LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 394, 20 May 1910, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Harbor Board overdraft stood yesterday at £3400 7s lOd. The memorial services in St. Mary's Church to-day will be as follows: —II.G. at 11, and memorial service at 2.30. Tdiere were seven members present at the Harbor Board meeting yesterday. At one stage there were only five of them speaking at one and the same time. llhe Municipal Library Committee met last night, and decided to close the circulating library and reference linrary all day to-day. The reading room will be closed until (i p.m., ami open from that hour to the usual closing time. His Worship the Mayor has received from Sir Joseph Ward a message suggesting that women and girls should be asked to wear a band of black ribbon on the right arm to-day, on account of the King's funeral, and that men should wear a strip of black ribbon in the lapel of the coat. The weekly meeting of the F.gmont Lodge, 1.0.GT.. was he.d on Wednesday evening in St. Mary's Hall,, 'liie attendance was very good. It was decided to hold a final committee meeting (to arrange all details for the Fancy F.iir) next Monday evening. The programme was a debate. "The Pen or the Sword— Which lias Benefited Mankind Most?" The chief supporters of the pen were Bros. Howell and A. White, while on the side of the sword were Bros. G. Harden and G. W. Hartnell. After an interesting debate a vote was taken, which proved favorable to the pen. Mr. Newton King reported to the Harbor Board yesterday that during a visit to Auckland a few days ago he saw Mr. Ransom, manager of the Northern S.S. Company, and that gentleman had informed 'him that the company intended running the steamer Rarawa triweekly between Onehunga and (Xew Plymouth until the end of May, and the service would be further continued if warranted by the traffic, Mr. Ransom had added that the service so far had proved more remunerative than had been expected. The chances are that each succeeding winter will make the route between Auckland and the south more and more popular, as against the main trunk railway. A meeting of tilne committee appointed to make arrangements for the forthcoming farewell visit of his Excellency the (iovenmr to New Plymouth on Monday next was held on Wednesday night. The programme as previously arranged was cancelled and, the following substituted:—s.3o p.m., met at station by Mayor and Councillors; 0.30. t0'7.30, dinner with Mayor and Ooiunclllors'; 8 p.m.. public farewell to his Excellency the Governor at the Theatre Royal. At the latter gathering admission will, lie by ticket only. These will be issued free iand can lie procured from the Town Clerk's oflice after noon ion Saturday.' This step has been taken to avoid overcrowd in?. At a meeting of the Taranaki Poultry Society's Committee the secretary reported that the affairs of the society were in a very satisfactory position. It was decided that the secretary should visit Lnglewood, Waitara, Stratford and Hawera in the interests o£ the Society. The meeting discussed the arrangements for the forthcoming show, and decided to add weight-guessing, amateur photograph and a baby show to the schedule. Tn regard to the latter innovation it was decided to follow on the lines of the Blenheim Poultry Society, .which annually hold an ehibition of babies in connection with its show, and makes a success of it. Competitions will ,be: Best boy, under six months; best girl, under six months; best boy, over six and under twelve months; a similar class for girls; and the best Maori child under twelve months. Valuable prizes will be offered. There will he no entrance fee in this section. ' The cadet movement is very popular with schoolboys, and at least one schoolmaster in Tarmiaki finds that even the little Alps like to shoulder (lie toy rifle and look martial. Hence, although he .bins only about twenty nf the reqiiired age and stature, lm in active cadet company of about double tha f number. The small boys are a sort of recruiting grotrad, and the recruits are allowed to join in the "manoeuvres." The other day the cadets at this school had a field-day. Lieutenant Three-feet-six was left in charge of a point of vantage, and the schoolmaster, who is also captain of the company, led the at-1 taicking party. Leaving a reserve, he i and his merrie men advanced in skirmishing order. The captain himself was cautiously proceeding alone down a creek bed, with a view of spying out the land. He was getting along very nicely, and congratulating himself upon the success of his detour, when a small voice pipe out. "You're my prisoner, sU - !" Looking up, quickly, he found himself gassing at the end of a toy rifle, where the barrel ought to be. The youngster was the sma'llest of the recruits, and he was posted in a tree to watch for scouts. The ca.ntain called his war-dogs off, and t'lio defenders won the day. The little fellow was immensely proud of his achievement, and soon the whole township knew of it. The captain was unmercifully "chaffed" for days afterwards.] A circular was received by the Stratford County Council at its la*t meetir.-: . from the secret-nrv of the Xew Zealand I Counties" Association, suggesting that the clerks of the various affiliated bodies should meet the executive v.\ Wellington the dav before the proposed conference with a view to holding a conference with representatives of the Audit and Treasury Departments and discussing i the question of of the uniformity of ac- J count* of local bodies throughout the.l Dominion, the procedure for raising | loans and other matters of administrative detail. Heads of the above Oepn.rtnipnt' hid in f 'mated their willingness to attend. The Stratford County Council 'unanimously agreed to allow their clerk (Mr. C. PeniO to attend, members being of opinion that it was a good suggestion. There is no doubt that some such conference is uiigentlv required and should obviate the vexatious delays that often occur over the granting of loan moneys on account of sonje slight irregulwritv on the part of the local bodv aiiplving or some misunderstanding with the Department. NEURALGIA. Tf the affected part? are bathed freely with Chamberlain's Pain Balm those stabbing, burning, darting pains will soon disappear. Rub the Balm well in several times during the day, keeping the patient warm and out of the cold wind. Dozens of people suffering from neuralgia have been cured by the use of Chamberlain's Pain Balm. Sold by all chemists and storekeepers. i BEWARE OF PNEUMONIA. If you have weak lungs you have reason to fear pneumonia, and should keep at hand a bottle of Chamberlain's Cough Remedy. Tt counteracts anv tendency of a cold or attack of influenza to result in pneumonia. It always cures, an ; cures quickly. Sold by chemists and storekeepers.

Encouragement of the beet sugar industry in New Zealand, said the Premier at Winton, was worthy of the fullest consideration, and proposals would--1*" submitted to Parliament this session to enable this important industry to be established in the Dominion. Some idea of the magnitude of the work dime at the State forest nursery it, Rotorua may bo gained from the fact that 2-J.000,000 trees have .been raised there an I planted out, since the inception of this important work of afforestation, and in time to come these forests will be a great asset to the State and a source of much prosperity to Rotorua. Mr. J. Henry, editor of the Petroleum World, and an authority on oil, is publishing in the autumn a new book, entitled "Oilfields of the Empire." It i* possible that Mr. Hienry may pay a visit to Xew Zealand in the near future, .tie has great faith in tae oilfields of the Dominion, which country, he thinks. will largely share in the'coming boom. which he places in the autumn. Apparently there is little prospect of the split in labor circles being mended in the immediate future. It is now reported that, prior to the annual Trades and Labor Council's Conference, a gathering will be held of representatives of all unaffiliated unions for the purpose of discussing matters affecting the wellare of the working classes. This conference, it is further stated, will be held in Wellington. In a letter received recently from London, written on April 8, a New Zealander who is in close touch with affairsin the heart of the Empire, says that money is plentiful there. He adds: l, We have had ia |good winter in London. Rubber is booming, but 1 am of opinion that there's a big slump close at hand.. The Xew Zealand Oil Company have issued their prospectus to-day, for £200,0110 capital. 1 am informed that the company paid £OO,OOO for its rights." According to Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M., it is not necessary to come into court for a variation of a judgment summons order. The judgment creditor, said theMagistrate, had the matter in his ownhands, and could .say to ,tiiQ debtor that he could pay so much, failing which he would require n, writ against his body. It was only a waste of time and money, as well as a fruitful source of misrepresentation, to bring the matter forward in the manner that was sometimes done. It is reported thait the Land Taxation League in London contemplate a propagandist campaign in New Zealand, extending probably over two years. A wealthy gentleman in Lonuon, who is a strong single-taxer and free-trader, and who believes the principles .to be urn complement of each other, has placed a considerable sum aside for the campaign and New Zealand may soon expect to'welcome to her shores a lecturer, charged with the duty of expounding the doctrines of free-trade and land taxation. At the meeting of the Stratford County Council on Wednesday a letter iwas received from Mr. A. J. Glasson drawing attention to the blackberry on the Council's gravel reserve at Manganui, near Midhirst. He stated that he was taking steps to ihiave all adjoining properties cleared and it was important that a good example should be set by the Council. The members of the Council .expressed ignorance of the matter, and it was decided to instruct the foreman to ha.ve the blackberry eradicated at once and also to lodk after that section in future. Mr. Fels, an American millionaire, has contributed £SOOO to the Liberal fund for furthering the single-tax cause. The Times makes some strong comments upon the, action of "a foreigner interferingin a purely British question." Mr. Fels sir.>iM t uently replied to Captain Prettyman, who commented on his gift. He says it is nc-t the first time that Great Britain has taken the good ideas of forebners. He also comments upon the fact that the forty millions of people in England have condemned the system of one million owning the whole of the land. An ingenious swindle by a palmist calling herself Mary Andre is reported from Trieste. When she examined the hands of well-to-do ladies she generously picdktcd some impending misfortune, and explained this was very likely due to their possessing some unlucky jewel. A number of her clients entrusted, the palmist with their jewellery in order that she might discover which was tke offending stone. Fran Andre must have had a large clientele, for she suddenly disappeared from Trieste with £SOOO worth of this jewellery, and has not since been heard of. Writing to friends in Patea, Mr. Kemp, who is visiting Sydney, states uie went out to tlie Homebush snleyaras a week or two ago, and was greatly impressed with what he saw there. The big yards cover an area of nearly 40 acres and at the time of his visit there were 0700 sheep and 078 head of cattle in the various pens for sale. Mr. Kemp also visited the horse fair in Melbourne and writes to say fillies brought from £57 to £O3 each," and two geldings sola for £l3O the pair. At the time of writing the whole country was very dry ami rain iwas badly wanted. A touching incident in connectionwith the announcement in Wellingtonof the death of the King is reported. On Saturday afternoon, iwihile Mr. J. C. Webb, headmaster of the Normal School, was walking along ihe Makara beach, he came upon three Italian fishermen. To one of the group, an elderly man, he said: "Do you know King Edward?" -Yes." replied the fishermen, "I do know him." "Well," said Mr. Webb, ''he is dead. - ' "Is that true?" queried the fisherman eiaTnftsibl'y. '"Yes,'' replied Mr. Webb. "Horrible, horrible," muttered the man, and he turned to his companions, and spoke a few words in Italian. Then the three walked slowly away in the direction of their huts at Wharehou Bay. The only fisherman presently reappeared, carrying a smali red UnionJack, which he hoisted half-mast on a pole of his hut. Then he stood in front of it and .reverently bared his head. According to the Hon. R. McKenzie(Minister for Mines) the coal deposits at Retaruke may be found to containmany millions of tons of valuable coal. Although only superficial prospectifflg has been carried on to date—viz., a scrutiny of creeks and gullies in the locality —between two and three millions of tons are estimated to exist there, if it should turn out that the deposits include household coal which can be profitably worked it should mean a reduction in price of that commodity in thin and other districts. Owing to the fact that there is a fall ea<& wajr from Beta■rake, which is on about- the? 'highest elevation in the North Island Main Trui* railway, lwutage should prove inexpensive. Mr. McKenzie also informed a Dominion reporter that if the high opinions already held in regard to the discoverv were confirmed by further prospecting, the locality which was at present ordinary Crown land would .be converted into a coal reserve. Some months might elapse (he added) before a full report in connection with tne depositswas available.