Shannon News FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1923.

Shannon News, 22 June 1923, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 1923.

A good deal of sickness, is prevalent in Shannon at present time. Already three cases of diphtheria have been reported and there are several other suspicious oases.

A very pleasant evening was spent by those who attended the euchre tournament and dance at the Parish Hall on Tuesday evening, in aid of the Church of England fund. In the euchre tournament Mrs C. C. Franks wan, the prize for the ladies and Mr Davey the men’s prize; Miss Morgan and Mr F. Jamieson securing the consolation prizes. It is with regret We announce the death of Mrs Annie Kite, which occurred yesterday morning at the residence of her son-in-law, Mr Duschenski, of Marionoto road. The deceased lady had been confined to her bed for the past two months. Previous to taking up her residence: in Shannon about nine years ago, deceased for many years resided at Richmond, in the Nelson district. She is survived 'by her husband; arid two married - daughters, Mesdamesi J. Duschenski, of Shannon, aind O’Dowd, of Hawera,- who will have the sympathy of a large circle of friends in their bereavement.

At .the invitation of the manager of the Masterton Cement Pipe Works, Crs. Gunning, Hyde, Gardner, Butt, the town clerk (Mr Bovis) lahd the engineer (Mr Edwards) journeyed’ to Masterton! yesterday to inspect • the manufacturing of the company’s pipes. It was the expressed wish of the firm that the Council should visit their works before deciding on what miake of pipes to install in connection with the water supply scheme, and to that end the firm are paying all expenses in connection with the trip. The Mayor (Mr Murdoch) was unable to make the trip owing to illness, while the other Councillors owing to business reasons could not go. The Shannon Dairy Co., and Mr Aim, the manager,. are to be congratulated on their success at the Palmerston North winter show, having gained first honours in class 4 (box export butter, open to members of the New Zealand Dairy Factory Managers’ Association, with 95J points, 25 entries), second in Class 5 (box export butter manufactured at the factory of exhibitor, open to all factories in New Zealand, gaining 94J points, half a point behind! the winner. 22 entries), third in Class 7 (box butter, open to factories receiving home separated cream only, 94£ points, 21 entries), and second in Class 7a (box suitable ‘for export and made under the most favourable conditions, with 95£ points, 31 entries). A 1 social was held on Friday. June 15, to falreweli Mr :amd Mrs Upton, who are leaving Moutoa for Palmerston North. Dancing was indulged in and! after suppeir M,'r Aitken, a short speech, spoke of the good work done in Moutoa by Mr and Mrs Upton, especially in making a-start, to procure the necessary fund for a hall, also I to Miss Upton for her willing aid in singing at all times, also the young Uptons. On behalf of the settlers, Mr Aitken asked Mrs Upton to accept the gift of an afternoon tea set, Mr Upton a case of pipes and Mis's Upton a. suede handbag. Mr Upton replied thanking the settlers for their gifts and expressing regret at, leaving, but saying that, by doing so they hoped to better themselves. They would always take an interest in Moutoa affairs. After the singing of “They are Jolly Good Fellow,” dancing was resumed until an early hour of the morning. Mr and Mrs Upton leave on Monday for J their future home. J

f Mr H. D. Grocott, chief postmaster at Wellington, is voluntarily retiring after nearly forty-two years’ service. He entered the Department ias a message boy at Christchurch in 1881. Next week he commences an extended per- , iod of annual leave.

Speaking of Sydney, Mr W. J. McCullough, of the Central Development Farm, explained that one. of the sights of the city which had most impressed him, was the. crowd of business people leaving the Central Station after business hours every afternoon. One hundred thousand people travel in and out twice a day by the suburban trains, and after five o’clock pour into the station in ope solid.unbroken mass before splitting uip on to the different platforms from which they .start to their various destinations.

During the hearing of a case at the Cambridge S.M. Court on Thursday, a witness declared that bis wife, though careful of - her household duties, was very careless about her dress, and her untidiness worried Kim. " Sometimes she had not tidied her hair for weeks at a< time. The S.M. and counsel looked rather incredulous on this statement being made, whereupon the witness repeated it, and added, amidst laughter, that he had once made a mark on the wall, to- his wife’s disgust making note of the fact that, his wife had “done her hair,” the first time for weeks.

Ratana, the Maori faith-healer, will visit Tar.anaki shortly. A New' Plymouth Maori, who spent five days dt Rotorua settlement last week, says five thousand natives were present on one occasion during his visit there being a continuous stream- inwards and outwards. Four trains -stop at the station nearly every day, and all are said to bring large numbers Qf Maoris seeking a cure for various ailments. It is Ratana’s plan to extend his work to the pakehas. Hence, he proposed making a tour of the Dominion, including Taranaki (says the ‘ Taranaki,News”). Is he getting ahead of Mr Hickson?

The Bank rate of exchange on money sent from Jmndon has been a sore point with commercial men during the past few years. There is another side .to the- question, however, of which the Horowhenua Power Board had experience- this week. The Board had to remit £4389 to London in payment for copper, -and it was actually paid £ll by the Bank for giving it the privilege of forwarding the money. This is at the rate of 5s per cent. On the other hand it costs 1J per cent, to send money to Australia. The- reason .for these arbitrary exchange laws seems to be beyond the comprehension of the average citizen, but the fact, remains that at present the Banks will pay for the privilege of sending money to London for 1 their clients. As illustrating the differences -between Australian -and New Zealand farming, Mr W. J. McCullough, manager of the Central Development Farm, explained to a “Chronicle” representative that on the Werri-bee experimental farm in Victoria, half a. cwt. of phosphate- manure is the maximum put in with crops-. This is solely for the purpose of giving the seed a quick start, and 1 a larger amount is .considered detrimental rather than beneficial, as in dry weather tending to burn, the young plant. Speaking generally, Mr McCullough said that 30 bushels was considered'a good crop in the wheat areas and 15 bushels ;ai payable one, the reason being that the ground is so easily worked that one man can put in 500 acres by himself, and by the use of the stripper, which cuts only the heads of the wheat off, and in the latest models even thrashes it, whilst continuing the process of stripping, the cost of harvesting is reduced to a minimum.

Mr G. Webb,' who is one of the largest poultry-farmers, of the Levin district, is very enthusiastic labout the value of ducks to the poultryman. He runs on an average, 200 ducks of the Indian runner variety, the strains be-' ing Stott’s “Wonder,” crossed with Green’s well-known strain from Christchurch. From the 72 ducks of this year’s hatching, which 1 We now laying, an .average! of 62 eggs pet day have been collected for the last three months. Last year from 125 ducks Mr Webb collected up to 115 eggs per day. Furthermore, they lay lall the year round, beginning at 4j months, and are profitable, from a poultryman’s point pf view, for three years as against the hen’s two years. Mr Webb is now successfully engaged in the task of breeding out the green tinge which is the chief objection to duck-eggs. Reporting to the Horowhenua power Board yesterday, the Electrical Engineer, Mr Overton, stated that during the’ month a shipment of 534 poles were received; out of this number two were condeiimed owing to large suncracks. These, however, would be cut back and passed for ia smaller size. The report continued: “In regard to this question I ha,ve no hesitation in saying that the Board is/ getting full value (according to market values) for the money spent on this contract. The ironbark is of a hard and durable nature with ninety per cent, of the poles' much over size. I (may here add that the suppliers have not relaxed upon the standard of quality sent in the first 'shipment, which I think the majority of you have personally inspected. Notification of a further shipment of 400 poles how on the water has come to hand.”