Shannon News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1923.

Shannon News, 30 October 1923, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1923.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the Borough .Council takes place this evening. The monthly meeting of the Council, of the Chamber of Commerce will be held on Thursday evening- next. As tine nominations for five trustees to the Buckley Drainage district did not exceed the number of vacancies, Mr J. T. Bovis, returning officer, has declared Robert Waring Taylor, Hugh Charles Easton, John Swindl'ehurst, Joseph George Peers and James Richardson duly elected. In a .previous issue of the "News" owing to a, printer's errou, a local giving the list of amounts paid for butterfat last month by tlhe various dairy factories, read that Shannon Dairy Co. paid outul/8 for cheese, wluereas it should have read for butter, which therefore made Shannon's pay-out of Is 8d for butter the .(highest in the district.

On Saturday night a collision occurred on. Foxton road opposite the Church of England, when a motorist driving from town, collided with a lorry which is alleged to have been standing on the side of the road, in charge of Mr Jack Macpherson,, who luckily was not in the*vehicle at the time. The lorry was not damaged, but the car was not so fortunate, both the front wheels being damaged', also the radiator and mudguards, necessitating it being towed: back to a local garage for repairs.

So far six electric cooking ranges have been .arranged i' or within the Shannon Borough, in connection with the Horowhtenua Power Board's grouping system, which, is now being completed, whilst the general interest taken in this mode of cooking argues a. large increase, in the number in the hear future. A considerable number of residents are also having their hot water systems transformed to allow of ihe water being electrically heatled, this being lan inexpensive process and insuring a ready and regular supply of hot water at all times and at a very low cost. In our advertising columns the Direct Imparting Do., Shannon, notify they have commenced business in Walterston'g Buildings, Ballance st., where the public aTe invited to inspect their recently imported ready to* wear ladies' and children's clothing.

Tenders, for the construction of concrete reservoir for Shannon's | water supply close ; on November Stn._ Mr E. Spencer, who a lew weeks 1 ago underwent an operation to his > eyes in Wellington, lias returned home. The second group of the Shannon reticulation scheme in connection with the Horowhenua Power Board's operations, scheme has now been closed with 50 'lighting installations amd seven milking plants. These are mostly within -bhe Borough where there are now 140 houses incorporated in the two groups, of over .90 per cent, of the total number of houses m . the town. Seven milking plants have also been arranged for so far on the East and Buckley roads, three of these including also hot water systems in the sheds and electric lights. There were very few residents in Shannon yesterday who did hoi/avail themselves of the Borough Council's invitation to get rid of their rubbish and many ana varied were Hie heaps of tins, etc., on the roadside"' waiting to be removed by tilie men with their ''drays. Judging by the quantity of rubbish put out to be collected, it was certainly not before time for a "clean up." From a health point of view it. is a. step in the right direction and we would suggest, that similar work be carried out. at least • quarterly, which would go a long way towards improving the sanitary condition of the town. The first annual ball of the Kopu-

taroa Football Club will be held in the new Koputaroa. Hall, on Thursday next, November Ist, when the trophy won toy the club as winners of the "junior championship will be presented by the president of Khe Rugby Union 'and the niedals won by the various m'pmh'iers presented toy the Mayor of Levin (Mr T. Hobson). The success of the club in winning the championship is the more noticeable from the fact that it was only, levived last season after having lapsed for several years. Previously the club had won the championship three years in succession, so that it would appear as if the younger generation were intent on carrying on the excellent traditions of their predecessors. ' Three electrically driven steamers for cairrving fruit are-being constructed at Birkenhead on the Mersey, for a. United States company. Because they did not want to go black to Germlany, three stowaways destroyed their clothing at Sunderland, and, ail women having been requested to leave the court they were brought in clad in sacking and were remanded for deportation.A British passenger aeroplane,

which has ihad its seats removed -and is now carrying goods exclusively between London, Brussels, and Cologne, has its full capacity of about IJ tons a trip booked up for six months ahead.

"No carburreter and-no cursing—one of the most simple things in the world"—a brief description by a Wa.n-ganui-Rangitikei Power Board representative in explaining the simplicity of the small electric, motors -for milking that are.to be installed in the disr trict.

A Wanganui, merchant reports that last September was the best month he had had for business since the boom year of 1920. As a result the accounts paid on October 20fch were o .hundred per cent, better tihau for any other month this year. The returns this month also show that good business is being done and that the prospects for Xmas trade are looking bright indeed.

Footnotes on the bottom of accounts are very diverse in *the results that they obtain. A well-known firm' of merchants in a West Coast town pasted a big red query at the foot of a bill for nine shillings owing by one of their best customers. The customer thought it a great joke but did not pay up. Whatf'he did was to transfer the hint to pay on to an account for £26 that was long overdue by one of his own clients. It acted like a .poultice, aaid within 24 hours 'a bad debt was squared off. Then he went and paid his merchant the nine shillings, and took him to afternoon tea.

The Cape daisy, which is included in the noxious weed category, is at the present time a bright feature of the local landscape. The yellow borders of various roads outside the town suggest that the daisy has been spread by travelling stock, although, on the otiher hand,! it is plentiful in the town and suburbs. Efforts to eradicate it have not been particularly successful, and, like some of the other hardy growths, it appears to have come to stay. The seed of Cape daisy is supposed to have been brought to New Zealand, many years ago in a sailing vessel's ballast.—Wanganui Chronicle.

A cable repair ship in the Southern Atlantic reports an interesting discovery. Wlien the Eastern Telegraph Company laid the Cape cable in 1899 the route between St. Helena and Cape town was surveyed, soundings being taken every fifty miles. This cable has parted and the repair ship, which is now on a spot where the chartshows a depth of little more than three miles, has 'found that the ocean bed has risen to. with in threequarters of :a mile of .the surface. It is suggested that this change is due to a recent submarine convulsion.

A W'angauui Wallpaper jiLur - 1 ! inl states thai the British wallpiper trade lias recaptured Hie bu>iiU'ss of New Zealand which had pon L !• 'me United States and Canada during the war. British nianuLar(jir<' s had been una.ble to hold iheir connection owing to.llieir lactone-, hein,.' lot' munition work, but i>y of their better qualities, and lOlonrings Ihev liad again a.s-ciied their superioiiiy. Tlie Dominion has been recognised as the hem. iest. piuvha-or of wallpaper, per capita, in ihe British Enildie, and one ot the wallpaper representatives when visiting New Zealand, remained upon the huge stocks carried by the trade. The British custom was for retailors to .conduct business by samples only Chronicle'.-

, The latest schoolboy "howler" is from Taili&pe. When asked the meaning of "tomahawk," one bright youngster wrote: "Tomahawk is the male hawk, not the one -tJhat. lay the eggs." "Too big for knickers, but not big[ enough for 'pants.,'" was how one member of the Wanganui Ratepayers' Association described the suburb of I Gonville. "But big enough to borrow I money," added 'another member amid j laughter. At the long-wool ram sale at Lin- \ coin the best xam in the. show was j sold for 6.5 guineas, though a few I years ago a similar- winner would j have made 1000 guineas. Fewer than k a third of the rams exhibited were j sold. The importation of German potatoes, labelled "Dutch," is causing serious concern to English growers, who declare that unless this dumping of surplus stocks is restricted by legislation their industry* is threatened with extinction. "It is the question of quality and not the pricei that rthe panes flrsit think of when marketing their produce," said Mr Allison, at a meeting of the dairy factory directors in Southland. To this fact toe speaker attributed Denmark's success on the British markets.—(Southland Times). Shearing operations are now in progress all over the Wanganui district. The "biddy bid," or utuwai, will soon be seeding, and woolgrowers are timing their shearing" so as to prevent the wool from being infected with \ the pest.

It is reported that the speculative wool buyer is operating in the Wanganui district with a view to> getting any clips that are under offer. There is as yet no indication! that any purchases have been made as farmers are disinclined to sell owing to tihe upward tendency of the market— Chronicle.

The new season's wool clip has already comenced to arrive in Wanganui brokers' stores, and motor lorries are busy collecting the bales of golden fleece from the various farms in the district. The inference to be drawn from the London wool sale held last week is that prices are making growers more optimistic owing to the increase in crossbred qualities. A canvass is being made in Wanganui for investors to take shares' in a goldmine, said to located in the Auckland province, with dazzling possibilities -of immediate wealth. One of the reasons given for presenting the opportunity to the local public is that they have been so badly stung in the past with mining ventures 'that they now deserve the opportunity to make good.—Wanganui Chroniclei.

J "I. visited Pipiriki 25 years ago," | remarked a member of the ! Borough Council, "and at that time, I on .the opposite side of the river, there" wa s a couple of hundred of acres of I beautiful, clear country, in fact the I historic site of an old battle ground. I was in Pipiriki again recently. The same land is now smothered with fern ' and noxious weeds, with gorse run riot ten feet high." ''That is quite a good exhibit for an agricultural show," commented Mr. J. G. L. Hewitt, S.M. (president of the Assessment Court) at Okato, when one of the''objectors to the recent Government ' valuations produced >a trailing blackberry vine, about 15 feet in length, which, he said, represented six months' growth.. \'lf the grass would grow as long as this, I wouldn't be here to-day. .

A strong protest was made at the meeting of the Farmers' Union at Invertargill in connection- with tihe high price at present being charged for cement (says the "News.") Mr .J. Smith said the matter was a very serious one and explained that the high price was 'brought about through one compiaory paying another cement firm to close down. He {thought it was scandalous that they should be charged 8s lid per bag seeing that they were able to get it cheaper during the war. The meeting decided to bring the matter before the Dominion Executive-of the Farmers' Union and the Board of Trade.

"Civis" in the Otago Daily Tims, tells the following story.- An old lady was very much impressed by .a sermon on charity that she had read in the Church Magazine. She went upstairs,, took two pound notes, went out into the street, and handed them to an honest but seedy-looking young man,\ who was leaning against a verandah post. "W ( hat are these for?" he' asked. "Charity," she replied. "Righto missus," he said, and disappeared without a word of thanks. Next day he called at her house and handed her £2O in notes. "What are these for?" she gasped. "Charity, missus. Gee! you were luicky; he only won by ai neck." "Charity" was a horse.-and the "seedy-looking young man" was- a bookmaker's tout.

A Palmerston North shool teacher in conversation with a Standard reporter, referred to two "howlers" which had occuredin essay writing ty the younger pupils at one of the local schools recently. The subject of the essays concerned impressions gained on the first visit to the zoo and one child wrote; "The first animals I saw were the bears and the lions and my aunt and cousins were also there." Another pupil displayed a pretty though unconscions wit when lie wrote; "The first thing I saw was the keeper feeding the lions with 'roar' (raw) meat."

It is, well known that different magistrates regard breeding rabbits as a serious offence, but in the Court precincts of at least one Courthouse in Ota go not a, hundred miles from Oarna.ru (says the Mail) there exists a small and healty family of rabbits The mother and ner descendants live in the large cellar under the building and periodically take tfhe sun in the Court gfround. It is said that a Supreme Court official passing through the grounds :was nearly upset by the chasing of a member of the rabbit family fby a, watchful foxlorricr intent on "his quarry. A cynic gives it as his opinion that the rabbits haunt the cellar to take note of the comments of. the .Court; in rabbit caseg, j