LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tt is the intention of the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government, to ask all ministers of religion throughout New Zealand to hold special commemorative services on Anzac Day.

Mr. E. G. F. Zohrnb, on behalf of the Chatham Islands Fishing Co., has purchased the one-time H.M.S. Torch, for use in the Chatham Islands Ashing trade in place of the wrecked Himitangi- The Torch is a wooden vessel, of fIOO tons, and when refitted will carry about 700 tons of cargo. On Wednesday, Thomas Henry King, aged 52 yeare, proprietor of the Kingsway Boardinghouse, Wanganui, was found dead in an outhouse with his throat cut (reports the Chroniele). A razor was found near the body. Deceased was a married man. About an hour previously lie was seen in the yard cutting wood, and then appeared in his normal spirits.

A proclamation has been gazetted which makes Part 3 of the Housing Act (1919) applicable to the coal-mining industry. Part 3of the Act provides that the Minister of Finance may grant loans to employers for the purpose of providing dwellings for their employees and empowers the Minister to borrow £250,000 annually for this purpose.

A report has been current that the Rarawa will shortly be withdrawn from the New Plymonth-Onehnnga service. The matter was mentioned to Mr. Penman (the local manager of the Northern Company) by a Daily News representative last night, and he stated he had no advice whatever on the matter. It is gathered from another source that the Rarawa will be withdrawn and placed on the Auckland-Whangarei run for a few weeks, but the change, it is reported," will not be permanent.

Carry a bottle of "Nazol" in your v«st pocket or handbag, and use very freely. It is undoubtedly the lest preventative! k::,iwn affpinst infltißn*"- infontion.

A load of (<nal from 'Jic Olmra will reach Taranaki tliis morning. Demonstration* arc (o be given at Now p|\moiitli. Stratford, KUliam, llawciu ami Kaupokonui. Trials will bo made by die gns companies for pas and tar.'aiid by (lie dairy factories for steam purposes. Mr. 1). J Hughes has boon responsible fur petting out the coal and making the trials. Some prominent Ohura settlors are expected to be present nt (he trials, which, if satisfactory, will mean a great deal for industry in Taranaki.

The summer null for Europe has a full- head of steam on, despite the warnings of those who have recently been there and found out. So great was the determination of many New Zealanders to get away by the Miikura, which sailed the other day from Auckland im Vancouver, that quite a number of- them went third class rather than miss the vessel, m it was utterly impossible to find accommodation in cither the first or second saloon for all the prospective voyagers.

Mr. Massey states that the Government, through the State Advances Office, has authorised, during the last quarter, 47S applications, totalling' .-e 152,000 to settlers and workers for house-imildiirg and completing the purchase of properties. Applications to the value of £-200,000 have been rereived by the State Advances Office in April from 37 local bodies under the Housing Act, 1919. These are now being dealt with.

Members of the Tarnnaki Education Board who have been visiting the Ohura returned to New Plymouth last night The party—Mess'rs. S. G. Smith Jip' H. Trimble, Rfeskin, and Moore-left New Plymouth by motor car „n Wednesday, and stopped that night at Olmra, and the following dav On"arue was reached. They left bngnrue 0 t .U0 yesterday morning „nd reached Now Plymouth at 10,10 last nitdit Visits were paid to most of the schools in the district, and their wants were inquired into. The condition of the roads was bad, and motoring presented many troubles. J

Arawa Park, at Rotorua, in view of the Prince s visit, ia becoming a hivp of industry, writes a correspondent Thousands of feet of timber are on th" ground, and also hundreds of tons of firewood. Great progress is being made with the main stand, which will be capable of seating 1800 persons. The old stand will he reserved for the Prinee, the Ij'ovcrnor-fieneral, and their suites.' Accommodation for -soldiers in blue is" to be found by the erection of a platform in front of the totalisator house. Two German 77 millimetre field guns have arrived for the flanks of the Maori memorial to soldiers killed in the war, and' they will be placed on either side of the grandstand during the Prince's visit. Plans for an aerial service between Timarii and Mount Cook are being discussed. A pilot is to visit Mount' Cookin order to select a landing ground in the vicinity of the hermitage and probably he will also select a half-way landing point at Fairlie. The company which has the project in hand, intends, if suitable arrangements can be made, to use an eight-seater machine for the journey from Timaru to Mount Cook, and one or two lighter machines for use among the mountains, in order that tourists may be able to examine the Apline scenery from a new point of view.

There was a very large attendance of buyers at the Taranaki Farmers' Co-op. Organisation Society's autumn horse fair, which was opened at Jlawera Yesterday. Pecord entries were received for both days and the bidding yesterday was very brisk, practically "all offered being sold. Buyer; were representative of all parts of Taranaki, and others came from Feilding, Longlnirn and Auckland. ' Draught horses (good ports) realised form £39 to £">'.' 10s; medium sorts, from £2fi to £37 10sand unbroken, from £l3 15s to £3l lfls. The fair will be continued to-day. when draughts, milk-earters, backs and thoroughbreds will be submitted.

The question of contesting was discussed at a meeting of past and present, members of the New Plymouth Citizens' Band last night- The prospect of taking part in contests was generally favored, but it was pointed out that vacancies at present existing in the band would have, to be fulfilled before this could be done, It was mentioned that contests were being suggested nt Dannevirke and Wellington towards the end of this .roar, and the annual Dominion contest will be held at Nelson next February or March. Tt was decided that in future the weekly practice nights should be Tuesday and Friday, and'thc junior members will meet on" Monday.

The Red Post Furnishing Co- have, disposed of their New Plymouth and. Inglewood businesses to Messrs. Purser, Ltd., of Wanganui, and the new purchasers take possession on the 17th hist. Mr. <T. AV. Tlayden will remain in the position of manager for three months. The business, which was originally carried on in premises at the corner of Devon rind Liardet streets, was bought from Mr. Fleldt some fourteen years ago, and MrHayrlen has been manager throughout that period. Five years' later the company acquired their present premises from (he late Mr. J. 11. Parker, and thev have developed a flourishing and expanding business. The purchasers nrp iin old-established firm and mav be relied upon to continue the progressive policy of the company from whom thev have secured the business. Thev have bought the stock and goodwill, and tnltcn a long lease of the premises. It is not Mr. Hayden's intention to leave -New Plymouth.

The Government is anticipating a very serious shortage of accommodation in the cities during the visit of the Prince of Wales, and its preparations include the provision of emergency hoddin» on a fairly large .scale (writes our AVeliin«on correspondent). The Internal Affairs Deportment, which lias the matter in hand, has secured several thousand blankets, and also a large supply of Hie A.M.C.A. and the Salvation Armv are going to visit the centres in order to see what special arrangements their organisations can make. The bureaux that are in be onened in the post office* of the cities and the larger town-- will mm at making the best use of the available accommodation at hotels and loaning houses br securing the prober d..>tr,b„tionof visitors, but there is,'en<wn to anticipate that, there will he an actual shortage of .necommodaton Tim position may be pniriculavlv bad in AVclImgton, where hoW and boarding house accommodation is difficult to obtain even at normal times.

The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Awcv Co. „r,w attention to their Stratford ph. on Tuesday. I.lth inst.. at 12 „.oo„. Fill particulars of entries will be found •on page S c.i' this issue.

Woods' Orent Pennermint Cure, ior r .anrU and CnMs. never fnils.'l/O, 2/0.

The latest phase in the cost-of-living and-higher-wages problem is that the secretary of one of the largest industrial unions in Cliristchurch has demanded an increase, in honorarium. He informed a. Press reporter on Wednesday that if lie. does not get it lie will resign and go out labouring. It is staled that on behalf of a note! syndicate the King's Chambers, at the comer of Willeston and Willis streets, and one of the biggest blocks in Wellington, has been purchased for the purpose of conversion into flats and apartments. The price paid was between :C."»O,O00 and £<SO,OOO.

On Sunday evening a boy two years of age was lost at Takapau- The boy was walking along a road with his mother, lagged behind, and twenty minutes later was missed. A party of Boy Scouts searched for the wanderer, w:io was found on Tuesday morning sitting on the bank of a river. He was apparently quite well, despite the fact that hehad spent the night in the open air and had been without food for two days. A controversy over the Napier harbour works has been in progress between Mr Jiill (chairman of the Harbour Board) and.Mr L. H. McHardy (of the Hawke-'s Bay Progressive Association) and has terminated in a challenge, which'has been accepted. Mr. dull challenged the accuracy of the Hawke's Br.y '■ Progress ' Association's statements on a number of points and offered to deposit £IOO, to be covered by Mr McHardy and given either to the McHardy Maternity Home (if the association is correct) or to the Waipawa Soldiers' Memorial Fund (if he is correct). On that condition Mr McHardy covered the £IOO, and is willing to double it, if Mr Jull so desires.

The materials mid the conditions in the interior of the earth, Rays the United Stales Geological Survey, have long been a favorite subject, of speculation anions; scientific men. According to the modern mathematical theory of the propagation of earthquake waves through the earth the outer rocky shell of the earth, which is about two and one-half times as heavy as water, extends to it depth of less than 1000 miles. Inside of this shell is some material, probably metallic, which is more than five times as heavy as water. Estimates of the temperature at the centre of this nucleus range from 3000 degrees to 180,000 degrees F„ but these figures have little or no value for mathematicians have not yet found the law of the distribution of temperature from, the surface to the centre of the earth. The depth to which a mining shaft can be sunk is limited by the heat of the rocks, as the temperature at a depth of a mile in nearly all parts of the earth is so high that workmen cannot live in it, ev,en with ventillation.

The latest epidamie to worry the Dominion 13 "school opthalmia," which wns reported in Wellington a little while ago and is now more or lens prevalent in Christchuvch. The scientific name of this painful eye disease is "epidemic muco purulent conjunctivitis." .It is caused by a microbe, and is highly infectious. The principal symptorns arc severe inflammation, accompanied by a bloodshot condition, and the eyesight is affected. As the popular name of the epidemic indicates, it is mostly caught by children at school, but it is easily transmitted to adults, and the greatest care should be used to ensure that persons affected do not transmit contagion through towels or otherwise. The common treatment is to bathe the affected eye or eyes with a. solution of boracic acid. The symptoms usually continue for a week or ten days. An expert in conversation with a News reporter recently said that the total catch of about GO trappers at Mt. Pisa, Otago Central, for last season, was iao.ooo. He ridiculed the idea that about half-a-dozen could gtt 70,000 between them, as reported the other (tar. The peculiar cleansing properties of "Fairy Wonder" Dry Soap are not confined'.solely to the'washtub. "Fairy" will cleanse pots and pans, wooil and paint work and is excellent for Rerunning floors. It also cleanses hair brushes like magic. Also try a little Fairy in. your bath. It is delightful.—At all grocers.—* The W.C.T.U. meets to discuss Convention report in the late Good Templar Lodg? Room, April 14, at 2.30 p.m.