THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5222, 4 January 1928, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The local shopkeepers report that despite the record' sales -experienced during the week up to and includipg Christmas Eve, very satisfactory business was transacted during the last three and a half days in 1927. Friday was observed as the late shopping night, as usual, when there was a fair crowd of people in town. Busi; ness- was brisk during the day, .a,nd increased at night, but could not, of course, be compared with the Christmas Eve. rush.

The fallowing vital statistics for the Borough of Paeroa fjor the year ended December, 1927, have been supplied by the local registrar (Mr Pr Jaspers) : During the year therm was an imcrease of four marriages., wnile the deaths showed a decrease of e r ight, and births a decrease of eighteen. In December’ there were eight births, three deaths, and three marriages. The following are the total figures, with those for .1926 in parentheses : Births, 80 (98) ; deiaths, 14 (22) marriages,, 19 .(15). Of the marriages no less than three were conducted by the. registrar.

The filling of the dam and the creation of a new course from the spill-way for thej Waikato River at the Arapuni hydro-electricity works is making itself felt in this district through the irregularity of the supply of electricity. Since Sunday night there, have been frequent interruptions, probably the most noticeable being last night, when the light failed for nearly half an hour. The trouble is beyond the control of the Thames Valley Power Board. It was, learned this morning that consequent to the operat’ons at Arapuni a considerable amount of debris is collecting and blocking the grids at the; headrace leading to the turbihes at Horahora. As soon as a blockage; occurs the volume of power is lessened or is cut off altogether'. It is understood that the interruptions are, unavoidable.

Several people; expressed themselves in no uncertain manner when it became known that the local retailers were closing shortly after mid-day on Saturday last. One settler had come a considerable distance;, and was keenly disappointed to find that he and his family had only about half an hour in which tp do a conshlerable amount of shopping. Another irate settler said it appeared to him that the Paeroa retailers did not want the farmers’ business. While not begrudging a halfi-holiday, his contention was that the holidays, and days and hours should have been advertised in the “Gazette” for the benefit of the farmers. He did not expect a concession over a resident of the town, but considered that he had an equal right with the town residents to know just Vhat was doing.

While working op ,a wireless mast at his home last evening Mr J. A.

Bews, of 26 Old Mill. Road, Grey Lynn, slipped and fell about 25ft. He escaped serious injury, sustaining only a frecture off the left collarbone.

Mr and Mrs J. P. Findlay and family, Paeroa, leave to-day on a three weeks’ motoring tour of Whangarei and the Far North. During Mr Findlay’s absence his duties, will be attended to by Mr H. R. Denzics, of Thames.

After being closed since 1 p.m. on Saturday last the local retailers opened their this morning. The many sunburned assistants noticed, behind the counters bear witness to a holiday spent out of doors in glorious summer weather. With a long year o£ work ahead of of him the shop boy, at least, found it hard to settle down to work this morning.

Shortly after eight o’clock last night a south-easterly wind arose, and quickly increasing in strength, by 9 o’clock it had reached almost hurricane force, such conditions lasting for .about an hour. At the Puke the full, force w/as felt, and quite large branches of willow trees were blown a considerable distance, while hay was s,wept ip all directions..

Included in the acts committed by some of the young men of the town to commemorate the; advent of 1928 was the taking of a sulky from Mr W. J. Ellis’ blacksmith’s shop and dragging it down to opposite the Ohinemuri County Council Chambers in Belmont Road, where it was placed across The vehicle was remove d by the police on Sunday morning.

Tlie recent announcement that the Government intends to subsidise the export of pork is likely to result in a considerable impetus to pig-raising in North Otago. There is not at present a sufficient supply of pork in the South Island to meet local requirements, and if North Island pork is exported it is probable that prices in the Sputh will firm considerably. The class pif pig that is bred in the South Island is not, in the opinion of experts, suitable for the export trade.

While fishing for schnapper off the beach at Turakina recently a young woman, who was holding the line in reiadipess for a gentle bite, was surprised on feeling a vicious tug ,at the line. Having just landed a big fish, she thought that this was a. bigger one, but she had to summon help. The “monster” was gradually brought to the water’s edge, when it was discovered that it w'as a big stingray, a fi«h not often found on that part of the coast. The lucky flsfierwoman is carefully preserving the long sting, which will polish beautifully. 1

“I hope to live to see, the day when all legal business will be transacted by the State,” said, the Mayor o± Wanganui, Mr ,W. J.' Rogeirs at a meeting of the Wanganui City Council, when the work of the Ptibl c Trust Office came'in for brief comment. The subject was introduced by Mr John Morrison, who eulogised the work of the office. Mr H. Horsley, a solicitor, described the Mayor’s statement concerning a State -monopoly as being so ridiculous that he., refused to “rise to the bait.” “And may I say that there was no bait intended,” retorted the ‘Mayor.. . -

When making the turn from Hill Street into Puke Road yesterday ■morning the N.Z. Co-operative D.airy Co.’s electric lorry, driven by Mr D. McKeq, struck ,a fully-laden AucklandWaihi passenger service car. The Hill Street intersection is not easily discernible to a driver coining from the Puke, and yesterday the service car was almost on to the lorry before it was noticed. With considerable presence of mind the car driver stqered over to his right just as the lorry was making the turn. Thefailed to quite clear each other, and .the forepart of the, lorry struck the rejar portion of tlie service c.ar and shattered the glass window. Although liberally bespattered >vith glass, the passengers were'not injured in any way. ,

That tlie existing luncheon and aftenoon tea rooms in P.aerpa are totally inadequate, especially at holiday . time, has more than once been commented upon by strangers, to the town. An incident occurred on Saturday .aternoon last, when two carloads of adults, representing one party, pulled up in the main street and asked to>be directed to refreshment rooms. This wias done and off the party went. A few minutes later they were seen standing disconsolately on the footpath because the tearooms to which they had been directed had “sold out.” The local resident then pointed out another set of rooms’ and the party made off with renewed enthusiasm, only to find that those, “tea and luncheon” rooms said ice cream or sundaes only. Naturally the tourists made many unkind and uncomplimentary references about Paeroa as they drove off to try their luck at an adjacent town.

Tobacco consumption varies very much with the smoker. Some men are content with ,ap ounce a week while others will consume an ounce a day. Literary men, painters, musicians; chess players; scientists; ■mathematicians and brain workers generally are mostly heavy smokers. Well; even iheavy smoking is all right so long as the tobacco is of the best and not full of nicotine. That’s the worst of the imported brands ; they contain so much nicotine that they .are bound to cause trouble sooner or later. They are liable to affect the heart; nerves or digestion. The purest tobaccos in the world anti the freest from nicotine are our own New Zea-’ land grown varieties which you can smoke for hours at, a time without fear of consequences. Cool; sweet and fragrant; these delicious tobaccos are largely indebted for their fine smoking qualities to the fact that the leaf is toasted in the process of manufacture —quite a new idea. Any tobacconist will supply them. Ask for ‘“Riverhead Gold” mild; “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium; or “ Cut, Plug No. 1.0 ” (Bullshead) full strength.*