THE Hauraki Plain Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4645, 7 January 1924, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plain Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The cost of education per head of population in New Zealand has increased from £1 9s 6d in .1904 to £2 8s 6d in 1923.

Owing to inability of the tramway authorities to cope with the congested traffic (says a Sydney cable), motor buses continue to multiply in the city and suburbs. Three hundred and seventy buses are operating, carrying an average of two million passengers monthly.

We have received a copy of the first weekly issue of “Humour,” A magazine of witticisms that has gained great popularity ijp this country. Previously this magazine was published fortnightly. A feature of the new issue is a greatly improved and enlarged production published at the same price of 3d. Wc can appreciate the great popularity of this paper, giving as it does a summary of the literary and artistic efforts of the world’s most famous humorists. The magazine has a universal appeal; it gratifies the taste of the intellectual for subtle and fine humour, provides a. feast of general laughter to the humble worker, has its share of gentle humour for the ladies, and, finally, has a greater appeal to the kiddle than the coloured comic.

The Thames-Auckland express was a heavy train on leaving Paeroa this morning, and carried a large number of. passengers. Four additional carriages were coupled on at Paeroa, making the train a total of eight double carriages, two luggage vans, postal, and guard’s van. It is considered that to-day will be about the finish of the holiday rush, so far as railway travelling is concerned.

About 20, bowlers took part in a general "roll-up” on the local rinks on Saturday afternoon. During the recent spell of dry weather the bowling green became very parched, and this fact, combined with a heavy amount of night play, caused several of the rinks to become Quite bare of grass. The recent rains have certainly freshened the grass a little, but as yet there has been practically no growth, and, as a consequence, on Saturday the rinks were found to be very bumpy, and anything like accurate bowling was out of the question.

Several local residents availed themselves of the opportunity of a fine week-end to spend a day at the Waihi Beach. Several cars containing parties went out yesterday. The road to the beach i,s considered to be in very fair condition, considering the recent wet weather and the heavy nvtor traffic that has been placed upon it during the past few weeks. At the present time the trip from Paeroa to the beach can be done comfortably in a little over an hour.

Between cottages and tents about 140 places of abode have been occupied at the Waihi Beach during the holidays, in addition to which a number of campers have been provided for at the Council’s homestead cottage and other buildings. It is estimated that 700 people have spent the holidays at the reserve, and the moment a cottage is vacated there arc others in waiting to occupy it. in fact, the accommodation has fallen far short of the demand, and the bookings made ahead by owners of cottages indicate that there will be some hundreds of campers at the beach for several weeks to come. — Telegraph,

"American hotels are very efficient an 1 give the fullest service, though they ‘sting’ you when it comes to charging,” said Mr S- Shaw at a function tended by the council, of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce. He mentioned that in a place he stopped at in New York there were 2500 rooms, and 2500 1 telephones, and the kame number of baths attached. On the toilet tablets were such little things as trousers buttons, with needle and black and white cotton. Mr W. C. Weston, who followed, said that the cost of his room in a New York hotel was twelve dollars per day, nearly £3 in sterling at the present rate of exchange, on top of which there was a ten per cent. tip. Meals were charged for separately, ami they also carried a tip. How the Americans find the money for all the building going on and maintain such a high cost of living wrts one of the •things that surprised the visitor, remarked Mr Shaw.

While discussing the Christmas trade with a representative of the "Waihi Telegraph” a Waihi grocer touched on the demand during the past two or three weeks for the necessary ingredients for the making of home-brewed beer, remarking that he had in that period sold 8001 b of extract of malt for that purpose. As there are six grocers in the town, and some of them do a larger business than the man~in question, it would appear that tne. sales of extract for the brewing of Christmas cheer, allowing 61b of extract to 10 gallons of beer, must have been in the vicinity of 48001 b, which means that the ale made ran to about 8000 gallons- The cost of this per gallon, sugar and hops included, would be approximately Is, or 4n all £4OO. To these figures have to be added the quantity of beer brewed by those who used crushed malt or barley in lieu of malt extract, and the ale, wine, and spirits brought in from licensed districts for consumption during the festive season. These quantities cannot for. the moment be computed, but they are undoubtedly considerable. Meantime, it may be noted that the 8000 gallons represent nearly two gallons per head for every man, woman, and child in the town.

A pathetic incident that had its humorous side was witnessed on Mr F. Briant’s station at Tahora during the recent bush fire (says an exchange). After the first burst of sm >ke had passed about 40 four-year-old steers were discovered lined up in a row with their heads over a fence as far to wind,ward as they could get. Although station bred cattle, they took no notice when Mr Briant went near them, the reason of this unusual behaviour being that every beast was weeping copiously, and that channels of tears were running down their faces.

"I am glad to sec you have good roads round this district,” said Lord Leverhuhne to a Wanganui reporter, a remark that was no doubt prompted by the experience that he met with in trying to motor through from Auckland to Rotorua. “We got as far as about Mercer,” he added, "and that was the end of it. Our chauffeur thought we could get through, but as a ear on the previous occasion took two days to do fifteen miles we decided not to be an island in a lake of mud —in fact, it was like being on a raft in mid-ocean—and came on by train to Wellington. Thirty-one years ago I drove to Rotorua, and the roads were then excellent. A cynical New Zealandei informed me that if th°rc were good roads the Government would lose some of the receipts .from railways, but it will-pay you to have good roads all the same.”

The Rev. J. F. Wiseman, Anglican vicar of Ashburton, went to bed with be! ween £5O and £6O in his pocke’s. He intended starting a holiday in a fevz days, and the fact that the banks were closed necessitated drawing the money beforehand. During the night a thief entered the bedroom, abstracted a wallet from his coat and silver from his troupers, and departed without awakening the clergyman. The intruder left no clue.

Berthe Berger, the eighteen-year-old daughter of a Strasburg restaur-ant-keeper, served a customer with i glass of brandy. After the first taste the man fell dead, and the girl, thinking that hse had made a terrible mistake with the hottie, became hysterical She ran and threw herself into a canal and was drowned. Medical examination showed that the man died of apoplexy.

A New Zealander now travelling in England writes to a friend in New Plymouth : ‘‘l have been at several big functions at which I have enjoyed listening to speeches from such distinguished men as Mr Austen Chamberlain, the Dukes of Devonshire and Northumberland, Mr Avery, the First Lord of the Admiralty, as well as representatives at the Conference of the Dominions. Mr Massey shapes uncommonly well amongst them. He is most fluent, and his sturdy Imperialism gets him a warm welcome everywhere. 1 am pleased with his general manner, too, and vote him a practised hand at afterdinner oratory and advocacy of the needs and claims of the overseas people.”

Considerable excitement was caused on Thursday afternoon in Kawakawa, where the railway lines run through the main street. As the south-bound train from Opua was running through the township a trap was standing adjacent to the Star Hotel, its occupant being an elderly lady. As the engine approached the horse harnessed to the trap started to back on to the railway line. The driver of the train pulled up with commendable promptitude, but not before the horse had been struck by the engine. The lady was pitched violently out, luckily somersaulting clear, and escaping without injury. The horse was a valuable one. Its leg was broken, and it subsequently had to be ‘ destroyed by Constable Saine.

The large Rushton dragline dredge which is at work forming a stopbank on the western side of the Ohinemuri River is making rapid progress. The stop-bank, which was commenced near the Kaouiti Creek on the Tc Aroha Road, has no,w been formed and levelled off as far as the pre-ent location of the dredge in Mrs Nieholl’s paddock, at the rear of Mrs Beattie’s residence. At this juncture the dredge will not follow the river bank. Instead, it is cutting thiough the bottom portion of the Chinese gardens, some two hundred yards from the river, so as to give more room for the water to rise on the western side when in flood and to minimise the danger of the water overflowing the banks on the eastern side. The dredge is now working on more solid ground, and is being moved as the step-bank progresses on its own tractor wheels, and the timber flooring, which is used where the ground is spongy, has: been dispensed with. It i.s expected that the dredge will link up the stop-bank with the relief works on Moananui’s Flat in about three weeks’ time.

An indiscreet advertisement enabled a young lady who worked at the glove counter of a certain Canadian departmental, store to obtain £3OO with very little effort. Jocular reference was made to customers flirting with the pretty blonde behind the glove counter. There followed legal proceedings, in which the plaintiff cited the undisputed facts that she was a blonde and that she served behind the counter in question. The £3OO was granted, no doubt by a tender-hearted jury, a,s recompense for the injury done to the lady’s reputation and self-respect by the implication that she could be guilty of anything so repugnant to the finer instincts of a perfect lady ;#s the bestowal of a coy smile, an innocent wink, or a few words oi pleasant banter upon a passing stranger. The moral seems to-be, let the girls sell the gloves how they mav—but don’t call attention to the methods in the papers.