Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3836, 25 August 1928, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1928. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Levin Bowling 1 Club will open its. season on October (i.

A poll of ratepayers on the proposal to build n new town hall is to be taken in Hun!orville next month. The attendance at the Manaknu school last week was reduced to 3-1, due to influenza and measles.

A tender for £1750 has been accepted for improvements at the Otaki Hospital. Work is shortly to be put in hand. There were good attendances at the screening of “Ben Ilur’' at the Town Hall on Thursday ; and last night.- • A- 1

Advice has been received that the proposed visit to New Zealand; of the party of South African dairy farmers has been postponed till next year.

Mr. A. Max, of Bright water, Nelson, has again forwarded the first shipment of green peas to Wellington, where they were sold at auction for 2/- per lb. A public meeting held at Palmerston North on Thursday evening unanimously decided to adopt local daylight saving, provided Mr. Sidey’s Bill is rejected by'vPar]lament.

The catalogues for the local Horticultural Society’s Spring Show, to be held next month, may be obtained from the secretary, Mr.. W. H. Nicholas.

As a result of two months’ opossum trapping in the Crooked river district, three members of'a Greymouth family are reported to have made £350 between them. The Hon. T. Murdoch has given notice, in the State Legislative Council, that, owing to the disabilities which Tasmania is experiencing under Federaton, steps he taken to enable Tasmania to withdraw from the Commonwealth.

A middle-aged couple were watching a cricket match. “Do you remember, John,” said the lady, “that it was at a cricket match that you proposed to me? You were bold that day, weren’t you?” “Not me!” snapped hubby. “I was caught.” “A hearse is a poor thing to come to church in. Why wait?” Thus runs a poster issued by the Waikato Ministers’ Association in connection with an appeal to the people of Hamilton to go to Church on a Sunday. The response was very satisfactory last Sunday, and all the churches were crowded.

A general review of the work of State afforestation during the past year shows a remarkable increase in the area planted. Approximately 35,000 acres of new plantations have been created, constituting a record in this respect, and bringing the total area of State-owned coxtic. forest plantations to 133,977 acres.

While walking near the corner of Williamson’s Avenue and Ponsonby Road at about noon recently the Rev. Ernest Chi tty, who is blind,, fell into an open stree.t maiihole,, fortunately escaping with shock and slight bruises. As a result of the incident two youths, R. G. Walker and L. T. E. Dixon, were charged in the Auckland Magistrate’s Court yesterday with leaving the manhole unfencod. Pleading not guilty on behalf of defendants, Mr. Hubble said they were employed in testing underground cables and had opened the manhole. The operation only occupied about five minutes, and it was while they had their backs turned and were unaware of the approach of Mr. Chitty that the mishap occurred. In dismissing the charge the Magistrate (Mr. W. R. McKean) said it was regrettable that Mr. 'Chitty had suffered, but he could not hold defendants guilty. It was an unfortunate accident.

To Motorists: Fill up at Fairey’s Refreshment Rooms. The spirit with which we serve you will please you. Hot pies, mashed potatoes and peas, 9d; for the ladies dainty morning and afternoon tea, 9d. Rest room for Ladies. Mothers with babies special attention. Plunket Rooms on premises. Open on Thursdays, at Fairey’s, Fox ton.* Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure For Influenza Colds.

All the trees between Sockburn Aerodrome and Plumpton Park have been cut down in readiness for the Tasman flyers. ArrangenTents have also been made for a radio transmitter, working on a shipping wave-length, to stand ready to give the bearing of the Southern Cross to the airmen when they require it.

Several breezy scenes occurred at the meeting of the Christchurch City Council on Monday night when a deputation attended to protest against the scheme to erect rest rooms, etc., in Cathedral Square. At one stage, Mr. George Gould, one of the deputation leaders, had to apologise to the Mayor for addressing him as “my lord,” and also for poking out his tongue when withdrawing his remarks.

The manager of the Government sawmill and housing factory at Prankton said that both concerns will close down before the. end of next month, and will recommence operations at Mamaku. It is stated clearly that, there will be no unemployment as a result, of the winding up. There are about 90 employees involved, and those who will not be transferred to Mamaku will he absorbed by other Government Departments.

The treatment of ealves when being eolleetcd for the freezing works was again the subject of a prosecution at the New Plymouth Court. Percy John Northeott, lorry-driver, collected the ealves and placed Ihem on a truck at Opunake, expecting the train to leave the same afternoon. However, the train did not leave till about 24 hours later, and Norlhcott was charged by the S.P.C.A. with not supplying tho ealves with nourishment. He was convicted and ordered to pay costs.

Although electricity for lighting and household purposes is increasingly in demand, the consumption of gas in Wanganui shows no tendency to fall off, says the Chronicle. For cooking and heating, gas is in greater demand than ever, which should indicate that electricity is lfot yet to put its contemporary completely out of business. 1 Undoubtedly, there is a considerable demand for both commodities. Last month the municipal gas department installed 40 heaters. A donation of £SOO has been made to the Jubilee Institute for the Blind by Mr. John Marshall, of Remuera, who a year or two ago gave a similar amount. In addition to his bequest of £SOO to the Auckland Hospital, the late Alexander Bell bequeathed the following: £SOO each to the Evelyn Firth Home for disabled soldiers, the Somervill Presbyterian iChurvh and the Jubilee Institute for the Blind, £3OO to the Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage and £IOO to the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Continued confidence in Mr. Coates as leader of the Reform Party and in the Government as the Administration for New Zealand was affijrmed at the fifth Dominion Conference of the New Zealand Political Reform League which has just concluded the most successful gathering of its kind yet held in the history of the Reform Party. Before the conference closed its members expressed their conviction that they would win through the coining general election, and thus be enabled to continue the good work accompanied during the last three years.

The ranks of the Maori War veterans in New Zealand are rapidly thinning. In November last it was estimated that there were 336 veterans still in receipt of pensions, 62 others having died during the previous year. Since last November nine of the members of the Taranaki branch living in and aronnd New Plymouth died, reducing the total membership of the branch !o 2S. Eleven of these 28, practically all of them over 80 years of age, attended the annual meeting of the branch in New Plymouth last week, the remainder being confined to their homes through indisposition.

Before sailing on the Aorangi witli his wife and brothers Tom Ileeney said: “I will light again, but I don’t know who my opponent will be. I will leave that to my managers. 1 will be in Tex Rickard’s elimination contests. I may be back in December or sooner. It depends how I like it in New Zealand. If it gets boring I will come back in a month or two. I won’t fight there. The purses are not large enough. I will he glad to get home for a while, but I will not stay. When I do settle down I think it will be in the United States. My wife lives there and I have lots of friends in New York.” Another centenarian smoker; and this time a woman. A Home paper records the death at Messing, near Tiptree, Essex, of Mrs. Naomi Harrington at the age of one hundred years. The good old lady smoked a clay pipe every day and attributed her Jong life, at any., rate in part, to that practice. What the anti-tobaceoites will say to this must be left to conjecture, but a more convincing proof of’ the harm-; lessness of tobacco could hardly be found. The plain fact of the matter is that smoking won’t hurt anyone so long as the tobacco is pure and as free from nicotine as possible. The imported brands, by the way, arc mostly full of nicotine. That’s where they differ so essentially from our own New Zealand tobaccos —the purest in the world and the freest from nicotine. They are quite safe and owe their fine aroma and delicious fragrance to the toasting of the leaf (quite a novelty). Ask your tobacconist for “Riverhead Gold” mild, “Navy Cut” (Bulldog) medium, or “Cut Plug •No. 10” (Bullshead) ful lstrength.

Mr. W. J. Rogers, Mayor of Wanganui, has been selected as the Labour candidate for the electorate. \V)hangarci Plunket Society’s funds were augmented to the extent of £39 10s by the Daffodil Day effort. For failing to furnish returns of income a Wellington printing firm, a builder, and a district schoolmaster were fined in sums ranging from £ls to £2 and costs. Mr. and Mrs. L. Wyllie escaped from their house in Cobden Street, Gisborne, in night attire, when the building was discovered to be in flames, early this morning. Nothing was saved. The Manawatu Motor Club at its meeting on Thursday evening decided to apply to the Foxton Racing Club for the use of the racecourse for the purpose of holding its annual meeting on Anniversary Day, January 22nd, 1929. A meeting of the Foxton members of the Flaxmills Employees’ Union was held on Thursday evening. It was decided to accept whatever .decision the delegates appointed arrived at in conference with the Prime Minister. Some very large trout have been taken in the Tongariro stream, flowing into Lake Taupo. Strange to say, one of the largest, a 211 b. brown trout, was caught up a tree. It was an occasion of a heavy fresh, when the Tangariro overflowed its banks. The flood quickly subsided, and an angler who had caught no fish up to that time was astonished to see some very fine fish flopping about on top of a fairly thick mat of tea-ti;ce scrub. It is reported that a shock of 33,000 volts was received by Balfour Marshall, an employee of the Public Works Department, when he was working at the switch station at Taitapu. Marshall is a member of the Christchurch Football Club, and it is believed that his physical fitness enabled him to tight successfully against the effects of the shock. He is making very satisfactory progress in hospital. tl is rumoured that the general election will take place on Thursday, November 22nd. The suggestion was made in the House on Thursday night that a

clause should be added to the Rabbit Nuisance Bill preventing inspectors and boards dealing with the destruction of rabbits during the period of lambing. Sir George Hunter (Waipawa) pointed out that there was no need for the clause. In his experience, which extended over a great many years, he had always found boards and inspectors very considerate regarding the imposition of penalties for the non-destruc-tion of rabbits during the period of lambing. By the location of a wonderful spring of natural gas (says the Murchison Standard), still another link has been forged in the chain of evidence which goes to prove that the Murchison district is entitled to be seriously considered as a potential oil-field. The gas •‘blow,” which is situated up the Blackwater Valley, some five miles from its junction with the Mangles, and about 12 miles from the Murchison township, is escaping under such pressure that it lifts the water several inches in the small crater surrounding it, and when ignited the gas throws a column of flame varying from four to six feet in height. At a meeting of the Dunedin Hospital Board Doctor Lyth, the medical director of the tuberculosis institution, commenting on the inquiry committee’s report, stated that the policy of retaining patients longer than the period intended originally was forced on superintendents by the unsatisfactory results of the brief educational treatment. The average stay of patients at Pleasant Valley was more than double that in 1912 and the result had been gratifying in reducing the relapses. The committee, in his opinion, was too optimistic- about the possibilities of home treatment.

According to the report of the Film Censor thirty-five “feature films” shown in New Zealand last year were produced in the British Empire, 580 in the United States, and thirteen in European countries. These figures afford ample justification for the Prime Minister’s statement at the Reform League meeting: “I say quite definitely as a son of British stock, as a citizen of Nets- Zealand, that I want my children to see a little British sentiment. It is a case which I think the Government is justified in intervening.” Such interference need not take a form which will seriously interfere with the successful operation of the picture-houses, says the Dominion.

Some indication of the perils facing explorers and missionaries in the vast tracts of unknown land in South America is given by Mr. Allan Smith, a New Zealand missionary, who has spoilt^the past 23 years in Argentine, Paraguay and Brazil, and who is at present visiting Gisborne. He stated last week that during the past 100 years four expeditions had endeavoured to explore the jungles just beyond Cuyaba, in Brazil, seeking information concerning the lost cities of the Inca dynasty, but so difficult and dangerous had been the task that not one of the exploring parties had been successful. One was repulsed, and returned to civilisation, but the members of the other three parties had either succumbed from hunger and privation, or had been destroyed by the Indians. 'Colonel P. H. Fawcett, who led- an expedition into the territory on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society, London, three years ago, was being mourned for by his wife and family as dead.

A visitor to Foxton on Monday next will be Miss Isabel MeCorkindale, who is visiting New Zealand under the auspices of the New Zealand Alliance. Miss McCorkindale is a director of education for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union for Australia.

The following is a description of one of the Southland Electric Power Board’s consumers, as outlined by one of the board members when discussing “overdue accounts” at the monthly meeting the other day: “He’s a very successful rabbiter, but he’s a demon to spend it. Chase him up, Mr. Secretary. He’s an oily customer.” It was decided to “chase him up.” The death occurred yesterday of Mr. lan Wentworth Campbell, of 31 Stanley Avenue, Palmerston North. Born in Glasgow fifty years ago, the late Mr. Campbell was educated at the George Watson College and Merchiston Castle, Edinburg, and came to New Zealand about 27 years ago, when he took up farming. Deceased was a son of the late Rev. John Campbell, of Edinburgh, and a nephew of Lady Herkless and the late Sir John Herkless, principal of St.. Andrew’s University, Scotland, and also of Mr. and Mrs. R. Freer Miles, of Forfar, Scotland. A widow, four sons, and one daughter are left. Deceased resided in Foxton for a time some years ago.