LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 May 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A failure of the gas supply for a brief period last night, which was due to the gas holder catching and thus taking «fr the pressure, was speedily remedied by the manager.

The Egniont County Council yesterday decided to apply to the Government for giants towards the upkeep of the Cape Road, and £-200 on the Kahui Road on a £ for £ basis, on account of the tourist traffic on these roads.

During the 24 hours ended at noon yesterday 103 eases of influenza were notified in tbo Auckland health district (says a Press telegram). Of these cases nine were severe, comprising five in the suburbs, three at Thames, and; one at Hamilton.

At yesterday',; meeting of the Egniont County Council, the chairman (Mr. W, R. Wright) congratulated the Opunako people on having formed a railway league, which he hoped would be the forerunner of a railway board. He thought they should give up the idea of always leaning on the Government. A light railway to New Plymouth would considerably ease the wear and tear on their roads. He referred to the progressive move made in this direction by the Te Awamutu people, who had formed a railway board to construct a line from Te Awamutu to the Eotorua line.

The Hawera Acclimatisation Society is in a strong financial position, it having at the beginning of this season a credit balance of £ISS, whilst the excess of assets over liabilities is estimated at £753. The curator reported that there had been an increase during the year of 310" yearlings and 28,000 fry. A number of dams had been stocked with fry and next season there should be a record output. No trouble was experienced last season in getting perch, as the new breeding dam had been a great success. Grey, teal, and spoonbill ducks had bred plentifully about the hatchery this year. Pheasants had been liberated in the Elt.ham and Kaponga districts at the end of last shooting season. A greenstone Maori mere was presented to the Prince of Wales in Wellington, on behalf of Mrs. Riekus and her brother, Mr. Teone Pobio, of Otaki. The mere is portion of a historic mere, about 2ft Gin long, which has -been in the possession of the Pobio family in Otago and Canterbury since long before the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand. It was used with great execution in the stirring days of inter-tribal fighting, and has been cherished as a family heirloom ever since. Twenty years ago the historic weapon was cut, and the handsome ornament handed to His Royal Highness is a part of it. It is of the finest greenstone, about nine inches lons, and is splendidly cut and polished. Returns furnished by the Imperial Supplies Department show increases in the quantities of meat and dairy produce awaiting shipment. The total quantity of meat awaiting shipment on April 15 was 0,325,587 carcaseis, compared with 5.738.04(1 carcases on March !6. an infvfsc nf 587,541 carcases. Shipments during the month were 21,743 quarters 'if K«r '06.748 carcases of mutton, and 308,984 carcases of lambs. Cheese in sWo on April 26 amounted to 323,454 crates, an increase of 40,043 crates. The shipments between March 20 and April 26 totalled 53,C42 crates. There were 120.014 boxes of butter awaiting shipment on April 24, compared with 77,482 boxes on March 2!>. The. ••hipmerits during the month totalled 74,510 boxes. Stocks of wool on Imperial account were reduced from 45(1,257 bales to 406,047 bales.

Replying to a member, at the annual meeting of the Hawera Acclimatisation Society, the president Raid that so far the New Plymouth Society had refused this year to endorse the licenses Issued hy the Hnwera Society. There had hcen some correspondence over the matter, which would be further considered hy the New Plymouth Society at its next meeting. Asked if the stand taken up by New Plymouth was due to Hawera's refusal to amalgamate, the president said that strong representations had been made by New Plymouth some time ago in favor of amalgamation, and a meeting of representatives from the Now Plymouth, Stratford and Hawera Societies had been held in Stratford. Hawera was in a fairly good position financially, and New Plymouth's idea wa-s to pool the. whole of the assets. Hawera, which had the freehold of its hatchery and no liabilities, could not ..consent to this. The real stumbling block, however, was Stratford, and had it not been for Stratford he believed Hawera and New Plymouth would have been able to come to terms. —Star. A number of farmers in Taranaki have been experimenting this year with various fodder plants, and last month an officer of the Department of Agriculture visited the district for the purpose of reporting upon the results obtained from Japanese millet. "The first place I visited was Mr. F. G. Smith's, at Tarurutangi," the officer said in commenting upon his inspection. "He has eight acres under Japanese millet, sown the first week in November. He started feeding about the middle of January, when the crop was apout 12 inches high. Forty-tive cows were turned on, but for the first week were allowed to remain only half an hotir each day. This time was extended to tlvree-quarters of an hour the second week, after which up to the time of my visit on 10th March, the cow 3 had the run of the paddock for three or four hours each day, and there is still good feed cm the ground. The cows appear to relish the millet, and are continuing to do so well on it that Mr. Smith has not yet started to feed out the soft turnip crop, but more stock will now be put on to finish off and enable the ground to be ploughed for sowing down with grass. The amount of seed sown per acre- was 151b. Tlu3 would appear to be too light, as the crop was on the thin side. A further 101b of seed per acre would have been advantageous, and Mr. Smith says that in ■future he would not bow less than Sfllb per acre." The officer also visited the. farms of Mr. Herbert Sampson, at Bell P.look, and Mr. 1). Knuckey, at Waitara, where he found equally good results upon a somewhat smaller scale being obtained. Mr. Sampson sowed 51 acrei-. for ensilage, and estimates he lias ap--proach'mg\r>o tons of green weight of material. Mr. Knuckey sowed 3.1 acres in the proportion of 151b millet seed to one bushel of grass, and claims to have H tons of green material. In connection with these, experiment* it has to be remembered that millet is a warm climate plant, and would not be likely to do well even in the North Island in a cold season.

The ove.T.-lielm'.ng experience of thousands testir- to the .-alue of "Nazol," as nn effective'precaution a: Inst influenza, For Bronchial Coughs, take Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, 1/9, 2/0.

Twelve degrees of frost were registered in Masterton on Friday morning.

The petition asking for a continuous telephone service in Stratford, which lias already been largely signed by the business people, was circulated again yesterday, and a satisfactory number of new signatures were obtained.

''When a man has got all those cows to milk he'd better go," said the Judge at the Supreme Court yesterday when a dairy farmer asked excuse from jury service, on the ground that he bad 12 cows to milk night and morning, and lived 9 miles away from the Court. The cheering welcome of the crowded streets in Wellington was acknowledged by the Prince of Wales with a grave face until a girl cried out suddenly as he passed a few feet from her: "ISinile, Prince, oh smile!" Prince Charming turned, and seeing the eager face 1 perforce smiled, and waved his hand, and a cry of delight went up from the little group of girls who stood around their favored friend.

His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman intimated to counsel at the Supreme Court yesterday morning while conferring with them as to the cases to come on for hearing, that he could not remain in New Plymouth longer than Friday, as he had to be in Auckland and that any cases which were not heard then would have to be adjourned, and would probably be taken next week by another judge.

Cheap hydro-electric power in Tasmania is reported to be attracting: important industries. It is proposed to establish Hobart a sewing machine factory, to produce 20,000 machines per annum, and to supply them to the Australian and New Zealand markets. The initial capital of the company is given at £50,000, and it is reported to have a strong backing of leading Australian financiers.

As an indication of why news printing paper is so dear, an American trade journal states that sales of ground wood pulp were made recently at 80 dollars a ton, f.o.b. mill. The price a few years ago was 10 dollars. Small lots of pulp wood were bought by mills at the unheard-of price of 35 dollars a cord, as against three and a half dollars before the war. . A somewhat Berious accident befel Mr. Norman Hughes on Saturday night when riding home on a motor cycle from Waitotara (reports the' Patea Press). When nearing Moumalmki he met a car with the light* full on, which temporarily blinded him, with the result that'he smashed'into the car,' 1 sustaining a broken leg. A young woman inmate of the Auckland Mental Hospital, who had been missing for five days,, was discovered at Orey Lynn on Saturday morning wandering about in male attire. When questioned by the police, she said she preferred her present dress, as it was.less trouble, but lOie refused to disclose where she had obtained the clothes. At the police station, to which she was taken prior to being returned to the Mental Hospital, the woman fainted from weakness and hunger, os she had not eaten any food for three days.

"Fairy Wonder" Dry Soap is the marvel of modern invention, and as a timesaver in the home deserves to rank equally with the sewing machine. Backbreaking wash-board drudgery is a thing of the past to all users of "Fairy", a fact which is testified to by thousands of happy housewives. All grocers stock it.

The Melbourne Ltd. hare r-plendid .stocks of men's Roslyn winter underwear, also Mosgiel and Canterbury makes. Prices have been carefully fixed and will bo found to compare favorably with other makes on the market, His Majesty the Baby! Mother love will now warn her it is time to provide soft, warm clothing for baby's health and comfort. Mothers know now that The Big Store, Waitara, is the best place for baby clothe!?, and will notice with pleasure a special price list on page four.