Shannon News FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1923.

Shannon News, 7 December 1923, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1923.

Mr Hamilton, Government Auditor, has been a visitor to Shannon during the wjeek.. Mrs Abbott, wife of the Rev. Abbott, who underwent a serious operation at a private hospital in Palmerston, North, is, we. are pleased to learn, making steady progress towards recovery. ,

On Tuesday evening a pleasant ; gathering was held at the residence of Mr F. J. Mardon, Ballance street, to bid farewell to Mr and Mrs Mellor, who vare leaving Shannon for the Old Country, where they intend to reside. A most enjoyable time was spent by those present, there being songs, recitations and a competition which was won by Mr Slayton. Mrs Mellor was the 'recipient of many gifts and her kind disposition will be ■ remembered by all who knew her, and general regret was expressed at the family’s departure. The first circuit meeting of the Royal Arch Chapter of Druids was held at Foxton on Wednesday evening, when there was a good attendance, representatives being present from Shannon, Otaki, Levin 'and Groua No. 10 Lodge, Palmerston North. Bro. R. A. Johnson was installed R.A.D.8., and "two candidates oanie forward for initiation. The next meeting will be held at Otaki in March and a month later the ritual contest will he held at Otaki, judges for which have been secured from Wellington R.A.G. o

On Tuesday evening at the Druids’ Hall the Farmers’ Queen Committee tendered 'a evening to their supporters and to the representatives j of the Fibre, Sports and Maori Queens, I there being about sixty persons present. His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. Murdoch.) presided. During the evening several toasts were honoured, chief of which was the successful quieen (Miss E. Easton) which was proposed by the Mayor, who congratulated her on . bein'* elected, referring

in eulogistic terms to the splendid effort made by her committee. Mr S. Henry responding on Miss Easton’s behalf. The toast of the unsuccessful queen candidates was proposed by Mr Alloway, and responded to by Mr J. V. Burns (Fibre), Mr las. Crowther (Sports) and Mr J. Beard (Maori). Songs Were contributed by Mrs Goddar, Miss Cookley and Messrs .W. Quamey T. Kohikia, W. Terry and F. Marn, musical monologue, Mr J. T. Bovis; recitations, Messrs W. Murdoch, J. Beard, G. Mitchell and S. ■Henry. An enjoyable sit down supper wia,s provided by the ladies, and a most delightful evening, thoroughly enjoyed by all, 1 was brought to a close j with cheers for the queen, defeated j candidates, the parents and the executive secretary (Mr J. T. Bovis) , t fol-' lowed by all joining hands and s*ing-, ing “Auld Lang Syne.” «, , ii- r '. , 'i (, v,

_ l Residents of Shannon and district are co.rdialy invited to attend the opening of the new , hall at Moutoa which will take place this evening;, when a social and dance will be he.ld. A novel entertainment, . originated and carried out by a number of talented juveniles, was held at Mr C. C. Franks’ residence in. Vance on Tuesday evening. The entertainers were, a party of eight children, whose ages . ranged front six to ten years, who in the presence of quite a large .audience gave a most enjoyable programe, which consisted of singing, recitations, dancing and the staging of a playetta, the whole being a most creditable performance for children of such tender years, more especially so> as they Wad received no assistance in preparing for the entertainment.

A collision occurred, on the Kingston road a day or two ago between 'a motor lorry belonging to Mr Warrington and a motor cycle ridden by Mr G. Wilkinson. They struck head on at a bend in the road, the lorry carrying the cycle along for some, yards, the rider., escaping with a few cuts and scratches - while the damage done to the bike was the twisting of the forks and frame. The motor lorry, strange to say, did not come off so lightly, the front axle'being twisted, the chassis w,as bent and the steering gear disarranged. Mr J. S.. Hornblow, son of Mr and Mrs J. K. Hornblow, of Foxton, passed his final dental examination at the Oftago University with honours last week.

A remarkable case, of parsimony was brought to light in a South Island town recently, when an old lady who. had ben receiving the old age pension for some time dropped dead. On her person was found £lO7 in notes, and hidden away in an old box in. her home was an additional £3OO. ,

Mr J. M. Bingham, of the office staff oi? the Horowhenua Power Board, is relinquishing his position in Levin and will be leaving lor Auckland in about three weeks’ time to take charge, of the construction department of Radio, Ltd., ,of the nortbiehi city. - Mr Bingham has' been recently advised that he has been, elected an associate of' the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Novel and effective ways of clearing out stock' or popularising some special line are adopted by some enterprising American firms. The latest idea is a “ane-cent sale.” A list of articles is advertised at usual prices and the purchaser of one oi them receives an extra one for a cent. Thus a bottle of .Florida water is sold at a dollar, and during the one cent sale two botles are sold for .one dollar one cent. Such sales generally last for thrive days and it is claimed that they cause a great, rush and a thorough clearance of ffhe lines advertised.

The Foxton Herald says: Perhaps m no other town in the Dominion is there a' closer hand of fellowship and co-operation , among local ministers and congregations of 1 the several Protestant churches. It is _ not uncommon for the Anglican minister t.o be seen and heard conducting a weeknight service in one of the other churches and non-conformists parrying ouj a like service in the Anglican Church. This spirit of brotherhood welds the) congregations together in Christian unity and the effect is beneficial upon 'the community as ' a whole.

Accpr’ding to the New Zealand Herald, the prospects for a . large, crop of strawberries are unfavourably affected by the present dry spell following on a cold and wet spring. It is feated that in many districts the yield will be. an unusually light one. Moist, warm conditions are wanted to ensure future supplies, failing which it is anticipated that this year’s crop will be about half the yield of a good season. Considering the supplies avail- 1 able, however, current prices are not high, but it is expected that they will rise as Christmas approaches;

The usual monthly stop-work meeting of the Wanganui Waterside Workers’ Union took place on Monday morning. It was very unfortunate for the watersiders that bn the first Monday of the month there should happen to be a steamer in the roadstead, two Australian vessels • at Gastlecliff, and three, coastal boats at the town wharf all waiting labour for discharge. However, regulations are regulations, land so work was stopped While min utes were read and confirmed, union business transacted, and argument heard pro and con about several weighty matters. This went on for an hour or two while good wages were lost by the watersiders, and valuable time was wasted that might have been better used in carrying on the business of the port.—-Wanganui “Chronicle.”

If the age of chivalry is dead, there are indication that another is springing in a “duel”* recently fought by two boys of 16 years for the protection and favours of a girl of their acquaintance (relates the Hamilton correspondent of the “Auckland Star”). The names of the youthful cavaliers are Qlarence O’Brien and Arthur E. Lee. Recently in Stats Park-, they fought over a maiden for •a quarter of an hour, and then adjourned to a backyard to finish the combat. When the boys were charged before Mr Young, S.M., in the Police Court with having caused a breach of the peace, O’Brien' said the fight started as the result, of an argument over a girl. The Magistrate: “You decided to have a duel for .her hand?” O’Brien declared that Lee worked in a. shop and he (O’Brien) objected to the girl visiting him. One day he heard her shriek and rushed to her rescue. Lee stated that the girl was a collector 'for “a blessed Sunday School,” land had been pestering him for donations. Hie had given her various small amounts, but one day, being “fed up,” he offered to give her 2 S 6d for a kiss. The girl considered the bargain a good one, and she was just being kissed when O’Brien entered. 1 The girl did not, however, shriek. The Court was highly amused at the narrative. Both boys Wcr© l convicted and discharged. -

The staff at the Longbum Freezing Works are making preparations to commence operations on the 11th inst. The output of the Levin' Co-opera-tive Dairy for the six months from May 31 to November 30,1923, shows an increase of 5 tons over that , for the same period last year.

Owing to the • climbing proclivities of certain small boys several of the trees which ornament Oxford street in the vicinity of the station have sustained broken branches during the past week. The fns.t crop of war-named babies is now commencing to appear in print. At the Little River Show ia juvenile exhibited rejoiced in the Christian name of “Dardanelles.” He (or she.) won, naturally.

Railway goods traffic at Palmerston North has been extraordinarily heavy during the past week, so much so that four extra trains had- to be despatched to help clear the congestion in the yards. These trains again, were very long, 75 and 81) vehicles being a common freight for an engine. '

At the Magistrate’s Court in Wanganui on Monday a number of motorists were fined for leaving their Pars unattended in the streets for more than 15 minutes., “You will have to pay a small rental” was the. remark of the Magistrate in imposing a small monetary penalty, on one of the delinquents. Mr Felix Blakemore, who is a member of the British Postmaster General’s Council assured the National Chamber of Trade Conference at Manchester that if traders accepted the present temporary restrictions in the postal service they would find penny post reinstated in from nine to twelve months.

A man. (relates the “Marlborough Express”) walked into a local' music shop and said to'the young lady behind the counter: “Have you ‘Yes, we have, no bananas?’ ” She replied, “Yes, we haven't no bananas —I mean, no, .w© haven’t ‘Yes'We have 'no bananas,’ but we’ll have some tomorrow,” with which he had to be satisfied 1 .

The Dargaville Times records the following incident: Mr Jim Hunter, one of our well-known local “sports,” had the surprise of his life at Turiwhiri this week. A few wqeks agp he thought he., would set a hen on some duck eggs so he secured a broody lien and put a dozen duck eggs, as he thought, under her. When he went to see how. the ducklings were progressing, much to his dismay he found half of them (six) were young pukekos. He has not got over the shock ye.t. A rise of Id per lb in wool means £p.,000,000 extra for the Dominion woolgrowers. % . New Zealand lamb will be on the tables next Christinas Day in many homes in the Old Country. Over 1000 carcases (most of this to be .delivered during Christmas week) have been sent? from New Zealand through the Meat Producers’ Board, as Christmas presents to friends at Home.

Railway goods traffic at Palmerston North has been extraordinarily heavy during the past week, so much so that four extra trains had to be despatched to help clear the congestion in the yards. These trains again 1 'were very long, 75 and 80 vehicles being a common freight for an engine. Jeff had saved up ,a little mopey, and when Mutt came over a few years later the two brothers went into the coal business. One day Jeff bought a roll-top desk, and when it arrived he said to Mutt: “The one desk will do for the two of us. -And here are two keys, one for you, Mutt, and one for me.” Mutt took the key, but seemed to study the desk. “That’s all right, Jeff/’ ho said, “but where<is my keyhole ? ” ’ A patent device to lesson the risk at railway crossings has been brought under the notice .of tho Wanganui Automobile Association by the inventor, Mr. John T. Walker, of Aramoho. Instead of a bell at a railway crossing, the engine on approaching a crossing causes a jet of water to play in the middle of the roadway' about four feet high, which at night would be seen a long distance off in the glare of a headlight. It is claimed that for crossings in country districts the device could be operated in conjunction with a water tank in the vicinity.

An unusual mistake in the delivery of a part of electrical machinery for the Auckland Electric Power Board has been disclosed. At a special meeting of the committee of the Avhole. Board the chairman, Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, stated that the regulator of a new 5000 kilowatt set had been sent to Auckland by mistake instead of Pretoria, and the regulator which should have been sent to the Board had been sent to Pretoria. The Board decided that the makers be informed that as the Board’s set was installed, and in running order the Board required to have the proper regulator ■ before the present one could be returned.

An unusual incident occurred on board the ketch Rira, which arrived at Auckland from Grafton, Clarence River, a few days ago. When the vessel was off the Three Kings she was visited by hundreds of seagulls, which flew aboard shortly after midday and remained on the vessel for about ten hours. The birds walked about tho decks and on top of the. deck houses. They showed very little fear, and moved away slowly when approached. The mate of the Rira, with' 35 years ’ experience at sea, said he had never before had such an experience. It seemed as though the birds had flown aboard the shelter from some unknown danger. The crew fe,d the birds with meat and bread.