DOMINION ITEMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 December 1924, Page 4

DOMINION ITEMS.

BY TELEQRAPB —rIIESS AB9N-, COPYRIOIIT. FOUND ON KOADSIDIii KLTHAAI, December 12. When .John .M’Tavish, a pork butcher, died on December 15, after he lir.d been picked up tho previous night on the roadside two doctors were prepared to give a certificate that death was due to cerebral haemorrhage. The Coroner ordered an iitfpiest and a post mortem examination. At the inquest to-day Dr Stringer said that the examination revealed a fractured skull. No operation would have saved .M’Tavish’s life. lie was puzzled as to how the man sustained the fracture. There was no evidence of marks on the cycle ridden by him or external signs of injury. Tin* verdict was that tin accident caused the fractured skill!, there being no evidence showing how the accident happened, but the evidence pointed to deceased having fallen off his liicy‘bl and struck his head violently on the tarred road.

CHARGE OF TU'RGLAR.Y. CHRISTCHURCH. Dec. 115. Rail was refused by the Magistrate, when Edmund Darncy was charged this morning with burglary at Now Brighton. and assaulting a constable. The police said Darncy had threatened to kill all in the house he entered. They were afraid he might return. A remand was granted.

intoxicating tonic. AUCKLAND, December 12 The sale of a “ liquor ” known as " key brand champagne cider,” without being licensed, formed the basis of ;■ prosecution against Alexander Kccles, chemist, at the Magistrate’s Court today. The police submitted an aiiah-t's report stating that the eider conti'ieal nearly fifteen per cent, of proof spi it.. Defendant said he stocked the (••cor primarily on account of its tonic properties. It was a pleasant medicinal drink. The .Magistrate said it was a beverage, and although perhaps a good tonic was none the less an intoxicating

draught. Defendant was convicted and ordered to pay costs. BALLROOM DANCING. DUNEDIN, December 12. During the past few months present dav methods of ballroom dancing have been freely discussed by a certain section of tlie community, and serious condemnation has been passed on the dances of the day. At the break-up ceremony of the Archeriield Girls’ School, Miss Fraser. M.A., a prominent figure in the education of girls, strongly supported danc-

ing as a wholesome and invigorating past-time. Dancing, she thought, was an antidote to many evils. No canonical rules against dancing would stop it, hot wise participation in this wholesome pleasure might perhaps improve it much, and give it the honoured position it deserved. .Miss I* raser said, •• Why should not an Archbishop or .Moderator tread a measure now and then in one of our dance ballsh”

MAORI RELIC. A ceremonial adze. AUCKLAND. December 12. The largest greenstone Maori adze that has vet been found is the latest exhibit secured for the Auckland M.uscum. It conics from, the Waikato district. Reside tln- ordinary adze of I be Maori race, litis specimen shows up as a colossal implement. Too large and weighty to Jie considered a tool fashioned lor the daily work ol the ancient Maori craftsmen, there is every reason for t.he heliel that it is a“ ceremonial " adze made lor special gift purposes lo commemorate some gloat lli'l-..1l o' •.1 .lot!. ."n| tb.it it lll.K ;ol 111- I ory. There are two other reioiiiouial adges recorded. One of them, about 2(>in in length, is among the Duller collection in tlie Dominion Museum at Welling--1 ton. and the other, about ——iu in

| loueth is in the Wanganui Museum. The latter has a distinct name, and tor a lone time it lay in a house untouched hv llie Maoris, who faithfully recognised the taptl which had heeii put : upon it on the occasion which it had 1 heen formed specially to commemorate. These ceremonial adzes ol the .Maoris are not common, and they have their European parrellel in the silver trowel sometimes presented to a notability oil | the occasion of the lavin'' of the founI dation stone ot a public building. In ancient .Maori lile, the i eretnonial adze commemorated the cutting down ot a large tree for the purpose of a war canoe or lor ust 1 ill the building of a pataka (storehouse). The two eereinniiial adzes previously found are ol a Mark stone, known as apanite, lull the .specimen which has just been unearthed in the \\ nikatn is beautifully veined greenstone, and is an excellent sample of the stone so greatly treasured by the Maori race. It is l?7in in length, oin in breadth,

and lOlb in weight. Despite its "real size, it is beautifully proportioned and worked, the elearalice ring at the junction of Made ami handle and the gradation ol the blade to a sharp edge showing artistic craftsmanship.

WEDI.IXOTOX WOOD SALE. WEDUXOToX, Dee. I'J. For thi“ secouil wool sale to bo held in Wellington. Ho.-I!) I hales are catalogued. 'I he sale begins at 8 o'clock to-morrow evening, when it is hoped that- It, I It) lath's in 037 lots will he dealt with before midnight. The sale will lie resumed at S o’clock on Monday morning, mid is likely to continue well into the evening. The sanie'quantity of wool olfered in Sydney would lie allotted at least four selling days, while hole two days is considered enough. This does not seem reasonable, hut there is no way ot altering it. unless the number of selling returns is reduced and the wool concentrated in. say four or live centres.

The buyers were busy valuing to-day and will In' similarly employed to-mor-row and probably on Sunday also. It is not anticipated that values will show any further drop, and growers ami brokers alike will he satisfied if Xapier parity is maintained.

Mixrxr; axd mii.i.ixo. DI’XEDIX. Dee. 12. The development of hydro-electric power and the popularity of gas cooking, together with the mildness ot the season, is having its ell'oet on the coal mining industry in Otago and Southland. it is not unusual at this time of the year for some mines to be working short time, hut at present the demand is so slack that fewer shifts than ever are equal to coping with it. Should the proposed road competition with the railways for the transport of goods in Otago materialise, there is a possibility of a diminution in the Hailway Department’s Yonsunipton of local coal. Another industry in which there are complaints of overproduction is timber I milling. .Many mills are finding outlets so restricted that they are shutting down well in advance of the usual Christmas holiday season.