LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Customs duties received in New Plymouth last month amounted to £7994 12s lOd, and the beer duty £194 2s 2d. For the' extraordinary vacanacy on the Taranaki Education Board, caused by the resignation jof Mr. T Buchanan, two nominations have been received. Mr. Frank Hoskin (Waitara), and Mr. S. Vickers (Omata) The election taKe» place on November 20th. ' Mr. F. Honan, for the past fourteen years in charge of the Phoenix insurance Company, has started in business in conjunction with Mr. J. Penn, of Auckland, as insurance and general agent. The new firm, which will be known ,as Honan and Penn, have been appointed Taranaki agents for the British Traders Insurance Co., Ltd. Many reasons aTe advanced from time to time for the closing of country schools, but an unusual explanation was received by the Auckland Education Board at a recent meeting. This was to the efi'ect that a school committee in North Auckland had granted its lady teacher a day oIT to go to the Whangarei races, with the result that there was no school that day for the pupils. The members of the board expressed strong disapproval of this action, and the secretary was instructed to' inform the committee that the education of the children must not be interfered with in this wayA sad case, wherein a family of six young children, ranging from a few months to 13 years of age, were charged with having no means of support, came before Mr. J. E. Wilson, S.M., in, the Juvenile Court, at Auckland, on Saturday The children were brought, to the courtroom barefooted and very dirty, and the mother wore a shabby dressing-gown, no hat, and old slippers. Evidence was called to show that she was not of very sound mentality, and that the father was able to earn no money on account of a physical disability. The latter said it was very hard to think of parting with his children, but the magistrate considered that they had not a reasonable chance in their present surroundings, and ordered their committal to various Church of England liomes. Another fine lot of ladies' silk knitted sports' coats has opened out at the Melbourne, Ltd., and comprises many new styles and shades. An early call will be amply repaid as many of the lines are favorably priced. The parishioners of Te Henui Church have decided to hold a rose tea 011 November 13th. There will be stalls for the sale of produce, eggs, sweets, fioivers, etc.. a good display being assured. An energetic committee has 'been set up to make the necessary arrangements. Visitors to Waitara are quick to notice the good figures and smart appearance of its lady residents. The secret was revealed by a casual inspection of the new model corsets at The Big Store, where there is a shape for every figure. One woman tells an. other and now the corset , trade is booming. Mr. 0. Guy, from Feilding, will sing "The Holy City" at the Okato Methodist Church to-morrow evening,~Advti

A Dunedin telegram says the trouble at the Union Hat Factory has been settled and work wag resumed yesterday as usual.

It has been decided by the public of New Plymouth to entertain the late Mayor and Mrs G. H. Burgess at a garden party at Kawaroa Park next Wednesday afternoon. As a mark of appreciation of their services to the town presentations will be made to both Mr. and Mrs. Burgess. A new clause in the Post and Telegraph Bill provides that no person shall erect, construct, establish or maintain any electric lines of communication by telegraph or telephone without a license issued by the Department (telegraphs our Wellington correspondent). .Regulations are to be issued prescribing the conditions of licenses and the fees, to be paid. The clause does not apply to existing lines. The penalty for a brcßch is a fine of £2O.

The chief postmaster has asked us to correct an error that unfortunately crept into our report of tlie case against a postal official, which was heard in the court on Thursday. There were no registered letters amongßt those that went astraf', and the postmaster states it would be impossible for such a letter to be missed without the loss being immediately detected as they are all subject to a liand-to-hand check. During the hearing of a case in the Wellington Supreme Court, it was pointed out that whereas the Government valuation upon a 06-acre property in Taranaki hiid been fixed at £4140, a private agent had assessed the value at £7OOO, a difference of nearly £3OOO. "I think that is as bad as anything 1 have ever seefn," remarked His Honor the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout). "Of course, everybody knows that property in tlie Taranaki district is increa% ing in price, but I did not know it was increasing to such an extent as that." "I think Your Honor is quite accustomed to differences in the valuation of land," said counsel. "I consider the land should bring at least £2OOO more than +,hfi Government valuation," said Sir 'Robert later in the proceedings, "the Government valuation is invariably too small."

Speaking of railways at Normanby, Mr O. Hawken, Government candidate for Egmont, said ho understood that a considerable number of men, if available, were now to be put on the Te Roti-Opunake railway. He noticed that the authorisation of the New Ply-mouth-Opunake line had been struck out of the Bill. This was nafortunate, and he could not uncrerstand why it had been done. He believed that with the enormous development in produce that such a rich district as Taranaki was capable of the port of New Ply- | mouth would eventually become a deepsea harbor, and 'as such be of great use to the province. At the same time Opunake and Patea had every right to go on with their schemes, because | smaller harbors would always be a factor in saving money for producers and importers just as the larger harbors did Representatives of Eltliam, Stratford, EJawera, Patea, anC! Egmont County Councils and Eltham and Stratford Borough Councils met in conference on Wednesday concerning the suggestion that the Waipuku Btone quarries should be re-opencd, says tile Argus. After some discussion it was agreed that the metal was of excellent quality.. The probable cost at which the metal could be placed 011 trucks at Waipuku was considered. A suggestion that the Government should hand over the quarry and plant to local bodies and confine its responsibility to railage of the metal met with no support, the feeling of the delegates being that the whole responsibility should be upon the Government. A resolution was passed by which the Government is to be asked to send up an engineer to report 011 the quarry, and ascertain the price at which metal can be supplied to local bodies at Waipuku. it. was also decided to urge upon the Government the necessity for completing the line to the quarry. The residents of the district which may be termed "Maketawa" and wh'ch embraces the roads Durham East and West, Mountain, Norfolk East and West, Johns and Rugby will have an opportunity o! discussing the establishment of a daily rural postal delivery, a meeting re same being advertised to take place in the Maketawa Factory on Monday, November 10, at 8 p.m. Many people grumble and otherwise complain at not getting benefits equal to other parts of the district but if they ar.e so careless as to leave all initiative to one or two people and show further apathy by not supporting those who are trying-to help them and their district then the blame lies with themselves. A full attendance of the residents of the district indicated should be obtained in the present instance and they are requested to keep the matter in mind.

A 50-acrc dairy farm at Hawera at a low figure is advertised for smie by W. H. and A. MgGarry.