Shannon News TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1929.

Shannon News, 8 January 1929, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1929.

Mr and Mrs A. E. Hyde and family are holiday-making at the Otaki beach;

A scarcity of holly in London prior to Christmas raised the price from 3s 6d to 10s 6d a bunch.

The Borough Council will hold their first meeting for the new year in the Council Chambers on Thursday evening.

Dr. Waddell, who is about to commence practice in. Shannon, visited the township or. Saturday to make arrangements for a residence.

Constable Baiilkie', >ho is pn his annual leave, is being relieved by Constable Compton, of Palmerston -North.

v The friends of Mr W.~ Goodwin, of Kingston Road, will 'be sorry to learn that he. had to enter the Palmerston North Hospital on Saturday, to undergo an operation for appendicitis. -

A bowling rink consisting of Grey, Wilkinson, Franks and. Mason (skip) will visit Danr.evirke on Wednesday, when an endeavour will be made to win the Dixon Cup from the holders —.i Dannevirke rink.

During the six: 'months ended last October the road motor services operated by the. Railways Department carried 1.443,120 passengers as compared with 296,111 in the corresponding period of last year. .'

On Sunday morning after Mass in', the Catholic Church, Mr Thurston, on behalf of the parishioners, presented the Rev. Father McDermott with a cheque. Father McDermott i 3 leaving to-day. for a nine months' holiday in the Old Country, when he will visit bis parents in Ireland. Father Brennan, of Westport, is taking his place. *

A record for greatest number of long service employees in any Australian company is claimed by J. Kitchen and Sons, Pty., Ltd., of Melbourne, who presented gold watches to ernployees who had completed 25 years or more. One hundred and thirty watches were distributed, 91 being to recipients in Melbourne. The recipients had been employed for various periods ranging to 45 years—lß of them for more than 40 years. One of them ia.Mijis M. M. Amiss, head-typiste, who was the first woman engaged by the company 29 years ag». * : '._:':.., ■. J... •

Stewart Island possesses a rare animal, namely, a distinct species of bat that is apparently not found elsewhere. The bat possesses a tail, and evidently is the only bat to have one. In the extreme soiuth of the Island they had their home, in a cave known as Bats' Cave by the fishermen. The bats used to be. there in great numbers but recently it was reported that v someone' had lit a big lire in. the cave and the b*ats lhad disappeared. They f may haye transferred to some other haven, but it, is singular that this cave is the only place where the bats have been seen. * •

The returns for November from 100 acres of land on the intersection of the Rowan-Eltham road, is quoted by the owner as showing what can be done on third-class land in that part of Taranaki. For butter-fat he received £139, for part of last year's bonus £lO, and for pigs £l3', making a total of £162. The farmer is milking 40 cows and Tuns twelve heifers and several horses on the section. About £SO. worth of top.-dressing was put on last year, being the only top-dressing that the land had received- The return is small per acre compared to what some of the first-class farms are producing, but it'is a credit to the farmor's industry and toil .and an example to others who view the dairy farmer's life with other than optimistic prospects.

A party of Shannomtes, motoring on the Foxton Beach on Sunday afternoon, had a narrow escape of losing their car, —a, Buick.sedan. While driving along the water's edge, and in an attempt to turn, the car suddenly became" stuck, in the wet sand, which reached, the running board. As tha tide was coming :n, the .water quickly advanced to the ear. With visions of the vehicle being covered by water, ihc driver made frantic efforts to get it free under its own power. In thj meantime a member of the party went aloag the beach for assistance. The services of another car being obtained, the stranded car was towed out of danger, much to the relief of all. The troubles of the party were not yet over, however, as on the homeward journey, the swag containing the pic,' nicking gear, which had been tied on the back, was lost. Fortunately this was recovered yesterday.

Good assortment of Toyß for Children of all ages, including dainty Musical Chairs and numerous other Novelties. —Inspection cordially invited.—Misses M. and M. Baxter.

Several sovereigns were ill circulation at the races at New Plymouth and found their way--.into the totalisator.

A vacant house in. Stewart Street, Mount Eden, was entered recently and a porcelain bath with the g.'is heater fittings stolon.

Smoking a pipe or cigarette is the novel preventive of seasickness suggested by a recent writer in the British Medical Journal. It has beee known to stave off an attack even after the feeling of sickness has commenced.

Nearly two hundred, children from Waikato have had ten days' free holiday at Port Waikato, says a Pre3s -message from Hamilton. The funds were provided by the Waikato Children's Camp League. Mr Edwards iSpargo, owner of the land where the camp was held, has presented 20 acres I*6 the League as a permanent site.

In the course of a recent motor collision case at Invercargill, counsel for plaintiff asked his Worship to view a teat which he declared would prove that a car was sure to capsize if turned at a certain angle when travelling at over .12 miles per hour. "Who is to be in the car" asked his Worship. Counsel appeared to "be in doubt on'' this point, and his Worship continued: "I think we should put the reporters i n# > '—Southland Times.

Shortly after ten o'clock last evening an alarm of fire was given. The outbreak 'being in a toolshed belonging to Mr L. Ashwin, situated at- the rear of his residence in Ballance. Street. The Fire Brigade were quickly on the scene but the shed, being a small one, was quickly demolished, along with its contents, consisting of a large number of carpenters tools and sundry articles. We understand the building and contents were covered by insurance.

Millions of small green beetles, all well and truly drowned, at present cover the beach at Petane, near Napier, just about'high water mark, having been washed up by the sea. The place of tiheir origin is a mystery and it is impossible to tell how far they have Been carried''by the waves. Their numbers are such that if they have all been carried from one particular« : spot, says a Napier paper, they must kaTe constituted almost a plague in th«i locality during the tfmo of their residence.

The owner of the fowls could hardly believe his eyes when he returned home at the dinner hour (reports the Taranaki Herald). What was in the morning a pen full of healthy chicks looked like a fowl hospital, for most of the birds lay on their backs with their .feet pointing skywards. One or two, hardly strong enough to stand, staggered weakly about before subsiding again to the ground. Fearing the chicks had been smitten by some fell disease, the owner made anxious inquiries. He eventually! (discovered that his wife had mixed the morning bran and pollard with the moist residue from some home-made wine which her husband had lately manufactured.

Starting off with a ruby ring, and adding various articles from time tc time to stimulate the "bidding, a Wanganui auctioneer the other day succeeded in bringing the price offered to him for the collection up to £23. He was asking whether there was any advance when a Maori appeared on the scene and promptly called ■"Twentyfour." No one seemed prepared to go above this and the hammer fell. A hitch then occurred in the proceedings, as the Maori, ori going up to the auctioneer's assistant, entered into an argument with him, the upshot of which was that it was learned that the successful bidder had thought the 24 was shillings and not pounds. The sale was declared off as far as the Maori was concerned, and the articles went to the next' highest bidder.

Remarkable coincidences are provided sometimes by the associations of names. A crowd of people were enjoying a 'dip in. the surf at one of the West Coast camps during the holidays when in the friendly holiday spiri'. which is an antidote to all demands of convention, a man invited two ladies to take his hands and go further into !the foaming breakers. The trio had (bqen themselves fopsome time before it was revealed that the young ladies' names were Miss White and Miss,Black, and to make the coincidence complete the gentleman's name was Grey, a combination of black and white. Shortly afterwards a Mr Brown appeared on the beach.

A correspondent writes to the Post asking which of the Minister of the late Reform Cabinet are entitled to retain the title of "Honourable." The question is governed by the length of time the Ministers served as such. In order lo qualify permanently as "honourable," a Minister must have served for three years as a member of the Executive Council, the period commencing as from the date of appointment by the Governor-General. Five members of Mr Coates' Cabinet have not- served for the requisite period— Mr R, A. Wright, Mr J. A. Young, Mr F. J. Rollcston, Mr O.J. Hawkcn, and Mr K. S. Williams, and they therefore lelinquish the title. The late Prime Minister, now Leader of the Opposition (Mr Coates), retains the title "Right Honourable" by virtue of, his office as a Privy Councillor, and in any case would be- entitled to retain the title "honourable," as he. has held Ministerial rarik for more than three years. The only other Privy Councillors in New Zealand are the Right Hon. Siir Francis Bell, the Right Hon. Sir Robert Stout, and the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Wart.

Dr. L. J. Hunter returned to New Zealand by the Maramaoh Wedkesdjay, after a holiday trip to Australia, and has resumed practice in Levin. He was accompanied from Sydney;; by Mrs Hunter, who had been, on a visit to her people in the Old Country, whera she had the pleasure of experiencing the best summer recorded there for seven years. .

While motoring along t!o Ivaeh between Munawaui- Heads and R'«ngitikei River on New Yeai \s Day, Mr K. Cochrane discovered a sial on the sand \near Koputara Cieek. With the assistance of Mr R. .Haitley, he managed to get the mammal into his car and (brought at back to the Heads where it created a great deal of interest amongst the many picnickers at the seaside. The .seal was alive when captured but appeared to bo somewhat injured. It was the intention of the captors to allow it to make its way out to sea again. Seals are not very often found on the local beaches, but have been seen from time to time on the Wellington beaches.

When the directors of the Feilding Farmers' Freezing Company nut last week, the 'Hon. J. G. Cobbe, chairman of directors, tendered his resignation as chairman, explaining that his reason for doing so was that certain farmers, for political reasons, were withdrawing their support from the; com pany. He made It plain that he did not wish to remain in office while there was a: risk of his' doing damage to the company. The- directors refused to accept the resignation, the opinu n beinjj oxprssscd that Mr Coble might be able to do the freezing industry and the farmers some good. It was - also said that the picsent feeling woul 1 soon blow over.

The. new 1928 coinage has made its first appearance in the form of three : penny" pieces audi Half-crowns. The obverse side of the former has the usual i hough, slightly small pr impression \of the King's head, but the reverse is adorned with acorns and oak leaves in the place of the familiar large-sized 3 surmounted with a crown. The obverse of the. halftcrown is considerably different from the older coins, the Royal coat of,arms being much small er/while <at each side- there are two crown 3 surmounting the •' initials "G.G.,", taking the place of the motto. The words '' Half Crown'' are considerably larger, as is the. date". The crown above the coat of .arms has been omitted and the coin is slightly thicker! The reverse side is practically unchanged. _. filiJlM

A woman recently travelling to her home a.short distance from Wellington by train, says the Evening Past, had in ! .her lap a small pot plant, wrapped in paper, but with the tell-tale bloom peeping from the top. On this she had to pay sixpence excess because it wa3 not bona-fide personal luggageL This passenger teould have carried 1121 b. of bona-fide personal luggage free, could carry it every day if she wish ed; but 3he wished to carry a pot plant ,and could not see why she should becharged for it when she had it in bar lap. Of eoursa the,passenger had no case, because the department reserves the right to determine whether a package is personal luggage or not, but. these are times when the department should be careful with its restrictions and reseivations, from which private motor services are remarkably free, or the inevitable comparison will be made to the detriment of ..'.the railway service.

The Foxton Herald says the death of Oliver Leslie Anderson, which.occurred in the Palm.ers.ton North Hospital on Wednesday as a result of a mo tor accident, c&me as a great shock to his many friends in Foxton. DeceiiserL was one of the most popular young men in the town and was a keen'footbailor. Last seaao'i he plaved for the* Foxton Football Club Thirds and on many occasions during the season was found in the ranks of the Juniors. On the football field he was a player of great promise. He was also a member of the Wednesday team and on many occasions was a representative of Old Boys against School. Any branch of athletics held a strong appeal to hiir. and he was also a keen patron at the local swimming baths. Deceased was 18 years of age and was born in-Te Aroha'but came to Foxton with his parents as an infant. He received his education at the local State School and on leaving entered the Foxton Post Office where he has teen' employed for the last three years. As a member of the exchange staff he was particularly courteous and obliging.

Looking for , a Christmas Gift?— We have . just opened up some of the latest Books suitable for Christmas and New Year Gifts. Sie our Fountain Pens from 2/6 to 35/-. M. and M. Baxter.