Shannon News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1922.

Shannon News, 15 September 1922, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1922.

Several persons are to be pi-o,se-cured shortly for allowing stock to wander on the streets in the borough.

During the past three months building permits to the value of £4230 have been granted for work in the borough.

At the Trinity College examinations held at Palmerston North this week, Miss Agnes Aim was successful in gaining her A.T.C.L,

On Saturday afternoon the staff of the Shannon Dairy Co. met at the'residence to bid farewell to Mies Jones, who is severing her connection with the Dairy Co. Mr Murray, in a happy speech, presented Miss Jones, on behalf of the staff, with a set of stainless carvers.

At Palmerston North cemetery on Wednesday afternoon the remains of the late Mrs Barnes, of Shannon, were laid to rest. The funeral was attended by the staff of the local school and several of the‘deceased lady’s pupils, also a number of friends from Shannon. In the report of the recital by Miss Mona Neale’s pupils, the name of Mr Wally Smith was omitted. Mr Smith has only been under Miss Neale’s tuition a short time, and rendering of the violin solos “Poloriaisei” and “Serenata,” was a very creditable performance, and he is the making of a very fine musician.

At the Parish Hall last evening, Mr Geo. Andrew, a resident of over forty years’ standing in Ashburton, gave an interesting address on Prohibition as to its effect in that town. He pointed out there! was practically no drunkenness, and what there was came from outside, and the town, both from a business and moral point, had benefited by no-license. There was a very small attendance. The Rev. Minifie presided.

Miss Kitty Williams, of Shannon, who is just seventeen years of age, has been successful in gaining her L.T.G.L. in music, and was only three marks short of Distinction. Last year She got her A.T.C.L. Miss Williams had presented two pupils, Mpriel Hibbell and Ethel Jamieson, for the junior exam., and they both passed. Miss Williams has had her tuition at the Palmerston North Convent ,and formerly at the Foxton Convent.

A drover with a line of 50 or 60 store cattle heading for the Manakau district this morning stated it was the biggest mob he had handled for about two years. There was more movement in the stock market of late, he considered, than there had been for a long time, and cattle were beginning to change hands at improved prices something after the style of the good old days.

The members of the Girls’ Club held 'a social and dance in the Parish Hall on Wednesday to bid farewell to two of its members, the Misses Jones, who are leaving Shannon. A most enjoyable evening was spent in games, songs and dancing. During the evening a presentation was made to. Miss Queenie Jones, who had' acted as' secretary for about two years, of a set of stainless knives, Miss Gladys Jones being the recipient of a handsome handbag. Songs were contributed by Miss Aim and Mr Maine, and Mr W. Quarrie acted as M.C.

Yesterday afternoon as Mr Chas. Easton, of Buckley, was proceeding home, and was about a mile from the township, his attention Was drawn by the screams of a small child, who •was standing on the railway line. He immediately Went to its assistance, and was only just in time, as the 1.30 train came along, and had it not been for his prompt action it is quite likely there would have: been a fatality. It was some time before the identity of the child could be discovered. No person in the vicinity knew the child, so Mr Easton took it to the Police Station, and Constable McGregor then, took it to the school, where it was learned it belonged to Mrs Moss, of Stout Street. The child, who, was only four years of age, had wandered from home and had evidently been playing in the drain, as its clothing was quite wet.

Dr. Allan, in a lecture at Feilding, mentioned an interesting incident bearing on the palatability of grasses. A farmed in the Canterbury district had divided a held into three areas, and on one had sown Canterbury rye grass seed, on' another rye grass seed from Poverty Bay, and on the third rye grass seed from Ireland. At the proper season the sheep were turned on to the pastures, and it was found that they ate the Canterbury seed patch bare and allowed the grass on the other two to grow rank and to seed. What was the explanation? It had been suggested that the sheep had developed the Canterbury flavour, and therefore concentrated on the Canterbury grass. The Poverty Bay seed had been harvested from a 50-year-old pasture, and that fact may have had something to do with the flavour. The Irish method of selection of seed possibly affected the pasture produced. Dr. Allen said the problem was an interesting one deserving of further investigation.

y The WaiKanapa Estate at Ohaii, owned by Mrs Kirkcaldie, has a reputation for raising early lambs. A big draft was sent away last week, and realised 25/ per head. A smaller consignment, but of the same prime quality, was dispatched a week earlier at the same satisfactory figure. The fortnightly euchre party and dance will be held as usual in the Parish Hall on Tuesday evening next. Again there will be novelties in the way of dances introduced, and patrons can look forward to an enjoyable time.

A reminder is given of the children’s plain and fancy dress ball to be held in the Druids’ Hall this evening. The proceeds are in aid of the Church of England Fund. For some considerable time past a~ committee has been teaching an enthusiastic band of children the light and graceful art of dancing, and it is hoped that even last- year’s display will be eclipsed. -

The death occurred at the Palmerston North hospital yesterday of Mr C. F. Spiers, a resident of Foxton for nearly 30 years, and formerly of Karo ri, Wellington, at the age of 57. The late Mr Spiers was a well known figure at the port, and took a great interest in any movement for the advancement of the town. He was a single man, and is survived by both his parents, five brothers and one sister.

“Fancy any two men, with only £7OO between them, wanting to start in a business requiring £16,000 capital,” said the Chief Justice, when addressing a jury. Such cases were an unfortunate feature, of the purchase of farms in this country, he continued. A great number of people in the Waikato, Gisborne, and Hawke’s Bay had been ruined by speculations of this nature.

The following incident is reported to have happened in the Wanganui district. An oia and respected Maori died and, according to custom his money, a handy sum of £3OO, .was to be buried with him, whereupon the wise man of the tribe, a keen business person who seems to have had some insight into the way of the civilised financial world, offered a cheque in exchange for the money, which offer was gratefully accepted, to the apparent satisfaction of everybody. Upwards of £SOO has been paid out by buyers of whitebait to Foxton fishermen so far this season. There has been a big drop in the local retail price, which has come down to as low as 1/6 per lb. The steam shovel is now operating on the river hank opposite the Poplar mill at Moutoa. The effect of the banking in flood time will be Watched with interest and not a little misgiving by Moutoa settlers (says the Foxton Herald), as it is thought that flood water will be diverted over the Moutoa property and at Rangiotu.

A good story has just been related to me (says a Napier writer) by a friend who vouches for its accuracy. A Hawke’s Bay sportsman recently won £lO at a meeting, and on his return home placed the money in a pocket of an old garden coat, not being. desirous that his wife should know of his success. A few days afterwards he found (himself in want of funds, and so decided to again become possessed of the £lO. On going to the place where the garden coat, was hung he, however, found that it was gone. He instituted the most diligent search for it, but all his efforts to locate its whereabouts ended in failure. He then approached his “better half,” and asked if she knew where it was, and she replied that she had charitably given it away to a, person, who had called for old clothes!

Canterbury College has reason to be proud of the achievements of two men who were students there together about 30 years ago and have since gone out into the world and made their mark (says the Wairarapa Age). Sir Ernest Rutherford, the eminent physicist, went from Canterbury College to Cambridge, and then to McGill University (Canada). He achieved fame by his researches in radio activity. Sir William Marris, who was probably the most distinguished scholar who ever passed through Wanganui College, went from Canterbury College to Oxford, and passed 1000 marks ahead of the next competitor in the Indian Civil Service examination. He has risen to the top of the tree in that service, and has now been appointed Governor of the United Provinces (India). Strange to say, Rutherford and Marris first appeared in the honours list in the same year (1914); the former being Knighted and the latter made a. C.I.E. New Zealand has something to be proud of in these two careers.

An offer from America of 1/8J per lb for a large parcel of butter for delivery up to the second week in Octo : ber has been received by the Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company. Mr M. Wells, chairman of the company, states that as this butter carries a very heavy duty in America, the prospects of a good price in London appear bright.

Melba (has won some tremendous booking receipts for charity £6850 in Sydney for the Polish Relief Fund, and £6200 in Melbourne for the War Fund—but her concert in Geelong (Victoria) for the Kitchener Memorial Hospital on August 15 realised the biggest booking of her career—£7ol2.

At a meeting of Marlborough farmers it was decided to form a company with a capital of £25,000 to trade with auxiliary scows, primarily between Picton and Auckland, in connection with the chaff trade. Provisional directors were elected to make preliminary arrangements.

Some excitement was caused on Shelly Beach, Auckland, on Sunday afternoon by two young boys killing an octopus. The boys, who had walked out to the end of the reef on the west side of the Point Erin baths, saw the octopus in a pool of water between the reef and the sea. One of them, who tarried an iron bar, dealt the fish a blow, while the other plunged his penknife into its eyes. When brought on to the beach the creature was found to measure about 4ft from tip to tip of the arms.

A young lady in Scotland who had passed all her examinations as a nurse, and who wished to come to New Zealand to join her parents who had recently come to the Dominion, wrote to the High Commissioner, saying that she would be willing to act as nurse in return for her passage, to any sick person needing help on the voyage out. She got a reply saying that there were over 200 applications for such positions, and that only very rarely was. a nurse asked for, and there was little hope of getting a position as nurse on an outwardbound steamer.

An ingeniously malicious will led to an action tried in the French courts ten years ago. Jean Laurent, a well-to-do bachelor, who died in 1903, used to keep a diary recording with painful minuteness eevry incident of his daily routine. At the end of each year his records „ were richly bound, labelled “Historie de ma Vie,” and lent in turn to four old friends, none of whom ever glanced at more than a few pages, although when returning the volume each professed to have read it through and enjoyed it. Eventually the old man discovered their professions to, be false ,and, piqued at this lack of appreciation, wrote his k will on page 647 of the volume for 1901. He divided his whole estate among his four friends; but they remained in ignorance of their good fortune, although they had ample opportunity of learning it, so when Laurent died he was deemed intestate, and a distant relation took possession of his property. Ten years later the will was found, and after a costly lawsuit the real heirs recovered about £4ooo—less-than half the amount, originally bequeathed. A jocular remark by the Minister of Public Works at Mangahao appears to have been taken seriously by the press and the- resultant paragraph may cause a wrong impression. The Minister is reported to have said that Mr W. H. Field, M.P., wanted the Department to “vary the route of its main transmission line in order to avoid a ngaio tree” somewhere. This was the Ministei'’s Tittle joke. It seems that Mr Field has been making representations with a view to saving a piece of native bush of about 30 acres on his property. This bush is composed of beautiful forest trees, and has been preserved with great care for many years. The route of the transmission line is surveyed to pass through the middle of-the block, and as a warm lover of the beauties of nature and keen forester, Mr Field thinks it worth while suggesting that, if possible, another line be taken for the purpose. The Department appreciates his desire and the Minister was just pleasantly facetious when he reat Mangahao to Mr Field’s lone ngaio tree.

An American merchant recently allowed a negro, a character about town; to use his telephone. This is what happened: “Is this the lady who advertised for a man to look after the furnaceP” The lady on the other end of the line informed the negro that she had already secured the services, of a man to do the work. Still he persisted. “I’se a good man for work. Perhaps I should call in another week when the other man does not satisfy.” No, he need not call again, replied the lady. Before leaving the store the merchant expressed his regrets that the negro had not secured the position. “You needn’t feel sorry for me, boss, ’cause I’se the man what got the job. I just wanted to know • where I stood with the lady.”