Shannon News FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1928.

Shannon News, 3 August 1928, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1928.

The rainfall in Shannon for the month ending July 31st, as supplied by Mr A. H. Morgan, of Vance Street, was 2.20 inches, the heaviest being on July 9th, when 1.13 inches of rain fell.

On Sunday evening,, the Rev. C. H. Isaaeson, Diocesan Organiser of Social Service, will conduct the service at Ven Bede's Church. On Monday evening at'7.3o-.p.m. he will give a lantern lecture on his work in the Parish Hall.

Before commencing their business on Tuesday evening, the members of the Shannon Bowling Club paid a tribute to the memory, of the late Messrs B. F. Spencer and Jas. Richardson, by standing and observing one minute's silence. Both gentlemen were members of the Club, Mr Spencer having been a vice-president during the i 926 season.

Reference was made at the Shannon Bowling Club's amial meeting on Tuesday evening to the illness of Mr W. H. Gunning, one of the founders of the Club,' who has never spared time or money .to further bowling in Shannon, and a letter is to be forwarded to Mr Gunning wishing him a speedy recovery and assuring him of the continued best wishes of the Club.

The funeral of the late Mr Jas. Richardson took place on Tuesday and the high esteem and respect in which he was held was shown by the large number of persons who paid their last respects at the church and graveside. Many beautiful floral tributes covered the caskets. The cortege from the Anglican Church; which was a lengthy on;©, was headed by members of the Borough Council and employees. The Rev. A. J. Faxnell conducted the service's at the church and graveside.

The usual weekly euchre tourney, conducted by the committee of the Women's Institute, was held on Tuesday evening, when there was a fair attendance of players, who spent an enjoyable evening. Mrs Radford won the ladies' prize and Mr W. Forbes the gents prize, also the monthly points' trophy, Mrs Fell winning the points prize in the ladies section. The consolation awards went to Mr A. E. Hyde and Mrs Elwood.

The danger of kicking a football under the Power Board's electric wire lines was brought home to some young men at Buckley a few days ago, when the ball struck the wires pushing them together and causing them to fuse. When the wires fuse they burn through very'quickly, and fall. Should the live wire conile'■ in \co|itact with anyone, fatal results Would almost- certainly follow. In addition to the damage to the wires and inconvenience caused, there is a real danger, to anyone in close proximity to the lines and this should certainly be impressed upon children by parents.

While coming in from Mangahao on Monday afternoon, a motor lorry loaded with timber, belonging to Mr C. C. Franks and driven by Mr W. Radford left the road on the hill north of the Arapeti dam and went over the bank. After turning over.twice it came to a standstill in some scrub about 20 feet below. During the fall Mr Eadford remained in the cab, fortunately being able to crawl clear with nothing more than a few scratches and bruises. The extent of the damage to the lorry will not be known until the timber is removed and the vehicle is got back on to the road.

A letter of an unusual kind was received by the New Zealand Rugby Union last night. It contained an offer by two volunteers at Okaiawa to act as stretcher-bearers for the All Blacks in South Africa. "Having noticed in the papers," they wrote, "the somewhat heavy casualty lists amongst the players of our team in South Africa, we offer our.services as stretcher-bear-ers, should the Union be prepared to pay our"fare across."-

Mr H. O. Cooper, of Waihou, writes to the Te Aroha News: "I do not know if this will interest your readers, but I think it will. We keep ducks hereIndian Runners —and we have had one duck (not an Indian Runner) for two years, and she has established a tiptop feat. The first year we were surprised, and last year I kept dates and prices paid. She always sits herself. On 27th September she brought out 17 ducklings, on 3rd December she brought out 12 ducklings; and on 28th May she brought out 12 more, making a.total of 41 ducklings for the season. She never lost one. She used to leave them when she was laying, and then come and take them away foT the day. They were nearly all sold at the auction mart at from 2s 9d to 3s 3d each, or a)i average of 3s;4hus this duek returned us £6. The previous year her first clutch was 19. She has already started laying."

The rainfall in Palmerston North last month was 1-29 inches, a record for July during the past sixteen, years. The winter so far has been .very; "mild and dry.

The Okato (Taranaki) Dairy Company has disposed of its output of cheese to the end of December, amounting to about 600 tons, at 9£d per pound. This will make possible a pay-out in the vicinity of Is 10 per pound of butterfat. " ■■;"■' 0

Whitebait fishers are again to be seen making towards- the riverbank at Foxton with their nets. Quite a number were fishing during the week-end, but so far no big catches have been recorded. ' :.

A member of the unemployed stated recently that'he used to be able to make about £2O a week trapping opossums, but this, year he had to work hard to make a fourth of that amount, says the Wanganui Chronicle. Poor catches are the rule all over the district. Numbers of property owners are trapping the,animals on their own land, without license, which is legal, and it is likely that many skins will go out of the district at the close of the season. '

A eat and a dog staged a startling incident in Mount Eden Road, Auckland, on Saturday. Pursued b% an ag-gressively-tempered fox terrier the eat promptly left a seat in the sunshine and dashed towards a dairy. Deceived by a plate-glass-window in the dairy, the cat "-'.found its progress to safety suddenly checked. The \ dog, hot on the feline train, right through the glass., ending its career among pats of butter aird cartons of cream. Not waiting to reflect upon its good fortune, the cat leaped''a :; fence and disappeared. t .-,

Two Auckland charitable institution* and Dr. Barnardo's Homes, .London, benefit to the extent of £SOO eaeli under the Avili of the late Mr Thomas Kirkup, of Mount Albert. There are contingent legacies providing, in th» event of certain happenings, for tha payment of these .institutions of a further sum of £SOO each. The Anglican Orphan Home at Papatoetoe and the Auckland Salvation Army Home are the local beneficiaries, apart from bequests to the testator's family, the members of which are resident in-Auck-land.

"South Taranaki has not had nearly enough rain this winter," declared a leader of th'e dairy industry to a News reporter recently. "The ground has never been properly soaked —the winter has been so mild-—and to ensure a good and continuous growth of grass heavy, soaking rain in the winter is essential. Again, it is required for watering the farms, filling the creeks and boosting the springs. Without plenty of easily accessible drinking water the herds will not give of their best. Farmers would be well advised to install water iu every paddock, so as to save the legs—and the butterfat—of the cows. Pure water, it should never be overlooked, is the foundation of dairying, and just as necessary for the production of butterfat as the grass itself."

It is still possible for tourists to travel on the Wanganui River by canoe, this form of transit being used in the upper reaches. Mr Vosseler, in his lecture at Levin, showed some striking views of the river country. In one of th«sc was depicted an old war canoe, still bearing bullet-marks, but now engaged in the peaceful occupation of transporting passengers from Tauroarunui, of whom it holds from 30 to 40, with their luggage. The vessel has been brought in line with modern requirements, the sides having been built up and an oil engine installed. "If you want to do the Wan-' ganui River," said Mr Vosseler, .'Hake a canoe. It adds greatly to the delight of the outing:' ? - He added/ howeVer, that the Pakeha who tried to .handle a Maori canoe would quickly find himself in trouble. Personally, he was tipped into the water. : ;.r, .;,••

As the result of an. explosion in a fire grate, due, it is believed, to the presence of explosives in coal, Miss West, of Te Kuiti,;receiyed an injury to her left eye, necessitating her removal to the Hamilton Hospital. Miss West, who has a, "dressmaking business, was engaged in the morning by; the fire in her room, when an explosion occurred in the grate in which a coal fire was burning. The eontents of the fireplace were thrown forcefully into the" room,, a piece of the flying material striking Miss West a glancing blow 031 the left travelling across the eye. At the time of the mishap she was wearing glasses, but these were not damaged, the missile striking at an angle. An inspection of the grate failed to disclose, the presence of anything in the shape of a detonator and it is presumed that the explosion w T as caused through a piece of explosive which had been left accidentally in the coal.

"The milk coming to .the- factory is so bad that employees us 3 condensed milk in preference to new," said a director of the Patua Dairy Company on Thursday, when moving at the annual meeting that suppliers should be prevented from feeding with swede turnips. A spirited discussion ensued in which the manager, stated that the .swede flavour was often such that it could not be 'detected when the milk was passed over the stage, but, unlike most other flavours, came to light later. Such a resolution would, if adhered to, help him, since he had eases in which suppliers had denied feeding their cows with swedes, despite the fact that they had been doing so. Many shareholders considered the resolution too drastic and it was carried in the modified form of being an instruction to the manager to exercise a strict superI vision in the acceptance ( of milk. "Swedes can be fed judiciously," 'stated the manager, ''but if suppliers . leave thjjir e'owa on them for two hours instead of half an hour, it will be entirely their fault if,the mijk is sent back." .."_..

"Some travellers almost force orders out of a man if he has not the back- j bone to say no," said a creditor in a confectioner's bankruptcy hearing in Hamilton.

The bird known as the saddle*-baek was once very common on the ranges, said Mr Vosseler, in his lecture last evening, but be doubted whether it was to be found there now. Members of the species were breeding on Kapiti Island, however, and it was possible that in time to come their descendants would take up their habitations on the Tararuas.

An American tourist, wishing ta get to Blenheim from Wellington, inquired at the TJ.S.S. Co's Office in Wellington which boat, would get him there. "The steamer Tamahine is leaving for Picton to-day" replied the clerk. "Gee bo!" exclaimed, the tourist, "if this here guy Heeney beats Tunney in the next fight, you'll be calling the whole blasted New Zealand after him." *i;.

Complaint was made atj£he Wanganni Museum. ■, trustees' meeting, that the parking stand in front of'the new Museum detracted from the beauty of the building "Yes; and, I heard giggles <coming from a ear thegcy.as. I passed tonight," said .Mrns>,;-.X' Marchant. "What are gigglest* >; asked one of those present. "Ask Mr Marehant. I think it was his car," put in a fellowtrustee, amid laughter.

An unusually large opossum was caught in grounds of a New Plymouth suburban residence the other night. It measured 4ft from head to tail. The marsupials are doing a good deal of damage to the native shrubs and trees, being particularly fond of the young shoots of the pohutukawa, karo and koekoe. The owner of the property in question has suffered much damage in consequence of these depredations an?* is now waging war upon them.

"I am going to take a soap-box in my electorate and carry it about with me, and from jt I will tell the community that I mak§ no apology for not being able to rent halls, because the Government has so mishandled th-' country that the people who have siypported'me are in such financial straits now that they are unable to assist me." So said Mr W. E. Parry, member for Auckland Central, .in bis address at Levin lasl sight.

The pictures of New Zealand alpine flowers shown by Mr F. W. Vosseler, at his lecture in Levin last evening, were very beautjful. He said that the ranunculus, edelweiss, gentian and celmisia were plentiful on the Tararuas The edelweiss of the North Island had a larger and more perfect bloom than that of the South; but the loeal eelmisia, pretty as it was, was not to be compared with the beautiful specimens from the Southern Alps. Mr Vosseler added that he had planted the New Zealand edelweiss in Wellington and hoped to have it blooming alongside the Swiss variety.

The parrakeet is one of the few birds that give a distinctly tropical colour to the New Zealand. bush. At one time its flashing green wings * were quite familiar in. the bush-clad hills, anld then for a number of years the bird seemed to have become elusive. Mr. Vosseler, in his lecture last evening, said that he often came across parrakeets nowadays on the ranges, and he thought they were becoming more common than they had been for some time past. He added that he was hoping that quite a number of the native birds, including the bell-bird (lnakomako) 'and the riro riro, were going to hold their own against the imported 'pests.

The unconfirmed report that the Government intended to establish some form of mental hospital at the Central Development Farm will be revived by a statement in the annual report of the Inspector-General (Dr. T. G. Gray), presented to Parliament yesterday. He says there is serious over-crowding in the various mental hospitals. There is an excess of 820 patients distributed amongst different institutions. The worst over-crowding is at • Porirua, where there are 1410 patients in residence, an excess of 256 over the accommodation. "There is practically no room left at Porirua," says the report, "for additional 'buildings, even Avcro such desirable, and the foundation of a new institution in the Manawatu district is necessary.'* c;;: