LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1514, 24 February 1916, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At a conference held at Masterton this week, between dairy factory owners and representatives of the employees of dairy factories, an agreement was come to which is binding for two years in the Wellington industrial district, relative to wages, holidays and accommodation.

The trial by court-martial of a Maori charged with desertion from the torces, while under orders to embark for active service, took place at Auckland on Tuesday. Accused was a member of the Third Native Reinforcements. He was found guilty, and sentence was deferred. One of Cornwall’s oldest inhabitants, Mrs Harriet Eden, is proud of her offspring. She has one son, 16 grandsons, twagreat grandsons, three sons-in-law and six grand sons-in-law serving witn the colours. The grandmother who can beat that record will take some finding. Mr John M’Keown, one of the original Pakaru settlers, died at his residence, Kawakawa, recently, at the age of 80 years. He arrived in the sailing ship Dauntless 51 years ago, and went to the Bay of Islands, taking up land at Pakaru. When the Thames gold rush broke out he joined it, but was unsuccessful, and he returned to the Bay of Islands. He has resided at Kawakawa for about ten years. The Minister of Defence is considering whether it will not be necessary to establish a special military hospital in each island, to which refractory convalescent soldiers, who required stricter management than was possible at hospitals or other institutions under civil control, could be sent. Such hospitals would be under strict military control, and only those men would be sent to them who would not submit to the discipline of the hospitals and camps controlled by the Public Health Department. At a conference held at Palmerston North between representatives of the Foxton Harbour Board and Messrs Weston and Luckie, solicitors, arrangements were made for the taking of evidence in connection with the forthcoming Royal Commission. As a result, Mr J. A. Nash has undertaken to arrange with the President of the Palmerston N. Chamber of Commerce to collect the evidence of a number of leading citizens. A telegram was received stating that the sitting of the Commission has been postponed for six weeks to fit in with the arrangements of the President, Sir Robert Stout, Chief Justice. The Wellington road railway crossing at Marten, where two fatal accidents have already occurred, was the scene of a most miraculous escape from a fatal collisou on Tuesday evening. As the 5.30 p.m. train was on its way to Wanganui a motor car driven by a Palmerston resident, and containing three ladies and another gentleman, approached the crossing without noticing the train. The car was almost on the Hue when the train passed the crossing, and with great presence of mind the driver turned the car almost parallel with the train, with the result that the front wheel of the car nearest the train was completely wrenched off by contact with the train, and the axle was also damaged. The occupants of the car escaped injury.

Parties have been out “blackberrying” in different localities nearby during the past few weeks, and have gathered large quantities of this luscious fruit, which, when converted into jam, possesses medicinal properties beneficial to children. The blackberry is a noxious weed and spreads rapidly, and ' property-owners keep the growth in check, but young plants make their appearance each year from seeds dropped by birds. The blackberries in this locality are a different variety to the bramble growth which is such a nuisance in Wanganui and Taranaki, and the berries here are from some good cultivated strain. Now that the crops are harvested the birds are turning their attention to the blackberries, and they enter into active competition with the human family in this connection.

buy wholesale from LAIDLAW LEEDS’ CATOLOG. IT’S FREE. Household supplies! You cannot do better than make up your mind to ,use only the best groceries, in other words deal from Walker and Furrie who promise you genuine quality and good service at the lowest prices. J. M. price for flour should appeal to you—2s's, 3/9 ; 50’s 7/3 5 100’s, 14/-.*

A lost whip is advertised for. Several alleged breaches of the Licensing Act are to be heard at the Magistrate’s Court to-morrow. The monthly sitting of the Magistrate’s Court will be held locally before Mr J. W. Poynton S.M. to-morrow.

The Queen of the South sailed at midday yesterday for Wellington with a cargo of hemp. She is due back again to-morrow with general. The patriotic shop will be opened as usual on Saturday under the charge of Mesdames Kellow and Kerr-Hislop, who will gratefully acknowledge gifts of any description. , The Wanganui Education Board has decided upon the following holidays for schools under its jurisdiction during, the current year : Easter week, week in July, week in October, six weeks at Christmas.

Miss Edith L. Hare has been appointed to the position of acting sth assistant teacher on the staff of the local State school, and will take up her duties on March Ist. The position will be a temporary one during the absence of Mr Burgess.

The question of the “nationality” of a racehorse created some diversion when a divorce case was being heard in Wellington, During a cross examination, Mr Justice Chapman asked: “What is the name of the trotter?” Mr Wil'ford : “Franz Hanlon.” His Honour; “It is difficult to .know whether that comes from Tipperary or was made in Germany. (Laughter).

The sneak thief has found a new scope for his activities in Christchurch. Owing to the war, lead has become very valuable, with the result that several householders in the Southern city have discovered within the last day or two that the lead-piping in their outhouses has been • cut out and taken away by some dishonest individual. , Mr A. A. Brown’s fiaxmill at Paetawa (Waikanae), recently destroyed by fire, is already being re-erected,.and it is hoped to have the mill in full swing again in quick time. The damage to the plant has not proved quite so disastrous as feared at first, and it is hoped that the engine—a powerful, up-to-date, expensive one — will, with a thorough overhaul, be little the worse for being through the flames.—Otaki Mail. Among those present at the social tendered by All Saints’ Church to Miss Jenks last night were Mr and Mrs A. 3. Easton. In Mr and Mrs Easton, All Saints’ have two devoted members, who have been associated with the church practically from its inception, and whose enthusiasm in its welfare has never waned. Their devotion and service stands as a noble example to all concerned..

To night, at 8 o’clock, Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., will deliver a lecture on “Light,” in the State school, which the public are cordially invited to attend. It is seldom an opportunity is afforded the local public to hear such au interesting scientific lecture by such a well-informed student, and it is hoped there will be a large attendance. To morrow Mr Poynton will address the elder scholars on the “Geology of New Zealand.”

A father at Porewa, between Hunterville and Marton, gave two youths 50 acres of land to crop with potatoes this season. They got to work, planting, moulding and digging the whole of the crop, with the aid of machinery, and they have now sold the crop at ,£7 P er ton. -A- 3 crop yielding the enormous average of 15 tons to the acre, these youths will gross about on the season’s operations, and they did all the work themselves, except the employment of three men in picking at 8d per bag. A proper!y which has been improved almost beyond recognition is that purchased about two years ago by Messrs John and Richard Spdts. near the Whirokiuo bridge. Previous to '.heir occupation this rich river fiat was overgrown with rank giant fescue and hummocks. It has been drained, ploughed and levelled, and other improvements effected, which has converted it into splendid grazing and cropping laud. The improvements they have carried out are very noticeable, and they are now reaping the reward of their industry. Laud in the locality is still subject to river overflow in flood lime, but with stop banks and drainage the water is now under better control.

The National Service League, Mastertou, have just issued a neat badge with the words, “Fighting Men First.” The words are the motto of the League, taken from the incident when the Marquette was sinking : the nurses stood back crying, “fighting men first!” The wearing of these badges signifies that the wearer has promised the following for four years: (i) To give preference to returned soldiers in work or business ; (2) preference for the goods of the British Empire; (3) not to pay for liquor at a public bar for a returned soldier. The membership fee of the League is, we understand, one shilling yearly.

Quality i$ the keynote ot our grocery and provision stock and the importance of quality cannot be overlooked where the household food is concerned. You won’t ge a better grocery service anywhere in the district than at Walker and Furrie’s, Foxton,

Rowlett and White’s famous English white shoes are now fn stock at R. T. Betty’s. The best selection yet offered locally.*

One of the biggest property deals recorded during recent years is the purchase by Messrs Ruddenklau Bros., of Oamaru, of Mr James Bell’s magnificent Waipunga station, situated in Hawke’s Bay, eleven miles from Napier. The station comprises 7,000 acres of freehold, and is stocked with 10,000 sheep and 600 head of cattle, and is splendid pasture land. The estate was purchased as a going concern, and the price is in the vicinity of ,£IOO,OOO. The Grey River Argus states that a Westport resident, now in England, mentions in a letter to a relative that an ex.-resident of that town, a young soldier, invalided to England, while boating on the Thames, was casually taken in hand by some English people who were interested in New Zealanders, and the sequel to the affair is the marriage of the Westport soldier to a lady, heiress to something in the vicinity of half a million sterling.

“The majority of people who go into gaol have no trades,” said Mr Justice Cooper in Auckland. “It has been my experience that if they have trades, they generally keep out of prison.” Referring to a youth of 18 years who was brought up for sentence on a charge of receiving stolen property, the Judge said that it was greatly to be regretted that his father, who took him away from the biscuit-making trade in order that he should have higher wages in another vocation, should not have allowed him to learn a trade of some kind.

Some people, said the secretary of the Recruiting Board at Wellington on Tuesday, are under the impression that the 30,000 odd men who stated in their National Registration forms that they were unwilling to serve are all single men, and even some newspapers are basing their arguments, in favour of compulsion and their criticism of the board’s scheme on this fact. The real position is that 34,000 men said they were not willing to serve, but this number included married men and widowers and single men with dependants. There are 4995 single men with dependants and 8390 single men without dependants, or a - total of 13,385 single men with and without dependants, included in the 34,000. The correspondent of a Christchurch paper writes: “In regard to the recruiting question, I think the record of -Little Akaroa, Banks’ Peninsula, is hard to beat, and sets ,an example to other country districts, and at the same time disposes of the oft-made statement that the farmers are not taking their full share of the burden. There are only two eligible single men left in the bay that have not answered to the call to arms. They find it impossible to leave their farms at present, but intend to enlist as soon as possible. I think this must constitute a record for a single district.”

An agitation is afoot in Wellington to bring about the closing of all club and hotel bars at 6 p.m. during the currency of the war. This step, it is stated, has been taken in the interests of the large bodies of troops coming into the city on leave. The Wellington Post says that at a meeting to be held to-morrow further details will be presented, and an opportunity will be taken to put the whole scheme before the public as soon as possible. Since the establishment of the military camp near Featherston the hotelkeepers of that town agreed to the request of the military authorities not to sell liquor alter 6 p.m. for consumption off the premises, and this scheme seems to have served the end in view. It is hoped to interest all classes of the community in the six o’clock closing movement in order that it may be given a trial in New Zealand.

The Rarawa’s passengers on Monday afternoon, prior to leaving the Onehunga wharf, were afforded quite a sensation (says the Taranaki Daily New*). About ten minutes before the time of sailing, a smart motor car drove rapidly up to the gangway, and contained two well-dressed couples. Just as they were about going aboard, a youug man (who was subsequently recognised as a wellknown Auckland chemist) stepped forward and dealt three or four sharp blows on the face of one of the men who had arrived by the car, while with the other hand he made the air whistle with a small whip that he carried. Blood spurted freely from the nose of the man who was struck, bespattering him and the lady with him. The quartet made a hasty retreat on board, followed by the assailant, who at once interviewed the captain, with the result that, alter a short interview below deck, the lady who was the chief figure in the episode, hurriedly left the steamer, taking reluge in an office near at hand. The cause of the trouble proved to be an attempted elopement, which the irate husband nipped in the bud chastising the gay Lothario and bringing the erring wife to book. When the steamer eventually started on her journey the irate husband was moving rapidly away, still shaking his fist at someone on board. There was still the interview -with the wife to follow !

Goods of unquestionable quality, backed up by sound value and prompt delivery, that’s what we give every housewife who buys here you Practise true economy by dealing at Walker and Furrie’s. Foxton. When you buy your groceries at Walker and Furrie’s, you may rest assured that you have received thp best. That’s the only kind this store sells, and prices in every instance are cut to a fine point. J