The Patea County Press, [With which is incorporated The Patea Mail.) "Be Just and Fear Not." WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14th 1896. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 119, 14 October 1896, Page 2

The Patea County Press, [With which is incorporated The Patea Mail.) "Be Just and Fear Not." WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14th 1896. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Captain Edwin wired at noon today: Strong N.W. to W. and S. winds and heavy sea. Glass rising.

Mr Hutchison, M.H.R., opens his campaign at Waverley, on Monday next, and continues at Patea on Tuesday.

A fresh-water waif. Mr E. Willis picked a bottle out of the Patea River the other day which contained a piece of paper on which was the following inscription: “April 29/96. Thrown off Patea swing bridge, 15 miles from Eltham. Edward Cook, John Bethune.”

) In respect of the recent lease of the Heads for iron sand purposes, the following may be of local interest: “Edison’s electro unagnetic separator appears to me to be the one thing necessary to make th« ironsand industry of Taranaki highly profitable. Mr Edison put his plant into operation for my inspection in November, ISSO. It works splendidly, separating the magnetic from the non-magnetic particles automatically and with but I trifling expense. Edison assures me that •wherever there is a large supply of magnetic ironsand, he himself will undertake the expense of working his plant on a i selling or royalty proposition.” The j above is an extract from a letter received in 1890, from Mr C. L. Garland, a former resident of New Plymouth, by Mr James Kenworthy, of Patea Mr Garland was travelling in ISS9 through the United States in the interests of the New South Wales Government as to their shale-oil deposits, and ho had several interviews with Mr Edison as to ironsand and silver ore smelting.

Prohibitionists will perhaps be pleased to learn that all the distillers of Kentucky, 300 in number, have signed a formal agreement to stop distilling whisky for 18 mouths from the present month, and at the end of that time the agreement will bo renewed for yet another lunger term imless the connoisseurs of tine liquors come to their relief in the meantime by buying supplies much faster than at present. Partly because beer has taken its place with many as a beverage, and partly because of the spread of temperance principles, the consumption of Kentucky whisky has dwindled in five years , from 30 to 20 millions of gallons annually, and the result has been an accumulation of 88.000 000 gallons in store. By shutting down entirely the distillers will ho able to advance the nrico of this old stock immediately, and will thus make up in some degree for the loss of profits on Motive operations, but no doubt many ox rhem will never again resume a business 1 which bears such plum marks of being a declining industry.