Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1921. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2315, 13 August 1921, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1921. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the Levin sales on Wednesday a grazier received 22s (id per head for a line of cattle which would have brought £fyor £(» a year ago.

The soldier settlers at Ahinruhu (Wairarapa) have disposed of their season’s output of cheese at lLld' per lb. This is equivalent to tt fraction over 2s 5d 'per lb. of butter fat.

The meeting in the Salvation Army Hall to-morrow will be conducted by Brigadier J. J. Toomer (Divisional Commander). The Brigadier is an able speaker, and will in all probability lie accompanied bv Mrs Toomer.

Minister: “The most wonderful organ 1 ever saw was the property of a private gentleman. It had nearly a hundred slops..' Sexton: “lim! The most remarkable organ I ever 'eard is my old woman’s tongue. It ain’t'got no stops at all.”

Foxton was well represented in (lie space set aside for the public at the Palmerston Supreme Court yesterday. Most of those present were witnesses to the Whibley-Coley slander action, which did not commence until late in the afternoon.

A woman approached a policeman outside the Supreme Council meeting-place at Paris this week, and said: “Lend me a revolver; I want to shoot Lloyd George.” The woman, who is described as Irish, was detained, and her mental condition is now being investigated. A Palmerston North resident, who has just returned from a visit to Australia, states that the economic conditions in Sydney are very bad at the present time. They are much worse than in New Zealand. He found things brighter in Melbourne than in Sydney, although there is much unemployment in the former city.

When the Whibley-C'oley slander action was called on at the Supreme Court yesterday, there were not sufficient jurymen on the waiting list to complete a panel, as two juries were considering verdicts in previous cases, and it was decided to wait until one of the juries had brought in its verdict. On this being done, the required number of jurymen were selected from this number. and' the case proceeded.

An col was recently discovered in l a water-pipe attached to a house on the Terrace, Wellington. The pipe runs from a sink to the ground, and the owner of the premises is mystified as to how it got th,ei’e. There was a pathetic incident at the war trophies exhibition in Masterton last week, when a well-known local resident discovered a photo of his only son, "who died of wounds in France.

The bo k plan of the seats at the grandstand on the Palmerston Showgrounds in connection with the Springboks match opened on Wednesday morning, and before noon 300 seats had been booked. At noon on Thursday the bookings numbered 500.

The Egyptian darkness which prevails in the borough of Marton drew forth an admission from a

councillor that he could not find his way home one night, and had to walk backwards to find the path. There are 72 street lamps in the town, but, as a rule, only half of these are in commission.—Advocate.

“Showing the Green Light!”—A certain Wairnrapa railway guard the other night, while sleeping in a .chair by the fire, surprised his wife and family by suddenly jumping up, seizing the cat which was asleep on the rug, bundling her into the oven, banging the door, and then shouting “Right away! Stand clear there, please!”

A cablegram from Sydney states that the military funeral of Matron Creal, who had been matron of the Sydney Hospital for shine, years, was one of the most impressive witnessed in Sydney. She performed war work in Egypt, and was one of those who had the Royal Red Cross distinction conferred on her by the King. Amongst the recent appointments of Justices of tlicxPeace are the following residents of the Manawatu, Wairnrapa and Fcilding districts: — Messrs J. C. Cooper, Maslerton; David Collis, Ivairanga; R. W. Brown, Waiata, Oroua; G. J. Harford, Feiiding; A. Lancaster, Kai••.inga; and W. H. MacKinnon, Pal merston North.

It was related at a sitting of the Native Land Court at Carterton tlml the Haniua tribe secured the Wairnrapa Lake by exchanging six canoes for it with the then owner, Enngi Tami. The Government in exchange for the lake give the interested natives a block of 30,000 acres in the King Country, known as Pouakai.

Sister Mclntosh, who was formerly on the staff of the Greytown Hospital, and was acting-matron during (lie illness and after the death of ‘Matron Lindsay, has died at Invercargill, after an operation. Sister Mclntosh resigned from Greytown some time ago in view of her approaching marriage, and went down to her home in Southland.

“How's business, old'mail?” asked the inquisitive one, at one of Wanganui's* leading emporiums. “Rotten,” came the prompt reply. “But you have three customers in your shop.” persisted the curious one. “Yes, we have, lmt they only ask the price of goods and walk out. Watch that young man serving that lady; if you see him suddenly ily to the lady's side, embrace and kiss her, you will know she has bought something.”—Chronicle. A further decline in the cost of living is recorded in the Infest issue of statistics by the Government Statistician, the Dominion weighted average being (iS.fil per cent, over prices in July, 1914. The decline was equal to 19 points. The increase. in the cost of living in Wanganui over pre-war prices is now set down at 59.51 per cent. There has been an increase in the purchasing power of a sovereign. At the end of last year its worth was set down at 11s 3d, but at the end of the half-year this had increased to llsllld. The Mercantile Gazette of this week says: “The tendency will be for business in the savings bank to shrink, because, with I lie prevailing unemployment, those with savings must draw upon them to, keep going. Furthermore, there is a tendency on the part of these with.small savings to --eek investment in the debentures that are now being offered by various concerns. Then again, there is not the same volume of wages being paid now, consequently the volume of savings cannot lie as large. Oil Wednesday evening a sevenroomed house, owned and occupied by Mr Arthur Beckman, of Kcngotca, was totally destroyed by tire. The family were milking at the time, and. on hearing a noise proceeding from the house about 7 pun., rushed out to find the building in flames. A bucket brigade was immediately organised, but despite its efforts, practically nothing was saved. The house was insured for £4OO, but the furniture and effects were not covered. Mr Beckman is a heavy loser, as he values the house at £750. and the furniture at about £2OO. Another fish story, this time vouched for by a police constable, has been added to the already long list. A letter received from Constable A. McLeod by the council of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society stated that workmen employed on the Tauherenikau bridge in July noticed a dead trout in the stream. They retrieved it, and in an endeavour to find out what had caused its death, cut it open. Inside were found five threepenny pieces and a sixpence. “It is no doubt strange,” added the constable, “how the money got into the fish, but to me it is stranger that the men still have the coins, considering they were working a few yards from the hotel.”

It has -been noticed (says the Dannevirke Nows) by observers that New Zealand weather often imitates in its season that of the Old Country. That being so, some farmers are taking precautions for a drought during the coming summer. “The amount of imported confectionery in New Zealand now is beyond all reason. Last year £547,000 worth of confectionery was imported.” said a confectionery manufacturer, while giving evidence at "the Christchurch Arbitration Court. “That is almost as high as our beer bill,” remarked the President of the Court, Mr Justice Frazer. Mr T. W. Downes, of the Wanganui River, related to a reporter an incident which demonstrated once more the wonderful second sight of the Maori. Mr Downes was in Taumarunui recently—when a boy who had been sick, died. The father of the child asked Mr Downes to give the news to an uncle in a pah 30 miles down river. Mr Downes said he would, and he reached the pali in the afternoon. When lie conveyed the information to the uncle, the latter said: “I know.” “How did you hear?” asked Mr Downes. The Maori replied that he and another had seen the boy sitting outside the whare at about 4 o’clock that morning. That was the time the child r diecl. Mr Downes said that such manifestations were common amongst the Maoris.

Unusual circumstances were involved in a case before the Divorce Court at Wellington this week, in which Alice Margery Butterworth petitioned for a. dissolution of her marriage with Edwin Patrick Butterworth, the parties having, been separated by mutual consent for a period of over three years, in terms of section 4 of the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1920. Petitioner said that she was married to respondent at Palmerston "North on December 4th, 1914. By mutual arrangement made prior to the wedding, they had never lived together. They had parted at the registry office, and petitioner had never seen or heard of 'er husband since. Petitioner had met respondent at Shannon some ihreo months before the marriage took place. His Honour said that there was no evidence that respondent had a domicile in New Zealand in April, 1921, the date of the filing of the petition, without which the Court had no jurisdiction. The case was accordingly adjourned to enable the necessary proof to be obtained.

A family which has earned some notoriety in the Auckland district has just been broken up by six members being committed to the Auckland Receiving Home. In the family there were fourteen, all illegitimate. The father had been resident in New Zealand for thirty years, and the mother caiuc here from Australia thirty-seven years ago. She was a quarter Australian aboriginal, a quarter Irish, and half Maori. Her father’s record was not stainless. None of the children could read or write, and only two had attended school. The six committed to the home range in ages from two io twelve. Two of the members not committed were recently in gaol. The whole family had been-living in the ti-tree near the Wairoa River, and gaining a livelihood by a campaign of thefts from goods lying at the nearby wharf. The plunder collected included goods of all kinds, from silk blouses and other clothing, to a bicycle, petrol, a ship's lights, and a launch anchor. An official report yn the case shows that members of the family have not paid anything for goods for years, but have cheerfully followed a career of piracy oh the Waiioa River.