LOCAL AND GENERAL.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17169, 28 March 1927, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Shortly before ten o'clock last nighi the electric. light failed, and for about ten minutes the town was plungcd into darlcness. On inquiry al the power house it . was learnt that something had gone wrong with the transmission line and it had been necesary to shut off the current to rectify a fault tliat had developed at the power station. About an hour before the lights actually went out they faded for a few minutes to a mere glimmer whieh made rcading practically impossible.

! "I advisi -il you farmerr, lo hoid ; your vrheat. I think it wiil gu back to 6s." — Mr J. 0. Coop (presldent) at the annual meeting of the Canierbury A. and p. Association. j On Saturday morning a first offender was hrought before Mr II. ; Greufell, j.f., at the Police G'curt on ? a charge of drunkenness and fined 10s in default 24 hours' imprisonment. This is the first recorded case of drunkenness in Oamaru since last year. The Country Tennis Association's cup was presented to the winning team (Tokarahi) by the president of the North Otago Association (Mr H. B. Reid) at a gathering at Tokarahi on Friday night. Mr Reid warmly congratulated the winners and also referred to the excellent work the Country Association was doing in the interests of tennis. At a meeting of the execucive of | the Westland Timber Workers' Un- ! ion, held at Greymouth it was de- [ cided that the "Grey River Argus" I directors representing the Union be ! instructed to objeci io the way the Duke of York's visit to the West Coast was boosted in that news- | paper. The "Argus" is run under | Lahour auspices. ! ! That winter dairying in New Zealand was well vrorthy of consideration was the opinion expressed by Mr L. B. Beale, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner, at the Wellington Rotary Club iuncheon recently. It was significant . said Mr Beale, that the Empire Marketing Board, in its last repori, asserted that the grass cropped products of the( Empire was more important than the cereal crops. In 1925, Britain imported dairy products and grass crop products to the value of £150,000,000. The>value of cereals imported was £50s000,000. That position indiicated to a country like New Zealand the importance of Britain's trade in those two commodities. It also indicated the possibilities in regard to winter dairying. Some five years ago a lady living at Marton lost her wedding ring, and though diligent search was made, no trace of the missing ring could he discovered. Some time afterwards, the lady died, but there was a family gathering at the old homestead last week, when two grandchildren who were playing in the garden quarrelled. One picked up a sod to throw at the other when a ring dropped out. It was^ taken in hy the children to their parents, who recognised it as the long-lost wedding ring. Strange to say, it was fountf on what would. have been the grandmother's golden wedding day. The Elderslie Stud is shipping sixteen yearlings from Wellington for Sydney hy next Friday's steamer, to he offered1 at the Easter saies next month. The batch comprise nine fillies, six being by Paper j Money, two by Archery, and one j hy Kilbroney from the follpwing'l mares : — Kilhreeze, Killena, 'Robur1, | Zany, Kilherry, Bopeep, Cotillion, i Snow Waif, and Philomel; six colts, | flve by Paper Money from Lady Va- j ward II., Esther, Afterglow, Secret \ Link. and Glein Helen; and one hy i Archery from Sunny Corner. A | gelding hy Kilboy from Bebehead completes the list. Mr ' T. Handley, manager of the stud, will accom- j pany the consignment, which ! should command the attention - of ; Australian buyers. This batch brings the^ total yearlings producedi , from Elderslie, for sale in New Zea- \ land and Australia, to 42, and their . places on the stud farm will he | dlled by 43 foa's, which have re- ! 'cently heen weaned and handled. . | It has been mentioned lately that | the first telephone exchange in Lon- j dan was opened in 1880. It is a re- j markable, ibut sufficiently wellauthenticated, fact that a year prior to this a telephone bureau was opened in a small village in New Zealand, 12,000 miles away from Lond'on. The telephone era began in 1878. Many years ago, Mr JT. K. Logan, who then occupied the posi- j tion of Superintendent of Telegraphs in New Zealand, stated at a social gathering in Wellington that the first pair of telephones used in New Zealand were tried in Wellington and proved a success. The second pair were hrought into use in Otago in February, 1878. "Prob- 1 ably," Mr Logan said. "the first telephone offiee in the world used for the transmission of public telegrams was established at the beginning of 1879 at Portobello, Otago Peninsula." Inquiries were made •by the late Mr A. D. Lubecki, at that time officer in charge of telegraphs in Dunedin, as to the authenticity of this statement. The investigations made by Mr Lubecki confirmed Mr Logan's statement to the extent that no instance was cited of the establishment of a public telephone bureau at any date earlier -than that at which the bureau in Portobello was opened. The primary object of this bureau was to adinit of telephone communication with the lighthouses at Taiaroa Head and Cape Saunders.