LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mi T. M. Wilford, M.P. for Hutt, is in Auckland. It is probable that the Hons. A. Myers and W. D. S. Macdonald will meet Mr. Wilford in conference, during his visit, in regard to the programme of the Liberal party. A very amateurish forger appears to have succeeded in defrauding several persons in Auckland recently by issuing pennies silvered in imitation of halfcrowns. One woman received two such coins among her change after a purchase tlie other day. Some 4:1.250 acres of Crown Land are to be opened for selection, throughout tli e Dominion next month. The Crown Lands Guide, obtainable at any Land? office, also contains particulars of 615,44G acres of Crown land already open for selection.

At Waitara on Friday Detective Fitzgibbons arrested,a young man, Henry Kaipo, on a charge of theft of a generator, valued at 30s, the property of N. G. Davis. On Saturday morning he Was brought before Mr. T. A. Bailey, S.M., and, on pleading guilty, was fined £2. '

Rhondda, the Welsh mining district, has a population of nearly two hundred thousand, and its municipal representation had been dominated by the Labor element for many years. Its rates have now reached the appalling figures of 10s lOd in the £, and municipal experts regard this as a state of bankruptcy.

A new discovery in connection with finger prints, which is expected to have a remarkable influence upon court cases, was announced recently by Professor J. A. Larsen, instructor of physiology in the University of California. The similarity of finger prints among members of a family is sufficiently marked to trace family groups and determine relationships, Larson says.

Featherston canp is to be broken up. AH the patients have been taken away, most of them to Narrow Xeck, Auckland. The patients have been entertained most generously by the people of Wairarapa, Ever since there have been convalescent men in the camp the ladies of Wairarapa have given an afternoon tea in the camp, providing tea, sandwiches, cakes, sweets and cigarettes. A Home paper publishes the following market quotations:—Stafford produceButter 2s (id per lb, eggs 4d and 4§d each, chickens 2s Sd per lb, ducks 2s 3d, rabbits■ 9Jd. Uttoxeter produce: Ducks 10s to 12s per couple, chickens 7s to 10s, rabbits 2s Gd to 3s, eggs 7s Cd per score, mushrooms lOd to Is per lb, apples 14s to 10a per bushel, plums Cd to 8d per lb.

Two policemen had an exciting scuffle with two opium smugglers on the cliffs near Cremorne Point," Sydney Harbor, a few days ago. Two men approached the phore in a skiff and dragged a big bag from the boat. As they walked up from the water's edge the constables Hosed on them, and a fight ensued, during which the men managed to escape They dropped the bag, which contained 09 tins of opium, valued at £2700. later in the day the police visited a house in Cremorne and arrested a man on suspicion.

, Among the P.uahine's draft, which nrrived at Wellington on Friday, was Private Patrick Muloahy, who though well over the military a sc. enlisted in 191':, and has been in I-'rance and England ever since. -Private Mulcahv, who was on the custodian's staff at" the Town Hall, lias lost three sons sinco the war began. Private John Mulcahy was killed at Gallipoli on April S. *1915, and Private Patrick Mulcahv fell in the Battle of the Somme on September IG, 101 f). Another son succumbed to an attack of influenza in Wellington last year.

•'TJin State highways, in U.S.A. are magnificent to drive over." stated the May of Auckland (Mr. ,T. H. Gunson), onliis return to New Zealand this week. "Lpon the stretch of highway paving we drove 350 miles in one day. These road? are developing trade, the truck and traction traffic being enormous. Many of the highways are paved only 15 feet wide, upon the principle that it is better to pave a greater distance to 15 feet, than a shorter distance to 20 feet at the same cost, although in fast and continuous traffic areas 20 feet is now the standard. In the cities and most suburbs the full width is paved. Manv of the States still have very bad roads, but there is a general awakening to the necessity of gnod roads everywhere. It is recoarnised than main paved roads are sound economically, and that they assist at once the areas directly served, and become a valuable asset to the communitv at large. Canada, too, is alive to roading necessities, and an enormous area of work is going on in both countries."

Mr. Massey, speaking at Cromwell recently, said the old Homestead Act had proved exceedingly useful in the way of settlement of this rough country. It provided that blocks could be set apart and settlers could take up areas of from 100 to 400 acres. No money was asked, and as soon as the occupier had ring-fenced the land and brought a portion of it into use he was given a Crown grant of his holding. Many a farmer in New Zealand to-day owed his success in life to that measure. The Act had now been revived. There were large blocks in different parts of New Zealand, probably some in Otago, which settlers did not feel inclined to ta';o up if they had to pay for it... It was second-class land not fit for wheatgrowing. There were huge tracts of this land in the north of Auckland and in the Waikato. A block of 1000 acres would be set apart; and settlers would be given the opportunity of taking it up. Money woum 'oe lent to them if necessary at 5 per cent. This scheme had been reintroduced by the Government because they believed it was better to have good settlers and cultivated land than to have lands lying idle. The survey of these lands had not yet been completed because of the shortage of surveyors in New Zealand for some time owing to the war.

Sirs Bridget McFTugh, the oldest "pitbrow" woman in the Pemberton coalfield, Ims just died at Wigan at the age of SO years. For more than half a century she had worked at the mines, "Old Bridget." as Mrs McHugh was familiarly called, was a hale and hearty, strong-built woman, who could use a shovel in filling mining ears as well as any man, and was always looked upon as an expert pit-brow worker, few being her equa I. The shorter working day was unknown to her, and summer and winter, rain or shine, she was accustomed to leave home at five o'clock every morning and was in her place at the cool bank before the whistle sounded at six. Her day continued until five or six at night. Mrs MeHugli was a grandmother, and two of her sons are employed in the colliery where she worked so long.

A profitable butchery business is advertised for sale on page 1 by Messrs \V, H. and J j£lthaza

A journalist at Hull has come across two men who are launching out on an ambitious undertaking. Both ate aeroplane pilots—one an Englishman, and the other a New Zealander. The latter is described as being a clever engineer and business man, who had the organisation of an important fleet of lorries during the railway strike, and was much impressed by the amount of work done on the road. "These two men," says the writer, "have determined to use their knowledge and experience in organising a road transport service in New Zealand, and are now engaged in ■buying lorries from the Disposal Board for the purpose."

There are many ways of raising the wind besides working, and backing human nature is often more profitable than backing horses. A day at Feilding races no doubt inspired one 'sport' to shift his attention from' horses to men. as being the more lucrative. "How about a car ride?" he asked a group who had foregathered in the hotel doorway to discuss the Feiiding events, "I can get my brother's car, but we'll have to put in for the juice." The prospect of a joy ride encouraged the out of loose silver, but the shorn lambs still await their benefactor's return with "his brother's car!"

To be paid for attending the funeral of a friend is an experience which is probably unique in this country (says a southern paper). It happened to all'who attended the funeral of a wealthy man who died recently in Timaru, They attended the funeral in the ordinary way out of respect to the deceased, and with no thought of reward for so doing. Judge, then, of their surprise, when they found that their names had all been taken, and a relative of the deceased gentleman in England sent them each a cheque for £5.

The debt on the Napier Municipal Theatre is £33,500, on which the interest and sinking fund charges are £1717 10s per annum, which, spread over a year of 313 performances, equal £5 10s each performance. Maintenance and working expenses amount to £484 per annum, in addition to which must be added £4 2s 8d per performance for fire brigade attendance, gas for engine, engine driver's and switchman's wages. Should the theatre be let continuously, the amount required for each performance to meet interest, sinking fund and working expenses is £9 12s Sd.

The meat prices in Dunedin in 183S make interesting reading in these days of high moat values. At the present time one of the oldest houses in Dunedin is being pulled down to make way for a new building, and during the course of the work an account book belonging to an early occupier of the house was discovered. The book carries the inscription, "F. Stono and Co., butchers, 1858," and is in an excellent state of preservation, and the ink in which the entries are made are nearly as black as the day it was first used on the paper. For May 1,1855, s£lb of mutton at 2s Od, and 71b beef at 3s Od are the entries. Some of the other entries read:—Pickled tongue 2s 6d, OJlb | sirloin beef 3s 9d, lib sausages Bd, 41b of beefsteak 2s 4d, and C}lb of mutton 3s lid, OJlb shoulder of mutton 3s 9Jd, 131b beef fls fld, lib rump steak 7d, bullock's heart Is Od, 2 ox tongues 5s lib, chops 7d, 851b mutton 3s lOid; 9Jlb roast beef 5s 7d, 1011b mutton 5s ljd, le"- mutton (131b) 7s 7d. Tiie book ends in December, 1858, with the entry, 31b suet Is od. It is the intention of the citizen who lias become possessed of the book to present it to the Early Settlers' Association.

The other day Mr. W. M. Hughes explained in a speech why Mr. Rvan i lias left Queensland, and is seeking* to enter Federal politics. "Enterprise has been killed in Queensland," said Mr. Hughes, "thousands throughout the otate are idle, and the prospects for the tuture are still more gloomy, for, as the present Premier now belatedly avows there will be a further deficit this v of at least £1,500,000. The railway i have lost and are losing millions, tiie wild cat State enterprises which were to usher in the dawn of a new day for the worker are being run at a loss, and, as an A.W.U. organiser himself has said, to employ Chinamen and blackfellows, The State of Queensland, standing as it does on the brink of financial bankruptcy, with unemployed men meeting on every hand, explains the flight of Mr Ryan. The financial debauchery of the past four years, the hopeless incompetency of Mr. Ryan and his friends to manage the affairs of this great State, the pandering to lawlessness and to one section at the expense of all others have reduced Queensland, to straits so serious that they must be seen to be understood."

News comes from France that young men of fashion want to imitate young women of fashion in neck exposure. Some of the bolder spirits have already discarded stiff and soft collars, and have appeared at fashionable seaside resorts in open, flowing cheßt exposing "Bvronic' collars. "There is no doubt that freedom of the neck helps both in the general health of the body and the development of the neck muscles," said a Harley street physician. "If you are observant, you have probably noticed ■ that men who wear low or loose collars, or no collar at all, like sailors, are invariably better developed men, and have a healthier appearance than a man who tries to throttle himself with ft 3J inch linen band." A hosier stated that Englishmen would not tolerate low necks, although he 'thought it was the next stop after the soft collar. 'Stiffnecked England' started with the ruffle, in Queen Elizabeth's days. Since then we have always kept our throats covered. Demobilised soldiers are used to high collars, and although officers did certainly wear unstarched neckwear, it was never loose. Besides, most men have not nice necks to expose. Constant cramping has deformed the modern neck, and, except in the case of athletes, the necks of men do not sit well upon their shoulders."

"Fairy Wonder" cleanser, the new scientific Dry Soap Washing Powder, is the great discovery ' 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 is "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.