A NEW TRADE ROUTE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13348, 13 December 1906, Page 4

A NEW TRADE ROUTE.

Nearly three years ago,— in Match, 1904, to be exact— the editor of this journal spent several days in exploring tht} Upper -Mokau, Mok a u-iti, a n d Ohura districts, and writ'iiig of his experiences and impressions he referred particularly to 1 the possibility ,df making ' use of' the HVlokau River as a trade highway. Let us quo-te his remarks about Aria: "Tins' township," hev-wrbte, '-m.only about a dozen miles in a straight line from Maryyaie/on! the JWkau. River. At present' no. road lino has 'been surveyed, or even explored, butiH seems probable that .a fair rou^ may be found down tho Mangakawliia creek. Such a road wdufcl bring ' a largo area of good land withun easy distance o£ the steamer at Maryvillo and the port >at 'New Plymouth, and we hope the Survey Department will' see itsi way to have .a route explored at an early, date. Arm ought to be the business centre of the Upper.. Mokau, and/ Mokaii-iti country, and a roWd, if obtainable, to Maryville Will bring it within th© scope of New Plymouth merchants, if they are wideawake . encugih fto grasp the* chance." Shortly afterwards we urged in this column that, an effort should be made to open up a trade route to the Ohura country , by way of i)hc Mokaw River, with the result thai a deputation \o'f the Ohamlber of Commerce waited , on the Commnsaioner. of Crown Lands, with a, , request that a surveyor should be sent to explore a .route. After ;the lapse of two and a half years, a movement is now ibei'ng made at Ari a to secure -. communication with New Plymouth' by way of tho Mokau River. On the occasion of our visit

to Dip spot there wcrp ho' settlofs 'within mile?, but now a sm^ll township ha.- 1 , sprung up md the smrroiMtdinq: country ja luidov of'iipation. Tin- sHMfivs, liowpvw, t\iv . hampprocl by want cf roj>dp. :-mrl by clistsn°f from n cttntvr. Thoy arp twenty-lour milofj. by mwif'lalln.l r-iafl, from .To Kii'ti, \vWfli is 12(3 Yn'ilo* from Auckland. If it is t>ospiblr to obtain r. jiradieablo rotvtl to tiif -Moka^ TMver they will bo 'broiiglit with'-n about half that di^tanc'o of Ni?w 1-lymouth, a^ c ' an important tradi> vouto will be oportod. Tt, liowpvf'i*. bohows , to nssi«t tho spttloirf in iloVolop'mg' the route.

A rifle • club, is being formed at •Hamilton. A Sydney-Vancouver mail despatch of 20th October arrived in "London' on the 1 morning of the 9th irist. A thousand men participated in tlie Victorian building trade strike, and o»n 'Kqvr'mber 31th they each receive 1' 20/ strike fay, us a,,ainst £12,000] lost by thorn in wages. The Borough Council of Wan a ami i have decided to have plans aird' spc-ci-fica-t'ion« prrparod for a coni]:l?to c"- r ectric tramway system, the estimated co^t'ot whidi is £32,000. The Native Land Court, which has beeie sitting; at Waitara, has adjourned to New Plymouth and sittings were resumed in the Gill-street hall to-day. Judge Rawson presiding. The Court will sit ' here until . the Christmas Vacation, anid opens in Ilawera qn January Bth. coming back to (New Plymouth afterwards if necessary. Will all those who Have kindly premised donations of fancy work, paint-, ings or other articles ■ for the -Recreation Sports Committee's i Bazaar, please Irt Mr Dockrill or any- of the Cdmimittee'ktoow when and where to call for them. Donations will also be thankfully received from all who h*ve jiot been asked to giv*.

It is probable that the Otago Central Railway will be 'officially opened as far as Alexandra on the 1 8th mM

In. the Supreme Court, Dunedin, Mr Justice Cooper and a jury of 23 arc occupied with an ■ -inquiry in lunacy upon tho petition of Madeline Robinson, wife of Robert TtobFhson, of Grecnbanlc, Taieri, for an inquiry as to whether Robinson is mentally capable- of mlanaging his own affairs. It k alleged that: Robinson, has made over his property to his sons, and left his elderly wife practically penniless;.

Writing of the result of the Mahu.te&u election t»he Auckland Star says: —"Surely these figures ought to convince Ministers that so far as AutkUwd, Is concerned, -their land policy >ia- tending in tho wrong direction-, and even Mr, McNab may be inclined •'to wonder whether it is worth his wliile to persevere . with a measure which <h>as begun, by securing -for the Opposition an unprecedented victory, -and? may yet end; by dividing /and destroying the immense majority which the liberals brought Hack from Miaj polls last year."

'-.The -sale oB the Stratford Bacon Company's properties was conducted on Wednesday' afternoon, by Mr Newton King on the' factory premises. Tiie different properties were sold as follows a— Lat J,' leasehold farm, 143 acres, j was- .^oTd^tio-^ MxlOl M. s 'Curtis for £945, and the same buyer secured section 222, .toSwn, of Straitfarid. ! Mt Newton King, bought the factory premises for £3,001,, .a*d talso section 219. The Post uftrder&tands it is Mr Newtor. King's intention to alter the factory premises so that they may b« utilised for the T-aranaki wool, skin and hide sales.

The New Zealand Insurance Company, wliioh was the first office to resume business in temporary promises on its own site after the San Francisco earthquake and conflagration, has made rapid progress t with the settlement bf its losses, and a very close approximation of tho total amount ccm, * ft e Now Zealand Herald says, now be made. It is estimated that when all payments are eotnpk+od the total not losses will not exceed £285,000. The prompt ntenwr in which the settlement of alt just- losses has been made has, placed Ihe name of the. company 'in the front rank in America, and the directors have received many spontaneous tu'hirtes expressing the highest 'praise at tbe way in- which tho company hns mot all its" liabilities. ■ ■

While the meinbcrs of th* No. 1 Oihmejruurj, Rifles were shooting' on the range vet Paeroa on Saturday, there was. (states the New Zealand. Herald's Paeroa correspondent) a narrow escape from an accident 1 . A' rifle being used by Acting-Captain Nathan burst,] the bolt cover comang off, and the trolti head also blowing , out. At the time. Private Thompson was standing- about six yards behind. Captain Nathan, and the .'bolt cover went right" over his lead, and. was, picked up gome distance behind him- The' bolt head could notb§ found. It is. a" wonder that Captain Nathan was not .injured, as the bolt cover passed so close to his ear that he was deafened for the time by tho shoelc. The rifle was a new one, and had only b^en received from the ' ''Defence Stores "at>out a month ago. It was being' used for the first time. , Cap Jain Nathan had ftred 37 shots out of it. and Miss Amy Shaw six shots in a match 'for ladies. The rifle will, of .course; 'be forwarded, to the proper aivthbrities with a view to its thorough examination.

T'hft Wanganui ITiarbour Board • requires further shed acrorrypiodntion but' I'l.'e Ttiii l wn ; y has (aken all the adjacent lj,n<l t . and tke lioard has not a .sim/i? acre upon which to build. £ ?''-•.

A Hastings (Hawke's Bay) builder jhas refused* about £3000 worth of work during the past' three weel«s, owing to not 'being able to obtain a i sufficient supply of comr-etent carpenters. '

According to Mr J, P. Luke, ,oi Well ing-ton, who has. just returned from a visit to' 'America, if the imericanrt want ' a ' really tip-top job (in il*o way of machinery) they <X-r-neraily srmd t o Great Britain for it. '. AY a sale of land at, Ta\va (i Plat/ eleven ,miles from .Wellington «n the 3fanawatu lino.- 107 sections were sold, out 61 173 offered, realising £6322, '>r. an average.' of about £2-10 . per acre. As much as £>96 was givjm for 'a corner quarter-acre. ■-•' ' ' The Veterans' Memorial .Committee m€{t'- oto^Wcidnesdlaj^' esven^iag-.' fThe< circular which had been printed; was approved and" the secretary was instructed tc; forward a copy to 'officers in England . 'and the colonies. .Utr ; Jt. Coo 1*:1 *: having- declined -to act en the sub.-committee appointed to canvass s the town for subscriptions Col. W. B. was elected im~ his stead. 1 Thj* .Ta'i&jajx 1 Post s&*79 '-there is- a likeKhood of work loeirig femporhrily suspended ' alonpr' the' jtfain Trunk' line,' as-the feeling; -amongst the worWrs is that they should^be 'Ranted' a" fortarght'g. holiday: ' The •- -probability is that tl^ke . men will dose down a day or Iwo before Christmas and not'; rotsume irutil after .the. . Now Year. At present, however, notMng has ' been deTm'tely. decided^ ,• ■ ,--> '. , jijr.l)..., [Robertson, at^a meeting of th^» Tn'stitirt'o * "of M-arine : Engineers held at Wellington;-* oppressed dodbts as to the- wisdom iV of ;the- -proposal" to harness the rivers d£ the colony ' far the .purpose- 'of gemejrat'hig ' electrical po.weT. He said the outlay on such works ih America' ,was cnormrAi?, but onlj r three rivqrs had .beejn so harnessed, and no other works, of the- kind are likely to be erected. ' - At Whiteley Hall, on Wednesday afternoon, Itfrs Douglas presided over the annual meeting of nwmibcrs of the W.C.T.U. The annual import was read by Mrs Tipton. l The ■ balance-sheet showed a revenue of £41 15s .9d,' the principal items of i'ncoine being :>— ( "Members' fe»^s. £9 3s 6d ; proceeds of ittiss Broad's • Jpcttirej r , £2 5s j net proceeds sale of , work, £20 17s Sd. There is a credit balance of £10 18s lOd. A pianoforte duct was given by the", jMi^ses Ward, and a solo by Mrs Richi Afternoon tea concluded an interesting gathering. Three new" members joined, and one was welcomed into the Union who has been a member in another' place. * < . ' Captain Spencer, 'off the English Church Army, tells this inoMeoit. He asked a convict what he 'did • for a living when he left prison. "Well, in spring 1 I ' does a bit o' pea-picking" and in summer I does a bit o' fruitpicking, and in the ant'umn I does a bit o' 'op-picking." "Yes," said the captain, "and what do you do in the winter V "Well, 1 - mister, I may as well be v honest with yer. In the win-, ter I doos a bit o1o 1 ix)cket-picldng !" Captain Spencer next asked "And what happens then ?" The convict re-< plied : "Wihy, I comes 'ere and does a bit o' oakum-picking I" The Lyttelton •' Times'^ Wellington .corrospo'n'dent hoars "on the best authority'',,that soraffi timte back" so manyi ; shipmasl-ers reported v that Port Kidnappers "oftoiv seemed much nearer to their course t-han they, expected that the Department sent a vessel , to • investigate, with d;he 'result that. th<e Cape was d*>finit=ely " ascertained to be nearly a mile- and a half- fur filler out to sea than the maps show. ' This shows two tiling's : (I) Corner shaving skippers must ,beware of Kidnappers, (2) the noeH for aTesurvoy of the coast as ' now contemplated by the Government is obvious. Thie toastl of 'iMWtier Butchers" wAs not readily responded to at iMe abattoir, opening yesterday (says the ]Manawatu Timice)!, and in the silence: .whiqhi awaited one man's reluctant remarks a still sniall vpice called on. Dr. — — . a well known medico wud ~vt&b presentA roar of laugltteir greeted this sally. The; doc.tcV <igck the " joke Tin excellenst part. Rising imtpurturbaibly, and smiling blaiTdlyP he said he felt indeed flattered, but could hardly claim to }U so Ilii'gpi \\ p f inl tW p^otespLon. . JTe was pleased, however, to know tblat hq had 'so mlany stout colleagues upon whom he would be able to call in emergency. (Applsuse), . A Duaiedin St'4r} repres«nt ; ativc, travelling on the Mokoia a few days ago, mot' two Chinamen, who informed him , that they had j.ust been throuiglr Canada and -the J United) States, and were now going to 'have a look afc' Ne>, Zealand. One, who is a member of the Chinese Eeform -Association, said" there will be^ great things doing in China soon. "Thousands of members of our assooiaflon are now travelling over the < world, and we are going to open up our country, the greatest country in the wovld," with railways. ,* We are also going •to get our army and navy drilled by Gorman instructors. Then we hope to get back that part of ! our country which: tTapan has tafclen I from us, and we will see aibdut this £100 3'ou cJhiaiiga when we land here,, and a lot of other things that you put tipom us."

Ladies interested in ; tha -New Plymouth Bowling Club are requested to meet in the Pavilio* to-morrow at 3.30 p.tofc ' , . i. :

Sea'lct lovc-r nr.'d scarlatina are prevalent in P'almerstor- North.

A, .Vrnt nor boatman lias bought a motor ' iai:nr-h. which he calls ex-podif-ney. He spells tht; name, XPDNC.

"Let ns. remember future generations," said Dr. Findlay at Wellington the other- -night. l

At the ITe-aTior ' Parish Church, near NottJi-nghamV ireently, the Eev. C. E. Jj. Cornfield publisiW the 'banns of his own marriage.

O-enecaSly, the glass was, lower this - morninw,, th« local reading, 'being 29.-' l flfi. The temperature here at 9. a.m." ■ was u3dog. ir. the shade.

The Dunedin Star, in recording, the fact that the Government had decided not to /purchase the 'Clyd^ale estate, said the owners demanded 'too high a price, the Government -havimg fixed, their irreducible maximum at £4 5s per acre. "Irrediicible maximum" is ! good. . ■ : • i -jiTIS" -.

Az a, publin mootinT; heid in Patea to discuss the raitstion of tb.-> change in electoral boundari"?. it was resolved "that this moctina respectfully requrst tho Commiss.l oners in re-aiTanG'-ng th? electoral boundaries not to divide the Fatca' County into two ««lf<itorctca.". By shrieking and feign-Jng 1 madness, Mary Brown defled for two days all' atitemrrts to try her for fraud at the Old 18-alley. but next day when' she was about to repeat the performance she was taken back to 'the cells, the ense was tried in her absence, and < she was sentenced ! tof eighteen, months' hard labour. l A former boarding-house keeper at Tuian"'Ti\re hus (asserts the Wan-ganuij Herald) been forced to join the ranks of Ihe co-operative labourers or. the iii.am' Trunk line. An amount of between: £200 and £250 i<: owing to him( for hoard and lodging by co-operative workmen. • . A. travelling salesman in the employ of a bicycle firm was obliged - to go on a busings trip at a time «when an interesting domestic event was daily expected. The salrsm-an " arranged.^ with his sist,er to wire him results, ac-^ cording to the following formula : If a toy, "Man's' safety arrived" ; if a girl "Lady's safety arrived," To the astonishmrait of the father-elect he had. gone 'but' a few days t when he received a -telegram containing but one wprd — "Tandem." s A novel and probably unique , spectacle is at present to be seen on -Mi: George Sha'w's farm at Claremont, where 'there is a cow suckling two lambs, and bringing them up well, says the Timarui Post,. The lambs and their ; fpster-an other are tho best of friends, the, 'cow appearing to be, quite' convinced that, the lambs are her twin calves, and;she treats them in all re-, spects as $ if they were. With , such a liberal supply of milk as the lambs derive from the cow, they have become so fat as to be scarcely able to walkj.

As an instance dl resourcefulness, of the man in the blish the "On , the , Land"- 'contributor . to the Sydney, •Ifsprnyjig , Herald relates how Drover Stuart : Field; '• witfi' IfyOOO sheep, struck the Cooper River, v Queensland, lately in a flood. To go' round ,by ' way of Innaminck-a meant a delay of mqn^hs, so,, he set ,to work and-j^uili a bridge 'of tinker tripods and used the. stone, ,pillai\jput in by the, surveyors in the days wsheh it whs proposed to build the railway to Bird^ Ville." A footwwy -was made- of needle bushes, and then covered with „ hessja t n* r an r d "■"earth. Over this span th» sheep were driven without losing one. The next day "Cattle" King" , Kidman 5 si drover crossed , with 11,000 sheep 1 ., and two days later another 10,000 went across the temporary; structure. Messrs S. B. White and Sons advertise a line of embroidered linen blouses. Prices are simply blown 'away at Morey and Son's Sale. Three bargain gems are advertised to-night. Mr -Newton King advertises a large consignment of fruit ' for sale by auction at his mart to-morrow af ternoonj - at 2 o'clock. - v <• ! Messrs > - Jenkins. Miat thews, and Pi'^ott haVe a notice in this issue with reference rto ; their Waitara and Urenui sale dates for Christmas and tha New Year, Further particulars of this week's attractions at Bentley's going-out-of business sale will he found on another page. Tlie unqualified success * of the sale to date is ample proof of the genuineness of the barganns,offer ing. ; We give a reminder' bf the, sale of engravings and oil paintings at (Messrs Wilson and Nolan's K mart on Tuesday, ISth inst., »and will publish a complete catalogue with 1 Saturday's Herald. This is an opportunity that may not occur aga'.n to secure good pictures.

Captarn, Edwin wirod this ir. orpin g: —Westerly .moderate to strong winch?, glass little movement. tides g<-'od, "ea ■considerable. Durin.tr the period from. January 1 to October 31 of this year there were removed rrom iSydnry ■ harbour ' approximately 3125 rats, 3'H)O d^s. R."».l cats, ]00S' fowls, 221 Jvigs of fsh, 305 hatfs of , meat; 3S |w ; :s. 12 rheep, 2 wallabies, 1 emu. •»'.) rab-hits, II hares, 5 goats, 10 calves, 1 cow, 1 sunfish, 1 bai* of lobsters, and **1 opossum. •' Loss of sleep often oanss<"» hfad ache. Take Steam?' Headache Cunt, which not only cure* the adv. inn ias refreshing as a night's rest ' for ihi relief it brirgs re 1 - Is tortured uer vos. 1