Local and General

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 February 1916, Page 2

Local and General

Thy late John. Davies ; of Koputaroa, ■ to .whose (leatli ami; ivlerenCe -was . matio in our columns yesterday, resideu j for some yeans in Victoria before lie , came to New Zealand (as a young j man). He was in the Cunard Liuo j office at Liverpool, jEugland, as a , clerk during his teens. He arrived j in Victoria during the goldboom per- j iod, and became a gold buyer for one . of the leading banks. JcLe also drove | one of the Uobb and Co. coaches for 1 ' while. Before he was ..thirty years of age lie came to New Zealand, and for over forty years he remained here. j Of liis later activities mention was made in our edition of yesterday. I For over thirty years he was a member of Hbrowhenua Cuunty Council i andi the Wiroklno Koad Boai'd, j and always took a keen interest in the ( district's devriopinent. At one time he held twenty thousand aicres of land around Heatlierlea, and in later times, be farmed 2000 acres in Koputaxoa.

Otaki Gorge Road is to bo extended. Tenders' for carrying out. the woriv are called for in this issue by the County Engineer. Plans and all particulars may be seen at the County Office, Levin.'

jin interesting curio in tit© shape of a .Maori mere was dredged up in tlie Inner Harbo.u at .Napier a iia\ or two ago. it is 12 inches long and weighs about olbs. Ui 2L\t estates sworn lor pri,b..tc h;..,. mouth, the largest was t-uat of the lute Isabel a h. liaruilig, of Wellington, which was valued at IXjiMIW. l.iiu -.Levin public are looking fine at present, llie abundant warintn and sunshine, and absence ol : wind hus made the season a very favourable one lor blooms, and there are splendid masses o) colour in the gardens. The hedges and ishrubs also have- made an exceptional growth thi,s year. Men lor road jvork apparently are source iu this district, as the liorowhenua. County -Council received 110 applications at- its meeting oil Saturday, tiie tune appointed lor dealing with tuein. lor a vacant position ol surfaceman 1.1 the southern portion ol the county. A small brown handbag (lady's; containing a lew siiiilings in sifver atiu copper, ». purse, mid a buiicli 01 eignt keys for Miller locks, await owners at the Levin police station. A iloUut cable says that when the police arrested a deserting soldier there he seized an axe and deliberately chopped a port-ion off his foot. Among the Kaiapoi draft of tlie Thirteenth Reinforcements, which left ou Tuesday lor Trentham, was an .English baronet with on income of £50 a week. He is, says an exenange, a grandson ol a laments poet.

L'Yoiii ancient JUeliopolls where t-lie New Zealand Second Reinforcements were stationed 011 l'3idi December last, J he UliromcJo J.s in receipt ol' a JJosteard giving a view oi the Boulevarde Circulaire, and conveying tfic kind regards ol Bugler 11. A. Jiuuij oi the 2nd battalion, 2nd Reinforcements, (N./j. liilie Brigade)) and lormely ol the Eighth Reinforcements.

The Karamea correspondent of the Westport News writesihc long spell of iine dry weather has been a Godsend to- Karamea. The settlers TSave had a splendid opportunity of clearing up their bush sections and the bush lires have been excellent. A few seasons like this would make a vast difference tu the output of the dairy factory, which is at present 18 boxes per day. At the Foxton Borough Council meeting the following motion, in reply tu the Recruiting Board, was carriedi (not unanimously): "That "this couhcil still is of opinion that-tile Government should bring compulsory service into, force in this Dominion, and for that reason declines to have anything to do with the proposed recruiting scheme so thai national service may the sooner come to be the law of the country." "'The worst crop 1 have had for ten years,' 'was the reply given by a prominent tomato grower in Lower Hut/t----to an enquiry by a Post representative tie attributed the poor result to the cold; weather in t-he spring and the continued dry spell at present being experienced. He has~hopes that later crops may he better. A record price was obtained at the last Dannevirke stock sale for a lot of breeding ewes submitted by a Palmer- ~ ston North vendor, the line bringing 35s per head. Another line from the same owner recorded 335, which is a contrast to prices prevailing this time last- year, when sheep, on account of the drought, could be obtained for a sonsSome three weeks ago a female visitor to the liketaliuna district from Wellington created something of a stir on the l'almerston railway station by proclaiming in a loud voice the alleged virtues of the Kaiser, and the hope that Germany would wm the war. The inoidient was duly reported to the proper quarter and the -unpatriotic one is to be brought to -book and will make her appcarance ibefore the Court iu the course of a few days.

Arising out of the recent seizure ol a large quantity of hop beer, Innes and Co., of Hamilton, were lined £30 and £26 8s (3d costs for a breach of the Act, in that they -brewed tne beer without having kept a brewer's book. The analysis showed the hop beer 'brewed by the defendants contained 3.6 to ii-'M per cent of proof spirit, __ audi could consequently ibe held to be beer subject to duty. Defendants attributed the excess of alcohol to the use of free sugar, instead ol saccharine, which uwas aTmost impossible to obtain on account of the war, it being chiefly of German manufacture. The Magistrate held that defendants were careless, anu must have known the fermentation effect of free sugar.

As showing tlie liigli royalties now being reccivecl iby some of the flax owners in this district, consequent on the big values ruling m the Home market for fibre, and the royalties fluctuating in accordance with the market, a flax miller informed a Stamlurd reporter on Saturday till at he knew of a paddock of flax, not very tar from P-admorston, that at the lowest estimate would produce 40 tons per acre. At the present royalty of £1 10s per ton, this would give a return of £G0 per ocre to the owner which was more than the value of the land.

One of those sensational dividends which always makes outside betting on the .tolalisutor an attractive thing for a class of punters was paid at the Poverty Hay Trotting Ulub meeting, held, last week, by Greylock, the least fancied in a field or nine starters. Only twelve tickets were on the horee, and over half a century was the dividend! One of the lucky winners was a Chinese, and whether he got this merely by luok or "ringing" the machine is hard to say. tAlany hard luck stories have already Ibeen told by those who were going to, hut didi not, hack the horse. The following is true, however A Gisborne lady *save her son 10s to take to the race&jand there make up a ticket on Greylock. The hoy got on the course, but before the par-

ticular race (had come off had lost all his money and his mother s 10s. He did not thfnk the horse oould ■win. When ho did the Twy's feelings were nothing compared with the mother's when he arrived home and told lier that he had tailed to hack the 'big dividend. —Gisbome Times.

The blacksmiths doing 'business at Otaki and Te Horo .advertise that owiig to the high price of iron they have decided to raise the price for horse-shoeing. "'Hie men who st'owi (concerning their te.its) are mostly -the men who water their milk," said a delegate at a factories' conference at Eikotahuna. There was a chorus of "hear, hear." Mr Vi. c». Aitkin's. crossbred wool sold at the Wellington sale yesterday realised Is lid. Messrs Skernuni and foidevin, of Qlnau, received Is Bid lor a line of hunbsMvool. A parade of the Levin Company 01 tlie Manawatu Mounted Regiment was held in Levin to-day. Regimental l,!uarteriiia<?tei-Sergeant Butler was in command. \\ 11 ths' groat circus ana menagerie arrived in Levin by special train this morning. 'Ine work ol unloading and erecting the huge tent uu&at once proceeded with, the elephants performing the Isaiidow portion of the business, being watched by an interested crowd, lhe circus will show on the reserve at» the corner of Mako Mako road (opposite Mr T. Broome's this evening. Before Mr R. S. Flo ranee, S.'M., at the iMagisfra'te's Court, when -Hilary ; James I'itzroy Peacoc-Ke was viiargecl with failing to register the birth of his child within the regulation time. Mr H. K. Hill, Registrar o'i Birth*, stated that defendant liad informed him that he put the registration form in Ins pocket and had forgotten about it for over six months. v Defendant, who did not appear, was convicted audi fined ss'and costs 7s.—Gisborne Times.

The "La uinar iin ui currespondent. of the Auckland "Star" reports: Mr Fiahefr, Under-Secretary tor Native Affairs, Judge Holland and J'ldg) Bowler of the Native Land Court, were in Taumarunui on Friday last meeting the Natives with a view to purchasing Taumarunui fmm tlieiu for the Government. A lot oi time wars spent in preliminary talk, und eventually it was proposed by Piki Kotuku that the Natives sell the township. The voting, was very keen and no definite decision was arrived at. The probabilities are that another meeting will be arranged in. about a tort-night. It is understood the question of price is the main obstacle, some of the Natives cont-.ndiing that a new vatuation should be made toy arbitrators, of whom one should be a Native, one representing the lessees, and one the Crown. The price offered by the Government was its valuation of the. owner's int,-refit m the land, approximately £-10,000. It was reported by -Mr J)\ Pirani at the Education Board meeting on Wednesday night that the Board had met, with some difficulty in obtaining probationers, the applicants "preferring to enter the service as pupil teachers. The same difficulty was met with in other parte of the Dominion. It was considered that the problem wouild bo solve! by. raising tins status of probationers to that of pupil teachers, and it was decided to write to the Minister for Education making this suggestion. —I'Manawatu Standard. It its not often that a man who is literally rolling in ready, casl* liiuls his way into court to show cause why lit- should not be imprisoned for debt, but this anomaly occurred at the Magistrate's Court at- Gore the other morning (says the. "Ensign"), when Charles Byron, a returned soldier, went into the box to answer to judgment claim of about £7 tor arrears of who appeared for the creditor, Byron rent. In answer to Mr Dulamore. admitted that he had been fortunate enough to strike a dividend in Tattersall's. "What amount did you receive?" asked counsel. The debtor nonchalantly replied: "£1800." Has Worship asked the debtor why on earth he had not settled the claim when he received the (summons, ana was informed by Byron that that solution of the problem' had never occurred to liim. An order was made for payment, forthwith, in default 14 day's imprisonment. .Recently a child was :uorn in a Chi cago hospital, which, it is announced, the head surgeon is allowing to die, though an operation would save '.ts life. The surgeon is reported to have said that the parents iiad given !fiim the option of allowing nature to fSTko ite own course, and that nature would soon make a blank of her mistake. Were Jie to permit a defective child to live he wdiikl guilty of a crime against the race. Miss Jane Addams, who denounces the doctor as an enemy of the human race, declares that "every infant is iborn into this world witli the inherent right to have a chance to live." The motliPr of the 'infant is quoted as saying: "I have given the doctor p^niii-» : on to do as he likes with the child. Ido not want ifTto live; I want it to die. Dying now is better than living with a crippled brain and 'body." An old captain and his mate went into a restaurant near the docks and ordered dinner. The waiter placed a plate of curious liquid before them. "I say, young fellow, what's this stuff?" shouted the captain. ">Soup, sir," replied the waiter. "Soup?" shouted the old sea-dog. "Soup, Bill" (turning to the mate), r 'Just think of that. Here yon and me have been Baffing on soup all out lives an' never knowed ittill now!"

Levin (Lawn Tennis Club has been sluggish this season, but an effort to reanimate the club is 'being made. A general meeting of members is convened for Friday next to lk>e hekli in Williams's r teu-ro:,ms, Oxford-street. Dog tax .on animals owned in Levin Borough is now due, and those people who desire to register at half rates (os for sporting dogs) must do so on or before 20th -March next. After that datejbhe full fee or IDs will ibe charged. An advertisement on the .matter appears on page 3. The following "school howler'' is vouched for, and nappem-d in a school not one hundred miles train Levin. A geography claws was in progress and the teacher had just informed the class that the world'* surface was composed of earth and water. Oft the teacher putting the question to the clans at a. later stage of the lesson, as to what the world's surface wan composed of, a small boy promptly replied "Animals, miss." Explanations followed ami it was elicited that the small boy had understood the question to lie "What is Wirtlvi' circus composed of?" I'Tom District Ordeis doted oih February: — Advice received from the base, Cairo, intimates that the majority of gift goods for distribution to troops at die front arrive packed in ca.s s which are too large, having regard to transport facilities. J.t has, therefore, been requested that instructions be isued for such goods consigned being packed in cases of suitable size for packing on pack mule.-, through narrow saps, and not to exceed 801b.. gross weight. It i; requested that this information be given widest publicity, antl be published in Camp and llegimental Orders. Says the Wairarapa 'Age":—The Prime Minister expressed! his doubts the other day as to whether the merchants of the Dominion were passing on the war surtax of 1 peFTS?nt. to the consumers.. if he will call upon the retailers he will at unce have his doubts removed. It is ail incontrovertible fact tliot every penny of the surtax, plus extra profits, is being passed on to the retailer, and through him to the coni-aimer. \Ve have seen •merchants' invoices, which leave no doubt upyn the question. A\hat does the Government, intend doing in the matter? Will it cause an inspection to be made of .merchants' books, with a view to the equitable adjusti/ient ot the system of taxation? Nothing short of this will satisfy the public. There is a strong suspicion throughout the Dominion that one class of the community is being fattened at the expense of another, and that the Government in not exercising sufficient, vigilance to prevent exploitation.