LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3819, 17 July 1928, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A severe gale again visited the local beach last Friday. One fishing launch dragged its anchor and became stranded on the beach. The launch Huia, which was stranded in the previous “blow,” has now been refloated.

Last evening a very successful euchre tournament was held in the Town Hall supper room in aid of the All Saints’ Children’s Home under the auspices of the Labour Social Club.

An inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Raymond Frederick Webb, aged 21, who died in hospital after eating sweets smeared with rat poison, was held on Saturday at Invercargill. The verdict returned was that death had been accidentally caused by deceased eating chocolates covered with poison, which was intended to destroy rats.

“May I warn young ladies not to pucker their eyebrows when they are reciting,” said Mr C. Egerton Lowe, examiner in music and elocution for the Trinity College of Music-j London, in a lecture to teachers at Auckland. “It is not necessary, and will make them grow old before they are young. It is not a form of expression; it only pains the audience.” He advised all reciters to practice before a long looking-glass. In view of the fact that the Dominion as a whole is hopelessly divided upon daylight saving, the Auckland Herald suggests that the most satisfactory course would be to take a referendum. There is to be an election this year. The cost of holding a referendum would therefore be negligible. The result would give what has never • been had before, a definite indication of feeling on the point. If the continuance of summer time were left, dependent on the result of the vote, its coming into force, in the event of an affirmative answer, would be delayed this year.. It could, however, be made to begin immediately after the poll was declared, and nobody enjoying its consequences would be any the worse for waiting. A popular vote would he the best way of disposing of the controversy still centring round the Summer Time Act.

At Greymouth yesterday Cornelius Vincent O'Neill was fined £3 with costs on a charge of taking native game. Accused was caught with three pigeons in his possession.

This morning's frost was one of the severest experienced this winter. One of the compensating features is the glorious sunshine following on.

The Prince of Whiles confessed recently that he frequently writes his speeches while travelling by train, using a portable typewriter which he works with two fingers. Eor packing tomatoes in a manner contrary to the regulations, Robert. Young was fined at Christchurch £1 and costs. The alleged offence was that the top layers were good and of fair size with small fruit at the bottom of the case.

At Greymouth yesterday, Joseph Goroufsky, a waggon driver, aged 50, single, expired suddenly. He was engaged unloading bales of hay and after carrying one to a store he returned to his vehicle and collapsed. Deceased was a returned soldier, and suffered from the effects of war service.

Old clothes given by the Auckland public to the poor and needy in response to the appeal of the Commercial Travellers’ and Warehousemen’s Association on Saturday have been valued on an auction basis at no less than £10,500. With the cash proceeds of the drive, namely £I6OO, and the Government’s subsidy of £2OO the net benefit to the poor of the city and suburbs is approximately £12,300.

There have been cases in which householders have replaced blown fuse wires on their switchboards with hairpins, or some other emergency means which defeated the object: of installing the fuses. The result’ of this type of offence, Mr 11. F. Toogood told Poverty Bay Power Board members the other day, was to throw all emergencies on to the pole-fuse outside the houses, and householders who did replace their fuses in this way rendered themselves liable to prosecution. Mr C. H. Williams smilingly remarked that .it was hard to find hairpins nowadays for any i>urpose.

‘•‘The Maoris are a proud people, and it is humiliating for us to know that even a few members of our rare feel at times that their last resource is to apply for charitable aid,” said a member of a deputation from the Akarana Maori Association which waited on the Auckland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board to offer to co-operate in dealing with eases of distress (reports the “Auckland iStar”). He added that hard times in the country and a migration of Maori people to the city, coupled with the difficulty of obtaining employment, had unfortunately produced distress among a section of the people. “But,” said the speaker, “we al-’ ways remind them of the pride of our race, and of the fact that since the coming of the pakehas our people have often been starving, but have been too proud to acknowledge the fact. We continue to remind our people of the tradition of pride in our race, and often those who have been reduced to poverty in the city go away to seek food in the country without applying for assistance.” Members of the board expressed admiration for the high-minded attitude adopted by the leaders of the Maori people.

“A yard of clay”—and contentment! A well-known New Zealander just returned from a trip Home (he motored all over England) says the happiest man lie met on his travels was a Devonshire yokel in a smook-froek who was seated on a rustic bench outside a country inn with his back against a tree and “a yard of clay” in his mouth. “He looked a perfect picture of contentment." Wonderful is the power of the weed! It halves our sorrows and doubles our joys. Its enemies say hard things about it, but so long as its quality is good and it’s as free from nicotine as possible it does more good than harm. L:nfortunately most of the imported brands contain so much nicotine that they do more harm than good. It’s otherwise with our New Zealand tobaccos. They are almost free from nicotine, and so may be smoked with absolute impunity. They are quite remarkable, too, for flavour and fragrance. The favourite brands are “Riverhead Gold” mild, “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium, and “Cut Plug No. 10” (Bullshead) full strength.