NEWS AND NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3982, 10 August 1929, Page 1

NEWS AND NOTES.

Wanganui is in the fortunate position ef being able to supply a first-grade pumice, and the demand for this from other parts of NeW Zealand is steadily on the increase. For instance, in irfiany private honies chilling cabinets are used, and here again pumice comes in very handy for insulating. Quantities ane also shipped to Australia at regular intervals. A shipping agent remarked that the demand for pumice from Wanganui was only in its infancy, to what it would be in a few years’ 'time. What is claimed as a record has been achieved by the boys of the Hikutaia ('Thames Valley) school in the primajry football schools competition, .byought to a close last Saturday, when Hikutaia defeated - Paeroa by 51 to nil. The matches played this season between the same schools have resulted 40 to nil, 37 to nil, 26 to nil, and 43 to nil, a total of 197 points to nil. This school won the shield for the first time last year also being undefeated throughout the competition. The issue shows how well boys respond to careful constant coaching along orthodox lines. There was exhibited in Wjhangarei recently an object that indicated that in the dim and distant past that district experienced a severe volcanic Upheaval. The object in question was a large piece of stone picked up at Hardie (Brothers’ quaijry, at Tikdpunga, after J biasing operations. The stone had embedded in it a large piece of charcoal. At one time evidently a portion of a branch or trunk of a tree, it was immersed in molten

stone, during" some volcanic disturbance, and until the gelignite tore away part of the covering, remained for who knows how many centuries -in its airtight and flintlike casket. This sermon in stone is to be presented to the Whangarei Museum. Competition runs Ikeenly with re- , gard to the early birth of lambs this winter. upon the publication of a statement that the first, lannib of the season in the Auckland province was born at Tuakau on July 3, a. communication was received from a. South Otago .correspondent claiming to beat this record with the birth of a lamb on June 26 (says the Otago Daily Times). Information has now been received from an Oturehua resident of the advent of lambs in that district in the second week of May. Although competitive effort is obviously out of the question at -this stage of the season, and although the question is to a large degree retrospective any instances of “autumn-flowering” would he gratefully accepted. T'wo Wanganui Council employees had a. startling experience at the rubbish tip the other afternoon (says the Herald). They were burning rubbish when two loud explosions occurred in a fire some distance from where they were working. Debris was shot up in all directions, but fortunately neither of the men sustained any injuries. A sub mi) an resident who was working in his garden about a quarter of a mile from the tip heard the reports and was amazed to see a gas container whizz through the air and partially ,burv itself in the ground. It was jagged in appearance. It is believed that two of these containers were embedded in seme of the rubbish that had been carted to the tip, thus accounting for the two ex-

•plosions. 'This incident shows the great, danger of putting explosive materials in rubbish tins.

The* Maori is a great (philosopher, and frequently adds humour to his philosophing (says the Auckland Star). In a country district a few score males from the city some natives lihad jbuilt a whare amongst some 'beautiful native bush, and had t-aiken rather a big contract of gorse grubbing which was not paying them well. At the week-end some pakehas who went to see how they were getting on found that they had foregone their Saturday half-holiday in an endeavour to make enough money to buy kai. '‘The white man bring the gorse to New Zealand, and now he get the Maori to try to take out the roots,” was the way one of the hardestworking Maoris put it. “The white fellow he at the football match today because he earn 14/- a day on relief work. They say to the Maori, ‘Go into the country and work on the land —that is the place for you.’ Then when wo have grubbed the gorse, the white man conies along with his horse and ploughs where we have cleai'ed, and then says: ‘Look what we can produce from the land!’ All that was produced till the Maori cleared it was gorse.” A Maori woman who was helping at the work gave the pakehas a parting shot bv saying that the Maori was still the slave of the pakeha, and that she would not be able to buy a new dress to parade Queen Street in when the job was over, as she was earning too little.