LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A record cargo of mutton was lifted at Wanganui by the liner Port Curtis, comprising 56,689 carcases of mutton and 14,470 of lamb, in addition to large consignments of general cargo. The Eastern Extension Company’s cables, which have been out of order for some time, are still interrupted and there is little prospect of their being repaired for some little time yet.—Press Association.

A large shipment of fruit, 2084 cases jn all, reached Wellington by the Manuka from Sydney yesterday. Of this 1628 cases are for Wellington and the North Island districts, the balance being for Lyttelton. —Press Association.

A man and a woman, both statutory first offenders, were brought before Mr.’ H. R. Cattley, J.P., in the New Plymouth Police Court yesterday on charges of drunkenness. Each was convicted and fined ss, and the man was ordered to pay 3s cab hire. In the casq. of a woman a charge of a breach of a prohibition order was adjourned for hearing before the magistrate. The by-law requiring sections on which houses are built to have minimum frontages of 40ft. to a street was referred to by Councillor Large at the meeting of the Borough Council on Monday night. In reply to his question, the general manager (Mr. F .T. Bellringer) said that in the Municipal Corporations Act of 1920, provision was made for sub-divisional plans to be submitted for approval to the local authority concerned before being deposited in the Deeds Office, but this clause was not to come \into force until April 1, 1922. It had been urged for a long time that there should be some power of supervision over the cutting-up of properties in towns.

Coal is to be dearer. Taranaki representatives of the West Coast coal companies have been advised of an advance in the price of coal, due to increased, shipping freights. The increase in freight from the West Coast to New Plymouth amounted to 3s 3d per ton, which brings the freight up to 9s 3d. Within the last month or two an increase in the price of coal of 2s 6d per ton was made by the West Coast mine owners, but this, it was stated, had not been passed on to the consumers. It is expected, however, that the latest increase will have to be accepted by the public. The Inglewood County Council yesterday decided to place main roads improvements loans totalling £90,000 before a poll of ratepayers at a date to be arranged. For Children’s Hacking Cough, Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure. 1

It is fifty-nine years since the first telegraph line in New Zealand was completed. A business man in the Wairarapa who advertised for a man to drive his motor van, received no fewer than three hundred replies. When a judgment debtor was called in the Magistrate’s Court at Auckland last week, and who owed only a small amount, it was explained that he had just sold his business for £4OOO.

One of the latest cures effected by Ratana is reported from Edendale, Southland, where Mrs. Jackson, wife of the local postmaster, who had suffered for ten years from a tubercular spine, is now able to walk about, and considers herself well on the way to a permanent recovery.

“The sawmilling industry on the Main Trunk line is reported to be slack at present, due, of course, to the depression and to the high price of timber restricting building operations,” stated Mr. Carl Anderson, a former resident of Bongotea, who now lives at Karioi, to a Standard representative. It is anticipated that in ten years from now sawmilling along the Main Trunk will be finished owing to the areas of bush having been cut out. Sawmillers will then have to go north or to the East Coast in search of milling timber. Writing to a relative in Masterton from Akron, Ohio, U.S., an officer in the Salvation Army says that the people of the United States have just passed through the worst period of unemployment ever known in recent years. No less than 35,00(l men were in the Salvation Army Citadel in Akron for food since January 1. “There is surely no work here—you could not buy a job,” says the writer, and adds, “The soldier boys here are pretty well up against it, with no work and no money, and I have to deal with them every day to see they get some food.

Probably Russia would dispute the claim of Australia to have the longest straight railroad track, with its 300-mile run without a bend. When the railway between Moscow and Petrograd was projected the engineers submitted their plans to the Czar, who objected to the tortuous route. It was he was told, the most economical, as avoiding many very difficult engineering problems. But the autocrat drew a straight line on a map between the two citiees, and ordered the railway to follow that line. And, in spite of expense, the track was so constructed, running in practically a straight line for the 360 miles separating Moscow from Petrograd. “We had a very sad case the other day/’ stated an Auckland social worker to a reporter, during the course of an interview, “in which a mother came and begged for a dinner for her children. They had tasted neither meat nor potatoes for nearly a week, and were begging for something besides bread. We sent her away rejoicing, with meat and vegetables and some wood to make a fire to cook a real baked dinner. People in ordinary circumstances cannot understand what a real treat a ‘baked’ dinner is to scores of children in Auckland. Whenever they do get a little meat it is stewed, so as to make it go farther, and they get very tired of watery stewwhen it forms the base of the principal meal day after day!” The possibility of margarine displacing butter as an article of diet is often a topic among producers. The subject was mentioned by the Minister of Education (Hon. C. J. Parr) at the Hawera Show yesterday. “We have been told that margarine is going to wipe you out, but I don’t believe it,” said the Minister. No one who had tasted New Zealand butter would descend to margarine, though he had met a gentleman who affirmed that he could not tell the difference between New Zealand butter at 2s 6d per lb and margarine at 54d per lb. Of course there was the regulating factor of the purchaser’s purse, and if the people of England kept going on strike they would not be able to purchase much. It was pleasing to note, however, that the latest big dispute had come to an end and that the strikers were going back to work. It was no time for strikes.

A disturbing incident at the Municipal Theatre, Napier, ou Saturday night completely spoiled the first half of a moat delightful performance by the Williamson’s comic opera company. A man annoyed the audience by calling out criticisms until at last somebody told the offender to “shut up.” “Go to ,” came quickly and commandingly from the interrupter. Cries of protest arose from all sides and the attendants then succeeded in temporarily soothing the man. When another outburst took place, the man was seized by an attendant and dragged from the row of seats. Another attendant lent assistance and the individual, struggling and making a -frightful noise, was promptly put on the outside of the building, to the immense delight of all in the circle and particularly those in the immediate vicinity.

At yesterday’s meeting of the Inglewood County Council it was decided that the chairman should wait on the member for the district, with a view to securing his aid in regard to making representations to the Government for the expenditure of loan money. The chairman stated chat absolutely no loan money had been expended last year, when the council were entitled to lift £4OBO. Through the restrictions placed on expenditure by the Government the council were this year entitled to lift only £9OO to the end of March, and it is with the idea of having these restrictions removed that the council is moving. Loans amounting to £6OOO have, been applied for in the Inglewood County, and all the petitions for the loans have been signed by dairy farmers living on unmetalled roads. The chairman said that in applying for consideration from the Government the council would have to admit responsibility for not having lifted the £4OBO granted last year. After travelling from New Plymouth to Hawera via Opunake, the Minister of Education (the Hon. C.- J. Parr) was present at the Dominion Winter Show yesterday. In the course of his remarks at the opening ceremony, Mr. Parr said he had had a most interesting trip round the mountain. He said Mt. Egmont was one of the finest scenic assets the people of the province possessed. and he sometimes thought they did not value it sufficiently. On the trip he was delighted with the country, which was as fertile and beautiful as it was picturesque. He mentioned the opinion that no country south of the “line” possessed a finer area than what he had seen in the last twenty miles of his trip. It was the garden of Taranaki and of New Zealand. During the journey Mr. Parr expressed himself as delighted with the fine roads which the province possessed. H. J. Abram, the “Shop by Post” chemist, New Plymouth (late Fraser’s), will mail your requirements.

The Napier Daily Telegraph attained its 50th anniversary last week, when a jubilee gathering was held. The managing director, the Hon. W. J. Geddis. M.L.0., who was the recipient of a presentation, has been connected with the paper for 45 years. It has been reported in Napier that one of the largest oil companies in America will not now accept oil for shipment to Napier unless it is to be unloaded at the breakwater. This decision was reached with a view to avoiding the lightering charges and the excessive handling which frequently resulted in oil having to be reconditioned in Napier. Extensive ruined cities in the Baghdad district have, it is stated at a recent meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society, been discovered as the ‘result of aeroplane-photogrupns taken of that area. It was also stated mat in aeroplane photographs of etill water the formation of the bed of a lake or sea could be clearly seen; and it was suggested that such photographs should be particularly useful in revealing sunken rocks, coral reefs, and other formations dangerous to shipping. By means of such photographs these dangers could be very clearly and correctly charted.

Business generally reveals a very satisfactory condition this week (says the Auckland Star of Thursday last), merchants being fully occupied in handling business for next month’s account, ana in attending to the Island requirements. The Tofua has again brought in a good list, and it looks as if each shipment reveals a growing volume of orders. Retailers report a substantial increase in domestic demand, consequently heavier orders are being given to merchants. Prices generally are firmer and warrant the opinion that a steady revival has set in.

An unusual gift was made to the Melbourne Children’s Hospital a few days ago, when Mr. John Santos, wharf laborer, of Hope and Straw Streets, West Brunswick, transferred to the institution £6OO in cash, the deeds of two lots of real estate, and the contract of sale of two other lots. The gift, the total value of which is about £2OOO, was made on condition that he was allowed to live in one of the cottages which he transferred. Mr. Santos, who is a Portuguese by birth, is of the opinion that hospitals, especially children’s hospitals, should be cordially supported by the public, and he has accordingly done his part.

It is understood that several big blocks of land in the Karioi district, on the Main Trunk line, are to be placed on the market in the near future. One of 40,000 acres is largely composed of first-class land on which there are big crops of flax growing. At present this area is held on lease but, if the advances now being made to the Government to have the block subdivided are successful, a large number of very good holdings will be available for settlement. Another block near Waiouru, of 80,000 acres, is also to be cut up into goodsized farms. Both are suitable for returned soldiers and others with a little capital who desire to go on the land. The formation of agricultural clubs among school children in Taranaki was favorably commented upon by the Hon. C. J. Parr (Ministef of Education) in the course of his address at the Hawera show yesterday. “You could not do a more splendid piece of education than encouraging these clubs,” said Mr. Paj-r, “and I wish that the tens of thousands of people from the crowded cities could come to Hawera and see what the children have done. I hope the club move* ment will expand and grow beyond ’the boundaries of the district; they are on the right lines.” Mr. Parr mentioned that the census figures showed that the people were drifting from the country to the already over-swollen cities, and such a trend led to the downfall of any country. He strongly urged the fostering of agricultural clubs as a means of checking this drift, as it could best be done by tackling the youngster. Cultivate a bias in the minds of the children to the land and they would go there, he concluded.