Shannon News TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1927.

Shannon News, 23 August 1927, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1927.

Mrs Mcintosh, of Mahaki, Hawkcs Bay, is /-at present visiting Mrs C. Petersen, of Vogel Street.

Mrs E. Hayes, of Stout Street, who is undergoing treatment in the Palmerston North Hospital, is reported to be progressing favourably.

At the Bowling Club's crib tourney on Thursday evening the prize winners were Miss Butt and Mr. C. Hansmann. In the future the Club will hold their weekly crib tourneys in the Plunket rooms.

Members of the Croquet Club are reminded that the annual meeting takes place this afternoon at 2.30 in the Club's Pavilion. AH members and intending members a/e requested to attend.

The Shannon Choral Society, having worked very hard, has been right through "Merrie England" and the more the singers sing it the more they like it. A special practice wil be held next Thursday—what one might term a semi-rehearsal —and it is hoped that every member wil be present.

To a charge of dangerous driving of a motor car at the intersection of Ballance Street and Pliinmer Terrace Shannon, on July 28, Gordon William Dixon pleaded not guilty before Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court at Palmerston North yesterday. Police evidence was to the effect that defendant had cut inside the silent policeman at a speed of 25 miles per hour. His Worship imposed a fine of £3, with costs 10s.

An attraction at the Druids' Hall on Friday evening will be. the paper frock dance and children's party arranged by Veu. Bede's Ladies' Guild and Vestry. . Great interest is being taken in the event and everything points to a large attendance of children. Prizes are being offered for the' prettiest paper frocks and from all accounts this is going to be keenly competed for. The children's dance will commence at 7 and be continued till 9.30 p.m. when the floor will be cleared for adults. The price of admission for children will be one shilling, but a concession will be made to families.

On Friday evening last, under the auspices of the Mangaore Social and Educational Society, a Children's evening was held in the staff "Bach", and being the first of its kind in the district, proved quite a successful venture. There was a large gathering of kiddies and parents present (including visitors from Shannon) and a most enjoyable evening was spent by all. Miss Mona Neale and her party assisted in providing the musical part of the programme, which was a real. treat to Mangaore residents. Other items consisted of vocal by adults, children, radio, games and dancing. M.C. duties were in the hands of Messrs A. R. Blackwood and A. S. Coates.

Spring is coming for the clematis has come back to tell us so, and with the advent of spring the ladies think of spring millinery and dainty frocks, Howard Andrew, Ltd., have pleasure in announcing their "spring show" oji Thursday next and following days, when a cordial invitation is extended to all ladies to come and inspect.*

"The edible rat was the currency of Easter Island," said Professor Macmillun Brown in a lecture at Lyttelton. "The rat was a vegetarian and was roasted whole with all its vegetarian parts, and was supposed to be very like a sausage. If an Easter Islander wanted to buy anything, he went to the rat burrows at night and collected as much money as he needed."

One of the most delightful pieces of unintentional humour was provided in the Christehurch Magistrate's Court, when a frequent female offender for drunkenness appeared (says the Star). One of her pleadings to the Magistrate (Mr 11. A. Young, S.M.) was: "It's not so easy, after being in gaol, going round getting work. You'll know that yourself, you see." The Magistrate joined in the broad smile which went round the entire gathering, with the exception of defendant.

"Many people wonder why varieties of plants such as ericas (the heath), rhododendrons, and azaleas often fail to grow satisfactorily, taking on a vcllow sickly appearance, and in many" eases gradually dying," said Mr T. 11. Horton, when delivering a lecture at the Women's Club recently. "The reason of this, in most cases, is that there are deposits of lime in the soil. That is the reason why these beautiful varieties cannot be grown successfully in Napier where the formation is limestone. Many people make the serious mistake of applying lime around these trees in their gardens locally, and destry the natural conditions which are so conductive to successful growth.—Taranaki Herald.

Somebody who is evidently anxious to get oft the hind, advertises in the Detroit Free Press to the effect that he will exchange a 120-aere highly improved farm with good title, in" Arkansas, for a motor car, stock of merchandise, or town property.

For the past two months the Levin Dairy Company's advances have been the highest of a*ny payments on this coast. Iu July the payment was Is 7c! per lb of butter-fat, and this month the same amount was paid. Other payouts for August are as follow: —Awahuri, Is 6d; Palmerston, Is 6d; New Zealand Dairy Union, Is oJd; Shannon, is s|d.

A Gonville resident, while digging in his garden, unearthed a tin box containing the rotted remains of several notes totalling about-£lO. The money had. evidently been buried for a number of years, but there were no markings on the notes to indicate how long they had been there. The paper would not bear examination and crumbled like Dead Sea fruit, at the slightest touch.

A picture of embarrassment, she stood on the kerbstone with a large parcel on cither side of her. She looked furtively around and tried vainly to conceal herself, bending her knees and holding a newspaper before her face. The tram camp to a stop, and hurriedly she caught up the parcels and climbed aboard, unable to conceal the fact that she was wearing a cream and a fawn coloured stocking.—Christchurch Star.

A suggestion made by a Te Kuiti business man to a King Country Chronicle representative in reference to cheap farm buildings may be taken for what it is worth. Why could not a lot of the. limestone and rocks lying about a number of farms in the district be used for building outsheds on farms? Would not this material, with a little mortar, be useful in the erection of such buildings;—cheaper, practically everlasting, and at the back door of the builder'?

A ring on the 'phone at 6 o'clock on Saturday morning, with the thermometer registering somewhere near freezing point, was answered somewhat reluctantly by a Timaru resident, but a pleasant surprise came when in response to the usual "Are you there?" came a daughter's voice from Wanganui: "Many happy returns of the clay," extending birthday greetings to the hearer. Quite a lengthy convcersation followed, says the Timaru Post, and the voice came through as clearly and as distinctly as on a local connection.

At the Supreme Court, New Plymouth, on Wednesday, probate of the will of the late Mr Newton King was granted by Mr Justice MacGrcgor. Generous bequests totalling £IO,OOO have been left to the controlling bodies of Pukekura Park (£3000), North Egmont Hostel (£3000), Kawaroa Park (£2000)., and the East End Bathing Keserve (£2000)". It is provided that the bequest to Pukekura Park is to be invested and the income devoted to maintenance and general improvement o~' the park, but the other.bequests are unconditional. The executors of the* estate appointed under the will are Messrs Stanley Shaw, Truby King and Eliot King.

Some Dunedin boys had a "rare old time" last week-end, and so far they have not been called on to pay for their entertainment. They climbed through windows at the back of the premises occupied by Braithwaite, Ltd., Messrs Irwin and Irwin, solicitors, and Mr W. Willis, tailor, and, orice inside, began to amuse themselves with what theys found. They found Braithwaite's the most interesting. They rode scooters and bicycles round the shop, and also lacked a football about. Apparently they took .nothing except two fountain pens. In the solicitors' office they tried their skill on a typewriter. The only unsatisfactory feature of the raid, from the boys' point of view, was that they found nothing to eat.

The whitebait fishing industry is in danger of extermination, according to Air D. Hope, curator of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation (Society (reports an exchange). "If something is not done," he told the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, "whitebait will go the same way as some native birds." Pointing out that the general public knew very little of the life history of whitebait, and that there was a great diversity of opinion as to its identity, Mr Hope stated that to satisfy himself on the point, he carried out a series of experiments at Auckland, Canterbury, and Southland, by keeping a quantity of live whitebait in captivity, enclosed in a small pond, as nearly under natural conditions as possible, noting their growth. "The results," he said, "were the same on each occasion; the growth was extremely rapid, and reached the inanga stage in a few weeks, so that I was quite convinced that whitebait was the young of the iuanga." i

The side-leaf method of flax-cutting was strongly condemned at a meeting of the Northern Flaxmillers' Association recently (reports an exchange). In submitting a report upon his- experience of side-leaf cutting, Mr C. W. Ingram, of Kaihere, said that during the last three years it had cost him over £ISOO more to cut by the side-leaf method than it would have done by hook-cut-ting, and the plants had deteriorated. When he commenced the side-leaf cutting they had been Bft to 12ft high, while now they were only 'sft to 6ft, and the constant bleeding of the plants had resulted in a weakening of the quality of the fibre. In addition the side-leaf method gave the seedling plants no chance to replenish the swamps as they were trampled upon when the cutters passed through them every nine months. Under the old method cutting had been done every four years, and the interval had allowed the seedling to become large enough to escape destruction. Mr Ingram drew the attention of the chief Government grader, Mr W. Petrie, to the fact that a condition, of the lease of Government flax areas was that the side-leaf method should be used. If it Avas enforced it would lead to abandonment of the lease.

The new electoral districts as arrang ed by the Electoral Commissioners, appear in a supplementary gazette and are approved by the Governor-General.

A woman at Wanganui lecently ap plied to a good-natured officer of a.religious organisation for bread, and he gave it to her. Judge his surprise a few days later when he learned that she had sold the bread and attended the pictures with the proceeds.

"Did your wife give you any advice when vou were driving the car at the time of the acciden't?" Mr W. 1). Campbell asked a witness in a civil case at the Supreme Court in Wanganui recently. "No," was the reply. Mr Campbell: "Then you're lucky." Mr Justice Ostler and the court smiled.

An unlucky black cat, with a live mouse in its mouth, when trying to cross the road in front of a motor cycle at Otahuhu, hear Auckland, was entangled in the spokes and killed. The driver was flung over his handle bars and slightly injured. The mouse escaped!

Mr G. A. Monk, chairman of the Ilorowhenua Power Board, stated at the monthly meeting that he had been told that the Mutual Life and Citizens' Assurance Company had ar ranged a £300,000 loan for Brisbano at £5 18s 6d per cent. Prom this it appeared as if money was hardening in Australia.

A. pigeon which rendered valuable services during the war, for which it was decorated with the "Military King" (the pigeons' War Cross), has died at Montoire-sur-le-Loire. ,The bird was mentioned in despatches as follows: — On four different occasions during the battles of the Yser and the Aisnethis pigeon assured, without, error and under heavy fire, the rapid transfer of important messages. The pigeon is to be stuffed and placed in the Hall of Honour of the Bth Regiment of Engineers, along with that of its comrade, which died two years ago. Of the pigeons that took part in the Great War, only one, it is stated, now survives.

Information has been received in Auckland (says the Star) that Mr Zane Grey and party <nre planning another fishing* trip to New Zealand towards the end of the present year, when it is intended to exploit a much wider .area. On the occasion of the last trip reports, were received of big fish in the neighbourhood of the North Cape and the Three Kings, a locality that has as yet not been explored by deep-sea ■ anglers. During, the. past few months the Zane Grey party has been investigating the prospects of deep-sea fishing among the South Pacific Islands, although a great deal of success has'not been met with.

There is a young man in Christchurch who would have felt there was something wrong if Tuesday morning had dawned with a cloudless sky (says the Sun). He was born on a wet day exactly 23 years ago, and, so far, he has not known what it is to have a birthday anniversary on other than a rainy day. Prom 1905 to 1927, wherever he lias been, every July 26 has been wet. It is only fair to Canterbury, however, to add that some of the young man's birthdays were celebrated in other, South Island provinces?

"Every farmer and his children can tell you the pedigrees of their cows, what the grand-dams were, the butterfat figures, and all about them," said Mr'W. Axioms, of the Dairy Control Board, in "his address at Levin, Avhen referring to his visit to Holland, one of a number of European countries where he carried out investigations. "At Leeuwarden," he added, "I went through the office where they keep the butter-fat recorcte of Holland. Anybody in that district who does not go in for herd-testing, which is backed by the Government, is not looked on as a farmer. They feed the cows better than we do, and they herd-test. We are often forced, in a- bad autumn, to turn cows on to a brother farmer's hills to graze. By herd-testing and feeding methods, Ave can produce more cheaply than those European people. It is costing them £lO or £l2 a year to feed their coavs on concentrates."