THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4760, 6 October 1924, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Electric power is now being installed in the flaxmill on the Awaiti Stream canal owned by Mr Firth. The wires are being run from Kaikaha Road. By proclamation 3 roods 36.3 perches, being portion of Te Arero-o-Hua-tata No. 2, in the Borough of Paeroa, has been set aside tor street formation purposes, and an area totalling 1 roods 37 perches in the same block, together with portion of Aorangi A, has been taken for railway purposes. The weather in Paeroa so far this month lias been exceptionally wet, a total of 1.41 inches having been recorded. The heaviest rainfall was recorded on Saturday, when .64in was registered. The district can now very well do without further rain for a few weeks, as farmers state that although feed is plentiful and the rain has been refreshing, warm summer days are now required to harden up the pastures.

The luxuriant growth of blackberries in Taranaki lias met with a check which may in time lead to the total extinction of the weed (states the “News”). This new friend of the farmers is known ats the “rose scale,” which has affected blackberries in other parts of New Zealand, but it has made its presence felt to a very marked degree on farms in this locality. It is pleasing to know that the scale is on the increase, tor extensive areas of country which two years ago were infested with blackberry, growing vigorously to a height of several feet, are to-day fairly well clear of the weed, and what plante there are are very stunted and sickly-looking. Tliis change is attributed entirely to the action of the scale.

After being connected with the Pioneer Hotel, Hikutaia, for a long number of years the well-known proprietress, Mrs J. Corbett, whose name is a “household word” throughout the district has leased the premises to t Mr Kerr, who until recently was mine host of the Mercer Hotel. Waikato.

A motor mechanic who was being cross-examined in regard to a certain debt at the Magistrate’s Court (states the Wanganui “Chronicle”) stated that he did casual repairs at the rate of 2s an hour. Council asked how much the garage charged for repairs, and received a reply to the effect that they demanded 5s an hour for their wo:k. Counsel then wanted to know why the debtor did not charge more, and was informed that in the garage 6d of the amount charged went to the boss. He admitted that it was the practice of young mechanics in Nev; Zealand to launch out on their own account and do repairs outside of the .ga'-age.

Some school teachers, inspectors, and doctors have a great aversion to primary school pupils taking part in competitions, and one doctoi in the South Island the other day stated that competitions wei'e “fi curse to humanity.” Of course, parents who are willing to pay for their’ children to be taught something that they do not I'earn in primary schools hold different opinions to the southern doctor. One head teacher in Wanganui (states the “Herald”) informfed competitors at his school that they could all get leave to attend the competitions, but he expected them to 1 return to school as soon ats they had finished their particular part. He also wished these competitors “good luck.”

A serious accident, but one that might have been very much worse, occurred on the American type steam dipper dredge recently erected at Kerepeehi and now employed in the upper reaches of the Waihou River near Springdale. Owing to a fault in the casting the king-pin on which the enormous boom swings broke. Fortunately the boom was swung to one side when the mishap occurred, so the butt only moved a short distance till stopped by the heavy iron upiights that carry the spud arms. Had the boom been straight ahead of the pontoon the butt might have swept along the deck of the dredge, possibly killing the operators and wrecking the machinery. The dredge will be brought down the river to Kerepeehi for repair.

Some sheep in the Ida Valley district have gone “cogiy,” to us a shepherd’s expression (states the Dunedin “Star”). If moved to activity by a dog they stagger and fall; then, if left alone, they get, up and “run like mad” till they are again taken with the staggers. The heads of one ar two were split .to try to discover the cauise, and in each case it was found that a fly had deposited its eggs in the upper end ofi the nostril, causing extensive, inflammation. Whence comes this fly ? Nobody ' seems to know. The attention of the Stock Department is to be, or has been, call- - to the occurrence. The symptoms read like those that come from tutu, but the local people, who should know if there is tutu on the unploughed ridges, have a suspicion that irrigation may have something to do with the trouble, because it is noticed that the sheep so affected are on irrigated pastures.

Smoker’s heart is a distressing malady caused chiefly through the effects of an alkaloid called nicotine which is exeremely poisonous. Strong tobacco with a high percentage of nicotine should therefore be avoided. When selecting a brand, thia smoker should not be guided by the appearance alone, because even an apparently mild cigarette tobacco of a bright lemon colour may contain —and often does contain—an excess of nicotine. It is a peculiar fact that certain N.Z. soils produce a leaf with a very small percentage of nicotine, compared with the foreign type. Take, for instance, pur local brands, Riverhead Gold Cut Plug No. 10 and Toasted Navy Cut. There you have an absolutely pure article, which can be smoked continuously without the slightest after effects. It burns to the last shred, leaving the mouth sweet and clean. So highly is New Zealand tobacco commented upon by doctors and experts that smokers should acquaint themselves with the merits of our own product by giving the above brands a fair trial.*