Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3737, 5 January 1928, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At the motor cycle sports at Gisborne on Monday, Percy Coleman won the N.Z. Heavyweight Championship (12 miles), the Gisborne Open Handicap and, the President’s Handicap. .. ;

A disastrous fire at Nelson on Monday totally destroyed three preniises—Mr. A. E. Davies’s Service Station, a bulk store belonging to Messrs Cock and Co., and Mr. H. Johnston’s carpenter’s shop. Most of the contents in Mr. Johnston’s place were saved. " ; n

Advice has been received from Otaki that a 15-foot dinghy had been found about 10 miles northwest of Kapiti Island. The discovery was made on Thursday last by some fisherman, and so far the boat has not been claimed. It is painted a light green and has a tarred bottom.

At Napier on Monday night Johnnie Leckie, New Zealand feather champion, of Dunedin, Bst. 12-Jlb., met and defeated Duke Maddox, exehampion, of Hastings, Bst. I3ilb. The fight ended in the ninth round, when Maddox’s left ankle gave out and the referee awarded the fight to Leckie, /

Whilst standing on the diversion <ut wall off Waikanae beach on Monday afternoon, Patrick Roff, aged 28 years, a seaman on the Elsie Mary, was swept off and drowned. A launch went out later to attempt to recover the body, but owing to the rough sea had to put back.

A local motor humorist informs us that the stones on the FoxtonPalmerston highway are so giddy through being scraped from the side to the centre by the grader, and then scattered back to the side by motor traffic, that if picked up and placed on the palm of the hand they roll off! ■

Tim rainfall in Napier during 1927 totalled 31.38, compared with 20.80 in 1926, the lowest recorded for 50 years, and 25.51 in 1925. The average over the past eleven years is 32.50. The past year’s more plentiful rainfall is reflected in the much more prosperous season being enjoyed by the farming community, who suffered rather severely in the two dry years preceding. Mrs. Mary Bloor, a widow, aged 65, died at the Dannevirke hospital on Monday as the result of injuries received in an accident. She was driving in a gig with her daughter, Mrs, Hill, when the horse, in turning a bend in Raumati road, took fright at a stationary motor-car and overturned the vehicle down an embankment. Mrs. Hill escaped with a few scratches.

The borough staff are top-dress-ing the bitumenised footpaths with tar and sand.

The new motor regulations, recently circulated in draft form, will probably not be gazetted for some weeks yet. The concrete kerbing around the Triangle reserve in the north end of the town is now complete, and is a great improvement on the chain fence.

By winning the play-off in the Dominion chess championship,. A. W. O. Davies, of Auckland, retained the title. His opponent was F. K. Kelling,

4,; We are asked to warn residents against lighting fires in the open or dropping lighted matches in some of the roadways as grass fires may cause considerable damage. , An unidentified middle-aged man jumped off the Hamilton railway bridge into the Waikato river yesterday and was drowned. The. body has not yet been recovered. '

Thieves entered the premises of Collier’s in Cuba Street, Palmerston North, during the holidays and removed valuable fur coats and necklets which are valued at over £3OO.

The St. Peters mission camp on the race course breaks up to-mor-row, when the boys will return to 1 Wellington. To-night the boys will give an entertainment in the Town Hall,

The Motuiti haka team secured second place in the haka competition at the Shannon sports on Monday, and the poi team were successful in winning the poi competition by one point from Ohau.

Seeing the old year out and the new year in was not accompanied by any foolish acts such as pulling gates off th v eir‘ hinges and committing other acts of vandalism which has characterised the event in years past. A number of residents were serenaded by the Maori songsters, who were hospitably treated.

jJLluraki Plains farmers literally “broke the bank” at Ngatea one-day last week, writes a Ngatea coirespondent. Following on a favourable season’s dairying the demand for cash withdrawals at the Ngatea branch of the Bank of/New Zealand exceeded the supply ; of coin brought from Thames for flic purpose. The bank was forced) to declare its inability at the tune to satisfy its clients owing t.o a temporary shortage of funds./ ' , ; . Mi 1 , and Mrs. G. D. Hamilton caflteht a pnouster eel in the Ohau gMMLfedy days ago, which tipped at 2711)5. .The eel was •'v ; M-\«P)i a hapuka line baited with |HRf’s head. Mr 'Hamilton gaf-•V'-rgg when it was neai’ the edge of nBK-ater, lint the process of land|Ht was difficult, the quarry |HBving considerable fight. EvenBplly it was weakened bv several BFabs with a jack-knife, and was carried safely away. An Invercargill message states that the ( discovery is reported of nine moa skeletons at Lime Hills, near Winton. A party of three descended into a eqve and came across tlic hones. Seine were 30 feet below the surface. They also discovered the bones of small birds. These are’ considered to be of the weka. The find is a valuable one for museum purposes, and is unmistakable evidence of the previous existence of • the moa in large numbers in Southland.

On Tuesday morning a car, owned and driven by Mi 1 . W. L. Wiseman, solicitor, Auckland, and occupied by Father Kreymborg, parish priest at Rotorua, Dean Van Dyk, Mr. Mark, Hampson, solicitor, and his son, was en route for Rotorua and Wharepaina when, on the Taupo road, a tyre burst and the ear overturned. Father Kreymborg was thrown, against the shield, dying almost immediately. Dean Van Dyk was severely bruised and shaken, and Mr. Wiseman is suffering from minor shock. Mr. Hampson and bis son were both uninjured.

Two Maori girls taught an impudent Gisborne youth a lesson last Saturday (says an exchange). The girls were swimming in the Kaiti basin and were annoyed by offensive remarks and the throwing of small pebbles by the youth on the bank. They determined to put an end to this molestation, and while the youth was directing his attention to one of the swimmers, the other, ■scrambling out of .the water unseen by*the, tormentor, came along behind him, and, lifting him bodily, tumbled him into the water. As he was unable to swim, the youth found some difficulty in struggling out, but he. eventually regained the hank none the worse but a little wisin' for his experience. It was a sorry looking figure that left the scene, wit h the derisive laughter of the swimmers ringing in his ears.

The number of names on the list of officiating ministers under the Marriage Act is 2004, and the denominations to which they belong are: Church of England, -448: Presbyterian,. 403; Roman Catholic, 302; Methodist, 271; Salvation Army, 157; Baptists, G 8; Congregational, 32; Lutheran, 2; Evangelical Lutheran, Concordia Conference, 4; Hebrew, 5; Church of Christ, 30; •Catholic Apostolic, 4; Liberal Caitholic, 8; Unitarians, 5; United Evangelical, 4; Seventh Day Adventists, 10; Brethren, 7; Latter-day Saints, 10;, Spiritual Church, 9; Ringatu Church, 45; Church of the Seven Rulespf Jehovah, 11; Ratana Church, 113; Others, 10. The Rin-o-atu Church, the Church of the Severn Rules of Jehovah, and the Ratana Church are Maori denominations.

Patrick M'Cann, aged 20, while riding a bicycle at Heriot, (Dunedin), on Tuesday night, collided with a motor-ear. He received injuries to the base of the skull and death was instantaneous.

The body of the young man found in the harbour off the Petone Beach at an -early hour , on Friday morning, has been identified as that of Jack Hoft, who resided with his parents at Featherston.

A London cablegram states that peerages have been . conferred, on Colonel Gibbs and Sir Gerald This will cause vacancies in the party representation of West Bristol and Lancaster and byelections will be necessary. This week the Napier police received a request from a Mrs. Baxter,, of Wanganui, to get in touch, if possible, with a Mrs. Pibbs, whose mother had met ,with an accident at Dannevirke and died in the Danneyirke Hospital. Mrs. Pibbs is believed to (>e travelling in the vicinity of Napier in a caravan.

Hauraki Plains ly “broke the bank” at Ngatea one. day last week. Following on a favourable season’s dairying the demand for cash withdrawals at the Ngatea branch of the Bank of New Zealand exceeded the supply of coin brought ’from Thames for the purpose.' The bank was forced to. declare its inability at the time to satisfy its clients owing to a temporary shortage of funds. Deer are regarded /as vermin by the State Forest Service, and as there is now no protection of them in State plantation's, including those n Canterbury, every means is being used to get rid,bf them (states the Christchurch Sun). The campaign inaugurated by the Forest Service includes offering a bounty/of two shillings jf tail. Poisoning-experi-ments are also being conducted. Salt licks have been established'to attract the deer to places where they may be poisoned or shot, and, considerable numbers have been killed during the past season. A point which is now receiving the attention of the Government is whether the punishment for unlawful conversion of motor-cars is sufficiently severe, states the Hon. F. J. Rolleston, Minister of Justice. A difficulty in the way oi: any increase is that if the term of imprisonment for the offence is increased beyond three months the offender will have the right of trial by jury instead of having to be dealt with sumimarily in the Magistrate’s Court.

Nurse Ait'ken, the Wairarapa Plunket Nurse, met with a painful accident recently that will cause her detention in a private hospital at Martinborough for at least a fortnight says the Greytown Standard. While handling an electric kettle full of boiling water she sustained an electric stock, under which she collapsed and in falling the boiling water was spilt over her arm,' causing a bad scald. Miss Aitken’s many Foxtpn friends will wish her .a speedy recovery. Mr. Burl ac-e asked Mr. Hewlett (headmaster) at the Woodville School Committee meeting, if it were a fact that some of the lady teachers smoked in front of the children. The headmaster said he was not aware of it,, and while he disapproved of either male or female teachers smoking in schoo hoqlrs.he did not know of a' regulation against it; If the children saw the teachers, smoking in school hours he room the children had no business to' be there. He thought the Committee would be well advised to approach the teachers concerned directly.