LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the New Plymouth Court yesterday, before Mr. H. R. Cattley, J.P., George Henry Blane was convicted for drunkenness, and fined 10s. On a charge of committing a breach of a prohibition order, defendant was remanded till the 17th inst.

The gate receipts for the two days of the Stratford Racing Club’s meeting amounted to £2251 16s, compared with £1589 4s last year- The various Government taxes payable on the meeting are as follows:—Stake duty, £4l; amusement tax £100; dividend tax, £1829 Ils 6d; totalisator tax, £2032 13s 'dd; total, £4003 ss. Speaking on public works, in the course of an interview, the Prime Minister, the Hon. W. F. Massey, said that the Government had the money in hand and its intention was to push on with its public works policy as quickly as the labor and material available would allow.

The Consul-Generalship of the United States will shortly be removed from Auckland to Wellington. This change, said Mr. Winslow, who will be succeed, ed by Mr. D. F. Wilbur, now Consul at Genoa, has been in contemplation for some time. It is usual for the ConsulGeneral to be stationed in the capital city and vice-consuls in other important centres- Mr. M. J. McAfferty, of Wellington, will be placed in charge at Auckland as vice-consul, and the commercial work of the consulate will 6e carried on as before.—Press Association.

“If the leaders of our Empire fail to maintain the naval supremacy of the Empire they will not be doing their duty,” said the Prime Minister, Mr. WF. Massey, when speaking at Manurewa on Sunday. “I am speaking on behalf of peace,” continued Mr. Massey, “because I know and I have seen that the British Navy rs essential te our Dominions, which are separated, or rather connected, by the sea, our great highway. When it comes to the question of main, taining the navy I hope the good sense of the Anglo-Saxon people will be uppermost and they will be prepared to maintain the navy even at personal sacrifice.”

“Again and again I have wondered how our soldiers lived and. endured under active service conditions in France,” said the Rev. D. C. Herron, M.C., when speaking at Manurewa on Sunday. “Strangely enough they groused when in comfort, but, when the mud was up to their thighs and the bread ration was a loaf between eight men, they took their hardships with a light heart and a fine spirit of self-sacrifice. And strangely enough,” said, the speaker, turning to the Prime Minister, who was seated on the platform, “they blamed it on to you.” (Laughter). ‘“The boys said it was only because they were ‘Bill Massey’s tourists’ that they had left their happy homes and struck this trouble.” (Laughter).

Sir James Wilson, in a New Year message to farmers in the Wanganui Herald, says:—“When in boyhood days 1 was at school near London the vernacular of the street was not long in being, adopted. The Londoner is great at coining phrases and cries. These, often repeated, are echoed everywhere without understanding what was meant or their origin. One about this time was .‘Keep your pecker up,’ about which there is no mystery as to the meaning. It is what I should like to offer as my contribution to your New Year collection, as a suggestion to the farmers who take a despondent view of the future. The farmer is the most important class of the community. Generally he stays at home and doesn’t talk much, though given to much thought; to-day his success means that the dissipated wealth will be restored to the State. The more he works and the greater assistance given to him the sooner this will be done, i suggest, therefore, he should ‘Keep his pecker up’ even if there are threatening clouds on his horizon, with the sure promise that they will disappear* and the weather will be fine.” ■xt °f the fatal accident in New Plymouth last Friday night, Miss Ruby M. Coates, was not a school teacher, as stated in the evidence at the inquest. Miss Coates lived at home with her parents. The attention of Urenui residents is directed to sale of furniture and effects advertised in this issue for Monday next, by Newton King, Ltd Notice is inserted that Mr. J. Forbes (late engineer for the Kaupokonui Dairy Co.) has joined Mr. F. H. Jellyman’s business at the Egmont Garage, Egmont Street, New Plymouth. All work entrusted to Mr. Forbes will receive prompt attention and guaranteed satisfaction. Lovely white silk tennis and neglige shirts, 29/6, at the Melbourne, Ltd;; genuine Shirley President braces, 6/11; men’s colonial knitted socks, 2/11; pure wool cashmere socks, 6/6 and 7/6; boys’ braces, 1/11 to 2/6; children’s tussore silk tunic suits, 10/6; men’s light Oxford working shirts, 11/6. Grand value. Fairies once were little girls, Who flitted to and fro, But “Fairy” is a powder now, That washes white a-s snow.

Opunake, in common with other parts of Taranaki, favors Saturday as the tialf -holiday.

The population of Auckland is now generally estimated to be very close to 150,000. A mistake was made in the names of those receiving New Year honors. Wellington papers give the name Mr. Vaughan-Davies (M.P. for Cardiganshire) as among the new Barons, not the Rev. Father Vaughan, as published in the Taranaki papers. A Maori, who had been visiting the “miracle man” at Palana, joined the morning train on Saturday en route for Marton races. Hp amused the occupants of the carriage by remarking: “By corry, he te good fellow! I have te sore leg and he fix me up in a few minutes. Then I. tink I ask him te winner of te Marton Cup. Ten I say to myself, ‘that no cood.’ You know he might make my leg bad again and I no gee te blooming cup at all!”

Arrests made by the Wellington police last week included two girls 18 years of age, both well dressed. The charge was one of drunkenness. According to the police,, story the girls spent New Year’s Eve with two young men and a bottle of port wine. They were subsequently found drunk in Tory Street. When the girls appeared at the Court they seemed to treat the matter as a joke. Both were convicted and discharged.

On Sunday afternoon some girls saw a lady’s bag displayed in the window of Mr. F. J. Boase, Hawera, smouldering as if on fire, and reported the matter to Mr. Pettett, fire superintendent. On going to the shop Mr. Pettett found that the rays of the sun reflected by a mirror. and concentrating on the bag, had actually caused a fire. He obtained the key of the shop, and removed the bag before the damage could spread to other goods in the window.

The Auckland Star has the following statement: “We regret To have to make the announcement that owing to the tremendous increase in the cost of paper from £35 a ton last July to £6B 8s today we have found it necessary to increase the rates of advertising from'the first of the New Year. The Star, which is now sold to subscribers at 1«5 per week, shows a loss of one-half-penny per copy. The policy of increasing the price of 3d per copy was considered, but we think advertisers would prefer to pay a little more so that our extensive circulation may be maintained. The proprietors hope that conditions will be more favorable at the end of 1921 and that the tariff may again be lowered.”

Writing to a Manawatu Standard representative from Melbourne, Mr. Gordon McMinn says that the country right throughout the Commonwealth is going to produce the most bountiful harvest yet garnered. The Malee wheat crop is estimated to produce the stupendous return of 40 to 45 bushels to an acre, and there is a wonderfully increased acreage under crop. “Just now,” added the writer, “we are experiencing a rather critical period of financial stringency on account of the action of the banka in attempting to counteract the almost insane extravagance that is so pronounced. In some quarters a feeling akin to panic prevails, but the extremely favorable conditions in the country will do much to restore buoyancy.”