Shannon News FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1924.

Shannon News, 7 March 1924, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1924.

Tenders fqr laying the tile drains *tt the Shannon Domain close with. Mr J. T. Bovis on Friday next.

A concert is to be held in toe Maoriland Theatre on Thursday, Marcli 20th in aid of funds for the Maorilurid String Band. A start was made some days ago with the improvements at jthe Shannon Domain, for which purpose the carnival was held to raise funds. Men are now employed removing the gum trees and lopping tJhe maorocapas, At the Chamber of Gommerce meeting last night Mr Andrew asked if it was the, intention to hold a function to celebrate the turning on of the power in Shannon. The president said probably there will be some function to mark the occasion.

The annual meeting of the Shannon Football Club will be held in the Council Chambers on Thursday evening next when all members and intending members and supporters are invited to attend. There is evr-ry prospect 5 for the coming season of Shannon being -ibis tc f i?t a "«t uj£ team in the field. The enchre and dance held in the Parish Hall m Tuesday evening by the Ven. B'ede's Liadies' .Committee was well attended, and a good time was spent .by all; The winners in the euchre were ladies, Miss E. Davies and Mrs Hudson, gents, Mr P. Ousey and Mr Scott. Dancingi was indulged in until midnight, the music for which was supplied by Mrs Butler. This was the last dance before Easter.

We are indebted to the publishers, Messrs Angms and Robertson, Limited, of Melbourne for a copy of "My Life and Work," by Henry Ford. The new edition now completes an issue of 25,000 copies in Australasia within five months. Henry Ford's doctrine of service is of course the most important thing in the book, but the account it contains of his manufacturing methods is of great value also. Every housewife as well as every business man. manufacturer, contractor or workman will find much of interest in the publication. The need of a-dry dock at the-rail-way gpods shed was stressed by Mr Beard at the Chamber of Commerce meeting last night. He said at present, in wet weather, it was absolutely impossible to unload goods without incurring damage to them, apart from the inconvenience caused. Much delay in (handling heavy goods was also caused 'by no crane being available. As an instance two transmitters arrived a few days ago and it took four days to get one off the truck, it having to he jacked off. It was decided the Department >be approached through the member for the district with a, view to getting a dry dock and a crane at the local railway goods shed. "Have you any money saved up?" asked a solicitor of a defendant in, a judgment summons case in the Masterton Court recently. "Yes," was the Tt>ply. "How much?" quickly came I tbe question. "About ten shillings,"] was the reply, which caused a general I smile.

The "Wairarapa Age'' is informed that three generations of one family have attended the East Taratahi School in succession oyer a period of nearly 5Q years. Commenting on the payment of income tax the other day a man in a small wa,y of business remarked, "It you haven't money they put you in gaol and if you try to make it they take it from you."

A number of people are in doubt of the date of Easter this year. Good Friday is April 18th, and Easter Monday is April 21st. Anzac Day, of course, falls on April 25th. The automobile traffic in America was increasing! enormously, remarked Mr T., W. .Paterson, in his address on good roads. It was also increasing in the Dominion and one boat recently landed on /these shores no jewer than 723 motor vehicles. What should prove, to> be a decided improvemeiit to 'tl*e appearand© oi Oxford street, is toe two-storied block of buildings in 'brick and concrete which Mr C. .& Keedwell proposes to erect on the site between Messrs W. M. Clark and Co.'s and H. Walkley's premises, and for which tenders are now being called. It is Mr KeedwelPs intention to shift his business to the new site, besides which some ■offices for letting purposes will -be included in the ibuilding.

Something in the nature of a record was created at a veterans' bowling tournament held in Wellington. Tne winning rifak was composed of four old settlers, buit one of tftie rinks comprised four Thorndon players whose ages average 82. The lead was Mi' W Freeman, who this week celebrated his 92nd birthday; No. 2 was Mr M Murdoch, ex-city councillor, aged Si. years ;Jso. 3 was Mr Isaac 'Clark, 74 years :*nd the skip was Mr Stanford, 76 years who won the Thorndon championship and beat the Dominion champion in the Wellington championship ring matches. Their total ages were 327 years and the average 82.

' Otaki Chinese market-gardeners this week forwarded 400 bags of beans to Wellington for sale, and secured 1/per bag. As this amount had to be paid for picking, the growers will get nothing. WJe understand that several hundreds of bags were forwarded by other growers, all of whom will be well out of poeket after paying for seed, labour, cartage, and freight. In New Guinea there exist some of the largest spiders in the world, and they spin webs of huge size and so tough that they are actually used in the making of fishing nets. These spiders are very energetic web spinners, and pass the greater part of their lives in making large and elaborate fly traps. The mesh of the web is at the outer part about an inches square, and narrows down to about, an eight of an inch towards the centre, and the strands, besides being as strong as silk, are quite unaffected by water. "Bricklayers or plasterers can't be found," stated a man at a board meeting at Napier. "None of them work under award pay, but get nearly double. A bricklayer was obtained for a Waipuluiraujob last week from Wellington., His fare and board were paid and he was given nearly double aAvard rates of pay, but he left after a.few days, saying the town was too slow for him. They are far too casual, and it seems that they are given excellent opportunities in Wellington.'» A Montreal correspondent states that if the lumber companies are able to secure all the help they require there will be 30,444 men cutting timber in the province of Quebec during the present winter. This is an increase of 5000 over last year, and is an indication of the progress being made in the development of the forest industries of the province. There-will be about 3000 camps in operation, and in order to cope with the increase the staff of forest rangers has been augmented to about 150 men, who will visit the camps in the interest of the Government to see that only the proper timber is , cut. !

A freak in the form of a puppy with six legs was born among a littpr of seven spaniels at Christchurch. The little animal which' belonged to Mr. E. Fifield, was perfectly formed in the upper part of its bodj», but the lower part had two pairs of hind legs which were facing each other, and which, ow- , ing to their position, would have provented the puppy from walking. Tho body altogether was about three times as large as that of any of the other puppies, and when held in an upright position was not unlike the shape of a pear. The puppy, with which its mother would have nothing to do, was kept alive by means of a feeding bottle. A Standard reporter who was endeavouring to ascertain the correct spelling of a certain Highland dance 1 Was supplied by a prominent Scotsman with the following, all of which he stated were in common usage: Sheauntreubhs, seaun triubhas, sean truibihs and seaun trews. The reporter's informant further stated that somie time back he had endeavoured to ascertain the correct rmethod of spelling, but without success, he having found nine common variations. The pronunciation, too, varied consid-1 erably.

A. C. Dufresne, who has been doing good work on the track for the Levin Athletic Club, lias received recognition of his ability as a performer in being) appointed to represent the Wellington Centre at the New Zealand Championships to be -hold in Dunedin on the 15th of this month. Dufresne had previously been picked to second Rose, who has now gone into hospital to undergo an operation for appendicitis, and will now represent Wellington in the one mile and three mile distances. His fine performance in the two mile handicap at Wellington recently when Rose conceded him 75yds, and where he won by 25yds without having ever been pushed, entitled Dufresne to recognition as a, fiirst-dlass plerformer amd he is assured of the -best wishes and keenest interest of the whole district In his endeavour to capture championship honours for his district 'and incidentally for his clufc.

The New Zealand Automobile Union has decided to recommend the Government to introduce legislation enforcing horse-drawn vehicles to carry a red tail light and push bicycles a red reflector. "I could never make out why 1 should have tQ pay income tax when I could never pay my creditors," said an Asihburton bankrupt, amid laughtor, at a meeting of his creditors the other morningi. Collecting is not a hobby that is peculiar to any class, but one of the strangest must be that, ascribed to a man who has travelled the world and get a sample tiny, bottle of water from every river he has seen. Tlio vital statistics for Foxton for February with the figures for the corresponding month of last year in parenthesis were as follows: —Births 8 (7), deaths 1 (2), marriages 1 (1). In referring to the good roads in America, to a Palmerston North audience, Mr T. W. Paterson, who is supervising thie construction work on the Hutt road, stated that he had seen stock driven to market in motor vehicles a distance of 250 miles, and when landed they were in good condition. "Don't tell me'that you won't do the same in New Zealand when you get good roads." Continuing he said "that it had been stated that good roads would mean competition with the railways, but he asked would patriotic duty exceed the desire for cheapness of transport?" Sword-fishing • parties, in Mayor Island paters, Bay of Plenty, continue to enjoy excellent sport. A recent party hooked seven swordfish, all of which provided the ' best of sport. The fish fought strenuously, and only one was captured. One fisherman landed a fine swordfish about 4001 bin weight. This fish, which was lift long, fought for about one hour and a-half, and in its endeavours to escape at times leaped right out of the water. Eventually it was drawn close to the boat and dispatched. Immediately another member of the party hooked an exceptionally large swordfish, which ran northwards for/about six miles. Unfortunately, the reel then fouled and the line snapped, the fish getting away. While in the air at some 15,000 feet over Le Bourget on December sth, an petrol tank was replenished by another flying machine. This revictualling in mid-air was carried out with' signal success in less than five minutes. The aeroplane in need signalled its needs to Le Bourget aeriel port; within a few minutes a supply aerial machine, carrying 33 gallons of spare petrol, had taken the air. At a given,signal the supply aeroplane threw a pipe line to the other machine. The pipe line was connected with the almost empty tank. When the reservoir was filled the pipe line was pulled in by the supply machine, whieh regained its base at Le Bourget, leaving the other machine to proceed on its journey.