Shannon News TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1925.

Shannon News, 21 July 1925, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1925.

Tile roa,ds outside the Borough which were covered with water during the flood, have been left in "a very bad state, and motorists state it takes a good deai of manoeuvring to avoid the pot-holes.

With the advent of the fine weather during the week end many of the amateur gardeners made a start to prepare tile ground for the coming season’s supply of vegetables, many ot whom have been delayed in getting their ground turned over owing to the continuous wet weather.

The Borough Council has received an invitation from the Manawatu County Council to attend the conference of other local bodies interested in the Shannon bridge at the bridge site on Wednesday next with a view to discussing the question of re-build-ing the bridge. The Council have written accepting the invitation.

Mr Cairns, chief clerk at the local post office, received advice yesterday that he has been appointed postmaster at Tokaanui, yiear Taupe. Mr Cairns w r ill be succeeded at Shannon by Mr McConville, of Owaka, Invercargill. AVe understand Mr cairns, who is about to. go. on his annual leave, will take up his ne,w duties immediately on his return.

An unusual accident occurred on Sunday. When a Ford sedan containing passengers was being driven towards a shed at Whitanui, the car struck a big rut in the approach arid as a result a young lady who was sitting in the back seat was bounced off tlie seat, striking her head on the top of the hood, momentarily stunning her.

The public of Shannon and district are notified. in our -advertising columns that Mantells, who are wellknown in the Manawatu for the qualify of their .work a,s boot repairers, have opened a shoe repair depot, opposite the Maoriland Theatre in Ballance Street. They ask the public to give them a trial for repair work which they carry out at reasonable prices. '

A local resident who .passes through the main street in the early hours of the morning, informs us that it is quite common to see dozens of rats crossing the main street, which he contends are disturbed from their street scavenging by die glare of his lamp. Our informant is strongly of opinion that a campaign against the rats should be started by tlie authorities without delay.

Last .Saturday was an off day for Shannon as fajr as football goes, tlie re being no matches played. This is the second occasion this season tiiis lias happened, yet on one Saturday three games were played here; two of the games finishing in the dark. Surely the Horowhenua Rugby Union could have arranged the drawings more satisfactorily considering that Shannon has four grades playing in the competitions.

The local land agents report that during the past fortnight there have been quite a revival of enquiries lor residences in the borough, and several properties have changed hands at satisfactory prices. T£his, combined with the fact that. two. new businesses have opened in the town during the past week goes to show that them are still people who have faith in tlie future of Shannon, despite the opinion of some of the local pessimists.

At tiie Court at Palmerston yesterday, Mr j. L. Stout, S.M., dealt with, the following cases:—-Pleading guilty to a charge of having permitted a horse to trespass on the railway line at Shannon on June 15, the Maherua Drainage Board was lined £l, with costs 7s. Failure to notify change of ownership of a motor cycle cost C. D. Wilson 10s, with costs 7s. A. H. Richards ■ and Howard Hunter, for driving motor cars without licenses, were each mulcted in the sum of £l, with costs 7s. Charged with leaving a car stationary for more than ten minutes, other than 0 n an appointed stand, .1. H. McDonald was fined 10s, with costs ,7s. S. H. Powell, C. C. Franks and A. 1,. Wheeler, for failing to provide their cars with rear lights, were each fined 10s, with costs 7s. Philip Eustace Gross, of Shannon, was charged with 1 failure to produce on demand hy a constable certificates of registration for a shotgun revolver and pea-rifle with which he had been issued. Defendant pleaded guilty and was fined £2, with costs 7s.

A social and dance will be lield in the Druids’ Hall on Thursday evening under tlie auspices of the Shannon Football Club. The music for the dance will be supplied iby the Maorikind Orchestra.

A Yellow Globe mangold weighing 281 b lias been grown by Mr Goodali, of South Oamaru.

The average yield of wheat in Otago this year has been 31.33 bushels to the acre, and of oats 40.46 bushels.

Up to December 31 last 98,350 children had entered the Barnado Homes: 13,373 boys and girls and babies were dealt with during the year.

The Tapanui Courier reports that some good catches of opossums have been made in the Blue Mountains (Otago) this season.

After a thorough test, it has been found that the natural gas in the Taranaki oil borings is of no commercial value.

No British Dreadnought was sunk by torpedo in the Great War, an. only one was seriously damaged by a. mine.

Mr A. Tindall, Public Works Engineer, stated at Masterton recently

mat there were eight counties in New Zealand with only 60 miles of road and lS averaged iUOO each.

x A very fine crop oi table carrots of the variety known as James’ Intermediate, has been grown by Mr Thomas Wilson, of Hakataramea, South Canterbury. Eight of the carrots turned the scale at 291 b.

The shooting of a black swan at Point Chevalier in contravention m the game restrictions was ' admitted by a youth aged 18, in the Auckland Court. A penalty oi £2 was imposed. A man who took possession of the dead swan was fined £l.

Commissioner Hoggard has made the startling statement that during the last 12 months no fewer than 500 babies had been born in the Salvation Army Maternity Hospitals in the Dominion. Practically the whole of these were illegitimate children.

The Government has entered into a contract for Ithree years with the Macktiy Company of London for the supply of metal-made artificial limbs for returned soldiers, and this company has taken over ; the Wellington factory at valuation.

“Wanted, men' for potato-digging. Hale 2s a sack.” Before nine o’clock on Monday morning last following the issue of an advertisement to the above effect in Christchurch between 25 and 30 men were waiting at the office of the advertiser. And there was a stream of applicants later. The majority were young men, and all were of a good type.

“Hoggets have not been good this year, but they are making a wonderful recovery, due probably to the mild weather and the abundant supply of feed,” remarked a Wanganui farmer. So far as grown sheep were concerned, they had (never looked better, and it appeared that tho\ were going to have a good percentage of lambs this season.

| “There is probably no more conserj vative individual in some respects i than the average working man or j woman in Great Britain,“ said Mr.W. Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Con- } trot Board, at, a meeting at Helensj villa, it was on that account, he said, that in the northern districts of England especially, there was a pre-

judice in favour of butter packed in casks, or in “kiels,” as they are popularly known. Similarly in .America, where they had been accustomed to butter packed in tubs, there had at first been a prejudice against the New Zealand box. The Americans, however, were not slow to realise the many advantages of the New Zealand package, and now greatly

preferred it to any other. By judicious advertising the board hoped to overcome the existing English prejudice and prove that our boxes contain the finest butter in the world.

The Wanganui Automobile Association is engaging a mechanic to focus the headlamps of motor cars. This is calculated to deflect the light beams on to the road at night instead of having them shining in the eyes of approaching drivers. It is a compulsory measure in California for motorists to have their lights properly focussed, while it is understood that recently the Auckland City Council passed a by-law compelling all motorists to have their light properly focussed. The Wanganui Automobile Association has made detailed arrangements for the focussing of headlights. The mechanic in charge of the operations will work from 7 to 9 o’clock pn Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings of each week, and members >of the association desiring to avail themselves of his services must make their appointments with the secretary of the association.— Chronicle.

Twelve months ago on Tuesday the first batch of twenty-five sons of British seamen who died as the result of war service landed in New Zealand under the New Zealand Sheepowners’ , Acknowledgment of Debt to British i Seamen Fund. Naturally, the occasi ion called for some commemoration and this took the form of a re-union at Flock House, a function which has extended over the last three days. So far, four drafts have come out from England, the first of 25 by the Remuera a year ago, the second of 29 by the Rotorua in September 1924, and the third and fourth of 29 and 30 boys by the Corinthic in January and May of this year. Of these pupils, 51 have been apprenticed out to farmers in various parts of New Zealand, one as far north as Ahuroa (North Auckland) and others at Gisborne, Wairoa, Mokau, Hiawkes Bay, Rangitikei, Wairarapa and Ashburton. Another draft is duo to leave England in a week and others will follow from time to time.

The whales are passing through Cook Strait early this season, for already the tally at Te Awaite is 12 captured by J. A. Perano’s party anu ii by E.. C. Perano’s party.

A Berlin cable says t|ie association oi piano manufacturers has decidco to advance prices 25 per cent. In May 2500 pianos were sent to England and in June 5000.

(Jf particular interest to the residents of Rangitikei is the news of the death of Miss Annie Burns, a grand-daughter of the famous Scottish poet. Miss Burns was first cousin to Mr R. E. Beckett', of Marton.

A shopkeeper in a small Yorkshire town had great difficulty in collecting debts from his customers, so put up this notice in his shop: “Man is made of dust; dust settles. Be a man.”

Cardinal Logue, Primate of Ireland, left an estate of £3026, and a farm in Donegal. His will bequeaths the farm to his nieces, and other bequests include a year’s wages to Ins servants.

An exchange reports that “The To Arolia Borough Council has decided to erect a concrete benzine shed and morgue at Te Arolia.” Presumably this is tlie way the Te Aroha people are coping with the increase of motors in their district I

A prominent sheep-breeder in the Wanganui district expressed the opinion that there were far too many crossbred sheep in New Zealand. “11 farmers would only go in for more purebred sheep I believe we would produce a better class of wool than we are doing at present.”

The Union Company states that it has under consideration the replacing of the Mararoa in tlie Lyttelton-Wei-lington service by the Wahine, running all the year round with the Maori, except the usual withdrawals for overhaul, the fare to be raised by 2s 6d to meet the additional cost of the proposed change.

“Several villages, destroyed on. the Hiudenburg Line during the war have been reconstructed at. a distance of, say, half a mile from trie old position, but the fowl-houses and pig-styes are still built under the bouses and the same insanitary conditions are as prevalent as ever,” remarked a visitor to Levin wlio recently returned from France.

Farmers in the south of England .are greatly troubled by the ravages of crows amongst their crops, remarked Mr G. W. Wilton, wlio recently returned from a visit to the Old "Country, when speaking to a “Chronicle” representative. One method of coping with the crows was to stretch alternate lengths of white and black cotton across the field. The birds could not see the black cotton, and in keeping clear of the white, became entangled in the former and were destroyed by fairm-hands with shot guns. The farmers assured the visitors that although it required three men to do a field of average size, the work paid handsomely.

Replying in the House .of Representatives to Mr Field (Otaki), who asked whether he would give early and favourable consideration to the proposal recently made to him for the institution of night mail trains between Wellington and New Plymouth and Wellington and Napier, the Minister of Railways said; “The question of running night mail trains between Wellington-New Plymouth and Wellington-Napier is being looked into with a view to seeing whether the. probable additional passenger traffic which might be induced by such a service would be commensurate with the heavy expense which would be involved in the running and the duplication of staff \v;liicli would be necessary at many of the stations en route.”