LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The New Zealand Shipping Co.'s liner Otaramu left Newcastle for New Plymouth at seven o'clock yesterday morning, and is due hero on Saturday. The Otaramy, wag originally fixed ito leave Newcastle on Monday, and it is incorrectly stated in the shipping news that she is due to-morrow. The New Plymouth watersidcrs, who went on strike on Monday, resumed work yesterday. . A busy day's work was experienced, four vessels being in port. Regarding the irregularities in the election of a school committee lit Rowan the sub-committee delegated by the Education Board to inquire into the matter reported back to yesterday's meeting stating that the members elected on 7th June (the second date) must be held to be the committee for the present year. Two tram ears, one travelling to and the otjier from the Breakwater, collided in negotiating the loop near Cutflold Road yesterday morning. Both cars suffered a certain amount of damage, particularly that travelling towards the breakwater, portions of the woodwork above the entrance being shattered. No one was hurt.

A successful sale of city properties was held in the Chamber of Commerce, Wellington, last Monday evening, when Mr. T. B. Arthur, of Auckland, acting in conjunction with Messrs, Gray and Cockro'ft, of Auckland and Wellington, sold on account of the Luxford Bros.' trustees, their brick shops and cordial factory in Upper Willis street for £B4OO to Mr. D. R. O'Donnell, and on account of Major Chappie, ' M.D-, his Willis street residence of £6950 to Mr. B. Goldberg. He also sold on account of Mrs. Watt her three Adelaide road cottages for £BOO. the purchaser also being Mr. B. Goldberg, making a total of £16,950.

The Hawera Male Choir gave a very successful concert on Monday night, Mr. P. G. Bourke, of Auckland, being the soloist, A feature of the concert was the first appearand of the orchestra, of some 20 performers, which has been formed in connection with tile choir. The Star reports that the orchestra in every way justified the optimism of the conductor.

At the monthly meeting of the Taranaki Education Board yesterday the Egmonth Village and Upper Mangorei committees were granted permission to place Rolls of Honor in their schools, and the Frankley and Bird committees were given permission to set aside a site on their respective properties for the erection of a fallen soldiers' monument.

Messrs. H. R. Cattley and €. D. Sole, representing the United Friendly Societies, waited on the Hawera Hospital Board on Monday in reference to the proposed increase in fees >to be charged to members of the Societies for hospital treatment. After a long discussion the Board decided that the charges for Friendly Society patients be, 4s Gd for children up to 14, and Os 6d for those over that age.—Star. In the opinion 'of a member of the Education Board there is a good ease for the Price Tribunal awaiting investigation in Taranaki. In going through the accounts at yesterday's meeting he pointed out that a certain firm in an outside town had sold benzine to an Education Board officer for 24s a tin. This was at the rate of forty-eight shillings per case, for charging which price a Taumarunui firm was recently lined £75. The members of the Board decided to refer the account back to the trader.

.Speaking at a meeting of the Taranaki Education Board yesterday, the chairman (Mr. P. J. White) said lie was greatly in favor of organised sport being included in the carrieulnm of schools, and he was of opinion that in the near future more attention won!' have to be devoted to this matter in primary schools, 011 the lines of what was being done in the secondary departments. He believed that at present many of the children, by the time they had reached the stage of going into the secondary schools, had lost the taste for play in respect of many of our g&mei.

"Two bachelors would not be expected to, have fourteen pairs of ladies' stockings in a bath in their house."—Mr. C. H. Weston in the Supreme Court yesterday.

A Taranaki resident now travelling in the United States, writing to a friend, says: —"Servants are becoming very scarce here, and people are building smaller houses and going in for all kinds of labor-saving devices, such as wash-ing-up machines, which are a huge success." »

At the meeting of the Eltham School Committee on Monday, the headmaster reported as follows:—The roll number is 356, but .the average attendance is low through bad weather and sickness. Septic sores which were prevalent have almost all been cured lately through parents adopting the treatment prescribed by Dr. Elizabeth Gunn.—Argus. At the inquest held at Eltham on Monday evening by Mr. T. A. B. Bailey, S.M., into the death of Peter Legg on Saturday, the verdict was that death was due to a fracture of the skull, 110 blame being attachable to the rider of the bicycle, but the evidence showed that deceased was under the influence of liquor and lurched in front of the bicycle.

The difficulty in procuring probationers is still exercising the minds of the members of the Hawera Hospital Board. Notwithstanding the increase in the salary offered, there were only three replies to an advertisement, and as a way out of the difficulty the chairman suggested on Monday that they should invoke the aid of the Immigration Department. After a little discussion it was decided to endeavor to obtain probationers in this way. It was thought that such an offer as the Board could make would be sufficiently attractive to many girls in the Old Country. The Wellington Price Investigation Tribunal has returned to Wellington after its sittings at - New Plymouth, Stratford, and Hawera.. It reports thai about twenty eases were investigated, covering a wide range of articles, from the glass screen of a motor car to a small pair of shoes repaired for a child five years of age. Almost every commodity of food, clothing, boots, and shoes, etc,, was concerned in the hearing of the various cases. It was found that complaints against sdaring prices were general, the commodities chiefly affected being articles of food and apparel. The work of a Grand Jury is -usually of a formal and brief nature, but the Grand Jury at New Plymouth yesterday were kept closely engaged for .three hours investigating the five criminal charges before the Court. Most of the time was taken up over the Alleged infanticide case, in which they had to examine every witness before bringing in a unanimous No Bill. The Rahotu alleged arson case also presented'some unusual features, as did the alleged Okau sheep-stealing case. The other cases did not entail much time or difficulty. Generally the work of the Grand Jury takes but an hour or an hour and ahalf. Yesterday it was three o'clock before the jurors were able to leave the Courthouse.

The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. notify that their Matau sale, which was carded for Friday 20th, has been postponed till Friday, September, 17.