LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 29 December 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

There will be no issue of the Taranaki Daily News on Monday (New Year’s Day).

The New Plymouth Beautifying Society have decided to postpone further operations until the autumn. Their last day’s work took place last Saturday, when attention was given to the municipal grounds on the Carrington Road. Two immense heaps of tree branches and undergrowth were burnt, and some cleaning-up and trackcutting done. Rain commenced about two o’clock and continued all the afternoon. It was very encouraging to the committee to have thq cheerful help of a lady and a gentleman—the latter a visitor to the town. Their enthusiasm was not damped by the rain, and both continued working till about 4 p.m. The president and three others worked till five o’clock. Mrs. Harry Fookes kindly provided afternoon tea at her residence.

Beginning the year with a credit balance of £549, the Timaru Harbor Board’s year closed with a credit of £4301. During the year the board paid out of ordinary revenue for permanent improvements approximately £15,000, namely, £5368 for wharf renewals, £4909 for electric capstans, and £4737 for dredging. The finances of the board were found so strong during the year that substantial remissions were made on ordinary charges, and the board was also able to remit a liberal portion of the taxation levied for the upkeep of the harbor.

A first offending inebriate, who had celebrated Boeing Day too well, was fined £l, the amount of his bail, by Mr. A. M. Mowlem, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court at New Plymouth yesterday.

The Wanganui Borough Council is considering a proposal to increase the water supply at an estimated cost ot £200,000-

It ic» understood (says the Wanganui Chronicle) that the Repatriation Training Farm at Tauherenikau is to be closed this month-

The Hawke’s Bay Education Board has decided to issue special merit attendance certificates to children who attend school for five years without missing a single lialf-day. It is stated that out of some thousands of young plants laid out near Hokitika for afforestation purposes, only one has died in a couple of years. It is also stated that rimu and kahikatea plants (red and white pine) have been noted to grow a couple of inches in a few months. It is estimated, says the Waikato Times, that the expenses in the Kawhia theft case, in which an ex-constable was found guilty, will amount to about £lOOO, approximately £660 of which is made up of witnesses* expenses. Advice that Mrs. Chapman, who was staying with some friends at Matau, was drowned in the creek at that place yesterday morning, has been received by the New Plymouth police. The deceased was 60 years of age, and came from Whangamomona. An inquest is to be held before a justice of the peace and a jury. A campaign against the student who is neglectful in paying his fees has been commenced by the Auckland University College Council. The council has decided to suspend two students who had failed to pay the fees for the third term of the year. Astonishment was expressed when it was announced that unpaid fees for the previous year amounted to £l3O. It was resolved that a list of the defaulting students be prepared and an effort made to trace their whereabouts.

As the result of the donation of half an acre of land by Mr. A. Falls, the Hawke’s Bay Acclimatisation Society has been enabled to start work on the establishment of ponds in Napier for the breeding of trout. The ponds, when completed, will be three times the size of those in Hastings. A well which has been sunk is supplying 800 anil 900 gallons of water per hour. The (society is now distributing the fish as yearlings instead of as fry. Havelock North residents report varied, experiences in connection with the recent hailstorm experienced there. In the centre of the town the damage was very slight, but along Te Mata and lower Te Mata districts whole orchards were stripped of leaves, while the fruit was smashed about in such a way as to render it worthless. In several instances orchardists, up till now buoyed up with the hope of record crops, have lost the whole of their season’s harvest, and some are in sad straits, as they had just begun in the line and were awaiting their first returns.

Through failure to poll one- fourth of the number of votes polled by the successful candidate, the following candidates, besides several Maori candidates, forfeit their deposits: —W. D. Adnams, Manukau; C. Lafferty, Hamilton; E. Piggott, Raglan; C. 11. Chapman, Hawke’s Bay; V. A- Christensen, Palmerston North; J. Ross, Wanganui; H. S. Montgomerie, Rangitikei; G. Tweedie, Taranaki; J. D. Lynch, Westland; R. D. Martin. Kaiapoi; R. M. Thomstjn, Christchurch South; P. R. Needham, Temuka; W- Maslin, Dunedin Central; N. Mclntyre. Awarua.

A spirit worthy of cultivation by the community in general has been displayed by a number of the Dunedin waterside workers towards one of their comrades who has been laid aside by illness for •some considerable time. The unfortunate man is a keen horticulturist, and his fellow-workers, recognising the necessity of keeping his plot in order, set to work during a slack period on the water front and cultivated his large garden, records tlie Dunedin Star. The climax was reached this week, when a party of watersiders made their appearance at the sick man’s residence, armed with the necessary equipment, and started to paint the house. Tho man was a watersider, and worked on the Dunedin wharves for many years, lie received an injury while following his occupation some time ago, and his recurring illness is the direct result of this injury. Touching briefly upon irritation methods in the course of a leading article, the Public Service Journal questions whether there is the necessary cohesion and singleness of purpose in the association, comprising thirty-six departments and 7000 officers, to effect a general cessation of work throughout the Service. “Our ranks,”’ the writer statete, “comprise every class of worker, from the professional scientist to the labouring charwoman, with traditions, ideas, and interests as wide apart as the poles. But even granting that euch cohesion were possible, would such a strike gain the desired end? Unhesitatingly No- Our employer—the State, the people—has resources of men and money limited only by the country’s bounds, and, further, has the force of public opinion, which goes hand in hand with the organisation of Government. From the points of view of both policy and of principle, strikes for our Service are impracticable and undesirable.”

Who said hats! I was taking about race gowns, said Mrs. Satisfied, but it makes little difference. Amesbury’s have all that you require in either section. Look up their advertisement on page 6

The New Zealand Meat Packing and Bacon Company, Ltd., notifies in our advertising columns the pig receiving dates for January. Farmers are requested to note that tlie company is still buying calfskins.

Bathing apparel can be bought cheaply at the Melbourne, Ltd. Smart new rubber caps Is lid to 3s lid; 2ipicc'e ladies’ navy cotton costumes 4s lid to 10s 6d; 2-piece Canterbury woollen costumes 15s 6d to 18s 6d; men’s one-piece navy cotton costumes 3s 6d and 3s lid; youths’ costumes 2s lid; Vs Is 9d; boys’ V’s Is 6d; men’s onepiece all-wool costumes 12s 6d; 2-pieco ditto 15s 6d.

Special valu'-s at C. C. Ward’s: — Ladies’ vests, good quality, large size, 1/6, 1/11, 2/3 each; fancy fronts, 2/11; comfy cut 2/3; cellular vests, 3/11 each. Best value procurable in hosiery and gloves. Silk ankle, mock seam, 3/6 pair; non-ladder, 4/11; silk gloves, double tips, 5/11 pair; long silk gloves, 8/11: kid fidoves, S/llj, 12/&

Of thirteen students who gained diplomas at Lincoln College this year, eight are returned soldiers. Extensive stretches of the sea beaches in the neighbourhood of Tauranga are being visited at night by numerous enthusiasts in search of flounders. Many people, by the aid of torch and spear, have made excellent catches. A conference of members of the Plymouth Brethren denomination, which usually takes place annually at Christchurch, has just concluded at Ngaere. Representatives were present from New Plymouth, Stratford, Hawera, Eltham, and Ngaere. The proceedings, which lasted three days, were of a devotional nature.

Considerable anxiety is being felt for the safety of a man named Joseph Develin, aged 32, a single man horn Wellington, and one of the crew of the s.s. Waverley. Devclin was in Patea with several other members of the crew on Sunday, and returned to the vessel at 12.15 a.m., shortly before she was timed to sail. On his arrival on board he changed his shore for dungarees and was seen going ashore shortly afterwards. From this time no further trace of him has been seen, and the boat left for Wellington without him. He is described as being of slight build, 5 ft. 2 in. in height. There is a danger of the man having fallen into the river, but against this is the fact that the splash caused by the fall would have been heard by the captain and other members of the crew who were on the wharf for some time after he left the boat, besides which he is known to be a powerful swimmer. It is stated that he is somewhat of a roving disposition, and may have taken it into his head to leave the boat without notice. Anyone having seen a person answering to the description of the missing man is requested to communicate with the police. Wanton damage to property by rifle shooting is reported from the vicinity of the Spit, says a Dunedin paper. 'Mr. A. Box recently expended a considerable sum of money in putting his farm buildings in good order. After an absence- of three weeks he returned to the Spit to find that considerable damage had been done during his absence. The handle of the front door was smashed and round the broken handle the door was perforated with bullet holes. A large branch of a tree had been forced up tho washhouse chimney, dislodging the chimney pot and several bricks from the chimney. The dairy had been broken into by forcing the door and breaking the lock fastenings. Over a hundred bullet holes were counted in the side of an iron shed.

Mr. Ching, gaoler at Wanganui, was asked fry the Magistrate at the Court what his opinion was of a prisoner who was under sentence for failing to maintain his wife and family. Mr. Ching replied that in his opinion, the man was a “twister,” and he was the sort of fellow very hard to fathom. The prisoner had a £5O note in his stocking, and when he knew he was to be searched “he handed over the money to bp given to his wife as a Christmas box. The magistrate said it was like the case of a train robbery in America, where one person handed over ten dollars to another traveller in the presence of the robbers, and said: “Here is the ten dollars I owe you.'

It may be interesting news to picture patrons to hear that Richard Talmadge. now starring at the People’s in “The Unknown,” is the man who has done most of the stunt work in the Fairbanks features of the past. This agile young actor makes up like Doug., and for a long time did all the sensational and dangerous acts credited to Fairbanks. He is now starring in his own name, an 4 bids fair to equal his sisters’ fame in the movies.

The sea is delightfully these days, therefore, bathing costumes are much in demand. Morey and Son have a very fine selection of newest styles in bathing togs. Call and see them.

Mails which left Wellington on November 15, via San Francisco, arrived in London on December 21.