LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 184, 21 December 1912, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the Wellington Police Court yesterday Joe Chung was fined £ll with costs tor having opium in his possession, Mr. Lambert, of the East End fire brigade station, has been appointed caretaker of the central station, vice Mr. Courtney, resigned. At yesterday's meeting of the Harbor Board tne Borough Council applied to have that portion of the beach between Nobb's Line and Cover street vested under its control. It was decided to authorise the Council to act on behalf of the Board until'further notice in matters relative to the control of this, piece of , the foreshore.

Two appropriations of £3OO each were ballotted for at a meeting of the Equitable Building Society of New Plymouth last night. That in group I. was drawn by Mr. W. D. Thomson, of Awakino. and the one in group 11. by Mr. A. L. Humphries.- Appropriations' in Xo, I. group were also sold bv tender at the rate of £2O Is per £lso'.' and in Xo. 11. group at the rate of £3O per £l5O. On and after January 1, 1913, returnreceipts for inland parcels may be obtained by senders from the "addressees on payment of one penny. When posting a parcel for" which a return-receipt is. desired the sender will fill in a card, to be obtained at ft?iy post office. The card will be forwarded with the parcel, .and, .the addressee requested to sign \ the-receipt, which will then be returned to the sender through the post. To have attended public schools in Auckland. Palmerston North, Wellington and Now Plymouth for nine years, and not miss a single attendance or once arrive late, is the remarkable record of an ex-pupil of the Central School, John Henry Skelly, now employed in the local post and telegraph department, who at the breaking-up ceremony on Thursday was presented with a testimonial in recognition of this fact. The Citizens' Committee have made very complete arrangements for the Band Saturday collection which takes place to-day. The Band will render selections throughout the Borough in the afternoon and evening; refreshments will be provided for the collectors in the Mayor's room, and the lady and BoyScout collectors have promised their enthusiastic assistance. The boxes will be handed out .this evening in the Mayor's room between 7.30 and 8 p.m. The Cabinet yesterday decided, in .accordance with the recommendations of the parliamentary committee that inquired into the position of Messrs. M'Leau Bros., in relation to the Otira tunnel works, to cancel the contract. M'Leans will carry on the work till Christmas, and then the Public Works Department will take it over and continue, operations. Subsequently fresh tenders will be invited for the completion of the undertaking. Pending the acceptance of such a tender the Government will keep the work going. A fire and a crowd of spectators are inseparable. Naturally spectators sometimes arrive on the scene before the fire brigade, and, if they only realised it, they could be of valuable assistance in locating the fire-plugs and indicating their position .to the firemen immediately on their arrival. The time saved in this way may only be a minute or so, but even seconds* count when a fire is in an incipient stage. The matter formed the subject of a discussion at yesterday's meeting of the Fire Board, when it was decided to draw public attention to the fact.

A very amusing, though it may have been a serious incident, occurred'a few miles out of town on Thursday last . A small party of picnickers had spent a veryenjoyable afternoon when a group of four took a walk to some neighbouring gardens. Running through this little reserve was a small sparkling brook over which was erected a rude bridge, about fifteen feet above the water. Two of the happy four were leaning with their backs against the fragile railing, admiring the beautiful shrubs, when without the slightest warning the rail gave way and the hapless couple turned several complete somersaults and landed in the water below. It is hard to say who got the greatest fright, the bystanders ■ or the unfortunate two, but' save a few nasty bruises no harm was done.

At the Baptist Church to-morrow the Rev. F. Hales will preach special Christmas sermons. There will also be special Christmas hynins and solos. AT THE MELBOURNE. If anybody asks you to buy ANYTHING that men or boys wear, anywhere else but at the Melbourne, say "NO," because from bow on to Xmas we present a clothing distribution in Taranaki of such colossal magnitude that you can multiply your purchase savings almost beyond computation on practically every male merchandise need. We have no wish to pose as pessimists, yet we cannot wholly ignore the warnings uttered by our leading financiers; so, to U3« an old expression, we are "taking the bull by the horns" and reducing stocks in anticipation of the quiet times ahead. Our stocks of splendid new high grade suits are exceptionally heavy, even for this time of the year, so that in addition to offering special price inducements to buyers we can offer unlimited choice of selections. Don't allow yourself to be "rushed" into paying tall prices elsewhere while the Melbourne presents values like the following: Special men's Kaiapoi tweed suits, 29/6; pure Petone tweed suits, nice dark patterns, 355; P«tone saddle tweed suits, dark grey, 3S/I; nobby Roslyn boxed suits, medium weight, nicely finished, 35/-; handsomely finished striped suits of Cheviot tweed, 49/6; real indigo Belwarp boxed Buits, will not fade, 59/8; Bien's brown and green striped worsted suits, very finest naish, cut and make, 59/6 and 65/-; stylish indigo Venetian, indigo eoating and indigo check vicuna suits, 65/-, worth five guineas; boys' Kaiapoi Norfolk suits, 13/9 to 18/6; boyg' varsity suits, 7/11, 8/9, 9/6, 10/9, 11/6 to 16/6; young men's suits of brown, green and mixed worsteds and Cheviots, tlnree-gar-ment, with extension button kniekers, 89/6 to 39/6, sizes 13 to 18; fine Petone Norfolk suits, 14/6 to 21/-; splendid aeVectioa. __ £ ,.. i . 1rf , 1 .., :

The llawkc's Bay Tribune states that m a long list of achievements of Old ■ Boys of the Napier High School read out at a meeting by the headmaster, there was no mention of the lad \llan Berry, who, with only a few pounds in his pocket, fought his way Home in the stokehold of a liner to study medicine. Not only did he work his passage Home", but he worked when he got there, passed his preliminary, and is now admitted to Guy's Hospital.

Miss Helen Watson,- an attractive young hospital superintendent at White Plains, New York, was charged on October 11 with shop-lifting at several -bifi stores. She made a full confession but pleaded that she was subject to kleptomania whenever she was exhausted, otherwise she led an honest life Evidence for the defence, which was not refuted by the prosecution, proved that her thefts invariably followed a lengthy spell of hospital duty, and the judge reserved sentence pending a medical examination of the young woman's mind.

A number of novices put out in a yacht without an experienced yachtsman on board at Hrighton, a suburb of Melbourne, on December 4, and the cruise resulted in the death of an excise inspector named Ccorgn A. Ciapperton, 40 years of age. For some time after 'the cruise commenced everything went well but when rough weather was encountered, those on board, knowing next to nothing about sailing a yacht, were soon in dilliculties. ,\s it became impossible to handle her. the anchor was dropped and Ciapperton volunteered to swim' ashore for assistance. The distance was only about 200 yards, but the water was rough, and when about half-way to the shore he disappeared, and nothing more was seen of him until, his dead body was recovered next day.

There seems to be a very strong objection among laborers to" going into the country to work. The Waitotara County Council has been finding this out in its contracts, a number of which are going begging. Last week the clerk laid on the table a return showing the response to a recent call for tenders. Contracts worth in all übout £550 were not in demand at all. Among these was the metalling of the Howhanan road (Kai Iwi). A deputation which waited on the Council in regard to the matter slated that it was two years since tenders were first called, and the settlers had been waiting since for someone to take up the work. This state of affairs existed, it was emphasised, when the Labor Department pronounced conditions as being slack for laborers in Wanganui. The work, too, is quite close to Wanganui.

Smith B. Busscll, GO, a retired capitalist, and Miss Gertrude M. Kerr, 23, a music teacher, both of Grecnsburgh, Indiana, eloped to New York, and were united in marriage by the. Rev. Charles D. Wilson sit the parsonage of the Methodist Church. The uniting of youth and old age is the result of a romance of twenty years' duration. When the bride was a child of three years she was rescued from a wrecked passenger train that had caught fire and was being consumed by the flames on the Big Four Railroad by Mr. Bussell, and since then the girl and the man had a friendly feeling towards cad) other. When Mr. Bus.sell's wife suddenly died, a little over a year ago, Mis 9 Kerr sympathised with him, and a few weeks ago consented to become his wife. After a trip abroad, Mr. and Mrs. Bussell will reside in Grecnsburgh.

One of the most remarkable facts shown by the new population statistics of Germany is the importance of the foreign element in the German Empire, and the extent to which the foreign and fo-reign-born population has recently increased. With a population of (i3,92.->,0!):l subjects of the Imperial throne, Germany also counts 1 .-259.57.'3 foreigners" within her frontiers. It is patent that Germany is importing brains and labor, for the increase in the foreign population has been four times as rapid as that of the native population—the increase, indeed, was nearly 20 per cent, in only live years, the total addition to the foreign population within this period being 231,313. There is little fear (remarks the London Telegraph) that the character of the nation will be changed in consequence, as more than half the foreign clement comes from German-speaking Austria, and the next largest element conies from Holland, a country which has more in common with Germany than most of (he other nations. hi New South Wales there, are over 10,000 children, who, though of school age, do not attend any school. Some, no doubt (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph), have already passed through a school course, reached the primary standard, and started to earn their living be. fore they are 14 years old. But there must certainly be a number of boys and girls growing up without the mental training and discipline which only a school can give. And of this number it is probable that the majority live out back, isolated by distance and rough country, from what should be a universal duty and privilege. For the last eight years the State has had one itinerant teacher travelling in a van. The experiment has met with such success that four more travelling teachers are to be. appointed. Queensland is further ahead in this respect than any of tha other Australian States. She keeps 15 or 16 travelling teachers busy, most of them in buggies, and one with a motor car, and between them they manage to give instruction at regular intervals to over 200 families—Boo or 900 children, perhaps—who would probably otherwise have grown up nearly as ignorant as the proverbial Hodge. Extraordinary riots were caused by 5000 housewives in several of' the Berlin municipal meat markets recently. Owing to the scarcity of German meat the Berlin municipality recently opened a fund of £30,000 to purchase fresh Russian meat for sale in the poorer districts of the city. For the first time the Russian meat was placed on sale. Crowds of poor women gathered in the market halls long before the gates were opened, with their bags and money ready. As soon as the gates were opened they rushed to the stands, "struggling to be served first. Several of them came to blows, and some had their clothes torn oil - in the light for places. Suddenly, to their consternation, posters were issued announcing that the butchers refused to sell the Russian meat because it was of bad quality. The real reason for their refusal, however, was that, being obliged to soil at fixed prices, the sale was scarcely profitable to them. The news was received by the disappointed housewives with loud cries of indignation, and violent demonstratioas quickly followed. In one market hall the retailers were bombarded with sausages; in another, where the meat supply was scarce, the women fetched large quantities of vegetables from a neighboring market and used the cabbages as missiles. The retailers fled by back doors, under police protection.

Women as a rule are the most consistent tea drinkers, and the multiplication of tea-rooms and tea kiosks throughout the Dominion affords striking evidence of the increasing popularity of tea. The women of New Zealand may be classed as tea connoisseurs, as they show a decided preference for Crescent Tea, which is rich and strong, and of delicious flavor. Sold by all grocers at 2/-, 1/10 and 1/8 per lb. 2 XMAS SUITS

We have ■•eelved from Mr. G. H. Buckeridgejpi Kit ham, a report on. the first consignment of New Zealand eggs, shipped bo London this season by Messrs. Henry! A. Lane and Co., Ltd. The packages \yere a great improvement on previous experiments, but there ia still room fulr further improvement. The condition of the consignment was very good and the quality perfect. The eggs were earned in cool chamber, had no preparation on the shells whatever, and when opened it]) looked and proved as good as ai y English new laid. Of the total of 1800 eggs only 180 were ' found to be broken. At the moment this trade is . n its infancy, but in a few years' time, if the production increases to an (Xtent to enable shippers to see a fair margin of profit, a big trade will be lone. At the inquest held at Mokau on the drowning of George Dunn, in the Awakino River, ev deuce was given to the effect that deceased had bidden through from Mnrokopa, and had been directed by Mr.' Tweedie to the ford. He was advisejd, at the same time, to be there at 12 l o'clock in order to catch the low water.; Dunn, however, did not reach the riv;cr till 3 o'clock, when the tide was I high. He entered the river 150 yaiils above where he was told, at a place where he could not have crossed even had the tide been low. The jijir.v, of which Mr. I<\ W. Nieholls, J.P.J was acting-coroner, and Mr. Leo Jacjob, foreman, returned a verdict that {ho. deceased was accidentally drowned! through falling off his hors<s, and adjded a rider suggesting that the authorities should be asked to put up some guiile to locate the ford for travellers.

A Company Territorials, New Plymouth, will lie represented by a strong contingent at the Christehurch military competitions, f The team, which has been training hardi for some considerable time past, is slut)>ing excellently, and it is anticipated that they will give a very good account 1 of themselves, thus maintaining the prestige of Major Fletcher's A Company- the crack corps of the XI. Regiment. The Company scooped the pool at the regimental 'camp competitions, and their success was in no small measure due to Area Sergeant-Major Bond, who now has the Christehurch squad in hand. The majority of the squad .will leave for South on Monday morning, and the remainder will follow on Tuesday. Accompanied by Sergt. Major Bond, they will be in charge 'of Col.-Sert. Hawkins, and will comprise:— Ptes. Clarke. W. P. Okcy, Gallard, George Legg, G. A. Hayden, K. M. Okey, Peppcrell, Goodacre, H. Hayden, Hudson, Thompson, Rowlands, White, and Boulton.

To-morrow will be celebrated at the Whiteley Memorial Church as Christmas Sunday. The choir will render parts of "The Messiah" music at both services. The Rev. ,T. W. Burton will take as his subject in the morning, "A Christmas Idyll" and in the evening. '-The Prince of Peace and Modern Jingoism."