LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

During October there were 100 men employed on the Stratford-Main Trunk railway construction works, 68 of whom were working at the east end and 32 at the west end. There were 48 men employed on the Opunake branch railway works.

The New Plymouth Harbor Board has been authorised Uy Order-in-Council to pay 7 per cent, interest on the unraised portion of the .E 300.000 loan, amounting to £228,000.

Cabinet has definitely decided, in the interests of economy that the Dominion Rifle Association meeting for 1922 .shal. not be held.—Press Assn.

The search for the body of A. S. Boardman, who was drowned while bathing near the mouth of the Waiwakaiho river on Sunday, was continued yesterday and last night, but up till a late hour the body had not been found.

Ta the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, yesterday morning a settlement was annouriced in the case in which the Farmers’ Co-op. Society claimed from W. P. and L. Bishop the sum of £471 3s TOd for stock sold.

An Order-in-Council dated December 5 gives ’authority for the sale of 400 acres of land in the Hua and Waiwakaiho district taken for the purpose of additions and extensions to the New Plymouth Borough Council’s hydro-electric works and no longer required for such purposes.

.Exports from New Plymouth during the ten months ended October 31 totalled £2,360.643. During the same period the exports from Waitara were valued at £78,869 and those from Patea at £l,998,807, making the total for Taranaki for the ten months £4,438,349 which will be raised well above the five millions mark before the end of thu month. Before the war the Railway Department ran a late train from New Plymouth on Christmas eve. It was suspended, of course, during the war period, but it is felt that with the resumption <if normal traffic conditions the service should be reinstated. The Taranaki Chamber of Commerce is making representations to the railway authori ties with this object in view.

At Auckland yesterday the Hon. C. J. Par? conferred with the Mayor, the chairma'n of the Harbor Board and health officers relative to precautions against plague. Subsequently, he said he had decided that steps must be taken to secure the efficient fumigation of passengers’ luggage, and that the examination of passengers before landing should be lightened up.—Press Assn.

No less than fifty-three applications were received by the Hawera County Council at its meeting on Saturday for the position of county clerk. They were reduced to a fixed number and a fipal selection, will be made at a special meeting o: the council next Saturday.

The idea prevalent that an injustice has been done the travelling public by the conversion of Chatsworth House, New Plymouth, into a hostel for girls; was exposed at yesterday’s meeting of .business men by Mr. T. C. List, who is chairman of the advisory board to the ladies’ committee in charge of the Clarke Memorial Hostel. Formerly, said the speaker, there were 18 to 20 permanent boarders and room for 3 to 4 casuals. Now. besides the accommodation o f

there was also room for 15 or so ‘‘casuals/’ the only diffeyene? being that provision was being made for only one sex. Incidentally he paid a tribute to the work of the ladies’ committee, for the comprehensiveness of the scheme had assured its success for casual visitors as well as for permanent boarders.

A full meeting of the council of the Polynesian Society comprising the president (Mr. S. Percy Smith), Messrs. M. Fraser. R. H. Rockel. W. H. Skinner, P. J. H. White,. Captain Waller, and Mr. W. W. Smith (hon. secretary) was held on Thursday evening at “Matai-Moana,"’ the residence of the president. In the correspondence dealt with was a letter from Lord Jellicoe, Governor-General of New Zealand, thanking the president and the council for its communication and expressing pleasure in accepting the honor of patron of the society. Four new members were elected, while nine members were struck off the roll for non-payment of their subscription. The increase of members during the year was considerably more than the losses by resignation* or removal from the roll. After the council transacted all business Mr. Rockel expressed earnest pleasure, in which all members of the council joined, in having the president presiding at the meeting. All were glad to see his partial return to health after a protracted illness. The society ends the year with a substantial bank balance.

It has long been known that there are stoats in Taranaki, as settlers in various parts have/ discovered through depredations in their chicken pens. That these pests thrive well here is shown by a very interesting specimen of the taxidermist’s art that is at present on view in Bennett and Sutton's window, Hawera. where it attracted great interest. This depicts a group consisting of a stoat family party, comprising the father, mother and four young stoats. The whole family was captured on a property close to the borough of Hawera. A settler lost a hen sitting on eggs, through a stoat, and a trap was se?, with the result that the male stoat was captured. Two days later the female was also caught, and again two days later the four young stoat were unearthed from their burrow in the grorhd. With them were chickens,, small birds and eggs that had been carried there by the parents, thus giving an Indication of-flieir destructive powers. The whole family was sent up to Rotorua to a well-known tax'dermist, and are now mounted.

•Ladies should not miss the wonderful bargains in washing frocks at Morey’s. Prettiest crepes and zephyrs and newest designs are prominently featured.

Great December sale bargains at the Melbourne, 'Ltd. Don't miss these: Kaiapoi tweed suits, 75/-; boys’ grey ‘ Doctor” flannel shirts, 12/6; leatherette suit oases.. 19/6, 21/- and 23/6; men’s cream gaberdine tennis trousers. 16/9; men’s fleecy cotton socks, 1/11. men's fine summer siuglets, white or natural, 3/11. The Puniho school concert takes place in the AVarea Hall to-morrow night. A dance is to follow, for which good music has been arranged.

Messrs. L. A. Nolan and Co. are conducting a sale of good household furniture at their mart to-morrow, at 2 p.m. Particulars will be found in our auction column.

The world would be very drab without the beauty and charming fragrance of flowers. They make life sweeter and happier. “52 Lavender” possesses a charm of its own which is delightfully r®fr»sJuag and jdeaeifcg.

The breaking-up ceremony in connection with the New Plymouth Boys’ High Seho>- will be held to-night. During the evening pupils will be addressed by Sir. W. Bassett Edwards, the wellknown ex-Judge.

“The people in New Zealand look too •much for Government assistance/’ said Mr. J. S. Fox, chairman of the New Plymouth High Schools Board of Governors, in speaking at the breaking-up ceremony at the Girls’ High School last night, on the question of money available for school needs. He said perhaps this was because the country was new. At Home a man who made money in his town generally gave something to show he appreciated that town.

At Wanganui a petition was recently lodged against a poll carried in favor of raising a loan of £50,000 for steam plant purposes, the grounds of the petition being that the poll was irregular as wives of ratepayers were allowed to vote, and that the poll closed at seven instead of six o’clock. A telegram from Wanganui last night says the Magistrate disallowed the petition. It has now been definitely decided to abandon the use of the Government steamer Amokura for training purposes. The ship’s staff will be paid off next Thursday and the boys will return fto their homes. Captain Burgess, of /tne Amokura, will resume his post as surveyor of ships for the Marine Department.

The following is the result of the drawing for the remainder of prizes at the recent Convent Garden Fete held at New Plymouth:—Fire screen, No. 355, N. “Greiner;; cushion, No. 99, Mr. Thompson; table centre (green), No. .21, D. Molloy; table centre (yellow), No. 13, Madge Macrae; silk crepe-de-chine blouse, No. 60, Convent, Waitara; dinner, No. 25, Mrs. Gillick; football, No. 13, Cyril Lierky; pillow sham, No. 72, Mrs. Bullot; baby dress, No. 4, Betty Hurley. The sum of £l5O was realised as a result of the fete.

“I am very glad that Mrs. Ritchie took the steps she did,” said Mr. F. K. Hunt,. S.M., in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court, when Ixjuie Clevver was charged, on the information of Fanny Ritchie, with selling bad strawberries. The sale had been made to the complainant’s son, and some. strong comments were passed by the Magistrate after the evidence had been taken “There is an absolute obligation on storekeepers to sell good food, and I wish more people would act as Mrs. Ritchie has. Particularly should they supply a child carefully. Many storekeepers are only too apt to pass anything on to children. lam satisfied that these strawberries were bad, and I intend to impose a fine of £3 and costs 265.

A subject which is of passing importance, “Present Day Economic Conditions,” will be dealt with by Mr. C. G. Bottrill, M.A., in his address to members of the Employers’ Association tomorrow night. A notice appears in this issue calling the meeting. The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., wish to draw clients’ attention to their Matau sale which they are holding on Friday, December 16, 1921, at 1 p.m. Full particular’ of entries will be found on page 8 of this issue.