LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 6 January 1919, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A cablegram states that the Prince of Wales may tour the Dominions in the spring.

Mr P. S. Mackenzie, dentist, -of Levin- advertises that he will hot be visiting Otaki again until Thursday, January- lfith.

Messrs Abraham and Williams, Ltd., advertise particulars of their Levin stock sale, to be held to-morrow i Tuesday).

The office of the New Zealand Shipping Company received a cable message on Monday staring that the Ruahine. carrying troops and cargo, had arrived at Colon. She is expected in Auckland on or about the 22nd List,

It is fitting that General Pau and the French Mission now in New Zealand should visit Aka roa—which was settled by ska French in 1540., The Mission will visit Aka roa on January Oth, and will be met among others by M. Libeau. the sole survivor of the old French set tiers.

A Loudon cablegram state# the New Tear was celebrated with revel# of extraord’iioiT gaiety in •' the West End. The m-jst handsome dresses, were in et»* tieo/P; and feasting and dancing^lasted till' a-cgty iioin. .Hoist erW crowd# in the street? nia.de-jauch b' i: - then: waif little -uEruluiess. fracied.iin usual Scottish gathering, ’M wliieh Dominion anal troop# were a cagsgkuous c-lement. - \

Levin telephone exchange list now *’ has 149 subscribers; Poston 120, Feild- ( ing 450. and Palmerston North 1100. j •[' The fortnightly meeting of the Otaki ; Braids’ Lodge will be held to-morrow { (Tuesday) night, when a good attend-! 5 anee is specially requested. , * j 'flic rainfall in Palmerston North ' during 11)IS totalled 4f1.07in, the highest * ' ieeorff since observatipns have been ' ! taken iu that town. At Mount Bruce ! (Says the “Wnirarapa Daily Times”) the rainfall last year was no loss than 54.25 inches, the highest ever recorded. . ’ ■ ! j ' * 1 The Imperial authorities have ad- ' i vised the Dominion Butter jutd Cheese j Committee that the ad van oh will now I be paid on butter and cheese after it ' I has been in cool store for 1-1 days, ini stead of 2S days as in the past. This is regarded as a big concession and will materially assist dairy companies ’ 1 finance. While the production of sugar~has increased enormously in other parts of the world, the output iu Europe has decreased owing to Mho necessity for j I dneing other crops, and to the scarcity ! of fertilisers. In "Germany the sugar produced has' dropped from 2,600,000 j 1 toils iu 1914-15 to 1,600,000 tons jn ; 1917-18; in Austria-Hungary fromj 1,610,000 tons to 668,250 tons; in Bel- . giunt, from .124,049 tons to t!5,050 tons; ; undtin France, from 706,277 tons to , ■ 199,882 tons. a ; At the annual distribution of prizes ] ’ to tlie scholars of the Xpi Tapu school I ’ (says the Christchurch “Press”), the : chairman' ("Mr T. O. Morgan) referred to the noteworthy attendance record of the Phnubridge family. Doris had f attended school for seven years, Made--1 line‘-eight. Irene" six, and Flerrie eight (the last named has now concluded her 1 schooling), and none of the four has ' over missed a roll cull in an aggregate ! of 29 years, e Quietly, and without .advertisement r three women land workers have been 1 doing fine service at the-Hutt Valley. and art? now being employed by Mr V Strand, wiio is a well-known dairyman iV. iii that district. These energetic works ers ploughed, prepared, and planted a y potato patch several acres in extent, and so satisfied is their employer with their work in -this und other farm activities, such as milking, etc., that lie intends to retain their services.— f “Post.” A unique war souvenir was received in Levin by Mrs 11. D. Ralston from her husband, Private Ralston. This was a German steel helmet, a protection for the head against bullets and shell splin--1 tors. The helmet, which weights 2Jib, is made to conic well down over the head ami is padded on the inside, while the outer pi.'.acc is punted in brown, green and black. Steel helmets were adopted by most of the warring nations 1 in the great struggle, and the helmet in question will be of interest in years to come as a product of our late enemies.— “Chronicle.” V * Two properties have been bought rst cently by the Government in Waira- ■ rapa for settlement by discharged sol- • diers. One of the purchases is from i .Messrs J. and C. Bidwell. an area of r 2197 acres, which will be subdivided » into about thirty sections. The Minist , ic," of Lauds, the Hon. D. H. Guthrie. ’ | says .that this is the best of dairying ’ I land obtained at a reasonable price, and rjhc anticipates some very successful ■ j settlement. This urea is nearly ready ' I for selection. The other block is West -

mere, more than 5000 acres, land of varied quality, which will be divided into six or eight sections. The Minister states that tills land was bought at a price which will give flic occupier# a good opportunity.

The scarcity of matches in England i#, humorously indicated in this “free advertisement.” from London “Punch. “A correspondent would like to heat from anv man who contemplates striking « match in South Ken sib gt on, with a view to sharing same.” More sorb ously. Professor Spooner, in “Health •from Waste.” says that in the interests of economy matches'should be so made to strike at both ends. "Waste, he remarks, goes on in nearly every dixec- } |i oa . Apart from big items, look at • some of the small ones. There is waste of candles, mustard (which should be made up in paste form), pin# (which arc made and lo#t by the million), string (the rag pickers of Paris earn £066 a year out of bit# of string in the rubbish boxes). and tram and bus tickets (ivhich, if dropped into a box at j the end of the London vehicles alone, j might be sold for £6 a day). Sergeant Hugh Eraser, formerly of ] the “Taranaki Daily News” staff, is on the staff of the publicity department in ! connection with New Zealand affairs at j Home. Writing fb a friend in New Ply- ; mouth by the lesr mail, he says: “Even ' if the war should end this year our : work will not be over, because the demobilisation of the New Zealander# is going to take at least twelve months, and so there will still be plenty of copy for us. Whatever may qe the result Jl oar work in New Zealand, it is not too much to say that wc have achieved wonders in England, for both in photos and news matter we have put out a great deal of stuff, and.have gained a much wider publicity for New Zealand vijr, ''enjoyed before. I think the' Government ought to be induced to j establish such a department after-the j war. A certain amount is done by the } High Commissioner already, bat I do not think it goes far enough, susd-whsi j we are now doing could be made the j nucleus of a department that I have no f doubt would "fully justify itself. New j Zealand is much' before the people bow j on- position is this respect i# much j better than it was when I was in Lon- j don live years I feel we can j advertise better, and I-have no doubt i that unless the Government does some- f thing thai we are going to be beaten j bv Canada and-Australia its"'our quest j 1 -v,. new population, in the' years to j : <tow>p!> v i

Lor IfiSueaza take . ytoo-'lst ■ o zzii gsppexßtlnl Gaze, Krrer faiiy-

Another big draft of returned soldiers, 933 in number, is expected to arrive in New Zealand very shortly. ! For summer wear white footwear is j most fashionable and popular. A splendid range of Indies’ white footwear is ! stocked at Pearce ’s Boot Arcade. Cuba Street, Wellington, and a few prices arc ‘ quoted in new advertisement in this issue. Special attention is given by this firm to country orders. The New Zealand Shipping Company states that .the sailing vessel TerpsiI chore has left St. John’s (NewfoundI land) tor Wellington-with a cargo, in- ! eluding a large quantify of paper for 1 New Zealand newspapers. She comes | via the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage is estimated to take 100 to 120 days, j L The vital statistics for Palmerston , North for the months-of November and December disclose that there were 160 deaths. Of these, figures approximately 135 were attributed as due to influenza I in the first instance. November’s deathrate alone totalled 132, while for the ‘ i whole year there were 325, as against ' 170 deaths in 1977. j age. a stranger to Dannovirke, was" 1 found dead,in the railway urinal on " Saturday morning. Deceased was a ‘ powerful man, nearly six fcet_ high, 1 and was wearing u brown tweed eoat J and trousers, with grey vest. He was j found lying face downwards cm a cushs 1 ion taken from a railway carriage? and II i had apparently expired in liis sleep. I General Paw and the French Mission l | * passed through Otaki and district" yesj terday .afternoon, by motor cars, en t route, from Wanganui to Wellington. i Their gaily-decked cars attracted much j attention as they passed rapidly down 1 1 the line. The Mission was heartily lB 1 welcomed at. Palmerston North, where c j after partaking of luncheon. General j Fan delivered an address iu the Square, it j The distinguished visitors will be ■n-‘ forrauHv welcomed at Wellington tor. ! day. i' , a correspondent, to the “Mauawatu " I Daily 'Times” calls the editor ot that | paper to book for bad spelling, and a adds: “You are a good writer but a L j mighty bad speller.” In a footnote, h 1 thanking the writer for his courteous -• ! admonition, the editor of the “Times” 10 | savs: “The writer is wrong; we are a “ | bytl writer and a good speller, but when I the linotypist gets guessing the next ti best has to suffice.” Corporal Leslie Robert Best, a roa turned soldier, met his death early yesir terday morning by falling three stories t- from a fire escape at the back of the i. Columbia Private Hotel, Cuba street, e Wellington. He was found dead in the e , yard with his skull badly shattered. It a is not yet known how the deceased c came to full. The deceased, who was ~8 s veins of age, for some time was in Syd- „ ney. where his parents reside at 380, 11 i George street. His widow, who tor- _ ( nierly lived in Palmerston North, is now in Syduev with her sixtccii-yonr-ffUl son. Best went, to the front, with the 25th -■ i Reinforcements in .191 i, and returned >• j by the Navun on the 20th ult. I ! Some wonderful fruit was displayed lat the Royal Horticultural .Society ’# 1 autunio show Hi London, there m ‘ ! British-grown apples weighing IMb; l " ! golden pears Ifiiii long and turning the '• 1 at 21b; and 17in ior.g bunches of ? jmrple grape#, weigbing from 9R> to , 1.01 b." More of a surprise was a very II fine pineapple (Queen’s Pine), grown y under glass at Way bridge. ”P ,H " 1,!l! 1 ‘ rarely,” said an official, “that, a home 11 grown pinc is to be seen among the ex- ’’ hibits at the British-grown fruit show. \ Among .the successful exhibitors were 1 the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of '' Newcastle, Lord Hillingdon, and the Lari of Bessborough. * In Marlborough on Christinas Day . there .was six ami a-half degrees of frost. The whole countryside was 1 covered with a white mantle, strangely ; ! foreign to a stage of the season closely approaching the height- of summer, and i the temperature was deeidcly sharp. The hot sun soar: melted the winterlike covering, but as it did so a great ’ amount of damage was'done to tender growth. Potatoes withered, pea# wili ted, and beans, tomatoes, and young walnut# were blackened. The unusual visitation caused a material amount of loss to the agricultural industry, io say nothing of the gardens. It played, havoc with the field# of potatoes, which present a shrivelled appearance all over the district; and it wilted the pea crop# badly, not only catching the young pods, but also the advanced growth. Some crop# of potatoes and peas were converted in a night from ’ highly profitable proposition# into alImost hopeless failures. The frost is considered to have Caused more damage than any previous occurrence .of a. similar nature. The following on extract from a letter received from a New Zealand lady now living in London, dated October 11 (exactly one month before .the date of the arxaistics): —“It" is generally thought that the winter will be , some puzzle, a g foo/1 is: very scarce. I ' had to go two miles on three occasions in the one day for a rabbit -which I was lucky to secure, considering, that the crowd were fighting to get served as: the supply was limited. The rabbit co#t 45d. We are allowed Jib of meat each ; per week. Our fat ration# are jib lard. 2oz baiter. 4oz margarine each x>cr j | week. Next month we. are to be rationed for jam. marmalade or syrap. We I eon choose one of'the three, and the ; allowance will be at -jib per week- -Sal- : h# 3s per tin, any nuts 3s per lb; sweet# are seldom seen. Apple# {cook- ® '«**> W. eating 1# 6d per lb. 'Plums “ brought 2# 3d per lb. We are lucky in .. getting eggs from a farm at 4j*l eseh, and fowl# at 9# fUI. One had to give tro a coupon for a week ’# food to get a w f'-"""* b A bine suit costs £8 Bs/ and -j----brown Harris tweed £9 9s. Men can '■■■ get nothing made under £8 6s. and anytaiag at that price;is not worth having. Tlie cheapest tromwi’s -ksol stoekihg#- m are #.;The grant’mg qf the arrciitiiie v.Paid co doubt f t btisg the above prices down wiiii. a ztuu.*

The Waikanae stock sales take place on Wednesday next. Stli inst., us advertised. A notice appears elsewhere with respect to a dark bay mare, impounded at the Otaki public pound. The Customs revenue received at. the port of New "Plymouth last year reached the record total of £54,115, against ; £48,252 for the previous year. The vital statistics show 115 deaths in November and December-,...against 34 for the previous year, indicating about SO due to the influenza epidemic. Many, however, were brought from outside the registration district for treatment Sat the local hospital. ■ Oft repeated conventions pass unnoticed until someone with insight perceives the hidden virtue anew. “Swat that fly” stands for more than appears from the thought. Like the onecpopular game of ping-pong, this recreation has obsessed whole families, who thus combine a sporting rivalry with a “healthy” recreation. The “swat” is an American innovation, and is wonderfully effective in ridding the house of the fly pest. Palmerston North.lms just awakened to.the new game. *The weapon is made of wire gauze, fitted into a wooden handle, and is effective because it causes no current of air in its’ sudden descent.—“ Times.” No fewer than nine members of the New Zealand Parliament died during the year just ended. Four, members of the Legislative Council passed away, including iSir Charles Johnston, Speaker, and Sir Henry Miller, an ex-Spcnkor. The other two Councillors who died were the Hon. W. Morgan, of Gisborne, and the lion. A. X. Maginnity, of Nelson. The five members of the House of Representative!.; who died during the year were Messrs C. R. Partita (Soutli- : era Maori), R. Fletcher (Wellington ; Central), H. J. H. Okcy (Taranaki), A. H. Hiiidimirsh (Wellington South), ! and D. Buiek (Palmerston). Seven byelections were held during tho year, three being to fill vacancies' in Wellington cify seats. Nineteen new members

of tho Legislative! Council were appointed "in May last.