ABOUT THE TOWN

Chronicle (Levin), 31 August 1946, Page 3

ABOUT THE TOWN

T.S

.D.)

• ' SHANNON SIDE-LIGHTS

(Bv

A local young lady who was ' anxious to help her bachelor uncle : paid him a visit and oftered to cook , nis evenlng meal, which consisted i of a couple of pounds of the best steak. The ' idea was greatly , accepted-by the old gentleman, and - while he was doing the evening :milking the young miss set about ! to try her hand at the feminine art of preparing a deligh'tful meal, j and judging by the way it wa* ireceived and enjoyed by her uncle j her efforts had been more than ' successful. As they relaxed and S enjoyed a cigarette, the girl iiniormed her host that he would • have to buy some more pepper, as , she had used the last in the house. At this the old man became rather alarmed and told her that he had meant to get some a few weeks ago, but had forgotten, and asked where she had found the pepper :she had used. "Out on the shelf 4 in the porch," she replied. With 4 horror pictured on his face, the old man dashed to the porch and investigated the tin. They were . amazeci to find that it had contained flea powder. However, both i are still enjoying the best of health so if any of you housewives run short of pepper — well, you ' know what to do.

During the war years it was a common sight to see all classes of aircraft passing over our little town. Anything from a Moth to a Fiying Fortress would fly over wiiiiout anyone taking a scrap of notice. After those dark days passed by, aircraft became few in number, only the commercial planes aisturbing the stillness of ihe upper air. Then came the jetplane — this caused considerable . mterest for a time until it, too, became obsolete in our minds. However, during the past week or so a very strange craft was seen passing over the town and disu'ict. This stranger had us all bamed for a time uncil a bright young lad, keen on aircraft reco^nition, identified it as a stork. His iiutle trips over this town have been very frequent lately, so much . so that some of the folks about the •town are becoming real worried as to where he will next clioose his landina" around.

Speaking of storks and those little incidents for which they get • all the blame, a certain young man I about the town was visiting the I maternity wing of a city hospital ih the company of a brand new father. It seems that in these big hospltals ■ they ring a b'ell at a-cer-tain time, and all the fathers dash off to the nursery to catch a giimpse of their young off-spring. We understand that this privilege is for fathers only, and it is easy to understand the bewildered look of the sister-in-charge when these two dashing males arrived to view the same infant. And now from one infancy let us go back to the infancy of Shannon. The work of the Rev. James Duncan in the cause of christianity in this district is very worthy of note. Towards the end of 1844 the Cameronian Church of Scotland sent out the Revs. James Duncan and John Inglis as first missionaries in the Manawatu. They established their first mission at Te Maire, near Shannon, where shortly afterwards Mr. Duncan was left in sole eharge. . This first missionary to the Manawatu was tireless in his efforts, and ministered zealously to Maori and pakeha alike. In those early days, the river was the real highway, and Mr. Duncan in his canoes paddled by natives became a familiar site to all in the

district. He saw, too, that to prosper, the Maori must be able to compete on fair trading terms with European settlers, and it was he who was probably the first man in New Zealand to teach the natives the use of figures', and of weights and measures. These totally new ideas were difficult to assimilate, but eventually Mr. Duncan's patience was rewarded, and fairer erading relations were established. That Mr. Duncan's efforts to instil the principles of christianity were successful, is illustrated by the following tale told by Mr. Tohi Kohika: — "In the early days m'embers of the Whakatere tribe drove the local Muaupokos to Horowhenua. Years after, the Muaupokos desired to get their lands back, and a warrior advanced to the Maire Lake. Here the Rev. Henere was holding a religious service. The Whakateres grabbed their muskets, intending to repel the invader, but the minister ' held up his hand, saying: "No! Finish the part of God first. Then talk of war after!" By judiciously lengthening his sermon, the preacher kept his congregation in hand while the enemy waited outside. Wearying of the long wait, they went home before the service ended. That no blood was shed that day was a true triumph for christianity."