LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1924, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The negotiations which have been pending between the Kaponga Town Board and the Waimate West County Council reached finality at a special meeting of the Kaponga Board, when, after full consideration of the terms stipulated by the council, it was decided that the board would have to abandon their intention of supplying power to ratepayers within a portion of the county area.

At a meeting of the glaxo suppliers held at Matamata, Mr. F. J. Nathan gave it as his opinion that the farmers of New Zealand did not give enough attention to the pig raising industry. How many, he asked, attended to the cleanliness, warmth or coolness of their pigs? Mr. Nathan predicted that in a few years the pig industry would be worth half as much as dairy produce to the country. At a meeting of creditors in Christchurch (states the Lyttelton Times), one of those present moved a motion requesting the Press that details of the accounts which the bankrupt owed should not be published. He said that the publication of these details did more harm than good. The giving of credit wax a difficult matter for tradesmen and business men. They were assailed by Tom, Dick, and Harry to open various accounts, and when credit was refused they were informed that credit had been .given to so and so, who went bankrupt last year. The motion was carried.

The latest method of testing the cleanliness of milk was explained at the meeting of the Taranaki Farmers’ Union at I’atea yesterday by the secretary (Mr. G. H. Buckeridge). The system is used by the inspectors of the Wellington municipal milk supply. The milk supplied from the farms is forced through discs of specially prepared cotton wool, each about the sire of a penny. Sediment and dirt of any kind in the milk is deposited on the discs of cotton wool, which are dried and mounted on cards for reference. Mr. Buckeridge produced samples of the cards, which clearly illustrated the use of the ■test.

An example of a case in which explanatory comment by the teacher would be required in the event of the Bill providing for Bible reading in schools, which he is introducing, being passed by Parliament, was mentioned by Mr. L. M. Isitt, M.P., at a public meeting in Christchurch (states the Lyttelton Times). Mr. bitt said it would be necessary for the teacher to explain that the publican referred to in the Bible was not the man who pulled the pump handle that put a large amount of froth on a small amount of fluid, but that in the days that the Bible referred to was the tax gatherer—a far more unpopular individual. (Laughter.) The derelict liner Port Elliott, which was wrecked near the East Cape on January 23, is bravely withstanding the force of the seas. While the Government steamer Tutanekai was cn route from Wellington to Auckland she stood in towards the land in smooth water and viewed the big liner as she lay firmly embedded on the papa rock. Captain J. Boltons said that all the four masts were vertically upright and in perfect alignment, apparently having suffered no displacement through the heavy initial impact, or the subsequent pounding of the seas. As for rhe vessel, which was only about two hundred yards from the shore, she resembled nothing more than a shin in dock or lying at a wharf.

The average infant mortality rate for the urban .areas of the Dominion for the first four months of the year was 4.13 per 100 births, compared with 4.34 for the corresponding period of last year. The rate last month was 3.95, compared with 5.44 for April, 1923. The mortality rates for the urban, areas for the first four months of‘the year are as follows, the rates for April being given in parentheses: --Nelson. 10.96: Gisborne. 7.14 (3.23); Napier, 6.30 (9.38); Palmerston North’ 5.26 (6.06); Hamilton. 4.86 (3.13); Aucto land, 4.77 (3.32): Wellington, 3.94 (3.59); New Plymouth, 3.93 (8.33); WanganuL 3.87 (7.89); Christchurch, 3.74 (4.46) - Invercargill, 3.23 (10.00); Hastings, 1.87; Dunedin, 1.85 (0.99); Timaru, 1.00. The butter received for grading at the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company’s stores for the first two weeks of May totalled 55,592 boxes, compared with 25,417 boxes for the corresponding period of last year. This is an increase of 30,175 boxes, or over 100 per cent, for the two weeks’ The total receipts for the season to Mav 14 are 1,377,782, against 1,409,347 for the corresponding period of last season, a decrease of 31,565. The quantity of cheese received during the first two weeks of May also shows an increase. The number of crates received during the last, fortnight was 5945, as against 3548 for the corresponding period of May, 1923, an increase of 2397. The cheese received to May 14 this season, totalled 157,023 crates, compared with 99,138 crates for the corresponding period of 1923, an increase of 5". 32).