LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

It was reported at Thursday's meeting of the Hawera Hospital Board that th«re v/r& an outbreak of diptheria in the Tokaora district, and that the local school had been closed. A net profit of £IOO 8s Id is shown in the annual balance sheet of the Tramways and Electrical Department of the Napier Borough Council. The manager estimates, on account of the increased wages now heing paid, that there will be a debit balance during the current year. A police officer points out a strange defect in the New Zealand law, H c says that a man may take a bicycle or motor-car away, but so long as he makes no attempt to dispose of it, or store it on his own premises, he cannot be charged with theft. This makes the detection of offences of the kind most difficult. At the Good Templar Hall to-night the New Plymouth branch of the British Red Cross Society is holding a social and dance. All soldiers, in-patients and out-patients of the hospital are cordially invited and it is confidently anticipated that there will be a large attendance of soldiers. The committee desire that each soldier should bring a lady friend. , Referring to the difficulties of transport during the course of his reply to the Arthur's Pass Tunnel League's deputation on Saturday, the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald said that iron for the Public Works Department was held up in Australia .also 40,000 telegraph poles. For the transport of 2,000,000 bushels of wheat brought by his Department there was only one ship available at present.— Lyttelton Times. "I believe that on account of its fertility New Zealand is destined to be the dairy farm of the British Empire," said the Hon. G. W. Hussell at the luncheon to General Hussell on Saturday, Already the Dominion was sending half of the cheese imported by the Mother Country. By virtue of hydro-electrie power it would advance to be.the workshop of the Pacific and the dairy farm of the Empire. Dr. Martin, of Ngaruawahia, was urgently summoned to Ruakawai settlement. Kaglan Harbor, a few days ago, and upon arrival found fourteen persons suffering from poisoning, caused by eating bush honey. Some of them were in i»«erious state Drastic remedial measures were immediately applied, and all the patients are now convalescent, though some will be affected for some time. Eighteen persons partook of the honey, four apparently not being affected. The .New Zealand Herald states:—Thi; only instance of a rainless month in the history of Auckland is February, 1909. At this period no rain fell from January 30 to March 11. The February of 1908 was also remarkable in that the total rainfall of ,54in. for the month represented only one-seventh of the average for forty years. February of the present year also had a low rainfall. The total registered was 0.84 in., which was 2.13 in. below the average over sixtysix years. February also has supplied the two highest monthly totals on record, that of 14,T5in. in 1809, and that of 12.67dn. in 1917. An audacious attack by footpads took place in the Treasury Gardens, East Melbourne, about 10 o'clock on the night of May 1, when a young man, Frank Oldham, was not only robbed of what money he had, but was also stripped to his shirt. Oldham (says the Argus), who was formerly a soldier in the New 'X'Vilanrt Forces, had been visiting a friend in East Melbourne. On his way home he walked through the Treasury Gardens, and near the Treasury Buildings two men jumped over a fence and made for him. They attacked him, rendering him unconscious by a blow in the face, and rifled his pockets, taking about 255, a gold ring set with a moonstone, and his soldier's badge. They also stripped off his boots and socks and his suit. When he recovered consciousness he found himself numbed with the coW. A passing soldier lent him his overcoat in which to return to his friend's house, and on their way there they fell in with a constable, who also" lent his overcoat. On getting fresh clothing Oldham made a formal report of the outrage to the police. Farmers whose capital is limited, and who desire to start dairying on a farm of their own, should read W. H,. and A. iMcGarry's fresh advertisement on page 1 one.

It is expected that 25 branches of the Fanners' Union will be represented at to-day's annual conference. The Minister of Agriculture has telegraphed to Mr D. Jones, President of the Canterbury Fanners' Union, stating that the Government has decided that permits for the export of potatoes to June 30 would be granted by the Minister of Customs. —Press Association. A Press Association message yesterday states that the Auckland Gas Company notifies that owing to the interior quality of coal available for their purposes, it is almost certain that the gas supply will 'be cut off to-night and later nights until conditions improveThe director of the Dominion Museum, Dr. Thomson, has just returned to Wellington from ,the Mariborough district, where, in some very rough country, lie has been conducting investigations in regard to oil. Dr. Thomson said that, in the particular district where he carried out his geological survey work in the neighborhood of Benmore, there did not ( appear to be any prospect of establishing a commercial oil field mainly owing to the extensive faulting which the rocks have undergone. Amongst the mail received by The Trenthaia Dominion Scholarships Fund the other clay was a letter from the Hon. Secretary of the Church Committee, All Saints Church, Hokitika, enclosing a cheque for £6 6s 7d, the proceedings of an offering taken up ou Anzac Day, "Trusting that you. 1 fiind may grow and be of lasting beneiit to many a hero's child. "This,'' says the secretary of the scholarships fund, "is on excellent example for other churches up and down New Zealand to follow." The purpose of the fund, to open the avenues of higher education to the children of .New Zealand's heroes who have madri the great sacrifice, commends itself to everyone. At a meeting of the Council of the Taranaki Acclimatisation Society ou Wednesday night, it was intimated that a number of farmers at Taturaamvka were willing to have their proper lies gazetted as a rew-vo to assist tiie increase of .pheasants in the district, it was decided to take the necessary steps to have this effected and to endeavor to obtain a number of strong bird.. l from an outside society and to liberate them on this sanctuary, thus improving the strain of the local birds The society will be glad to hear from farmers in other parts of the district who are willing to entirely close their properties to shooting for a term of years and thus help the society in its endeavors to increase the supply of feathered game. It was decided that the resolution of not to endorse shootiDg licenses taken out in other districts be rescinded and that the secretary be instructed to endorse all other society's licenses. Mr Geo. Hughes, MJB.E-, lectures this afternoon at 3 o'clock to women only in Whitsley Hall, Liardet Street, on "Woman's Worlc in the Great War," and this eevning, in the Empire Theatre, at 8 o'clock, on "'Diggers in Blighty," illustrated by 4000 feet of excellent official film. Mr Hughes is an able speaker ot much experience, and through having been in the very heart of the social effort on behalf of our boys abroad, is in a unique position to lay before the New Zealand public a striking and powerful .presentation of relief work in all its branches Both lectureß are free but a collection to defray local expenses will be taken up. The price of a first-class tailor-made suit in Dunedin to-day is 12 guineas, and even at this figure the tailors are experiencing a very busy time (say 3 the Otago Daily Times). For a suit of clothes cut by a tailor and made up by girls with machines the cost is about seven guineas. Tailors, however, are experiencing the greatest difficulty in securing cloth. One tailor stated that this week he' had gone to a leading Dunedin clothing business which is supplied by its own mills, and was informed that all the cloth he could obtain was three suit lengths, and he was not pressed to take these- The fact that the mills are not called on to supply khaki has not relieved the position, as it is authoritatively stated that cloth was never as scarce at any time during the war as it is now. The cause of the shortage of cloth is said tb be the desirs of the woollen mill companies to build up their stocks, the absence of supplies from Britain, and the fact that it is impossible to Becure sufficient labor. When the position as regards the high prirc of suits and the shortage of cloths will be relieved no one connected with the clothing trade can give the slightest. indication. In submitting his annual report to members at a meeting of the Hawera Hospital Board yesterday, the chairman (Mr. G. W. Tayler) stated that 152 diphtheria cases were treated in the hospital during April-August, and several cases were reported in each month of the year. When the influenza epidemic commenced in November the board was well prepared, and temporary hospitals were set up in various portions of the hospital district. Three hundred cases were treated' in these hospitals, 70 patients being Natives. Eighty-five were treated in Kaponga, 50 at Eltham, and a similar number at Manaia, exclusive of the hundreds treated outside the hospitals. The board's motor ambulance did good work, conveying over 350 patients and covering nearly 3000 miles. Admissions for the year were 078, discharges 612, deaths 03, daily average 40.4, total daily number patients (days) 14,767, average stay of patients (days), approximately 21. This constituted a considerable all-round increase on last year's returns. In the near future he hoped to see/ a new imodern hospital built on the hew site, and it was also intended to run a small farm in connection with the institution. , Regarding the aged and infirm people, he hoped to see the present building made use of in this direction upon completion of the new premises. The Trentham Dominion Scholarships Fund received the other day a donation from the Relief Committee of Hazelburn, Pleasant Point. The cheque was for £4l 17s sd, a very creditable amount for Hazelburn. "Other societies please copy," say the Scholarships Committee. Mr Wm. Blyth, business manager for the Papakakura-Te Au Concert Party, was in town yesterday making arranaements for the appearance of the company here next Wednesday. This will probably be the last opportunity that New Plymouth people will have of hoari ing Mr Papakakura before he leaves to | fulfil engagements in America, and the management expects a packed house. mISS rou?h roads ]iav( > CLINCHF.II TBtES fitted to your cvcle!~ Thev give more miles than mo3t tvres and ensure a freedom from tyre trouble, nn.l are guaranteed six, nine," twelve and fifteen months. 50 Jfor Chronic Cheßt Complaints Wood's Great Pemenniat Cure.

i Between May IS and 19 nineteen oases I of influenza, including one pneumonic case, were notified to the Publio Health Department. The cases were distributed ; as follows:—Auckland district, 6; Wei--1 lington, 0 (two in Marton and four in ' Wellington City); Canterbury, 6 (in- ; eluding one pneumonic in Temuka); > Otago 2. The Patea Press reports that a little girl, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Math- i . er, of Kakaramea, was riding home from r tiie post office when the horse shied at ■ a motor cycle by the side of the road, with the result that she was thrown, i striking her head on the kerb. She . was found to be suffering from concussion and shock, but is doing as well as can be expected, "Men who are invalided back from the , front appear to be very easily excited, j and sometimes when they get into . trouble I honestly believe they have Very i little recollection of what they do; and 1 il seems to make very little difference in . these cases whether a man is rough or a t pretty decent sort of a man," observed ; Mr F. V. FTazer in the Wellington MaJ gistrate's Court last week. ' The purchase of a block of land as - a site for model dwellings in Christ--2 rlniroh was foreshadowed by the Mayor 1 of that city (Dr. Thacker) on Thursday. . Dr. Tliocker stated that he had under 1 offer to him twenty acres of land on i the outskirts of Christchurch, and he E was going to ask his city council to buy , this land as a Bite for a group of homes 1 built on town-planing lines. He hoped 3 that Mr. S. Hurst Seager, organising a director of the Town-planning Confer- - once, would bo allowed to lay out the i land and direct the erection of suitable i houses, thus becoming the pioneer of f practical town-planning in New Zealand. ' Dr. Martin, of Ngaroawahia, was '' urgently summoned to Ruakawai Settlement, Raglan Harbor, a few days ago and upon arrival found fourteen persons ® suffering from poisoning, caused by eat--1 big bush honey. Some of them were In 1 o, serious state. Drastia remedial meaa--1 ures were immediately applied, and all s the patients are now convalescent, " (hough some will be affected for some 1 time. Eighteen persons partook of the s honey, four apparently not being affectr ed. Among the victims were a family of eight, named Hadfield, of Horotin, who L ' were spending a holiday at Buakbwai. During the discussion at the Towns planning Conference in Wellington, Mr. e E. Dixon (Mayor of Hawera) said that s his borough had faced the housing queai tion, and had tried to provide homes. 3 But there - were great difficulties. A 1 house to suit the worker could not be . built except at a price that invohred a r very heavy burden for interest or lent. s The building of homes was not the . simple matter some delegates had suga gested. Hawera had cut up forty acres of borough land, and was offering sections on Glasgow lease to workers and soldiers, and wished to help the people to build on those sections. But without cheap money action, was exceedingly , difficult. He suggested that the Government should lend money for housing to I local bodies at 4 per cent. In this connection Mr. C. E. Mackay (Mayor of Wanganui) said that Wanganul had = built a block of workers' homes on its own land. The houses were simple, but 1 they could not be let, except at a loss, ' at less than £1 a week. The borough was going now to buy its own materials j in bulk and build houses itself with day 1 labor, with the object of reducing the e cost. The Government could help the local bodies by buying building materials 0 in bulk and then supplying the local 1 bodies. Municipal housing should be - undertaken in brick and concrete, not e timber. The timber now procurable WW f poor in quality and very expensive. 7 "