LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 June 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A fund of £IOOO is being raised to entertain Lord Jellicoe and his men in Wellington. General Richardson has ordered Defence officers to reduce the use of telegrams to a minimum, and announced that those who disobey will have to pay the cost themselves. The Minister for Internal Affairs intimates that now the war is over the Government has decided to curtail the postal privileges granted to patriotic societies as from August 1. The Pacific Cable Board expect that repairs will bo completed on Sunday next to the broken cable between Norfolk Island and Auckland.

A piece of lanibergris weighing 9J ounces was found on the Waikanae beach by Mr. Tom Stewart on Sunday. Its value is about £SO.

The Victorian Government has decided not to file a presentment in the case of Corporal Poison, who shot a military prisoner attempting ,to escape from custody.

A Hastings boot and shoe maker has received advice from Australia that the price of boots and shoes has advanced per cent., an increase which will take effect in New Zealand immediately. A Dunedin message says that the late Miss Agnes McGlashan has bequeathed CIOOO to tha Presbyterian Church of New Zealand for the founding of a scholarship in connection with Knox College, to be for the benefit of students for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church.

An unusual visitor in the Bhape of a 30ft. whale was washed up on the beach at a point exactly opposite the electriclighting station at Kakaramea on Friday (the Patea Press reports). It appears to have been harpooned in the head and an attempt made to cut it up, as there are several slices out of its side. A number of looal residents have journeyed out to see the monster, and an attempt is to be made to try it out. Richard Taylor, city inspector and valuer, was electrocuted in Fremantle early on the morning of June 7 at his residence. A storm on the previous evening had stopped up the guttering on his verandah, and he was standing on the railing when ho came in contact with Borne broken electric wires, the voltage being 350. Being an elderly man, the ehock knocked him down, and he fell heavily to the ground, the wires still entangling him, and when seen 20 minutes later by his daughter he was dead. Mr. Taylor was one of Fremantle's oldest residents, and occupied the position of traffic and health inspector for over 20 years,

"Fifty-one" writes as follows to the Hawera Star: "In 1870, after unloading timber, a schooner drifted ashore in Opunake Bay, the captain of which was Mr. J. P. Sicely, whose death at Marion ivaa reported on Wednesday. The vessel became a total wreck, and Mr. Sicely, then a young man; decided to ,take up the profession of surveyor. He settled at Patea, and married there, eventually leaving for Marton. I happened to be at Opunake when the vessel came ashore, the cook of which was a Tongatabu named Harry. The Maoris had never Been a native from the Islands before, and. they were very much astonished that they could converse with one another — the Maori wahine was vahine in Tongatabu. Harry took up cooking at the Te Ramu flax'mill, and subsequently joined the boating service at New Plymouth. Although a powerfully-built man, consumption claimed him after a few years' residence in Taranaki."

That history has a habit of repeating itself is shown by the. recent announcement that' a well-known Otago hawker, named A. Souter, has left some handsome legacies running into four figures to the Salvation Army, Barnardo's Homes, and other charitable institutions, for in the "nineties" jn a North Island district a man of the name of E. Souter, who was of an intensely religious turn of mind and noted for his frugal habits, left equally large donations to the two institution* mentioned above, as well as to many others, much to the surprise of those amongst whom he had lived. Due notice was taken of his 'philanthropy, for London papers described him as a generous New inlander. It would be dealing with matters of a private nature to go more fully into the details of what prompted the gifts in both cases and the relationship existing between them, but both donors had the highest ideals of duty ever before them, and by their deaths they were able to benefit those who needed help most,

The shocking condition of a "school" | at Puhipuhi, in the North, was revealed at las,t week's meeting of the Auckland Education Board. The advisory inspector' reported that he had recently visited Puhipuhi, and discovered that the school was merely a very poor specimen of bush "shanty," about ten feet by ,ten, consisting of a main portion, used as a school, and a miserable lean-to where the teacher and her three children lived. The one window in the building had panes of glass badly broken, ana the wind and rain entered freely. The door was next ,to useless, there being no lock. In the lean-to, where the teacher and her three children lived, he could not stand upright. Thefle were fourteen children on the roll of the school, with an average attendance of eleven. "I have never seen anything to equal it," said the inspector, "and when I drove' up I could not believe it was the school." The board decided to erect ft tent at once, and ask the Department to allow a shelter shed school to be built. |

Daily News motor oaf services from New Plymouth to Hawera: Leaves 4.30 a,m., returning from Etawera (L. 0. Hooker's) 6.30 a.m., Eltham 6.50, Stratford 7.20, laglewooc. 7.50, Egmont Village 8. Coach fares. G. Beere, propriety, 525 Pevo-%« 9 Ht. JftOttft.

The Pacific Cable Board notifies that owing to partial interruption of cable near Norfolk Island traffic via Pacific is subject to increased delay. Repairs expected to J» completed by Sunday next.

The Southland Land Board (says the Southland Times) concluded a three days' sitting on Saturday last, when 95 soldier applicants for loans for town and country properties were lealt with, involving an amount of over £138,000. To appreciate the enormous advance in the speed of travel which aircraft has made possible it is necessary to make a few comparisons with earlier methods of locomotion. The journey between America and Britain is much in the public eye just at present, and it is interesting to note that up till 1838 no radical- improvement had been made in the means of transport since the voyages of Columbus at the end of the fifteenth century. In 1838 the first steamship crossed the Atlantic, the 700ton paddle steamer "Sirius," equipped With engines developing 320 h.p. She carried a number of passengers from Tjondon and Cork, and took no cargo. The London Times, in announcing the commencement of the voyage, said the ship had been "fitted up in a most splendid manner." The vessel completed the journey between Cork and New York in twenty days, and made a return voyage in eighteen days, but neither trip was a record, sailing ships having done better on many occasions. The time soon came, however, when the development of screw propulsion and the increasing size and power of steamships demonstrated beyond all doubt the superior speed of the new modo of travel. Ten days became the regulation trip of the fastest liners; then eight days, and latterly, in the case of the great Cunard and Norddeutscher-Lloyd liners, a trifle under six days from port to port. Now, in a flash, by the use of the new route through the air, the record ib reduced to two-thirds of a day. The Melbourne, Ltd., offer a specially high-class oily canvas coat, with double shoulders and. lining, at 89s Od. This coat is a fine make, light, and particularly reinforced on the shoulders. Heavier makes also in stock at 655. Obtainable at all branch stores.

Many housewives suffer with chapped and roughened hands, especially in winter after a day's washing. This can he obviated by the use of "FAIRY WONDER" dry soap, the new scientific preparation for washing clothes. "Fairy Wonder" is highly emolient and leaves the hands and skin beautifully smooth and soft, no matter how heavy th* day's work. Ask your grocer for it, Small packets 2Jd, large packets Is lOd.