LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The formal proclamation by the King regarding the Peace Treaty will be officially read by the Mayor at 10 o'clock this morning outside the Soldiers' Club. ' A Wellington message announces that the late Mr. G. P. Donnelly's Maugaohanc sta,te, inland from Patea, has been sold to local buyers. The purcliaso money is understood to be in the neighborhood of £170,000.

A Wellington press message states that on account of the restrictions on the export of rice from producing countries the Government has decided to revoke the Order-in-Council recently gazetted fixing ,the wholesale and retail prices of rice.

With res-p"', to there being no official reception ,rsoldiers who returned home b;s-^- n ,. S |ia. r night's mail train, it appears thai ihe Defence authorities did pot advise the Mayor that the men were cominy- At any rate, no advice reached his Worship. Sir. E. Lash, secretary of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, received a telegram from the Minister of Railways yesterday acknowledging receipt of his telegram re the carriage of goods from the port to the goods shed, and stating that the matter was receiving consideration, and that he would be advised further in due course.

The Town Clerk of New Plymouth has issued a circular letter to the delegates appointed by the various local bodies to wait on the Taranaki County Council on Monday next and protest against ,the proposed vehicles licensing by-law being r.oftfirmed, to the effect that, alinouglt the new railway service makes attendance for some a matter of difficulty, it is hoped every effort will be made by the delegates to be present. No other course is open to those interested, as the by-law is to be confirmed by the council on Monday.

The Hawera Star states that the unpleasant nature of the weather of the last day or two increased on Wednesday, ivhen the wind veered round to the south-wegt. Cold, sleety squalls swept in from the sea at intervals, and made the afternoon very cold and miserable. The same sort of weather prevailed during the evening and night. Up to Thursday morning the rain gauge in Hawera showed just over half an inch for the twenty-four hours, and a similar amount for the previous day. In June the ijionthly total rainfall was 3.13 in., not a great deal for the middle month of the year.

The Manaia correspondent of the Hawera Star states that a returned soldier who has been away on active service for over three years and done his duty .to King and country, on returning to Manaia, decided to lease' a farm, and bought a milking plant at Otakeho last week from one of the farmers there who is leaving the district. He and the agent went up and took the machine to pieces, and they thought- placed in a safe place. The returned soldier decided to take delivery of it the next day, When returning to take it away lie found that two sets of cups were taken away by some person. It was a very mean act.

At ai meeting of the New Plymouth branch of the British Red Cross Society held recently the best means of distributing the funds in hand (about £300) was considered. It is thought that at the end of this year the work of the Red Cross will no longer be required lieve. The meeting decided to give £25 for the Soldiers' Hostel being organised by Mrs. C. H. Burgess; £IOO was set aside for motor drives for soldiers in hospital, and £75 to provide for them extra comforts, the latter sum to be paid to the matron in instalments of £5. The remainder of the funds was split up to give £75 to Mrs. C. TI. Weston, the Red Cross visitor, to spend on the social entertainment of indoor hospital patients, and £25 to bs kept by the society as an emergency fund. The Bed Cross Society supplies each soldier who is admitted to the hospital with tooth brush and paste, shaving soap and toilet soap. Recently a large supply of garments was forwarded to the hospital,, and there are more in hand in case they are needed. • What promises to be a most popular function uex,t week is the pianoforte recital, Miss Latham's "Two hours with the great composers," to be given in the Good Templar Hall on Thursday next, July 10, in aid of the Elliot family. Scarcely one in a hundred thousand can Bit down to the piano and play for two hours, without a noto of music, difficult selections from the greatest composers the world has ever seen, but such is Miss Constance Latham's special God-given talent, together with careful tuition by the best English masters and indomitable perseverance in practice, that she is now able to accomplish such a feat, giving pleasure to all who have the privilege of hearing her. At Thursday's performance Miss Latham will include her winning numbers at the Dominion competitions of a few weeks back, when she won the coveted distinction of gold medallist for Maw Zealand. Tickets are selling rapidly and a crowded house is assured. Members of the Whiteley Church Choir are specially asked to make a point of attending practice to-night, which has been called for 7.30, to prepare for the peace thanksgiving service on Sunday. In these hard-up times we have to practise economy. Why not a smart ready-made costume instead of a tailormade, madam? Morey's have a fine display of smart winter models in various fabrics. They are nearly half the price of tailored garments. Call and see them, but before doing so read Morey's advertisement in this paper. A cheap dairy firm at a going concern, is advertised for gala on exceptionally -easy terms "by W. H. »nd A. ofi-Sltiuua.

At tlie Magistrate's Court yesterday morning, a land agent's license was granted to Mr. O. N. Firth.

It takes 120 tons of coal per day to keep Wellington supplied with gas. New Plymouth gasworks uses about seven tons daily. A fine of £5 and costs (7s) was imposed by Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court yesterday on Frank Taunton, for riding a motor cycle at an excessive speed through Devon Street. The constable who brought the charge alleged defendant was travelling at 25 miles per hour. The Magistrate said he had seen motorists in New Plymouth travelling at from 20 to 40 miles per hour, sometimes at night without lights, a:id unless that sort of tiling was checked there would be a tragedy in the town. A severe penalty would have to be imposed on such offenders.

"We can't let our boys abandon school to become jockeys," remarked Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., at the Court yesterday. The occasion was the hearing of (i charge against Ernest George who, being the parent of a child of school age, failed to have him enrolled on any school register. An employee of defendant sought to make an explanation to the Bench to the effect that the boy was away in Wellington, but would be sent to school on his return home. The truant officer stated the boy, who was 12% years old, had not been to school this year and .the father had already been fined ten times. He made the plea of shortage of labor as the excuse for keeping his boy away from school. "What labor?" asked the Magistrate, and when told the boy was being trained as a jockey in bis father's stables, Mr Poynton said that sort of thing could not be allowed, as it was only "fooling" with the law. "There ttre too many jockeys already," he remarked. A fine of £2 and costs (7s) was imposed. A young man named Wm. Harknett, of Fitzroy, who it was stated in the New Plymouth Magistrate's Court yesterday, had terrorised his half-sister by going to her room about three o'clock in the morning and after breaking in the door with an axe had assaulted her, was bound over ,to find one Burety of £IOO or two of £SO, and a like sum himself, to keep the peace for twelve months. Mr A. H. Johnstone, who appeared for complainant, said the case was'a sad one as defendant appeared to be a mental defective. He had, in fact, spent a term in a mental hospital. He left New Zealand with one of the reinforcement drafts but was returned home from Capetown. He was subject to violent outbursts of passion and had attacked his father, with whom he lived, on occasions, and lie had quite recently applied to the police for authority to purchase a revolver, which, of course, had been refused. Sub-Inspector Hutton said the man was somewhat of a terror to the neighborhood. The Magistrate warned defendant of the seriousness of his conduct and said he must take means to prevent him from committing a more serious crime. He was handed over to .the police until sureties for his good behaviour should be forthcoming.

In this issue we insert full particulars of a clearing sale oil account of Messrs Farnham Bros., Tataraimaka. To any farmers seeking good Jersey or Holstein dairy cows this sale should be an attraction.

Housewives, during the past month, have experienced a trying time in getting the weekly washing dried on account of so much wet and stormy weather. In this connection the use of "FAIRY WONDER" Dry Soap is a great help inasmuch as it shortens ,the time and labor of washing, thus allowing more time for the drying process. Give it a trial. It is wonderful stuff. On sale at all grocers. Large or small packets. The' Melbourne LtcL's huge business has been built up on the solid foundation of cash trading plus low prices. Low prices do not mean low quality at the Melbourno Ltd. What is meant is that as a consequence of "spot" cash trading the firm is enabled—quality for quality—to sell at lower prices than competitors. Any comparison will prove thij.