LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4432, 26 June 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The flag on the post office was flown at half-mast on Saturday put of respect to Sir Henry Wilson, who was vilely murdered by Senn Feiners in London.

A meeting of the Thames Valley Drainage Reference Board will beheld in the County Council Chambers, Paeroa, on Wednesday, 28th inst., at 11 a.m.

At the meeting of the Rotokohu Ratepayers’ Association on Friday night, it was decided to endeavour to resuscitate the Paeroa branch pf| the Farmers’ Union, and with that object in view the secretary, Mr, W. D. Keys, was instructed to write to the organisor, Mr, McAlpine, at Morrinsvil’e, inviting him to come to Paeroa.

At the conclusion of the unveiling ceremony at Whareppa yesterday afternoon tea was served in the hall by the Memorial Cbmmittee. The hall is a fine large building, erected by the settlers, and one gratifying, feature is that the building is now free of debt.

The cold on the Hauraki Plains was very severe last week. The freezing of water in the taps has been a common occurrence, and even milk has been found frpzep. In one household a dish of warm water was left on a table inside the house, and by morning it had a thick coating of ice on the top of; it. On Friday thick layers of ice were found on several pools well after mid-day.

What might have been a serious accident, but which, luckily, was referred to as an amusing incident, occurred at Wharepoa yesterday, just before the unveiling ceremony of the Wharepoa-Omahu Memorial. A large crowd was waiting for the ceremony to commence and a. number, were leaning against the railing of a bridge over the large drain beside the monument. There was heard a sudden crack, and three or four men were seen toppling towards the drain. Fortunately the rail was held up by each side of the drain, and the men were able to s,ave themselves a “ducking” by hanging to the rail and scrambling out unhurt.

There is nothing, like a good display advertisement and attractive bargains to galvanise the public into activity (remarks the Wanganui "Herald”). It was announced by a Wanganui firm that it would dispose of some suits for half-a-crown, and these were on view in the window and attracted more than passing attention. At 10 o’clock the previous night three men and a woman were in waiting at the shop door ready for, the key to oe turned in the lock next morning, and later in the night these were joined by others. In the morning those who kept vigil throughput the frosty night were joined by a number of/ early risers, and shortly before 8 o’clock a fair crowd had assembled. It was found necessary to let those in Availing enter the shop in pairs.

A Bunnythorpe farmer, who has gone bankrupt, brought 614 acres at Makino in 1919 at £23 per acre, paying £l4OO deposit. He farmed it, states an exchange, for about twelve months, and in February, 1920, purchased 130 acres of land a.t Bunnythorpe for £63 10s. Later hp sold the latter property at £75 per acre, receiving £lOOO cash and about £l5OO in property, which he eventually sold. He paid £2OOO cash to go into this farm. He also bought 18 acres in July at £l2O per acre and leased it for five years to Chinamen for market gardens at £l2 10s per acre for rent, but he had to sell it back as He could not finance. After he sold the second place he auctioned the Makino property, and in June, 1920, paid a deposit of £5OO on a farm of 90 acres at Aorangi, at £l2O an acre.

An interesting piece ofl literary historjr was contained in a letter from Mr. H G. Wells, most stimulating and by no means the least famous of contemporary British novelists, read at a dinner of Shop Assistants in London the other night. “As you know (he w-rote). I began life behind the counter (draper’s counter) when I was 13, and I suppose if I had had a norma] affility to pack parcels and respect my shopwalker I should have been a draper’s assistant all my life. What got me out of business was nothing but incompetence. I couldn’t handle the stuff skilfully, and I couldn’t keep bright and attentive for long spells. I can work pretty well in short spells, but then I must knock off for half| an hour or so before I can go off. and. the staying powers of my colleagues filled me with astonishment and envy. To this day the steady good temper and patient alertness of the shop assistant compels my admiration.”

One of the queerest of. recent wills is surely that of an ex’-schoolmaster and science teacher named James Campbell Christie of Cathcart. Glasgow, who left £3440. He wished the utmost simplicity to he observed, n his funeral ; no hearse to be used, but a plain cariiage with a box undo’’nerth, or any simpler or less expensive way of conveying his body to the cromi-torium (where he had paid the crenv'tion fee in advance in 1907). He wished no one to waste t'me by attending his funeral, and desired that his ashes should not he preserved, but d’sposed of by the crematorium or “used by any of my trustees or others to fertilise their potatoes.”

Referring to “hard lines,” Mr. J. SBarton, S.M., in responding to the toast of “Sport” at a smoke concert in connection with the affiliation of the East Coast Rugby Union with the New Zealand Union, told a story which, met with much favour (states the Poverty Bay exchange). He said he recalled riding in the country on a very wet day, with his. luggage, wet llroui-h and water even in his boots. The particular hard lines, he saffi. referred to related happenings. That day he had to fine a publican £25 for a . breach of the Licensing Act. and putting up at the hotel that evening had to borrow a pair o f . dry socks and pyjamas from that same publican j (Laughter.)

The long spell of frosts which have been experienced eased on Saturday morning, and rain fell in the evening. The frosts were the severest felt here for many years.

Mr. G. Murray, who lias been supplying Paeroa with milk for the past year from Mr,. McLean’s farm at Komata, has now leased Mr. Cassrels’ farm on Thames Road, and will carry on the business as heretofore, anl will continue the system of the hot-, tied delivery, which is recognised as the most hygienic method of handling and delivcririg milk to the consumer.

The price offered by the Public Wonks Department to the settlers for erecting stop-banks is tenpepce per yard, and at the meeting of the Rotokohu Ratepayers’ Association on Friday night, who had been offered the work, it was decided that the price was unpayable. -The minimum price fixed by them was is 4|d pen yard. It was decided to write to the Minister of Public Works, Mr. J. G. Coates, on the matter and point out that the price offered was unpayable.

The settlers along the main highways on the Hauraki Plains are continually complaining of the shocking state of their roads. They have certainly reason for complaint, but the condition of some of the unmetalled by-roads is appalling, and it is a wonder how the settlers are able to get over them in any conveyance at all. For instance, a pedestrian attempting to traverse the upper portion of the Pekapeka Road above Mr. Williams’ farm is best advised to take to the paddocks, or he will sink well over his boot tops, and probably above his knees, in slimy mud and water. It is understood that this portion of road is to be formed and graded by the Lands Department in the near future, so that the Pekapeka Road cream cart can take its cream' daily to th? Ngatea butter factory.

Medical men at times recommend the climate of various parts of South Canterbury for its beneficial effect in respect to chest complaints (states the Timaru “Post”).. That there is recommendation the statement of a South Canterbury resident goes to show. He recently visited the North of. Auckland, where the oranges an-.l grapes grow freely in the open, and the atmosphere is, genial, if at times a little humid. Within a few days of his arrival there an old-standing tendency to asthma asserted itself, and he had a more or less troublous time with it during his stay. This had also occurred on the occasion of? previous visits north. With his return to South Canterbury the complaint abated, and while be remained in this district he was practically free from any asthmatical symptoms.

Two amusing incidents were reported in connection with the canvass for clothes conducted in Gisborne recently. A collector, it is reported, called at the house of a well-known resident and, finding a parcel of groceries just recently delivered, he calmly appropriated the same "for the cause,” leaving the delivery slip as a record of his visit. At another residence a collector arrived to find three parcels at the back door. Two of these, it appeared, had been carefully made up by the lady pf the house and deposited in readiness for the expected visit of the collector. Meanwhile, however, a parcel boy arrived from a business firm in town with a new 16-guinea costume which was being duly sent home. The lad, observing the other two parcels at the door, placed his along with them, and off the brand new costume went with the innocent collection to the clothes depot in town. Some hours later the mistake was discovered, and an urgent call was made at the depot, where explanations were tendered, and the precious costume was rescued from amongst the bundles and packing cases.