Shannon News TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1923.

Shannon News, 3 July 1923, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1923.

The monthly meeting of the Council of- the Chamber of Commerce will be held in, the Council Chambers on Thursday evening. Mr Peach of the Men go,re Meat Co., who recently underwent an. operation in Wellington, as a result of war wounds, has returned to Shannon, much improved in health. The following are the vital statistics for Shannon for the quarter ending .Tune 30:—Births. 15, deaths 1. marriages 1. During the month of June there were se.ven births, deaths and marriages nil. The friends of Mr and Mrs S. Bennett will be pleased to learn that, their infant son, who, is at present an, inmate of the Palmerston; North Hospital. suffering from bronchial pneumonia,, is now on the turn, towards recovery. ■ We have been shown some selfsown potatoes which have just been dug by Mr Pirovano. These are a rarity for this time of the year, considering the weather experienced lately. The tubers are a fine sample, each root being well loaded. On Sunday last, there was commenced a. series of mission meetings in the Presbyterian Church, conducted by Mr J. .T. Mains, of Auckland. Both morning and evening sendees were well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all those who were present; Mr Mains thinks that an opinion is held by many that an evangelist has some power to make people do things to which they are not, inclined, but he assured those present that >ai his meetings there would be no button-holing of people in their seats, and that his hearers would be n.t liberty to come and go as they pleased, hut we can assure any who desire to attend that, they will not think of before the service is at an end, as Mr-Mains is » plain, and very interesting speaker.

From July Ist telephone subscriptions will be made out quarterly. No increase in charge has been made yet.

The many friends in Shannon of Mr and Mrs T. Mason will regret to hear of the death of their, infant son which occurred. ■at the Palmerston N. Hospital on Sunday evening alter a short illness.

l'here is a lot of sickness among children in Shannon at the present time, no doubt caused by the continuous wet weather, with the result that the attendance at the local school is suffering as is instanced by the fact that in the infant department out of a class of 68, no less than 29 were absent owing to sickness.

Mr Sinclair, of Vance street, forwards the following particulars of rainfall in Shannon for the month oi June-: June was .a particularly wei month, rain having fallen on 21 days, with a total of 4.17 inches, the heaviest fall .being on the 3rd with .69in. For tne corresponding period last year rain only fell on seven days, with a total of 1.89 inches, the heaviest being on the 3rd with .54in. The Feilding “Star” sa;ys : Each day brings its surprise in disclosures of breaches of trust committed by Civil servants and employees in private concerns. Never in the. history of New Zealand has there been such a devas-! tating waive of crimes, of all sorts, from petty pilferings and heavy defalcations to capital offences. The morale of the nation is at its slackest, or it should be remembered that for every crime that is exposed and disclosed, there are -a dozen that do not reach publicity—that are quietly settled or hushed up. But there is one direction in which the State should move for the protection of a longsu;ffering public that indulges 'in speculations m shares, of public companies . Numberless companies have been formed and floated in all parts of the Dominion, the members of the public put their £1 or £lO or £25 or £IOO into it—and then something goes wrong with the works. The. wash-up yields nothing to the pound. We are not referring to unfortunate companies that- have a run of hard-luck, but to those which are apparently deliberately organised 1 to exploit an unsuspicious investing public. Somebody on the inside gains a rich return at the expense of the numerous ' investors. We think the Government should provide in the Companies Act that there shall be at public inquest on. all such/ cases that a,re the least bit suspicious-.

Miss Richardson, who for 12 years has been, an essential part of the life of Sandon township and district in her capacity as postmistress, shortly leaves for Wellington, on promotion.

The extent to which motor traffic is competing with -and defeating the railways was instanced in the Magistrate’s Court at New Plymouth recently, when the question of arriving at the expenses of a' witness who had been brought from Napier was being discutss)ed. “What is the railway fare?” -asked counsel in the case, and the witness replied: “I don’t know; I motored over; I never travel by rail.” A. facetious Taranaki correspondent writes: The latest rumo-ur from Matiere is that rescue parties are at work dragging the Main street looking for a six-horse wagon that has foundered somewhere. The l most optimistic of the residents offer very little hope for its recovery. A Are at Raetihi destroyed a twostorey building next the Waimiarino Hotel, occupied by A. G. Laloii (tailor) and R Curtis (confectioner). The building was injured for £1500; Mr Laloii’s stoek for £1100; and Mr Curtis’s stock and fittings for £450. ,

Speaking of the Shannon golf links, Mr W. Clark, who visited Shannon with the Levin golfers oh Saturday, describes them a$ splendidly sporting, the sloping greens and hidden approaches giving great variety to the game. The links are situated on high rolling country behind the township and on a fine day a' splendid view, extending from Ka.piti to .the south Taranaki Bight, is. to be obtained. On Wednesday ajfternoon‘seven Levin golfers journeyed to Shannon, to engage the members of that Club in a friendly gaime, and after a. very enjoyable afternoon on the strange links succeeded; in winning by one up on the games played. Afternoon tea was provided by the laidy members, and Mr Murphy, on behalf of the Shannon Club, welcomed the visitors, Mr W. Clark replying for the Levin players, ’and thanking the home Club for its hospitality and for the very enjoyabl afternoon spent, and expressed the hope that the Levin Club would have the opportunity of welcoming Shannon players to a return match at a(n early date.

The pakehai thinks he knows the last, word about Rugby football, but in a battle of wits with the Maori he comes a bad second. In the recent match between Te Aute and Wanganui Colleges at Palmerston North, it, was noticeable how jnuch better the Maoris shaped in the mud compared with their opponents. This was largely due to the fact that the Natives, before taking the field, liberally smeared the soles of their boots with vaseline. The result was that the Maoris were nutnble footed, whereas the Wanganui boys had feet, of clay with a, vengeance. After the match one of the Natives explained that when vaseline was used mud would not stick to the sole of the boot, at least not to the ' extent of inconveniencing the wearer, j

i At, the annual meeting of the Tara-> na'ki Local Bodies’ Association, Mr C.( J. Belcher referred to the excessive j pall way freights on bitumen. He i said the last account received by his \ county for bitumen showed that it cost £l5O for 125 tons, or 23s 6d per ton, j railed from. New Plymouth to Eltham. ( He had protested to the company selling the bitumen, hut had been advised by them that the only chance of obtaining a reduction in freight was for all the local bodies to take combined action. It, was resolved to request the general manager of railways to place bitumem in the siatne category as ordinary tar, and to remove it. from the • class D rate to the class N rate when it is to be used for local bodies.

The Uaind and Income Tax Department is prosecuting a well-known Wairarapa farmer for failing to furnish a return of the land owned by him.

Mr A. c. Ross, of the Dairy Division, said that last year 81,471 cows were tested in New Zealand, representing 7i per cent, of the cows. Denmark was the only country with a larger percentage, hut he hoped to see Denmark’s proportion passed very soon.

“I have been astonished at my own ignorance of the Church in New Zealand, and its mission activities among the Maoris,” said the Indian B'shop of Dornakal at a gathering at Auckland, “but my own ignorance was no greater than that of some New Zealanders concerning India. At one school I visited recently a little girl told me I came from America, and at another school all the children were surprised and disappointed because I did not have my head ornamented with feathers!”

A commission appointed by the Presbytery of Hawkes Ba,y sat a, few days ago in St. Andrew’s Church, Gisborne, to consider a petition signed by 41 members and adherents of the church, praying that the Presbytery take steps to preserve the historic faith of the church. It was alleged (states the Gisborne Times) that the Rev. Jas. Aitken, M.A., had in his teachings departed from the fundamental doctrines of the church. Evidence was heard on both sides. The decision of the Presbytery will be made known after due consideration.

party feeling is running high in tne House' and anything may happen ( s a,ys the Taranaki Herald’s correspondent). An example of the compliments that are being nassed among members was given on Thursday afternoon when Mr Nash, member for Palmerston North, asked leave to put a miestion without notice to the Minister of Justice regarding the state of the gaol at Palmerston North. “Have your been there?” asked a Labour menibr. “No, but you may have been,” replied Mr Nash.

When the Bishop of Dornakai was in London recently he was asked by the treasurer of a London church whether he had a cathedral in his Indian diocese. “No,” he rplied, “we are not thinking of cathedrals just. now. We are concerned with the building of Christ’s Church.’” He then informed the Londoner that the church building being used at present had cost only £25. “But you will have ai cathedral some day,” urged the treasurer. “What will- it cost?” Much to -his amazement, the bishop replied, “About £2300.” “Why,”-exclaimed the treasurer, “only the other day I signed a checrne. for £2OOO for repairs to our organ!” That wa,s the rfity of it, said the'missionary, for while money was plentiful for the Church’s work, in Christian lands, the Gospel had to be denied to thousands because the Church in heathen countries lacked fulnds. •

The Palmers ton Standard says the somewhat unusual spectacle of two trains standing stationary while a policeman was" engaged in the task of removing an “inebriated lady” from the railway line wa,s witnessed at the crossing at the station end of the Square one day' last week. She was pacing over the crossing when-the heel of one of her shoes caught in a double rail rendering further progress for ,the moment impossible. * With much ceremony .she removed-her foot from the shoe, and catching sight of a policeman who was bent on arresting her, she moved on to the permanent, way between the hedges that flank the line through the Square. In the meantime the north-bound New Plymouth mail train had left the station and a goods train from the Wairarapa was coming into the .station on the down line. Both-trains had to pull up until the offender was removed . from- the crossing and escorted, protesting, tothe police station. She failed to appear when called before the Police Court and in her absence a. conviction was entered and the amount of her bail, ss, was estreated.

New Zealand dairymen are the only ones hi the world feared by Denmark, so Mr W. Garrett, who- has just returned to Auckland alter a seven .months’ visit to Europe. During his tour he visited Denmark, Norway and Sweden, inquiring- into dairying matters in London, and also saw what was being done in the United States. He was convinced that New Zealand had nothing to learn so far as she had gone. That was to say, in the methods of manufacture. But he wa,s much struck with the need that existed for going in extensively for research work. Denmark was far ahead of us' in that respect. She had colleges and special professors, wh. were all the time making investigations and doing research work. New facts were being discovered, new methods evolved, and if New Zealand did not take a leaf out of Denman's book in this respect and set up research colleges she would find herself being left behind, because competition was so keen. It was while he. was in Denmark that -Mr Garrett heard cne of the leading professors say that New Zealand was the' only country they feared a,s a competitor. Mr Garrett found that, the Danes excelled the New Zealand dairy farmer in the _matter of cleanliness. They also \\%it in keenly for intensive cultivaii m—in fact, “cultivated right up :o the carttracks.”