LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Yesterday was the 54th anniversary of the birth of Queen Mary. Flags were flown on the Government Buildings in New Plymouth in honor of the occasion.

“What do you mean by saying you would not work for a miserable £1 a day?” said Mr. W. H. Bundle, S.M., to a witness in a Magistrate’s Court ease. “Because I can get from 30s to £2 a day,” was the reply.

A decree absolute in the divorce case of Mary J. Stanley, of New Plymouth, v. John Herbert Stanley, was granted by Mr. Justice Reed in the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, yesterday, a decree nisi having been secured by petitioner at the previous sessions of the court. A witness at the Magistrate’s Court at Eketahuna, was questioned as to his experience with ragwort. Witness: “In the South Island we have never seen it. When we came here my wife used to put it in the vases.” The prevailing slump in primary markets (says the Otago Daily Times) is apparently discouraging land settlement, for no returned soldier applicants came forward for five sections of land in the Kelso district, for which a ballot was to- have been held.

Motions for discharge in bankruptcy were granted as follows by His Honor Mr. Justice Reed in the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, yesterday: Iles L. Whiting, of Hawera (Mr. O’Dea); Thomas Carson, of Hawera (Mr. C. H. Croker.

The three shields presented to the Taranaki Rugby Union by T. C. List, J. McLeod, and R. Barlow respectively for different competitions, are now on view in the window of Mr. J. Bennett, jeweller, New Plymouth. The shields, which have been designed and made by Mr. Bennett, are particularly attractive. Each bears a large raised silver shield in the centre, with an appropriate engraving, and spaced around these are smaller shields, also of silver, on which will be engraved the names of winning clubs.

For Children's Hacking Cough, Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. 1

"Albert Edward Orlando Wellington Brooks, and it is not my fault,” declared a witness in the Divorce Court at Wellington, when asked his name.

The postmen will in future make two deliveries in New Plymouth on Thursdays and only one on Saturdays. There will be no delivery in the afternoon on Saturdays in future.

When Waitoiara county councillors were informally discussing by-laws for the county, it was mentioned that bylaws recently drawn up by Taranaki County Councils had cost £llOO to formulate, the legal expenses alone amounting to £350 (says yesterday’s Wanganui Chronicle).

“I wish to make a very emphatic statement,” said Mr. J. A. Frostick before the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. "I make it after very careful consideration of the question from every point of view from which I can regard it. I am strongly in favor of national control prices. It is coming the world over, as sure as we are alive.”

A fullrgrown kiwi was caught near Waverley on Monday last. A farmer was working on his farm, and his dog', who had been hunting in some bush, suddenly appeared with the bird and dropped it at his master’s feet. There are colonies of kiwis in New Plymouth. Mr. W. W. Smith, late curator of the Pukekura Park, is the only person who has succeeded in rearing kiwis in captivity.

An. important conference of representatives of local bodies which have joined the Taranaki Local Bodies’ Association will foe held in Eltham on June 6, when rules of the association will be drawn up, and the question of wages will be among the matters to come up for consideration. Up to the present seven of the ten counties in the Taranaki province have joined the association, viz., Eltham, Hawera, Waimate West, Stratford, Inglewood, Tara, naki and Clifton. Those which have not so far signified their intention of joining the association are Patea, Egmont and Whangamomona Counties.

A good deal of interest has been aroused, particularly in Christchurch, by the circulation of petitions for the release from prison of Whitta, who wag convicted recently on a ; bookmaking charge. It is said that the petition is being well signed, and on the other hand the Council of Churches has protested against the movement. The matter was mentioned -on Wednesday to the ActingPremier, Sir Francis Bell, who said he understood a petition was coming along, and that when it came it would receive consideration on its merits.

Sir James Wilson, in the course of a letter apologising for his absence from the conference of the Farmers’ Union at Masterton, referred to the advantageous effects of the conference, inasmuch as the discussions and decisions arrived at largely influenced the Dominion Conference in its ultimate decisions. Sir James Wilson pointed out that the farmers were up against hard times, but were sure to face the ordeal as courageously as possible. He hoped the good fellowship that existed between employer and employee would continue, and that farmers would endeavor to retain their hands even though times were hard.

Many New Zealand Congregationalists are' not at all satisfied in regard to the methods being adopted in seeking to effect union with, the Presbyterians, states the Christchurch Sun. The last quarterly meeting of the Linwood Congregational Church resolved to call upon the sister churches of the Canterbury district to review the whole position in its present aspect, to weigh all available evidence pro and con. and to record by means of a plebiscite the vote of all church members in the matter Congregationalism’s liberty for the in dividual from dogma and from external ecclesiastical authority is likely to prove a thorn in the flesh of organised and orthodox Presbyterianism.

A new channel is believed to be forming at the entrance to the Manukau harbor. A report on the matter from its harbor masters came before the Auckland Harbor Board this week. This stated that the banks outside the heads were at present in the course of transition, the indications being that a new channel was forming to the north-west. A new channel in such a position would be a great improvement upon the present one, as vessels would have a straight course, being head on to the sea'going out and having the sea directly behind them going in. The board authorised that the survey recommended be made as soon as possible. Preparations for it have been made. The financial position of the Eltham County Council was discussed by members at a special meeting held on Wednesday to consider estimated expenditure for the ensuing year, and the chairman (Cr. C. J. Belcher), pointed out that the council would have to keep a tight hand on its finances. A letter was received from the Bank of New Zealand requesting the council to go into estimated expenditure. The council was asked to lean on the bank as lightly as possible, in order that they might be able to assist primary producers and traders as much as possible. Cr. McWilliam asked for special consideration for the Omoana Biding. They were in a peculiar position. All the ratepayers were grazing, chiefly sheep, and they could not pay an increased rate. They therefore proposed to do away with the services of two of the five men employed in this riding. This would reduce their expenditure by £506, 'but they could not reduce their overdraft at the same time. They had not a single door of revenue open. It was estimated that it would take five years to relieve the world of surplus wool. Subsequently, the following rates were approved: South Riding, 2%d; Mangotoki, iy 2 d; Kaponga, Eltham, 2%d; Omoana, 3d. A motion moved by Cr. McWilliam in favor of a 2fd rate for the Omoana Riding was defeated. Cr. McWilliam asked if the resolution fixing the rate compelled the riding to maintain the present staff, and the chairman pointed out that there was nothing in the resolution regarding the staff.

Now that everyone can keep holiday on Saturday the New Plymouth Beautifying Society hope to have a substantial increase in the number of workers. Much remains to be done to get the ground ready for planting. The Friendly Societies’ Dispensary, New Plymouth, notify elsewhere that their premises will not be open on Saturday afternoons, but will be open on Saturday evenings from 7 to 8.30. To-day, at 11.30 a.m., L. A. Nolan and Co. will sell four tons of Canadian cement without reserve. The sale will take place at the Public Trust office, new buildings, Queen Street.

The amount expended upon education in New Zealand last year was £2,460,115, compared with £2,031,824 in the previous year.

"It seems that creditors in this district axe pretty easy with bankrupts,” remarked Mr. Justice Reed in the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, yesterday, in considering moltions for , discharge. His Honor had just commented on the fact that in one case the bankrupt had not made any payments to his creditors, and there were no objections to the application. A resident of the Old Country, writing recently to a brother in the Eketahuna district, stated that the American Meat Trust was busy buying up all the retail meat shops possible in England, wherever the price was within the bounds of reason. It was stated also that Vesty’s had acquired a good many shops.

"When I was in America I had numerous arguments regarding ensilage,” said Mr. A. H. Cockayne, of the Department of Agriculture, at Featherston. "I pointed out that in good places we could grow 30, 140, and even 50 tons of swedes, and feed them off in the fields, but they thought I was as big a liar as they were.”

The Auckland Star says:-—-The price of gas stoves in New Zealand has gone up to an alarming level. One popular make for which tjie landed cost in 1914 was £5 5s had risen by December last to £lO 2s 9d, and is now £l3 Is 2d; another make, the landed cost of which in 1914 was £3 2s 7d, is now £7 9s Id. If the stove-making industry cannot exist these prices it is high time that the works were closed down.

A new trial is to be applied for in connection with the divorce petition of Prince v. Prince, which was heard in the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, this week, and in which a decree was refused. At yesterday’s sitting Mr. O’Dea who appeared on behalf of the petitioner (Charles Prince), asked if the motion for another hearing could be considered before His Honor at Wanganui, and Mr. Justice Reed assented. Tie grounds of the application are that the verdict of the jury was against the weight of evidence, and that the answers returned to the jtwo issues were self-contradic-tory.

In the recently-issued annual report for 1920 of the Patea Harbor Board, it is pointed out that the excess of revenue over expenditure is proof of a satisfactory year’s results, the bar and channel being in a very satisfactory state, and the works at the heads completed. Dredging is still proceeding, although the cost of running the dredge has risen considerably. The secretary reports that the excess of revenue shows a balance of £931 18s 3d, exports totalling 16,301 tons, and imports 13,862 tons. In the financial statement, the 'principal of revenue are wharfages £2483 7s Jd, tonnage dues £720 Ils, and rents £976 7s 4d, while the main, items of expenditure are interest on loans £1575, bank interest and charges £441 19s 3d, office expenses £589 5s Id, and pilotage expenses £361 6s 4d.

The attention of subscribers to the public circulating library is drawn to the announcement that from this date forward the weekly half-holiday hitherto held on Thursday afternoon is altered to Saturday afternoon.

The unsold portion of original pictures is now on view at the Foresters’ HiVl, Gill Street, for private sale. Inspection invited.

The attention of intending exhibitors at the Taranaki A. and P. Society’s forthcoming winter show is directed to an advertisement appearing in this issue, urging them to make their entries whilst in town to-day. The office of the Society will remain open until 9 p.m. tonight/ for the convenience of those engaged during the day. Entries will close definitely to-morrow, at 5 p.m. Notable among the feast of bargains provided by the tradespeople to-morrow to celebrate the inauguration of Friday as market day will he the special bargains offered by the Melbourne, Ltd. Just think of: Men’s pyjamas, 12/6; ladies’ Petoiie coats, 59/6; navy silk, 3/11; hardwear trousers, 16/6, and many others. Don’t fail to visit the Melbourne.