Shannon News TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1928.

Shannon News, 27 March 1928, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1928.

Mrs Gordon, of Christchurch, is visiting her daughter, Mrs E. T. Moody, of Shannon.

A list of household furniture is advertised for sale in this issue on account of Mr A. Menvood, who is leaving the district at an early date.

Mr. and Mrs A. Boyd, of Auckland, who were residents of Shannon < for some time, arrived on a short visit to friends on Saturday afternoon, having motor-cycled through from Auckland.

' Mr. G. E. Murphy, at one time manager of the'Shannon branch of the Bank of New Zealand, an.d who is now manager at Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, has received notice of his promotion'to Auckland.

Amongst' the smart goods .opening up at Howard Andrew’s are the 3-piece tweed Costumes with waistcoat effect. These are some of the most stylish goods that ever come into Shannon, also opened up the latest silk hose with slipper heels. Ladies are'-invited to inspect.*

•The. Methodist Church Harvest Thanksgiving sale of produce, sweets, homemade cooking and children s clothing will be held in Mr. Carter’s shop in Ball a nee Street on Saturday next. Morning and afternoon tea and lunch will be procurable. The children’s garments to be offered will be on view in the shop window to-morrow afternoon.

A very successful shop day was Jield' on Saturday by the Ladies ’ Guild of Yen Bede’s Church, when an excellent lot of donations of fruit, vegetables, sweets, home produce, etc., was offered, all of which was disposed of during the day, with the result that the church fund will«benefit. During the day competitions were held, the winners being:—Tomato doll, Mr. H. Pell; box of chocolates (donated by Mrs Cochr,ane), Mrs A. T. White; iced cake (donated by Mrs. W. 11. Gunning), Zcta Carter; baby’s set (donated by Mrs C. Thomas), Mrs F. Jamie.son, jun; 'woolly duck (donated by’Guild), Jocelyn Bass; sack of coal, 1751b5, (donaed by Mr T. King), R. V. Eban. The Vestry extend their,thanks to the ladies who conducted the stall, to all who forwarded donations, and to the public for their support; also to Mr A. E. Hyde for the free use of his shop, and to Mr J. Retter for carting.

There are at present 50 teachers employed at the Palmerston North Technical School teaching in 153 classes.

Fish iwere plentiful off Kapiti during the week-end. Messrs T. H. Kent and party, of Palmerston North, in one day secured 500 lbs of fish. The catch comprised seven groper, the smallest of •which scaled 601bs and the largest 90 lbs. The rest of the catch was composed of average fish. ' ‘

A fearsome sight attracted a crowd of thirsty-looking souls in front, of the New Zealand Hotel, in Christchurch, a few days ago. A large cask of beef), when being unloaded / from a lorry, bounced on to the roadway, split its full rounded sides, and spilled on to the roadway in an amber frothy flood.

During a conversation with a prominent Wanganui business man, a “H'awera Star ’ ’ reporter was‘ informed that there were at present 57 empty shops in the river city. Unemployment was rife, and the building trade was at a standstill; in fact, said the speaker, building operations at present were the lowest for over 20 years.

Although bci&ficial. to farmers, the recent rain has not been a win to fruiterers and orchardists (says the New Zealand Herald). Peaches, in particular, bear evidence of brown rot, which has set in since the termination of the dry spell. At'the Auckland City Markets recently, peaches were cleared at 6s per case, compared with 7s 6d earlier in the week. Apples, on the other hand, appear to have benefited by the drenching. They arrived on the market in large quantities, and many varieties.

The opinion was generally held, at the annual meeting of the Levin branch of the Farmers’ Union on Saturday, that the requirement that numberplates for motor vehicles should -be changed annually was unnecessary. The chaUman (Mr H. Denton) said it seemed a waste of money, to have to pay 2s 6d for a new pair of plates every year. He had quite a stack of them. A member: “You will be able to build a shed with them soon.” The chaiiman suggested that, instead of new plates being made, the old ones might be repainted. There was a waste of money in the present process. “Not an unusual thing in the Departments,” remarked another member. It was mentioned that in England a motorist retained his number instead of having to change it each year.

The death occurred at Aramoho on' Saturday of Keith Abbey, the five-year-.old son of the Rev. W. 11. E. and Mrs Abbey, who were at one time lesident in levin, Mr Abbey being in charge of the Methodist circuit here. Thenmany friends will regret to learn of their sad bereavement.

Plans for a London to New York dirigible service are being formed under the leadership of Mr Alex Dow, _chairman of the board of the Detroit Edison Company. It is proposed to operate a fleet of six dirigibles by the company, which will be jointly owned by British and American interests. The Foxton postmaster (Mr J. Newton) lias received advice that the continuous telephone service will come into operation to-morrow. This is the outcome of very active work by members of the Chamlier of Commeice tor some considerable time. Mr T. Barrow of the Palmerston N. exchange is being transferred to Foxton to help with the new service,.

A number of workmen were working on a scaffold, building additions to the Hotel. Metropole, in Sydney, when the scaffold collapsed. The men fell 120 feet into the street. An apprentice named Frank Bring and a workman named William Chorton were killed. Eight other men were injured and taken to hospital.

The Mayor of Chicago, “Big Bill” Thompson, won a six month’s fight against “prohibition propaganda” when the Board of Education voted by 8 to 2 to remove William Mac Andrew, superintendent of schools. . The Board held that all the charges brought of Mac Andrew’s pro-British teachings were sustained by the evidence. •

The latest idea from Paris for. golf is the jumper of Eton collar variety; the skirt and bloomors are the cute part. The skirt is made rather full, and is opened down each side from about six or eight inches below the waist. Of! course, it is neatly faced, and buttons are stitched where it is joined at each side. Then, under this, you wear comfy direetoire knickers, Which are finished at the knee with a narrow band which buttons snugly to the leg. So it doesn’t matter how much your skirt swings apart. These knickers are made in the same tweed

A javelin throw of 216 ft 3sins. v r as registered by the selected Olympic representative, S. A. Lay, in an exhibition at a gymkhana conducted by the Egmont A. and P. Association at Hawera yesterday afternoon. Lay’s previous best for New Zealand and Australia was 209 feet 4 inches at New Plymouth on February 4th. Yesterday’s effort was nearly seven feet better and only 2ft sin. short of the world’s record of 218 ft. B|ins. As he had the advantage of a light cross breeze, a new record for Australasia is not being applied for. "

The report from the London office of the N.Z. Dairy Produce Board for last week quotes New Zealand butter, salted, at 172 s to 176 s (previous week 171 s to 1765), unsalted 174 s to 180 s (172 sto 178 s). The market was firm; deliveries of New Zealand butter 1936 tons, in store 6000 tons. Australian finest butter, salted and unsalted, was 166 s to 170 s (164 s to 168 s); Danish, 190 s to 192 s spot, 18os to 186 s f.o.b. (198 s, 190 s). The retail price of New Zealand cheese, white and coloured, was quoted at 99s to 100 s (97s to 995), and the market was steady. Canadian ranged from 104 s to 112 s, Australian from 96s to 98s, and English farmers’ finest from 133 s to 1355.

“There is still that steady increase of applications from new consumers,” said Mr G. A. Monk, chairman of the Power Board, when the monthly reports were before the Board yesterday. “With 14 applications for new connections and 21 for extensions to existing installations, the numbers are keeping up. It will be necessary for the Board to decide, at its next meeting, what further extensions shall be made. More roads are likely to be reticulated during the coming year. Mr Smith, our Engineer, willgo into that matter. There is not much offering of a pay-, able nature at the present time. We have to take into consideration that practically the whole of our future increase of* business will come on to the existing mains.”

The inquest into the death of Thomas Kelly, a single man, aged 23, who collapsed while working up an electric light pole on March 13, and subsequently expired, was concluded at Christchurch yesterday. When the death was first reported,) it was stated, on the authority of the foreman in charge of the works, that the pole and wires had been examined, and there was no evidence of Kelly having received a shock. It was stated that Kelly had fainted or collapsed from some other cause. Evidence at the inquest showed that Kelly must have received a severe shock, and evidence of this was found on Kelly’s body and on the pole. The Coroner (Mr Lawry, S.M.), found tjiat Kelly died as the result of being accidentally electrocuted.

Homesick, and finding the life of a sailor drab and miserable after- the movement and/ colour of Singapore, Ling A. Kwee, a member of the oiler Oliva, now at Auckland, decided to end his unhappy existence. The way he went about it was as novel as it was ineffectual, according to the story related in the Police Court by SeniorSergeant McCarthy yesterday. By smoking enormous quantities of opium —from one to ounces —Kwee hoped to dream his life away one night and so forget his troubles. However, said the ship’s captain, it only kept him awake. Kwee was not wanted .back on the ship on account of his suicidal tendencies. The ship’s agent solved the difficulty by arranging for tho little man’s deportation, and he was remanded to appear to-day for sentence on a charge of attempted suicide.

According to the latest monthly statistics it now take £1 12s 4d on the average to purchase what could be purchased in July, 1914, for £l.

The Dunedin Harbour Board last week received 70 applications for the position of apprentice in the engineering department.

By 192 votes to 24 the ratepayers of Martinborough decided at a poll taken on Wednesday in favour of the formation of the town into a borough-i

During February 229 patients were admitted to the Palmerston North hospital, while 203 were discharged and eight had died. Patients remaining in the institution at the end of the month numbered 165.

The number of births'registered in the Dominion last your was the lowest recorded for eight years, the low birthrate being unprecedented in the history of New Zealand. This is to a considerable extent olfsot by*,the decrease in infant mortality, last year's rate establishing a new low record.

Mr. Charles Henry Marriott, ■ aged 43 years, residing at Ferry Road. Day’s Bay, an electrician (late of Otald), was admitted to the Wellington hospital shortly after 11.30 o’clock on Monday night, suffering from shock and slight injuries to one leg and hand, as a result of a street accident. H : s condition is not regarded as at all serious.

Opinion "was freely expressed at a meeting of the Rangitikei County Council on Saturday that the names of motorists convicted of being drunk while in charge of cars should on no account be suppressed. The menace of drunken motorists was stressed, and the clerk was instructed to direct the attention of the Minister of Justice to the matter.

Touching on the matter of tipping in the course of an interview with a Standard .reporter yesterday, Mr. M. Cohen, who returned to Palmerston North last week from his visit to the United States, said it was interesting to note that the aggregate tips received by negro porters in Pullman cars throughout that country amounted to 7,000,000 dollars per annum.

That the country districts are practically solid against daylight. saving, and never -want to see it again made applicable to rural interests, is the view expressed on behalf of the dairy industry by the managing editor of the "New Zealand Dairy Exporter,” on the strength of a rural vote taken on the question. This vote shows 95.6 per cent, of the votes recorded to be against a repetition of daylight saving.

The Evening Standard says there arc a hundred Irish gunmen now in London engaged in an illicit trade in automatic revolvers. Scotland Yard is endeavouring to trace dumps of revolvers in London in connection with a movement to smuggle them from the Continent in order to arm the Irish Republican Army. There is also considerable illicit trade in revolvers among London criminals. Scotland Yard suggests that the “cat” may be necessary to stop illicit traffic in firearms.

The Christchurch City Council at its last meeting carried a resolution directing that the captured guns which stand ,at a few points in the City open spaces, !be removed. There has been a storm of protest against this resolution. The Council last night had the matter before it again. It was decided on a party division, 11 votes to 5, the Labour majority against the rest, to refer the question to the Reserves Committee. This means that the whole question will be reconsidered.

The casting of the largest bell ever made in England, and the fourth largest in existence, was celebrated at Croydon last Saturday, states a Rugby wireless, by 2300 bellringers from all parts of the country. The bell, with others, has been mad** for a carillon in Riverside Church, at New York. Its note is two whole tones lower than any bell hitherto tuned in this country. The weight of the bell is 18J tons.

Optimism was the keynote of the discussion at Monday night's meeting of the Council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce when a motion was passed that the chairman, of the associated banks be approached with request that the banks reduce their overdraft rates. The speakers stated that the trade of the country was now improving and-that there was a better outlook for the future.

A fourteen-year-old boy who feared the consequences of having shot a girl playmate in the eye with an airgun, left his home at Muritai, Wellington, on Friday and was seen on Saturday afternoon when he made for the bush. On Monday morning he set off across the harbour in a seven-foot boat, pursued by his father and the police. He was captured, suffering slightly from shock and exhaustion. The girl was admitted to hospital and was X-rayed on Monday.

The number of births registered in New Zealand during the year 1927 wa3 27,881 (males 14,291, females 13,590). This figure is the lowest recorded since 1919, and is a decrease of 592 over the previous year, this being the first time since 1923 that a decrease in the actual number of births registered has taken place. A substantial drop in the rate per 1000 of mean population is also recorded, the figures for 1926 and 1927 being 21.05 and 20.29 respectively. Such a low birth-rate is unprecedented in the history of the Dominion.