Shannon News MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1923.

Shannon News, 31 December 1923, Page 2

Shannon News MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1923.

Lieutenant J. S. Packman, wlhose death occurred at Painierston North on Sunday, wa« with Colonel Younghusband on his memorable expedition to Jjhasa in 19084.

At a meeting of a sub-committee of !the Shannon School Commjitteie on Saturday evening Mrs O'Gonneli was appointed caretaker of the local school subject to the approval of Hire committee.

On New Year's Day the annual picnic oi the Presbyterian Sunday Sdhool children will be ijeld on <Mr Mitchell's property, East Road, and given a fine day there should be a large attendance of parents and friends. The .property is an. ideal one for a .picnic and a most enjoyable outing sJhouild result.

It was stated at a recent meeting ol the. Cambridge Power Board that, largely iats a result of the Board's recent advertising campaign, no less than 26 breakfast grillers had been sold during & fortnight, also a number of electric stoves.

It is estimated in Wellington the. I lie reduction in freight of, sixpence *i ease on fruit exported to England this season makes a probable gain oi £IO,OOO to growers on the anticipated export.

"I am afraid itihere is beginning to be too much time devoted to sport,'' stated the headmaster (Mr A. E, Feaithiei'stone) at the annual 'break-up of the (Middle School, Inwrcargill. "I am, not g, spoil-sport, but I think it is occupying too large, a place-'in the school life."

A youtlh, James Slatery, (appeared mt tli:ei Paha-ei'ston Police Court on ■Saturday morning- before Messrs A. J. Graham and R. Edwairds, J.'sP., on a charge of that on December '2a, 1*23, at iMafcerua .he committed theft of a. tooltih brush luid lis 6d in momev to the total value of. 15s, the property of Reginald James Baubier. On the opplica.tion of the police the accused was remanded ifco iappear on Friday next. It appears. tJhat thje accused was licensed oult, to Mr Bainber from the Boys' F'arm and on the. night attention ed im the iaformaitioin relieved his employer of his property and absconded. He was arwstert an Palinei'flton North on Friday,.'and it is believed other charges ..are ponding against him. "

Miss Mona Ne(ale left for Christchurch ,on Saturday, where she mitends spending her holidays. The Council 61 the Shannon Chamiber of Commerce, will hold their monthly meeting in the Council Olbanibors ou Thursday evening next,

Tilt; enga&eni,ent is 'announced oi Miss Mary L. McGarvie, eldest daughter ol Mr and Mi's. .John McGum©,, formerly of Shannon, now ol Gartertori, to Mr George A. "Siddle, son oi the Late Edward and Mrs FV-E. Biddie, Dulefleld.

Nearly li&ill' the marriages that take place in the Dominion arc celebrated on Wednesday. Tlie most popular periods ol' the year are Easter and Christmas, with a slight preference lor Easter.

Soma idea ol the. number oi .people travelling On the railways can Do gathered from the fact that J "231 people were served with meals at the 'Mairton dining room on the... Saturday before Christmas. At the refreshment counter 3351 persons were attended to.

A general meeting of /members of the Shannon Annateur. Athletic Glub will be held in the Council Chambers on Friday evening next at 7.30 p.m. All members are requested to attend with a view to making arrangements for holding a spurts, meeting at an early (Date. Visitors to Shannon iiom Wairar ljapia, |ui'd Hawk-es Bay during the week have 'been much surprised find this district looking so green and grass so plentiful, as the two districts n&inted have (been experiencing a drought, it being stated it is about four months. ..since Hawkes Bay had .experienced any beneficial rain. Owing to only one long night in each week being allowed under the Arbitration Court award for business premises to remain open, • .the 'business men of Shannon ihave decided to close this evening (New Year's Ev at 5.30 p.m. and observe .the following .Saturday night as rthe long night.

A farmer in the Waikato district teas taken action against a sawmiliing company for the recovery of £290 .special and £3OO general damages. The grounds for the claim are that the defendant is alleged to have dammed a creek with sawdust. The dam eventually broke with the weigh; of water, Avith .a result that the drains on plaintiff's land (became 'blocked, sawdust was deposited oat ihis property, and fences and (bridges were damaged. ; - - - ■_- Word was received >by the Helen sville police laist week that a human skeleton had been found on the beach at Muriwiai. The. district coroner, Mr Ctaridge, visited the .beach "on Christmas Day,, .and he .states that I'rom inhe gathered there he is satisfied that the remains are those of a seaman ol iH.M.S. Orpheus, which was wrecked on the Manukau par on February 7, 1863. The body, it is .stated, .wtas originally (buried by Maoris. About nine years ago owing to the action of the ,sea, the skeleton ■toad become exposed, and it was reiniterred near the same spot. In recording the arrival at Whangarei on December 01 of Mr "Billy Herbert," who recently was in Levin in i 'tlie/ of his round-fch;e-\vo-rld .walk, the Northern Advocate said: "He has just had an experience in North Auckland that will not soon be forgotten. The night before lastMr Herbert and (his wife, who accompanies him and is doing something in the way of advance agent work, were guests at the Tangiteroria Hotel,-when -it was destroyed by fire. They g«ot I out .with difficulty, but saved the records of the. tour. Their losses included about £4O in money, -Mr Her-, bert's decorations and medals, including two floyal Humane Society medals for sa.ving lite, and most of their clothing. However, they tramped on yesterday, and last night arrived .wet and weary at Mrs C. Mackenzie's home at Maunu,. where they rec'eived a most .hospitable welcome."

Very noticeable in Shannon during the week-end was the large number of men who had returned ready to start work at the Mangahao hydroworks and the flaxmills. At both the works ,a-nd Miranui mill a certain number of men have worked right through the holidays. On, Saturday morning there were thirty men back at the canteen at Miranui, with the result that two strippers have been running practically throughoult tn». holidays and there is. now «, large quantity of fibre cut ready to be milled. A curious circumstance mentioned by one of the staff at the Maiigiahao Works is that- there is always more labour coming' forward after .holidays than before as the result.of men bringing mates back .with them./ With the object of encouraging the prosecution of so-called sportsmen who are responsible for the illicit destruction of -game, birds the council of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society has decided to double the reward for each- convicted offender. This raises the toward from £lO to £2O which covers all game. • The. chairman (Mr C, A. Whitney) said that there was a great deal of'illicit shooting and fishing going on in the province. Reports had been received showing that the deliberate destruction or fish was being carried out by the employment ofeither lime or explosives. One report stated that 48 fish had been found lying dead on a river bank, the consensus of opinion being that they had been destroyed by the use of carbide, While the'society was -distributing trout fry to stock the rivers the poachers' were busv destroying them. The same thing was noticeable as regards game. The society was engaged extensively in breeding pheasants yet large numbers of birds were destroyed before the season began. It was no use, Mr Whtney said, hiding their heads in the sand and taking no notice of what was going on.

The testimony of a white fox-terrier was the most important given in a case at. the JTvthc Petty Sessions when a local hotel-keeper, 'the owner of the dog, was charged with cruel conduct towards it.. After evidence had been given the animal was brought into court and immediately it; was released from its leash it bounded up to Us master and tried to lick his face. The Bench at once dismissed the case.

One of the Australian JFtorest League's slogans is that one tree will make a million matches, but one match may destroy a million trees. The police force is. still engaged on its investigations regarding the murder of Mrs Oates at Ammolio on the night of October 2£>. Inquiries are being made, along quite a number of different channels. Mr J. Delany., of Dunedin, one of Uie pioneers of the Post and Telegraph service in this country, aged 66 years, died 'suddenly at Chi'istelmrch, on Wednesday, while on his way to visit this son, Mr Delany, postmaster at Foxton. "

" Surprise visits are all Very well in their way, but they sometimes prove disappointing to tlie parties concerned. For 'instance, a resident of laiana'ki came to Wanganui to surprise a relative on Christmas Eve only to Hud, on arrival, that the relative had that' day left for Taranaki to surprise him. The Asliburton County Council expressed its deep appreciation of the acition of the County engineer, Mr C. C F. Dyer, in permitting 20 ounces of his blood to be transfused into the veins of the County Clerk, Mr G-. Kelly, whose life was in great danger, Mr Dyer's sacrifice made an urgent operation possible, and Mr Kelly is recovering.

■ A Wanganui resident is not likely to forget Christmas Day, even if he is not reminded of the tragedy of which he was the chief 'actor. The family were gathered at til© festive board afnd father was (bringing,, in the, Christmas goose. As he passed through the pantry door he collided -with the doorpost, and the-'"razor-like carving knife 'began on his hand the work it should have done on the goose. The isequel was the work of an instant: .bleeding hand, .shiiashed plate, goose bestrewn floor, disappointed family, much discussed father!—Chronicle.

Playing lor Hastings River against Macleay River, Kempsey, N.S.W., on Saturday, December 8, R. Cox, of Wauchope, established a bowling feat. He performed the hat trick, and, with the fourth consecutive ball, took his fourth wicket. Macleay, with one down for 110, required only 40 to win. Cox, who had bowled before the luncheon adjournment at a cost of 13 runs for no wickets, resumed after lunch, and skittled the remaining nine wickets for four runs, winning the match.

Mr E. W. Relph, of Ohristcmirch, has received from a corrqspondenit in Portland!, Oregon, a letter which states that some half dozen Oregpn farmers ware, due to leave for New Zealand. "The trouble is," he adds, "that not a few who have already departed have got into the hands of Australians on the steamers and been misled and side-tracked, not knowing the difference between the two Dominions: That will always (be the danger till your Government spends more cash on advertising and guarding against such practices." - A Native minister, labouring in a field in the North Island, was confronted with a particular aspect of the faith ihjealing ■ inovjemetafc which presented a difficulty. There was a considerable- anioumt of heke heke among the children, and'in vain did he impress upon the natives the need of using medicine in addition to the prayer of faith. He then thought of the' incident of Christ healing the blind man, and took the op'p.ortuuitv of presenting it to the people. The natives saw the point of the sermon and to-dav the minister is combating the disease mentioned with an ointment he has prepared without in any sense detracting from the good work being accomplished through the Riatana moviement.

lii order that a still in which whisky may be manufactured should not be used for illicit purpose, the Collector of Customs forwarded to the O'tago University Council a bond which was required to toe executed by two ]inumbers of the council. The explanation of this is that the still is used for teaching purposes in the chemistry department of the University. One has been in use in fact, for some time, and a larger one has now been installed. The bond required sureties of £SOO from each of two .members of the council as a guarantee that the still would be used for nothing but teaching purposes.

After jhaving spent over 39 years in the New Zealand lighthouse service, Mr 11. iH. Leighton, late of Dog Island, retired on December Ist, and proceeded tQ "Amaru, where his wife has resided for about two- years in order to enable their youngest .son to complete his .schooling. Prior to that Mrs Leighton had. spent sii years in the service. She was born and married in the Nelson lighthouse, alter which she accompanied her husband to 16 different stations scattered practically all round the coast of New Zealand. Notwithstanding the fact that tlie New Zealand Government Insurance department declined to take a risk on his life 35 years ago, Mr Leighton haver failed to. take a watch during his long period of service and at the date of his retirement appeared to be quite hale and hearty.

Palmerston Qias been visited during the uast few days by Mr Percy ColemMi, the well-known racing cyclist, and his aeroplane, in which he made several flights over the town. The plane came to grief on Boxing Day, however. It is stated that after the pilot had alighted he left the engme running and, through some cause, tin machine started off across the field. The pilot made an effort to catch the runaway, but failed, to reach the control* and, after a Ibrief but exciting "bolt," the aeroplane came to rest upside down. The propeller is believed to be extensively damaged, while other portions of the machine also suffered/ It is understood that, nt the time of the incident, there were several other people in the field where th aeroplane made its solo dash, but no one was injured.

Howard ■■■ Andrew, 'Ltd.? have al thanks notice and' a seasonable wish for their numerous customers on. page

The Manawatu Times says:— A Manawatu farmer is .holding back His clip until February, as he considers that by then 75 per cent, of our wool will be Hold, and buyers should-become more keen." This is not always a wise policy as most of the foreign buyers have departed by then and whatever competition exists is almost entirely local.

The Criterion Hotel at Bulls was destroyed by fire on Thursday afternoon. The tire started in a bedroom, and suuu the structure-a two-storey-ed wooden building—was a seething muss of names. A bucket brigade did great service in saving adjoining premises, but had there 'been a, strong breeze it is certain that the lire .would have spread, and done much more serious damage. The fire burned itself out, only tlie chimneys being left standing. The licensee, Mr Ja Brady, was absent at tlie Awapuni races, and did not know of the lire until he returned home. Mr Brady will be a hoaw loser. The building was owned by Louisson and Devme, oi Palnierston North. The stock and furniture were insured for, £IOOO in the National Office, but the insurance on the building is not available.