LATE LOCALS.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 January 1920, Page 3

LATE LOCALS.

The departure of the Paeroa lias been postponed and slip, will not' sail till Thursday at 6 p.m.

News lias been received that Nurse Burrell, of the staff of Westland Hospital, has passed her final nurse’s examination. The many friends of the young lady will he pleased to hear of her success. •*

Timber prices have been* advanced this week ,but the scarcity of material is even more serious than the high prices (says Thursday’s Auckland “Star”). From present indications it will be a long time before sufficient houses are built to meet the urgent demands of the growing population of Auckland. At the present moment the millsi are short, of supplies, and can only supply a fraction of the orders in hand. But the temporary nature of a local shortage is nothing compared with the serious position of the industry in general.

At the Wellington Trotting Club’s summer meeting on January 21, Cathedral Chimes and Author Dillon will meet in an attack on the 1 mile grass track record of 2m in 11 3-ssec. The cracks will pace over eight furlongs for a purse hung up by the W.T.C., but the totalisator will not he opened on the contest, which will be looked upon purely and simply as an attack on the Australasian Grass Mile Record. Cathedral Chimes was responsible for a rather attractive display at Hokitika last week.. With his trainer in the sulky, and with the assistance of a pacemaker the Onkhnmpton representative went a mile in 2min 12 sees, under conditions that were none too favourable.

Mr Hine and his political supporters are ' not accepting their defeat with the best of grace. The official recount of tho votes has given Mr Masters a majority of 67, and having failed to dislodge Mr Masters, a petition is now being prepared praying tha.t a Supremo Court Judge shall be appointed to hold a further scrutiny. It is not entirely the intensity of political feeling that has created such interest in the Stratford election contest (comments the “Eltliam Argus”). Tt was disfigured bv a wild orgy of betting. It is doubtful whether in any other electorate in the Dominion there was so much betting money at stake on election day. Liberal and Reform syndicates hu<J command of p Jonty of money. If 11 Reformer supporter said “1 hare £IOO that says Hine will win,” the Liberal response quickly came, “I have £IOO that says he won’t.” And so it went on. Some people had a “fiver” in the syndicates, some had less, some had more; plenty of hold wagerers had £IOO “on their own.”