LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1947, 2 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

■■ Sir William Lever, of tho firm of Lever Brothers, of Port Sunlight, has boon busy sincri his landing, in Wellington yesterday morning making arrangements preliminary to tlia establishment of a factory at Fctone. He informed a Dominion reporter yesterday ' that- ho thought the erection of tho works would bo proceeded with fairly promptly. Asked as to the size of tho works, ho said, "Wo can only maiuifacturo for a. country with a population of 1,150,000, and the works will ho no more than in proportion to tho sizo of tho population."

Tho price of meat- in Auckland has been increased by id. and por lb. The effect of the ntw list is that beef and mutton have been raised from id, to Id. por.lb. all round, tthilo veal and pork show no chango from the prices ruling as from November last. Mr. 11. S. ESriggs, president of tho Master Butchers' Association, ascribes tho unusual position to the big prices that ex--I'ortors are offering for stock on tho farms. The opening up of outside markets will tend to intensify tho scarcity of meat for local Ho mentioned a recent instance of 275. (id, per 1001b. being offered in the paddock for beef for export.

A swarm of bees took possession of a letter-box placed at the ontranco of a residenco in Mas-sey Street, . Fraiikton Junction, on Monday afternoon. When an expeditionary force arrived to clear it hist evening, the. boos had decamped. Yesterday, as the morning mailwas about to bo left by tho post-man, ho noticed tho swarm in possession, it having evidently rearrived during tho early hours. Tho mail reached its dos-; tination through another channel, and tho bees am still in undisputed possession.—"Waikato Argus."

Tauratiga's Borough Council is going in for a Town Hall, the cost of which is not- to exceed £6000.

Two hundred and twenty senior cadets were entrained at Thermion Station for Auckland .yesterday morning. The lads are going to talso part in the Exhibition competitions. Another batch of 130 wont north by the night express, so that , now 1250 altogether haye gono to Auckland from Wellington and the South Island. .

... A man inet with an accident, along the Mataroa .Read (Manawatu district) a day or two ago, and when the doctor arrived at the wayside scene of tho accident ho discovered that tho victim had sustained a compound fracture of the ankle, Tlio surest way to save the 'ankle, tho doctor found, was to administer chloroform, and perform an operation.' This was done, tlie patient being subsequently' convoyed to Taihape Hospital, Operations on the highway are certainly not common.

The chief, guide at Jit.'Cook reports having speii the first of tlrts chamois this season.. The animal, ho states, was ill good condition.

That the grnmaphduc records -of Mr. John M'Cormack are amazingly popular is the invaria-hio discovery of the tenor wherever ho goes. During his tour, of New Zealand, which is now concluding, lie made a point of visiting an old Maori identity., whoso wliare is an object of in-terest-in the neighbourhood. On approaching the , domicile of the ciderly Na-i-ive, the Irish tenor was amassed to hear tho. strains of "I Hear yon Calling Mo" as sting by himself for a wellknown gram-iphmio company. Recontly in Vancouver the brilliant Irishman had a similarly entertaining experience. Ho had engaged a cabman to drive him a short -distance to his hotel, and when the cabman charged him two dollars for tho jou-rnoy ho objected that tire faro was too high: "High," said the e.ihman bitterly. "Don't squeak; Mr. M'Cormaek. Two dollars is what I have to pay for your records,"

Tho Australian team of howlers who are to visit New Zealand in tho course of, a few weeks are to be well.entertained in Wellington. Gaining by the experience of past touring teams, the management has written over to say that they do not wisli to do too rd'ticti bowling during tho trip, unt a reasonable tune should be reserved for sightseeing. The team will ho in Wellington for 'three days, during which timo they will probably play one game each afternoon on different greens, and during tho mornings will bo taken for motor trips into the country, and round about the city in an observation ear. One evening of the .three will bo reserved for a smoke concert. *

A report on the migration from the rural districts of England and Wales has been prepared by tho Hoard of Agriculture at the I'ttjuest of the oversea*; dominions. It states that agriculture is not expanding and that industry en farmed lands is steadily declining. Low wages are not so much tho cause for discontent as lack of opportunity. The normal movement to the towns is largely supplemented by emigration overseas, where the free life, the easy facilities for becoming landowners, and, the wider scone for energy anil enterprise appear to bo the chief .inducements.

It is vary evident, according to the Auckland "Star," that somo of tho strikers are finding a difficulty in obtaining work at their regular occupations, for a commercial man who travels tho Waikato rogularly says he has not soon so many swaggers c« tho road for a number of years, and recently somo children found a purse .011 a district rood which contained a few shillings, a;id also a card on which was the official seal of the Ancklnnd Watcrsidcfs' Union, but the name of tho owner was obliterated,

A sensational holt occurred in Giaborno on Tuesday morning, when tho horses attached to the To Ami coach took fright in Gladstone Road, and careered madly through tho town, striking and damaging several vehicles. Tho driver.was unseated, and i'ei! to tho ground, and the reins wero grabbed bv a hoy of 10, who clambered through 'front the ' back ■of the vehicle to tho box-seat, and pluckily endeavoured to control the ' frightened animals. Tsvo Judy-.passengers and three children jumped out, and were severely shaken, but the boy stuck valiantly to the- reins until tho horses, after narrowly scaping going over the whnrf, smashed into n wharf shed. Thcro was a terrific impact, and tho hoy was thrown off, hilt was unhurt 111 fact, he fared better tiian those who hud jumped off. > Tho po,e. of tho coach was broken'and three of tho horses were sorevely injured, eaa haying to be destroyed- v.

'•? • Some" Maoris' appear to have a te- . marknblo-.faculty for tracing back their genealogy,.. states tho Manawatu "Standard, '■'■«»(! it is' apparently no imooramoir. thuig ior/jihencto trace bacfa their ancestors for..j twenty-eight and thirty generations.'"--- To make' a mistake in their ' whakapapa". is to lay themselves open to derision:*" The story is told of a . particular Nativo who npp'oarcd before ' the Native Land Court at Poverty Bay lately','who had carried , out a wizard's injunction'to auojit a'diet of pumpkin seeds in order to obtain the requisite knowledge of his genealogy.

Mr. J. Elder, of Temuka, while walking along tho beachfront of Milford lagoon, picked up a stranded grower weighing 601b.