Shannon News TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1923.

Shannon News, 6 March 1923, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1923.

vital statistics for the month of February in' Shannon welre: Births 6, deaths nil, marriages 1. i

The Tennis Club’s euchre and dance will be held in the Parish Hall this evening. These gatherings for the purpose of raising , money to jut down new courts. As the number of nominations for the Licensing committee election did not exceed the number required, all the old members have been re-elected, with the exception that Mr J. McLeavey takes the place of the late Mr Hammond. ' , The rainfall for the month of February just ended wa,s 3.86 inches on eleven days, the heaviest rainfall being on the Bth, when 1.91 inches fell. For the corresponding month of last year rain fell on six days for only .21 inch. February was the driest month during-'1922, and March and November the wettest, there being over seven inches of rain in each month.

Offers as high as have been received by Wairarapa factories for cheese of January make now in store or aflout. This compares very favourably with the prices ruling at this time 1 of last year. The spread of ragwort in the King Country is causing much concern in certain districts. It is stated that the pest' is particularly bad on farms devoted to dairying. On grazing areas the sheep eat down the young shoots and prevent the plant from flowering. Sections of unoccupied Crown and native-owned land are said to be badly infested with the weed and form breeding grounds for it.

A record drove of sheep has just been through Tirau (says the- Matamata Record). It consisted of no fewer than 20,000 specimens of the Rom-ney-cross. variety. The drove came through in four detachments. The advance contingent of 5000 passed through first, the main body of 11,000 (of which 7500 were in Tirau on Friday, and the balance of 3500 expected there that night), and reinforcements to the number of 4000 expected in the course'of the following day.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council will be held m the Council Chambers this evening. The many friends of Mr Michael Moynihan, hf the Club Hotel, will be sorry to hear he was taken seriously ill on Friday nast. All will join us m wishing for his speedy recovery. The Manawatu Labour Party’s picnic at the Domain, Ashhurst on Saturday, was well patronised by snanhon residents, who made the .journey by special train. All report paving had an enjoyable outing, the jgathering being the most successful yet held.

A large number of Shannon residents during the week-end made a raid on the blackberries at Tokomaru, which are reported to be very plentiful in that locality. We learn that locality. We learn that some of the boys have nnade quite big cheques by forwarding them to Palmerston. One party are said to have picked no less than thirty benzine tins full between them.

Conditions in Germany were discussed with a Christchurch Press representative by Mr C. G. McKellar, who has’ just returned from a tour of England and the Continent. During his tour he spent about J. 7 weeks motoring on the Continent. “I found Germany more prosperous than England, and there was no sign of unemployment,” said Mr McKellar. “The children were well clothed and shod. The country man is better off than before the war, but the city man is not. Everyone was ,at work. I noticed large alterations in the railway way system outside Cologne, with expensive traffic bridges—not necessary aefore or during the war—new houses at Bonn and Coblenz, costing, in our money, about £BOOO each, new con-

crete-roofed aero hangars at Frankfort, and the German staff, officers could travel in new cars—but there is nothing available for reparation money.” Living was cheaper in Germany than else Where.

Woe to the man who crossed swords with that terrible blade, writes A. S. Gardiner in,the Daily News, when recalling the Parliamentary career of Mr T. M. Healey, who is now Gover-nor-General of the Irish Free State. There was no tongue'so swift and so bitter. “When the cat’s away,” said Joseph Chamberlain, ori one occasion, commenting .on ,the absence' of Gladstone, “the mice will play.” “And the rats,” said Tjim, with cold incisiveness, as if he were helping the forgetfulness of the speaker. He was the master of aill moods, and could melt the House to tears, as in the famous “Dark Rosaleen” passage, or move it to delighted laughter as, when denied permission to speak on Ireland, he intervened on the subject of Uganda, and wove an amazing impromptu parable of Ireland in the terms of the dark continent.

An interesting description of the manner in which the dust nuisance had been eliminated in a busy London street by a patent colloidal compound was given by Mr A. Benham, Gisborne, in ai paper read at the Civil Engineers’ Conference at Auckland. In wet weather the unsprayed portion was covered with mud, while on fine days etery passing vehicle brought up, clouds of dust. On the treated portion, Avhidh had cost less than oneeighth of a penny per square yard, there was no> hiud in rainy weather, and a car which passed at 40 miles an hour failed to bring up the slightest trace of dust. The compound was applied by means of an ordinary water-ing-cart, one gallon covering 200 square yards of road surface. This treatment did away with street watering, said Mr Benham. On ordinary traffic roads, three applications a season would be .sufficient to keep them entirely free from dust and mud. He proposed to try the process in Gisborne.

Mr R. W. Keeys, of Queenwood Road, Levin, has just received advice | of the death of his mother, Mrs Maj tiida Dennis, of Park Cottage, Brasted, I Kent, England.. The deceased lady I was within a few weeks of her 101st birthday. On her hundredth birthday ; she received a congratulatory message from the King and Queen, expressing the wish that, the remainder of her days might be spent in happiness and peace. The Westerham Herald remarks that the Royal wish was realis- . ed to the extent that her closing days ( were spent in an imagery of the past —the old lady dwelling in the days hof her youth again. All her life she ; enjoyed extraordinary health and vigi our. The late Mrs Dennis was born ( ait Brasted on December 27., 1921, and had lived in the village practically all her life. She had lived under five monarchs —George IV., William IV., Queen Victoria, Edward VII., and the present King. She remembered when there was a'village cage at Brasted, and stocks, for dealing with offenders, and of* having seen men whipped through the, village at a cart’s tail. There used' to be a cattle and pleasure fair at'Brasted in her early days, and of these times, the old lady 1 used to speak. She leaves 11 grand-children and 16 great grandchildren. Eight of these are in New Zealand, one in Singapore, one in Scotland, and six in England. Her father and mother lived to nearly ninety years of age, and a great-aunt attained the age of 102.

—MF~C. L. Hunt, exchange clerk, at the local post office, has received notice of his transfer to Waipu, North Auckland, for which place he will leave at an early date. The Mayor {Mr Murdoch), by request, is convening a meeting of all those interested in the formation oi an Athletic Club lor Shannon, winch will be held in the Council Chambers on Friday evening next, at 7.30 p.m. There is no reason why Shannon should not have a strong club like her neighbours, and it behoves all /those. interested to attend and set the ball rolling. I A Rome cablegram states that during their visit, the British King and Queen will be officially received by the Pope. It is rumoured, says the Wakatipu Mail, that rabbitskins will realise high 'prices during the coming winter. A well-known. Invercargill buyer recently stated that prime skins won, probably be worth £lO per hundred. I We are pleased to say that Mrs G. Thomas’s two daughters, who have been seriously ill: coincident with their late father’s sickness, are now recovering. Miss Ngira Thomas was able to get up for the first time yesterday, and little Kiwi is showing signs of improvement, which it is hoped will continue. A good story was told by Colonel McKenzie when * addressing an audience in the Salvation Army Hall at Palmerston. When the troops were passing through a French village he noticed a signboard bearing the following ; inscription: “Washing done here: English spoken—Australian understood!” The sign,' the Colonel said,' explained for itself the opinion in the minds of the FrenclKpeople of the vocabulary of the Australian soldier.

In view of MacLaren’s remarks that some of the members of the c’ombined team which met the Englishmen at Nelson did not know the blade of the bat from the handle, one of the Nelson players in the game against Motueka on Saturday took no chances, and he appeared at the Parle with a tag on his fiat plainly indicating the difference, states the Nelson Evening Mail. Fortified with this knowledge, the player batted to. such good effect

thht he obtained top score in the match! j

“Plum pudding, stewed apples or blackberry pie,” whispered the waitress at the Rahotu Hotel to the noxious weeds superintendent at a dinner the other day. “Blackberry pie,” said the inspector with a smile. And,yet (states the Opunake 'limes) the law says that no one must carry blackberries around or remove them from anywhere whatever.

In a round-table chat with some of the fruit-growers of Roxburgh, Dr. Tillyard said that at the entrances to several orchards around Sacramento in California was the following notice: “Fifty dollars given to the person who can find a mealy bug, codliu moth or woolly aphis in this orchard. We don’t spraj.” Here, said Dr. Tillyard, the parasites of 1 these pests were usedjto combat them.

“But, my dear man.” 'Such was the faniiliar mode of address used by a delegate desiring to impress a point on the; chairman during a rather heated passage at the North Island Brass Bands’ Association meeting at New’ Plymouth on Wednesday. “Now don’t yon ‘my dear man’ me; please remember I am the chairman,” promptly retorted Mr L. Cohen. “Outside this hall I shall be pleased if you address me thus, but I will not have it now.” (Laughter.),

The Victorian Government has hit on a new plan recently.’ There has been considerable discussion on the .question of disposing of the fruit crop. Fruit is plentiful at this time of the year, but, .whilst the growers cannot depend on getting even a reasonable price for their products, the consumers find that they have to pay the most exorbitant prices for fresh fruit. The Railway Department, therefore, arranged for a fruit- train from which fruit' could be sold at various country stations. A recent fruit train succeeded in disposing of 2000 cases of fruit. at~pfices which satisfied both grower and consumer. The plan is capable of great expand sion, and now that- the advantages have been demonstrated', it is likely that there’ will be fruit-selling trains sent to all parts of the State.

A proposal is afoot to hold a Mardi Gras'in order to raise funds for the Horowhenua A. and P. Association and Racing Club. The Mayor, Mr Maiheson, who was present at Saturday’s meeting of the former body, at the invitation "of the president, gave the Society,the benefit of his experience in'lhis connection, and outlined a scheiifc for the preliminary organising of the Mardi Gras. Mr Matheson stated that if an effort of this kind was to be made the. success it should be, it must he properly organised in every detail. He suggested that in the first place an executive of five, with an organiser, be set up. 'Four Queens should be run, one in the borough, two for the southern and eastern districts, and one for the northern. If the Society would prepare full details of what they could do in these matters, he would he pleased to meet tlTem again and render any assistance he could. The whole business will be discussed at next Saturday’s meeting, when representatives from the Racing Club will be in attendance to go into the proposition conjunction with the A. and P. Society.

_ A frost isfeported to have occurred in Wanganui on Thursday morning last. An instance of the value of careful culling and herd testing is afforded at Ngaire, Taranaki, where a farmer last year netted £l9 .10/ per acre off his farm of 28 acres. Another farmer in the same district, with a family of seven, collected £2O 10/ per acre off a 45-ac.r.e holding. A good story was told at a Llandudno dinner of a deep-laid—and successful—plot to urge upon the then chairman of the London and Northj Western Railway Company the need ! for a better railway station at Llandudno. In those days the station consisted of a single island platform, on which the cabs drew up to pick up tares. Mr Moon, the chairman of the railway company, was invited to inspect the station. Just as he came on to the platform he had a narrow escape from being knocked down by a cab. It had the appearance of a pure »; accident, but later in the day, the story proceeded, one of the bills on the Town Clerk’s desk read: “To pretending to knock down the old gentleman, as directed, 5/.” P.lans for an improved station .were adopted immediately.

Lord Glenavy and Mr, T. M. Healy furnish proof that time works wonders. As Mr J. H. Campbell, M.P. for Trinity College, Lord Glenavy was the ablest and bitterest opponent the Irish Party had. He was legal adviser to Carson’s Provisional Government, and became Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He had just been elected chairman of the Irish . Senate. , Mr Healy is now Governor-General of the Free State. In the law courts in former years they have repeatedly crossed swords. On one occasion Mr Campbell was prosecuting in a serious criinihal case, and in a moving speech said that when he read over the evidence in the case he cried bitterly. Mr Healy thereupon almost succeeded hi having the court cleared bv interjecting, “No such miracle has occurred since Moses r struck the rock.” ■ •

A traveller describes the wonders of the Victoria Falls in Rhodesia. “They are not only the grandestwaterfalls,” he says, “but also the. most sublime spectacle in the world.. To say that the river Zambesi " measures more than a mile in breadth where it rushes over the precipice in a roaring,, snow-white torrent — to -drop 400 ft, and to throw up columns hot spray to some 200 ft visible 50 miles distant—that is to say nothing. Nothing, at least that conveys any idea of the magnitude and beauty of the fa' Anyone who has seen Niagara may gain some little notion *of its unknown, untamed, unspoiled rival by imagining something nearly twice as broad; And, as this is a practical age, a comparison of the amount of horsepower running away in each case is interesting. Niagara’s horse-power is 7,000,000; the Victoria Falls allow 30,000,000 horse-power to run to picturesque waste!” •

“It would be a terribly monotonous world if we all thought alike,” said Mr John Fisher, president of the Cambridge A. >and P.‘ Society, when speaking at the Pukekohe Show gathering. An old Scotsman, meditating on that very subject, said to his friend Sandy: “Weel, if that were sae, we wud a’ be wanting that wife of _yours.” “Ah,” replied Sandy, “I’m thinking if you all thought the same as me nane o yae wud hae her.” The speaker, proceeding after the laughter, said this explained the advantage of good competition as between the breeders of the different kinds of cattle. He remembered it was once said that Ayrshire cattle were only bred by mental asylums and Scotch folk —(laughter) — and, therefore, he was awfully pleased to know that Pukekohe , had at least one Irishman who went in for Ayrshires. (Laughter and applause.)

A remarkable coincidence occurred at the Town Hall during the screening of a moving \ picture at Eltham. A local medical man was summoned by messenger to attend a case, and at precisely the same moment, during the progress of the picture, one of the sub-titles was flashed on the screen, “Come quickly, doctor, there has been an accident.”

“There is an impression abroad this year that tomatoes are poisonous on account of the spray on them, and for this reason people will not eat the fruit,” said Mr T. F. Conway at Friday night’s meeting of the Manawatu Fruitgrowers’ Association. “The matter has been gone into and it has been proved that a man has to eat two and a-half bushels of freshly sprayed fruit before be would be subjected to any discomfort at all on account of the arsenical spray. The matter has been scientifically proved, and there is no danger.”

“I remember a flood in Australia when 24 inches of rain fell in.2B hours,’ said Mr R. IV Bell, chairman of the Manawatu-Oroua River Board, when addressing the Sluggish River Drainage Board at its meeting on Friday. He added, after recounting some experiences in connection with that incident, that the Manawatu flood areas must be protected against a large flood, which was always possible. ‘‘lt is, no use saying that another large flood is not likely to occur,” he concluded.

‘ ‘ The excessive growth of lupins has frequently changed the course of the river, ” said Mr R. T. Bell, chairman of the Manawatu River Board, when speaking to the Sluggish' River; Drain- \ age Board on Friday. The stream in question was in the Feilding district, and the speaker instanced that as one of the cases where the powers of. the river boards should be exercised to compel those responsible for the nuisance to abate it. *

On Friday, March 16, a! grand St. Patrick’s Ball will be held in aid of the Catholic Church fund. In this issue A. E. Hyde advertises rimu boards and scantlings at gready reduced rates. ' \ f ‘\yhen I was a boy,” said a member of the Manawatu Fruitgrowers’ Association at the annual meeting, 1 ‘ the provincial Government of that day tried to pass a law providing a flogging for any boy who broke a sparrow’s egg.” As a contrast to this; another member stated that he had bought 44 dozen blackbirds’ eggs from one boy during last season. Altogether 400 dozen eggs had been bought. ' A very painful experience befell a ' man in a suburb of Auckland the other night, says the “Herald.” He is a seaman, and was spending his usual shore leave at port. He dreamt that his vessel struck a rock. Suiting his dream thoughts to action, he lashed out vigorously and put his foot through the window near* which he was sleeping. The crash aroused the household. The foot was badly cut and an- artery cut. Willing hands got to work and tied up | the leg of the energetic dreamer, who had lost a considerable quantity, of blood before the doctor arrived. The number of people- who continue to ignore the reduction in postage offered them by the Postal Department from the beginning of this month is really astonishing (says an-’ exchange). A glance through the correspondence received the other day by a Dunedin business man who does a large mail order business showed envelopes bearing the old - twopenny rate posted this month from all parts of the Dominion. Had the alteration been in the nature of an increase the oversight .would have been more easily understood. . A sensation was caused at the Greytown Hospital a few days ago, says the Standard,” when a bullock walked into that institution. * It appears that a mob of bullocks were being driven past the hospital when qne of them broke away and sought refuge from the drover in the passage way of the hospital. The drover, on seeing the animal .enter the building, went around to the back part. As he entered the passage the bullock saw him and retreated without causing any damage, shortly afterwards rejoining the ~mob. The Hon. C. J. Parr (Minister for Education) stated in Auckland on Friday that he had asked the Director of Education and other educational authorities to consider whether it would be possible to classify district high school

teachers so as to bring them more into connection with secondary school teachers as they were doing practically the same work. Another anomaly was that immediately a secondary department was added to a primary school, the whole, school went up a grade, all the teachers and assistants receiving increased salaries. “I think,” said the Minister, * ‘ the headmaster, and perhaps one or two others who take some additional responsibility should receive some extra remuneration, but it is difficult to find arguments for increases for the others.”

Mr Lloyd George says frankly that after 17 years in office he has retired a poor man, and that it is imperative that he should turn to writing as a means of livelihood. This may surprise many who know that a. Prime Minister's sal-j ary is £SOOO a year. The amount is, however, illusory, for a Prime Minister's inevitable expenses are very heavy and have not in late years become lighter, says the Manchester Guardian. It would. not be at surprising if the greater part of the salary went in what ,one may call out-of-pocket expenses—perhaps all'of it. As the Prime Minister's salary is no more exempt from income tax- than anybody else's, it must be cut down by nearly half to reach the net amount. It may well be believed that Mr Lloyd George, during an unprecedentedly busy and harassing time, would have little margin for saving.

. ’ • A- remarkable case of devotion to two dogs, which is probably unparalleled in the'Dominion occurred near Taumarunui recently, during a heavy flood which brought the Wanganui river up to an abnormal level. At the spot where the incident occurred the river is spanned by a shaky hand-made spring bridge, and so high was the river that the narrow bridge was submerged, its flooring torn away, and the wires more or less tangled. A settler 's ' dog was tied up on low land 1 across the river, and in danger of a speedy and certain drowning. Against all efforts at dissuasion the settler climbed out on the swaying wires, which were in constant peril of being swept away by logs rushing down the swollen water. In addition, the

• man took a considerable risk of becoming fouled in the wires and drowned. At' one point his foothold on the bridge was so deep in the river that only his head was visible, and he appeared to have the greatest difficulty in maintaining his hold. He battled through the flood, however, and soon afterwards was seen leading the pair of joyously-cap-ering dogs to higher land and r ■