LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The inquiry into the cause of the wreck of the Wiltshire will be held in Auckland as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made. The composition of the Court has not yet been decided.

A train traveller says that he has, and possibly thousands of others have, solved the question of increased railway fares in a way not anticipated by those who framed the tariff (states the Manawatu Times). So many now travel second, who hitherto took first-

class tickets, that one’s friends may be found more readily there. To know the exact proportions of first and sec-ond-class passengers this year and last would interest the public, and perhaps agitate those who framed the tariff.

‘T have been mauled in the New Zealand Press because I said the teacher in this country was a cross between an encyclopaedia and a policeman,” says Professor Shelley. “What I said was that the conditions imposed upon the teacher make it necessary that he should be a cross between an encyclopaedia and a policeman.”. The Professor (states the VV'airarapa Age), observed that a teacher was required to teach the child as well as keep in order sometimes WO, who would much rather be out in the air.

Numerous earthquakes have been felt at Taupo during the last few weeks, and still continue (telegraphed the Auckland Herald’s correspondent on Saturday night). Since Wednesday evening the tremors have been practically continuous, mostly very slight. On Friday night eight sharp shocks were felt between six and 12 o’clock, including a severe one at 11.10 p.m., and many smaller shocks. No damage has been caused. The direction of the shocks is roughly north-east and southwest, and their nature seems to indicate that the origin of the disturbance is fairly local, probably in the vicinity of Mount Edgecombe.

One of the latest and most remarkable developments of wireless telephony is the erection in New York of the most powerful radio telephone station in the country, purely for advertising service. The management of this venture offer its facilities to anyone—for a charge. The method is simple. A client has only to call up the station on his own telephone, and can then be connected through tn the wireless transmitter. Sitting at his own desk he can then say what he thinks fit, and all who are listening within wireless range can hear his business talk.

The ship’s pets caused much concern among the crew of the Wiltshire, and ! efforts were made to try to bring them i ashore from the wreck, but the method iof rescue was such that only human ■ freight could be transported to the land, and they had to be left to shift for themselves. The crew’s favorite was the greasers’ goldfinch, which, they ■ state, was a beautiful singer. The lit--1 tie feathered friend was liberated from ■ his cage, but he was very loth to “sign ■ off the ship's articles.’* He circled 1 round the vessel, and then perched upon one of the masts. After a number of efforts the crew managed to get him away, and ho eventually took shelter in one of the trees on the cliff, where, subsequently, he was heard piping plaintively. The other pets were four cats, one being the ship’s mascot. Two of these were drowned, and the others were left on the wreck.

One of the steps !n the Government’s economy campaign has been the concentration of capital expenditure in the hands of the Public Works Department. This arrangement, which has been recently completed, is a reversion to the practice of many years ago, and it is expected to reduce appreciably the expenditure of the State on works of various kinds. All the money that is to be spent on roads, bridges, buildings, health resorts, lighthouses, and so forth will be brought into one set of estimates under the control of the Minister of Public Works. Several departments in recent years have had the spending of money on works of various kinds, and it appears that there has been some overlapping, and an unnecessary amount of overhead expense. The Labor Department and the Railway Department, for example, have been erecting dwelling-houses. The Mines Department, the Tourist Department, and the Agricultural Department have also been doing some building, while the Education Department and the education boards have been erecting schools and teachers’ dwellings on a very large scale. It is now intended that all this capital expenditure from the public account shall be brought in,to line.

The system of employment on the relief works seems to be working fairly well (says an exchange). Naturally there are many changes, since men generally do not stay on the relief works if they can get employment elsewhere. The men are on piece work, the wage being calculated on the basis of 10s a day for single men' and 12s a day for married men. These are the wages that men of ordinary skill can make by normal exertion. It is the practice or the Public Works Department, which controls all the relief works, to allow inexperienced men, such as city clerks, a minimum wage for the first fortnight, in order that they may get into condition for manual labor. Actual earnings have ranged from about os a day to over 15s a day, according to the capacity and skill of the men. “What horse won the English Derby?” Incongruous a» it may seem, this was the first question some of the sailors asked the rescue party after being hauled ashore from the Wiltshire wreck. The next thing the men turn- ' ed their attention to was the sending ■ of news of the wreck to England and ; the question of their relatives hearing I as soon as possible that all hands were , safe. I One of the crew is a New Zea- j lander, and as he had often elaborately , described to his companions what a I wonderful place the Dominion is. he ' came in for a good .deal of “chaff.” j Most of the men bewaile’d the fact that I under marine law their payment ceased i from the time they left the ship, and i the treatment they would receive formed the subject of eager debate. The New Plymouth Astronomical So- • ciety recently passed a resolution advocating that in the interest of science, Dr. and Mrs. Adams should be stmt to Australia to represent New Zealand at the observations of the eclipse of the sun next September. Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P., brought the matter under the notice of the Minister for Internal , Affairs (Hon. W. 1). Stewart), who telegraphs: “Dr. Adams has been granted leave and monetary assistance to enable him to join the expedition to observe the eclipse in Australia.” On Wednesday next, at Urenui, Mr. S. J. Sutton’s whole herd of pedigree Jerseys will be sold by auction. The herd contains many very fine animals, and Jersey fanciers in search of good cattle should not miss the sale.

The Inglewood County’s contribution to the Taranaki Hospital and Charitable Aid Board is the same as last year, viz., £1306 Is per annum, or £lOB 16s 9d per month, on a valuation of £949,080.

The official estimate of the attendance at the Taranaki-Wanganui match on Cook’s Gardens last Saturday is 5100 people, which is a record for an interUnion Rugby fixture at Wanganui.

The Taranaki dates for the visit of Miss Rosina Buckman have been put forward about six weeks. The concert at New Plymouth will be given on Monday, July 31, and it is probable Everybody’s Theatre will be available for the occasion.

The fate of the proposed dairy produce pool as at present projected, is likely to be settled to-day at a meeting of South Island representatives. This gathering will be attended by Mr. T. C. Brash, secretary of the provisional committee, and Messrs. Goodfellow and Forsyth, members of this committee. There seems to be strong opposition from the South Island.

Nearly 1500 men were employed on relief works in various parts of New Zealand at the end of last month. The total number of men on public works, including the relief works, was close upon 6000, a much larger number than is normally employed by the Public Works Department during a winter month. The employment of additional men on relief works has been authorised ?nd the total under this heading is expected to reach 1600 or 1700.

Advice has been received of another Eed’eral Line steamer bringing direct shipments from England to New Plymouth. The. liner Kaikoura left Liverpool. on June 2. cargo-laden for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and New Plymouth. She is expected to reach Auckland on July 28, and is due at Wellington about a week later. The date of her arrival at New Plymouth is as yet uncertain.

At yesterday’s meeting of the Inglewood County Council A. letter was read from the Commissioned of Crown Lands stating tils i with reference to articles appearing in local papers regarding unpaid rates by soldiers, he would be obliged if the council could quote individual cases, particularly that of a soldier with half a herd. His office unfortunately was not permitted to reply to newspaper articles, but a list as above, together with the name of the councillor responsible for the particular charge, wo-uld be very useful. The clerk stated that the information asked for had been supplied.

It is estimated that the annual value of the poultry and eggs in the Dominion is now in the region of £4,000,000. Also that there are between 13,000 and J 4.000 members affiliated with the New Zealand Poultry Association. The last census returns show that there are 143,119 flocks, with an average of 214 birds, while 30 per cent, of the flocks have 1.2 birds or under, 40 per cent, have between 12 and 25 birds, and 20 per cent, from 25 to 50 birds. This goes to show that the small man of to-day is an important factor in the industry, and is well worth consideration.

The Waimea County Council recently passed a resolution, which is to be submitted to Parliament, urging that in justice to the ratepayers and the tyre tax payers of the Dominion, the tyre tax should be equitably allocated between all counties and road -boards (where the Counties Act is not in force) and made available during the current year for the maintenance, repair and control of all the main roads used for motor traffic. Support for the proposal was sought in a communication which was before the Inglewood County Council yesterday, and it was held over pending the result of the main roads conference which is being held, in Wellington.

“We should teach the children to protect public property as they would their own,” said the chairman of the Pukekura Park Board (Mr. C. E. Bellringer) at last night's annual meeting. His remarks were prompted by a suggestion that if the proposed swings were erected on a site in the park which the. board had in mind the ferns and. the surroundings would be spoiled. Mr. Bellringer said that one thing that had struck him whilst at Chicago was that residences with -beautiful gardens were not surrounded by fences. The gardens were there for all to see and walk through and no damage had been done. Edinburgh presented a contrast, for the private gardens there were surrounded by high walls and existed for the benefit of a few people only. The loss of the Wiltshire is a seri-w ous matter, in that she is one of the steamers chartered tx> open up direct trade between New Zealand and Manchester, via Canal. She is fitted with telescope masts in order to pass under the bridges over the Manchester ship canal. Some months ago a big commercial concern in Manchester sent a representative to New Zealand with the object of opening up a direct trade in the Dominion's butter, cheese, and meat, and thus avoid the cost of handling in London. It was arranged that a steamer should come to N6w Zealand each month and load for Manchester direct. Agents at this end had to arrange for space in the. direct steamers that arrived for the West of England, and it was intended to ship primary products Home by the Wiltshire.

The attention of dairymen desirous of increasing the production of their herds is directed to Mr. John Hale’s sale of pedigree to ‘be 'held on the 13th iiist., where the opportunity will be offered. of securing a herd sire heavily charged with butter-fat through both sire and dam. See advertisement in auction columns. Men’s heavy colonial tweed overcoats are marked down as low as 79/6 at the Melbourne, Ltd. These coats were £6 12s (id last season, and the new price, therefore, represents a reduction of fully 40 per cent. These coats are in dark greys and browns, double-breasted and suitable either for motoring or walking. Multifarious as are the users of “Fairy Wonder” Dry Soap, it has made its way into popular favor chiefly through its efficiency in the laundry. No washing powder, soap or tablets have ever been known to give such satislaetory results. Soaked with the clothes overnight it practically does the work while you sleep. Stocked by all grocers and storekeepers. Winter always brings its own peculiar troubles. Not the least of these to the housekeeper is the haVoc played on the hands by having them in water continually. The cold and wet combine to make them crack. They become hard, red and sore. We recommend everyone to try Velvet Hand Emollient to make and keep the hands soft and white. Two shillings per bottle, at Friendly Societies’ Dispensary, DevonStreet.—Advt.

The Hawera Borough Council, needing £6200 to pay the antecedent liability, it was decided to raise the money locally. The whole was raised in a week, only £5OO coming from outside the borough. There were 16 subscribers, the interest being 6 per cent. At yesterday’s meeting of the Inglewood County Council, the chairman (Mr. A. Corkill) gave notice to move at next meeting that the rate for the ensuing year should be 5d in the £ general and two-thirds of a penny hospital. This rate, which is struck on the unimproved value, is the same as last year. The benefits to Taranaki of the deep sea harbor at New Plymouth are becoming more and more apparent each week. A further instance was given at Inglewood yesterday, when the Inglewood County Council had a quote for bitumen showing a saving of £1 per ton by direct shipment to New Plymouth from America. The council decided to order 40 tons of bitumen to arrive at New Plymouth in September, thereby effecting a saving of £4O. The alleged theft of a purse containing some loose silver and a cheque for £2 14s sd, the property of H. E. Marsh, of Gakura, and the subsequent alleged forging. of the cheque, led to Thomas J. Spalding being brought before the court at New Plymouth yesterday. The theft was alleged to have taken place on March "9 and the alleged forgery on March 13. On the application of the police, ■ for whom Senior-Sergt. M‘Crorie appeared, 3IX. H. R. Cattley, J.P., who was on the Bench, granted a remand till Saturday morning next.

An election of members of the Taranaki Education Board to fill vacancies caused by the retirement of four members—one from each ward —will be held on Wednesday. July 19. The Act provides that half the members for each ward shall retire every two years, those to retire being the members who have sat longest on the board without reelection. In the present case the retiring members are the following:—South Ward, Mr. H. J. Eaves; Central Ward, Mr. H. Trimble; ‘New Plymouth Town District, Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P.; North Ward, Mr. F. Hoskin. It is understood that all “the retiring members will seek re-election, and it is believed there will be contests in some of the wards. Nominations close with the returning officer at the Education Board Office at 5 p.m. -on Wednesday, June 28. All members of school committees have votes in the election of board members. The annual settlers’ dance will be held in the Coronation Hall, Toko, to-morrow evening. Particulars are advertised in this issue.

The Whiteley Church Foreign Missionary meeting will ‘be held in Whiteley Hall this evening, at 7.30. The Rev. W. W. Avery, who was four years in Papua, will give a humorous and informative address. Everybody is cordially invited. The collection will be for Foreign Missions.

Wc give our readers a final reminder of the Scot-ch Concert, to be held tonight in the Workers’ Rail, in aid of the New Plymouthr Pipe Band. A firstclass programme of Scottish songs and dances has been arranged, and it is hoped, a bumper house will greet the performers.