LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It is stated that the rceent rise in the price of wool means an additional million and a half sterling to New Zealand. ,

The recital to have been given by the 4th Battalion band at the breakwater last night was postponed owing to the unfavorable weather conditions.

The wet weather' experienced at the mountain house yesterday kept visitors indoors, and for the first time for a fortnight last night was not a “full house.” The bookings up to the end of next month are quite satisfactory, though the recent extensions giving additional accommodation enable more to be dealt with than formerly.

At a meeting of the committee of the New Plymouth Caledonian Society last night, it was decided to form a Pipe Band. As soon as a suitable room is available, a start will be made with a class for beginners. The question of equipment for the band was discussed, with the result that negotiations are being entered into with the object of providing full Highland dress for the band.

Speaking at the Farmers’ Union Conference in Wellington, Mr. R. Dunn, president of the Taranaki Farmers’ Union, said he believed in pushing retrenchment to a certain extent, but he was opposed to nagging departments. They should allow the Government time to prepare a return showing how it was retrenching. What would people think if farmers were continually nagging? He did not believe in crying stinking fish, “Let us keep our jpeetaEMUit

Messrs. Eiarkness (Stratford) and Vosseller (Eltham) have purchased from R. S. Wooldridge, Ltd., the latter’s new foundry on the Breakwater Road.

The insurances on the Uruti dairy factory, which was destroyed by fire in the early hours of the morning of December 31 were £3030 on the building and plant in the Victoria office, and £lOOO on the stock (on a. sliding scale) in the same office. The loss is estimated in the vicinity of £2OOO above the amount of the insurances.

Before Mr. H. R. Cattley, J.P., in the New Plymouth Court yesterday, Arnold O. Sturrock appeared on remand from last week charged with committing an unnatural offence and also on two informations of alleged indecent assault. Senior-Sergeant McCrorie applied for a remand on behalf of accused until tomorrow and this was granted. '

There has been a substantial rise in the Taranaki Farmers’ Meat Company’s prices for lambs and light wethers for freezing purposes. The works at Smart I(oad are now handling about 1000 sheep and lambs daily, but it is reported that there is little business in beef. Two shipments of meat are to be made from the works this month, namely 8000 freight carcases by the Port Albany for London, and 3850 freight carcases by the Kaikoura for Liverpool. Both vessels load at New Plymouth.

A rumor was prevalent in many places, said Mr. W. T. Jennings (Waitomo), in the House on Wednesday, that pupils passing the examination entitling them to free tuiton at technical and high schools, were in future to be deprived of the privilege of free travelling by railway to the nearest school.' He asked the Minister for Education ( Jon. C. J. Parr) if this were true. Mr. Parr said that this was the first that he had heard of the prevalence of any such report. AU that he could say was that he was not aware of any curtailment of the privileges of pupils attending technical high schools. The Prime Minister was asked on Wednesday by Mr. W. T. Jennings (Waitomo) if he would inform the House how far the negotiations with the Commonwealth Government regareng trade relations with New Zealand had progressed. He had seen it stated that a statement was to be made in regard to this matter. Mr. Massey said that 'the matter was in the hands of the Hon. W. Downie Stewart. During the Christmas holidays it had not been possible to make much progress. Negotiations were still in progress, and he hoped that before very long it would be possible to announce that they had reached a successful conclusion.

A carrier pigeon which has been noticed frequenting the vicinity of a house in Molesworth Street, New Plymouth, for about a fortnight past was captured yesterday by the occupier; of the dwelling, Mr. F. Bracegirdle, and the following message was found attached to one of the bird’s legs:—“26 —l2—2l. Birdwood Avenue, Papatoetoe, Auckland.—This pigeon landed on our roof tired and hungry, so I shut him up in my cage and gave him food and a rest. I started him off at (?) a.m. I would be very pleased if you would let me know if he arrives home safely, as I am interested in pigeon flying. —Yours faithfully, A. Redshaw.” The home of*the bird is evidently not in New Plymouth, as on the other leg there was a silver ring inscribed “Waihi” and with some other letters which could not be distinguished. A cheque for twenty guineas is to be forwarded to the funds of the New Plymouth Hospital by the conference of Seventh Day Adventists now meeting in New Plymouth. At yesterday’s business session resolutions of thanks were passed to the borough council and the jockey club for help and privileges extended to the conference, the jockey club being specially thanked for allowing the conference to use its buildings on the racecourse. The conference also decided: “In view of the kindness and consideration shown to us by the municipal officials, the Taranaki Juckey Club, and the residents of New Plymouth, we recommend that as a small token of our appreciation, the conference executive committee be requested to forward a cheque for twenty guineas to the funds of the local hospital.”

The Public Bodies Empowering Bill includes a clause vesting in the Taranaki Hospital Board a reserve for a public hospital at Opunake. Another clause authorises the Ohawe Domain Board to expend money on a water supply to the beach and bathing sheds in the vicinity. Section 15 of the Municipal Corporations Act, dealing with financial 'adjustments on a change of boundaries, is to apply to alterations in the Manaia town district.

Says the Taihape Times: Upon Mr. Glenn, member of Parliament for this electorate, has fallen the honor of having the privilege of convening and addressing incomparably the largest meeting of primary producers ever held in Taihape. Certainly, the subject of his address was to them a much more than ordinarily momentous one. They were present to hear from their representative in Parliament as much of the details of the proposed meat pool as are yet available for authoritative circulation. No meeting of farmers in this district was ever more numerously attended, and no more studious attention was ever given to the subject under dsicussion. It is doubtful whether any meeting purely from the actual producing community ever grasped so readily and correctly all the points of the scheme for bringing every producer in the Dominion into one great co-operative meat marketing association. With surprising unanimity all present realised the occasion had arrived when it was a matter of better prices for their stock, or a walking-off their farms in search of a vocation in which they might live by their labors. Mr. Glenn and Mr. R. W. Smith, member for Waimarino, were completely successful in furnishing the great meeting with all the information it needed, and all that was asked for.

The Patea river was in high flood yesterday and a great quantity of timber was brought down; in fact, it is very many years since so much timber has been seen, on the river, and there was quite a busy scene of people collecting firewood. The quantity of timber, together with the very muddy state of the river, indicates that the flood waters in the back country reached unprecedented heights and it is feared that considerable damage has been done by slips. It is, however, an ill wind that brings no one good, and the Maoris and small boys had great sport ‘jagging’ eels and other fish which the flood waters brought down, and which were compelled by the muddy state of the water to come to the surface. Very soon there was a great collection of eels of all sizes; from very small ones up to ugly monsters several feet long and several inches thick, weighing up to 401bs. Several sacks full were at once despatched to a tangi in progress at Kai Iwi, and will form a welcome addition to the menu.

“/Fairy Wonder” dry soap stihl forges ahead as the premier washing powder and household help. There *is hardly a house now in Taranaki w'here this popular compound is not used. “'Fairy” makes and keeps the clothes a good color at half the cost of time and labor of old methods. Don’t forget to brdei r '“Fairy” from your grocer or storekeeper. They ,*il stock It<

The Bishop of St. Albans, in a letter to the diocese, says:—sometimes wonder whether holidays are not rather demoralising things. Anyway, when I get to the end of one I find I have a strong disinclination to return to work; and the better the holiday the greater the disinclination.”

'We must all learn to work. Economical success cannot be attained while people are brought up in the belief that holidays, and particularly holidays on full *pay, should occur once in every week. The time has gone by when as communities everyone kept holiday the day the cow calved, and it is time that work in earnest, not play, should be regarded as necessary, if the community is to get out of the bog which it is now in.—N.Z. Mercantile Gazette.

Two years ago, if a farmer wanted to buy a suit of tailor-made clothes, he gave the tailor 160 pounds of wool in exchange; to-day he would have to hand over 480 pounds, over a bale, in order to receive back 7 pounds of greasy wool made up in a suit of clothes. To pay Mr. Massey’s land tax of £7O, a farmer would, two years ago, have sold 40 fat lambs. To-day 117 must go through the yards to pay the tax.—N.Z. Mercantile Gazette.

The potato market is much brighter in Canterbury. A fair number of forward sales for April-May delivery have taken place at up to £3 15s per ton. With an average Canterbury yield of six tons to the acre this is much, better than what potato growers have “been used to this past two years. The dry weather is having an effect in hardening the demand.

The capacity of the rabbit where green stuffs are concerned is well known, and it fell to the lot of a market gardener at Greenhills to have further unwelcome proof of this. In less than a fortnight rabbits ate 2000 cabbage plants on his property. Naturally, this spurred him to vengeance, and very shortly he had succeeded in exterminating the feasters with traps.

'What may w r ell be a unique example of Christian charity occurred at the Magistrate’s Court, Ashburton, recently. A clergyman, the Rev. J. F. Wiseman, lost a purse containing over £lOO, and subsequently two men appeared before the Court, one man being charged with the theft of the money, aaid the other with receiving part of the proceeds. Both men pleaded guilty, and were committed for sentence. They asked for and received bail," one of the bondsmen being Mr. Wiseman, the victim. “We recognise that much harm has been done to America by the wrong class of American representing us abroad,” said a business man from the United States to a Christchurch newspaper reporter. “So apparent has this become that many of the big firms have a special department for foreign service. Before being chosen for this branch, the men are carefully watched, both in and out of business, and character is one of the determining factors. Men over thirty have an advantage, also married men,''as it. is considered that age and responsibility, allied to natural stability of character, will more worthily represent, not only the firm, but the country.” He added that it was hoped in time, by this means, to redeem the situation, and enable foreigners to meet the best, and not the worst, type of citizen from the great country, and so remove an erroneous impression and establish more cordia] gelations.

The New Plymouth Sports Committee is busy completing arrangements for the open-air concert to be held in the Pukekura Park to-morrow evening, next. 14th inst. The programme is an excellent one, and includes both vocal and instrumental items. The vocal items will be rendered from a staging on the lake, the performers singing across the water, which, should be very effective. The park will be beautifully lighted with electricity, so that it only remains for the weather to be fine to ensure a most successful entertainment. Popular prices are being charged, and the proceeds will be devoted to the further improvement of the sports ground. The finest working trousers on the market is the line of dark grey cord now being sold at the Melbourne, Ltd., at 29/fl. These are splendid wearing, and will outlast two pairs of the ordinary soft light weight woollen tweeds. Stock is limited.

Select your summer hat at Morey’s. The range of new shapes and colors is most extensive, and. needless to add, is a popular feature at Taranaki’s leading fashion house just now. Call and inspect.