THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4690, 26 April 1924, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Heavy shipments of New Zealand apples continue to be made to overseas markets. Up to the present 160.000 cases of this season’s fruit have gone forward, and it. is anticipated that the 200,000 mark will be reached before the season closes. For five samples of bulk sand taken from an area 400 yards in length in the Oliinemuri River below the bridge at Karangahakc by Messrs Gordon an Bennett, mining experts from Australia, and sent to the Thames School of Mines for assay, the values were as follows : (1) 6s Bd, (2) 18s 2d, (3, £1 Ils Id, (4) £1 14s, (5) £1 4s 3d. Tire concentrates from the above samples yielded the follow values per ton: (1) £1 12s, (2) £5, (3) £7 13s 6d, (4) £ll 2s sd, (5) £l7 Ils 4d. The sand was .sifted through a 20-inch screen anl put through a classifier which is a new invention of Messrs Gordon and Leach’s, of New South Wales, for treating sands. A syndicate has taken an option over the properties Desert Gold and Hauraki River Claims with a view of forming a strong company to work the area. Should the new in vent ion turn out anything like the trial run it will be indeed a very big thing, not only for Paeroa and district. but for the Dominion as a whole, as a prominent mining man has estimated that there must be at least £2,000,000 worth of gold and silver in the river between Paeroa and Karangahakc. The Post and Telegraph authorities have a funny way' pf charging for the number of words in a telegram (.sajo the Gisborne Times). “Cannot” is one word, “can’t,” which is a corruption of cannot, is one word, but " don't,” “won’t,” or any other shortening of a verb and negative ire charged as two words. -X man can send <?. code word that means fifty sentences, yet that is not charged extra. Another may send a telegram in Italian, Greek, or even Chinese, ami each word counts as one. Yet the Chinese telegram might be a code' telegram I The telegraph counter clerk and the postmaster will co to a lot of trouble explaining to a customer that “won’t” is a corrupted woyfl that means “ will not,” and the same with other words : but the word “ zehngerichtenbund ’’ counts as one. He will not waste much time tolling a client why that word costs only a penny. A new book of rules should lie issued shortly, and, au irate cor-, respondent writes, ought to be worth Is. For Influenza, take Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.

it is probable, in the event of the Hauraki Plain- Rugby Union permitting an alteration of the boundaries, tb.it a football club will no formed to include Pipiroa. Kopuarahi, and Oronog

The South Auckland Rille Association’s eighteenth annual prize firing meeting wa,s opened on the Waihi range on Good Friday and concluded on Saturday. There was a falling off in the number of competitors, the marksmen in attendance only numbering 41. The general meeting of tlie association was held on Friday evening. Mr J. G. Comes, president, in the chair. Some disappointment was expressed at the paucity of the attendance of competitors, and the chairman raised the question as to whether if might not. be in the interests of the association to bring about a change of locality for the holding of the prize firing meeting. After some discussion it was resolved, on the motion of Rifleman Harbutt (Cambridge), seconded by Major Potter (Auckland), that the next Easter meeting bo held at Cambridge. For the year 1913-14 the average cost of maintenance, per occupied bel in the public hospitals in the Do' minion was £lO5. During the follow-, ing years it rose year by year' until in 1921-22 the cost reached £l9O. For the year just ended the cost per occupied bed averaged £lB4, a reduction of £6. It. is reported that the Auckland Zoo is a paying proposition. That cannot be said of Wellington Zoo, which for the year ended March 3i cost the ratepayers £2850 14s 4d, the receipts being £l2OO 12s sd, and the expenses £4051 6s 9d. It has been pointed out .that Auckland probable manages to make ends meet by charging for admission on Sunday—the best dav of the week—when the Wellington Zoo is thrown open free to all. A peculiar view to enunciate in a conciliation council was set forth by the representative of the furniture workers recently, says the Wairarawa News.” He said : ‘‘The employer produces nothing and takes most. It is the worker who produces all. Our position is that the worker should get the lot. and we are going to keep go. ing until we get it.” When they ‘‘get the lot” there is hardly likely to be anything for anybody. Not much conciliation about this conciliator’s remark. Some-time ago a paragraph appeared in a contemporary that a man of 61) years of age had succeeded in writ-, ing the Lord’s Prayer on a piece of paper an inch square. This has easily been beaten, and that by the late Mr George Geddes, of Georgetown. When Mr Geddes saw the paragraph referred to he was some 80 years of age (he passed away recently at the age of 89), and he at once too ? up the challenge and wrote the entire Lord’s Prayer on a scrap of paper 13-16ths of an inch by 11-16ths. Th? witing, which was shown to an ‘‘Oamaru Mail” reporter, is beautifully fine and regular, and a great deal more legible than the average handwriting of to-day. Tlie late Mr Geddes was'in his time a remarkable figure, athletic to a degree and of wonderful physique. That his nerves were steady is shown by the example of his penmanship referred to above. *‘T never dreamt there wa.s such a ship.” said Mr Massey at a Southern function when giving a description of the Majestic, the ship in which he crossed the Atlantic to the Old Country. It is said, he continued, that the Majestic, which is mostly German built, was designed for a triumphant tour of the world after the war hy the cx-Kaiser, and, of course, its appoint-, ments were worthy of .such an object, and the berthing accommodation included what is to-day known as the “Royal suite.” On embarking, satd Mi Massey, a steward approached him and explained that it was desired that he should occupy the Royal Suite, which was generally reserved for people of importance. On Hie Prime Minister’s refusal to do so the steward volunteered the further fin formai’on that nd further cost would he incurred, and on these terms the suite, wa.s accepted. “The Kaiser didn’t think he was preparing the suite for me.” concluded Mr Massey amid laughter. There should be a brisk demand for copies of this week’s issue of the “New Zealand Sporting and Dramatic Review,” as the illustrations are of an especially interesting nature. Prominently placed, and covering three pages, is the Auckland Racing Club’s autumn carnival at Ellerslie. A general appeal will be made by the photographs depicting the visit . to Sydney of the Imperial Service Squadron, showing striking views of the huge flagship, H.M.S. Hood. Very attractive is the page of snapshots representing the “Sally” v. Auckland Ladies’ cricket match on the Domain. The beautifully arranged centre pages comprise philanthropic incidents in Queen Alexandra’s lite, social functions in London and Ireland, and Stage and Film have a strong pictorial display. For Children’s Hacking Cough, Woods’ Great JPeppermint.Curc.