LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A nautical enquiry into the loss of the Mahoe will be held at Waitara 011 February 7. Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., will preside.

A considerable number of men are now engaged in dismantling the oil refinery at Moturoa. The large tanks, of which there are 30 or more, contain ities of dirty oil, and this is being burnt.

The Patea Press warns tradesmen and the general public to keep a lookout for spurious two-shilling pieces, which are renllt' pennies, aro cunningly altered by silvering so as to Teeemblo florins, and can easily be mistaken for such. A special medical board, consisting of Captain W. :R Wade, N.Z.M C'., and Dr. H. I! Loatham, sat fU the Coronation IJali, Xew Plymouth, yesterday morning for the purpose of examining six returned soldiers, three of whom were discharged and three ordered further treatment.

A Wolselcy motor car, owned by Mr. 0. Marey, of New Plymouth, was a!2iie£t completely destroyed by fire on the Main youth Read, near Okato, on Saturday The charred remnants of the car are now lying alongside the road.

At yesterday's meeting of the Polynesian Society the president stated that two members of the Society were parti'ipatiii'; m the Peace Conference—Sir Joseph Ward, who was a honorary member, and Professor Roland B. Dixon, of Havard University, who had been asked to give evidence on matters relating to the South Pacific. At the annual meeting of the Polynesian Society held yesterday, the oresi-d'-ut (Mr. S. Percy Smith) stated that the council had agreed to give a com-, pU'te set of the Society's Journal to the Louvain University, to assist in the re-establishment of that institution. Considerable annoyance and disgust is felt by the members of the Central School Committee at the action of some irresponsible youths or boys, who evidently broke into the school on Sunday or Monday and smashed open cupboards nljr! littered things about the floor, as well as committing indecencies In various rooms of the school.

A telegram was received yesterday by the Mayor of New Plymouth stating that the following soldiers were expected to reach New Plymouth by the mail train on Thursday (to-'night)*: Ex Transport 208, Sorgt."Woods, Private Avery, Hammond, Kidd, and Kookes (liahotu). Kx hospital ship Marama: ■Sprgt Newton, Corps. Evans and Green, Privates Hannah, Hill, Jones, Mace, Sinc'air.

■Some excitement was occasioned in Pevnn Street Central by an impromptu nt limit that was participated )n by Severn 1 well known business men shortly after !) o'clock last night. The rat n" observed by one of them leisurely proceeding down the street. The observer at once led the chase, which was • Miieklv joined in by several other usually sedate citizens. The rodent, very mneli astonished this attacU sought re''n«(. in an rmen shop, much to the consternation of (the ladies employer! therein. Hove, however, it was not safe, f" v was nrdentlv followed, and after ft little trouble despatched, a well-known contractor administering iEe "coup., do graca," .

The lack oi sufficient accommodation for visitors in. New Plymouth lias again been felt vary acutely (luring the past few weeks. Recently 0110 woman, after having drivon about the town for two limns after the arrival of the mail train one evening, was in the act of telling the cabby to drive her to the station where she would sleep in a railway carra{.'« for the night and leave the town the next morning, when a resident, overhearing the conversation, enmo to the rescue and offered accommodation In bis private house until some other jiltico could lvs secured. This was gratefully accepted, and the visitor enjoyed Ibc hospitality of tills citizen and his wife for several days. A gentleman from Gisborne, who has been tourlr.fr about the district found himself in a similar predicament in Sew "PlvmontlT and for several days the or.ly accommodation lie could pet within reach of town was at Inrfewood.

In eonnectiok with the shooting meet i'ljr to bo held at Trentham for a v.-c r ok in March, commencing on tho 11th. under the auspices of the Dominion Rifle Association. officers: in the Taranaki District. who -would be willing to act n«i rancce officers are requested to send in their names to headquarters XTth Re<*v ment on n- >'efore the Ist, proximo. Free railwrr- '>nsses will he is-nied, and nil officers <v> the staff will be catered for free, T)iit no pay will he civen. All those in symn.lthv with shooting matters, and willins to nssist, should rnTily early in order to-facilitate organisation. Compared with the weather that has prevailed so far this cc-ason, yesterday in New Plymouth, could be regarded as a summer's day, and the howlers were enabled to prcceed unhindered with their tournament. The conditions at Opunake were, however, entirely different. Passengers bv motor mail ear from New Plymouth ran into very heavy rain accompanied by wind just beyond Raliotu, and these conditions continued through to Opunake, where it was ascertained rain had fallen heavily since early morning itnd lasted until about midday. Some idea of the volume of the downpour may be gleaned from the fact that the main South Road aloi,lg tho Arnwlmta fiat was flooded in places.

The following is a translation in part of a letter received by Dean Power, ol IJawera, from General Pau. The reference is to an article from the Dean's pen in refutal of a statement made by a pul/lic oQlcjal in Wellington that the heroism of the French soldier# was to bp attributed to a godless system of education:—'".Monsieur le doyo:i,—'l thank you most sincerely for the very beautiful article you have written on the Cfttholij heroes of gentle Franc*. The land of Clovis will see tho flower of heroism renew itself in her children as often as there is question of upholding the «aererl cause of civilisation. Aril tlie sons of Fninec will be always proud to sen their deeds appreciated lumen of other noble nations who would not endure life in a land overrun by tho barbarians. What Cuilbert, the monk of the eleventh century, wrote in his history of the First Cnifade is still true: 'fiesta Dei per Francos' (the do ings of fiod were through the Franks). With deeply grateful thank* for your -'"fence of the good cause, etc." The Dean received a very beautiful letter couched in similar torms from Commandant Andre-

During the time the Opunake school was used as a temporary hospital, several serious cases of cerebri) spiua! meningitis were treated there. Parents now are very dubious about sending their children to school in the building at tho new year; in fact, many say iiiat they will not send them, as they fear that, despite fumigation, there may be a probability of infection, as the "building at the best of times is considered to be very insanitary, a portion of it being about 40 years old. A public meeting of parents was held in the Town Hall on Tuesday evening to discuss the position, Mr, J. T. Mildenhall, chairman of the committee, presiding. Major Keenan assured those' present that thor<„was positively no fear of infection, as the germ cannot live more than a few hours outside the human body. Practically rill the temporary hospitals round about the district bad treated spinal meningitis cases, but they had not had the severest form of black pneumonia, there being no instances in which tho bodies decayed previous to death. In the larger scholastic institutions had been used as hospitals, and there was no hesitation about sent' ; ng tile pupil j back to them. He promised to have the building thoroughly fumigated;, and any places where refuse had boon buried would be dressed with quicklime. The chairman expressed the wish that TV TCeenan hnd reassured parents, adding lhat the school would re-open at the new year with a full roll

It is an incident of the stressful duya oi; the "liu,'' now happily past, ana su far luis escaped record (sava the ib'reo Lance) One day an old lady was milking slow progress along Constable street towards Kilburnie (Wellington)" struggling with some heavy luggage. One of the male helpers in the epidemic campaign, athotigh bearing an urgent parcel of mediicne, went to her assistance and carried the luggage for her until their several ways parted. He looked round for another volunteer to take hi* place in helping tlie old lady to her uome. A solitary horseman was approaching, and he was promptly bailed up and invited to take over the bulging portsammy. He made a grseious reply, and, having ascertained from the old lady where she lived, took up the luggage, poised it on the saddle in front of him, and accompanied her to lier eottake in Kilbiraie, where he duly delivered the goods and received profuse thanks. It subsequently transpired that the obliging cavalier was none other than His Excellency the GovernorGeneral, Lord Liverpool. Concrete is considered by the Labor Department to be the best material for dwellings, because it is cheaper in tho long run. Several concrete dwellings at a Petono settlement were erected at a cost of only £BS more than wood, as the material was really obtained in the neighborhood, and it was found that the saving in firo insurance alone paid for the extra weekly instalment. And there was also a saving in maintenance and depreciation. Another advantage 0 f concrete is that the term of repayment is 36% years, and the interest 6 per cent., while in the case of wooden houses, the term is 25J years, and the interest 7 per cent. On a house worth £OSO, the advantage ~of concrete is translated into the very practical one of 2? fid a week less rent to the working man owner, wlio is repaying the capital at the same time as the interest.

On Friday next the Melbourne, Ltd, are making a special display of ladies' new sillc knitted and cotton mercerised sports coats just arrived from London by last parcels mail. Shades represented are black, pink, rose, old gold, cherry, putty, champagne, white, aky, amethvsfj light copper, lilac and dark grey, ftioet 27/6-IsnSAN .i