Shannon News TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1927.

Shannon News, 8 November 1927, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1927.

The Mayor and councillors have received an invitation to attend ]tlie official opening of Foxton borough’s new swimming baths on Wednesday afternoon .

“llow do you like the Daylight Sav :ng, ” was a question asked of a Shan non farmer. “Well, at present, I hav to pull the s ’cows out of bed. to mill them,” was the reply.

On Wednesday evening next a Mangaore, the inter-island contest foi pir.g pong supremacy will, be decided This will be followed by a smoko t< wind up the season. Trophies for tin championship wi}l also be presented.

All ladies who are interested in improving the playing area for the girls at the Shannon School are invited to attend a meeting to be held in the Council Chambers' on Tliursday at 2 p.m., when ways and means will be considered for raising funds to enable the wbrk to be carried out.

While the dredge was .-working in the Gtauru stream on Saturday morning near the small bridge on the old Foxton road, it came, in contact with the telephone lines, causing the latter to come down with the result that telephone communication with Moutoa was cut off. The lines were repaired during the afternoon.

Addresses will be delivered in -the Parish Hall on Friday at 2.30 p.m. by Miss Parlane, matron of the Girls’ Home at Karori, and Mrs Heseltine, matron of the Boys’ at Lower Hu-tt. There will also be musical and vocal items and afternoon tea will be dispensed. All persons interested in the work are cordially invited to attend. . . ■ ' .

Included in the Wasliing-up Bill, \ which came before 'Parliament recently, is provision for the Buckley Drainage Board to obtain an, overdraft of £l«*'so up to March 31st. Provision must be made for repayment -of this amount after that date by the' Board raising a loan-.- This has. been brought about on account of the alteration of the' boundaries of the . district, the Board being unable to classify the land in the. district for rating purposes, nor tofievy rates on such land. This money is to meet certain expenditure arising out of the said alterations of the boundary and to carry out certain works which became urgently necessary on account o£*the floods.

Ihe Shaunon Choral Society is holding a sacred concert on Sunday evening, December 4th, in the Maoriiaud Theatre. A very good practice was held last Thursday iof this concert and the pieces selected are veiy suitable, including Diddle’s “Abide with me.” The Society will, have tjie kind assistance of Miss Nora Greene, of Wellington, who sang so pleasingly at the last concert, also Mi\ Renshaw, a celebrated tenor from England, who has kindly consented to sing. ... As the time is shoit the members are asked to attend the. remaining •practices,'which will not be lengthy ones.

With the inauguration of daylight saving, giving longer days for wearing pretty frocks, Howard Andrew, always to the fore with their splendid showroom display, have just opened a very fine lot of voile dresses in the very latest fashions and shades. There are also silk and repp summer coats. For the benefit of country customers this house will keep open till. 8.30 on Saturday nights in common with other business firms.*

Mrs Frank Taylor, of Wellington, is visiting her sister, Mrs C. Cronquest, of Stout Street,

Guy Fawke’s Day was fittingly celebrated on Saturday by the small fry of Shannon. During the day many weird effigies made their .appearance, followed in the evening by numerous bonfires, and fireworks displays were (o be seen in all quarters of the town.

The final for the 1927 Maugaore ping pong championship was decided last week before a large assembly 'of enthusiasts. Mr. B. M. Chrvstall annexed the title, defeating Mr. D. Jamieson in two straight games, namely 31-25. 31-26. Mr. Chrystall is to be congratulated on his success, as he has been at the top of his form right through the tourney.

A Cure at Last.-—Every stock breeder realises to 1 is sorrow the curse of vaginitis. A man’s most valued cow fails to hold, and the loss to the stockman cannot be reckoned in £.s.d. It | must be. plain that a guaranteed cure ,of this curse must undoubtedly save New Zealand, millions of pounds. “Bovisan, ” not only claims, but guarantees a cure. This is not a* wild statement, but has been proved conclusively by probably the best known stockmen in New Zealand, Mr R. Alexander, .Government stock inspector, of Hamilton whose report praises and recommends this cure, which has never known failure. ’ . Dairymen, inspect this stall and save hundreds of pounds.

1 Fifth of November fires were seen in all directions on Saturday night, various/vacant allotments providing' the scenes of amateur pyrotechnic shows. As the celebrations took place mainly in suburban localities, the conditions in the business section of the town were orderly, and no accidents were reported

“If you mention the name of any of those foreigir musicians who visit NeAV Zealand, I will name you British musicians—pianists, violinists, ’cellists — who are equal to them,” said Mr T. Vernon Griffiths, lecturing on “British Music” at. Christchurch. “Yet I suppose all "he names would be quite unknown in New Zealand.”

A. sparrow with a particularly long •beak is .an object of! considerable interest. at the Auckland railway station. Evidently the bird is a freak, states an exchange His companions are just ofidinjary inquisitive sparrows wfliich feast every morning on the crumbs lying between the rabls N His beak seems to have grown out of all proportion to his body and is about three times as long as the average.

Uptil a week or so. ago petrol cases were almost as plentiful as sand on the seashore, and there was keen competition in sailing them (says the Timaru Herald). But that has been changed, and now a petrol case can only be got as a favour. It cannot always be got even in that way. The fact is that these cases, which for so long have only beenr once used, are now being returned to America and made to do duty a second time. ,\

Bees which had taken possession of liis letter box in Wairou Road, Takapuna, gave Mr W. S. Haylock a warm reception on Monday morning. Innocent of the fact of .their presence, Mr Haylock put* his hand into the box to extract any mail, but instead received four or five stings. The' angry hum Avhich accoiiipanied his. painful experience apprised him of the arrival of these unexpected tenants, and he beat a hasty retreat without attempting an eviction or clearing the box. Late in the afternoon the sAvafm of bees were stil. in possession of their usav “hive.”

Extraordinarily good fishing w r as enjoyed by those who wave fortunate enough to cast their lines from the Wcstshore bridge, Napier, last Thursday. About, 11 a.m. a tremendous shoal of kahuwai commenced to run up the river and continued till late in the afternoon, great' hauls being obtained. Jvvo boys who sat out the whole .of the run landed a hundred fish while another fisherman was quite satisfied with thirty in an hour. Ail old Napier fisherman, who look 13 fish in 20 minutes, stated that he had never seen such a -Tun of fish in Napier.

| Believed to le a victim of old age, I an unusually large whale was seen by the Union Company’s steamer, Kurow, 45 miles east.-by-south of Cuvier Island, about four o’clock on Friday afternoon (states the •‘Auckland-Star.”) The (gleam of the while belly first led the officer on watch to think that it was a launch or yacht, and the vessel’s course was altered to allow of a closer investigation. The whale, which was floating on its back, avhs estimated to be about sixty feet long, but the officers were not able to determine its species. The body was surrounded in Ihe air by hordes of screaming sea-gulls, and the water round about was alive with hungry sharks.

“Pest, the prospectus of our new ‘lrish History’ to the Otago University,” said a Dublin publisher to his mail clerk. “Faith, and where is the Otago University?” asked the clerk. '“Sure, and it’s among the savages and diggers away on the bottom of the world,” answered the publisher. The clerk scratched his head and opened his little atlas. He found lot's of rodcoloured islands marked “Australasia,” but the scores of names pointed on them did not include that of the Otago University. So he took a few at random, and posted the prospectus to the following address: —“The Librarian, University of Otago, Christchurch, New South Wales, Australasia.” Fortunately, says an exchange, postal officials hre better acquainted with the geography of the Antipodes than the Irish mail clerk, for the prospectus has arrived at its proper-destin-ation. The lvrapper in Avhich it Avas enclosed adorns the wall of the university library. -

The receipts at the Labour Day motor sports, at Foxton totalled £349 and the. expenditure £271,- leaving a balance of £7B. A donation of £lO .was voted to the Foxton Silver Band, and eulogistic references were made to the programme submitted. It was pointed out that the Band had been assisted by a number of bandsmen from Levin

A sub-committee of teachers reporting to the Dunedin branch of the Educational Institute on the teaching of history in public schools, stated tliht sueli teaching was to-day showing a decided tendency to place more emphasis on the social and economic side, and less on the militaristic side. The growth of civilisation was given prominence Consistent with the capacity of young minds to absorb it, the ideals of the League of Nations should 'be taught in all schools and definite teaching given thereon. The provision made for world history teaching was a valu able feature of the latest history syllabus and more ought to be donb in that direction.

For the past three years a big trout has frequented, a pool in the Patea Elver, and fishermen have devoted a good deal of attention to the work of securing The fish was elusive, however. It 3bon became well known, and for purposes of identification was named John Willie. The other day the career of the fish was brought to a close by Mr J. Petrie, jnr., who landed it on a silver Zulu dry fly. It was 26 in. long, 15in. in girth, and weighed bi lb. It was of such a beautiful shape and in such splendid condition 1 that the Stratford Acclimatisation Society decided to have it stuffed: Mr Petrie had to play the fish for half an hour or more.

It has been said that of all unfortunate characters a disbeliever is the worst, yet according to the experience of a Napier resident the town contains many disbelievers, states an exchange. This gentleman spent a happy hour on a recent afternoon painting his front gate, and for the purposes of warning the general public, put the

usual “Wet Paint” notice on the fence. Within ten minutes after placing the notice in position, while he was working iu the garden, no less than twelve persons passed the gate, of which number ten conducted a practical test on the gate per medium of a finger in an endeavour to question the veracity of tlic notice. After this period, the longsuffering householder repainted the top bar of his gate, removed the notice and was no longer troubled by the curiosity or disbelief of passers-by.

When a witness was about to enter the witness box during the hearing of a case at the Wliangarei Magistrate’s Collet Mr F. H. Levien, S.M:, stopped , him aud declared that "he would not hear the evidence of witness unless he came to the court properly dressed. Iff was explained by counsel that the young .mail, who wore a coat, trousers, a working jersey and a vest which was unbuttoned, was employed on telegraph construction work. There was no intention of being disrespectful. The man returned after having buttoned his waistcoat, but again his Worship* declined t'o hear his evidence. He declared he would not have witnesses in court unless they were properly dressed. Even if a man was in his working clothes it would not take him five minutes to put on a shirt. The case proceeded without the witness’ evidence being taken.—North Auckland Times.