efficient workmen have gone to the front, or else to fallow other occupations, that it is impossible to keep pace whJi the business. There is probably no more mysterious thing connected with the w#r than the censorship. A resident of Mangaweka recently received a letter posted on a certain hospital ship (relates the correspondent of the -Advocate) and the censor had most faitiifuiiy "lit out every reference to the ship in the letter, and even certain towns in New Zealand which had been mentioned in connection with purely personal matter;; and tfaie irony of the whole thing was that the outside of the envelope bore an official stamp giving the name of the ship in broad letters. The recipient is wondering whether an enemy would find it more difficult to read the name stamped on the outside of the letter, or written inside. •

An incident, unimportant in itself, but significant, as showing the deep-seated envy which is entertained by Germans for the British possessions, was narrated by Mr A. S. Malcolm, M.P., in the course of a lecture at Invercargill. Some years ago, lie said, his brother left Sydney for Hong Kong on a boat on which there was a young German. The British flag was flying from the pier at Sydney as tlie boat left, at Brisbane it was flying, when they arrived consecutively at Thursday Island and Singapore the flag still inet their gaze. At last, as they steamed up the harbor at Hong Kong with the Brithh flag waving in the distance, t'b-e German turned to Mr Malcolm's brother with the remark, "Curse you British, you own the whole world!" A daring burglary has been reported to the Duuedin police. A man and his wife, residing in Lawrence street, South Dunedin, retired- to rest at about 11 o'clock at night. Tlio liusband Imd a roll of notes totalling about £IOO, wtach he placed in liis rest.. He hung his vest and his other clothes on the bedpost. At about four o'clock in the morning his wife was disturbed by a light being flashed in her face. The next she heard waa a, noise. She did not arouse 'her husband, who had not been too well, but went into the passage, where she was confronted with a man, who said: "Keep quiet and I won't hurt you." He then struck her on the head, knocking her senseless. Another man was Been outside the 'house. The woman's two brothers, who were also sleeping on the premises, were attracted by the noise and ran to her assistance. The two men by this time had decamped. The vest was found on the verandah, with the roll of notes missing. A £5 note and two single one, Which had not been placed in the roll, were found in the clothing. A doctor had to be called in to attend to his wife, who he found to be suffering severely from shock, but not otherwise injured.—Dunedin Star. "The Arawa are of the bluest blood of the Maoris," said Mr Fred Earl, K.C., in putting their claim to the bed of Rotorua, before Judge Wilson in the Native Land Court. "Ifo other tribes that I know of can with the same facility, and as muck certainty, trace their genealogy back to the original voyageurs from Hawaiki as the Arawas canback to the landing of Te Arawa canoe at Maketu some 500 years ago." In illustration, Mr Earl mentioned • that Lieutenant Kepa who was appearing with him before the Court, can trace liis ancestry through'2o generations, back to Tama Ka"pua, the commander of Te Arawa, and also to Ngatoro Irangi, the high priest of the canoe.

An indication of the work that will remain to be done by tbe men at tlie front after peace 'lias been declared is contained in a letter from a Christchurch boy who is with the motor-boat patrol (sayis the Chrlstchurck Press). He writes:—"You must not forget this: that should the war end to-morrow, it will be the best part of two years before the boys over here get home again, and, speaking for nivself, probably longer. A Bill lias been pat through here authorising R.N".V.R. men to be kept on for live years after the war, if need be. You can imagine what work is to be done. In France, trendies, etc., have to be tilled in, towns squared up, and a thousand and one jobs finished before troops are dismissed. A¥ith us, we have millions of mines to sweep up, and my opinion is that all the R.N.V.R. men will be drafted to sweepers on the declaration of peace. One minefield I know of took nine months to lay, and it will take as long to clean up." As showing the number of motor vehicles that passed through Paiea from the Waverley races, a local resident who took the trouble to count Uiern for some thirty minutes found the rate to be as follows: In the first ten minutes 40 passed, in 15 minutes 73 had gone by, in 20 minutes 113, in 22 minutes this number had gone up to 122, whilst in half an hour the total had reached no less than 160 These represented only a fraction of the total number passing through, whose value must have represented an enormous sum ,of money. The injunction to economise benzine and utilize it only for business purposes had evidently fallen on deaf ears so far as this portion of the Dominion is concerned.

There are some Yery pretty voile blouses now displayed at Morey's. These delightful garments are "just the thing" for the hot summer days. Read advertisement elsewhere in this issue. The tyre for Indian and HarleyDavidson motor cycles i' the CLINCHER "DREADNOUGHT" 28 by 3 MOTOR CYCLE TYRE, A splendid long-diatance British tyre—tr/ one cuU ~ " 6