THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4582, 4 July 1923, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

, • Parishioners of St. Paul’s parisn are reminded of an important meeting which is to be held to-morrow evening, when the matter Of the division of the parish is' to be arranged.

Rough weather played havoc with the first, shipment of cattle from New Zealand to Melbourne. Of the 700 head shipped 100 perished on the voyage.

During the month of June rain fell at Kerepeehi on 26 days. Up till 3 a.m. on June 30 a (total of 5.23 inches was recorded at the Lands Department gauge. Since the flood 73 days ago there have been 44 wet days, and of 16.69 inches of rain have fallen. So far more rain has fallen in 1923 than in the first half of any year since the record was commenced, in 1912, and is almost as much as the total for the whole of the years 1914 and 1919.

Scottish farm labourers to the number of about 120, and some thirty or forty carpenters, have accepted the offer of a passage to New Zealand, and these will be going out during July, August, and September (states a London correspondent). The supply of domestic servants is also becoming limited, and mistresses are beginning to resent the Dominions ■taking away trained women. Mere advertising does not bring in the necessary supply, and Miss M. E. Hanlon (of the Immigration Department) will be paying a visit to Scotland at ths beginning of June for the purpose of enrolling recruits. It may be noted that, while New Zealand will not allow the arrival there of women and girls untrained in domestic requirements,, Australia and Canada are not so exacting, for those countries are ready to have them even though untrained.

Two young Masterton men who recently accepted a three months’ contract to kill wild pigs in the Eltham district accounted for over 800 in the period* states the “Walrarapa Age.” The country in the. backblocks was exceedingly rough, and the job of killing the pigs was both difficult and dangerous. Two dogs were killed outright, and several others badly mauled.

On Monday evening Constable McChnchy effected a srntirt arrest pf a man named Harold B. Gower. This man was arrested on a warrant from Hamilton, it is alleged that on March 1 he committed false pretences by obtaining £3 from Leo Cowie, by means of a valueless cheque drawn on the Bank of New Zealand, Morrinsville. Gower was taken to Hamilton under polic e scort yesterday morning.

Mr H. Poland, member for this district, gave notice in the House of his intention to ask ithe Minister' of Internal Affairs, “Whether he will take steps this session to remedy the' manifest injustice inflicted on country newspapers published in no-li-cense districts in being prohibited from accepting advertisements from brewers and wine and spirit merchants, whilst metropolitan newspapers are allowed t,p broadcast nolicense areas with liquor advertisements, sending in thousands of papers against the hundreds of the district publication ?”

A very successful clearing sale of Mr J. R. Judd’s dairy herd was held at the Waitakaruru yards by Messrs A. Buckland and Sons on Tuesday. Fifty-five head were offered, and the average price received was £l7. A Jersey-Shorthorn cow fetched £32 10S. Pedigree bulls were not in demand, a shorthorn selling for £7 7s, while a couple of Jeseys were passed in at 23 and 14 guineas, respectively.

It is surprising how little consideration some people show for others. This fact was very noticeable at the production of “Scandal” at the Central Theatre last evening. People continuously went out between the acts, and came in again after the curtain had risen, creating a diversion by audible talking and laughing and heavy walking to their seats. In consequence the opening lines in the acts were lost, owing to the noiseiS made. Offenders in this respect might well show a little consideration for other people in the audience, and learn to adapt themselves to better behaviour while an entertainment is in progress.

Cosmo Hamilton’s 3-act comedy “Scandal” was presented by Harry Cohen to a very poor audience ait thu Central Theatre pn Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, very heavy i]ain. fell prior to and during the first act, and no’ doubt the elements prevented many people from attending. The play, besides being full of interesting situations, smart repartee, and humour, also calls upon the dramatic art of both the principals,. Miss Doris Duane and Eric Harrison. Some of the scenes, notably the bedroom pne, went fairly close to a defiance of conconventions, but the skill and restraint with which Mis,s Duane acted her part, was responsible for piloting the play through all its daring passages without the least offence to anyone’s susceptibilities.

A meeting of settlers of Waitakaruru and Pipiroa was held at Waitakaruru on Tuesday afternoon to discuss a means of getting a water supply for the district. As certain information in regard to a scheme was not available it was decided to hold a further meeting at 2 p.m. tomorrow, at Mr McAulay’s. residence, Pipiroa Road.

At the Thames Valley Electric Pov/er Board meeting at Te Aroha yesterday the chairman (Mr F. H. Claxton) welcomed the secretarymanager (Mr R. Siprague) on his return to duty after five weeks’ sick leave. The chairman said that during the absence of Mr Sprague Mr G. A. Bush (accountant) had been in charge of affairs. He said it gave him great, pleasure to report that Mr Bush had filled the office with credit, and the work bad been carried on very satisfactorily and uninterruptedly. A resolution was passed recording the appreciation of the services of Mr Bush to the Board. “ You can kill blackberry all right,” remarked an experienced farmer to a “Poverty Bay Herald” reporter recently, ‘"but to do it you must poison your land for a couple of years.” He explained that the berry can easily be killed by the use of arsenic, but that the poison penetrates the ground and lies there for a very long time, and nothing else will grow on t,he spot. This fact made it very difficult to institute any widespread attacks on the berry,, for no man could afford to spoil much of his land for any length of time. As illustrating the efficacy of poisons against, the weed, this farmer mentioned that he had poured a bottle of sheep dip on one small patch last yenr, and the treatment appeared to have been entirely successful. t • “ The Shining Cuckoo,” said Mr Johannes Andersen at the Carterton Savage Club korero the other night (states the “ Wairarapa Daily News”) “is generally accepted as being a migratory bird, but this is open to doublti It has never been seen to come and never been seen to go. Besides this, the greatest known flight for small birds of this kind is between 300 and 400 miles. To migrate from New Zealand would'necessitate a flight of at least 1000 miles. The theory exists, therefore, that the cuckoo does not leave New Zealand at all, but simply retires to the bush and remains quiet for two or three months. It is one of the interesting points that scientists are quietly en-