Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, SEPT. 29, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3697, 29 September 1927, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, SEPT. 29, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Early potatoes are being dug on Pukekohe, but it is stated that the yield is proving light.

One-third of the honey prod need in the Dominion comes from the Waikato.

In 30 tenders received by the Wanganui Agricultural Association for gorse grubbing.work the highest was £l2O and the lowest £2O.

No fewer than 41 applications for assistance from returned soldiers and their dependents were dealt with by the Wanganui-Wai-totafa. Patriotic Committee at its latest meeting.

Figures show that householders in Christchurch are relying extensively on electricity and gas' for various purposes, yet the quantity of coal coming from the West Coast shows a great increase.

It is the intention of the Jewish community of Auckland to erect a communal hall, estimated to cost in the vicinity of £20,000, on part of the site of the old Hebrew cemetery in Karangahape road. Last evening the body of Thomas Mclntyre, a retired settler aged about 00 years, was found dead in a shed on the Gisborne Oval, a sports ground. The cause of death

Ike Robin, the New Zealand wrestling champion, states that he has received challenges from Clapham and Yokel, in Australia, but as he was not at present in training, he did not think that he would accept the challenge this year.

A discovery which may prove of great interest to scientists has been made on the property of Mr. W. 11. G. Forster, of Kaitieke, and takes the form of the fossilised remains of a prehistoric bird.

That there are no fewer than 38 insurance companies having agencies in Whangarei was established at the meeting of the Fire Board when renewal of three risks was decided by ballot.

Jack Brennan, driver of a taxi which overturned last Monday night near Ruatoria, Gisborne, resulting in the death of Michael Hickey and minor injuries to the driver and two others, was arrested on a charge of being intoxicated while in charge of the vehicle; also with causing bodily harm.

Noted ornithologist estimates that in (50 years, bird life in this country has dwindled 75 per cent. Thirteen species of migratory birds have been entirely exterminated, and 30 more are travelling the same road. As birbs decrease, insect hordes increase. This must be reversed.

The Noxious Weeds Bill makes failure to clear weeds a continuous offence, with a penalty up to £SO. Weeds must be cleared within a month of a conviction being imposed. Borough Councils and Town Boards may appoint inspectors for their own districts. The term “occupied” now includes the owner or anyone getting anything out of the land.

Within a year, Sir Joseph Ward predicted at Wajuku a great political change in New Zealand, for in his opinion the people were dissatisfied with the Government (reports the New Zealand Herald). He said he was not pressing himself on any party as leader, but was willing to assist New Zealand to a better position. Touching bis age, Sir Joseph claimed to have many good years of work left in him yet. “I own up to GO,” he concluded, “and what more can I do?” 1

'Earl L. Gaylor, of Cliftondale, Mass., United States, has established a new world’s record by holding his breath for fourteen minutes and two seconds. The previous record was for ten minutes and ten seconds and was made at the University of California in 1916. Oxygen was used by Mr. Gaylor in preparing for the test. He first breathed excessively over a short period in order to rid the blood of carbon dioxide. He then took three deep breaths of oxygen, the last of which he held for the rerord time.

An attempt is to be made shortly by two Dannevirkc men, says the Napier Telegraph, to fly from Aus : tralia to Wellington. The machine to be used is at present on the water on the way to Australia. The two men are well-known at Danr.evirke, one of them being interested in pastoral pursuits, while his companion served in the Royal Air Force in the course of the late war. A French naturalist has estimated that 'if all birds were to disappear man could live on the earth only nine years; for without birds, all plants, trees, and vegetables would disappear; worms and bugs would eat them root and branch. When that happened, the cattle and the sheep would not have enough to eat, and they would all die. Mankind, unable to survive on fish, or on, the insects themselves, would perish miserably in a horrible, crawling, creeping world. The New Zealand railway year closed without the occurrence of a fatal accident to any train jiassenger. Oyer 26,000,000 passengers were carried. The number of accidents to trains involving passengers and employees was six as compared with forty-one the previous year. Personal accidents on the line (other than train accidents) totalled twenty less than for the year 1925-26. Shunting accidents likewise showed a satisfactory decrease. It is not generally known that the Wanganui River was not-given its present name by the Maoris. Its real name* Te Wainui-a-Rua, meaning “The Great River of Rua.” the pakeha settled in the district he first called it the Knowlesly River as a compliment to the Earl of Derby, and old maps show it under that name. “Wanganui” referred only to the harbour at the liver mouth, and the Maori did not trouble to enlighten the white man when he referred to the river as the “AYlanganui.” Even the worst of life’s tragedies are sometimes relieved by a little humour. A witness in a case in which a woman alleged cruelty against her husband provoked laughter in the AA’ellington Magistrate’s Court on Monday when, after explaining that it was quite the usual thing for the couple to quarrel violently, even as late as midnight, she said that' she was awakened late one night by sounds of furniture being shifted in the adjoining apartment and the noise of hurrying footsteps. “I thought they were at it again,” she said, “and I was just going in to pacify them when I discovered that the place was on lire. I was wrong for once.” (Laughter),

The German Admiral Scheer, in an article in the “Fortnightly Review,” replying to the Harper report on the Jutland Battle, declares: “The British failure to destroy the German fleet was the result of the Admiralty’s policy of accomplishing the destruction of an enemy by an economic blockage, hence Admiral Jellicoe stood face to face with a task which diverged from his general strategic duty, but for a moment he had the possibility of annihilating the German fleet by a preponderance of ships. His adherence to the policy of avoiding losses became a fallacy. Instead of another glorious First of June, England was obliged to incur the great danger of a U-boat campaign, from the consequences of which she was released only by the intervention of America. It was America who harvested the success of May 31, 1916. That is the truth about Jutland,”

An interesting memento that calls to mind very vividly the days portrayed by Marchs Clarke in “the Term of Ilis Natural Life” is in the possession of a Taranaki resident. It is one of the bank notes paid to the prisoners in those days. Struck off the actual die used in those faroff days, the notes are of the face value of 3d, 6d and Is. They are drawn on the Bank of Van Dieman’s Land, which went into liquidation forty years ago. The notes are inscribed, “Van Dieman’s Land, Hobart Town, 1820. I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of Three Pence 'Sterling in the notes of the Bank of Van Dieman’s Land.” There was a space on which the number of the note* could be placed and also for an entering signature. The notes were mostly issued to the prisoners for tobacco money. They were not negotiable until the prisoner had accumulated them to the value of Is.

At AVanganui Magistrate’s Court the other day Mr. Barton, S.M., was asked to make'an order against a defaulting debtor, counsel arguing that defendant admitted spending 1/6 a week on tobacco. The Magistrate is reported to have replied: “I can see no more reason for cutting off debtor’s tobacco than cutting off the sugar in his tea.” Doubtless Mr. Barton recognised that the habitual smoker would go without tea altogether rather than give up his pipe. To a great many men tobacco is not a luxury it is a necessity. Antitobaccoites say it is highly injurious. It isn t, piovided the right kind of tobacco is used. The imported brands, we all know, contain far too much nicotine to be wholesome. But what about our own New Zealand tobaccos? They contain so little nicotine that they may be considered rather beneficial than otherwise. And >ou can’t beat them for flavour and fragrance. That’s because they are toasted. Ask any tobacconist for “Riverhcaid Gold” '(mil|d), “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium, or “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullshcad) full strength.

A man named Ritchie, employed by AVhitaunui, Ltd., as a tractor driver, sustained a broken arm as a result of the tractor back-firing when lie was cranking it this afternoon.

The application of a Presbyterian student, A. M. Richards, for exemption from military training was again refused in the Auckland Court yesterday on-the ground that he was not a member of a church that was opposed to military training. A previous application was refused. In refusing the application Magistrate Cutten said the Presbyterian Church was not opposed to military training. It was law, and the applicant had to obey it.

On the ground that the publication of her photograph in a toilet advertisement without her consent had caused her considerable worry and annoyance, Lucy Laneeley, aged 19, a popular entrant in a “beauty” competition last year, claimed £SO damages from a Wellington photographer, S. P. Andrew, Ltd., and an advertising agency in the Wellington Court last week before Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M. After hearing lengthy evidence, plaintiff was awarded £1 damages against each defendent and costs. “There is a difference between drunkenness and intoxication,” said Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., in the Hamilton Magistrate’s Court last week when dealing with a case in which a motorist was charged with being in a state of intoxication while in charge of a car. “A man who is drunk and causes his car to zig-zag up the street is a potent danger. A man who is intoxicated and is capable of driving, but is not in full possession of his sense of vision and ability to act promptly in a crisis, is a latent danger.” is at present unknown. Mr Alexander Watson, the noted English reciter, says he has always admired the English spoken by New Zealanders, but recently he has noticed what almost might be described as a debased pronunciation if vowel sounds —a tendency towards cockney tricks of speech. “Not that I object to Cockney as a dialect,” said Mr Watson, “but it is not pure English. Ido not know how this Cockney tendency has a■isen, but I have imagined that possibly men who served at the war with English troops may have brought it back to their homes or your immigrants may have introduced it.”