LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1915, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

•Australian mails, ex Riverina at Auckland, will arrive in IXctt' l'lviiioiitli tonight.

Sydney calilv Riivs! flic Australian Jut-key club lias distributed in prize money during tin- present. season.

'Mi ill despatched Wellington-Kan KriiiKwo of May ti7, arriving at San Fram-isco June 10 (dim date), reached Loudon on 3rd inst., six days late.

A Melbourne mesagc states that in accordance with tlio new Act, all hotels closed at 9.30 on Tuesday night and didnot reopen until 9 o'clock in the morning.

, understand that the operations ®f ilr. Tippins in detecting breaches of the Taranaki County Council's by-laws extended over three day.-:, instead of »nu as reported.

'lh» announcement -made by the Eitliam Argus that Private Norman Howell had lost hig life at the Dardanelles was, we ara pleased to learn, incorrect. Evidently, a case of mistaken Identity. An autograph album, signed toy Lady Liverpool, members o{ Parliament and others, wns offered at auction at ft juvenile entertainment in Masterton on Monday niglit, realising a sum of £O2 10s.

The New Zealand 'Shipping Company'* liner Paparoa, widish left Wellington on Tuesday, for London, took the following quantities of cheese Now IPlymouth 1500, Wellington 1816, Patea 2690; total 8178.

It was announced yesterday that Air. -Marfoll had ben returned unopposed as a member of tho Taranaki Edueatiori Board, but the name should have been that of IL'. R. Masters, 'lir. Marfell's term cf offtse has not expired. in a ease heard at the City of London Court, a witness said that lie paid ten shillings a week to a firm of tailors for their khaki sweepings, and made a profit of £lO a week out of them when they wore picked to pieces for the wool.

Tli# posbpon«ment of the Wellington Racing Club's winter meeting will not iutcrfur# with tho mueting of th# New Zealand Racing Conference, which In to be held in Wellington on Thursday, 15th instant. Th# iSates Oommittea will meet in Welli*gton on tho 13th instant. —Press Association.

A Dunedin telegram says th# prico of factory butter be«u rai«#d Id, being now In 8d j»«r lb. Ia announcing th# incxMus k) fwi#«, th# Tiieri and Fnliiuulftr Stfiik Supply CKapany etatMt b Owiag to At butter funis# in th# domlaio*, w» art #»mp#ll#d to protect oureebr#* 1b rag»rdt to supplieii for th# publU by inorea*ing th# pri##." At tli# last meeting of th# P&tea Borough Council, th# question of th# •tunoil acquiring » git# for saleyard# and erecting game, together with ikis thtds, was <iis«usted at aom# length, iut it ■was eventually decided to communi*ato with the Farmers' 00-operativ# Association, offering to render every assWtanc# in tha «ouncil's power in conns tion with the erection of saleyards.

■ The medical officers at th# Trantham camp are impressing upon th# soldiers th# undesirability of wearing Balaclava caps and mufflers at any time. The wearing of these articles is strongly discountenanced by the medical officers, and all ranks ar# urged to refrain from any action in this connection, which will probably b# the means ol impairing their health. The men ar# also warned that when wearing their overcoats they should keep their coats 'buttoned up. A a meeting of provisional directors of the Poverty Bay Meat Company, Mr. W. D., Lysnar, aaya the (Poverty Bay Herald, intimated that after a canvass occupying enly three weeks the minimum capital of £30,000 had been subscribed. The directors proceeded to make the allotments upon the applications, and decided upon the course that it is proposed to follow to facilitate the erectiop. flf the ivorks at the earliest possifile'date.

According to ihe last report of the pilot, the channel at Patea harbor was straight, 'with lift, of water at h.w.s 'tides ifnd 7ft. 1- at h.iv. neap tides, but with only 'looft. of-width just outside the end of the walh-where, ho wns sorry to say, a sand spit had made out from tho eastern side very nearly half way across tha entrance. . He thought, however, that thu nait spring tidos would scour it away. Sounding on the 12th, he got 10ft. between the walls, lift, on tho bar, with Oft. showing on the gauge on a nino o'clock tido.

A Waimatc car-owner was cleaning his car, and afterwards, 'in order to clean his hands, he wished them nsd his arms in petrol, says the Timaru Post. A lighted lamp was about sft away, and in some unaccountable, manner the petrol on one arm became ignited. While the man was trying to brush out the llanie his other arm became ignited, and lie was in danger of having his clothes burnt. Luckily, however, lie had the presence of mind to hold his arms up in the air, and after severe burns v.eru indicted the flames died out.

Mr. iA. Crooke, S.il., presided over a silting of the Magistrate's Court yesterday,. •when John Prior, alias J«mes, alias Sullivan, *si eharged with stealing a suit of clothes, valued at £5, from Walter 'ifumford on July -sth. Aeeused pleaded guilty. Tho ciothes were stolen from the Rarawa boarding'-houso, and we're sold to X. A. Christiansen for l£s (id. Accused said k» was under the influence of liquor, rtad h# was given the suit ol cloth#s by a man In did not know, who t«ld lu'k to eell them. Accused w*.s se*tfns«B t» one month'* imprisonment »Kfih tig,*! labor.

A correspondent writes to the ftydiH'.y Sun, asking what are the special paints •about tho 'French 7from, gun that have ■made it such a remarkably successful weapon in this war. Accuracy of lire is one great point about the 75; speed is tho other. The 75 can fire from 20 to 25 shells a minute. The German 77 cm. gun, ■which ,is modelled upon it, can, in theory, do the Mine, but it does not j the automatic fusing mechanism ( if the French gun. Consequently, unless the German gunner is very expert, he camrot lis the. fuses as quickly a' they are done automatically in the |French gun. Thu result is tbat the French 'batteries, which are extremely mobile, can rush to any point at whi#h they are urgently needed, and in the speediest imanner utterly any siren area of ground with a rain of -shells, opening up the way for th# infantry to attack a demoralised eijem.v.

Tho Melbourne's great mid-season sale commences to-morrow morning a» per particulars advertised in the. sato notice with this issue. Stirring bargains are offered in all departments, and the buyin!! public would be •well advised to take full advantage of the, many saving items •offered.

An unusual opportunity is offered to ,-tliose in need of clothing at the winter Sale now in progress at J.in Kasli. 'Every lino in stock iiaa ocen oi)ociallv reduced, and the prices lor ibovs' .and men's clothing have never lieen cut so fine. A few examples aro civon in the firm's advertisement nppe a tag in thta iwuo. and sfcmv plainly that they intend doing everything » their power to retain the reputation m « »tore. m Taranaikl.

A wtD-kaowa (Brisbane girl, Miss ißeli, who went to Europe aa nurse, was on board the talaba when it was torpedoed. /She told how some ojf liter mends rait down to get tliuir money, '* 1 hud mine on line in a 'bag sown round my knee/' sliu said. Witdx what mysterious hidiii" jriaees does the. sex abound! Anyway) sated both herriel] and ht-r moiiev, ay any girl like that deserved to do.

speaking at si carnival demonstration given .by tin-, Alaoria iu Wellington, Dr. I'omare made ironical reference to Germain's "kuitur," which \vUd displayed in the use <j: gas and devices, and which, r ,sSC fl any savagery of which .'ie .Ma.<'is could at a ny time have been accu-< ; u. llic spirit of .chivalry which iiulcii tilt* Maoris in their warfare jvere exemplilied by an incident in the Uaikuto campaign. The Maoris learnt that tlie British troops wore short ot provisions, so they sent thirteen canoe loads of Jcumaras' down the xiver to their enemies. On another oexswion iicke's men captured soaw British transports, tat as soon as Hoke heard of it he said: "Take tbe waggons back; liow can you expect me to fight men with empty stomachs?''

Qus (Wellington correspondent telegraphs: (Mr. Wilkinson (Egmont) asked tlie (Postmaster-General whether he would take into consideration the advisability of rearranging the boundaries of the postal district in Taranaki. A large portion of Taranaki was now included iu the Wangttnui district, whereas it should 'be more economically worked from headquarters at New Plymouth. The Hon. E. H. Rhodes (PostmasterGeneral) replied: I have already determined to transfer thu offices in tlie Kltliam, Hawera and Waimatu Went counties from the AVanganui to the New Plymouth postal district, also those offices in the Egmont and 'Stratford counties which are at present included in tlie Wahganui postal district. Action is now being taken to make the transfer.

Private Donovton, a New Zeakmler serving with the British in France, remarks that violets, wallflowers aud daffodilg vert! beginning to bloom, rommding him of 'homo. Soma graves of British soldiers were near bv, and looked pretty. They were well tended by the Frenchwomen 'who looked after them. Some were iu little cemeteries fenced off in the corners' of fields. Each was marked with the usual headpiece of a wooden cross, giving information about the poor fellow buried there. In some ruined houses there were the remains of gardens in which the violets wore blooming aa tf to defy the cultured Hun. "These farmers must hare been very oM-fashioned," ho says, "and anust have employed antiquated methods. I saw one farmer sowing by band, trudging through the paddocks and scatteri»g the seed with a precision that was remarkable. The other d»y I came acros* a. farmer threshing pew and beans with «. Iffil. Though the threshing was all right, it was rery hard work. At another farm I saw & big wheel enclosed in a big wooden frame. It seem# they put ai dog inside and start hion running. His weight keops the wheel revolving, and it is connected with «, churn inside, which churns the butter. Other farmers get motive power by a small merry-go-round affair to which three or four horses are haTnessed," v v

The taking of tree honey is an exciting enterprise, never being prosaic, and frequently accompanied by compensating humor. To the old hand the fighting end of the bee is not regarded with much fear, but the amateur generally has a bad time, «o that any fun that arises is heartily welcome. Here is a good story, the truth of which is rouehed for by a correspondent:—Three men wanted to take a tree hive. One ' was to chop it down, the othors to gather tlio spoil. They tied their sleeves, legs of trousers, coat collars, ete., but the only thing they couldn't get any firing for was 'the face. However, they got some bags of washing blue and told the thopper that every time a bee stung him ho was to smeaj the 'blue bag over the part affected, and it wouldn't swell. (Well, he'd get in a. blow and the bees Would get in a sting, and the blue bap, would ho rubbed in, until by the time ho'd got the tree down ho looked such an object that the men were helpless from laughter and unablo to take the honey. Then came more fun, for while i\ve silt on a ffturnp to recover, a cow, feeing the green stuff on top of the tree, inquisitively poked her nose into it and got stung, whereupon she Jet off in a gallop, tail on end. Cows are very curious, and every cow in that paddock took turn about to poke in the green stuff, with the same result, and the men bad to go home, for they were absolutely ill with laughing. This story is perfectly true.

An interesting interview with seven! of tho "Fortieth" men in Auckland took place on Saturday and Sunday lust, !.iy Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.l'. for Tamiiarumii. These men, who took part in the attack on I'uketakauri I'ah on June 27. 18(10, regretted they were not present at the unveiling of the obelisk to their comrades. Mr. Carrigan, who carries his seventy-five years very lightly, said tV day before the attack a violent gale came ii]i, and blew all the tents in the rump down, and some of the canvas was torn to tatters. There was not a dry man in tho camp except a little priest who came to attend on tho troops from tho French mission station. Tlie soldiers had built a littlo hut for him out of some cases. Mr. Carrigan says there was not a man in the grenadier and light companies under sft lOin in height, many being over 6ft, and thero was not a man over 25 years of ago in those companies. When they fought their way up to the pah they were confronted with paiisades 20ft high, with spiked mid sharpened posts projecting out from the paiisades about two feet. It was impossiblo to do anything biit l»ok Into the pah. When they retired, they intended to take their wounded with them, each man being supplied with straps to carry away those who went down. Mr. Carrigan said thero were a number of women who took part in tho engagement, and they wore most bitter on tire, wounded. He said the men had not enough clothing "to dust a fiddle "with.*' He and the other men of 1 lie Fortieth alive in Auckland to-ihy regretted some misunderstanding look place in regard to their passes to Wuitara, as they would have liked to again visited "the Waitara," where stirring scenes were met.