LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 121, 25 February 1926, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mr. L. C. Mclsaac, lines foreman of the Post and Telegraph Department at Morrinsvifle, has received word of his promotion to the position of over- , seer to the Rotorua district, which ! includes Morrinsville. Mr. Mclsaac will take up his residence at Rotorua. Mr. A. F. McMurtrie, headmaster of the Matamata High, Junior High and Primary Schools, has been promoted to the position of inspector, with headquarters in Auckland. He will . probably be leaving Matamata at the end of the month. The election of synodsmen to the new diocese of Waikato takes place in April. No parish or district may have more, than two lay representatives, and to secure this maximum j number there must be, on the churchwardens’ roll, not fewer than two hundred names of persons who have signed the statutory declaration. Laughter was caused in the Hast- 1 ings Magistrate’s Court when the following extract from a letter written by a defendant motorist was lead by the Clerk of the Court : “ I regret having broken the law by not being able to procure my license, i Otherwise my tour of the North , Island was delightful.” j The people are now being forced to modify their extravagant views and to show more respect for economic i laws (says the New Zealand Mercan- I tile Gazette). The position will become considerably worse before it is better. Not only have the people been extravagant and run riot on inflation, but they have been well supported by the Government and local bodies, but especially the latter. j Samples of sleepers have been taken from sections cf the Wanganui tram tracks in the course of repair operations recently. The marked difference in the state of preservation of the various timbers used for this purpose is remarkable. For instance, Australian hardwood >supports, laid down in about 1912, were found to be in an advanced state of decay. On the other hand, birch and ironbark timber were in a fine state of preservation alter 16 years of service. A man seated in a Napier tramcar the other evening rose as a lady en- . tered and proffered his seat, which was readily taken. Addressing a fellow standing passenger the former said : “ I’ve been travelling on these trams for four years and that’s the first time I’ve ever offered my seat to a lady.” He was told that he was evidently sadly lacking- in manners. “ No, it isn’t that,” he responded. “ You see that’s the first time in four years that I’ve ever had a seat.” Among the Maoris on the Wanganui river an Assyrian and a Chinaman have both cast their lots, both beingengaged in the storekeeping line. The Chinaman rejoices in the name of “ Jimmy,” and is becoming quite a celebrity, being an authority on the manifold ills and ailmejits that the flesh is heir to, a musician of ability and a Rugby football coach. Quite a number of the young Maori bloods up the river owe their good state of physical fitness to the love of sport that “ Jimmy ” has implanted in them. There is a young gentleman in Dargaville who is noted as being a very keen salesman. He is of good appearance, has a ready flow of lang*uage, and is adored by the ladies—er—that is, by all except one. This particular lady sauntered into the shop fihe other day in order to make a few purchases. Cur young friend started to expatiate on the good qualities of the various articles for sale. As he picked up a parasol from the lot on the counter and opened it he struck an attitude of admiration, and, holding it up to the light, said : “ Now, ‘there! Isn’t that lovely? Look at that silk ! Particularly observe the quality, the finish, the general effect, j Feel it, madam, fee! it ! Pass your hand over 11 t No foolishness about ' that parasol, is -here? ” he said as he I handed it over to the lady. “ Isn’t it a beauty?” “ Yes,” said the lady, “ that’s my old one—l laid it down here ! ” “The Rainbow Trail,” another of Zane Grey’s stories which has been adapted for screening purposes, will be shown in Putaruru next Saturday, when Tom Mix and his wonder horse Tony will again play the leadingroles.* A special meeting of the Putaruru Bowling, Croquet and Tennis Club and all interested is called for Friday evening, 26st inst., at 8 p.m., in the Town Hall supper room, to discuss the organisation of a garden fete for next , month.*

Entries for the eight races on the Matamata Racing' Club’s programme total 16G, a record for the club.

“ Thefts, mischief and other offences are becoming- far too common amongchildren in Timaru,” said Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M., when hearing charges against four young lads and a girl. “ If young people can’t learn to discipline themselves we will have to discipline them.”

“ That was a nice little lot of sheep you sold on Thursday,” said one farmer to another at Tt: Kuiti (the Chronicle says). “ Yes, nice little black faces, weren’t they? You know-, I had them on 100 acres of ragwort, and now there isn’t a flower left. And. some fellows talk about noxious weeds. Half of them don’t try to keep them down. Never sdTw sheep better than those that came off that patch.”

The Christchurch Press reports that several applications from shop proprietors for permission to display goods on the footpaths in front of their premises were stated to have been received by the by-laws and finance committee in its report to the city council. “ The committee decided not to allow any encroachment whatever, and had notified the city inspector to see that this instruction was obeyed.” The report was adopted. Mr. A. G. Leg-gatt, of Putaruru, has again come to the financial assistance of the local War Memorial Committee. Not long ago Mr. generously found the balance of the 'money necessary to enable, the memorial to be erected, and now Mr. Leggatt has promised to meet all expenses of the committee in connection with the recent unveiling ceremony. A donation | of £1 Is, and two dozen photographs ' of the unveiling ceremony, has also been received from Mr. E. J. Darby, of Arapuni, and £1 Is from Mr. D. I McKinnon.

At the annual meeting- of the Putaruru Hall Committee, the chairman expressed his doubts about hall piano being worth the £29 at which it was valued in the statement of accounts. This drew from a lady present an interesting history of the musical instrument in question. It appeared that the piano had been bought some thirteen years ago for the sum of £l2. Since that time the amount of £l4 4s had been spent on it, and its present condition was described .as being not too sound. In view of these facts it was decided to reduce the valuation to the sum of £lO.

An amusing (to the onlookers) but rather terrifying- experience is_ related in connection with the visit of a menagerie to Ma©terton. A couple of ladies were admiring- one of the big elephants. One said : “ I wonder if his skin is hard and leathery or soft to the touch.” “ Put your hand on him and find out,” said the other. Lady No. 1 timidly put her hand on the huge foreleg of the giant beast. With, it is declared, a “ naughty little twinkle in his eye,” the elephant at once gently clasped the lady with his trunk round her dainty skin-coloured stocking's, and she fell to the ground: with a shriek of alarm. The elephant immediately let go, and went on reaching, out for apples or peanuts. The experimenter is still unable to say whether an elephant’s skin is soft or hard nor is the elephant any more communicative as to the fineness or otherwise of the lady’s lower limbs.

Lack of appreciation on the part of the average man of the need for research work was the subject of brief reference by Sir James Parr, when he spoke at the New Zealand Club luncheon recently. Following on Sir Frank Heath, who had spoken ot the need for applying- science to industry, Sir, James said that the speech he had just listened to was a very weighty one and 1 was calculated to o-ive them all food for thought. “ I wish,” said Sir James, “ that your words could have been heard by the whole of the industrialists of New Zealand, particularly farmers and pastoralists. It does take some stirring up to get the man in the street to understand the value of research, and the same applies to business men, I am afraid. We are unfortunately looking too much for quick returns.

The advent of the motor has seriously affected country towns comtoereiallv (says the Wanganui Chronicle). Farmers who had been content to make their purchases at little .stores in the country and pay only penodica visits to the city are now encouraged to o-o farther afield for this purpose An "indication of the centralisation of business activities is to be had in nearly every little wayside town, where empty shops are to be found. The days of the. village blacksmith are also numbered to a large extent. 4 reporter was told by a smith in a township within a radius of oO miles of the city that whereas he used to have ei°ht and nine drays at a time lined up outside his establishment, while he employed eight blacksmith at full pressure, he now had occasion to employ only a striker to assist him in his work.