GENERAL NEWS ITEMS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3683, 27 August 1927, Page 4

GENERAL NEWS ITEMS

One in every five of Marton Borough Council’s gas consumers now uses a gas stove.

Wjhile crossing a paddock on his property at Taumarunui, recently, a native named John Pihama was attacked by a boar, which was running in the paddock. Both of Pihama’s legs were ripped open, and he received a severe wound in the back. He is now in the hospital. Many birds familiar to New Zealand are experts in the art of imitation. At Bayswater the other afternoon (says the Auckland Star) the yelping of a mongrel dog, which had narrowly escaped being run over by a motor bus, allowed a thrush to display Its talent, and for nearly ten minutes after the dog had stopped its wailing, plaintive notes like an animal in pain came from the top of a nearby pine tree. So true was the imitation that passers-by stopped to listen. An oustanding feature of the Marlborough hydro-electric installation is the fact that there is not a wooden pole to be found in any part of the 135 miles of transmis.sion and reticulation lines so far erected. The main transmission line from the head Works at Benopai to Blenheim —a distance of some 23 miles —is erected on steel towers, and the whole of the reticulated lines, at present abou't 112 miles in length, are strung on concrete poles, specially designed for the purpose.

The latest sport in 'Wales is snail racing, and Penarth has given the lead by staging a “Derby” on the cliffs. Borrowed from the Far East, where it originated centuries ago, the sport, although not so speedy as greyhound racing, is fascinatingly uncertain, as the snails sometimes slumber en route. They are raced over -a yard course, and j'oeked by touching their horns with a grass stalk. The winning post is baited with wet ivy and the snails painted with their owner’s colours. The race sometimes lasts half an hour, and is proving popular in the mining valleys. ’ A young Scotsman who lost an arm during the war and who accompanies Mr. Alexander MacDonald, the explorer, on an expedition to New Guinea in search of a pigmy race, hopes that his artificial limb may be of value in dealing with the superstitious head-hunters. “I dm regarded by the natives of New Guinearns a White iSorcerer,” Mr. MacDonald .told l a .Chronicle” reporter, “I expect, with the aid of my young colleague’s artificial arm we shall be able to convince the superstitious natives that he is also a sorcerer worthy of their respect. He will dip in into boiling water to show that he is impervious of pain, will unscrew parts of it and then replace them. I expect wonders such as these will be talked abou't for years by the natives.” . “The Japanese are not directly concerned about exclusion from Australia and New Zealand. What is occupying their attention is their exclusion from America,” said Mr. W. H. Cocker, one oij the four New Zealand delegates to the recent Conference of Pacific Relations at Honolulu, in the course of an address to the League of Nations Society at Auckland. He added that the dignity of Japan had been seriously hurt by America’s attitude. There was scarcely an American at the conference who did not agree that the method of exclusion had been unfortunate, and was likely to cause unnecessary friction. The method adopted by the United States practically amounted to slamming the door in Japan’s face.”

Bright new farthings have been issued gratis by certain firms in Ashburton in return for the purchase of goods and as the coins are the same size as half sovereigns possessors of those fragments of wealth have been amusing their friends with displays of the jingling copper (says the Guardian). It is even staled that an attempt has been made to pass one of the farthings as a half sovereign. At a recent meeting of the Dunedin Officers’ Club one of the speakers referred to the claim that the evolution of the submarine commenced in Otago Harbour. He described a cigar-shaped boat that was constructed by the Otago Submarine Mining' Company with the object cf securing gold from the Molvneux river. This craft was built 51 years ago, and was launched from the Rattray Street Wharf in December, 1873. A trial was made and with 8 men enclosed the vessel was submerged. The air pumps worked well, but no means of talking to the men below was provided. Matters did not develop satisfactorily inside, and there was a delay of several hours in returning to the surface, the craft being finally towed by a small steamer, into shallower water and the crew released. The boatj which was named the Platypus, was never again submerged and lay for many years on the foreshore. She was purchased in recent times for £lO by a man who had her cut into 3 sections and sent to the Barewood Reefs, where at least one portion is used as a water tank by a local farmer. Thousands upon thousands of tons of tobacco are needed every year to keep the world’s pipe alight. America is a large producer, but other countries contribute —including New Zealand where the tobacco industry promises to become of national importance. Already it finds employment for a rapidly increasing body of workers, while it is of material assistance to men on the land who have discovered that tobacco culture is well worth while. The New Zealand grown tobacco now on the market is of splendid quality sweet, pure and fragrant. _ When smoking proves injurious this is due to the presence in the leaf of an excess of nicotine. The imported brands are full of this poison. The New Zealand brands are comparatively free from it, so that they can be smoked with perfect impunity. That’s why the doctors approve of them. Once you acquire a taste for these tobaccos no others will satisfy you. They are of various strengths. “Riverhead Gold” mild, “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium, and “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullhead) is flavoured. Any tobacconist will supply you.