THE FIRE BRIGADE.

The public of New Plymouth always generously support the Fire Brigade, and the Brigade on its part thoroughly deserves all the support it receives. Exporience spread over very many years lias taught us that whenever a fire unhappily breaks out anywhere within roach of the town water supply the Brigade may be depended upon to do all that is humanly possible to suppress it. The efficiency of the men has over and over again been amply proved, and tho appliances and water supply are such as to enable them to make the best use of their efficiency. On that account business people who have to leave their promises unoccupied at night are able to do so secxire and comfortable in the knowledge that in the members of tho Fire- Brigade they have guardians alwaj's on the alert to suppress incipient fires. Householders are able also to sleep without anxiety on the score of fire breaking out, for they know that if such a thing docs occur they will in a very few minutes from the time of an alarm being given have skilled and willing assistants to cope with an outbreak. But the Fire Brigade is not maintained without considerable cost, the appliances have to be cared for and renewed occasionally; a custodian has to be paid; and, though the men give their services voluntarily, there are numbers of expenses to bo met. The Borough Council provides a subsidy, and under the new Act the insurance companies are also taxed, but more than this is required, hence the annual appeal to the public for assistance. The annual ball is a convenient and popular means of raising money, and it is hoped this year to exceed all records in the amount derived from the event on Monday night next. It is a little unfortunate that the Premier is to address a meeting the same night, but that meeting is timed for^ an early hour, so that it will be concluded in time for those who wish to attend both to reach the i Theatre Royal, the scene of the ball, by the time the children have given up the floor to their elders. Mrs Dockrill, who has charge of the ball arrangements, has everything in trim, and promises to make the event equal to any that have gone before. It remains for the public to give, their support, and we trust it will he generous.

To-day is "Guy Fawkes' Day," but so far the juvenile element of the town has not shown much enthusiasm over the fact. Mr Joe West's hackney stallion Lord Kitchener won the first prize at the Manawatu Show to-day in the class for hackney-carriage breeding purposes. Arrangements are being made for a deputation of farmers to wait upon Sir Joseph Ward at the Borough Council Chambers on Monday next, at 11 a.m., with respect to the new dairy regulations. The electoral roll for the Taranaki electorate, which has now closed, contains 7339 names. Of this number, however, 763 persons have been struck out as ineligible to vote, for various reasons.- The supplementary roll, compiled since the main roll was printed at jft2n^S ini " n £ of the year > contained T.481) 1 -names. ,- . Mr,Cochrane, the geologist who was engaged by the Inglewood Petroleum Company to report on certain oil and the .indications- in the Mokau district, has returned to. fc>wn. His report, of course, is only available to the company, but he informs us that he is convinced that sooner or later a payable oil field, and probably an extensive one, will be developed in Taranaki. The booklet programme of the Scarlet Troubadours, which contains a number of merry quips, has the following:— "The draughts in this building are provided by the staircase leading from the street. They are included in the price of admission." This is peculiarly applicable to the New Plymouth Theatre Royal. During the progress of the al- ! terations to the Theatre required by the Fire Board a large space was left open above the doors at the head of the dress circle stairs. The Fire Board requires this space to be filled up, but through the laxity of either the Theatre Royal company or the contractors for the alterations it has been left open for some months. Persons frequenting the dress circle are constantly annoyed by an icy draught that sweeps through this space. The Grounds Committee of the TaraTiaki Agricultural Society met on the Racecourse yesterday and inspected the showgrounds, pens, etc. It was decided to advertise for sale the 400-gallon water tank, as it is no longer needed, the borough water supply now being laid on to the grounds. It was also decided to obtain quotations for a water trough. Mr A. W. Wood and the secretary (Mr E. P. Webster) were deputed to arrange satisfactory covering for the dogs. In previous years the accommodation for dogs has been un- , satisfactory, but it is hoped that it will now be possible to arrange to guard them from all kinds of weather. The committee of the society will meet this e X e ning, when the election of stewards will be held and other matters relating to the show will be arranged. New members are being enrolled rapidly, and at this evening's meeting a record number will bo added to the society's list.

The dates for the sittings of the i Supreme Count, at New Plymouth for ) I next year are -.—March 16, June 28 and September 13. To-morrow will be the anniversary of the Battle of Mahoetahi, where, on November 6th, 1860, the Tatanaki Volunteer Rifles distinguished themselves m an attack on a Native stronghold. This afternoon New Plymouth, Inglewood and Waitara Bowling Clubs are holding their formal openings. Ihe Fitzroy green will be opened on the 12th iiist. The Stratford Hospital Board Ins granted Co the New Plymouth Board the passage to the Bluff of an inmate of, the Old People's Home, who came to the institution from the Stratford district. "Death from syncope brought about by taking exercise after having a meal was the verdict at an inquest at \N ellington last week. This victim of his own violence was a man between thirty and forty named Stephen Swadlmg, an employee at the tramway powerhouse. A doubt has been raised whether the wreckage discovered thirty miles south of Cape Maria Van Diemen is horn the missing barque Loch Lomond. It is suggested (says the New Zealand Times) that the letters "Loc" discernible on the broken door may be simply portion of the word "locker." At a meeting of the executive of the Eltham branch of the Eltham-Opunake Railway League a resolution was carried regretting that no sum had been placed on the estimates for the Opunake railway and pledging the league to vigilance in using every opportunity to push the interests of the line. The export of gold from New Zealand for the past ten months was 421,468 ounces, valued at £1,668,246, being an increase of £38,029 over the value for the corresponding period of last year. Last month's export of gold was 31.026 ounces, valued at £124,015, as against 26,167 ounces of the value of £102,601 in October of last year. A squad from the Taranaki Guards will leave on Saturday morning for Palmerston North to take part in the physical drill competition in the military gymkhana to be held there on Saturday and Monday. The squad will, consist of Sergt. Arnold , Corporals Green and Berndtson, Privates Type, Bishop, Shera, Kisby, McGonagle, Dryland, and Lander., Sergt. Arnold will be in charge of the squad. Those who think that the life of a Cabinet Minister is all, or nearly all, a life of ease and comfort would have been disillusioned had they accompanied the Hon. R. McNab on his inspection of the Steward Settlement, says the Timaru Herald. On the bleak Waitaki plain he had the express stopped that he might get off, and in the face of a bitterly cold wind and steady rain he drove about twelve miles round, inspecting the estate and listening to the complaints of settlers regarding a defective Government water-race. ! In response to a request for an epigram on golf London ' Opinion receive! 1 the following: — "The pursuit of palo ■ ' pills by purple people" ; "Spleen on the green"; "Billiards gone to grass"; 1 "The sublime stooping to the ridicii- > lous" ; ; "Peripatetic tiddleywihks" ; I "The fearsome in pursuit of the fouri some" ; "A game in which the ball nsxi- ■ ally lies badly and the player well" ; [ "Three acres and a ball"; "Hitting a ball in the morning, and looking for it all the afternoon" ; "Obesity in pursuit ' of blasphemy": "The .' pursuit of a ' youthful figure by the middleraged."! 1 It is rather instructive to trace back ! the reason of the growth of. some of our ' large cities. Some have grown on ac- ! count o,f their harbours, some ..because 1 of their mineral products, andssome on ' account of their industries , and agrii cultural produots. Some have been i helped along- by the tongue .of matt. This last advice is expected tto he the s means. of considerably assisting in, the completion .of our. Sports .Grounds, as '. the. proceeds of the debate to. be. held in the Theatre Royal .oh Thursday • next, 12th inst v are to,, he used fof this, purpose. ■ ' ' ! . Milk in Wellington is ndt as pure ai it might be.> About one hundred samf ' pies taken* in the; Wellington district 1 nave been tested^- during --the- last sii ' weeks or two. months by the Gove'rnjment Analyst. ; ~ About thirty per centl I of tho:fir.st -samples' taken Were -found :to » be, diluted with' water, -in some ,v, v cases. • to the extent' of- twenty-five; per centi Later samples, proved mufeh better thai the first, trot dilution was still found 1 \ to, exist. lir some cases the? milk had 1 been skimmed, and the proper .proporj- ■ tion of outter-rfat. was -r wanting;' but this was not so generally noticed as the ' addition of. wateiu T , -■'■»■ .<••*■>> "- t There is a scarcity of inteHigenFfaM i labourers just how, aild a gobd, ha^a'd if highly prized.- The T>ominiOii ,tpl,lß'hbw , n Hiitt Valtey dairy farater was just : on the r point of congratulating himsell i ripon getting- b ''good Milker" the • other' ofayl r "He went. *to >J town on" the ; strength .of-'ifcheTadded assistance, only [ ,^^eiurn^hbia«RiH r iaie\eveiang A tq find tha%«-4*ie^?«oo^fiil»d^^iMM^ piftctiealty HjesFseflb croevsdHan% •roithf *hist tiEtoarturo 1 for* the) city.,* aftef*^asually acquiring of \ the <©%heF man on Tihe place'if tHere was 1 any allowance for a two hours', nap ai . dinner time^C Tfie man returned at dinner-time—^a little late, .-nearly 2 o'clock/ in; fact— and their : gobd-bye. J i . !-A - corr.esppnidertt wrote a f e.w da? 8 .*£<) \ correcting the statement that the late Mr fiulke's uncle- was in att#ndatice on the Duke of Wellington at,his.dea,th- ; bed. .We have before us .photograph ot a picture depicting the scene at the death of the Iron' Duke. At the foot ' of the picture it is stated thai the per1 sons present a.t the time ,\? ere. "Lord 1 and Lady Charles^ WeWesley, D*. Mc 4 Arthur,' ' Mr 'Hulke" ' (the apothecary)^ and his son -Join*;-" Mr, Kendal,. the valet ; and the butler ; the accuracy of the portraits having been greatly ed by the dagnerreotype. , rf kady Charles Wellesley is kneeling beside the chair of th'e^ dying man, while Mr Hulke is standing oehmd .her. ( One of the Wellington Labour candidates^ <Mr D. McLaren, Ha in' iliiokl writes the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times. Just a* he had finished his address at the^ Queen's Statute a "ten- pound note was held ikp and somebody ejaculated" that' the,owner 1 would transfer his inieresttin the note to the candidate if; he could answer two questions. The"offerer put his query thus: "Supposing 1 a respectable man came to the city to see the sights, incidentally 1 Had a' 'drink or two' and fell into the hands of 'sharpers,' winding up in the arms of the police, would Mr McLaren be favourable to the devising of means to savfe such a man, the victim of his own good nature, from the humiliation of an appearance at Court on a charge ojF ' drunkenness ?" Mr McLaren's reply satisfied the querist, who passed, over the money without bothering to ask the second question. Later on Mrj. McLaren explained that he would nojb accept the £10 with any conditions a.vh tached to it, but the man declined tj) take back the note which is now destined to help to pay the candidate's; election expenses.

Twentv-sevcn jears ago to : day 1 arihaka was taken by the whites under Colonel Roberts. Mr Arthur Duncan lias won the Wei- 1 lington Golf Club's championship, Jlr j J. B. MacEwan being runner-up. j James Me Arthur was arrested by I the police to-day on a charge ot theft of money from the New Ply- ; mouth Sash and Door Factory. He was . remanded this afternoon to appear be- ; fore the Magistrates' Court to-morrow. , A silver-plated spike will be driven by the Prime Minister to mark the official opening of the Main Trunk line. The ceremony will take place at the north end of the Manganui-o-te-ao Viaduct, where there is a space of level ground. Tho rails actually met on the viaduct. A lady immigrant recently told Mr F. M. B. Fisher, M.P., that some of her fellow passengers on the Athenic were firmly of opinion before landing that New Zealand was a place in which there was more sunshine than in any other portion of the globe because it never rained in the daytime, but always at night ; that people never caught colds here; and that birds of paradise constantly flew about, the streets of even the busiest cities ! Mr T. E. Taylor does not believe that "the Stato should acquire the Bank of New Zealand, because he considers that the cost would be enormous, but he will ask that the functions of the Post Office Savings Bank should be so extended as to make it a State Bank. His idea is that the Savings Bank should allow depositors to use cheques, should pay 2 per cent, interest on daily balances, and should take to itself the sole right of note issue. This would mean, in effect, the securing of a loan of £1,600,000 at 2 per cent., this being the payment now made by the banks td the Government in respect of the noiyb issue. Lessons on politeness formed a large portion of an address given ' in Melbourne by Bishop Mercer, of Tasmania, upon the subject of "The Nation's Call to Young Men." The occasion was a public me "ting in connection with the IT.M.C.A. convention. Bishop Mercer found his text in the ideals of chivalry which existed in the middle ages, courtesy towards women, courage, obedience, and charity. Men of the middle ages failed with these ideals because of the artificiality of. their application to practical life. .They practised gallantry, treating women as objects of special honour to be put in glass cases for admiration. Then people began to compose those wretchedy artificial songs and odes to my lady's eyebrow, to the beauty of her cheek, and so on. Those things were written by the mile, and the real honour for women sank lower in proportion as the literary form and exquisite beauty of many of the lovesongs hecame greater. The opinion was expressed by T3ishop Mercer that the call of the nation to young men was to restore all that was good in tho ideal of the middle ages, and shed all that was bad. He counselled the practice of politeness.