GENERAL ITEMS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 643, 21 June 1921, Page 10

GENERAL ITEMS.

It si estimated that fully a million bags of cement will be employed in construction of the dams at the Mangahao hvdro-electric' works.

By leaping with a parachute from an aeroplane more than four miles in the air, Lieut. Arthur Hamilton, of the United States Air Service, recently established a world’s record. He drifted eight miles before he cent Lieut., Hamilton fell asleep from cold. The height oi the machine when he leapt overboard was registered at 24,140 feet by a sealed barograph..

It was authoritatively stated at a dairymen’s ‘ meeting j&t Te Awamutu that ..the first bonus of 3t2<l to suppliers of the New Zealand Co-opf Dairy Co.mpany, Ltd,, would probably be paid at the end of August, and the remainedr —perhaps %d later on. ' They could not fix that date because the Government, which owed them a,-very substantial sum, was .short of money. The company was prepared to make, advances to suppliers who might be "up against it,” ion the security of the bonus at bank interest;, and. they would also sup- ! p]y manures, fertilisers, building materials, etc,, on credit against the bonus. s'

Pilferage of petrol, prevalent and hard to detect in the Army, has led to the discovery of a method of so colouring petrol that any particular make or grade can be identified ■' at a glance. The colouring ha& no deleterious effect and causes no sediment. The regular use of coloured petJol on the “airways” is being considered, One company is discussing the adoption of a distinctive tin for each of its grades. At' present, though motorists may ask s , and pay for the highest grade, they have often no means of assuring themselves that this is the actual petrol which goes into their tanks.. Under the colouring scheme, assuming a companyproduces three grades of petrol, each would have an unmistakable colour—such as, say, red, blue and green. Mixing or adulteration would betray itself by an alteration in shade. Should water percolate into coloured petrol its presence can be detected at once.

A prominent Auckland business man does not think the financial position will ease until next year, saying that the banks will be called on to finance the butetr and cheese factories from the opening of the dairy season until the produce is on the London market, and accommodation will probably be required by thenr until November or December.

“It is a fact that many of the leading drapers of New Plymouth have made no profit on their shop sales for the last month,” stated one of them last week. He explained that prices were being brought down below cost in order to idealise money, “and,” he continued, “the time to buy is now, not later, as owing to the strike at Home there is no manufacturing, and latest cables show that prices are hardening.”

The following remit relating to immigration was passed for consideration at the annual conference of the New Zealand Farmers’ Unions by the 'lnvercargill branch at its last meet r ing : “That inasmuch as we understand that there is a considerable number of Bolsheviks, I.W.W.’s, and Sinn Feiners amongst immigiants r.ow ari*iving and to arrive in the Dominion, this conference calls on the Government to instructs its immigiation officers to refuse to allow such an undesirable class to land in this Dominion.”

To make a shy lover propose a London woman has just tPied a carefully selected colour scheme-in her drawing room. The woman had waited in vain for months for her lover to propose. She was deeply in love, and began to seek some plan by which she could break down 'the reserve of the man, Shq knew that he loved her, but she was anxious not to" propose herself. She consulted an artist friend as to whether any special arrangement of colours would bring, about the desired effect. He devised a. colour scheme, consisting of apricot and golden walls,, with black as a contrast, and softly shaded lamps. The woman, whb is wealthy* had the scheme, carried out, and in her most alluring gown, received the shy lover in her “proposal room.” His shyness was overcome, according to plan, he proposed. The wedding takes place shortly.