LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 20 January 1919, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At . an enthusiastic meeting held at Levin on Thursday night last an amateur athletic club was formed, Mr M. L. Williams being elected secretary and Mr Farland assistant secretary.

Prohibition of export of tallow, hides, skins undressed, fur skins, and rabbit skins to the United States has been withdrawn. New Zealand hemp maynow be exported to U.S.A. under license without limit as to quantity.

The Queen was present at a Maori soldiers’ display in aid of St. Dunstan’s House for the Blind. The performance included war dances and representations of Native life. There was a crowdci attendance.

The British Distillate. Company propose? to start works shortly for the treatment- of tar products in the -Wellington district. This is a new and important project that will attract considerable interest in ‘ commercial circles.

The regulations restricting the c-x- ---| port .of timber are causing great eon-fc-ern in Hokitika, where the sawmillI ing industry is said to be imperilled. 1 Strong representations are being made Ito the Government on the matter by local bodies and others. It is sng- | gested that the Coast should be ex- » emated frphriklie operation of the xegu* J lationa. I'-r/i-ii'l Public given that ail creditors and others'-hsving claims .against ■the estate of ehc'late Joan Btown, of Oiaki. are requested to send same in detail to the Public Trust Office on.or. 'before the 20th' of March sent.' AH I moneys tavajdc' to the above estate I may bo lodged to the credit of the | Public Trustee at any postal'; money ' order office- .

A case of 'diphtheria 1 was reported in Levin last week.

The armistice has been extended for a month, Germany having accepted all Marshal Loch’s conditions-.

Applications for the position of roadman for the Otaki Koad Board arc advertised for; wages, 10s per diem.

Manaia, a small Taranaki /township, is about to Taise a loan for a water :u. drainage scheme.

to the collection of the dog tax in Gtaki is advertised by the Town Board.

The prices of both sheep and cattle showed a decline at the stock sales licit in Mastcrton last week.

Messrs Abraham and Williams, Ltd., advertise entries for their Levin stock sale, which takes place to-morrow (Tuesday). Jn the Mastcrton Magistrate 's Court Arthur Maltby, a. restaurant keeper, was lined £2.1 for keeping liquor for sale in a no-license district.

At the Napier Supreme Court, Norton Thompson, solicitor, of Hastings, was sentenced by Mr Justice Hosking to four months’ hard labour for theft of moneys entrusted to him by a client.

The “Manawatu Times” in urging that a start should be made with the hydro-electrical scheme, states that the ■Minister of Public Works is ‘‘as slow as a turtle and as stubborn as ”

A Mastcrton blacksmith, who lias 'been in business for 25 years, is closing down at the end of this week owing to his inability to procure assistance for which lie has extensively advertised.

Wednesday next, January 22nd (Anniversary Day), will be observed as a o'.nk holiday. Nearly all of the local business places will also observe a liolicl»y that any, though the lost office.will .•pen as usual.

Mr E. Irvine, our local bootmaker, quotes some prices for new summer foot wear. Considering the high price ot' all leather goods these quotes will be found most reasonable. Ste new advertisement.

■Thirty-four .States out of tlie fortyeight in the Union have ratified the amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the drink traffic in the UniteStates. The final passage of the amend ment. is certain.

Tho Horowhenua County. Council gives notice by advertisement, that ten per cent penalty will be added to al rates unpaid after Thursday, February 20th. Those who have not yet paid their rates should make sure of settlim same before the penalty is- imposed.

After making investigations, Professor Kirk reports that tho shark which was found on the beach at Kapiti recently was a eeporhiiius maximus (basking shark). There is a record of a similar one having been found near Auckland in I Slid, measuring 34 feet 9 inches in length.

The High School teachers of Palmerston North arc collecting funds for the establishment of a memorial to the late Mr .T. R. Vernon, to which end it

their intention to place a brass tablet in the school and to establish a scholarship. This will involve an outlay of at least. £250.

A prominent and influential local resident. has stopped 'his subscription to the ‘‘Otaki Mail,” as a protest against the article we published last week with reference to the ‘‘bar to progress” that existed in Otaki. . It, is apparent that our remarks must have struck home to the person in question.

Attention is called - tc. an altered advertisement (on our fourth page) inserted by the ’ Horowhenua. County Patriotic Association,, relative tb work required by returned soldiers. The list includes several fresh names, and anyone who-can place any of the applicants should communicate with Mr F. P. AYalklcy, secretary. Levin.

It is notified by advertisement that the firm of Xcu Guy and Go., fruiterers, of Otaki, has been dissolved. In connection with this announcement Mr Yen Guy announces that he will in future carry on the business s :T premises next to Mr A. E. Anderson’s, . Mill Road, managed by him in the past, anl asks for a continuance of the support accorded him hitherto.

A strange fatality is reported from Sydney. A child of two years, named Myrtle Gunn, who lived with her mother, was playing in the backyard, in her mother’s absence, when she caught her head in the loop of an old blouse which was hanging low from the clothes-line. She was fotmd in this position soon after, and medical attention was secured, but the child died. the. same day.

A rumour, much exaggerated, has been published in a Welingtoa paper to the effect that two boys were rescued, when nearly drowned, by Air Huggins at Otaki beach on Thursday, and that the rescuer was greatly exhausted. We are informed that one little fellow was in difficulties, but was quickly brought to shore before there was much danger, and further that the occurrence did not happen near the seaside resort, _ where the beach is perfectly safe, but’ beyond the Waitohu stream.'

A giant sample of rhubarb was brought to the “Chronicle” office by Mr Peter Oag, of Fairfield. Levin (says the local paper). One stalk and. leaf weighed jiiit on three pounds, while the outspread leaf measured 3ft Sin by 3ft Sin. Another stalk fell a litle short of these dimensions. As evidence of the fertility of Fairfield land, the rhubarb is convincing. Mr Oag states that it was grown on virgin soil, into which a little manure imu been ploughed, and that the plants were, year-old seedlings. Another Fairfield farmer mention? that his rjc-aerc-hold-ing carries nine head of dairy cows, all the year round, anti in jiddiuon las! year provided enough nay for his own use and severed.tons for sale. Records mch &s .these . will ..stand, comparison with the,beat the Dominion can show elsewhere.

Residents on the high levels end outskirts of Nelson are complaining of a shortage of water.

It- is ' saifl that the expenses in connection with the - epidemic in the Ha went Hospital district amount to over £3300.

Preliminary notice is given of an important sale oi' live and dead stock in the estate of the late Bright Bros., to be held at Otaki on February 3rd.

Britain is suffering from a plaguo of rats. It. is so serious that the Board of Agriculture has established a special department to cope with it under experts.

Mr A. Montgomerie, who judged the Ayrshire classes at the Horrowhenua A. and P. Show last Keek, has purchased the bull calf of Mr T. L Colpman’s champion cow. Defendant in a police court action at Ocaki to-day staecd he had "gone at Otaki to-day stated he had “gone through” some £72 in eight weeks. As is usual in such cases, drink was responsible for tiie bulk of the nionev lost.

Air Percy McLeavey, son of Air ,‘Fas. AlcLeavey, of Levin, sustained sonu painful injuries to his face cn Wednesday evening through his horse bolting up Alakomuko road and colliding with a telegraph pole.

A reminder is given of tin- sale of a bay mare, impounded at the Otaki pound, to be held to-morrow (Tuesday) at noon, unless the animal is released prior to that hour. As a rule these sales of impounded stock attract a number of people on the look-out for a good bargain.

A motor car, occupied ny Messrs Vivian Cox (National Insurance Company) and Faneourt ■ (a returned soldier erstwhile employed bv Sargood,. Son and Ewen), while proceeding from Napier to Crantliorpe, overturned ai. Harper’s corner, pinning Faneourt underneath and killing him. Cox es--eapej uninjured. Faneourt was a Alain Body man.

Another Yankee Tournament will be bold at tho Alanakau tennis courts on Wednesday next (Anniversary Day). Two visitors to Alanakau (Misses Alaslicjy have very kindly donated prizes .for the competition, which promise to* excite keen interest. Mrs Afickelly(secretary of the club) is lnakiugyairangements for the tournament. with her usual energy and cntluisiusnj.

A serious accident - occurred at Chau a few days ago, when tho thir-teen-year-old son of Air Albert ALirgan had both legs broken. TJTc lad was driving a milk-cart, when the liorse shied and overturned the vehicle, which toppled over an embankment. The lad has been removed to the Palmerston North hospital for treatment.