TARANAKI.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1033, 18 December 1891, Page 15

TARANAKI.

At 4.40 on the 4th instant a distinct shock of earthquake %vas felt here. The house-timbers creaked and the windows rattled. It came from the north. Some of those who felt it sprang from thencouches to be ready should it be repeated ; but there were no more quakes. The weather has been brilliant and extremely warm, with high winds carrying along clouds of dust all through the week. Towards the latter part the sky took on that lurid copper glare, which is Indicative of large bush fires going on. Indeed, at all quarters volumes of smoke could be seen rising and spreading, but at such a distance that it was not easy to decide on what roads these fires were burning. On account of the high wind they should be good clear burns. There has"been about ten thousand acres of bush felled down the East Eoad and large areas in other directions, so that we may expect plenty of smoke in the atmosphere for some time to come. Messrs Haywood and Martin, the successful tenderers for the East Eoad contracts, pitched their camp near Mr Pearson’s Toko Store. They have forty men at work, and expect soon to employ more. The road has been kept lively by strings of pack-horses and drays innumerable conveying tools and other necessary utensils and provisions to the camp. Numbers of strangers are observed about, many of whom are on the look-out for land. It is thought that should the Government open up new blocks now, they would be rapidly taken up. Good improved land has gone up in price. I hear that Mr Chew Chong,- of dairy factory fame, has lately been down the East Eoad, and is so pleased with the country there that he is inclined to set up a dairy factory, which would give an immense impetus to trade and prosperity in that-district.

Speaking of Mr Chew Chong, he claims to have discovered that la grippe is a skin disease, common enough in China, caused by a parasite which runs through the body like a thread of cotton. Some men who are employed by Mr Chew Chong at Eltham were attacked by the complaint, and Mr Chew Chong is stated to have discovered and destroyed the parasite, after which the men were soon quite well. This gentleman, after being a benefactor to New Zealand by creating the fungus trade, bids fair to be the benefactor of the world if he has really discovered the cause and cure of la grippe. A very successful collection was made early this week to get prizes for the Ngaire School children, which resulted in a total of £lO. Another subscription list is now being filled up for a picnic to come off on the 2Sth. The Ngaire Orchestral Society are hard at work practising new glees and other pieces for a concert on the same day, and if only, the weather will be propitious and la grippe will refrain from meddling, we may expect a brilliant entertainment. Constable Patrick Leahy has been appointed Inspector of Weights and Measures for the county of Stratford. Mr J. W. Foley, with a company of nine, is giving entertainments in Taranaki at present. He gives two nights to Stratford. Conversing with a farmer lately he told me he had saved during the past week some of the finest and sweetest hay he had ever seen.