LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 47, 13 July 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Thje speaker at the Brotherhood meeting to-m<prfc\tf vfll be the Rev. Mr. Hales, who wil} take, for' his subject "Facts anld ..■Fancies." Those who were present on' the. previous occasion on which th(j Rev. Hales gave an. address will no doiibt be glad of the opportunity to hear h m. again. Th' Rev A. "H. ' Col vile, M.A., Oxon., will, qn Sunday a-itcrnoon. next at 3 o'clock! gva an: address in .St., Mary's Church air. "Forgiveness—ls there a limit?" t'lls' address will be given, in with* tlie monthly jenice for men oAly ihfld in St. Mary's Church on the second Sunday in each month. At meeting of the Palmerston North Borough Council last night re tramways (for Palmerston, on the motion of the>Miyor, Mr. Black's scheme was adopted, fcr. Stubbs dissenting. Steps will be taUcn by the Mayor to obtain the necessary' information to enable the council to take the preliminary steps. A Dunedin telegram states that Mr. W. Wilkinson has received a telegram from, the Jlon. J. A. Millar, who says that his health is slowly improving, but that his medical advisers will not allow him to undertake mental work for at least throe months. After the expiry of that time he will be examined again, to see if his health is sufficiently restored to enable him to resume active duties.

Mr. H. J. Movcrley, of New Plymouth, was very successful at the Hastings Show, wliich opened yesterday, securing seven first prizes, one special, one second and two thirds in the Homer section. The entries for the show were a record, ii umbering over a thousand in all. In the Homer pigeon class alone there were 210 birds, representing the leading fanciers of the Dominion. Mr. W. Fraser, i of Christchurch, was judge. On Thursday the meet of the North Taranaki hounds was held at Mr. Cole's farm, Waihi. The inclement weather of the morning kept many huntsmen away. Those who attended had an enjoyable afternoon, as a hare was put up by the hounds which led the field a merry chase for an hour and a half before a kill was effected. Afterwards the members were entertained at afternoon tea .by Mr .and Mrs. Cole, who were heartily thanked for their hospitality. In the evening the Hunt Club social at Waitara was largely attended. The club has accepted the invitation of the EgmontWanganui Hunt Club to meet at Mr. Piper's property, Meremere, next Wednesday, consequently there will be no meet here next week.

The Lower Hutt Borough Council has at present in hand the work of erecting a monument to commemorate the. memory of those who are buried in that portion of the cemetery now known as Bridge street. It will be remembered that when the present Hutt bridge was built, it was. necessary to build' the western approach over a portion of the cemetery. An ornamental fence is now being constructed, and the foundation is being got ready for the monument, which is being- built by TTelyer and Co.. of Wellington. Tt will be about 7ft din in height, and will contain two marble slabs let into an artistically-designed concrete frame. The larger slab will be inscribed with the names of those buried under the road. On vhe lower and smaller slab will be the words: "Erected by (lie Lower TTutt Borough Council to commemorate the names of those buried in that portion of the eemeterv now included in Bridge street."— Post.

The services in the Whitclcv Memorial Church will be conducted in the morning bv Mr. 11. T. Peat, and in the evening the Rev. L W. Burton will preach the <i*lh of ihe series of sermons on special topics, tlie subject on Sundav being"Morel and Intellectual Difficulties in the Bible."

Ten head of cattle and two 'horses were shipped north by the Rarawa last night. The vessel also took ten casks of petroleum, A public meeting in Napier last night decided to hold an Industries Week in Napier for the display in the shop windows of New-Zealand manufactures, in conjunction with the musical and elocutionary competitions, for the week commencing August 4. A part}' of 25 gentlemen from Papanui, with guns, accepted the invitation of Messrs Morrow Bros, for a hare drive at Montalto station, Rangitata (says the | Christchurch Press). In four days 008 hares, weighing about two tons and a-half, and filling a railway truck, were shot.

The Taranaki Acclimatisation Society to receive by mail train this evening a consignment of 100,000 sea-run brown trout ova, which they recently ordered from the Hakataramea hatcheries. The ova, on arrival, will be placed in the society's hatching ponds on the Frankley road. The steamer Paparoa completed her loading in the Waitara roadstead yesterday morning. The cargo shipped at Waitara consisted of 2714 quarters beef, 53U0 carcases mutton, 1582 carcases lamb, 5S carcases pork, 1378 boxes sundries, 84 bales wool, 170 casks tallow, 08 casks pelts, 110 casks oleo, 15 boxes casings, 2 boxes fiddle strings, 198 cases meat.

At the Courthouse yesterday applications for war medals were inquired into by Mr. Crooke, -S.M. The following claims were dealt with: Messrs Richard Street, an old Waireka veteran, Jas. Thornton, a military settler, veteran in Captain Corbett's company, and Samuel Whitehead, belonging to No. 1 Company of the Taranaki Volunteer Bushrangers. The S.M. will forward his recommendation to headquarters.

There is considerable excitement in Eltham over the political position (says the local Argus). Mr. Massey's sup.porters are terribly anxious to know whether Mr. Mackenzie is going to take the High Commissionership—and when? His acceptance of the post would create a vacancy for the Egmont seat, and as it has been decided to drop Mr. Dive overboard and run Mr. Wilkinson for .the seat, there is great anxiety that the latter should return from America to be ready for any emergency. Mr. Primmer, of the Mawson Antarctic expedition, stated that he was much disappointed at not being able to secure moving pictures of popular interest. The light in the southern seas at this period of the year, even in the middle of the day, has practically no value for cinematography. Moreover, daylight, such as,' it is. is very short, while sunlight is virtually absent, only two hours being recorded during the period of fourteen days spent at the Macquarie Island. Mr. Primmer felt hound to make an attempt on some interesting subjects, but lie much fears under-exposure throughout, The following extract from a Dunedin Star editorial of Tuesday last is interesting:—We' are in a position to state that the ex-Minister of Railways, acting on the admonitions of his medical advisers, has determined to prolong his trial of the "rest cure"; and his many friends, personal and political, however glad they might be to see him again in Ministerial harness, will (for his own sake, as well as in the interests of the/ country) approve the decision. Of course, it must not be. absolutely taken for granted that Mr. Millar would have accepted' office even if the state of his health had been satisfactory—nor, for that matter, that the Prime Ministerelect would have solicited his co-opera-tion; but the probabilities pointed in that direction.

The question of .establishing freezing works in the King Country in the near •future was referred to n't the annual meeting of the King Country Central A. and P. Association. Exception was taken ■byj all the speakers to the manner in

which producers were treated in the Auckland market. There was no stability about it, and it was apparently subject to the operation of one or two large firms. One speaker strongly advocated freezing works at Kawhia as the natural centre for such an industry, saying tihat works could be erected in a suitable position alongside deep water, and the stock could be loaded from the works directly into the ste&miers. At a later meeting in Kawhia it was stated that Messrs. Borthwick were filling to erect works at Kawhia as soon as there was sufficient stock in the district. A committee was s>et up to make the necessary inquiries on the subject.

A scheme which, if carried out, will revolutionise the present system of transport of ■mails and parcels in London and greatly relieve the traffic in its Streets, was bripfly announced in the House of Commons by the PostmasterGeneral, Mr. Herbert Samuel. He said that the Government contemplated making a tube railway of their own, running east and west of London, to carry mails and parcels. The scheme has not yet been fully developed; but it has been decided to build a tube railway between Mount Pleasant, the central sorting establishment, and the new King Edward Buildings, which recently took the place of St. Martin's-le-Grand. . Extensions of the railway will afterwards be made to Paddington, and the Eastern Districts

Office, and, ultimately, all the other principal termini and post in London will be linked up. The trains are to be electrically propelled and worked on the automatic system, without either driver or guard, and, according to present plans, there will be two tubes for traffic either way ,and the diameter will not be less than ten feet.

The excerpts from the congratulatory messages showered upon Mr. Massey which have been published by the newspapers of the Reform party make entertaining reading, says the Lyttelton times. They are for the most -part characterised by a light-hearted hilarity, which should win a sympathetic smile from even the most disgruntled of Liberals, and in none of them is displayed any trace of the lingering bitterness that still disfigures some of the less generous of the party organs. We can appreciate the hearty practicality of the Nelson gentleman who offers a sirloin from his 17001b bullock for the delectation of Mr. Massey and "the boys." and the naive joy of the Taihape resident over "those who repented.'' Dr. Newman's Biblical knowledge, or rather lack of knowledge, is displayed in the triumphant announcement that "Our Moses has led us into the promised land," a more earnest student of Scripture, at Hastings, supplies the necessary correction by likening Mr. Massey to Joshua. It i.s difficult, however, to fathom the meaning of the Wellington gentleman who referred Mr. Massey to Numbers, xvi.. verses 20 and 21. If Mr. Massev consulted his Bible he found the following advice.- "Separate yourselves from among this congregation, thai I may consume them in a moment." The message which contained the phrase "Labor omnia vineit" mav contain a prophecy of disaster or it may not, but it certainlv is a little ambiguous "Chicago at last." is evident!v the work of an enemy. Tt relates, of course, to the story of the tramp in fxtremelv dilapidated raiment who was kicked off the New York-Chicago express at everv stopping plnce by an irate conductor, but. who confided to a sympathetic passentrer that he believed he would j;et to Chicago at Inst if only a certain indispensable portion of his attire held out. -The comparison is hardly a complimentary one.

An oil-boring company intends to commence operations in the Pa Valley, Eketahuna district, early in August. A portion of the plant has already reached Eketahuna, and the balance is expected to arrive in the course of a few weeks.

A settler engaged in log carting in DanneViirke county had hard luck (says the News-). Attempts had been made by an official to catch him while carting, on account of the damage done to the road. On the only occasion on which the carter was caught by the official he had the largest log on :hi* waggon which he had ever carted!

Many tons of bogus "old masters" were stated to have been sold by means of wholesale perjury on the part of James Castiglione, a picture dealer, and Robert George Porteous, who have been sentenced at the Old Bailey to six- and twelve months' imprisonment in the second division. "Castiglione had large numbers of imitations of the works of old masters manufactured for him," said Mr. Muir, who prosecuted, '"'and then sold them as pictures which had been seized by the sheriff under an order of the Court. Large companies were thus attracted to the saleroom, and the pictures realised prices far beyond their actual value. It is alleged that perjury was committed in order to obtain this assistance from the sheriff."

The first daylight cinematograph display in England was given at Folkestone last month. A apace measuring 100 ft by 40ft was enclosed in a field adjoining Linden crescent. There was no roof. The chief feature of the new device is a specially treated screen background of canvas impervious to moisture and coated with a silver-faced material, the ingredients of which are a carefully guarded secret. This screen is- principally to absorb light, a characteristic which not only renders daylight pictures possible, but also results in an enormous saving of electric current. In fine weather the spectators can sit in the fresh air underneath the blue sky, but in wet weather a sliding canvas roof can be drawn across the top of the enclosure.

As generally happens in Great Britain, not too little, but too much money has been subscribed by the public for the relief of the sufferers by the Titanic disaster. The Lord Mayor's fund amounts to more than £200,000, which is a lot more than is needed, but still subscriptions keep pouring in, and it has just been announced that the big surplus that is like]v to remain after all the victims of the recent disaster have beei| helped will be placed in the hands of ,lhe Public Trustee, and will be available In future emergencies of the same kind. This will mean still another addition to the colossal sum of money which is lying ownerless in Britain. In the vaults of the Bank of England alone is over £1,000,000 whose owners aie unknown, and which is doing nobody any good. The news budget of the Matiere correspondent of the King County Chronicle contains the, foil owing item:—The main road to Ohgarue is in a deplorable state just now, the coaches requiring eight horses to pull them through. The doughty Tom Moore states his intention "to get through if he pulls the wheels off." As present passengers lose a fair amount of epidermis, and Tom has a standing threat of a fine of five shillings to anyone, who bumps the top of the coach with his bead, what will happen when "the wheels come off" is hard to imagine. I am inclined to think it would somewhat resemble the ride of an old German lady in the Nelson province whose thrifty spouse purchased a new buggy, but took off the top gear and springs and replaced them with a piano case. When the old chap got elated in town and whipped up his ponies homeward bound the protests of his wife were something to remember.

The sudden death of King Frederick of Denmark reminds the Westminster Gazette how often death has come unheralded to our own Sovereigns. George 1., the nearest parallel to the present case, died in his coach on his way to Hanover, and his successor was found dead on the floor by the page carrying in his master's morning chocolate. King James TL, on Good Friday, 1701, was listening in his chapel at St. Germain to the anthem in which were the words so appropriate to his fallen fortunes, "The crown is. fallen from our head, wherefore dost thou forget us?" when he fell forward in a fit from which he never really recovered. Charles ll.'s seizure on the morning following that Sunday at Whitehall which lives in Evelyn's grave prose is well known. William 111. was the victim of an accident just as he had gathered his failing powers for a final struggle with his great enemy. When at the close of her reign Queen Anne was distracted by the violent controversies between the Whigs and Tories she was found one evening standing in front of the clock 1 in the presence chamber at Kensington. Her alarmed attendant asked what was the matter. The Queen did not answer, but looked at her servant with "death in her face." She was put to bed and died within fortyeight hours.