LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 260, 29 December 1914, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

On account of Friday New Year's Day) being a holiday the next publication of the Pukekoho Times will be ready for issue first thing on Thursday morning. The Pukekohe Fire Brigade responded promptly to a " false alarm " of tire at 11 ">5 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The conllagratiou was caused by a burning heap of rubbish in the vicinity of the Pukekohe Oonvent.

The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey. MP.) has arranged to pay a visit to Pukekohe to-morrow (Wednesday). Mr Massey will arrive in the morning and will motor round the district. The Postal Department announce that plain language cable messages for members of the expeditionary force in Egypt oan now be accepted at the charge of 11 .Ul. per word.

The following additional subscribers have now been aided to the Pukekohe Telephone Exchange, viz : A. E. Wilkinson, R. F. Wilkinson, C. A. Willis, B. Foy, J as. Pollock, fhos. Pollock, ti. A. Stuart, J. P. Moffitt, J. and A. Douglas, all being private residences. Those whose memories carry them back to the celebrated case of " Amy Bock," who married another woman at the Nuggets, will be interested to learn that a few days ago, so it is reported, " Amy " married at Taranaki. She married a mtvu on this occasion.

After the exertion of the danco lie steered his charming partner to the very choicest nook in the conservatory, and came the sentimental wheeze: " Perhaps I shall never dance again," he sighed. And forth went a soldier to war with bittern ess in his heart and a taste of gall and wormwood in his mouth, for she had looked at the torn llounees of her skirt and cooed: " Did you say 'again'?" •

Tho usual heavy Christmas traffic Mas dealt with at tho Pukekohe post office during the holidays. Tho telephonic and telegraphic branch coustitutod a record. The numbers for four days were : Bureau messages sent and received 877, telegrams sent and received 77(5, and telegrams transmitted B(SJ. A large number of panels and book packets wore delivered by the carriers. Mr F. Brown station mastc-r), Pukekohe, and his staff of clerks are to be" complimented on the expeditious manner in which they coped with the heavy passenger traffic from Pukekohe on Boxing Day. Instead of a falling off in the number of excursion tickets issued, as was anticipated on account of the stringency of money, the total number of tickets issued, 360, coincided with the number issued on the same day of last year. There was no delay, the numerous trains passing through Pukekohe during the da all running up to schedule time.

The high price for chaff and tho prospect of an early season for the new produce has induced the owners of the few oat stacks left over from last harvest to send them to market. During the last few days Mr Alfred Waller has cut some 1500 sacks for Mr E. Glasson. -500 for Mr Unjuhart of the Karaka and 300 each for Messrs Hastie and Wily of Mauku. The reaping machines are now at work among the new oat crops, and though the yield, owing to the long continued drought, will be only about half that of normal seasons, the (juality, on account of the fineness of straw and large proportion of grain, promises to be excellent. The wheat is now beginning to turn colour and having been earlier sown has not suffered so greatly from want of rain as the oats. One of the best crops about is a fifteen acre field belonging to Mr W. Finlay, of Mauku. Unfortunately a big railway cutting is being driven through the centre of the paddock which will considerably interfere with the harvesting of the crop.

1 Chatting with a Pukekohe Times representative on Saturday a prominent local farmer mentioned that the ! cutting of oats, barley and wheat 1 would be general in the district in the course of the noxt few weeks I and in fact in oue or two cases oats were already being gathered in. The 1 cereals would undoubtedly be un- | usually light and straw very light in quantity. The hay crop would be | practically nil. Considering the dry season, potatoes had done remark- ; ably well and the local yield would ! be found in advance of that in any | other part of tho North Island whilst a good feature was that blight was non-existent. The first crop of potatoes was everywhere on the light side and some of the earlier crops having been nipped with frost. The later crops averaged from live to six tons to the acre. He predicted that next winter farmers' produce would reach a very high figure and that horso feed would be particularly dear as the crops throughout tho Dominion have seriously suffered through the drought.

Trade in Pukekohe on Christmas Eve wns exceedingly brisk, the streets being crowded and nil the business establishments being kept going at high speed. Despite the currency of the war the speicliugs of the people were well up to the average of recent years and in fact in the majority of instances the local traders report an increase ef receipts.

On the 21st instant the Now Zealand Dairy Association, Limited, distributed amongst its suppliers the sum of £68,420 4s 9a. For the same period last year the similar payments totalled £68,721 17s. Id., thus the Association's December payments showed a slight decronse as compared with thoso for the same month la>t year, this being due to the very seriously curtailed supply owing to the drought. A note:l wag met an Irishman in the street ono day, and thought he would bo funny at his expense. "Halloa, Pat," ho said. "I'll give you eight in)pence for a shilling." " Will ye, now ?" said Pat. "Yes,'' he replied. The Irishman handed over the shilling, and his friend put eightpence into his palm in rot urn. " Eight in pence," ho explained. '' N< t bad, is it?" " No," answered Pat, " but the shilling is." Owing probably to the holidays the yarding of cattle at Messrs Buckland's monthly sale, held in the Pukekoho yards yesterday, was smaller than usual although there was a fair entry for the time of year. The falling off was most noticeable among the dairy cows, which wen somewhat dull of sale. With the exception of fat cattle which realised slightly higher rates, tho prices were much the same as last month. A line of 120 bullocks sold at an averago of £8 17s. Dairy cows mads from £5 to £B, while good calves sold from 25s to 40s and small and weedy calves from 8s to 20s.

The BEST bacon and ham in New Zealand. Dimock's Swan brand. Obtainable from F. PERKINS & Co. Pukekohe.