THE OTAKI MAIL. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 5 January 1923, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Beadew of the -"Mail" aTo notified that subscriptions ia advance for the current quarter are due. By paying in advance a saving of Is may be made, and all who wish to secure this concession should do go at once.

The rodent wool sales at Wauganui resulted in oyer £IOO,OOO being distributed among thg wool-grower; of the district.

The first rabbit seen alive in Patea borough was shot on Christmas Day. The pest is reported to be numerous in the adjacent .Wbeauakura district. The Wanganui Borough Council has decided to Jtfcke. steps to recover outstanding rates, which' approximate £IO,BOO covering 1000 progenies. Inquiries concerning the growing of gineseng, a plant the Chinese use for medicinal purposes, are! to be made by the plant branch of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society. Master S. Jury, a pupil of the Omata" (Taranaki) school has a record of which he can feel justly proud. For nine and a half years he haf not missed i an attendance at school. \

An unusual case occupied the atteo-1 tion of the surgery staff at the Auckland Hospital the other day. An in-j fant child named Darcy Self, whose parents live at Taakau, was X-rayed for. the purpose of locating an iron staple j which ha swallowed. The child >i> strange and dangerous *'tit-bit" j found and the doctors were successful ' in removing the piece of iron without hurting the youngster, Building in Dnaedin is much brisker than at the same time last year. According to the city building surveyor "s books, the money value of erections and additions in Dunedin and suburbs (excluding St. Kilda) for the period April Ist to November 30th is set down at £221,787, or £79,667 more than for the corresponding period of 1921. New residences sccount for most of the increase, and it is in l£aori Hill arc" Anderson Eay that dwellings have been going up at tie greatest rat*.

2vew Ye&i resolution ere tig order of the day. Here is one that Trill ?tve you pounds for 1&23 if yon d«cid» to toy ail your foptwe&r ia Otaki at Irviae'e Bios fitorg.—A to.

The second test match between the visiting M.C.G. cricket team and New Zealand commenced in Christchurch today. , ,

Train arrangements in connection with the Pahiatua Eacing Club's annual meeting, at Pahiatua, on. Wednesday, January 10th, are advertised in this issue.

There was a large attendance at the Lyric Pictures on Wednesday evening on the occasion of the benefit given by the management in aid of the Otaki school picnic and prize fund. Tho evening's entertainment was on enjoyable one, and the school funds should receive a welcome addition.

Messrs J. Bainbridge and Son have commenced business in Otaki as eontractors and general carriers, and are prepared to convey and dispatch goods to all parts of the North Island. They have an up-to-date plant of motor lorries in charge of capable drivers, and will run a daily service between Otaki and Wellington.

Black eyes have been the reward of several local cricketers, this season states the "Timaru Post." On Saturday one wicket keeper received a severe "skelp of the eye-ball" during an over, but he nobly determined to see the game out. Fate was against him, however, and his determination to keep his remaining eye on the ball sent him off the field with two black eyes crying out for healing beef steak.

A widow and seven out of eight children, aged from one to ten years, were burnt to death on a farm at Wexford, England, owing to a hay rick catching fire. No cries were heard, the victims being suffocated in their sleep and the bodies incinerated. The coroner said he believed the fire was due to incendiarism. One girl, aged eight, escaped, as she was spending Christmas with an aunt.

Mr Barton, S.M. :it Wanganui, in dealing with a case under the Arms Act, said that no doubt the Act was more far-reaching than Parliament ever intended it to hi-. The fact was that

men, owners of shot-guns, when they changed their address and wont to another address, were required tu notify the police. This meant that fully ninetenths of the population of the Domiuion could not change their address without the obligation of notifying.the police.

Cotton-growing is being conducted as an experiment at Galloway, Central Otago, where ten aeres have been planted. An irrigation scheme just brought into operation in the Manuhorika Valley is watering 21,000 acres of excellent land, and if the initial experiment turns out successfully, it may result in the establishment of a thriving industry. The Southland League is in communication with the British cotton interests with a view to getting the possibilities of Southland as a centre of the cotton industry in New Zealand thoroughly investigated. On her last Homeward passage from New Zealand, the Devon, at presont at Auckland, struck a spell of calm weather off Cape Horn. When rounding the headland what teemed to be flushing or signal lights were sighted from the land. Captain H. Gardner, the master of the Devon, thinking they might be signals from a shipwrecked crew, stood in, and took his veisel into an opening in the coast. Then tho mystery was stfrved, for tke light* were from a small whaler, which was boiling down her blubber. The lights were on her deck, and as the whaler rolled deeply in the swell, they were rogulnrly shut out, this giving them the character of a flashing signal.

"Are we in danger of losing the premier place on the British market for Canadian cheese! (asks a recent issue of the Montreal 'Weekly Star'). For many years, several decades, iu fact, our cheese was recognised as the bent in the world. We superseded the United States product on the British market, purely on the basis of quality. Our systems of factory inspection were the models for the world. And now New Zealand i* gaining a tremendous.' hold on the Oid Country cheese trade. Is there a danger that we have been patting ourselves on the back and assuming that our position was impregnable when we should have been striving earnestly for a still higher standard and keeping an eye en our competitors t" According to Sir James Cantlie there are four "social poisons." Alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee. Of these, he said in a lecture at the Institute of Hygiene on "Smoking and Its Effeets," the least harmful is tobacco. "You can get rid at the effects of tobacco poison|ing," he said, "by waiting for three 1 days, but if you had been drinking tea for forty years it left permanent ill-ef-fects on your stomach, while coffee was worse for it affected the heart. You all know the effect of tobacco on the heart and the lungs and the brain," continued Sir .Tames, "but nobody ever die-i of tobaceo poisoning." Cigarettes were s. constant source of irritation, and should &.srer be smoked. Smokers should smoke the same quantity of tobacco every day. '' You will be ill if i you vary your poison,'' he said.

A lady's gold wristlet watch which played an important parr in a theft ca;e in the lafercargill Magistrate's Court, provided an amusing interlude when the case was finished, states the ''Southland Times.' Counsel for the defence had used it freely during his cross-examination of witnesses, and a final conference wa« held over the watch on the Bench. After the Magistrate had vacated the Bench, counsel for the defence suddenly missed the watch and a harried search failed to reveal it. Visions ef another case arose before thoid istertsttd, and the ix&gistiats w*a iarried'y reealied frem his roon sed tbkzd about ir. Tor a. short pc-riol consternation reigsid attil the a-bsent-Triidec counsel for the defence discovered the w»tei raek«4 seatly in. hie otts -rmt peejat!

Visitors to the beaeh may 'hirVbatu-'j ing costumes from Mr T. P. Bansom, [ Cosy Nook, the beach. '

In common with other places along the coast, Otaki is experiencing very unsettled weather, and hay harvestingis being carried on with difficulty.

There were only 05 competitors at the Auckland Rifle Association meeting held at tho Penrose range. The falling off in numbers is considered to be due to the increased cost of shooting.

The Otaki river is providing anglers with good fishing tins season. Mr H. George, of Levin, recently lauded a seven pounder, and several other good lish have been obtained.

A party »f lo students iiom the conference at Solway have left- the VVairarapa side to tramp over Mount Rectoi to Utuki. A Wanganui resident, well conversant with the track, is acting as guide.

Tho Horowhenuu A. and I'. Association's annual show will be held at Levin on 31st January and Ist February. Entries (except post entries; close on Saturday, 20th January. See advertisement in this issue.

A "Mail" representative was informed this moiuing by Mr P. G. Davies, town clerk, that over Oo buildings had been erected in the borough during the last 12 months, and IS were in course of erection at the present time.

Quantities of good cocksfoot are lo be seen about the roads and on private properties in Otaki, and taking into account the saleable nature of this seed, it would seem a payable proposition to gather atid thresh it. Large quantities of seed is gathered annually in the South Island in this way.

A young man, an employee of the "New Zealand Herald," was assaulted and robbed while returning home from work about 2.30 a.m. in the morning. Two men came up to him and asked for a match. Suddenly he was seized by one from behind, and the other struck him a blow under the jaw, rendering him practically unconscious. His assailants then robbed him of a pocket wallet containing £l, Hud decamped. He was not severely injured.

Four stowaways were discovered aboard the steamer Otarama which arrived at Auckland from Liverpool. They were all boys about 10 years old, and, being unable to obtain work in England, hud decided to try their fortunes in a new country. They worked excellently on the voyage, two serving in the stokehold, and the others as stewards. In view of their conduct on board the ship'" authorities decided to take no action against them.