LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1770, 29 December 1917, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A sharp shock of earthquake was experienced locally at 12.40 p.m. yesterday. The Rev, and Mrs Bredin are spending a fortnight’s holiday in Taranaki.

Mr ami Mrs P. Jackson arc spending, their holidays in Taranaki. . , The Minister, of Defence hJA received advice' tjuit: fhe first fart of the 31sf Contingent,.has > arrived at a port of call “all well” Mr L. Far tie, schoolmaster at Ohakune, is paying a brief visit to Foxton. Mr Furrie proceeds to Wellington next week to attend the teachers* conference.

Labour is very scarce in Lyttelton just, at present, the different shipping companies finding it a very hard task tu get (he required labour.

There were 13-1,02!) lunatics under control in England and Wales at the beginning of last year —a decrease of 3,150 on the figures of 10.1(1, and of 3,278 on those of 1015.

A steamer with Australian wheal purchased by the Government is due in Wellington this month. Another cargo of Australian wheat is expected to arrive in Lyttelton early in the New Year.

At the inquest on William Hall, the second victim of the L’uimnga tragedy, before MV Kiigonr, ActingCoroner, the jury found that deceased li 'd been’wilfully murdered by a person unknown.

The Governor-General has appointed Mr 11. W. Bishop, S.M., a commissioner to enquire into (he administration by the agent, of the Public Trust Office at Carterton of the estate of a Maori named Haugi Kerehoma.

Oiu* of tint interested spectators who participated in f he ceremony of opening (lit l new £21.,000 bridge across the Opawa river, near Blenheim, was Mrs [sane Gifford, mother of Mr Gifford, sen., of: Waitohi, Sanson. The old Indy, who evinced a keen interest in the proceedings, is over 00 years of age.

Since July there has been a noticeable slackening in the exports of merchandise from the United Slates, During the September quarter those exports were £200,--11.8,000, showing a reduction as compared with the third (piarler of 1010 of £30,440,000; whereas, during the'Juno quarter (hose exports were £337,000,000, showing an increase of £05,027,000.

A rather interesting experiment is being conducted by Mr R. Burgess, of Appleby, in connection with the growing of marrows (slates the Nelson Colonist). By sugar and water process and a capillary method of feed, a marrow put on six inches of growth in twenty-four hours. The facts are almost startling in operation.

• Dominion official lambing estimates for 1917 show an excess of over a million lambs compared with the lambing of 1915, and nearly one million compared with last year, the figures being as follow: —1917, lambs, 11,011,340; 1910, 10,733,579; 1915, 10,530,780. The estimated average percentage of lambing this xxuir is 87A per cent., compared with 83.} per cent, for 1910, and S3i per cent, for 1915. The returns are taken from the Now Zealand Journal of Agriculture.

Referring to the shortage of houses to let in Whangarei, a landlord who has a considerable number of houses occupied in various parts of the town, stated that be laid a couple of vacant sections upon which he had contemplated building,’hut upon going into the matter he found (hat, allowing for a re-

turn of 10 per cent., he could not provide a comfortable dwelling for less than 25s a week, “and pint, I know,” lie said, “is too much for any working man to pay.” Apart from the cost of material and labour, be considers land values are too high to encourage progress.