LOCAL & GENERAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 February 1914, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL

Judgment was reserved, at Wellington yesterday, in the case wherein one Martindale was charged with having published a betting notification. In this case ~M$ E. Porter and Mrs Porter, of Koputaroa, were called as witnesses. Mr Porter refused to answer questions, on the ground that he might prejudice himself, and he is to appear before the court again to-day to have further consideration given to his refusal.

[Later information shows that Mr Porter subsequently answered the questions put to him, whereupon the Magistrate cancelled an order for imprisonment that he had made.]

Levin Chamber of Commerce has received a letter from Mr George Hickford, of Awahuri, stating that owing to great demand for .'discarded tram-rails for telephone posts, his company had none on hand at present. The Chamber had made inquiry in connection with the country telephone scheme.

A communication from Mr F. S. Pope, Secretary of Agriculture, received last night by the Levin Chamber of Commerce, stated that the Government was spending sufficient money in providing for the exhibition of all primary products and manufactures at the San Francisco Exhibition to be held next year, and stating that the Hon. Mr Massey would be pleased to hear that producers and manufacturers are willing to assist by arranging for space. The Chamber thought it would be helpful if Levin butter was exhibited, and on the motion of the Chairman it was decided to draw the attention of the directors of the Levin Butter Factory to the circular.

A letter from Mr G. Hirsch of the Pahnerston North Chamber'of Commerce to the local body, stated that Mr J. H. Estill (from the Port of London Authority), would deliver an address to the Palmerton Chamber on the 11th inst. on the facilities offering in London for the handling of all agricultural produce, and its advantages as a port, and asking that representatives of all agricultural interests be present. The letter was received.

AYaverloy supplies the latest fish story, says the Tirbune. A huge eel was lately seen in one of tlio streams in that vicinity propelling ihe carcase of a sheep up-stream. An eye-witness vouches for the truth of this "fishy" incident.

Mr Atmore, M.P. for Nelson, has a passion for walking, and following his usual custom he walked from Xelson to the "Golden J|ar," in the AYakamarina on Thursday, January 2U, where he 'delivered a political address in the evening. The tramp occupied about seven hours.

Applications of lime will cause exhaustion of the soil if used alone and the land cropped every year; yet it proves highly beneficial when farmyard manure, green crops, or chemical fertilisers are also applied.' Lime is not strictly what is termed a fertiliser, 1 hough it is a substance found in the structure of all plants: but it serves to hasten the chemical action of other organic and inorganic materials existing in soils, and thereby prepared the plant foods for better assimilation by plants, thus being a useful and indispensable assistant on nearly all-farms.

The -Kev. Carl Keiland, rector of the fashionable St. (ieorg'e's Episcopal Church, New York, has established a barber's shop for the choir. In explanation of the new feature Mr IJeiland said: "For the sake of uniformity in the appearance of choir boys on Sundays and as a slight evidence of parochial appreciation, we have assigned a special barber to the boys on Saturday mornings and Sundays before the services. Haircuts and shaves are given free on those days in 1 lie vestry by an exbarber, who is a member of the congregation, and I have found thai the results have justified by experiment."

D. li. Tolman, a New York money-lender, made the astounding proposal to the State Governor that he would burn 500,000 dollars' worth of notes of people who had borrowed from him as a. Christmas present to those who have been called his victims if the Governor would release him from his six months' term in the New York penitentiary-two and a half months of which he already had served, for charging usurious interest on small loans—in time for him to pass Christmas with, his family. The Governor took no action on the application. Mrs Tolman, the imprisoned man's wife,- and others in his behalf, took 500,000 dollars' worth of notes to the Governor's office in three great bundles.

George Bernard Shaw greeted the opening of the new year with a paucea for war. In the course of a long article in the Dailv A'ews he said: "International warfare is an unmitigated nuisance. Have as much characterbuilding as you like, but there must be no sowing of dragons' teeth like the Franco-Prussian war. England can put a stop to such a crime single-handed easily enough, if she can keep Tie knees from knocking together in her present militarist fashion." "Howy" one might ask. Here is Shaw's answer: By politely announcing that a war between I Prance and Germany would be so inconvenient to England that the latter country is prepared to pledge herself to defend either country if attacked by the other. A most unusual case is under consideration. Some considerable time ago the licensee of an hotel at As hurst disappeared, leaving no trace of his whereabouts. Several months later a decomposed body was washed up by the Manawatu River, but was unrecognisable, and buried at the instance of the police. A set of false teeth was taken from the mouth of the body, und the police held it for a while. Subsequently it was shown to the wife of the missing licensee and she identified the set as belonging to her husband. She had the body raised from the Ashurst cemetery and re-interred in Paltuerston. She refuses to pay on the demand of the police for the first burial. The matter was placed before the Oroua County Council, and the latter has now asked the Palmerston Hospital Board to deal with it. A popular notion formerly held (writes an English exchange) was that America, claimed the tallest tree in the- world in the Sequoia Wcllinglonia. But, researches show that one specimen of the Australian gum, the Eucalyptus Amygdalina, overtops the \Vellingtonia. In the Dandenong ranges this tree has reached 480 feet. This splendid tree, therefore, surpasses the highest spire in the world, anil is superior, probably, to the Gr,eat Pyramid of the Cheops. Some of these trees arc reported to be ; "> : >!'t m circumference, and, as to aiiv, must have f PI existed for many ceniuries. 1 l»o laic Dr. Wooll's, a well-known Australian botanist, computed I l,;il Ihe <*-iiin would not exceed a diameter of lilt in less than tlinn •JIM or 300 years, and he went on to suggest that trees of the enormous height mentioned must have been a thousand or two thousand veavs old.

The palm for brevity in speech should be awarded to a marine who testified about the explosion of a gun on a war-vessel—an explosion which had sent him to the hospital for some months. 'Tle.ase give your version of the cxpjixsion," he was asked. "Well .' lie said, "I Mas standing beside lue gun; there was an awful racket, and the doc-tor said, "Sit up and take this." Apropos of the effects IJ i Taranaki by the exploits of some person or perso)Jo unknown, the Stratford Post say , ?: that the men-folk of a certain house were all inside when a man rode up on a black horse, tied his horse to the gate, knocked at the door, and, on the door being answered, asked where So-and-So lived. The stranger was held in talk and woke up with a start to tind the menfolk of the house holding him tightly by the arms and legs. He expostulated; but the men were sure because the man rode a black horse, and had asked where So-and-So lived, that he was "the burglar.'-' it was necessary for the prisoner to produce a bunch of certain documents before his captors could be satisfied that his name was Anderson, that he was bailiff of the Stratford Magistrate's Court, and that his "lawful occasion by land and sea" was to deliver the legal documents colloquially \called "hlueysV" The story seems too good to be true, and the Post quotes it as an instance, of the effects of the "burglar's"' exploits on imaginative minds. The Chamber of Commerce last evening carried a hearty vote of thanks to Mr AY. Eccleton for his efforts , in connection with the Levin party telephone scheme. The Chamber of Commerce has decided to have circulars printed, and left at various centres in the district, asking people for their signature in support of the party telephones. It was also decided to pay the secretary to canvass the district. Mr H. is one of fc great number who have noticed the speed- at which motor bicycles travel throughl the town, and on bringing the matter before the Chamber of Commerce last night he was informed that the Borough Council had already passed a bylaw limiting the speed of motor bicycles to 10 miles an hour through, the streets but required a little more formality . before t . it could become legal. He thereupon moved that the Council take the necessary steps to enable its enforcement. This was carried.

The question of tlfe'Government acquiring the Kawiu IJloek (Levin) for closer settlement purposes came up before the Chamber of Commerce at its ordinary meeting last evening, and on the motion of Mr Lancaster, seconded by Mr Smart, it was decided to write to Mr J. E. McDonald asking him to put a price on his interests in the block. A similar preliminary step to this (taken some years ago) ultimately led to the acquisition and settlement, of the Heatherlea Block, and it is hoped that a like result will follow in this case.