LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 July 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The £lOO,OOO worth of bonds offered by the Farmers’ Union Trading Company, Auckland, have been over-sub-scribed.

The total unimproved value of Greater Masterton, upon which rates will be levied, is in the neighborhood of, £854,993, as compared with £536,678 in 1907.

The new concrete wharf at Raglan, which has been constructed at a cost of £12,000, was officially opened by the Minister of Public Works, Hon. G. J. Coates, on Saturday last.

A few days ago a Nelson lady had the misfortune to drop her handbag, containing between £4O and £5O, over the wharf into the harbor. After about half an hour’s dragging with an oyster net the handbag was returned to its rightful owner.

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce, on representations by booksellers, passed a resolution strongly protesting against the proposal of the Minister of Education to establish stores to supply stationary and school requisites. It is estimated that it will require another £190,000 to erect all the steam plant required in Wanganui, and to carry out the tramway extensions and reticulate the streets sufficiently to use the current of the plant when in goingorder.

The recent rains, combined with the very mild weather, have had the result of bringing up a fairly good crop of late mushrooms in various parts of the Hawke’s Bay district. On the sunny slopes of the Greenmeadows hills a fairly heavy crop has appeared.

A fall of about £4 per ton has recently taken place in the price of bars for shoeing iron. The fall is no doubt due to prices receding at Home. It is not expected that a further decline will take place for some time, as prices are regulated by the rate of wages paid in the industry rather than by the cost of material.

A young Maori woman who was arrested in Wanganui and remanded to appear at Christchurch on a charge of theft of gowns from the Salvation Army Home, created some excitement for her escort. On the train journey she attempted to jump out of the window, and at Wellington she attempted to escape from the taxi, and later refused to board the ship and had to be carried up the gangway.

Instances of cargo pillaging continue to be reported, and frequently the loss involved is serious. A Wellington firm just lost over £5OO worth of goods, all from one case. When the case was opened up there the £5OO worth of goods originally consigned were missing, and in their place was a bag of sand of exactly the same gross weight as the goods that were ordered. The goods were an American consignment.

The chain-prayer pest is again in evidence in Wellington. Numerous people have received letters containing a prayer, which they have been asked to forward to six others, with a’threat that something terrible will happen if the instructions are not obeyed. Probably because she occupies an official position, the Mayoress (Mrs. R. A. Wright) has been deluged with copies of the prayer. She wishes it to be understood that each letter is disregarded and destroyed, end she makes an appeal to citizens not to -waste their money in sending the prayer on to her. She is a firm believer in the efficacy of prayer, but is not a supporter of the chain system.

The one-man control of electric overhead tramways in Canada and the United 'States has proved a thorough success, remarked Mr. W. J. Penn to the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce last evening. He instanced several towns that had tried the system, and found it successful. The experience was that its adoption did not result in a reduction of staff, but an extension of services. One city of 2'50,000 inhabitants, which had tried it, was so satisfied that it intended applying it to all its services. He felt sure it would be found equally satisfactory when tried in New Plymouth. Mr. Penn mentioned that many of the tramways in America charged a uniform fare; the passenger could in some cases travel all day if he so desired, and the speaker believed the idea could be copied in New Plymouth with advantage, say, making the fare a uniform 3d, whatever the distance.

A serious accident occurred on Thursday on the Mountain Road, Eltham. Mrs. H. B. Hamlin, who has been staying for a few days with Mrs. Walter Wilson, of Chiselhurst, went out riding with Miss Wilson. When going along Mountain Road Mrs. Hamlin’s horse bolted with her. At first Miss Wilson galloped after the bolting horse, then, fearing that the sound of her horse’s galloping would still further excite the runaway, she slackened pace. Later on she found Mrs. Hamlin lying on the road. At, first Mrs. .Hamlin did not appear to be seriously hurt, but shortly afterwards she relapsed into a state of unconsciousness. Upon examination it was found that she was suffering from a fracture of the skull, and up tc- yesterday afternoon she had not regained consciousness completely. —Argus. The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. wish to draw clients’ attention to their Stratford sale, which they are holding in their Stratford yards on Tuesday, sth inst., at 1 p.m. Full particulars of entries will' be found on page 8 of this issue.

“Fairy Wonder,” the incomparable washing powder, is still forging ahead in public, favor, the sales of this popular washing powder being now greater than any other compound on the market. Merit alone can have accounted for this wonderful success, and it is only a matter of time when “Fairy” wi,U be used almost exclusively throughout the Dominion.

At Deare’s Boot Arcade, £3OOO worth of imported footwear is being offered to the public of New Plymouth and districts. In all departments —ladies’, men’s, girls’ and boys’—the lines of footwear offering are new stock, and at the prices are sure to demand attention. Mothers and fathers of families should not miss this unusual chance of obtaining footwear that is serviceable, seasonable, and at exceedingly light nrices.

It was stated by a witness before the Electricity Commission in Sydney that electrical machinery can be made in Australia 40 per cent, cheaper than in England or America.

In renovating a cottage that was erected in Palmerston North about half a century ago, the owner recently discovered that the timber in the building was as sound as the day it was used. It need hardly be said that the timber used was totara.

A young man from Auckland, who was out of employment, arrived in Wanganui the other day, having walked the whole distance without being able to find a job. He states that at one mill he called at he found all Hindus employed, and the .same state of affairs greeted him at another farm along the line of route. He passed men all the way between Auckland and Wanganui carrying their swags. The Bay of Plenty Times (Tauranga) says: “Complaint is made by the natives that a number of Maori visitors (members of Ratana’s party) were refused refreshments at a local tea-room. The incident was reported to Itatana, who, we are informed, then visited the rooms personally to ascertain the position. He was accompanied by a native woman, and a cup of tea was asked for and refused. Ratana took strong exception to this and deputed his secretary to interview’ the editor, which he did, and asked that his public protest be recorded against this treatment of his party. “You can breed mutton and grow wool, but if you do not breed good men and women it is all useless,” said Mr. L. M. Isitt, M.P., when addressing a gathering of citizens at the Y.M.C.A. in Auckland on behalf of the boy scout movement. “But the children must be better in every sense than their parents,” he continued, “for forces are everywhere making for evil, and unless we set to work to counteract these the future before our children is not very bright.” He further expressed the opinion that the measure of determination the parents and citizens applied to the scout movement during the next few years would decide the influence over the country's youth in citizenship and Empire-building. At last night’s meeting of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce, Mr. W. J. Penn, in the course of his address on what he saw during his recent visit to Canada and the United States, said that in both countries the “boosting” of the various towns was very pronounced. A citizen was never heard to utter a word against his town; just the reverse. Everything was done to advertise the town’s attractions and resources. In New Zealand, he could not help feeling after he returned, they really had something to boost, and he was sure that if the country’s advantages were more generally known outside great benefit must result. The president (Mr. T. C. List) remarked that the local Tourist and Expansion League had for some years been printing and issuing literature relating to New Plymouth and Taranaki generally, and was now engaged in preparing a booklet for distribution at Home for the benefit of emigrants and those desirous of retiring in the colonies. Mr. H. Cocker said that he was attracted to New Zealand by a booklet dealing with the country, which showed the efficacy of this form of publicity. In this issue Mr. T. I. Lamason advertises his usual weekly sale at his Stratford mart. Included in the list to be offered are two gigs, one boy's pony, a piano, 10 kegs of staples, poultry and numerous sundries.

The rush of buyers at the Melbourne, Ltd.’s, Great Midwinter Sale bears out the theory that the public have been deferring‘purchasing, waiting for the expected fall in prices. Now that the drop has come people are buying very freely indeed, evidencing the fact that there is plenty of money available for genuine bargains.

Silk crepes and crepe Anglais for evening wear are now in good range at Morey’s. Call and select, while the display bears the double charm of novelty and variety. A sale of importance to dairy farmers is to be held at Wirihana Road (about two miles from Hawera) on Tuesday next, when there will be submitted to auction the whole of the live and dead stock of Mr. E. Thurston, whose lease is expiring, the herd consisting mainly of high-grade Jerseys, with a small percentage of good Friesians, all of which were selected for their good qualities. The stock are in the pink of condition, and are wintering on turnips and ensilage. The implements to be offered are practically new and up-to-date, and the furniture (being contents of an 8-roomed house) is in good order. Particulars will be seen in Messrs. R. P. Morrissey and Co.’s advertisement on page 8. The Centenary Campaign services in connection with the New Zealand Methodist Church will begin in Whiteley Memorial Church to-morrow, and also in the Fitzroy and St. Aubyn churches. The Rev. F. G. Brooke, a. former minister of the circuit, will conduct the morning service, and in the evening the Rev. A. C. Lawry, the centenary secretary, will conduct the popular monthly people’s service. He will speak on “Joy for the Man and Hope for the Masses.” The musical portion of the service will begin at 6.45. Mr. Baden Bellringer will be soloist. There will be a limited Sunday school gathering in Whiteley in the afternoon, and a mass meeting on Monday evening, at 7.30.