LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 80, 24 March 1908, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

! Tin' lonium ni,ul -L-injol picnic i- to be lii-ld to-day. Mr. S'lilJo lliU had i lie mi-fortune tin- other day to In-i; a valuable maro, she having; broken through a rotten vei't mi the Kjjmont road. The tender of Messrs Boon Bros, lias Iteoa accepted for the new; public hail at H ilUborough. The building is to be finished by 21»t .May, and will probably be o|H'iied with u concert and dance on the night of May 24th, Empire Day. One of our clients iu the luglewood, district sent us on Saturday a postal note for five shillings, but omitted to tell ns by whom it was sent, or wliat for. Meantime, we hold the no:e. Will the sender plcn-c explain? (.hi St I'atrcik's Uay the Egmont road settlers lield a sports gathering, followed by a concert and dance, the object being to raise money toward* jnoviding the cost of a new hall. About £lB was netted.

The interlocking system was inaugurated in the local railway yards yesterday. Except for a little unavoidable stiffness everything worked perfectly. The shunter.- and others seem likely to ma-ter very quickly the co le of signal-, and so forth.

A meeting of the I'oultry Society - * conjuiittce is to lie held in the course of a week or »o. It is understood that Mr. J, Clarke, the secretary, liuds it impos-ibln to carry out the duties, and that he will have to rc-ign. This is indeed unfortunate for the Society, because -ecretaries like Mr. Clarke don't (.TOW oil L .vei'v bu-h. At a recent conference held in London in favour of limiting 11n- employment of women and girl- at bar- liccn-cl premiss, it wu- made dear Ihat it w.i- j not proposed that any women ai pre-ent employed a- barmaid- should lie turned out of their occupation, but oulv that women in the future -hould be precluded from engaging in i!. Dr. .Mr-. Sclikirieb and Sir Victor I lon-ley are in favour of this scheme. Mr. Uains-iy Macdonald. M.l\. said the brewer- were in favour of barmaids because they were cheaper and more attractive than men. The la-t ceii-us -bowed thai there were 27,000 so employed, and that of these 18,000 were under 20.

The Muster Bakers' Association has written thanking the Borough Council for courtesies extended during the recent. conference held in New Plymouth. "We are getting into a new building, and I think we ought to got as neir ui>-to dale as possible."—A confession by [ilia Worship the .Mayor. There m ■ | hopes yet of New I'lymouth coming iu|to line with more progressive borough'-. Environment make* the man. In certain trades prices arc "arranged'' by organised association. This remark applies, inter alia, to the baking trade. Not so ill the blaclismithing, lis the Borough Council's lenders last night revealed. The acceptance of the lowest tender was opposed by Cnuncillor West, who explained, "1 don't hold with these cutters."

11l acknowledging, to the Mayor, re cuijit of Now Plymouth's contribution to the !>eddon National Memorial Fund, the secretary states there is now a sullicicnt amount subscribed tip enable >' handsome niemorial to be erected to the memory of deceased statesman. Over • LJIOO is now in hand, which amount carries a Government subsidy of C for C. As the statue is to be erected in Parliament grounds, the question of its erection will of necessity have to stand over until the rc-buildling of Parliament House. I

buuic liiiir-branu'd Wellington i"". 1 won- uniii'ioLvcKl to have u wuuuing ccmn'Oiiy to h.ve laivcu prui. oh tau summit oi' Jionnt bgnioni uiu my ino [iiL'fttui reason. A-b i«u" «»•> t-... be uSet'iLtiuiedj Unit unitjno ceremo^ Uilsj UL'VOI LUKCJJ [JIUCC. U.i public *uuiild not i. e 100 greatly lUsap pOillll'U, ino clibiumuii ol iuc r, D inont Aloumam liuusc na.-j cuuui\"ia. lu liU tiic gap 10 liie ucftt oi nia "'j'ih, . So uii Sunuay a wuk piaci*, iiio i., u. i>ivoKC LuiiL-ianJiy. u may oe as well lo pouii uiit mat popular sRy-pUot was not askcu to pilot, viw pally io tno summit, liic being carried out at tiiu iioibu. iJIL' .-iioic to uvar mUjI uid vt liie pi'ujseciuions oJ Uio u\

uie lalaiKiKi jockey uuu i-■ i" uiiac.i .... liic uorougli uy-mwo'-'/jy. .i.cui.lß .. noiougu reserve. Wflfcli couird a upiu iuu was reau ia*i. nigat ai uivmeeting .Ur- L. ( x, j±uis said liic i ... aeeiucu to liiiii to be taully in tins mui Ler, jor it seemed wrong mat a body should lake the amount oi liic lines whilst a private institution such ;io a racing club sirould bear Uie wnole cost of the prosecution. Ihe Town Cien* said the Council could have assi*ted had they been approached before the prosecutions were entered on. Had the Joe-

key Club asked the Council to uphold its by-laws the llorough Council could have appointed its solicitor. The Council decided to forward a copv of the solicitor's letter to the club, and to ask tlie finance Committee to ascertain if there were any means of the Council's carrying out undoubted obligations. The grocers of New Plymouth are petitioning the Minister of Labor requesting that the following hours of closing be observed in connection with their establishments:—From Ist April to With September, 8 o'clock oil Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; from Ist October to' 31st March, !) p.m. on the alorementioned days except lietween 20th to 31st December inclusive, when, it is proposed, it shall b" optional; all Thursdays', half-holiday, 1 p.m. The llorough Council last night agreed to forward the petition.

111'. Martin, Opposition organiser, is at present working through Taranaki, making arrangements for the forthcoming political campaign. He was 111 Eltham recently (says the Argus), an,! proceeded south. It'is understood that .Mr. Martin considers Egniont a "saiY ; Opposition seat, but is uneasy at the prospect of a plurality of candidate.). A caucus of the party in Eltham is lixed for the 1-ttli prox,, when delegates i'roj.i all over the electorate will attend and choose the Opposition candidate. Jlr. C. A. Wilkinson and Mr. J. Marx will, we understand, be among those wlio will be asked to submit their names i o the meeting.

Speaking at the luncheon tendered to him at Te Puko oil Friday, the Prime. Minister said he ivas sorry to iind that a certain Wellington newspaper had for the last six or eight weeks lieen publisning articles that were calculated to briny; about a tiuancial crisis in the country. It was a discredit and disgrace to those who wen: concerned to try and write down their own count rv. They were apparently doing it from the standpoint of parly politics. "We oug'it to re.sist it. and we ought to let the people who did it distinctly understand," he went on. "that we look upon them as disloyal to their native land. New Zealand to-day .stood in a stronger tiuancial position than it ever had before."

In the S.M. Court yesteri'/ay tlu( Noxious Weeds inspector continued the prosecution of Win. Humphries for Ming to coni]>]y with an order to clear his land of blackberries. The case find been adjourned to allow of defendant obtaining advice and to call evidence. -Mr. Kerr appeared for the prosecution, and Jlr. (I. Grey for the defence. Evidence was called to the effect that the defendant had expended large sums in endeavoring to eradicate the weed, but this was a dilticult matter as Maori sections, covered with blackberry, weic adjoining his holding. The whole of nis land would be cleared in about live days. His Worship said be liad se "i the land Mmselt in the interim. He would dismiss the information charging defendant' with not commencing tliv' work at the proper season, but on the second charge of not carrying on the work continuously lie would convict and inllict a nominal penalty of IDs and costs. His Worship remarked that no doubt the defendant had a big task, and that clearing operations were very expensive, but h c did not think the defendant had done all that he might have done.

Several licensees of billiard saloons last night asked the Borough Council to consider the advisability of reducing the license from to £2 10s, and of extending the closing hour to 11 p.m. They pointed out that they were dependent for their business on the people of the town, and these they could not get until 8 o'clock. Mr. Jacob waited on the Council in support of the application. He stated that during the day there was very little business doing, unless there were some big attraction in the town. Ho understood that an argument was brought that the extension of hours would induce young men to play oil after leaving the hotels, and that this | must encourage drunkenness. It would not do that. Saloon-keepers did not, want, and would not have, intoxicated men in their rooms, Or. Eellringer said there was the objection that the hotels Jiad billiard rooms, and they had to close at 10 p.m. All paid the same license tee. Cr. Mills agreed that the "e prescribed was very short, in which to get any enjoyment from the game. Ihe matter was referred to the Finance Committee (the .Mayor and I i- Boon. Mills, and Cattlcy) for a report.

Ihe ltniouj:]i Council last nigliL considered the proposal of the Stratford Horoupli Council to send a united deputation to Wellington to urge, upon the Minister in charge Hie necessity for more rapidly pushing on the Mount Egmont ami the Stratford-Ongaruhe railway works. Or. Cattley said he could not see any great necessity for this, as tlio Government was even now transferring ae much plant as it could from the Ma lu Trunk to the Stratford-Ongarulic lme. His Worship said there was 110 harm in it, though the deputation would hauliy catch the Premier for souie time yet. lie understood Unit Sir Joseph Ward, intended, during liis forthcoming visit to the King Country, to collect information which would enable Cabinet to decide upon the junction of the Main Trunk and Stratford branch railways. Crs. Bellringer and Mills thought the Council should take up this matter heartily, for any success achieved by the 'deputation would reflect beneficially upon this town. Without further discussion it was decided that his Worship the Mayor and the cliflirmaii of Works Committee be appointed the Council's representatives.

-LKXi" MILKING MACHINES. ;1 1 The great anunal sale at "The Rash" j id now on, and presents one of the be&t I opportunities for buying your men's and boys' clothing you'll have this year. Even if you do not immediately want iMiy of the goods, they are Belling so cheaply, it will pay you to buy now, at once, while the sale is on. It lasts for j a fortnight only, and we advise you to j visit them early. "They've some splen- ; did boys' Conway suits in serges afld j .'ill-wool tweeds. Most of these arrived | too late for the Christmas trade, and they are giving a-third reduction on the price, so that 19s 6d suits are now 13- 1 , every suit bearing an equal reduction. Boys' Norfolk suits tliey have commencing at 8s lldf^'boys 1 sailor suits run from Gd; boys' 3-garment suits from 13s Gd. So that you see whu; a good opportunity you have to buy yi.iir boys' clothes. Of course, you know tho address—it's in Devon-street, New Plymouth, jjist below Nolan's auction mart. —Advfc,