Shannon News TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1923.

Shannon News, 10 April 1923, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1923.

Real wintry weather prevailed in Shannon on Sunday and yesterday, for this time of the year. As showing the severity of the cold the hills around the toiwn wore a coating of snow yesterday, which is most unusual.

A visitor to Southern Hawke’s Bay during -the holidays informs the News that ragwort and Californian thistle is taking a great hold of the country around Norsewood and Takapau. On a number of farms around the former place, the owners have had to put the mowing machines in the paddocks to cope with the ragwort. It is stated that unless drastic measures are taken by the farmers to prevent it spreading further a lot of country will become useless. Blackberry is also* becoming a serious menace in some parts.

A rather, amusing enquiry was made by a lady arrival at the local railway station.a day or two ago. After .alighting from the express train from Wellington and carefully viewing her new surroundings she asked a local taxidriver if there was a tram service to Shannon. On being informed that she was already in Shannon she seemed very much surprised.

The cricket match between the Shannon School team and the Otaki Native College for the O'*Connor Cup took place at the Shannon Recreation Grounds on Saturday and was won by the latter.

A public meeting will be held in the Maoriland Theatre on Thursday evening with a view to arranging a gymkhana or something similar to baise funds for the Soldiers’ Memorial.

The Marton Dairy Company, which sent a shipment of coloured cheese to Glasgow per Suffolk, have been advised that the shipment realised an average price of 152/ per cwt which is the highest price quoted this season.

On Saturday afternoon the Levin Wanderers played a friendly game with the Western United at Palmerston North, which resulted in an easy win for the local team by 31 points to 6. Neither team was playing at its full strength, and the match wias more in the nature of a try-out for new players, of whom both sides were mainly composed. The Wanderers took the initiative early in the game and in the first spell put up twelve against the wind. In the second half a further 19 were added, Jacob and Jackson, scoring three trie® each. The Eltham Chamber of Commerce at its meeting last week, referred to the value of the local newspaper. Mr C. A. Wilkinson, the leading business man. said: “More liberal support should be extended to it. If Eltham by any chance lost its newspaper, the town would be in a > very bad Way. indeed, but they could only assist the paper by increased advertising.” The chairinian, Mr Bridger, spoke in the same strain, and it was resolved unanimously “to urge all businessmen: to assist with renewed interest and co-operation by advertising in its columns.” The Argus says: “The reporter present almost blushed in the fervour of his gratitude.”

Sir George Clifford states that as the result of overtures from the New Zealand Racing Conference regarding the taxation of racing clubs, Mr Massey has given most favourable replies and it is hoped that before long clubs will receive subtsantial relief. “It was the first time I had ever driven a car,” feebly explained the victim of the accident. “I got going pretty fast and forgot *how to stop. I looked ahead and saw a bridge rush ing to meet me. I tried to turn and let the. bridge past and—that is all 1 know about it.”

Mr Joseph McCabe, the Rationalist lecturer and author, will commence a lecturing tour of New Zealand at the end of June. One of his objects will be to combat the claims made on behalf of Spiritualism by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when he visited the Dominion two years ago.

There is a general protest throughout the Taranaki district against the new valuations in the country. They are considered to be much higher than the productive value of the land, and meetings are being held in the different centres with the object cf forming associations to take further action in the matter.

The Auckland Poultry-keepers Association’s single pen egg-laying' competition of 50 weeks, ending on -27th March, has been won by Mr W. Maberley, of Bryce Street, Cambridge, with his team of three Black Orpingtons, which put up a record for New Zealand for heavy breeds, laying n 25 eggs during the specified period. To be rated by a county council for land which you do not possess and which does not even exist is perhaps a unique (experience, but that is the position of a ratepayer of the Inglewood County. The land has been assessed but the “owner” claims that it does not exist, though he is naturally anxious to discover it. The position is supposed to have arisen through a surveyor’s mistake.

For failing to comply with the terms of an order for the maintenance of his wife and child, a young married man was sentenced at the Magistrate’s Court at Wanganui to two months’ imprisonment, a condition being attached that he would be*' released on part or whole payment of the arrears. Thej defendant’s mother-in-law, who was in the Court, promptly offered to pay the amount to keep him out of gaol. A resident of Masterton who came out to New Zealand over .10 years ago from England received a booklet from the High Commissioner’s Office, describing the paradise that awaited the immigrant in the Dominion. One picture .showed a worker’s home with garden at 7/6 per week. Last October he went on a trip to England, and before returning to New Zealand he was handed a duplicate of the booklet at the Commissioner’s office.

At one of the Taranaki farms up country one of the best cows in the herd was noticed to have entered the milking shed minus her usual quantity of milk. Upon investigation (says an exchange), it was found that one of the porkers, a number of which were running loose on the farm, was in the (habit of getting under the cow and helping herself to a liberal quantity of milk. The shortage was thus accounted for, but “piggie” had subsequently to go without his miming milk.

The Southland examiners of the various soldier settlements, Messrs J. Milne and J. Lilico, have completed their work. During the time they were touring Southland they examined 366 places and in conversation with a reporter, Mr Milne said that the majority of the men were doing well, and that the percentage of failures would be small. The examiners will present their report to the Land Board’s next meeting.

, At present anyone who care® to visil the Commonwealth Treasury in Melbourne can obtain a sovereign for a paper pound, but there is an embargo upon the export of gold. This is because the sovereign is worth 4.86 gold dollars in New York, while the paper pound is worth about 4.70 dollars, says the Sydney Forum. Consequently if the export of gold were permitted everyone in Melbourne would be raiding the Treasury to obtain sovereigns for paper, to profit by the exchange. As soon as the exchange reaches par —that is, when a pound fetches 4.86 dollars—the reason for continuing the embargo will disappear. The recrudescence of price-cutting of a more intense kind than was formerly 'the case has broken out among several of the leading grocers in the city of Christchurch and in consequence a number of lines are being retailed at very low prices. Staple lines such as butter, bacon and cheese, are not affected as much as line® not in such demand, but margins of profit have been reduced very considerably, and in some cases practically wiped out. A notable example is kerosene. It costs the retailers 13/6 per case net, and is now being sold at 12/9, a gross profit of only 3d. It is a fight to the Inish,” said one grocer this week. ‘Some of us will get pushed out, I suppose.”

A time-guessing competition conducted in connection with a recent carnival in Wanganui still remains undecided. The clock, an eight-day timepiece, was wound up at noon on Thursday, March 22, and is still going strong. Surely a record for an “eighi day clock.”

When the British troops were leaving Dublin, an Irish woman, bidding farewell to her British soldier friend, said: “Goodbye; we’re sorry to lose you, but we’re glad you’re going, ’cos now we can fight in peace”—Which summed up the situation very well, os events have turned out.

The value of newspaper, as compared with poster publicity, was recognised at the election for the constituency of Tyrone and Fermanagh. The agents on both sides, for the first time in history, decided to dispense with posters giving the addresses of the candidates, but published them in the eight local papers. A high patriotic note was struck by the Hon. C. E. Statham in the course of his reply to congratulatory addresses at Dunedin, relates an exchange. Mr Morrell had referred to the fact that two of Mr Statham’s brothers were killed on Gallipoli, and in referring to that Mr Statham said his brothers and 16,000 New Zealand soldiers had laid down their lives that we

might enjoy the freedom inviolate that had been handed down to us by our forefathers. Many of our soldiers had looked through the gates of death; many had returned broken in spirit and broken in mind. “No honour which I could obtain or .see in front of me,” said Mr Statham, “no service which I could render to my country, could be as great as the service these brave men gave to you.”

Whether brown trout are suitable; for Northern rivers was discussed at the last meeting of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society. It was suggested that possibly the cause of the failure years ago to stock Northern rivers wjth this fish was the fact that not sufficient were put in. There was a strong diversity of opinion as to whether Northern rivers wer'e suitable for this fish, and one member, in condemning a certain stream, remarked that it changed its course after flooding. To this another member replied that he had caught brown trout in a place that was a turnip paddock three weeks earlier. “You have to become a brown trout fisherman before you can talk about it,” was the observation made by one of those who held that the Northern rivers were suitable for the raising of brown trout. The death of Mr John Jeffries, which occurred ,at Bunnythorpe yesterday, marks the passing of one of the earliest pioneers of the district, says the. Standard. Mr Jeffries, who first settled in Napier, following his arrival in New Zealand, went to the Bunnythorpe district some fifty years ago, and thus experienced many of the trials which were the lot of the early colonist. ThJei deceased gentleman had been in poor health forborne time past. His deatih, at the age of 78 years, will be regretted by a wide circle of friends. Deceased leaves a wife and family of seven sons and six

daughters to mourn their loss. Of the sons, Messrs Henry, Arthur, and Albert reside at Taonui, Levi at Te Horo, Samuel at Feilding, Alfred at Bunnythorpe, and Gabriel at Cambridge. The daughters arei: Mrs Howard (Levin), Mrs Marshall and Mrs James (Bunnythorpe), Mrs Thompson (Waverley), and Misses Kate and May Jefferies (Bunnythorpe).

i At a meeting of the Southland Executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union a strong protest was made agaI inst the protection of deer in the fiord 1 country. A member who occupied a I farm in that district stated that deer ■were so numerous that they had beI come a very serious menace to settlers. Only recently he.had three hor- ' ses destroyed by stags, and it was not l an uncommon sight to see 13 or 14 deer in the crops in the early momf ing. Sheaves, also, were frequently j found scattered among standing crops I having been carried there on thei ant- ( lers of stags. On one morning recenti ly his brother had found 15 deer in his crops and had shot five. Young hinds also came down and caused a terrible delath rate. among the lambs and if the position became much worse it would not. pay the farmers to rear lambs at all. Since the meeting was held the Minister has given authority to cull out the herds of deer in Southland.

A New Zealander, writing from Scotland, says: Broadcasting seems to be the latest craze and quite a lot of private houses are having these small plants installed (cost £5 to £25), with a radius of under 400 miles, sufficient to take in London concerts from here. You will notice the Scotsman publishes a daily programme, starting with children’s stories at 5, news at 7, orchestra 7.15, right on through the evening, taking in an address by the Admiral of the Fleet, various tenors, and j plenty of jazz. One can listen in with ear attachment or (have a funnel like a gramaphone, which sounds to everyone in thei room. f tit