LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Owing to the railway dislocation, the Daily News during the past week has been arriving late at Patea and Waverley on four days a week, the papers going down, as usual, by the 7 a.m. train from Haweva on Tuesdays and Fridays. Arrangements have now been made for delivery at these towns, and en route, by the early through car service. The deliveries in the Mokoia, Whakamara and Meremere districts have not been affected, the News's own service connecrfng at Hawera with this and other early morning South Taranaki rural mail deliveries.

A London cable states that Mr. Bonar Law announced in the House of Commons that the 19th would be a bank holiday. As showing the extent to which local bodies are contemplating public works, it is interesting to note that in last week's Gazette appeared an Order-in - Council notifying the consent of the Governor-General to the raising of loans to the extent of £168,200. The need for the appointment of additional Justices of the Peace at Rahotu was stressed by the chairman of the Egmont County Council yesterday, aif it was resolved to ask the Department of Justice to appoint two Justices, the (lames of Messrs W. C. Green and T. Willcox being recommended for appointment.

Speaking at the meeting of the Egmont County Council, the chairman, Cr. W. E. Wright, remarked that they were up Gainst most tremendous trouble in connection with the coal shortage, and must consider the question of electric supply. On his motion, seconded by Cr. Campbeil, it was resolved that the council ask that a meeting of the Hydro-Electric League l" 1 called to discuss the possibility" of obtaining power from New Piymoath or otherwise.

At the Inveroargill Police Court two waterside workers, one being the president of the union, were chai>»*i witn receiving blankets knowing them to have been stolen (states a Press Association message). The blankets were taken from the steamer Pakeba, anA the defence was that tliey were bought from a seaman innocently. Both defendants, who were given a good character, were quite frank in the matter, and the magistrate gave them the benefit of the doubt and dismissed the cases It was stated that fifty blauksta were still mUsiiig.

Steps are being taken to form a local repatriation committee in the Egmont County.

Judgment was given for plaintiff by default at the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning by Mr S. E. McCarthy, S M., in the case of A, Kemp (Mr S. B. Fitzherbert) v. Alfred Seaton, for the sum of £8 Os Od (costs 23a 6d).

Once more Patea's prospects of an ironsand industry at that port are on the wane ; It will be remembered that p. year or two, ago Mr. Heskett secured rights over certain ironsand areas, and erected smaiil works near the Patea bridge at which the ironsand was to be treated under a new process. A few promising looking ingots of pig iron were turned out, but smelting operations then ceased, and the chairman of the Harbor Board mentioned on Monday that all' the machinery had now been removed from the building. The board, however, retained all brick work, etc.—Star.

A man named F. T. Ellis was charged in the Magistrate's Cour,t yesterday morning on two informations with having obtained goods by fraud from R, Hannah and Co., footwear dealers, Stratford. Sub-Inspector Hutton stated that accused, who was unable to appear in court because of an old wound breaking out, was in custody, having been committed for sentence to the Supreme Court in Wellington in connection with charges at Hawera. The Magistrate (Mr S. E. M'Carthy) therefore remanded Ellis to appear next Tuesday and refused an application for bail made by Mr S. Fitzherbert.

At the meeting of the Egmont Count) Council yesterday Cr. O'Brien asked the reason why some of the workers during the recent epidemic had not received payment for their services. One man, who did not want his name made public, had told him that he had not received payment, and he knew of others similarly. The chairman stated that he only knew of three cases in Raliotu, and in two cases he and several others had paid the money, but had not been reimbursed. He pointed out that the county clerk had no check as to who was paid or not, and lie knew of at least two people who had been paid twice.

Mention was made at the Patea Harbor Board meeting on Monday that the Railway Department was now declining acceptance of goods ex Wellington boats for storage in their shed, other than those articles specifically mentioned in their recent selidule. The coastal boats, however, were bringing full cargoes of general merchandise from Welington, and us arrangements had been made to send motor lorries from Hawera for this the board decided to give every possible facility for storing the goods in their present wool stores. This would involve a slight expense in carting from the railway wharf to the board's shed, but as against this the board's storage rate would be much less than the Railway Department's charges,—Star.

The rush for cargo space for Auckland by the Mokoia from Wellington on Monday was so great that drivers of lorries, piled up with all manner of merchandise, found that they had to wait for many hours to get rid of their loads at the ship's side, says the Dominion- Such was the rush that the wagons had to wait in a queue, which extended from the foot ox the Queen's Wharf along to Harris Street. The embargo against the carriage of eertain goods by rail is said to have had something to do with the congestion, but the chief cause of the unusually large quantity of cargo for the Mokoia was the long spell since a steamer left here for Auckland.

A Christchurch merchant stated that the Government had made a remarkably good bargain with the Colonial Sugar Company, considering the price of sugar in other parts of the world. He told a reporter that the rise amounted to £1 os a ton, which was equivalent to a rise of lOd per 701b bag. New Zealand, he said, could not complain at all about tin price of sugar. Some time ago he had secured a copy of the British Board of Trade prices for sugar, which were from £35 to £37 per ton as against the latest price of £23 15s in Auckland. He pointed out that the price in Melbourne was in the region of £3O. It was already fairly irenerally known that unrefined sugar, if shipped from New Zealand to America, would return a better price than the present-day refined on the local market.

In connection with the arrangement made by the Postal Department for the conveyance daily by motor car between New Plymouth and Wellington and vice versa of a letter mail, owing to the limited amount of matter the ear can carry the mail will be confined to genuine letters only. The car will leave Wellington about S a.m. or on arrival of the ferry steamer from the south should that not be so late as to jeopardise connection with the Barawa at New Plymouth. On arrival of the Harawa at the breakwater, New Plymouth, the letter mails from Auckland will be placed on board the car, which will leave for Wellington immediately, and it is expected to make a connection with the ferry boat leaving for Lyttelton at 7.45 p.m. The service which has been arranged is an express one, and the car will stop at only a few places between New Plymouth and Wellington. The stoping places will be Inglewood, Stratford, Elthaiji, Hawera, Patea, Wanganui, £uid Sanson.

"Fairy Wonder" cleanser, the new scientific Dry Soap Washing Powder, is tiie great discovery of the age, and before long will be in the home of every up-to-date housekeeper in Australasia. It does its work cleanly quickly and effectively. Besides that, it ia the most economical in use, makes the clothes beautifully snow-white without the slightest injury, and leaves the hands beautifully soft and smooth. Be sure and give it a trial. All grocers have it.

The directors of the Equitable Building Society, of New Plymouth, are inviting applications for shares in the Society's No. 3 group. The shares are £250 each and the fortnightly subscriptions 3s per Members drawing loans by ballot obtain same free of interest- Loans are made on liberal terms and anyone wishing to purchase a property or arrange finance should interview the secretary, Mr W. P. Okey, who will be pleased to supply full information.

The Farmers' Co-op. Society notify that the sale previously advertised on account of Mr W. A. Jellyman, Norfolk Road, has been cancelled.

Ask distinctly for SANDER'S EUCALYPTI EXTRACT, or else you may receive one of the manv substitute*. The GENUINE SANDER EXTRACT cures colds, fevers, indigestion ; prevents infectious diseases and heals ulcers, poisoned wounds, skin diseases, burns, sprains, etc. It is much more powerfully antiseptic than the common eucalyptus and does not depress ior irritate like the latter.

The Levin Chronicle says: The land gamble is one of the leading .topics in the district at present. The latest incident to give rise to comment occurred at Ihakara. A 100-aere farm there was sold three weeks ago at £BO, The new owner has already disposed of the property at £9O, and the third proprietor has put the farm in the market at £llO, It is stated that there have already been inquiries at this figure. Another report states that a buyer made £3OOO off a farm at Te Horo by selling it at an enhanced price before he had actually transferred it from the original owner.

At Christchurch last week Mr. S. E. McCarthy, S.M., gave reserved judgment in the case W. J. Jenkins v. the Mayor, councillors and citizens of Christchurch, a claim for £2O in respect of damages alleged to have been sustained by plaintiff by reason of the negligence of the defendant corporation in the repair and construction of a footpath. Two years subsequent to the erection of the National Mutual Buildings a subsidence took place in the footpath, causing plaintiff to fall and sustain injury, The magistrate gave judgment for plaintiff for £l5O and qpsts. A business man in Wanganui expresses himself as satisfied with his experience in giving his assistants a direct interest in the firm's profits. Speaking to a Herald reporter, he said that about a year ago he marked a good month's business by giving each assistant a bonus in the shape of an extra week's wages, and has repeated the bonus several times since A record month in April last was made the occasion for another similar bonus, with a promise .that, if May's business waa as the same reward for assiduity would follow. Needless to say, he remarked, the extra week's wages were again earned. "I don't believe in an economic war being waged (against Germany," said Major J. B. Hine, M.P., in the course of an address at an unveiling ceremony at Huiroa recently. "She must be allowed a certain amount of freedom. We ought to hold out the hand of friendship. A hundred years ago she waa our ally, aud who can say that in another hundred years she may not again be in that position. The Brotherhood of Man has to be considered. We ought to look to benefit the people, and not keep them down as has been done in the past."

Corrugated iron is £5 lower at £55 to £6O, and near arrivals are quoted £5 under this, reports the Mercantile Gazette. Fencing wire is £3 to £4 lower at about £3l for plain and £34 for barbed. Wire nails are down to 41s basis price, and in Bomewhat better supply. Other metals are unchanged. Recent cables report an advance of Is 3d per gallon on turpentine. Local prices for turpentine are unaltered, and moderate stocks are held. Linseed o;l ranges from 9s to 10s, but this price is under present English quotations. Australian whitelead is on the market now at £BO, and other brands are unchanged, with stocks lightAt the Anglican Synod last week the following motion was' carried: "That in order to carry out the recommendation of the General Synod the dioceßes of Auckland and Wellington appoint members of a joint committee to act as an executive committee in the promotion of the new diocese of Taranaki, the election of the Taranaki Bishopric Fund General Committee (which took place at the representative conference held in New Plymouth in November, 1917) be hereby confirmed so far as concerns the Wellington portion of the proposed new diocese; and that subject to the approval of the Auckland Diocesan Synod the whole of the said committee be hereby constituted the executive committee <9f the Taranaki Bishopric Fund." Some interesting particulars of the New Zealand frozen meat industry were revealed in the course of an inquiry as to the first vessel ,to load that export in the Dominion (states an exchange). The Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company claim the distinction of being the pioneers in the trade. »nd they fitted out the first sailing sh»> u 'ith refrigerating machinery, ami tna; vessel, called the Dunedin, sailed from the oniony in 1882. The company successfully inaugurated an industry which has since assumed such vast dimensions, and they now ship over 2,000,000 carcases .to England annually. In 1882 the amount of frozen meat shipped from New Zealand totalled 1,707,3281b, which amount in 1916 hoa been increased to 366,000,0001b. In a nutshell, New Zealand now exports as much frozen meat in a day on an average as she did annually 37 years ago. The manner in which the New Plymouth Borough Council proposes to extend its hydro-electric works upon the Waiwakaiho River so that between 6000 and 8000 horse-power shall be available was explained by the council's engineer (Mr. R. H. Bartley) at the conference on Monday of delegates from borough and county councils and other bodies throughout Taranaki. The Mayor made it clear that the work could be done in two successive parts, or else carried out at once as a whole. The council -would have ample current to supply other boroughs and districts in Taranaki if the large scheme was completed, and whether the large scheme or the small one was gone on with at once depended upon the extent of the demand for current from the outside places. An agreement had already been completed with one borough, and negotiations were proceeding with another. The engineer considered that the full extension could be completed in two years, and that the current then available would be ample to supply the needs of the whole of the Taranaki province. Interest in the matter was shown by a number of those present, and questions were asked and answered. It may be added that the Lake Coleridge scheme, supplying Canterbury, is at present no bigger than the proposed New Plymouth scheme. The Christchureh correspondent of the Dunedin Star states that it is apparent that the meat export companies throughout the Dominion will reap a rich harvest through the abnormally high prices which are ruling on the London market for tallow, and that the sale of what is only a by-product will swell their balance-sheets considerably. During the war tallow lias been practically a drug on the \market, and supplies have accumulated in the Dominion to a considerable extent. Now on the Home market prices are in the "icinity of £IOO per ton, and a 9 the stocks of the Dominion run into many thousands of tons it will he seen how the New Zealand exp(gter will benefit; in fact, one? local concern which lately has shipped heavily is understood to have several thousand tons still in store. Its slinres in consequence have been climbing Bteadily. At least one instance is quoted where the profit on tallow is likely to exceed the actual nominal capital of the company. As tallow has been held bo largely during the war the tendency haß been to "write it down" as stock, and an average value has been about £2O. The profits on its sale will therefore make a more impressive, showing 'on the next balance-sheet than if the folioy bad not been adopted.

An effort is being made by the Progressive League of to MOTO the holding of a band contest-in town.

It is stated that a Kairange farm of 400 acres, six miles from Palmerston, was sold privately at the Show at £IOO per acre.

Outstanding rates on property in the Borough of Te Kuiti for the year ended March 31,1919, amount to £3OOO, m compared with over £4OOO for the prerioiu year. Fifty-seven summonses to recover £IOOO outstanding were issu«d last week by the town clerk, and another larger batch, representing £ISOO, will be issued in the course of the next few days.

"It is an extraordinary thing, but no matter what New Zealand produces, that production is of the best quality in the world," remarked Mr. J. C. N. Grigg, in his address to the Christchurch branch of the Royal Colonial Institute on Wednesday. Incidentally, 'Mr. Crigg remarked on the enormous value of the Panama Canal to New Zealand, and said that whatever New Zealand could spare would have a great market in New York in future, a matter whioh it would be extremely, foolish to ignore.

It is understood that Messrs Nelson Bros.' meat works at Tomoana (Hawke's Bay) and Taruhera (Giaborne), which were recently reported sold, wen purchased by Messrs Vestey Bros , of the CJnion Cold Storage, trading in New Zealand as W, and R. Fletcher, Ltd., with the head office in Auckland. The price payable is £600,000, of which £600,000 is represented by 6 per cent, mortgages, allocated among the different properties, and £IOO,OOO by 6 per cent, preference shares in .the Union Cold Storage Companv, Ltd. Messrs Nelson Bros, are also interested in the Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company to ,the extant of £224,495 of the £225,000 ordinary shares of the company.—New Zealand Times.

An explanation has been made by Mr. McVilly, General Manager of Railways, regarding the dismissal of He stated that all the men who had received notice were "day to day" casuals, lit was informed that none of them had been employed by the Deportment for more than five years. Most of them had been employed temporarily to fill the places of men withdrawn for military Berviee. They had been kept in employment as long as possible, but .the shortage of coal and the consequent reduction of railway services had compelled the Department, not merely to reduce rts casual stak, but also make special arrangements affecting ( the permanent Members of the permanent staff were being required to take any leave due to them. The Department, under present conditions, hid th egrea,te»t difficulty in finding employment for all (he members of the permanent staff. The present unfortunate position, added Mr. McVilly, had arisen with such suddenness it had not been practicable to give the casual men long notice. In the ordinary course of events they would have received at least a fornight's notice. But the reduction of the railway service* fcarf been made at very short notice, and th« staff arrangements had to be adjusted accordingly. The public had been informed of the reduction only a few days In advance. Returned soldiers employed as casuals by the Department were being gi-en special consideration, and would be retained as long as possible. Any of the men paid off would be reemployed directly normal conditions' prevailed again.