Shannon News FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1924.

Shannon News, 11 January 1924, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1924.

On Tuesday (evening at a special meeting of She. ' Boriquigh Council, Wednesday was, declared the statutory half holiday for the lensuing year.

At the meeting ,Qf the Palmerston North-Hospital Board yesterday the new agreemenit for the Mangahao workers toatween the doctor and chein-* is|t on the lines agreed upon at a ■meeting of representatives of the different parties; recently held in ..Shannon was carried.

At the Council meeting on Tuesday night in referring to the property easements in .connection with the water sohemiej the Mayor mentioned the fine mariner in' which the property owners had acted in the matter and he moved that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded them -Hot. the way they_. had acted, iwthich was Carried .unanimously.

A narrow esoap© from drowning occurred on Wednesday afternoon, in the stfleam near Mr Curran's property, when a girl 16 yeara of afete; (named Thekma Buckman, got into difficulties. Accompanied by two small children shia Was battling in the stream, and getting out of her depth and being a poor swimnner, she vvlent down. Tfae. cries of the children attracted .the attention oif Mr J. Maddem who was working nearby, and he immediately! went to her assistance and auctieeded in rescuing her as she was going down for the last time. After first aid had been rendered the young iUidy was able to proceed to her homie> ~

'lttnei meetings tituas nave ibeen held in Mr F. Newport's honse, by Mr A. F. Witty, Missionary frOm Ceylon, nave been transferred to the Balance Street Hall, the building lately occupied by "The Comity Store." There was a. Jaxge attendance last Sunday at ibbth-morningi, and evening service. QMr F. Ferguson, editor of "The New Zealand Treasury," Ralmerston N., and) Mr A. Andieraofa, Pabanginai, preached the gospel, and their exposition was much! 'appreciated by those present. It is intended to Jiold children's meetings On tifcuet Sa.turda.ys at 2.30 p.m., to -which all children "with their parents are cordially invited. Bright singing and the (blackboard will be used to teach the gos-1 pel, and there lis nothing to pay but attentfcfa: Mr iWßbty's sfulhtfect for Sunday next, "Christ is Coming— HowP WlhenP Where P" illustrated by a large diagram!, should be both j instruetivte and In^iresliiig.

A general meeting of the Shannon Tennis Cluhi will be held in sne Council on. Friday ev«nia& January 18th, for: tns purpose of confirm* ing •tiie ruJeii "The man who calls himself a 'reformer ' wants to smash things. He is the sort of man who would tear up a whole shirt because the collar button did not fit the button hole. It would never occur to him to enlarge the button hole."—Henry Ford. V '*A man lives'and loves'and rues and dies." This was the short summing-up of life, written on a piece of paper found beside the body of George Edward Henley, 39, at his home in Manly,. Sydney, last week. Lying on the floor was a. bottle containing, liquid," and a bundle of papers. . A number of Patea residents are not at all satisfied regarding the prospects of their freezing workß being closed down. A proposal has been made to the | directors to call the local business people together, also the shareholders, for the purpose of arriving at some workI able scheme to carry on under reconI struction.

At Kew Gardens there is a heron that must be the vainest bird alive. It asks to be photographed. If it sees a camera it poses as if to make itself an attractive "subject." It has been known to stare at a camera and follow the owner of it until the camera has been duly "snapped." Then it contentedly toddles away. Work on the Opunake railway is progressing satisfactorily. One hundred and sixty men are at present on the job, and a steam shovel is doing excellent work, dealing with about 6000 cubic yards of material per month. It is hoped to have the rails laid to Opunake within the next twelve months, and present indications point to this being accomplished. At the annual speech day at Girton House School, Adelaide, last week Professor Darnley Naylor added another gem to the list of errors disclosed by papers submitted by candidates for the public examinations. He instanced the case of a candidate who at a recent examination wrote: "The Scottish Highlands are a rather dirty people, who talk.a language called garlic." _ An instance of the results which can be obtained from some of the Poverty Bay land was related to a Gisborne Herald representative by a farmer who prides himself upon having one of the most heavily stocked properties m the district. This man has a farm Of jW dcres, upon which he wintered breeding-ewes, 870 lambs, and 40. head of cattle and horses, the whole of ■ which were fed solely on grass, this working out at an equivalent of about 10 sheep to an acre. In addition to having sufficient feed for this, number of stock, a contract has now been let for the cutting of 60 acres of grass for seed

Over five degrees of frost were registered in. the Wairarapa on Thursday morning.

Arriving at the London Pavilion to see the film "The Covered Waggon,'' the Prince of Wales found every seat beoked. When the manager suggested that it would be an easy matter to arrange, the Prince replied: "I don t wish anyone to be disturbed." adding that it was his fault entirely, and that he hoped to come on another occasion. A small crowd cheered the Prince as he went back to his car.

A window smash on a large scale occurred at Whangarei. A motor-cycle, ridden by Mr. L. H. Tobin, was running into the main thoroughfare, when he encountered two motor-cars coming in the opposite direction. Complicationg arose resulting in the motor-cycle mounting the footpath and crashing into the corner support of Mr. B. Or. J±osking's.big plate glass Montage. The impact broke the support, shattering the front and side windows. Mr. Tobin had a lucky escape from serious injury, sustaining only a cut over one eye, although broken glass was , showered all over him. Considerable damage was done to the motor-cycle.

"No one realises the absurd effect of the unfortunate Taupo 'quakes of last year until one visits Australia, remarked a returned New Zealander to a 'New Zealand Times, representa--tive. '{Talking quite seriously, the effect has been decidedly unfair to the Dominion from a tourist traffic point of view. Why the of /Sydney—the biggest offenders—chose to star these matters in the ridiculous manner in which they did, I do not know. The remark that greets the New Zealander in Sydney/' he said, is "Oh! you come from the Rickety Isles: when are you going to disappear beneath the ocean? This might be very amusing, but the epitaphs 'Rickety' or 'Shivery' Isles has not been to the advantage of our country. Some Australians seemed to regard New Zealand as a place likely to disappear beneath the ocean at any time, he added, and this meant bad business from a tourist point of view."

It is not unusual to hear of the theft of a motor car these days, but it is seldom the exasperated owner has the satisfaction of catching the thief red-handed. That, however, was the experience of a resident of Invercargill, who, with his wife motored into the show on People's Day. They found that their car had been taken from the parking place, and hired a garage car, in which they started for home. When passing the Post Office the irate country man was surprised to see his own car being driven towards him. His wife quickly alighted and went in search of a policeman, while he headed the absconder off, causing him to run the stolen car into the kerbing. f The joyrider made off in haste on foot, and the car-owner was starting in hot pursuit when the advent of a police officer further complicated matters. He jumped to conclusions, and closed with the pursuer instead Of the pursued. Fortunately the lady arrived in time to dissuade the limb of the law from arresting her husband. The pair of them went off after the real dilinquent in the car that was the cause of all the excitement, and were successful in overtaking and apprehending a man who was charged with the theft.

Eighteen months ago Nelson resident reported to the police the theft of his bicycle. Being an extreme optimist he determined not to purchase another machine, but to live in hopes, These have been fulfilled, for a,day or two ago he had a pleasant intimation that the missing bicycle had been located in a repair shop. It seems that the bicycle in the meantime hal passed through various hands, but; the owner is not concerned in the adjustment of any difficulties arising in this respect.

The South African natives are progressing in present-day civilisation. They are actually forming trades unions with a. view, to their regulating the rate of wages. Such was tfys surprising intelligence that awaited some farmers in the Northern Transvaal who approached Isang, a Bechuanaland Paramount Chief, with a view of obtaining some native labourers for their farms. Isang's reply' must hav£ been somewhat of a shock to the white deputation. He told them very politely that his , people were organising a native labour union with a view to regulating native wages, and that when the union was completely formed thfc farmers should then make application to the native union for the labour which they required.

A pathetic incident that had its humorous side was witnessed on Mr. F. Briant's station at Tahora during the recent bush fire, says an exchange. After the first burst of smoke had passed, about 40 four-year-old steers wpre discovered lined up in a row with, their heads over a fence as far to windward as they could get. Although station bred cattle, they took no notice when Mr. Briant went near them, the reason of this unusual behaviour being that evpry beast was weeping copiously and that channels of fear s were running down their faces.

Some real clergymen have had exciting experiences during race weeks, though perhaps not as bad as that which Dean Pigeon used to tell of .an Essex rector, who chanced to be in Doncaster on Leger day. Realising that he was likely to lose his train home unless he hurrkjd, the rector began'Vo run. Unfortunately about the same time someone jmissed a pursef and police and crowjd gave chase and caught the rector. In vain he protested his innocence ajnd mentioned his yicars and rectors this week," was the policeman's answer, and the captive was marched off to the police station, where it todk a long time to persuade the inspector to accept the evidence of his card case and send for someone to identify him.

What has now. turned out to be an unkind kindness was, inflicted upon a southern builder not! very many years ago( says the Dunedin Star). It seems that he was engaged iupon the construction of a big factory, which must remain nameless—and that speed and bustle were the very essence of his contract. Like a Trojan he worked, and the structure was completed in such good time that the, directors of the company lelt-in-jiuty bound to reward him with a substantial bonus. After dismissing from , their minds such a paltry thing as a g£ft of silverware, they at last hit upo£ what seemed to them—and, later, to the recipient also — a happy presentation in the shape of a parcel of shares in the concern.- For some years dividends flowed in freely on the shares, and their possessor continued to bless his benefactors. But, lately, the concern had the misfortune to become the victim of a monetary, illness, which made it practically moribund. And, now, a call for £75 has been made ,on the holder of the gift shares!

- Few people would regard a rat as a j good omen, but there is one man in ! Gisborne who is indebted to a rodent for guidance, if not to a fortune, at least to a very handsome little Christ'mas present (says the Herald). J.ne gentleman in question was working in his garden, when he observed a large '• rat endeavouring to get beneath the house. The persistent efforts of the rodent aroused his curiosity, and, consequently, when the rat succeeded in his -efforts, he was followed by a pair of interested eyes. The attention of the rat was directed to an object lying behind an old fireplace, and subsequent investigation showed that the object of interest was nothing more or less than a pocket wallet filled with banknotes. A closer examination of the find showed that the wallet had evidently been hidden for some considerable time, and portions of it, and some of the notes had suffered to a certain extent by the activities of the rodent, and, possibly, other members of his family. The damage to the notes, however, was not material, and enquiries at the bank elicited "the information that they were still lagel tender, and they would return the lucky finder a sum approaching £IOO. The long exposure to the air had caused the notes to become quite crisp, anu careful h lling was required to prevent them from crumbling to pieces.

Psychology of .toy giving is. becoming more and more curious. "Are }the old becoming young; or th(e young old?" ipertinently asked. a tjUiSkiless man aftjer yilewing the amazing galaxy of toy war© on show in Sydney's leading emporiums. "1 confess to a feeling of utter bewilderment," he said. "Ultra French dolls—not in baby form, but thoroughly sophistioarted, and rather daring sit that—sfepm scarcely appealable to debutants of eight summers, and I am sure some of the realistic springing lions land stlinkimg tigers would .strike terror in. the hearts of all ibut a bias© two-year-old. With prides from two to 12 guineas, these super toys must surely be meant for grown ups," "Yes, times have changed," said a retailer, "and the demand for expensive .playthings us much greater than onle would suppose. My private belief is that adults get as mudh, if not more, amusement outt of them than the youngsters te. whom they are nominally presented."