The Taranaki Herald.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8739, 27 March 1890, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald.

PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1890.

♦ , Tin-: Flax industry seems to have, for a time, received a check, and we regret to Ijarn that in all parts of the country we hoar of mills being closed, and the men lately employed at them discharged. The cause of this depression in the English market is said to result from several causes. One is that the fibre is not up to tho "standard;'' in fact, that an inferior article has been sent Homo. Another reason assigned ia that the manilla crop is all right this season ; and another that sisal being cheaper and answering all the purposes for which our " hemp " is used is taking the place of the rlax sent from New Zealand. The total cost of producing sisal reaches from £10 to £12 a ton, which shows at once the immense profits which are possible. The plant takes about three and a-half years after planting before the leaves are ripe, but wlien that stage has been reached an annual crop can be obtained i'or about fifteen years from the same plant, without any cost but a small one for weeding. Sisal grows best on hard, aridlooking ground, which seems to forbid the thought of possible vegetation, and of course manure of any kindis to be avoided. When the leaves are cut, the process of stripping them and getting the fibre ready for shipment will not take more than 24 hours in a climate like that of the Bahamas, where sunshine is always the order of the day. Sir Ambrose Shea, the Governor of Bahamas, has recently appointed a cornm ission on the subject, who report that planting began in the Bahamas in real earnest last May, but it has been somewhat retarded through the want of plants, so that only 3,000 acres have so far been brought under cultivation. Considering the persecution which the Sisal had undergone in the islands, it is somewhat noteworthy that any plants were found at all, and but for its marvellous tenacity it must long since have disappeared. But the plants fructify fast, and, being now under a hospitable dispensation, their cultivation will of course increase rapidly. In 1892 the first substantial exports will begin, and then the increase of export will be a progressive one. It will be seen from this that the owners of flax mills here will have a very formidable antagonist to compete against.

His Honor Mr District Judge Kettle gave judgment this (Thursday) afternoon in the bankruptcy of H. Capel, ex parle William Henry Webbe. The motion of the Assignee for an order to sell the piano held on terms by Mrs Capel from W. H. Webbe was dismissed with costs £5 ss. Acceptances and general entries close for Waihi on Monday night next. The Bush Fire Relief Committee acknowledge £18 13s 4d from the Inglewood Foresters' Sports Committee. A cricket match between the New Plymouth and Fitzroy Clubs Avas being played on the racecourse this afternoon as we went to press. The Press Association sends us the following telegram : " The Rev Mr Nixon, pastor of the Sydney St. Methodist Church, Wellington, leave 3 here at the end of the week to take up his ministerial duties at New Plymouth. Mr Nixon, who is very much liked for his charitable qualities and his Christian zeal, enjoys an excellent reputation, and his departure is much regretted by his congregation. Our Hawera correspondent telegraphs as follows :—": — " Mr Felix McGuire haß intimated to me that he is determined to contest tho Egmont seat as now constituted against all comers. Hia friends, he says, are sanguine of his being elected." The Education Board on Wednesday received a telegram from the InspectorGeneral Btating that the Department had decided to pay the amount of £12 19s lid for the Board which the Audit Department would not pass. This amount was made up of money for special prizes, tea for the Ladies' Sewing Committee, and a year's subscription to the Schoolmaster. The " Hospital Ward " will be tho second tableau at the entertainment on Friday evening. Several of those taking part in this tableau are eminently qualified to make the scene an effective one, and if a piactical knowledge of the every day routine of a Hospital life is any guarantee of their fitness for tho task, this should be one of the most instructive parts of the entertainment. The Redemptorist Fathers brought the mission they have recently been holding in the Catholic Chapel to a cloße on Wednesday. The Rev. Father Hogarty was the whole of his time in New Plymouth, but Rev. Father Mangan, accompanied by the Rev. Father McKenna, held missions at Inglewood and Stratford. The Order of " Our Most Holy Redeemer," or, as they are better known, " Redemptorist Fathers," was founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori during the last century, their specific duty being to convey the words of the Saviour in the simplest yet most forcible language to people whom they might collect around them; and although at the present day the language of these Fathers may seem brusque., it has, we hear, had tlie effect of awakening in some the religious belief that bos remained dormant for many years. The mission services which have been held in various parts of the parish have, we learn, been well attended during the time of the Redemptorist Fathers' visit. There are many old New Zealand Colonists who will regret to hear of the death of Lieutenant-General Robert Abraham Logan, C.8., late of the 57th (Ist Battalion, Duke of Cambridge's Own, Middlesex) Regiment. The deceased officer, it may be remembered, commanded the 57th Regiment in New Zealand to the end of the war in 1801, and so highly distinguished himself that he was thanked in the commanding officer's general orders and mentioned in despatches. LieutenantGeneral Logan commanded four companies of the 57th Regiment, being the main body, which took the enemy's redoubt at tho Katikara river during the New Zealand campaign, on June 4, 1863. For his services he was created a Military Companion of the Order of tho Bath, besides being again mentioned in despatches and receiving a medal. The deceased officer was born in 1824, and married in 1852 Annie Nesbitt, tho daughter of the Rev. G. N. Tredonnick Woodhill. He was made Lieutenant-General in 1882. Medical advice — Gratis. Renshaw's " Monarch of Pain" cures neuralgia, rheumatism, sciatic, and lumbago, when all other remedies fail, and is a thoroughly genuine specific, which ought to be in every household ready for use when required. It is without doubt the best and most reliable medicine of the age for the diseases JKUJod. and, it )l ußrivullid fpr jtfl