Shannon News FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1925.

Shannon News, 2 October 1925, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1925.

The local tennis courts have received a top dressing and given some fine weather should be in splendid order lor the corning season.

At a meeting of ' the committee of the Croquet Club it was decided to open the croquet season on the same day as the Bowling Club, viz., Saturday, October 17tli, 1925.

A strong committee has been set up to make arrangements for the turned soldiers’ annual social and ,dance to be held on- Wednesday, October 28th.

The vital statistics for the month ending September 30th are:—Births 4, deaths 4, marriages nil. During the past quarter there has been 19 births registered as compared with 17 lor the corresponding period last year.

Mrs J. V. Burns, of. the local school staff, who was granted leave of ab sence to< visit Australia, returned home last week. Mrs Burns was accompanied back by her mother, who is over 80 years of age. Mrs Burns has against taken up her duties at the school.

Favoured with a flue night there iS every, indication that the Maori Ball to be 1 held in the Druids’ Hall this evening will prove a successful function. Tickets have been selling freely and a good attendance is anticipated and as the committee have spared no pains in attending to the smallest details a good time is l assured those who- attend.

On Wednesday evening the returned soldiers of Shannon and district held their monthly social in Mr 0. Hardie’s premises. Mr T. White, who presided as chairman, expressed his pleasure at seeing such a good attendance, stating that he trusted, the attendance at these gatherings would continue to grow. Among those present were several returned soldiers who are now residing at Mangaore. ■\ most pleasant evening spent in cards and story telling, terminating after supper had been partaken.

A shop day in aid of' the Methodist Church Fund will he held on Saturday week. Owing to_ the unsettled state of tiie weather, it has been de cided to hold the shop day in the premises adjoining Mr Rider’s hoot store in Ballanee Street, the use of which has been granted by Mr Hyde free of charge. A, splendid stock of clothing will he offered and mothers will be able to secure some great, bargains. There will also be a good selection of dolls, lollies, produce, cakes, etc. During the day there will he competitions for breakfast, dinner, i silk jumper, etc.. The public will have an opportunity of inspecting the clothing, etc., on Thursday and Friday, when these goods will he on view oh Those days. It is claimed that the slate deposit recently discovered in the Buller Gorge is the only known deposit of commercial value in either Australia or New Zealand, and when the present field is opened up, it will be the only field, in the southern hemisphere. Hams and a few dry sheep are being shorn in the Wanganui district, but it is expected that shearing operations will commence in earnest next month. A wool broker, in conversation with a reporter, ‘ expressed the opinion that the clips would be lighter this year, due to the wet season, ' which, for one thing, would have tlie \ effect of washing a good deal of the j grease out of. the fleece. j A Dalmatian mother unable to speak English was brought into Darguville to have her baby treated by the Plunkel nurse. In order to convey the information to the mother it was necessary for the nurse to have an'interpreter. A young lady who could speak Italian and English volunteered to get an Italian, who. in turn spoke Italian and Dalmatian, so through the two intermediaries the course of treatment was explained to the delighted mother. This must be a unique experience for any Plunket nurse in New Zealand, serving to emphasise that the work is truly of an inter- 1 national character.

In a phenomenal hailstorm which visited a portion of the Waitotara district last week it is reported that on one farm the hail lay three inches deep and that 20Q lambs were killed. The Ford Motor Company at Detroit set-up a record on Tuesday, May lyth, when in an eight-hour working day 7858 Ford cars and trucks were produced from the Detroit factory. In May, also, the 500,000 th Fordson tractor was built. Mr Howard Carter, the famous Egyptologist, during a lecture in London, disclosed that a vase found in Tutankhamen’s tomb contained a cosmetic that was still plastic and fragrant. Mr Carter said that he hoped to reproduce the cosmetic for the benefit of tile women of 1925. It is not surprising to notice, says the Wanganui Herald, that protests are being made against the number of football tours which have been . carried out this season. This business of Rugby tours has reached the overdone stage, and it is time something was done to curtail it. 1 I That horses and horse-drawn vehicles are slowly becoming a thing of the past is clearly seen by those who regularly attend the different sales. At a recent sale a waggonette changed hands for the small sum of 12s 6d, a significant indication of the extent to which petrol is succeeding horse power as the most economical means of conveyance. That land in the Oliariu Valley' should be acquired for industrial purposes was the suggestion made by Mr W. H. Field (Otaki) in the House of Representatives. The valley, he said, would be only ten .minutes from Ngaio if the.intervening hill were cut through, and there was. a large stream of water available to carry refuse' direct to the sea.

The Cape Kidnapper gannets are reported to have returned to their rookery on time this season, and are already nesting (says the Hawkes Bay Tribune). Last spring they were late in arriving, apparently owing to an extraordinary scarcity of white bait and herring, which did not put in an 'appearance until a fortnight or so later than usual. This season the fish are already about, and- the gannets duly follow. Tlie gannet is a wise old ybird. He. follows his larder.

Miss Maggie Briggs, the skilful'and plucky lady rider whose fame has gone far beyond New Zealand, left Auckland by the Niagara for California. She will catch a steamer at Honolulu for Los. Angeles direct. She is to make her first horseback appearance in the United States at the million dollar horse show parade, which is to be held at Los Angeles next January. Miss Briggs hails from Manaia, where she received her “schooling” at the hands of her uncles, Messrs James and Alex. Mitchell.

At the end of the present year Auckland will have fifty miles of street trees—enough to reach further than frojn here to the Thames in a straight line (says the Star). During the. present planting season, which is fast drawing to a close, nine miles have been added to the city’s avenues, which represents over 1700 trees. Auckland is fortunate in the fact that the present City Council is keenly alive to! the importance of Auckland’s domains and open spaces, and it is steadily prosecuting the planting of streets wherever suitable—and very few of Auckland’s streets are not. ,

A fowl house in Roy street, Palmerston, belonging tq Mr G. H. Bennett, was destroyed by fire early on Saturday morning, presumably through being struck by lightning during the electrical storm, and twelve fowls were lost. Despite the heavy rain' which had fallen, the structure burn-" ed fiercely, and but for the timely discovery of the fire by Mr Bennett's gardener the results might have been more serious. It is thought that the lightning struck a clothes line, one end of which was attached to the fowl house, for there were indications that it was the wire which attracted the destructive element.

A delightfully Gilbertian situation arose on the Gisborne waterfront last week, lor while Mr Glover and a representative of the Seamen’s Union were discussing with Mr Bennett and the employers’ representatives, the question of the smooth working of the port, the watersiders working a steamer in the roadstead were adopting what are alleged to be pinpricking tactics. They were given lunch on board, as usual, but after they had had it they contended that the meat was tainted and the potatoes • • bad. They demanded to' be taken ashore, upon which they went to their homes and had a second meal. More than two hours’ work was lost, but the men had to be paid. In the meantime Mr Glover from Wellington, was endeavouring to arrange for the amicable working of the port.

Dr. W. R. Stowe, radiologist'at the Palmerston Hospital, writes to the Standard us follows:—“It is time that steps should he taken to stop the barbarous practice of poisoning a domos- [ tic, or any other animal, with strych- > nine. One of the best little dogs in [ the neighbourhood died in the road this afternoon in the agonising con- | vailsions of strychnine poisoning. I I presume that the people who use stry-' chnine for this purpose are ignorant of its physiological action in lethal doses. It is such that it would never be countenanced, for one moment, as a substitute for the present methods of capital punishment. People stand round a dog dying of strychnine poisoning, ■ watching the alternations of convulsions and paralysis, mutely curious, ignorant of the fact that the unfortunate animal is suffering indescribable torture. Death, like birth, is not beaiutiful, from a physical point of view. Strychnine makes it hideous.”

A nonagenarian of Devonport holds the world s record lor ocnelits received from the. Mancnester Unity of Oddfellows, states the Auckland Star. Collecting 10s a week, he has now been paid a total sum of £I6OO, since he was .left blind i>y a explosion whue worning un the Thames goldfield. He was one of the earliest members of the Waikato Lodge, and might make a nur claim toi have the longest record of membership of any New Zealand Oddfellow.

The Bruntwood. Co-op. Dairy Co., Ltd. (Cambridge), has just effected a highly satisfactory sale of a fair proportion of their cheese output for the season. The sale is of the whole of their August to December output montiis inclusive) at the high price’ ‘Of 9gd per pound. This price is, said to be the highest realised this season by any company in the Auckland province. It will enable the Bruntwood Dairy Co. to make a payout of about Is lOd per lb. butterfut Independent.

An unusual application was considered at . the meeting of the Hawkes Bay Education Board the other day, when a petition was received urging that‘the Mohaka School be converted into a native school. It was pointed out that out of 80 or 90 pupils at the school only IS were Europeans, while the members of the school committee were all natives. Although such a position was contrary to the policy of the department, it was considered that the circumstances were out of the ordinary and it was decided to close the present school and transfer it to tlie Native Schools Department.

Investigation lias shown that the decision of the Rugby Union as to tin: Foxton-Sliannon junior semi-final was published in the Foxton 'lierald and that the onus was therefore on the Foxton team to have acquainted themselves with the date and place of, the match. In these circumstances—ac cording to the 'Union’s ruling—Shannon are declared to be the winners owing to Foxton’s default. The final match in the Junior competition will now be played on Saturday next at Otaki, between Shannon and \\ oraroa Juniors, the match to start at 2.45

The phenomenal storms of iho fa sc few days have.sent several iare v.siiois m me port, of .New Fiymvuih ui die lorm of sea birds that aie senium seen on the Taranaki coasis (siaxes the News). On Wednesday aiteinoou mree or four large, biacK, uuck-iiKe birds, said to be sea-hens, or as mo whalers used to call them'“stmk-pois, ' because of their offensive smell, rested on the calmer waters ol me Harbour while the sea raged oulsioe. aiiotber unusual visitor was a som.uy, strikingly coloured Cape pigeon, scaled by one -employeo at the pon m ...e the first he had seen at New i’lyinoam uurnig Ins residence of twenty years 1 . Most of the seagulls seem to nave deserted the harbour and sought sliet,or furl her inland.