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Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11661, 22 January 1901, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1901. -

Thb hearts of the British people in every,part of the world are heavy today at the thought that their beloved and revered Queen is lying »t death's door, and it is safe to say that anxiety about that sad scene at Oaborne is uppermost in the thoughts of all of us. The suddenness of the news which broke upon us on Monday morning caused a shock from which it \odk some little time to recover, and now it is with anxious eyes that we watch for the cables conveying the latest bulletins from the sick room. At the advanced age which the Queen has reached it is almost more than we dare hope that she can be restored to health and strength, and we are sure that no one could wish that she should linger long 'twixt life and death ; but if the prayers of her subjects are of any avail, then she may yet be spared to bless her people, and to see what is, perhaps, the dearest wish of her heart — the restoration of peace in South Africa. However, she is in the hands of Him whose humble servant she has ever been, and if it pleases God to take Iw now, hnr peop'o will endure their irreparable loss with patience and fortitude 1 , condoling theu'ibolveti in flic knowledge that li«w life huis been (i.s ->>>ot,lrsN find blauif'Vss u< it is in mort.ils to In* ; tint }wt bright e\■miplo Ims raised th«» moral tone of the whole nation ; and that after her long lifo devoted to the service of her

people, and .filled as few others have been with affliction and anxiety) she has ; earned th.it iv>t which the grave alone i';in aive her. Torn >v'.lli conflicting emotion:-. with the tUwre that &he ui.iyjstill bo spared to her people, and the^'equally enrnert d,esire that she may not be called upon to endure further suffering, we can only say " God's will be done " Report of yesterday's Land Board meeting and other matter will be found on the front page of this issue. Mr New lon King advertises a fruit sale at his m.irt for to-morrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. In S; Mary's Ohut ; Sh this" evening a, short intercessory service will be held at 7.15. All are invited to attend. Captain Edwin telegraphed .at 12.30 a.tji ,t<y-'<ity : — Strong nojrth-easi, to udrth and wost winds ; glass fall : tides good ; . indications of strong ebb tides in the Straits. , - . The attention of our readers ia drawn to an auctipo sale of property, which j Messrs Bewley & Griffiths are holding in their mart to-morrow (Wedhe&dafy). A stock of over 35,000 negatives, datir.g back for 35 years, was included in the property destroyed by fire in Messrs Wrigglesworth & Birms's premises on. Friday last. . A woman has patented a bicycle attachment for repelling the attacks of dogs, consistiug of box containing pepper or other substance, with a bulb on the handle bar to force air through a tube into the box to discharge the pepper. Mr Thorn is H. Smith, advance agent of the Corrick Variety Company, was in town on Monday making arrangements for the appc;ir.inco of the company in New Plymouth. Mr Smith reports having done good business along the coast. The public meeting to be held in the Council Chambers this evening for the purpose of taking into consideration the question of asking the Government to arrange for the Imperial troops to visit New Plymouth, will commence at 8 o'clock. The poor-boxes in the Paris Exhibition were opened last month. They had been in the Exhibition since its inauguration, and it was anticipated a goodly sura would be collected through their agency for the Paris poor. They contained 58 francs 63 centimes, or a triHe under fifty shillings. Tho Paris officials have received instructions to be more stringent on cyclists. It has been discovered th;it smugglers have been using the tyres of their machines for the purpose of smuggling alcohol into the city by filling the tyres with that fluid in^tond of with air. The force of Custom offi -ers is to be strengthened. The following team will represent Cirrington Road 11. in their match with Unity, on the Carrington Road grounds, on Thutsday next :—-11.: — -11. Spence. Marett, Thouiras, F. Tribe, S. Tuke, H. Richards, Arch. MuEwcn. S. MeEwen, Ath. McEwen, K. McAllum, W. Hooker. Emergencies : F. McEwen and E. Avery. Play to start at 2 p.m. At the meeting of the New Zealand League of Wheelmen on Monday night, the conditions, under which the Rudge^Whitworth Cycle Company present for competition amongst Laagup members a £100 ?ol|tl silver cup, were submitted and approved. The trophy is to bo competed for annually at League Championship- ' meetings, amongst amateurs, in a two mile .handicap race, the limit for which is to be 150 yards/ During the trip of the Mokoia from Wellington to Sydney, carrying the Premier, the Hon. J. Carroll, and party, the vessel had a slight list to starboard. One evening, at dinner, a discussion arose at one of the tables as to the cause. Various reasons and explanations were advanced without solving the question to the.gener.al satisfaction, until one of the diners, who had listened quietly to the arguments, said :—": — " Gentlemen, you all wroug. I investigated the case last night, and the 'cause of the list in this ship is that Messrs Seddon and Carroll arij sleeping on the same side of it." < Among a party of thirty returning Canadians from South Africa who visitea Liverpool recently, and were entertained by/tjbeiMayor^.w&s Private Molloy, who was shot through the temples and completely blinded at Bronkhurat Spruit. He made a speech, in which he said that he had no regrets for the past, believing that a man having pursued the course he thought right, had no business to have any regrets, whatever consequences ensued. It looked unfortunata to have all his hopes and aspirations cut down, but he would go bravely onward with a calm heart and a serene mind. He then called for three cheers for the Queen. While the ships of the Reserve Squadron were at Lamlash (the Pall Mall Gazette says) a remarkable fatality occurred. A torpedo w<is lost from the battleship Howe, in 20 fathoms of water, and a diver was sent down to search for it. He returned apparfntly well, but suddenly became ill, .nd died within an hour. A post mortem examination has disclosed the fact that the man died of a comparatively rare ailment, known in the medical profession as caisson disease, or diver's paralysis. This occurs only when the pr ssure under which the men are working is more than three atmospheres; and generally follows to a greater or k-s-wr extent if the men come too rapidly to the surface. The post morlem showed bubbles of gas in the blood vessels, heart, and brain tissue, and from the etl'ects of thene Hie man died. .V mild explosion of gas, fortunately un.ittonded with any serious results, happened in Mr Myth's business premises in Devon street on Saturday night. Early in the evening an escape of gas was unpleasantly forced upon those working in" the establishment, bub all efforts to locate the Jeak were at first unsuccessful. The atmosphere finally became so thickly impregnated that a more thorough search was instituted, and the application of a lighted match to a particular piece of piping in the upper part of the building was followed by such an expansive illumination as to administer au unpleasant shock to Mr Blyth. The motdr was immediately turned off, and all danger obviated. An investigation then revoaled the unpleasant fact thata rat had apparently gnawed tht: lead piping where it joined the woodwork. Ths incident further illustrates tho danger likely to aviso from tho mischievous propensities of roden ts. On Tuesday, January 15th, a remarkable scene was enacted on the grounds of tho Royal Agricultural Society, Sydney, in connection with the enrolment of 1000 men for active service in South Africa under the British flag. Major Bran, the enroling officer, being aware of the fact that over 300 applications had been lodged at tho Victoria Barracks by nmn wishing to go to South Africa, expected a good muster when he commenced operations at 10 am. ; bu' v he was completely astonished to find his I office besieged by at least 1500 men, who pushed and struggled to reach tho officu door. Mon had even mounted the roof ia anticipation of being able to get a good position by sliding down thu verandah posts. The crowd was a motley one. It embraced uniformed men of nearly every mounted and infantry regiment in the State, whilst the dusty* 10. king khaki uniforms and battered helmets of returned contingent, men could be picked out by the dozen. Lancers, Australian Uorso, artillerymen, sailor*, and infantrym (i n by the hundreds wore closely packed with civilians. Ah the crowd struggled Ihe offico door burht in. At on-v tho»c close to the door fought to keep tho crowd back, but, wore not successful, until a number <■! mounted men rode on to tho s. e.i'j. :in>! <> ><i <•!• "• •I .i (-pjico. After that everything went en in :i most orderly llJ.lllliel . Prescriptions faithfully i'id accurately iwpenscd at iSykes' Pharmacy (oppoai Theatre)/

A good deal of misapprehension exists . on the part -ef the managers of dairy factories a& to the amou'it payable as Income ■ Tax. It ia bulievod by s>me (says the ' Post) that the dairy companies are i exempt, but this is not so. Taxation is leviable on three items — viz., profits apI plied in writing off depreciation of plant and machinery, interest on borrowed money, and dividends paid to sharej holders, or items equivalent thereto. The companies are relieved of paying tax on the balance available at the end of the season for distribution amongst suppliers, but do not escape taxation altogether. It ia the intention of the National Dairy Association to issue shortly a circular which will serve as a gm'ae tfn the sribjeci to. the dairy factory managers. At his lectute.in the Theatre Royal on Monday night Corporal Cdtitta willjjive a succinct account of the thrilling eventa which ocdiirrecl diiring Fiela-Marsiiat Roberta's march to Pretoria, having been with the New Zealaiid Contingent right through the piece, witnessing the Battle of Paardeburg and the surrender of General Cronje, the relief of Kirribertey, the surrender of Johannesburg^ arid Pf c- ; toria, and the hoisting of tie British flag over the last mentioned towns. He was* in the thick, of the flghtirtg, and, as is now well Tcnown, was awarded tho Queen's scarf for distinguished bravery in the field. Corporal Coutts is a good speaker, and his lectures are brimful o? deep interest. The prices of admission aro popular. An exciting chase happened in Devonstreet about 11.45 o'clock on Monday, night. Constable Staekpole, who was on night duty, observed a young man creat ing a nuisance, about which there have been several complaints, near a doorway. He waited at the National Bank corner to get the person under the lamp light to make certain of his identity. When the two met there was no fiddling at the starting post. The person evidently divined the constable's motive in one act, and making a duck and uttering an exclamation, he made up the street towards the east at full speed. Constable Stackpole who was at once put on his racing mettle, took after him, and a slashing race up the street was witnessed by the feW persons who were about at the time. The purs ;ed wns favoufed by wearing tight r icing plates, and the advantage he got at the start he maintained up the hill. Near Mr Gardiner's dyster salodn the constable took a fur's oiit df the object of his solicitude, for the man doubled over the road, entered a gateway at the bottom side of Mr J. Bellringer's shop, ran down a long lane, and then steeplechased over a quintity of signboards, ladders, and packing cases that were heaped at the back of the premises. The person came to grief several times in negotiating the obstacles, and must havo sustained a few abrasions on his shins. His aptitude for "obstacle racing, however, got him dear of the law, for he escaped into the next section, and mae'e himself scarce. Constable Stackpole ran round to try to intercept him at tho back, but the person had kept tho pace up, and had vanished in tho dark. An attempt was made a few days ago to derail the Kew train at Linda Crescent bridge. Melbourne, and on 1 the result of enquiries the detectives were successful in obtaining from a boy. 10 years of age, the admission that he and three other children, two of them agad 12 and the other 6. were responsible for the mischief. lie stated that they were returning home from the Richmond Swimming Baths, and when passing the spot the idea of placing an obstruction on the lino suggested itaolf. They immediately acted on the suggestion, and pulling a loose picket out of an adjacent tree-, guard, they laid it actosa tho line, and banked the ends with earth. A surveyor's peg was then pulled up and jammed between the outer rail and the check rail on the curve, stones being placed under it to prevent the wheel of the engine from knocking it out. This done, they mounted the hill and watched the result, which was so far successful that the driver thought that some practised hand had been at work. The two elder' boys denied all knowledge of the affair, and wjll probably be proceeded against, One of theMher, children admitted that it wad a favourite , practice. Mfitlj him to put nails and small pieces of metal on the line for the pleasure of seeing them rolled out by the weight of the train. No more dangerous spot could have been selected for such an experiment, as the line curves very abruptly,- and even the small obstacles used were almost sufficient' to derail the train. Had pieces of iron been used, or even larger pieces of wood, the childish love of sensation would al most inevitably have been gratified by a serious accident.