LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 299, 27 January 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A large whale, between 40 and 50 feet in length, was captured in the Wairoa liiver last Saturday.

The Hawera Methodist and Presbyterian Sunday Schools held their annual picnics at Ngaire yesterday. The Waitara borough poll for the additional £2OOO for the water supply was carried on Monday by GO votes to 4.

It lias been decided to form a fire brigade at Xormanbv and to procure the manual engine from the Eltham Borough Council as soon as possible. A prominent member of the Hawera Acclimatisation Society informed a Star reporter on Tuesday afternoon that two residents of Eltham had been caught redhanded dynamiting trout. The case of the Taranaki County Council v. J. W. Harding, upon an information alleging trespass of a bull .upon the public highway, is to be in the S.M. Court at New Plymouth next Thursday.

The annual picnic in connection with the ingiewood public school is to take place on the beach to-day. A specUl train will leave Ingiewood for New Plymouth about 9 a.m., and, given fine ■weather, it is expected that Ingiewood will be deserted.

Through the efforts of Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P., the wishes of the settlers' for a mail delivery between Kotare and Waianga are to be met. Messrs. Sheehy Bros, are the successful contractors for the carriage; they will also have charge of the Kotare post office. The service will start oil the 31st inst.

A block of concrete resting on a heap of earth thrown up in the course of the Gas Company's excavations at the •corner of Devon and Brougham streets, attracts 6ome attention. It looks like ' the base of a lamp-post, but it is really, J we are told, the trig which marks the centre of the town of Xew Plymouth. The school cadets are required to mobilise in Wellington on February 23rd next for inspection by Field-Marshd Lord Kitchener. The matter of the Education, Board granting the requisite permission, as asked by Major Sandford, commanding the No. battalion, has been referred to the chairman, with power to act.

Master J. Valintine, son of Dr. Valintine, met with a painful accident 'it Jjepperton on Monday. He was riding a horse, which fell with him, stunning him for a few moments. On recovering he was aTJIe fo ride home. H;> was attended to by 'l)r. Wvllie, who discovere-l that one of the fingers of the right hand was oroken.

There are some fine specimens »'f ragwort to be seen in close proximity to tlie railway lino near Waipuku. It is now flowering luxuriantly and if .illowed to go to seed there should be a prolific crop of ragwort in that district next season. There are also a few fine samples to be seen near the Lepperton railway station A conference of the natives throughout Taranaki is to be held at Okaiawa next month, commencing on the 14th and lasting till tlie 18th, to go fully into the question of leasing of native lands. There, is a great deal, of dissatisfaction prevalent about tlie existing conditions. Sir Joseph Ward, Hon. J. Carroll and Hon. Ngata will be present on the 18th.

The Wanganui Herald hears that an expedition, wliich will include an English artist and an English journalist, will shortly explore the Wanganui river on behalf of a Home publisher. The trip will occupy three months, and the beauty of the river will be transferred to canvas and the photographic plate, while Maori legends and other matters of interest will be collected for future publication.

Mr. E. Basham, engineer to the Elt.hain County Council, was in New Plymouth the other day for the purpose of noting the results of the application of crude petroleum to road surfaces. He was .present when the foreman treated a length of the Main South road in the Omata riding, 'and also inspected those pieces of road -which, had received the treatment some time ago. It is said that he expressed himself as very wdl salts fled. "It doesn't matter who the directors are. or what they are." said a shmv•iiohiei' i?i the Taranaki Petroleum Co. yesterday, ''there's going to be growling and rows right aloiw until there •ar,'. dividends coining. There's only one way of efl'eetuallv blocking the nasty shst,rcliolder. Tt. is for (he chairman <o get up in the meeting and say. '■flcntlemen. the dividend for the vear is »..■> much ner cent. It will 1 )( . payable p.t the olTiee to-morrow morning."

ILr. D. Noake, the well-known horseman of Waverley, broke his leg below the knee .on Monday, lie had just finished trucking sncFjrf'wlien. on reaching the main Waverley road, his horse \lignon .stumbled badly, throwing the rider, and then rolled on him, with the result mentioned. llr. Noake (says the Pa tea Press) has had an ill run of luck durine; the past nine months. No sooner did he recover from a nasty hunting spill than lie got his foot crushed at Palinerston. This necessitated resort, to crutches for many weeks. About a month ago he placed the crutches aside, and now lie is rendered helpless for some time.

Mr. 'P. H Mi-Connell. conductor n f the Wait.; l ,ra Jlrasn Hand, and for some years a very successful conductor of the Taranaki f!arri>on Hand, has intimated his intention of bringing the band io New Plymouth at some early date, for the purpose of giving a sacred concert. Mesrs Role Pros, lmve given permission to use '-'Aotea'' for the purpose. The Waitara Hand is fortunate in having a complete set of new instruments, and those who have had the pleasure of listening to its music lately are very enthusiastic concerning the remarkable •progress made under Mr. McDonnell's tuition. "T.H." can depend on a hearty welcome for himself and his bandsmen.

The Kaponga Dairy Co. paid out £4400 for the December's operations. The prevailing keynote of the trade reports which appear in this month's issue of the Labor Journal from various parts of Xew Zealand is an all-round improvement of trade.

"Come aiftf tell my people about missionary work, but don't ask for money—my stipend is in arrears." Smii was the invitation which a clergyji'. < once gave to Mr. G. Coates, of the '.Vltianesian Mis'sion.

The Premier was asked to have progress reports of the English elections transmitted to the telegraph oli'ices in the remote districts of the country. This, however, he was unable to do, as he did not consider it practicable. The Korean women are said to be the bes't swimmers in the world. The women do practically all the Korean pearl-div-ing. They down 50ft to get t lie large pearl oysters, and keep diving for three or four hours, until they have filled their large baskets. During the year just closed, the truant inspector in the Taranaki education district reports, 214 notices were sent by him to parents in reference lo the irregular attendance of their children. Personal visits of inspection elicited the fact that 00 per cent, of the absences were due to sickness. As the result of his representations to fourteen parents, over twenty children were enrolled at various schools. Thirty-eight summonses had been issued, and 28 convictions obtained.

The New Zealand Dairyman reprints figures published in this journal recently showing that Taranaki was still leading Auckland in regard to the output of butter. The Dairyman adds: We coneider this business very, very paltry. The fact of the matter is we all tal:c our little bit of dairying altogether too seriously. Why not remember that evan now Denmark makes ten times as mmh dairy produce as we do, her exports of dairy produce being equal each year to two hundred and fifty tons of sovereigns ? The Kaupokonui beach was the scene on Saturday afternoon of a bathing misadventure which might easily have besn attended with fatal consequences, reports the Waimate Witness. A number of young men were bathing in the river, when a lad named Riddick, 10 years of age, was seized with cramp. His brother Fred went to his rescue, but got into difficulties. A young fellow named Hunt promptly gave assistance to the two Riddicks and struggled to low water with both of them. The_younger Riddick had Been under the water twice and had to be 'brought round when landed on terra firma. It was a difficult task for Hunt at the one time to get out of ,deep water with the two othe'3, but physical strength enabled him to ac. complish the feat, though exhausted oy the etlort.

Two miners, William Hogan and Dani.iel Endicott, recently pegged out a claim, in the orchard of the latter, .it Merrendee, 22 miles from Mudgee (N.S.W). They put a shaft down 14ft, and struck payable gold in the wash. One of them stuck a pick in the cornar of the shaft, dislodged a piece of rock,, and in the crevice between two roccs unearthed a nugget of gokl weighing 121oz. The discovery was made two days before Christmas, but kept a secret until the Monday morning, when the nugget was brought to Mudgoe, and lodged in the Bank of Xew South Wales. The gold is mixed with reddish brown quartz, both ,go!d and quartz being much water-worn. Experienced miners state it has not travelled far, and that a rich reef is in the vicinity. The nugget is valued at about £4OO.

The geysers at Whakarewarewa have been particularly active since the beginning of Jhnuary, states the Hot Lakes Chronicle. Poliutu has played on twenty occasions since the beginning of tlie year, and ha;s given some excellent eruptions. Since Saturday week this geyser has played twice a day, and on Tuesd.iy gavc an exhibition of its eruptive powers for two hours and forty minutes. The Cauldron has been very active for several days, sending its boiling water to heights varying from 10ft to 20ft. Waikorohihi. Kereru and Papakura geysers have likewise been giving regular displays of their eruptive powers, indicating than more than the usual force was in evidence. Waikite geyser on the 4th inst. gave an exhibition for nearly four hours, but since' then, although there are indications of great activity ■below the surface of the earth, no water has been sent forth.

Mr. Archie Hooker, truant inspector under the Taranaki Education Board, adds to his other duties those of a medical or sanitary adviser to the Board on the subject of sickness in schools. In his annual report Mr. Hooker has the following:—"T would .again draw the Board's attention to the great amount of sickness prevailing throughout the district for the twelve months. It is getting a serious matter, I consider.and ■one that should be carefullv gone inro by the Health Department. If I might be allowed to express an opinion, I would say that a sood many of these epidemics of influenza and • colds are caused through faulty ventilation and insufficient space in the majority of schools, the children bein<; crowded together and in place of having ten feet (which T consider insufficient) are in some cases reduced to six or eisrht. T hone and trust the Board will consider this matter, and try and gel a report from Hie Health Department."

Somo of our school toachors must ha Vfl had tingling ears yesterday morning whilst the Chief Inspector was reporting upon, and the Education Hoard was iliscii'ssing ( the method in whi -h the teachers sent in their returns i f attendance, etc.. in connection with secondary education. Despite the f:;<-1 th.-if very precise instrucl ions are sent, and that th» columns are headed. <oni" most remarkable errors were made, anil the compulations of the average attendance in many cases would have ensued a brisk use of the "Mont miiuerv taws.'" on any unfortunate fourth or fifth standard hoy making the same errors. Mr. Adlani wanted to have the ofi'endiiu; teachers '"'carpeted" before the Hoard ritrilf away, but a compromise was arrived at. the decision of the Hoard that head teachers should lie once more reminded of their failings in this respect, and that they lie '-notified that in futur r when returns are sent carelessly. wrongfully, or incompletely filled in, the offending teachers will be lia'il" to be cited before the Hoard and deaM with as the ease demands." Some of the returns had to be corrected to snch an extent that, the director wits ashamed to forward them to the Department. and he had to make fresh copies. should lie mentioned that the ofl'end"rs were not confined to the smaller schools. DR. SHELDON'S NEW DISCOVERY, for Coughs and Colds cures all ChSst Complaints. Price, Is 6d and 3e. Obtainable everywhere.