Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3708, 25 October 1927, Page 2

Manawatu Herald TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1927. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The push hike events at the motor sports yesterday offered an amusing contrast to the speed of the petrol-driven machines. They were like a slow-motion picture.

Despite warnings, a ‘number of people yesterday watched the racing on the course near the saddling paddock. Had a machine skidded towards them at this bend there would have been a tragic climax. The weather during the week-end was very cold. Hail fell after midnight on Saturday and a cold southerly made things unpleasant for the holiday. The ranges are covered with snow.

A reminder is given of All Saints’ Ladies Guild sale of work to be held in the Town Hall on Thursday. A special feature will be a sponge cake competition. The local District High School reopened this morning. There were 206 absentees, including 'two teachers. As soon as the weather breaks it is hoped that the attendance will become normal.

The Railway Department ran an electric car on a non-stop long-dis-tance trial run from Christchurch to Ashburton and back, a distance of over 100 miles, the other evening, 'averaging a speed of 40 miles an hour.

Waipukurau borough has had no infectious castes of disease reported within its boundary for the past 61 weeks. With a population of close on 2000, this must be something of a record, remarks a Hawke’s Bay exchange. That the housewives of Invercargill collectively waste nearly £SOOO worth of soap annually owing to the “hardness” of the water supply was an interesting statement made by the engineer- (Mr. E. A. Gumbley) in a report to the Invercargill Town Council.

There is apparently no shortage of houses for sale in New Plymouth. The following advertisement “Wanted to buy privately house, £I2OO, £ISOO, £6OO deposit. Apply Buyer, Herald Office,” inserted on one night last week, had brought 71 letters by the following morning. . Percy Coleman, whose riding was one of the attractions at yester'day’s sports, informed our representative that the track was one of the best in the Dominion, and was in better condition than last year. The only drawback was a few waves at the corner entering the straight. The motor speed kings who competed at yesterday’s sports without exception paid warm tributes to the efficient manner in which the officials carried out their, duties. “Your officials are some hustlers!” said one competitor, who nearly lost his-, start through his own delay.

At Wanganui yesterday detectives raided premises in Victoria Court, occupied by Arthur Lawrence Lambess and B. P. Corrigan, and the two men appeared later at a special sitting of the Magistrate’s Court, on a charge of bookmaking. A remand was granted, bail being allowed in £IOO in each case. With the object of establishing a Ashing station in one of the West Coast Aords either Chalky Sound or Preservation Inlet, a company known as Western Fisheries will probably be operating shortly. The station will be equipped with a freezing plant, and will carry the Ash thence to Bluff as a convenient distributing port.

A local youth and young lady, out for a stroll on the wharf last evening met with a somewhat startling experience. The young lady, a Palmerston visitor, slipped over the edge of the wharf and fell into the river. The youth went over after her, and supported her until a boat arrived and the couple were hauled out little the worse for the impromptu immersion.

A party of Wellington Masons, some of whom were accompanied by their wives, visited Foxton for the week-end. The visitors were entertained by the local brethren and on Sunday morning were taken up the river as far as Paiaka. A “whitebait supper” was held on Saturday evening, and a most enjoyable social time spent. The party returned to Wfellington thoroughly pleased with the visit.

A ploughshare at Glenavy recently turned up something far more interesting than the common mould. The plough was operated by Mi 1 . Percy Henry on his farm a few miles below the Waitaki bridge, and when he heard a metallic clink lie made investigations and found that the obstruction was not a rock, but a pair of handcuffs, much of them eaten away with rust. Inquiries have shown that the cuffs must have been underground for a time estimated at not less than ‘65 years. There is an Auckland business man who is prepared to affirm that a special burglar proof lock on the front'door of his premises has all the virtues that is claimed for it.' One peculiarity is that the door can only be unlocked from the outside, and he realised this part to the full on a recent evening, when he tarried on the premises, and found that he was a prisoner. He thought of the possibility of getting a window opened and sliding down a water pipe, but was afraid the exit in such a manner might be regarded as highly suspicious by passers-by. The liext thought was a happy one. He rang up the police station on the telephone, a constable soon came, the business man slid the key beneath the front door, and speedily he was liberated.

The employment of a ' married woman, the wife of a Hamilton civil servant, as a teacher at the school established by the Auckland Education Board in the children’s ward of the Waikato Hospital, formed the subject of a strong protest by the Waikato Hospital Board on Thursday. The chairman, Mr. Campbell Johnstone, said there were hundreds of qualified single women teachers in New Zealand out of employment, and he considered that the Education Board had made a mistake in appointing a married woman whose husband was in a good position. Other members spoke in support of the chairman s remarks. It was resolved to write to the Education Board strongly protesting against the appointment.

As her lawyer did not appear a Maori woman in the Court at Hastings on Wednesday, defended a case for the variation of a maintenance order made against her by her husband, cross-examined her “worse half,” and won her case. Under her questions, the plaintiff admitted that he was over £IOO in arrears, that he borrowed right and left —from cousins, from friends, from taxi-drivers, even from his legal adviser. He also drank — sometimes too much —went to the races, went to dances, and did all those things that a husband under a maintenance order should not do. The Magistrate summed up in the following sentence: “He is to pay a maintenance amount and has not paid it. He has been living on hopes, and that is all the wife and children have to live on.” The plaintiff was strong and healthy and able to go shearing and do work of any kind.

The report of a mysterious wild animal, “6ft. long and striped like a tiger,” which is alleged to hawe killed sheep, a kangarooo and a heifer in New South Wales, recalls a famous scare at Home when a wolf was supposed to have escaped from a travelling menagerie, and to he prowling the countryside at night (says the Auckland Star). The excitement increased when a lamh was killed, but the scare died a natural death a few days later when a farmer shot the “wolf.” It proved to be a stray dog. This was in the days when circuses and “wild beast shows” were regular additions to the joys of village life. One of the old-time showmen relates with glee how he used to liberate Nero, his menagerie lion, and raise the alarm. The gallant capture of the savage beast was an unfailing advertisement for the next show. Considering Nero was toothless, and that he strongly objected to be kicked out of his comfortable cage, it was no wonder that he was captured without much difficulty.

The cultivation of citrus fruits in Poverty Bay should prove a profitable business now that the foreign importations are to be put under an additional tax, and it is likely that the citrus orchards of the district will be extended in the near future (reports the Poverty Bay Herald). Already there are a number of well-cared-for plantations in full bearing, and other orchardists have young trees coming on which should increase substantially the surplus available for shipment in the south. The climate and' soil conditions favour citrus fruits in Poverty Bay, and on the Bast Coast also, lemons and oranges are doing very well wherever they are found.

Whilst the community system may have its advantages, apparently it has its disadvantages. When giving evidence in the Opunake Court recently, the Inspector of Noxious Weeds said that a native had done some work in clearing weeds on a section in which he was interested. ' “If he does much,’ added the inspector, “the other natives will come in and claim the part he has cleared.”

Mr J. Martin, the first-aid officer, was kept busy yesterday towards the close of the motor, racing. His services were much appreciated. At future meetings the Club would be well advised to provide him with a couple of assistants.

A local housewife left her washing out on the clothes line on Saturday evening and asked her husband to gather it in before retiring at a later hour. When he went to perform the task, the clothes had disappeared. All that the “snowdroppers” left behind were the pegs! Mr. J. Procter snr., had the misfortune to fall off the cart he was driving last evening, with the result that one of the wheels passed over his shoulder. The vehicle was very light, however, and apart from a shaking and bruising of the shoulder, Mr. Procter escaped without serious injury. Animals occasionally select strange places in which to bring forth their young (says an exchange). A cat at Whakarongo is reported to have chosen a macro.carpa tree, the kittens seeing the first light of day from a nest about ten feet from the ground. The 66 th anniversary of the founding, of the Bank of New Zealand in Auckland fell on Monday of last week. Auckland continued to be the headquarters of the bank until a quarter of a century ago, when the head office was removed to Wellington. The bank was incorporated by Act of Parliament, the capital being £500,000. > Upon inquiry at the hospital this morning we were informed that O’Breen and Lowe, the two riders who met with injuries at yesterday’s sports, were doing well. Both men were subjected to X-ray examinations. The former had his: right arm fractured in three places, one below and two above the elbow, and the latter sustained a compound fracture of the left leg and right thigh, and several ribs broken.

Two girls aged 16 years escaped from the industrial school near Dunedin three weeks ago, taking to the bush at Purakanui. After an exhaustive search they were located by the police on Saturday in a crib near Waitai. One was dressed in male attire, and neither showed any trace of having enjoyed their extended picnic. They appeared at the police court yesterday charged with being idle and disorderly and were remanded till to-morrow.

There passed away at the Palmerston North Hospital at an early hour yesterday morning, Mr. Jack Howard Vincent, of Ashhurst, aged ,55 years. The late Mr. Vincent was a resident of Ashhurst for about 30 years and took a keen interest in local and district public affairs. He was one of the oldest members of the Hospital Board. He leaves a widow, three sons and three daughters, to mourn their loss. The, interment took place at Ashhurst today. A question from the member for Wakatipu has elicited from the Minister of Education (the Hon. R. A. Wright) an explanation that the revenue derived from reserves and endowments situated within, the boundaries of each provincial district is paid to the credit of a special deposit account. The revenue from primary education reserves is used in the relief of payments from the Consolidated Fund for the purposes of primary education generally, but the revenue for secondary education reserves in any provincial district is paid over to the governing bodies of the secondary schools in that district in proportion to the number of pupils in average attendance. The faulty mortar used in the construction of chimneys was responsible for a considerable portion of the Dominion’s losses by fire, declared Mr. F. H. Pope, fire insurance loss assessor, in an address to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week, says the Herald. He expressed the opinion that the wrong cement was used in the preparation of mortar, and he regarded hydraulic lime as undoubtedly a menace as far as chimney construction was concerned. Sparks were drawn through the chinks in the mortar and, alighting on wood or rubbish in the vicinity, readily caused an outbreak. No improvement could be effected until regulations, backed by law, were introduced. Plumbers, for instance, had to be registered, but anyone was allowed to build a chimney.

The great increase in the number of smokers in London —particularly amongst women —according to a recent cable, has led the Managers of the underground railways to transpose their smoking-carriage rules. There are now no smokngcarriages on these lines, but 30, per cent, of the cars are labelled “NonSmokers.” It will come to that in New Zealand by-and-bye. Anti-to-baccoites may rp.il against the huge increase in the consumption of the weed. But smoking does more good than harm, provided the tobacco is of first-rate quality and as free from nicotine as possible. That’s where our New Zealand tobaccos come in. The leaf is toasted—quite a novel idea' —and this develops flavour and fragrance astonishingly. And as they contain only a negligible amount-of nicotine they may be smoked for hours on end without causing unpleasant or injurious consequences. That’s why medical men approve them. You can get them of any strength. “Riverhead Gold” is a delightful aromatic, “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) a delicious medium, and “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullshead), a fine full-flavour-ed variety.