Shannon News FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1928.

Shannon News, 6 January 1928, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1928.

The men employed at Alangahao are now beginning to return from their holidays. Work will be resumed, on Tuesday.

During the past few several lcjerfl residents have left on motor tours. Mr and Airs 11. Hook are touring the South Island. Air and Airs C. C. Franks and family have gone to Whangarei, and Air and Airs A. E. Hyde and children accompanied by •Mr G. Wilkinson are going as far north as Russell in the Bay of Islands.

The old established firm of W. H. Gunning and Co., Ltd., of Shannon and Tokomaru will comence their Summer Sale on Saturday, th January, when the public will be offered drapery, clothing, boots and shoes, furniture, sewing machines, wireless sets and crockery at greatly reduced prices. Those in scach of bargains should shop early and grt the best selection.

A Wanganui motor ear containing three occupants went over the' bank on the road to Atangahao on Monday. Just after crossing the small bridge about miles above the Power House, the car left the road and turned completely over falling about 20 feet. Fortunately, the occupants escaped injury, but the car, a Crossley, was badly damaged. The car has since been hauled back on to the road and is now undergoing repairs.

The Christmas gathering at Ratana this season was somewhat smaller than usual. The visitors aggregated 3000.

Stamps sold at the Central Post Office, Wanganui, on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday before Christmas totalled £1179 in value.

A Whangarei lady who entered 5exhibits in a northern flower show woi three special prizes, 22 firsts, 20 sec ends, and eight third prizes.

While endeavouring to catch a duck which he intended to kill for the Christmas dinner, Air Arthur McEwen slipped in the yard of his residence in Auckland and broke his right leg.

Referring to the new political party winch he said would bo formed early in the year, Air. Atmore speaking at Nelson, last week, said in his opinion the party would consist of men like Air. Poison and those representing the primary producer. "Sir Joseph Ward, I believe," added the speaker, "is best fitted to lead the party at the present time."

"Hindus are like blackbirds," said Air. O. Heerdegen at the White New Zealand League’s annual meeting at Pukekohe. " When you chase them out of your orchard they go elsewhere." In that connection he pointed out Hindus wh,o had migrated from Pukekohe in the last few years had instituted early potato-growing in other centres.

This year lias been an exceptionally busy one for the official assignee in bankruptcy in Auckland. No fewer than 220 bankrupt estates were handled, and 145 creditors’ meetings were held at the Auckland office. The previous largest number of bankruptcies was recorded last year when 179 cases were dealt with. The lowest number o! bankruptcies in iceent venrs was 23 in 1920.

Red tape is issued even by trades unions. Two union slaughtermen who had booked hooks for the season at the Imlay freezing works in Wanganui were not allowed t,o start by their own mates,because they had not brought their clearance papers with them (say 3 the Feilding Star). It was known by the union that the two men are financial, yet they had to walk the streets and lose good money until their papers arrived.

The amount realised by the wool sale at Dunedin last week was about £500,000.

Three new theatres are being erected in Sydney, costing, with attached office blocks for letting, £1,000,000.

An inmate of Gloucester prison, desiring t,o be transferred t.o hospital, swallowed the handles of a knife, fork and spoon. They caused him great pain but were -removed by means of an operation.

The third quinnat salmon reported to have been caught in the Timaru harbour this year was taken on Monday by Mr. J.'V. Hull. The fish weighed 7:11b, and is claimed to be the biggest salmon landed in the harbour.

The case of Taradale (Hawke’s Bay) triplet calves has been parallelled by a Morven cow, which gave birth to three calves on December 11th. Except that one calf was three-legged, all were healthy.

A veterinary surgeon sued the Duke of Sutherland recently for £25, the-bal-ance of the fees for treating a clog. The Duke protested that he had already paid £3O and that he thought the total, £55, was excessive. In awarding plaintiff the full amount, the judge said that there were some disadvantages in being a duke.

Quite a little drama was enacted in Market Street North, Blenheim, the other afternoon, when an irate looking lady accosted one of a party of three girls and administered a hearty slap on the face, accompanied by the remark: “That will teach you to go out with my husband!” Virtue triumphant- then retreated with an air of duty nobly done, while beauty in distress fled in tears.”

An Auckland message states that an emergency meeting of the City Water Committee is being held this afternoon to discuss the shortage in the water supply, which, with a dryi summer, woulcl be extremely serious. If rain does not fall in the Waitakere ranges for another three months the darns will be dry. At the existing rate of consumption there is just enough water to satisfy the public’s demands for about sixty days.

A policeman in Cleveland (United States) was shocked to see a man sitting in a motor ear with the light extinguished and a young woman on his lap, whom he was kissing vigorously. The policeman arrested the couple for disorderly conduct, despite their protests that they were newly married, and saw no crime in demonstrating their affection. The magistrate discharged them and they promptly sued the policeman, and were awarded £7OO damages.

Fifty-one petitions in bankruptcy were .filed in Palmerston district for 1927,' an increase of four over the preceding year. The greater proportion of petitions came from farmers this year, the total mini her being 11, and in addition to this two petitions came from farm labourers. Six motor mechanics found it. necessary to file and petitions were also received from six labourers; the remainder came from representatives of practically all trades, but only six filings came ns a result of creditors’ petitions.

Kumour is rife in the Dannevirke district that a South Australian syndicate intends commencing oil boring operations in New Zealand shortly and should sufficient inducement be offered, a start is expected to be made in the Dannevirlcc-East Coast district. It is proposed to issue free to landholders on whose property the. company operates a number of shares in the company. It is understood that the" company has secured the services of an English geophysical survey party now concluding a six months* engagement with the Australian Government.

Some time ago, as the outcome of a small wager, a student of the Ruakura Farm of Instruction undertook to sleep all night on top of one of the steel towers erected to ! carry the electric cables from Arapuni to Auckland. The incident is told in a letter written to a friend in Taranaki, the writer saying that he climbed to the top with a hammock, slung it, and turned in at 9 p.m. A workman hailed him at 6 a.m. next morning, and he was ordered down none the worse for his adventure in the air. The tower, it may be added, is 100 ft in height, and is the highest on the line crossing the farm on the way to Auckland.

Mr. H. Wright, of Mataura, has had a somewhat unusual experience recently in connection with liis cows receiving electric shocks (says an exchange). Two years ago Mr. Wright installed an electric motor to drive the milking machine, but since then had trouble with cows unexpectedly going off their milk. Investigations by an engineer led him to suspect a leakage of current somewhere, and he located the trouble as being due to current shorting in the milk pipes, and the milk acting as a conductor was responsible for the cows receiving a series of shocks while being milked. The trouble was removed by shifting the conduit to a position well clear of the milk pipe.

“The Government will be an accessory before the fact to a man entering the bankruptcy court if it fathers such a scheme,” says the Fiji Times, Suva, in referring to a proposal to establish a pineapple canning factory at Suva, and an intimation that 2d each is to be offered for pineapples up to 41b in weight. The Times says that the cost of crates and cartage will mean that growers will have a return of 2d for ten pines, or 9s 4d per ton to pay for labour and the cost of production. It is contended that if the Fijian Government really desires tot foster the pineapple industry the growers there should be guaranteed a price that will cover the cost of production.

At cricket, Wanganui successfully staved off the Poverty Bay challenge for the Hawke Cup, -winning by 90 runs.

On Tuesday last there were close upon a thousand motor ears parked at Arapuni, which shows the interest evinced bv visitors in the hydro-elec-tric ivories there.

A shopkeeper in a Manchester suburb says that since tin-hare racing began his turnover has decreased by over £5 a week. “A serious thing,” he adds, “for a small man like me. Not. only that, the number of people who used to pay me ready money, and who now ask for credit,'has increased. Knowing my customers, I am certain that it is the greyhound racing that is responsible.” Other shopkeepers tell the same tale.

It is announced in a Washington message that the number of persons in the millionaire income class in 192 G in the United States totalled 228, representing an increase of 21 over 1925. Those with incomes in excess of 5,000,000 dollars have increased from seven to fourteen in the same period. The millionaire group is reported to have had 490 million dollars iucome during the year on which they paid eighty-one million dollars tax, representing oneninth of all the iucome taxes paid.

A London cable says that the lost parish church of Walton on The Naze which was engulfed a century ago with a village and is now three miles out at sea, dramatiriallv reappeared durinjg an exceptionally low tide following on the heavy'storm. The belfry is known as the “ghost church” and greatcrowds gathered on the sea front to watch the ruin silhouetted against the sky until the tide returned and again engulfed the building.

A meeting of the executive of. the Pig Federation was held in Palmerston North yesterday to consider the Government- offer of £30,000 as subsidy on exported pork and bacon. Representa - tives from as far north as northern Wairoa and Waikato attended. The discussion was taken in committee, after which it was announced that representatives had been appointed to attend a conference to be called shortly by the Agricultural Department, when the method of apportioning the subsidv will be finalised.

The body of Cyril Coombe, who met his death by drowning in the Manawatu river at Palmerston North on December 26. was discovered by two bothers a few yards above the Fitziierbert street bridge- and about two miles from the spot where the tragedy ■ jccurred. Coombe, who was unable to •vvim, endeavoured to wade the Mana-wat-u in the vicinity of Mr J. Lane” property at the end of Pahiatua Street. The current being very strong, he lost his balance and was swept into a deep hole. Attempts by two companions to save him were unavailing, one lad almost losing his life in the endeavour.

It took two Maori girls to teach an impudent Gisborne youth a lesson the other day. The two girls were swimming in the Kaiti basin and were annoyed by offensive remarks and the throwing of small pebbles by the youth on the bank. The girls were determined to put an end to this molestation, and while the youth was directing his attention to. one of the swimmers, the other, scrambling out of the water unseen by the tormentor, came along behind him. and, lifting him bodily, lei him fall into the water below. As he was unable to swim, the youth found some difficulty in struggling out.

This season, for the first time, strawberries, raspberries, loganberries, and cherries, come under new regulations enforcing the fair packing of fruit. Under these regulations, all fruit exposed for sale in contain ers must be packed so that the fruit exposed to- view fairly represents the size, maturity and condition of the whole contents of the container. Inspectors of the Department of Agri culture who daily attend the fruitmarkets in Auckland, report that strawberry growers are faithfully observing the regulations and in very few instances have they had to report eases of “facings** which are not fair samples of the contents of the boxes.

While riflemen were competing at the Putiki range, near Wanganui, last week, in the North Island championship meeting, half-a-dozen weaner pigs and three calves wandered out in front. \ The targets, being on a slight

rise, put the larger animals about six inches below the elevation of the. shooting, but aparently they were used to the zipping bullets, for they behaved admirably under fire. They wandered peacefully across the range, pulling mouthfuls of the luscious grass here and there, and taking no more notice of the deadly missiles than if'they had been mosquitoes. The pigs, in fact, thoroughly enjoyed themselves, one little blade fellow playfully chasing a piece of paper which the wind sent skimming ove? the grass.

Tlie four English nightingales which were recently brought from London to Auckland by Mr Angus Wilson were released early on Christmas morning. They were taken to a native bush reserve in the Tamaki district and given their freedom near a small stream where the undergrowth resembles that of an English wood. The birds flew off gaily into the tea-tree and were soon heard calling to one another.. The nightingales were not ringed. The rings, which have been sent from London by Mr David Garnett, the novelist, have been delayed in the post, and others were not procurable locally. The nightingales were objects of very great interest since their arrival at Auckland. Dozens of visitors, mostly children and English visitors, called to see them at St. Hellers Bay and requests for their release locally were received from all parts of Noxv Zealand.

A cable I'rbm- Berlin states that the tide at. Wilhclmshavcn dislodged an ice floe in the harbour, on which seven children were playing. The swift current carried the floe out to sea. The battleship Schlesien with a number of tugs and blazing searchlights sailed in pursuit and portable searchlights were mounted at Jade Bay on the coast. The cries of the children wore heard two hours after the mishap. The children were rescued after drifting for ■*

four hours, when hope of their safety had been given up.

The new Motor Regulations recently circulated in draft form will probably not be gazetted as revised for some weeks yet. A fa r response has been made to the imitation extended to local bodies and others to consider the proposals and to forward suggestions to the authorities. It is understood that the major proposals have been generally accepted as satisfactory, but chat the criticism offered has not in the.main followed a constructive line. The revised regulations are ready for issue, but further consideration by Cabinet will be necessary before they are gazetted. ■ ‘

Thirty-six years ago there was an Athletic Club in Levin, and sports were held on what was then Prince of Wales’ Birthday, November 9th. A programme of the meeting is still in the possession of Mr James Rose, who was the starter on that occasion. Other officials of the meeting who are still living in the Levin district, are Mr F. G. Roe, who was vice-president of the club, Mr R. A. McDonald, who was one of the'judges, and Mr O. /Thompson, who was se 2 rotary and treasurer. The president-, was the late Mr P. Bartholomew. The Levin Handicap comprised distances of 100, 200 and 440 yards, and the entries in this series ranged from 28 t.o 33. The mile Walking handicap attracted 15 entries, and the mile run 20, and the 220 yards hurdles had to lie run. in tvyo heats. It will be noticed that, there is no reference to , “amateur” in the title of the .Club. The events were contested -for....cash . prizes.

Warnings to bathers arc being issued hroughuut New Zealand to .beware of sharks, which are apparently more numerous this year than at any other lime. Awanui harbour (Auckland), is said to be teeming with them this season,- and every week-end fishing parties obtain large numbers. As a result of one day’s fishing last week, a launch party landed 42 of the preying fish, and a week previously : a record catch of 72 sharks was established. A warning to Sounds picnic and camping parties to beware of sharks was conveyed to a Blenheim Express representative, it is stated that there were more sharks in the Sounds this year than had ever ben known, and it was common co see them 14 to 16 feet in length. Prior to the visit of ocean liners to the port of New Plymouth, sharks were rarely seen, and bathers had no fear of taking lengthy swims; but there is no security now, and extra caution should be exercised. In the open roadstead lays .some bathers .would swim nearly i mile out, and after a rest on one of the anchorage buoys,. quietly return to the shore. It is to be hoped that here are no such venturous spirits in these days.

Throe cars were involved in a mishap at flie Avenue, just outside the Borough boundary, yesterday afternoon, but fortunately nobody was injured. In the first place Mr G. Rolston, travelling in the direction of Levin, had the misfortune to run his car over the bank, owing to the steer-ing-rod breaking. His brother, Mr It. D. Rolston, came along from the opposite direction just afterwards, in his own car, in which he had been taking some visitors for a ride. Leaving his car, lie went to the assistance of Mr J. G. liolston, and luckily, as it turned out, the ladies also alighted. While the papty were inspecting the idamaged car a crash was heard, and they found that a large car, which had come from a southerly direction, had run into the back of Mr B. D. Rolston’s car, pushing it over the bank and going over itself, and capsizing. There was only one man in the big car, and he came through the collision without being hurt. The principal damage was sustained by Mr R.. D. Rolston *s car, the back of which, including the benzine tank, was badly smashed. All three cars were brought to garages in Levin for repairs.