LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Thames Star, Volume XLV, Issue 10621, 22 January 1909, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.

Meeting of the Thames Drainage Board at Auckland to-diaiy.

TTh© presentiitiion of ■& gold watch to Harold Hayward was a vai-' 1 papular movement.

Only two oases of 'blackleg were reported last year to the stock inspector at New Plymouth. Both cases hailed from lElgmwnt Road.

"I will hiaive all the ibiaick blocks in the Dominion' roaded and bridged, if I cam only giab the money," said the Hon. A,. W. Hogg, ait Napier.

The Taranaiki Gai-rison Band will ndt compete ait the Hastings, contest. owimg bo the resignation of -the conductor (Mr T. Br McConnell.)

Two youths named Win. Johnston and (Samuel ©river had the tips or their fingers out off while working at Price's foundry this morning:

It is stated that registrars •of Births throughout New Zealand will eh-Ortlj' iweiva ; instructions to taite action, against people who have failed to have their cn'ildreh vaccinated.

Sfc. George's Sunday School, formerly situated in Rolleston, Street, is -n course of removal to a vacant siecition between, thei Rev. Dr. O'CWlaghan's residence and the hospital grounds.

Yestei-day the manager of the X<mv Sylvia mine wired to Auckland to the affect that colours and; dabs of gold were to be seem in the reef in the north drive, and' that tlhe lode looked very .promising.

Presumiably as an, outcome of the reoent disastrous earthquiakes in, Messina, a large nunnber of Wellington busijness men have been effecting insurance against ea-rtiiquake and fire caused by earth tremors. "

It is said that the Maori professional football team whicli went over to lAlustraliai last season intends touring Great ißritaan. this year, and that the negotiations are well forwiairdl

During hearing of a charge of assault against a colored man namedJohnson 'ait Auckland the arresting <aon®table sitated in his evidence ■ that since the defeat of Burns by Johnson for the world's boxing cEampionshlp, the coloured roenr in Aucklaind had ibeeni "-putting on side."

Good progress is,being made.with the foundation, work of the new police staition in Queeiii street..' The necessia.ry excavations have beem made amd it will not ibe lonig before a commencement h'ae beten made ■with the buildingl proper.

Tfhe friends of the Hon.. Jas. McGowaaii, (MI.LI.C, will regret to learn that he is still confined to his bed ■with a severe attack of sciatica. With careful and capable medical treatment iib is hoped that th© horn getn.tleman will be about again in a few days.

T!htere< was a large attendance at the funeral of the late Mr Biohard Taylor, which, took place from the residtoicei of b's sister, Mrs. Cole, Albert street, to-day. The deceased waa hield in high general esteenii and a large number attended to pay their last tribule of respect.

Ait the Oruids social on- Wednesday might ait Waihi two' newly married mesmiberß, Bros. ißJitchie and Hansen, were the recipienta of handsome presents from- the lodge, Bro. Hanseii re;Ciea\dng! a. set of silver jam dishes and Blroi. Ttitahiie a set of carvers' The T>.P made the presentetions, and the 1 recipients suitably replied.

We are pleased to note that the Waihi Borough Council have managed to arrange saitisfactorly with the iNiaitional Bank of -Kew Zealand, re the.overdrafts and the work will be resumed, as soon as possible. The Council's delegates agreed to reduce the overdraft by £5000 during- the next year. -k

Speaking to a reporter in Mel'bouame, Mb,' D. MdLareni, meniiber $ov Weillingtiotti' 'Ek&t; saiid that he had •been askedl to ;advise the; Labour bodies on his i,"eturn, as--to the most slutable formi of political organisation, that might be adopted. With that object he was malting Inquiries,, and would follow' them up. in New South Wales -aiud Queensland.

It Is ■wotilied tihia.t a special meeting: of the Thames Borough. Council will, be held on jjatwdaiy, 30th. January, for he purpose of fixing the day for -closing the Aops, It is not proposed to mn)k« any change, Thursday being the day chosen, though a -goodly numiber of people are in favor of closing .on tfee Wednesday, so ac 1o bring this district into line with other parts of. the goldfields.

Sir Robert -Stout.states that he haa the coanpiiation oif the Niew Zealand Stat^tets near': completion.^ ha>vjn.g been occupied with the work the wililole of the Clhiristmas holidays. Thl? Chief Jusi'tce confidently hopes he will bo able to complete the work prior to hs depoirtu.ro on a holidiiy visit to tli.e Old Cbuintry on Mlarch Ist, and that it woulld be ready for presentation! to iPWliainienit during the coming session).

We are evidently just having a taste of the dry weather and occasionail heat waves as predicted by Mr Og'g for the months of January and February. The xheat during the past day or two has bern most oppressive.

A;bout 1890 Japanese divers entered the business olf pearl fishing, and now the whole of the licensed divera in Tonnes. iStraits arc Japanese. From 1890 to 1-907 the tcMl take of pearlshell was 16,242' tons, and the average value) per ton works out at £110. In" 1897 legislation limited the fishing to shell of uin, nacre measurement.

In ordier to encourage volunteering, some London city tfinns are' giving their employees who number over 13,000, 2il days' holiday every year on full pay. These men belong; to the territorial army, and have to put :n a* least 14 daj"s in camp.

'Mtay auirious iiustanceis of old laws miay still bo found ,in England. In Chester the man who fails to raise his hat when, a, "funeral is passing bocomes liable by ami old law to bet taken before a. andl imprisoned.

A body which was found in, fhe Loiye a,t Nantes, France, some time ago was identified as t-hn'. of Pierre Desgiris, andi Desgris v.. ...i written off as legally dead. The other da.y he presented Ivuiself at the police station, and, declared that he was not dead;. The police accepted his statement and promptly arrested him on an old charge of theft

The members of a, Gisborne family have 'been having a most enjoyable and coniparaitiiv'eiy inexpensive holiday. With, a couple of horses and a buggy they have toured tthe district, and, having a tent as part- of their outfit, have been able to camp at any time and a>t any place that their pleasure dictated. They hia,ve evidently learnt something 1 Jn the art of holidaymiiki'Dg which might with advantage sbei emulated hy others- desiroaiis of having a, complete change from, town life.

"■Hew Zealand will simply have to waike up and do some proper advertising," writes an ex-Wallimgiton jour-n-alOst, now in 'London. "The Sita.ndard and the Ebupire Revitew, and papers generally that dieal with the aoionice, simpfy won't filave ainytihinig to say in favor of-New 'Zealand as compaired! with the other colonies thait q/d----veirt'ee, atrid 1 thet Oaniadian provinces, the States of Australia and •Rhodesia are advertising very strongly and attractively just now."

Sfctiidi a back blocks resident th-i other day: "Well this is a funny ganva this pal 1 .tics. First one candidate cornels along; and he says the Government is all that is 'bad and asks us to put the Opposition on the benches. Then, another comes along and he siays tlhta Crovea-nment is all^ that is good. Thietn another candidate arrives a,nd he otflitioifses the Qovemment meri and. measures and asiks us to accept the Opposition- policy, without telling ,us what that policy is. Then a fourth comes along 1, and then, finally a (fifth, and ,aifc the end we dunno' where w© aire!"

Our correspondent writes: -—"The marriage of Frederick -William;, oniy son of Mr W. iHopkhis, of Katikati, witli Margaret Anne, eldest daughter' of Mr Jonathan* Tanner, of Fraser's Point, Katikati, was celebrated at St. Peter's Church, Katikati. The bride, who was attired in ai white cloth costume, with blue.hait trimmed 1 with pink flowers, was given* away 'by her father, and was attended by her sister, Misses- May and Ella i Tanner, 'as bridesmfeuds, anjdf wore ipretty dresses of biscu!it and pink muslin, and mushroom hats, wreatheel with foliage."

Ma' J. T. 'Stevenson, F.R.A.S., states that another period, of earthquake frequency will probaibly occur during the interval from the 20th to the 25th. January. .Shacks will likely occur again, in ItaTy amd at Messina, during that period, while the great Savaii volcano should be very active aboat the 2Srd inst. It is uiijJifcely, however, thbit this period will be so destructive as the one wfo'dE caused so much damage: at Christmas time. A finer amdl warmiar spell of weather is no-.v setfcUig int. Twtt large sunspots am again, visible on the sola.r d'.sc, one beinigi neaii' 1 the centre of the disc.

There was a large and representative ■fathering at the Short-land Five Brigade Station last, night, when, Mr Harold Bay-ward, the popular and representative footballer, was presented, with ai handsome gold watch.' His Worship the Mayor presided. Son,««, speedhieis, ani-l toasts were alternated anid a. most pleasanib eveniing wa* spent. The recipient, Mr Bay-ward, met with a cordf-al reception and was ■loudly chiefered when the 1 (presentation was made..'ln ipassing the Mayor recommended the athletic bodies of Thiamies to hold a, meeting with the object of securing » more central recreation ground.

In. the story of the disgraceful r'.ot -at Broken Hill, when defenceless men wei<e attacked and beaten by am angry nnob, the bravery of a woman with v babe in arms is conspicuoois.' Seeing Worsley, one of tllne officials, confronted by this mob and Ju, dangeir of his life, she forced her way through the excited mass, and shouted that she

was not going to see thcim beat, a nnui like that. Ait this unexpected intcrvemtion, the mob, ms&onished for the moment, fell back, and :n the. diversion- thus created Worsley -was enabled to get away. ■ Undoubtedly the woman saved him from very serious Injuries. ■We are informed, states the Advocate, that so'tne weeks ago an energetic canvasser vis'ied Dannevirke, and • represented himself to be an ac- ■ credited- repremiitative of «, certain magazine, published in the ffe visited many offices and places of business, and made the most injeimeirous offers to advertisers. In many instances his doticess'.ons. and his blandishments tooik effect, and orders were secured, accompanied by a. cheque ns payment in advam;.--©. Now it turns, out that ihei getnitleman in, nueation was a pure adventurer, that he had not comiectjomi with the miaeazine, and that ho has "done a get", with the confiding 1 advertisers' money.

A; mechanical street-sweeper has made its appearance- iv the streets of Paris. It .'.& provided witJi a. watertank andi puinpi, by means of which a :fine spray is directed on to the road in front-, of the roller broom.

It is calculated that Ivondon produces !&0,000 toms of soot yearly, which would be wortih, jas inanuve about £5,000. There aiie also. 50 tons of soot suspended above London .n the form. *of smoke.

In the case of Thomas Moore Wright, fish salesman, of 10 iiillings-ga-te, summoned for exposinig polluted oysters for sale, the Lord Mayor »aM that under the act the defendant was liable to fines amounting: to £30,000. That was £50 for each of the 600 oysters; 'but. he' should impose a fine of ,£ls 15s only, and allow £10 10s costs. The money was paOd.