LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3920, 19 March 1929, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

* Mr. H. Easton, of Buckley, Shannon, lost 75 fat lambs in a week through ragwort poisoning. Yesterday was observed as St. Patrick’s Day, which fell on Sunday and the Banks and legal offices were closed. The recent warm rains have been responsible for mushrooim growths and early morning parties have gathered large quantities in this neighbourhood. Herrings are reported to he very plentiful in the Manawatu River at present. A local fisherman caught 129 of these fish within a few hours over the week end, while angling below the local .wharf. Blackberries are very plentiful this year and large pickings have been gathered throughout the district. In the Himatangi plantations, where the fallen timber has been burnt off, young plants have flourished and yielded plenty of fruit. Dick Ball (46), single, a rabbiter engaged on the Vernon Estate near Blenheim, was found dead beside a cart track on the property on Saturday evening. Deceased was seen passing the homestead in a dogcart in the late afternoon bound for a. rabbiters’ camp. His mate, William Brown, saw the horse* and cart arrive at the camp without the driver. He immediately searched, and found Ball lying face downwards beside the track with a fractured skull. The deceased’s mother resides at Levin.

Some notably expeditious journeys are made to various parts of the district from time to time by the Palmerston North motor ambulance for the purpose of conveying urgent cases to the hospital. Two recent examples illustrate what can be done in this respect. In one ease a message from Foxton was received at 3 p.m., and the ambulance was back at the hospital with the patient by 5 p.(m. A more striking instance of the effijcieniey of the service, however, occurred when the ambulance, after leaving at 9 a.m. for Otaki, returned to the hospital at 12 noon, having covered a total distance of 94 miles. These trips were, accomplished by a chauffeur who has been a London driver and is an ex-service man.

On Saturday the local Natives will hold a shop day in Main Street to raise funds 'for the visit of the Maori Bishop at Easter. The effort will iconclude with a dance in the Royal Theatre in the evening. Admission 1/- and 1/6. See advf. The Eltham Argus has been informed on what it takes -to .bo good authority that the Government Wave in contemplation the abolition of Deputy Official • Assignees in country towns, and the adoption of the system of passing their duties on to clerks of Magistrate’s Courts. This is a now policy that will create considerable discussion.

A look through Victoria Park, at the north entrance to the town, indicates that very little attention is given to this reserve. Ample shelter is provided and there is a wide open space for outdoor games. It could be made very attractive by the planting of suitable shrubs and an ornamental hedge. A public effort should be made to improve this area during the coming planting season. Under amended regulations which have recently come into force, the school year is now divided into three tepms, instead of four quarters. In consequence of this, it has been decided to pay Committees’ Annual Allowances in three instalments of one third of the total allowance, instead of quarterly payments a_s hitherto. These instalments will, in future, be paid about the first week in the months of .March, July and November. Immediately on receipt of news that the Government had decided to stop construction of the Ro-torua-Taupo railway the executive of the newly-formed Opotiki Railway League telegraphed to .the Prime Minister asking that the men from the work should be transferi(;d to Taneatua to continence construction to'ward Opotiki. The 'Auckland Herald’s correspondent at Opotiki states that a reply has been received by the secretary of the league, Mr. T. H. Pearson, that the matter will receive favourable consideration by the Government.

A nhw anaesthetic, which is not yet on the commercial market, is described in the current issue of The Lan’cet by two distinguished anaesthetists, one of wham, Dr. .Shipway, acted as anaesthetist to the King in his recent operation. It is called avertin and is given by injection. In a record of 198 serious eases in which it was used, there were only two deaths under the anaesthetic. The writers say Avertin produces unconsciousness more quickly and quietly than any similar drug with which they have had experience and after-effects are almost absent.

“How long have you been engaged in flax work?” asked our representative of Mr. Alfred Seifert during a recent inspection of the Motuiti Flax Go’s, property. “Well,” said Mr. Seifert, “it will be forty years on the Ist September of this year since I was first employed in a iiaxniill as a lad tying yp bundles of llax.” Mr. Seifert said that he had always been keenly interested in llax and its possibilities. He had had experience in the Canterbury, Ceni in 1 Otago, West Coast, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay districts while he had had the opportunity ofVvisiting various parts of the world and obtaining a considerable amount of information relative to flax and the production of hemp. He was particularly optimistic in regard to the future of the flax industry which was very much enhanced by the possibilities of successful llax cultivation.

Mutton-bird catching operations will soon be in full slwing in the South. The regular season for taking the mutton-bird, or titi, to give it its Maori name, begins in April, but several days are usually required in which to prepare for the hunt, and most of those talking part arrive on the scene by about March 20. The hunt of the mutton-bird is the archipelago of rocky islands off Stewart Islands, from, which every season several thousand* pounds’ worth of birds are taken. Muttonbirds have a. ready sale in the Dominion, chiefly to Maoris, the pakeha finding them rather too rich for his palate. One white man once described Hie taste of the northern mutton-bird as “something like the smell of a blown-out oil-lamp.” For all that, it is highly esteemed bv the Maoris, and it is said that when the Maori Pioneer Battalion was in France during the Great War, the most papular 'gifts received from friends in the Dominion were parcels of mutton-birds.

Another growl about the invasion of non-slmokiing carriages on the railways by smokers. Somebody wrote to an Auckland paper the other day to say it was “Selfish and discourteous” of smokers to offend in ’this way. Quite. But what about the non-smokers who rush smoking ears (railway and tram) every chance they get? Why smokers are constantly being “crowded out” by non-sbiokers. Happens every day. As to tobacco-smoke annoying people who don’t smoke, it must be admitted that many tobaccos (including the bulk of the foreign brands) are rather rank. Too much nicotine in them. And these tobaccos arc neither good to smoke nor good to smell. That’s where they differ so essentially from our New Zealand tobaccos. Almost free from nicotine, they are appreciated by all smokers because smoke them as freely as you will, they won’t do you any harm. And they are unsurpassed for flavour and bouquet. Popular Iwands: “Riverhead Gold” (sweet and mild), “Cavendish” (medium), “Navy Cut No. 3” (a choice blend) and “Cut Plug No. 10” (a line, rich full-flavoured variety).—Advt.

There are 5559 names on the Hastings borough electoral roll. Poppy Day this year will be observed on April 19. There is a glut in the tomato market in Wanganui, due to the large quantities being sent in from other parts. Mr. J. A. Campbell, Director of; the Agricultural Department is visiting the Wiairarapa to make investigations concerning lireblight. In 1928 the Thames County Council received £522 from goldfields revenue. In 1878 the amount was £31,714. The new regulations in connection with whitebait fishing framed by the Government are being strongly opposed by Hokitika whitebaiters.

The Labour Department has issued summonses against 201 Blackball miners claiming £lo•'each, on a charge that they took part in an illegal strike recently. The managers of the Presbyterian Church held their monthly meeting on Monday, routine business occupied the evening. It was resolved to bold the Harvest Festival and annual Thanksgiving Offering next Sunday, the 24th inst. The Methodist Ladies' Social Guild met in the schoolroom Wednesday when Mrs. J. Chrystall was the hostess. An interesting competition was won by Mrs. Dorset and a most enjoyable time was spent by all present. A boy, aged 15, who escaped from the boys’ training farm, at Weraroa on Tuesday, was discovered in a house at the corner of Silburn Stand Allen Load, Grey Lynn, Amok, land, on Sunday evening. The boy had been employed on licensed sc’ • vice.

While George Morriss was tilling the petrol tank of a motor-truck at Te Awaniutn on Saturday night, an electric lamp burst, causing the fumes to ignite. Morriss was painfully burnt about the arms and legs. The garage building was levelled to the ground, and apparently the forepart of the truck is beyond repair. The brigade arrived in time to confine the flames to the garage, saving the adjoining buildings. The garage was not insured. The truck is covered 'by insurance in the Standard Office, but the amount is not available.

The blue and white lupin used so extensively by the Motuiti Flax Co., for building up the sandy soil of their property is a Native of Europe. It is an annual and grows prolifically on the light soil around Foxton. The blue lupin, is slightly quicker growing than the white and has a blue seed considerably larger than the white one. Both, however, come up from four to seven days after planting. Mr. Seifert procured his first seeds, 60 bushels, from Auckland and from the crops obtained now has an ample supply to last for many years to come.

An interesting feature about tiie llax planting operations being carried out at Motuiti by the Motuiti Flax 00. is that nothing is done by guess work. Every hatch of flax planted in the nurseries is carefully recorded, the date of .planting, size, etc., being noted down while measurement stakes are placed at the end of each row by means of which a check is kept on the growth of the plants over certfain periods. A glance at these stakes informs the visitor to the plantation of the complete history of the plants since they were planted out. Mr. A. Seifert recently made a careful study of flax plants at Paiaka and as a result of observations extending over two years has now been able to determine the life of a flax blade. Under ordinary conditions the life of the blade from the sucker stage until it is too old to strip is one year and nine months although with nursery groKvu plants the longevity is increased slightly.

Amid the rumbling (-.rash of the mountains, the falling of chimneys, the smashing of glass and crockery, when the earth shook at Arthur’s Pass for 12 hours almost continuously, there was one man, entirely unmoved and undisturbed, who slept through the night in his bed. While the residents gathered, terror-stricken, on the veranda of the hostel, the cook was comfortably asleep inside. He arrived the previous Thursday, but he must have decided immediately that Arthur’s Pass had no terrors for him. In his bedroom next to the kitchen, the falling ruin of crockery, pots and pans must have made his slumbers somewhat uneasy, but he did not trouble to move. Soon after 11 o’clock (relates the Christchurch “Sun”) he was wakened by another employee who told him of the chaotic state of the kitchen, and urged him to come outside to the safety of the open air. “Yes, I suppose there is a hit of a mess,” said the cook sleepily, as he turned over on the other side, “but I think I’m right enough here.” And there he stayed, a man of courage. But it is said that even his courage failed when he caught sight of the kitchen in the morning.