LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 March 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hie Ngamotu Seaside Committee's handsome shield, which is for competition at to-day's school sports, and will b.p presented to the school gaining tho highest number of points, is at present on view in the window *>f Mr. R- J. Deare's shop, Devon Street. At the monthly meeting of tho local brancli of tho Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, held yesterday, tile committee set up at the previous meeting to consider the conditions of the Colvilo Memorial prizes, was also requested further to consider the desirability and possibility of the society giving prizes annually, in addition to the memorial prizes, and whether the necessary money should supplement the Colvile fund or be treated separately.

The following donations .have been received towards Red Triangle Day special appeal: Hon. 0. Samuel £10; Mr. J. L. Perry, Mr. G. Jarvis, Mr. J. Hammond, £5 each; Miss B. 8., £2 2s; Mrs. R. Colson, £1 10s; Mr. 11. Homior, MrDockrill, Mrs. Sumner, £1 Is each; Mrs. Hooper, Mr, X. R. MacDiarmid, Miss E. Young, £1 each; Mrs. R. J. West, Mr. A. Twine, Mrs. Twine, Miss J. E. Warren, Miss H. G. Hammond, A Friend, us eich.

The Patea Farmers' Co-operative Freezing Company have decided to demolish the whole of the remaining wooden portion of the works and re-erect same at once in ferro-concrete (says tiie Press). Already this year mora sheep and cattle have been killed 'ban during tiie whole of the previous year. The value of the new eoid storage accommodation was illustrated recently when the large building was put into use immediately, and is now half full. Tho new feUmongery is now in full working order, and is said to be one of the most complete and up-to-date in the 'Dominion. The company's wages sheet fc|r the last few weeks has well maintained the average of £SOO a week.

The annual Taranaki schools championship gports meeting will tako place, on the New Plymouth Recreation Grounds to-day. This is regarded as the finest athletic event of the year, in which there aro over 500 entries for tho various events, and representatives will be present from practically all tho northern Taranaki schools. The contest for tho Ngamotu Seaside Committee's shield will take place in connection with the meeting, and altogether a full day's enjoyment may be looked for. The Citizens' Band will be in attendance. The net proceeds will bo Handed to the Taranaki War Relief AssociationA well-informed New Zealand firm of hardware merchant's, in answer to inquiries made by a Taranaki firm, writes as follows, under date March '2: "The monthly cable from our London ollice (which, through being delayed in transit, only reached us this morning) carries the following brief but significant me«sage, 'lmpossible to quote monthly prices any reliability.' From this you will gather that the prospects of getting supplies have not improved tince we last addressed you. During the week we have also cabled advice that there is at present no prospect of sailings (either sailer or steamer) from New York to New , Zealand ports, so that importers are ! facsd with a very grave position in regard to their American supplies" J

The Daily Telegrai.h (London) bas incrciised its price lo twopence. rays .1 cable message tn I Ausir il'an papers. Tile now price will :ema.iii in force Jul' flic Juration of the war.

A correspondent writes to the Auckland 'Star:™-We arc told tlillt !he pirates of tlic Wolf repaired to a .lesert island to plant their valuable loot. It would be'interesting to know win re the Sec Adler's captain planted his Jn olden times little gentle pressure would have been applied to Von Luckner to induce Wm to wvosl the whereabouts of the cache. It. might be worth w'nile to form a syndicate f.) follow ip the raider's tracks and unearth tlie treasure, otherwise these pirates will some day be luxuriating in their ill-gotten sains.

-f. am not a siuTrfigcite." stated T)r. I'iiUlK-.Mills at. Wellington the other evening. "but 1 often feel us though 1 would like to throw stone after stone and break . window alter window because of some foolish tilings done by our Government.'' The speaker had beer, referring to the neglect, in edueati'inai matters, the smallnesg of the educational vole, and the poor design of many of the .schools, The Minister of Education had stated that something like ,GooO was needed to nuei, all the demands made on ilie depvrtment In; the provision of better schools,, and she saw 110 reason why that suui could not be raised. If they wanted it for the war tliey could obtain it to-morrow. Why not for education?

"Every man has two countries—the other one is Vrance,'' typifies the affectionate regard in which our great albis lipid the world over. This is the text of "lior France" the gripping romance of the war which commence} a two night season at Everybody's tonight.

.Some time ago Hie Petone Borough Council passed a limiting the speed of motor-car? on the main street;, of the Borough to 12 miles ar. hour. Th;is was objocted to by ttie Automobile Association ts being umeasonable, and the Supreme Court upliflj the contention. The borough solicitor, in giving an opinion en the. uuestion. said that 12 miles was too low lie instanced the fact that if it was insisted upon the council would be put in the position of seeing- its motoi-'buses passed liv horse-drawn vehicles. Jt was decided to restiict the speed linrt from lo to -20 miles an hour according to the locality.

With the present cost of living what it is, the man with the ''fixed income" is having a bad time of it (remarks a London paper), and it is common Knowledge tlmt some professional men are "feeling the pinch." The Bishop of J.irhlickl is publicly appealing for funds on behalf of needy incumbents and curates in his diocese, and he lias opened a special emergency fund for augmenting their incomes. In some of the in"uslrial parishes a ''war ibonus" 1s paid to the parson. In one South Staffordshire village forty coal miners are each giving sixpence a week towards providing a "war bouns" to the curate. It is to be continued until the end of the

Quite a sensation was caused nt Ahuriri Flat, about two miles '"om the (ilenomaru railway station recently (says the Balclutha Free Press) when a man named David Douglas Shipley went to the house of a settler named W. Morris, and threatened Mrs Morris with a gun. On the morning of .Saturday. after Mr Morris left t!.e house to go to work, Shipley went rou'id with the gun. Mrs Morris, seeing him approach, shut herself in the house; but Shipley forced a way in, and threatened to shoot her with the weapon. The woman grappled with him, and succeeded in taking the gun from him Timely

assistance arrived, anil the mm departed, being afterwards arrested at Py,en:a, .by Constr.blc Hay ward, of Owaka, v.'lio brouglit 'him to Ualchithai and lodged h ; m in the lock-up. The man was very violent, and his hammering oil the wall and outcries coukl be heard by -passers-by. Later he appeared before a J.P., and was ren.anded until March 12. With reference to the rece>;t announcement that 1O.0CK) Australian soldiers luid been returned to the Commonwealth without seeing the firing line, a correspondent of the Wangamii Herald, forwards the following sentences extracted from a letter written by a New Zealand medical officer stationed on Salisbury Plain with reference to the New Zealand drafts: "A great percentage of unfits among the older members. Men over 35 years of age are, as a general rule, ifnable to stand the training and campaigning- unless previously engaged in open air occupations and of athletic tendency. As the age readies 'the 40' a the percentage of final passes drops considerably—so much so that the latter are certainty not worth the expense (if training, equipping', etc. The great detracting feature is that three men occupy the attention of doctors, hospital apaee, etc.. and instead of being an asset in the balance of power are a decided liability." "Is this." asks tile correspondent, "what- Borne of imr men are breaking up their hornet for?"

A compliance with Hie injtmc.ion of a former Prime Minister of New Zealand to-"keep Hit! cradles full" is at limes attended; with serious disadvantage, says the Wairarapa Ag", and iifhis: The man with a family of young children finds ifc almost impossible to secure rooms or (Jin tenancy of a house. Travelling in a train with children is a "crime." But the latest embargo imposed upon the olive branch in in respect to hotel lodging. A soldier who is at present in the Fcatherstoi: Camp complains that his wire an;! two young children were practically refused accommodation in Wellington hotels. They went to three different hotels, but in each easo they wore informed that the children could not be admitted to the dining-room. Their food had to be supplied to them in the bedroom' In desperation they left for Featlierston, find it was only after considerable difficulty that they found accommodation. The soldier wants to know if it is a crime, in New Zealand to He possessed of children, and if he is going, to the: front to light for liberties and privileges smell as those possessed 'by family men in this Dominion.

There will be an all-day sewing meeting to-day at the patriotic depot, for the Ked Triangle Day. Ladies willing to help are asked to bring scraps of fancy material and their thimbles.

The N-2. Loan and Mercantile Agency draw attention to their Tarat.a sale tomorrow at 1 p.m. Numerous farmers' lines are being offered. Cars will leave Stratforil office and Inclewood 011 the morning of the sale. Full particulars on page 9.

The condition this soa>on\s potatoes is causing annoyance to dealers and consumers as well .is anxiety (.> the producers. J(, appears that a substantial proportion of the potatoes in unsound Worm has been prevalent, and tubers that look sound in the sack prove often to be diseased when they reach the. table. The crop promised well in its early stages, but the weather conditions later proved favorable for the development of diseases. 'Some growers in the south have found more than half of their potatoes to be unlit for sale.—Wellington correspondent. It was recently stated that Mr. A. C. Conroy, of Ilawera, had been appointed general manager of the South Taranaki Picture Company. This is not quite correct. Mr. Conroy, who owns the Ilawera Opera House and has conducted pictures successfully there for some veal's, bus undertaken to supervise the operations of the South Taranaki Amusements Company, which shows pictures at Pat-a, Kaponga, Opuna". , and Manaia, and also at Hawera. Pictures at the World Theatre are shown three times a week, instead of nightly, as heretofore. This I arrangement will enable both houses to [ run with some chance of making more than expenses. The competition in the j picture business has in Ilawera, as elsewhere, been conducted on insane lines in the past. Where one house could make (i profit a second has sprung up and endeavored to "queer the pitch" of the other, only to find after a good deal of struggling and loss of money that the game has not been worth the candle. In most towns the war has brought many picture enterprises to their senses, and the consolidation that has ensued has been beneficial both to shareholders and the picture-going public. Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bnyne commence a three night season to-night at the Empire in the big seven reel Metro wonderplay of out-door life, "Their Compact." Added to the programme is the second chapter of the attractive circus picture "Adventures of Peg 0' the Ring." The N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency notify that they have now fixed the date of their Iluiroa supplementary sheep fair '■" id cattle sale as Wednesday, March '2O. Entries are solicited.