LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3699, 4 October 1927, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A shark landed at Cast. lec 1 iff on Saturday afternoon was found, when opened up, to contain no fewer than 47 young sharks. This is stated by fishermen to be an unusually large number, Milan Ziganovitch, implicated in the murder of Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo in 1914 hgs died at Uskub, aged 40. Serbia refused Austra-Hungary’s demand, for his extradition in the famous ultimatum.

A particularly impudent theft was carried out on Sunday morning, when a two-seater coupe, valued at £2OO was stolen from the garage of Williams Rental Cars Ltd., in Albert Street, Auckland. The car has not yet been recovered. A Wanganui sportsman heard that whitebait were to be snared in any old stream along this coast, so on Saturday he borrowed a large net and set out fpr lyai Iwi. He got there, fished aU the afternoon, and caught one whitebait (says the Chronicle). Whitebait appeared in the Manawatu River in large quantities yesterday, but were very “shy” and hard to net. One local fisherman is reported to have succeeded in netting 751b5., which provided a very lucrative return at 2/6 per lb., the price offered locally. At Wellington last night, Jfrn Anderson, 13st. (libs., prhfessionaj heavy-weight wrestling champion of New Zealand, successfully defended his title against B. Hayden (Hawke’s Bay), who sealed Hist. 71 bs. Hayden secured a fall within a minute of the start of the contest, but his condition petered out in the third round and Anderson took the match by securing falls in the fourth and fifth round.

The Wagnanui launch Huia, owned by Mr. Benson, which had such an eventful drift from Wanganui to Kapiti Island, and finally made the Manawatu River under sail, is still tied up at the wharf. Mr. Benson has decided to remain .here for a while and try out sea fishing off this coast. One day recently the launch met with success in this connection, schnapper being found to be very plentiful, but a. storm came up just after the fish were located and the boat Juul to return to port.

A reminder is given of a clearing sale of household furniture to be held by C. K. Woodroofe on behalf of Mrs. M. .Tack at the residence, Lady’s Mile, to-morrow afternoon at 1.30 o’clock.

As a result of happenings in the bar of/the Post Office Hotel, Palmerston North, on August 11,, Burton Charles Waldegrave, an auctioneer, was fined £5 for indecent language by Mr. ,T. L. Stout, S.M., yesterday.

The trout fishing season opened on Saturday and some good catches are reported from different parts of 'the district. There are no streams near Foxton and the sluggish waters of the Manawatu nearby are not suitable for fly-fishers although at times sea-run trout arc caught in the fishermen’s nets to which they cause considerable damage.

W'e acknowledge a photograph of the Empire Marketing Board’s special poster frame set issued to welcome the Duke and Duchess of York on their return from their tour. In it the attention of the pubicl is drawn to the wealth and resources of New Zealand. The poster set has been displayed in all the principal cities of the United Kingdom, and is very striking.

During the month of September permits were issued by the Palmerston North Borough Council for the erection of 1(5 houses, of an aggregate value of £13,470. Alterations and additions to existing buildings to the value of £8527 were also authorised, while permits were issued to the value of £7711 for new business premises. Motor sheds numbering 13 were erected, costing £535.

Tn the course of evidence at the Pieton Court last week in a whaling dispute (says the Marlborough Press), a witness stated that a whale travelled under water at any speed from four to twenty-four miles an hour, to which the S.M. remarked: “Surely you don’t wish us to believe that you put stop watches on them?” The witness explained that a frightened whale could move at a great pace, whilst under quieter circumstances, whales moved slowly.

An elderly man, whose name has uot been ascertained, had a narrow escape from death when the halfpast eight train from the south was drawing into the Levin station on Saturday evening. Through some unknown cause he stepped off the platform before the train had stoplied, and fell between the carriages and the kerbing. People rushed to the spot with feelings of horror, which were almost immediately relieved, as when the train stopped the man’s head emerged from below and he was quickly assisted on to the platform. —Chronicle.

The strangest murder in the history of the Latin quarter was committed in the apartments of a rich Venezuelan lawyer named Fricens, aged 27, states a Press Associa-

tion message from Paris. The victim was Marguerite Gallier, aged 19. Fricens alleged in a statement that he had an order from God to purify the world. He asked 1 Marguerite did she believe in God. She replied in the negative. “God directed me to make an example of her. I decided to burn her, apd set fire to the curtains, but God extinguished the flames. So I first strangled her, and then cut her throat.

Dr. Theodore G. Gray has been appointed to the position of Inspec-tor-General of Mental Hospitals, in place of Sir Trilby King, whose're- , eminent, Dr. Gray last year visited day last. Dr Gray was senior assistant to Sir Trnbv King at Seacliff for several years, and was in 1920 chosen for the post of medical superintendent at the mental hospital at Nelson, where ho inaugurated the yiila system at Stoke Farm. At the request of the Government. Dr. Gray last year visited Canada, the United States, Great Britain, and the Continent to study modern systems of treatment of the mentally afflicted.

“The Uncultivated Food Plants of the Maori” formed the subject of an address given by Mr. V. F. Fisher to the anthropology and Maori rat/e section of the Auckland Institute this week (reports the “New Zealand Herald”). The most important uncultivated food of the Maori was undoubtedly the fernroot, said Mr. Fisher. The Maoris burned off the fern every three or four years so as to keep the root fresh and white and to choke off manuka and other growth. The root having been dug with a long wooden spade, was carefully treated and prepared for eating. A doctor who accompanied Captain Cook described the resulting product as having a sweet mealy taste, not at all, disagreeable. The use and method of treatment of the berries of the hinau, karaka, and tawa were next described. Sustenance was found also in the roots of the king fern and various other plants. Other sources which the Maoris at times exploited to maintain life wore the inner pith of the manuka tree fern, the small starchy roots of various orchids, a jelly made from the care-fully-strained berries of the teutu, konini berries, berries of the. bush lawyer, nikau leaves, and berries of such forest trees as the kahikatea, matai, riinu, and totara. The Maoris used to chew the kauri, gum, which was said to be quite tasty. 1 • Arcliey mentioned the interesting fact that in some eases the molar teeth of the natives were driven inwards and impacted through the habit of chewing fern-root. T.ns could be seen in some of the skulls at the Museum.

Mr. A. K. Spcirs. mot with an accident at his farm on the Wjhirokino road yesterday. When dismounting from a horse he was,riding the animal kicked him, causing a fracture of the leg above the ankle and also injuring the latter joint. An X-ray examination will be made to ascertain the extent of the injury.

Grave fears are entertained for the safety of Edwin Walker, an elderly,’ retired farmer of Waitangi, near Russell, who left Auckland on Monday September 2(5, alone in his 33-foot launch “Speedwell.” No news has been received of the craft for a week and a search of the coast has so far been fruitless. As a number of men have lately been paid off on the Main Highways work in the Horowhcnua County, a Chronicle reporter asked the County Chairman (Mr. G. A. Monk) what the position was, and he explained that there was no cessation of the County’s activities, but as certain sections on which formation work has been going on this year, to link up the completed portions of the road, are almost completed there is no longer any need for the gangs. Between Te Horo and Waikanae the formation has been completed, also between Ma- . nakau and Otaki with the exception of the portion known as Bovan’s. These lengths are practically ready for the penetration course now; and the Chairman anticipates that the whole of the new road as far as Waikanae will receive its final penetration cost early in the Mew Year. The casual men employed between Shannon and Makerua have also completed their work and have been paid off.