THE OTAKI MAIL. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otaki Mail, 9 January 1924, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1924. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

——. * Readers of the “Mail” are notified that subscriptions in advance for the current quarter ere due. By paying in advance a saving of Is may be made, J and all who wish to secure this conces- ] sion should do so at once. Masterton—a “dry” area—boasts of six policemen, yet Otaki can lay claim to one only. The Otaki State School is at present ■ being re-painted, but the completion of the bubble fountain still remains in abeyanep. The next monthly meeting of the Otaki Borough Council will be held on Thursday. The Chamber of Commerce will also meet the same evening. The continued spell of drv weather ; is having serious effect on the Wairarapa district. There is not a blade of j green g-rass for miles, while fires do. not improve matters. There is talk of dairy factories closing down, and already several hands have been put off. i Cows are selling at low prices. j

As the result of the recent sale of work, organised by Mrs. W. Burns Smith, for improving the school gr#ands, realised" (over 230. Among those to win competitions were Mrs. Byers (apron), Mrs. Joe Guy (tray), and Mr. E. Irvine (Sip-screen). When the Director of Education arrived at one school in Timaru during his vigit of inspection recently (says the Herald) the bead master was engaged examining a class. A child was .sent to inform tits head master that a gentleman wished to see. him- " Tell him to come hack later; I’m busy.”, was lha reply- ,

With last Saturday night's issue, the old-established W&iroa Bell and Advertiser ceased publication, having become incorporated with the North Auckland Times. The editor and proprietor, Mr Arthur J. Stailworthy, who h»* bean at th* helm for over l quarter of a century, enters upon a w«alinerved holiday. The proprietors, of the «nta-i»unaied paper* *r a Messrs C. £. Hush and Co., and 3agnall.

Shoes made to your ort order- We are ■ making g. speciality of vhis part ef or.r business for 1924." Tie £t is pur-aut-ee-i-. on tie latest lasts, with style end Salih. Made in suede; or 'any leather to your own dearie, with 3up ranters same as from stoc* Usee, at CRTIKE’S, ihos Karri Qi&iiir—i-dlri

Three hundred motor cars and motor .vehicles were parked at the FOxton seaside on New Year’s Day. The cost of education per head of population in New Zealand has increased from £1 9s 5d in 1904 to £2 t>s 6d in 1963.

A Sydney message announces the (tenth of J. A. Mayo, a well-known turf identity, and one tinie owner of l.ord Cardinal and Lord Nolan, winners of the Melbourne Cup. Archbishop Mannix, of Melbourne, and Bishop McCarthy, of Sandhurst will arrive in Auckland from Sydney on January 15. They will spend a month sightseeing in New Zealand beiore attending the jubilee celebrations of Archbishop Redwood.

The carollei's who disturbed the slumbers of Ashburton and suburbs on Christmas morning made a considerable liiaiul in “hush money,” writes tile correspondent of the Lyttelton Times. The First Canter bun- Mounted Rifles Band collected £123 and the. Salvation Army £llO.

In one business establishment in Oamaru throe generations—father, son, and grandson—were a few days ago to be seen busily engaged in turning out Christmas orders (says the North Otago Times). It may be mentioned, also, that the grandson is a father.

The red poppies from Flanders, which wore planted in the Eastern Cemetery, Anderson’s Bay, Duuedin, are now growing well, and everywhere among the graves of the soldiers they are making an appearance— Otago Times. Australian imports during the, four months July-October were valued at £45,892,639, while the value of the exports for the same period was only £27,606,682. There was thus a balance of over eighteen millions against the Commonwealth. Owing to inability of the tramway authorities to cope with the congested traffic (says a Sydney cable), motor buses continue to multiply in the, city and suburbs. Three hundred and seventy buses are operating, carrying an average of two million passengers monthly. Sellers of fireworks now come under Hro Arms Act, and. according to the Oamaru Mail, it is expected that quite a number of prosecutions will take place in Oamaru shortly, since a number of shopkeepers known to- have been selling the class of flre- ; work known as a “bomb” or “bung- ' er” have failed to register with the police. Simultaneous action is being , taken by the police all over the Dominion."

Although it was fai from ucusual a few weeks ago to hear people saying that commercial houses were finding trade rather slack, the retailers thioughout the Dominion appear to havo done very good business indeed during this holiday season. The postal and telegraph business is not a bad index of the community’s spending power, and it indicates this seaon b something like a record.—Christchurch Press.

There were merry scenes in Wellington streets while the Old Year was being furewejled. At Perrett’s corner a diverting interlude was afforded hy a couple Of girls wlio insisted on kissing a knot Of half a dozen men in blue, the majority of whom looked on (this Njew Year’s rite as something quite unavoidable, while the protests of the one conscientious objector were overcome by an attack in force, with the result that (he got a double .ration.

Mr Donald Poison, D. 5.0., prior to leaving Nelson as a captain in the Fifth New Zealand Contingent, for South Africa in 1900, was presented by the townspeople with a ptur of held glasses, inscribed with liis name arid address.. After the close of the war the held glasses, with other property were stojen. Recently, however. Mr Poison received a communication from the South African police authorities stating that, following a grass fire, a pair of held glasses had bean found on the veldt, and would be forwarded in due course.

That there is always plenty of money available for the totalisat-or is evidenced by the returns shown at Lilerslie and Alexandra Park. In the two days' racing so far decided of the summer (meeting at Elerslie no less than £208,262 10s has been registered, which is an increase ol £4803 on the first two days of the Cup meeting last year. At the Auckland Trotting Club’s meeting the two first days saw £140,106 10s, representing an increase over the two corresponding days of last year of £6400 10s. In the four days’ racing and trotting! ol the Chriirtmas carnival the amount handled at the totalisator was £345,369.—5tar. All judicial humour, happily, is not retrospective. While some judges dig up from tlie past, others are busy extracting it from tEe present. A little whole ago, in the Vacation Court, London, it, was stated before Mr Justice McCardie, that a company was to run a revue named “King Tu Tut-Tut,” Mr Justice McCardie rubbed his brow. “What does ’Tut-Ttif mean?” he Inquired. “It is an expression ” replied counsel, “used on the goU links when a man misses his drive.” “You mean when the clergy are present,” suggested the jt tge, amid laughter.—Exchange. An instance of the results which can be obtained from some of the Poverty Bay land was related fo a Herald representative by a farmer who prides himself upon hving one of the most heavily stocked properties in the district. This gentleman has a farm of 360 acres upon which he wintered 1203 breeding ewer, 870 lambs, and 40 head of cattle and 1 torses, the whole of which were fed solely on grass, this working out at an equivalent of ten sheep to the acre. In addition to having sufficient feed for fibl* number of stock, a contract has now been let for the cutting of 60 acres of grass for seed.

,\n alphabetical avenue of trees, .which it is said will be the only one of its kind in the world, is being planted hy Sir William Neyiii Geary at his house at Tonbridge, Kent. The alphabet is made up of initial letters of the names of the trees. For a tune the letter "V" stopped Sir William and hhe professional horticulturists ivha assisted him. Viburnum, the one “V” tree, was too stumpy for inclusion in the avenue, so “V” hasiad to be supplied bv vines wreathed around walnuts and willows. Most letters of the alphabet have several trees allotted to them. Quince is the only representative of ! 'Q." The avenue, when completed, will consist of 276 trees.

1 A message froni .Ashburton states that- the Presbytery supported the dongrcg.Et.icin's .bequest to the Kev. Miller, Moderator-elect of tins Assemb!y, to. remain in the dirtrict. Mr Miller atated that he. had. decided to accept a call from North East Valley, Dunedin, whereuppn, the Presbytery handed it to him. It i* understood that Mr Miller is accepting a smeller salary, £ICO below Ashburton's, and *l*o losing other payment*, making the total io»» £2OO yearly. The congregation was recently bitterly divided over the t'.:& of the new- S'tnday school, fulminaiing in th* resignation tof a large body of the o2S.tta.ls oppe-s----•J--9 tlb» "minister. AS, a tpe-mai -e*«*o irgr ks#t week a motion to reurs'-v.e £ua» 3fiu wunyho-uily r*i#r.«d-

The valuable shield won by Miss. Elderton at the South Island competitions is now on view at Messrs Bills and Moore’s.

Mr. James Dykes (of Wellington Savage Club fame) is arranging a concert party from Wellington and Otaki to give entertainments at Foxton during the race week. Complaints have been made to us by visitors of lack of seating accommodation in the town, and a wish expressed that either the Borough Council or Best Resort Committee get busy. The work of installing the electric light in the residences in Shannon is now being pushed ahead. Five electricians. who are in the 'employ of the contractors, Messrs Wall Bros., have arrived to assist in carrying out the work. Large motor lorries, capable of carrying 130 sheep each, are being freely used in the Wairarapa for conveying sheep to various parts of the district. A splendid motor service from Masterton to Wellington is also decreasing the revenue to thp railways. A Press Association cablegram from London announces the death of the Rev. Grainger Hargreaves, a Methodist minister. He attended the New Zealand conference ip 1921. The motor competition with the railways still grows. The latest service is a daily car from Wanganui to Ashhurst connecting there with the Napier express, and linking up at Wanganui with the morning car from New Plymouth. It is thus possible to travel from New Plymouth to Napier in one day, instead of two days as required by rail. The Cambridge Daily Company will pay its suppliers Is 8d per lb on but-ter-lat for cheese, and Is 6d for butter, November supply. Tibs is a record jjdvance payment for New Zealand this year. The company was also On Christmas Eve to. hand suppliers about a half-penny a lb. final bonus for last year. A half-penny to some suppliers r.uns into £166.

A Masterton resident relates an incident that occurred recently to a Wellington friend, and which shows that things are not always what they seem. A Wellington lady was going on a trip, and to cover her immediate expenses was given a £lO note by her husband. On the train she inlet another lady, and a conversation sprang up. When the ladies left the train for refreshments, the Wellington lady discovered the £lO note was missing from her handbag. She immediately suspected the other woman. Returning quietly to the carriage, she opened the other lady’s handbag, took out a £lO note, and when the other lady returned she re timed the conversation, and bade her farewell at the journey’s end quite elated at the way in which she had recovered her money. Upon returning home she related the incident to her husband. With groat glee, impressing upon him what a shrewd little wifev he had, and how she had got her £lO back, "Y r es, my dear, that would be all right, only you happen to have left your £lO note on the dressing table before you went away!’’ The

Wellington lady, who is absolutely honest, is now trviug to discover the whereabouts of her train companion whom she beat for th'c £lO noth. Tenders close on January 21th for laying 330 chains of sewers. A cap of a benzine tank is advertised a •• lost. Tenders are invited for improving the building, known as the “old blacksmith’s shop,’’ (next Bank of X.Z.) in Main Street.

Miss Goldie Rikiharn, pupil of Messrs Williams and Gibbs’ school of dancing, will resume teaching at the Druids’ hall on January 12th. New pupils will be admitted. .See advertisement. Mr. E. Hopkins advertises further particulars of the sale of seaside sections, to be held on the 26th. The laud, which has been divided into fine building sites, is pleasantly situate, and ready sales should be effected. The Te Horo Athletic Club will hold a sports’ meeting on January 30th, and a successful time is anticipated. The programme is a good one and should draw competitors from all parts of the district and elsewhere. .See advertisement. Fred Barrett, after winning all the way, now heads the list for boot a id shoe repairs. He has now challengod for up-to-date boots, and a visit to h.s shop will show what high-grade goods he keeps. See hi* saml-shoea.—AdvL