LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 477, 27 May 1919, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Next Tuesday, June 3rd, will be King's Birthday, and n Statutory holiday. The Time* thorefore, will not be published on that date. It will appear next Friday, as usual, and after that not until the following Friday. An intimation of Ascension Day services, Thursday JOth (Church of appears in this issue. Estra express trains from Auckland to Wellington, and also Auckland to R< torua, are announced in our advertising columns. If the matter were clipped out it would be handy for reference An appeal is to bo made for funds towards the erection of a Presbyterian boys' home in Auckland, and the Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage, five-sixths of the amount collected going to the former project, and onesixth to the orphanage. The campaign will be launched on June Ist.

Readers of the aro reminded that it is compulsory to forward their Income Tax Returns to the Commissioner not later than June 2nd. The penalty for neglecting to do so is a fine of not less than ti and not more than £IOO. The Department does not now forward return forms to taxpayers, but they may be obtained at any money-order post office.

A preliminary announcm*'' .. tha Presbyteriatv'Chutih.t w vice appears in this issue.

A case of diphtheria has been reported from Buckland, and the patient has been conveyed to the Auckland public hospital. " Would any lady like to express an opinion on this matter," asked the president ef the municipal choir atTe Awamutu recently. "We will all talk about it on the way home," came a voice in a decidedly feminine tone.

The best creamery cheque in the Waiuku district in a month of this season was over £SOO, issued by the Aka Aka Cheese Company to Messrs Loudon Bros., who milk nearly 200 cows on two farms. Another very fine return was a cheque for £33 17s to the owner of nine cows.

" They have ' tied up' all the hotels, and, if not checked, will ' tie up' our dairy farms, too," said a prominent farmer to a representative of the "Times," when speaking about the baneful effect of proprietary interests ih the dairying industry.

The whirr and burr sometimes noticeable in telephoning was responsible for an error in our last issue in reference to Monday's meeting at Drury, on dairying amalgamation. We made out the message to be 2 p.m., whereas, it appears, 730 p.ti wp.f the timp actually atatod. A welcomo home to returned soldiers, undor the auspices of tho i'ukokohe Women's Patriotic League, is to bo held in the Premier Hall un Monday next, June 2nd. There will bo a musical programme, a progressive euchre party, and dancing from 10 till 12. All returned soldiers will be admitted free. " And the blind shall see! During tho course of evidence guen at a recent inquest, it was stated that the husband Baw the wife lying dead on the floor. Nobody thought to ask by what miracle he accomplished the seemingly impossible feat without artificial aids to sight the husband being stone blind! In spite of the bowling season being nominally closed, Pukekohe enenthusiasts are still displaying some activity. Three teams are taking part in tournaments in Auckland next Tuesday (King's Birthday), as follows At Dominion Road : Messrs Guff, Goldsworthy, Pleydell, Fitness. Onehunga: Dave. Roulston, Coady, Dune. Roulston, M. Wright; Daysh, Perkins, J. Adams, Keith. " This is a concrete scheme," said a speaker at last Wednesday's dairy amalgamation meeting at Te Awamutu: "not like your Farmers' Union—lots of schemes and nothing doing "—a remark that was greeted with;laughter. Mr Wvnyard replied that the Union, or any farmers' concern, was exactly what farmers made it. If they chose to make it a thing for ridicule they ridiculed themselves only. Those who have of necessity to negotiate Paerata road (outside the borough boundary) have need of stout hearts and equally stout boots. The last heavy ram, together with the grading operations recently carried out, have made it a veritable sea of porridge, that " clingeth closer than a brother." It is a pity that something cannot be done by the local powers to assure to residents a highway that can be travelled over without so much inconvenience. Readers of the "Times" will recollect that a few weeks ago we published a leading article entitled " Unrest and Education." Evidently many of the leaders of Agriculture believe in such democratic views, for the following paragraph appeared in a daily paper a few days ago A conference will be held in Wellington, beginning ou June I, to discuss agricultural education from primary schools to university. The delegates will include a representative appointed by each education board, two from tho Agricultural Department, and also delegates from secondary schools and Lincoln College. The Auckland delegates are Mr M. McLeod, 13.A, Inspector of Schools, and Mr J. P. Kalaugher, Supervisor, Auckland Education Board.'

When the embargo was placed upon tho export of potatoes the Times hazarded the conjecture that it would be lifted in time to allow the potato growers of the South Island to get away their crops, which ripen several months later than ours. It appears that our prediction has been vorified, and the Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, Minister for Agriculture, has decided to permit the export of potatoes from now until the '3oth of June. This will, we fear, prove to be but cold comfort for the potato growers of the North Island, whose crops are by now practically exhausted. As was to be expected, the immediate result was a rise in the price of potatoes, which which will no doubt benefit the Southern growers, but the shortage of shipping space is not likely to permit the exportation of any large quantity.