THE OTAKI MAIL. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 8 January 1923, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 1923. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Beaders of the "Mail" are notified that subscriptions in advance for the current quarter are due. By paying in advance a saving of Is may be made, and all wko •wish to secure this concession should do so at once.

The Church Army provided 1100 poor children in seventeen districts of London with Christmas dinner at the Guildhall, from funds provided by New Zealand children. While playing -with a pea-rifle a few days ago, an eleven year old boy at Stratford received an injury to his eye. Although the injury is of a serious nature, it is hoped (says the "Post") that the boy's sight will be saved. When passing through Palmerston North the Bight Hon. W. F. Massey was approached by members of the local Commercial Travellers' Association, with a request that he favour the association with, an enlarged photograph of himself. The Prime Minister promised to accede to the request, ]

A substantial increase is shovrn in the building permits issued by the Palmerston North Borough Council for the past twelve months. Permits on buildings and additions, to thf approximate value of £155,022, have been »«ued, *s Hjaiast £07,872 for tie rear West Coastari cav? adopted with enthusiasm s proposal to hold a British. and International Exhibition at Hold tika at th-Q end of the present yea: (states the Christchurch Sun), to com memorafft the completion of the Ar thur'e Pass tunnel, and to celebrate thf diamond jubilee of the Province oi West land. The average death" rate for New Zea land during November was 71 per 1,000 and Wellington's rate was .SS, the lowest of the four cities. Only three othej urban areas had a better record than Wellington—Hamilton .4, Hastings .52, and Wanganui .41. The Grey Valley boroughs had the highest rate, 1.31. Not Tear resolutions are the order of the day. Here is one that wiil save you pounds for 1923 if you decide to buy all your footwear in Otaki at IrSte&'f iihos 6.tor&-— A&zt,

5t is pointed out by a writer in a medical journal that bald-headed men never suffer from consumption, and that a tendency to baldness is an assurance that the dreaded scourge will pass over him whose thatch grows thin.

The silver medals won by the scholars of the Otaki Anglican Sunday Schools for 1922, are on exhibition in Mr L. St. George's window, and arc handsome trophies.

A Paraparaumu fisherman informed a "Mail" representative on Saturday that good catches of fish were being made off the coast just now. The demand, however, was not steady, and the fishermen were not so fully employed as they might be.

Rangiuru House is experiencing a very busy season with seaside visitors. The bookings so far has been the heaviest experienced, and this favourite house is rapidly gaining favour with those who enjoy a vacation in our Superb resort.

Sir James Allen has obtained from tho Admiralty the "ship's book" of H.M.S. Now Zealand. This takes the form of a large selection of valuable papers and records relating to the ship from its commission in 1913, those dealing with the war period being of especial interest.

An attempt to introduce grouse in the Tongariro National Park will bo made in a few weeks' time. Mr T. H. Lowry, of Hawke's Bay, who returned to tho Dominion by the Niagara, has donated seven brace of birds from Cumberland, which are due to arrive in AVcllington shortly.

On the way to the picnic at Kai Iwi beach on New Year's Day was a springcart load of portly ladies from Wanganui. One of the younger members of the party thought it would not be a bad idea to calculate the aggregate weights, and arrived at the decision that the sturdy horse was pulling four tons of humanity, apart from the cart and the heuvily-luden hampers.

The German Government is feverishly fitting out the ex-Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollcrn as a commercial exhibition. The vessel is in'ended to commenee a voyage to various parts of the British Empire in a few weeks. In connection with this (says a Loudon cablegram), it is understood that the action is intended to forestall the British trade ship, wh'ich is sailing for tho Dominions in March.

The practice of applying to the Court for the suppression of tho names of [ persons appearing in various charges, received discouragement at Gisborne last week. A case concerning the disobedience of a maintenance order was being heard, and counsel applied for the suppression of the name of the accused. "I am going to stop this practice," declared Mr E. C. Lorvey, S.M., who was on the Bench. "I am distinctly against it. I cannot and will not do it."

Two women who were walking near the tram terminus at Mount Eden recently observed another woman who had boarded a tram ear throw away a suit Case. They picked it up and walked oft" with it, apparently quit'.' unaware that the owner hud flung it overboard so that her daughter, who was busy in a telephone cull box might bring it home,

| "This country is overbuilt with | freezing works, there are far too many in New Zealand," said Mr E, A. Campbell when speaking at a meeting of tho Wanganui Harbour Board. He went on to say that a freezing works was looked upon as an £1 Dorado, once it was built the fortunes of all concerned were made, "That is not so," he remarked, "it is a grey-iieaded business, if not a bald headed one."

| The cheapness -of certain motor-cars -in Vancouver was commented upon by ■ Dr. J. P, Hastings, who recently returned from a visit to the United States and Canada. He said that second-hand cars of a well-known make, in first-class order, could be purchased for £SO, and new cars of the same make for £BO. The low prices, he suggested, may have been due to the fact that the city was feeling the pinch of hard times.

Hotel thieves are active in Auckland at present. In one hotel on Friday night the rooms of at least three visitors were entered and (relates the Herald) about £6O was stolen. One man ; was deprived of £43 in bank-notes, another £l4, and a third about £3. In each instance the bedroom door had been left unlocked, and when the guests awoke in the morning the money, which had been placed in the pockets of suits, had disappeared.

Some diversion and amusement was caused at the Marten races. The time had arrived for the public to flock round the totalisator to make their investments for a race. ' - A swarm of bees (says an exchange) appeared on the scene and hovered in the vicinity of the tote window. The followers of the sport of kings beat a hasty retreat and kept at a safe distance until tho bees had taken their departure. It was an anxious moment for many specula* tors, who thought, the tote might close before they had an opportunity to back their fancv.

I Plums may now be procured at Mrs \F. Flutey's orchard, Hautere Boad. -( The first stock sale of the year will be held in the Otaki yards on Thursday. I A meeting of the Otaki Bowling Club • will be held in the pavilion on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m. ; A farewell social and presentation is to be tendered to Mr and Miss Kirk at Te Horo on Thursday evening. An excellent programme has been prepared, and an enjoyable time is promised. A public, meeting will be held in the Te Horo Public Hall on Monday. 15th January, at S pan., to decide if the funds held by the Te Horo Sports Club should b« handed ov«r to tie newlyf oraSi vafttfitur dab,

A peculiar accident happened to Mr Percy Adams, Frankton Junction, recently. Mr Adams' car was standing in low gear near tho Frankton crossing, and when he turned the handle to start it the machine darted forward, knocking the motorist down and running over him. The car continued lon by itself util it reached the railway fence, into which it crashed. The sufferer had two ribs broken and bruises on the arms, legs, and head. Tho car was damaged, but to no great extent.

Somewhat over fifty years ago a farmer living midway between Palmerston and Feilding deposited a sum of money which represented the proceeds of two bales of lambs' wool, in the Post Office, in the name of his infant daughter. Knowing that it could not be drawn until she was seven years old, the book was carefully put- away and duly forgotten. Last week her youngest daughter was married, and in turning over a drawer the book was found and presented' to the bride. With compound interest this wedding gift of fine unspun wool gave a return of £62 per bale.

It came out at the Inventions Commission's inquiry that there was one thing that baffled the Germans. "Although aeroplanes with the Constautinesco machine-gun gear were shot down behind the enemy lines, the Germans could never discover the secret of the invention," said Sir Duncan Kcrly, K.C. Mr Constantinesco, a Roumanian, found it was possible to transmit energy through liquid under pressure, so that vibrations at ono end could be picked up* at the other end practically instantaneously. He applied this so that a machine-gun could fire between whirling propeller blades. Forty thousand of these gears were used in the war.

A bathing pool at the Whakatane Heads was the scene of an exciting shark hunt on Tuesday. It was hitherto believed that the pool was safeguarded against the ingress of sharks. On Tuesday morning, however, a resident. Mr Andersen, while watching some children bathing in the pool, noticed a shark's back lin break the surface of the water, and he hurried the children out of the water, and set 'about getting a party to hunt the intruder. The hunters set out in a boat in the pool, armed with harpoon, axe and iron bars, and for an hour they chased the shark about the pool, the boat being several times nearly capsized as its occupants struck the shark with tho harpoon. Eventually the wounded man-eater dashed blindly under a ledge of rock and got wedged there. A Maori dived overboard, and slipped a rope noose over the tail of tho shark, which was dragged ashore and dispatched. It uas found to measure nine and a half feet in length, and four j and a half feet in girth. '