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Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13672, 10 April 1908, Page 4

The Electric Light Committee is asking permission from the" Borough Council to erect a transformer chamber in the rear of the Town flalL A special prize is being provided for competition in connection with the euchre parties of. the Railway Social Club. It will be awarded to the competitor with the highest aggregate atthe close of the series. The Minister of Education notified the Secretary of the Taranaki Education Board that he will be visiting this district in May. and will receive a deputation from the Board respecting the Tongapprutu residence.

Pedestrians at Togeltown are caused considerable annoyance owing to the, lower branches of trees being allowed to overhang the footpaths. A Press telegram from Wairoa(Hawke's Bay) states:— "A great Mormon meeting is being held at Nuhaka. Nearly sixty Mormons are present, and over one thousand Maoris. The -proceedings are orderly. A branch of Oddunder the American Constitution has been established." The Electric Lighting Committee will, we understand, show a surplus of about £300 in its last year's balancesheet, this sum being available towards repayments of an' advance in the pre^vious year of about £800 from the borough fund. Mr Browne, the chairman of the committee, expects to be able to repay the other £500 out of the current year's revenue. The demand for dairy stock for the coming season promises to be as brisk as ever. At the sale of Messrs Duggan's stock held at Tataraimaka on Wednesday by Mr Newton. King, competition was very keen. Cows, in milk brought up to £10, the herd of 68 cows. averaging £6. Considering the time of year, the figur.e for so large a herd dt cows is probably a recordi Horses and all other stock also sold remarkably well? "Too many inspectors" is the com-, plaint «f Duiiedin Guilders. A contractor was favoured with visits front/aninspector of factories^ an inspector of awards, an inspector. of machinery and'; an inspector or scaffolding. .Then permits had to be obtained for all manner of things. The placing o£ a ladder or trestle on a footway, or, in, fact, any encroachment " at all, no matter how trifling, meant obtaining a permit and a payment in each instance. All these encroachments had now tQ.be provided for by b.uilders; and the natural result was that they tended to make buildings 'dearer. ' A fearful tragedy recently occurred at Leiria (Portugal), a cath<Ural city noted for its surrounding pine forests. An old man named Marques, aged seventy-six, . belonging to a much-re-spected family, had a dispute with his son. l Both lost their tempers, and matters went to such a pitch that at last the son seized his old father by tho throat and bore him to the ground. The aged wife of Marques, entering the room at the moment, and fearing for her husband's life, seized a chopper with both her hands and brained her son. On finding that her husband was dead, the old woman lost her reason. — London Central News. Tlie'^othe/ evening an Oamaru resident whose poultry prefer the shelter afforded by his macrocarpa -trees for Toosting purposes to that contained m their properly-constructed habitation, was startled at a late hour by the'dis-* tressful cries of one of the birds; and on looking into the trees with a lantern to ascertain the cause, discovered on one of tho toomost brandies a weasel on the back of" a fowl leisurtely kicking the blood from a wound inflicted at the back of the head. The attempt at capture was a failure, but a trap was set and later a weasel was caught. Whether it was the one in question or another it is impossible to state. The incident will serve v to settle the question as' to whether these rodents wfll or will not climb trees. A witness gave an instance of tho farm labourers' - troubles before the Canterbury Conciliation Boardvon 3lon-' day. "At one extreme," he said, "I have known a place where the .table Wss as good as at any table, where the accommodation was first-class, and where you had a spring mattress. -At the other extreme. the tucker was not tucker at all, and it was fished vp v any1 how. We had chops in the morning, pretty fat, and. bread. At dinner-time we often had mince-meat, arid I can tell you what that was made of, because I was the boy that .turned, the handle. There were leavings from the "inside" tabled bits of bacon,, egg and scraps of meat all mixed together, and I daresay it included something from the men's table as well. This was years ago, but there are places much the same now." ' ■ | The progress of the Manchester Ship Canal is indirectly of importance .to New Zealand, because this waterway enables our frozen meats, butter, and fruit to be brought to the centre of a large body of consumer's. The accounts just published of the last half-year's, operations this enterprise make interesting reading, working as" they do a 1 steady advance towards success. The available profits were £161,700 and ftf-> ter payment of charges, a sum of £94,000 was handed over- to the Corporation of Manchester in payment of interest oft their debentures. For 1907. the Manchester Corporation received: the full amount of the interest accrued due. The merchandise traffic using tho canal was 5,211,000 tons, an increase of 510,000 tons on the 1906. figures, and during the last ten years the tonnage has doubled. While New South Wales will be represented at the Olympic gan>os in swimming by U. L. Baker, T. Tartakover, and H. Smyrk, it is a matter for regret (says the> Sydney Morning Herald) that the Australasian champion sprinter. Nigel Barker, is unable to increase the representation of this State. The civilised countries of the world are vying with each other in finding champions to secure the laurel wreath of victory. Each country is scouring its length and breadth for its best representative in all branches of athletics. Here in Australia, continues the Herald, we have in Nigel Barker, of ijhe University Club, a worthy representative of Australasia, as he showed in the recent championships. This is an international . matter. Australasia has hitherto shown herself to be well to the front in aJI matters of sport. Barker was never in better form. Surely it is of international interest that pressure should be brought to bear upon him with a view to inducing him to make the trip. There is something positively Gilbert- ! ian about the doings of the Native Land Court (states tho Dominion). In Masterton the other day there were Natives who had travelled hundreds of miles to attend the sittings of the ,Court. There were hundreds of cases set down for hearing, but. only one ease was heard. This particular case had been heard months or years before by the same Court, which had made a recommendation to the Native Office, x whioh in turn had promptly slept over the matter until the document was valueless and had become void, when the case again came'up, to be adjourned to Wellington for further consideration. It is -stated authoritatively that many cases take five years before the Native Land Court, ,and when they are finished the sole asset of tho' successful litigant is a batch of receipted lawyers' bills. It is further stated that there are some Natives who have been trying to put certain properties through the Court since the Tarawera. eruption. has certainly been made, but as often as not it is backward as well as forward, and if tho litigant happens to die the whole business has to be gone* over again.

The issuo of £5 postal notes h£Wj» discontinued by the Postal Department. The popularity of electric light is in? creasing in Wellington. There are now over 4000 consumers in the city. , The erection of a street lteht in Vivian Streeet, as asked l or , by Jgr. Maunder, is recommended by jne Borough Electric Light Committee: 1 Wellington City Council has decided to- place a sum of £1000 on the esti r mates for the coming year for the #jvelopment of the zoo and to provide Salary for a caretaker. , The executive at the New Zealand Alliance has passed, a resolution expressing deep segret at the step fatten by Lieut.-Colonel Bauchop m givm&an order for two canteens to be es.tabiisned in connection with the volunteer Easter encampment near Wellington Cycle-stealing seems to be prevalent in Christchurch. The local Times tells that a young man who was passing the Public Library on Monday noticed ni the bicycle rack a machine that lie had lost sight of- for- eighteen months. He informed Detective Ward or his discovery, and when the man who had been in.possessiori.of the bicycle came out of the Library he was taken rouna the- corner to the lock-up and Uieowner rode ofr. • V- -■t- -• People who pay for what they toy. are beginning to regard themselves as fools. Tradesmen in various parts' of the country have been counting the thousands of pounds that they lose, by way of bad debts. Still on the average the tradesmen do not lose money, *ne people who do pay, pay uot fily^or themselves but for the people who don t? pay.. The butcher's trade a}Q™£"* Palmorston .is said to have lost £%W> through bad debts in the past five years. The Now Plymouth Homing Kg*"* \ Club held a team's race from Aramoho yesterday. Twelve members competed in the face, each having to. tune_ in three birds. The conditions were favourable, and fast time was recordedi Result :— W. Boultoii's team, time Ihr. 46miu., velocity 1317 yds. 2ft. 7m-, 1; V. H. Beal's team, time lhr. 48fcn]n.., velocity 1292-2-8, 2; B. Baylys team, time lhr. 47$ mm., velocity 1290 —\—Q > S; H. Moverley's team, time Ihr. 48|mi'n., velocity 1281—2—10, 4>. Some amusement » was provided Joi? the Dunedin people who met at the laying of the foundation stone of the Presbyterian Residential College. A. telegram was handed up, to one of the, speakers, who tore it open, and was > rejoiced to inform his- hearers that _JL_ (quoting the gentleman's name and residence) had donated a substantial sum. Then the speaker's face suddenly fell. He continued:- "And 1 must add that this donation 15 to be anonymous." A *oar of laughter* followed. The power to provide homes for workers has for many years been vestj. Ed in Vunicipal bodies but it has not hitherto been used. Last night the Wellington City Council resolved that the city should immediately acquire, land on which to erect houses for suitable tenants, and that the Council should endeavour to arrange with the Harbour Board means of providing, wharf employees and others with homes at rents • treasonably proportionate to their earnings. The Council will hold a special meeting in two months time to further discuss the matter. Sir Harry Maclean's entrance into ftangieT^wasr somewhat dramattev * d* was a terribly stormy night. The pr6cession was headed by twenty moun- \ taineers on foot, each armed wittt a Mauser, and then came a mounted escort, aU the, men manif estly^ full tf suspicion. The Kaid rode m the centref heavily hooded, with Raisuh Wio held him captive for seven months) riding behind him. Sir Harry Maclein and his escort proceeded quickly to the residence of the British Charge d'Af-s f aires, where he received a hearty welcome. ' A deputation representing licensed billiard-saloon proprietors asked .the Wellington City Council last night to extend the hour of closing from 10 to 11 o'clock. The Council of Churches followed with a deputation opposing the extension. The first deputation urged that' 11 o'clock was the clooßfChour in €hristchureh and Auckland,. where the fee was £1, as afeamst £6 in Wellington: Rents also were much higher here. The ministers' deputation urged that extension of the cloßraghtnirs would tend to encourage gambling. The Council promised to carefully- consider the matter. ' A poultry farmer, who consigns largo quantities of eggs. to the Government Poultry Pepot, administered an amusing "rebuke^ to the Auckland staff the other day. On several occasions the authorities had written to the farmer. , complaining that his consignments pi eggs were 1 usually two or three short m each case, though the farmer stoutly protested that there had been no deficiency at his end. At length, in one of 'his boxes was discovered a piece ot bacon addressed to the egg tester. He was at a loss for a time to understand, this generosity, until it suddenly, struck him that the inference to be drawn was that he might as well have bacon tntfe the eggs that disappeared. * During the last month there were slaughtered at the^ abattoirs for local consumption, 140 cows, 39 bullocks, 17 calves, 592 sheep, 105 lambs and 136 pigs. Compared with the corresponding period last year there was an increase in the number of cattle slaughtered of 4 and pigs 13; the number Jf sheep was equal, and calves and lambs showed decreases of 4 and 16 respectively. There were slaughtered for export during the same period 372 cows, 1 bullock, and 175 bulls, making 4 a .total of 548 or an increase of 480 head. Several head of cattle were condemned. Receipts amounted to £231 16s. The manager suggests that the Council erect a separate building for th© export cattle to be, boned out in, as there is not enough room in the abattoir to hang all the cattle with the boners working there. The place could thtis be kept much cleaner and the carcases could be spread out as they should be. } Wellington timber merchants state that Oregon pine is likely to' play^ *n » important part in- building operations in the ; Dominion in the future Bought in big quantities, the timber is cheaper than ordinary building rimu, and importations now aro very large. The trade in the past few years has grown tremendously, when it is remembered that only about three years ago the • first shipment of Oregon pine was landed in Wellington, and purely as, a speculation by a Wellington business man, whQ shipped a cargo of a million feet in order that his vessel should not come back empty. The cargo was fi^st unsuccessfully offered to a Wellington timber merchant at 8s 6d per hundred feet, but in less than a year the whole shipload was sold, and the speculator cleared 10s per hundred feet on his outlay. He thus made £5000 clear profit. Since then the trade in Oregon pi&e has almost boomed; so much so that the timber is appearing in the country districts of New Zealand for building purposes. - '

It is reported that this season's crop pf walnuts on Banks' Peninsula is a very good one both in quality and quantity.

The Electric Light Committee is recommending that the salary of the borough electrical engineer be increased, by £23 per annum.

Orchardists in the Ashburton County, state that the codHn moth is spreading with alarming rapidity, the pest actually attacking the pear crop* A r large number of orchards are said to be infested with the moth.

Dairying is on the decline in Canterbury in the opinion of a witness who gave evidence before the Conciliation Board. * 4 lf it was not for the exportation/ 1 he said, "it would be quite useless in Canterbury. Local consumption is not worth catering Tor; It is the best-paying business a man can take up. if nis family works for him, but if .he has; to bwy labour it does not pay at all." , f