NEAR AND FAR

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 228, 19 May 1932, Page 4

NEAR AND FAR

One Effect of Weather. One effect of the recent heavy wea ther has been an increased demand for eow covers, a Thames business man disposing of over 100 during the past week. The old-fasfiioned bag is fast going into the discards as the price of canvas comes down, and the hnllc of the farming community is realising the truth of the saying: "A good cover is as good as two feeds!" Not All Ducks. An amusing story is told (says the Mataura Ensign) of a party out after* ducks who, in the darkness just before dawn,- saw a batch of "birds flying along the river swoop down and rest among some decoys. Although it was fairly dark the party consid ered the mark a good one and four. double barrelled guns belched fire" into the spot. When dawn broke and an investigation was made it was found that the heads of five decoys had been broken, while one duck lay dead. Acts pf Charity. Many acts of charity that are not brought before the notice of the public are daily being performed in Wanganui among distressed families. Among bakers there are a number who supply free bread to necessitoiis cases. One instance, however, is wrorthy of speeial mention. The 1 rLer learned that one of the children was having a birthday and in addition to the nsnal supply >f f>ee hread, he made an artistic hirthar • cake, complete with candles, for the child. It was the first real cake she had 'ever had. "Prosperity before Them." "Those who are starting farming at the present prices have prosperity before them if any man ever had." said the Hon. Edward Newman, in n address to the Lunch Club at Le^io. "I have never known a time in New Zealand when, owing to the r vines of land and stock and everything, the conditions were more favourable for people to take up farming:" Domiriion's First Plough. First ploughing in the Dominion was done at Kiri Kiri, Bay of Islands, during May ,1820, according to an extract from the diary of the Rev. J S. Butler. The extract, which gives the name Kiri Kiri as Kiddi Kiddi reads: "On the morning of Wednes day, May 3, 1820, the agricultural plough was for the first time put into the land at Kiddi Kiddi, a.id I f-lt much pleased in holding it after a team of six . bulloeks brought down by the Dromedary. I trust that the auspicious day will he remembercd with gfatitude and its anniversary kept hy ages yet unborn.. Every heart seemed to rejoice on the oceasion. I hope it will still continue to increase and in a short time produce an abundant harvest. — J. S. Butler. Sportsman's Paradise. In Maori lands a short distance south of Kawhai, near the village of Kinohaku, a party of Taranaki sportsmen, who had the shooting rights over several lalces, hagged 125 duck, found 300 Maoris living the contented communal life of their forefathers, with only one white man — the schoolmaster — in the district, and on a wonderful beach fonnd fish in profusion. The estate in which the lakes are situated is the Hari Hari estate, owned entirely by Maoris. Part of it is swamp land, and has been brought under cultivation with modern drainage. The property is practically entailed, says the Taranaki Daily News, and the Maoris refuse to sell the land, pointing out that they have eomfortahle living with plentifnl and various foods, while their brothers who have sold their land to the pakehas are now in trouble. The Maori children go to the school at the age of five, and are unable to speak a word of English. The schoolmaster is unable to talk much Maori. "However," said the schoolmaster, whimsically, "we get on qui'e well. I draw diagrams on the boa"t'd and they seern to like the coloured ones very much."

Football Ground Incident. Apparently is was anticipated that the presence of several speeial constables among the players in the Rughy match hetween Poneke and Mira mar would cause friction, * as four uniformed constables were stationed on the line. Apart from occasional storms of hooting from seetions of the crowd of 300 watching the match, directed mainly at on eor two individual players and the referee, and a short but brisk fight between two enthusiasts on the sideline, there was no trouble. The fight was suppressed hy two of ■'he constables. Birching Best. "If it were possible to order a birching in this case, it might he the most effective method of dealing with fhe accused," remarked Detective McLeod in the Magistrate's Court in placing before Mr. P. H. Harper, S.M., the facts of a theft case, in which Paul Martin, 18, pleaded guilty to the theft of a fountain pen from a wokrman's whare at Matawai. The accused, it was stated, was returing from Rotorua after seeking work there, and was given a meal and accomodation at a settler's homestead, being pnt to sleep in a whare used by a workman then absent from the farm. On leaving the whare the next day, he took with him a fountain pen belonging to the oceupant of the hut, and when questioned in Gisborne, was still in possession of the pen. In Feb ruary last accused had been admitted . to probation on four charges of conversion of cars, and now faced the additional eharge of failing to comply with the probation terms, His Worship stated that he had no power to order ajnrehing, though he agreed that that might have been the most effective eourse.