Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3593, 1 February 1927, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

T!ii> Rev. W. 11. Wall on ha?': presented lo tlie local District High School museum, a stalactite,'which he found hroken off on the floor of a limestone cave, on private properly, while on a recent visit to Te lvuili.

Yesterday saw (lie Dominion croquet championship tournament concluded on the Manawatu .green, when Mrs Titt’en, of Napier, defeated Mrs. Gambrill, of Northern Club (Palmerston North) in the final for the Indies’ championship singles.

The Palmerston Borough Council decided, i last night, to act in conjunction with other interested bodies, in protesting against the (hiding of the commission which investigated the Manawatu-Oroua River Board scheme.

According- to a Wanganui telegram i) follower of the Katana movement reports that Rat ana' lias now definitely decided to resign from the presidency of the church, which he accepted in the first place againts'his own wish, and partly against his own judgment.

At the Palmerston. S.M. Court yesterday Charles David Emerson, was lined .£lO and £4 11s costs and his driver’s license cancelled for six months on a charge of being drunk while at the wheel of • his motor car. The defence was that the steering gear went wrong.

The. recent disastrous gale which visited England, was followed by heavy snowstorms in the north of England and in Scotland, and widespread floods particularly in Birmingham and Oxford . Many houses in Bath were flooded and tramways were interrupted.

. The death of a lady passenger, Mrs. E. Wheeler of Auckland, occurred during the voyage of the Niagara from Vancouver to Auckland. Mrs Wheeler who was returning home after a world tour was in poor health when she joined the steamer and died four days out from Vancouver.

Can you tell me what we are going to do with all our hoys as they leave school, said a business man to a Wanganui newspaper representative. The latter admitted that, he could not answer the question. •‘Well, I will tell you,” said the business man. “Owing to the ridiculous limitation of apprentices the majority of our .boys will become labourers to tradesmen being brought from overseas. The indicator is pointing very strongly in that direction at present!”

Owing to lack of public swimming baths a number of people indulge in a dip in the river at the end of the wharf, where the river has formed a basin. On the outer edge of the basin there is a strong and dangerous current at low tide into deep water. People using this spot arc warned not to be too venturesome. A number of children patronise the concrete storage tanks at, the Wliakapai mill into which artesian water flows. The construction of public baths while not preventing public baths while not preventing some people from going to the river to "bathe will minimise drowning risks. .;-jj

Just before noon yesterday the thermometer registered 84 in the shade. On Sunday the temperature was about the same. As a result of the heat vegetation is wilted and precautions arc being taken to prevent grass tires. To-day the weather is overcast and light rain has fallen, cooling the atmosphere.

The rear of the Masonic Hall on Saturday afternoon was a scene of activity, when several of the brethren held a “working bee” and, assisted by a powerful motor lorry removed noxious plants and stumps. The object of the work is to clear and .level the back portion of the section for the parking of cars.

No matter how eloquent the minister, congregations become restive and inattentive if the service is prolonged beyond the hour. At Sunday evening’s service at the local Presbyterian Church, Mr Nicholas said, “I think I will be considering your feelings if I shorten my address owing to the heat.” The congregation appreciated the minister’s action.

William C'awood, 27 years of age, and George Turley, 19 years of age, labourers, residing at Apiti, were proceeding on a motor-cycle to a bathing pool yesterday when they collided with a motor-lorry. Cawood suffered injuries to a leg, while Turley sustained a fractured leg. Both men were admitted to Palmerston Hospital,

Mr. anil Mrs. John Bett, of Palmerston North, who recently returned from an extended visit to Great Britain and the Continent, have taken up their temporary residence at the local seaside. Mr. Bett has been interester in the local seaside resort for about 25 years, arid was one oft the first to build a residence, there, and still takes an interest in the development of the seaside resort.

Two lady' friends were discussing family affairs. “And what’s your eldest son doing?” one of them asked. “Oh,” replied the 'other, “he’s joined some religious society and is going about the countiy predicting the end of the world.” “But how interesting!” said her friend, “he must be quite a prophet.” “Well, no,” replied the mother, “so far as the family is concerned, lie’s a dead loss.”

The catching (ire of a motor car on the Himntnngi Road, a little past the Motuiti railway station, was responsible for holding up,' the traffic for a short while? on Sunday afternoon. The car was locally owned, belonging, to Mr. Leakey. The fire started in the engine and quickly spread, sending up a dense cloud of smoke. Passing motorists assisted Mr. Leakey to extinguish the outbreak by throwing dust on the burning machine, hut it was not. before considerable damage was done that the llamas were got under control. The car was later removed to Poxton. During the mishap about 20 t ars, were held up on the road-side.

Recently a resident of Mount Eden installed a raido set at his home. Though he is dissatisfied witli the standard of entertainment broadcasted from • Australia station, he says lie has received his money’s worth in the salvation of a much-prized peach tree. The .tree was badly afflicted with leave curl, but, after the installation of a, copper wire aerial right overhead, the tree began to improve immensely, and it is now quite itself again. The gentleman referred to and dissented most emphatically from the ■suggestion that perhaps the tree has benefited from the IYA programmes, pinning his faith in l the efficacy of copper as a ctare for the parasitical diseases of plants.

The funeral of Joseph Mounsey, the six-year-old victim of Saturday’s drowning fatality at the wharf, took place on Sunday. Ensign Sansonq of the local Salvation Army, conducted the service at the home of deceased’s parents and at the grayeside. Scholars of the Salvation Army Sunday School, of which deceased was a member, acted as pall-bearers and formed a guard of honour at the house and graveside. At the close of the ceremony at the graveside, the children dropped bunches of yellow, blue and red flowers, representing the Army colours, on the casket. A large number of floral tributes forwarded, bore silent testimony of sympathy with the bereaved parents.

“He’s a gool ’usband, Sir, mostly, but e’s like a bear with a sore ’ead when ’e don’t get ’is pipe, and it don’t always run to it,” a poorlydressed woman told the magistrate at an East End of London Police Court when giving evidence against her husband for assault. The magistrate s-miled sympathetically. He evidently knew from personal experience the soothing and tranquilising effects of the weed. But there are tobaccos and tobaccos. Some brands are just rank with nicotine and cannot be indulged in constantly with impunity. About the safest tobaccos on the market are those grown and manufactured in New Zealand. ’ They are all toasted and contain so little nicotine that there is no fear of developing “Smoker’s Heart,” this distressing malady or nerve trouble. These tobaccos appeal to all smokers, and the more you smoke them the better you like them. That’s why they are meeting with such a large sale. Ask any tobacconist for “Riverhead Gold,” mild; “Navy Cut” (Bulldog), medium; or “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullshead), full.strength. Cavcrsham Mixture is the latest addition. '

At a sale at Carterton last Frilay, a set of gig harness was sold for 20s and the gig for 40s. Rain fell locally on eight days last month, fa total of 1.2 inches falling. The maximum fall occurred on the 13th, when .42 in,eh\vns registered.

John 0. Piggot, a young farm labourer was drowned in the Hurunui River (Canterbury), yesterday while bathing. He slipped into a deep hole. At the Wellington S.M. Court yesterday, George William Wood, who occupies a butcher’s shop and George Frederick Leney, a tobaccnist, were each fined £SO for keeping gaming houses and bookmaking. The Borough Council it at present having a sewer laid in Whyte Street. The horqugh road staff is also engaged in preparing a footpath from the corner of Main Street to connect with the existing path in Whyte Street. Officers and men of the 19th Battery, Wellington, fo the number of 130 arrived by special train at 12.50 this afternoon, and disembarked at the railway station and marched to the racecourse, where they will undergo a special course of instruction for a week. Local housewives who depend largely upon the household tank water for domestic use, appreciate the present downpour of rain to replenish the tanks, as supplies Avere running ’short. There is, however, a plentiful supply of artesian water. The excursionists Avill number 450 scholars arid 200 adults.

When the last race train Avas moving off on the evening of the second day’s race meeting, opposite the local race course, an elderly woman, wearing glasses, attempted to,get aboard and missed her footing and hung in a precarious position. Mr. Fergie, who Avas in charge of the train arrangements, ran to her and lifted her aboard. Had she fallen it is possible she would have gone beneath the carriages with tragic results. Mr. Fergie’s promptness Avas' highly commendable.

The vital statistics for Foxton for the month of January are as follows, the figures for the corresponding perid last year being given in parenthesis: —Births .4 (4), deaths 5 (2), marriages nil (nil).. One Maori death Avas also recorded. The vital statistics for the year 1926 Avere as follows, those for 1925 being given in parenthesis:—Bii’ths 72 (79), deaths 21 (21), marriages 6 (13) ; marriage hv Registrar 1 (1). Maori: —Births 5 (6), deaths 3 (nil).

A trial run of the sleeping car for the .use. of the Duke and Duchess of York through the North Island Avas made on Thursday. Built at Pet one railway workshops, the car contains several new features, and is an improvement on the “de luxe" sleeping car designed by Mr G. S. Lynde, the Railways Chief Mechanical Engineer. It is slightly wider, all steel framed, and hears the Rpynl Coat of Arms. There are nine two-berth cabins, each fitted with an electric fan. The car is painted the new railway colour, Midland red.

If is reported' that recently a well-known family in the South Canterbury district discovered a treasure iff an old picture which had hung, by the courtesy of family tradition, on the wall, for years. The paint was blurred, and no particular sceiiff ' was depicted: At the time of the last spring cleaning, lhe picture, too, underwent a process of renovation, and from beneath the blur emerged the form of a girl, evidently a; work of the old masters. The picture was forthwith despatched to London, and was declared a genuine Rembrant. It Sold for £3,400.

“Is there any objection to a farmer using the service pole's crossing his property as fence posts?” queried a member at Friday’s meeting of the Te Awamutu Electric Power Board (says the Independent). The reply was promptly forthcoming that there is a decided objection, and the authorities severely discountenanced such a practice. Mr. McArthur, the secretarymanager, said that damage to lines frequently occurred through this practice, and went on to quote almost similar happenings owing to cattle and horses rubbing themselves against the poles, causing them to fall. In the Thames Valley Board’s area a few weeks ago several valuable cows were killed through a line breaking as a result of cattle rubbing against poles. “Py corry Mr. Reporter, I tell you something now,” said Honi as he greeted the newspaper man this morning. “You know,” said Honi in a confidential tone, “I go to Ratana te other day to see te temple open. Py corry te .very hot day and te tongue of te poor Maori stick to te roof of him mouth. I look up young Henare who have te motor car and say: ‘Henare you drive me to Wanganui and I fill you up with te waipiro.’ Henare him say: ‘That te good idea, hut what .about bringing some back. Te fellow at te gate he won’t let me come in.’ I say: ‘Henare you te bioomin’ fool to tink that I can’t bring him into te pa without te gatekeper even get te smell of him.’ ‘All right,’ say young Henare, ‘and away we go. By corry we drink about te gallon each. Then I get te two benzine tins, fill him with waipiro, get te plumber to solder him up, stick him on te running board, and off we go to Ratana, No one hut me and Henare's friends know anything about him. Te other Maori go on drinking ginger pop all te time, get te pain in te bingie.” Wanganui Herald.