LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taihape Daily Times, 5 September 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Mr J. Dunstone, of Auekland, notifies that he is a buyer of old false teeth, sound or broken, at :t_he highest price obtainable in New Zealz}nd—casll by return mail.

The following vessels will -be within wireless range to-niglitz Maori, Monowai, Geisson, Port Chalmers, Kumara, In range of Chathams: Orari, ‘Port Darwin, Port. Napier. .

The Te A_waitc' (Tory Cllanuol) Whalers had an exciting chase after .1 whale ill Cook Strait :1 few days ago, the boats careeringӎ;'bo'ut until they almost reached Wellin:gton Heals. :11though 3. line was fastened to the whale it was evidently lost.

A freak of nature appeared on Mr Currie’S farm, Valley road, the other day. A ewe had given birth to 3. fine lamb in the morning, and in the afternoon another' lamb was born——with one head, eight logs, two hindquarters. and two tails_—Feilding Star.

All pél'Solls having 01'ch:u'ds from which fruit is sold, or is planted for the pl'«o'duction of fruit for sale, {must be registered. There is no registration fee -to pay, but failure to register involves a. fine not exceeding‘ £2O. Registration forms are obtainable from the Department or". Agriculfure, '\Vel]ington.

Following a meeting of the Irish Hierarchy under the presidency of Cardinal Logue, a statement was sued declaring that the present system of Irish goVel'lllnont:. cannot lass, condemning military rule and the unfair burden of taxation, urging patience of the peoplo—~the example of Belgium being" citod——aud expressing gm/citude to the Senate, House of Representatives. and the DCODTO Of 311 donominat-ions in America for the S}’lllp3.t‘lly shown to Ireland.

Thu charming wife of a French Cabinet Minister had never mastered tlw English language. One day she was persuading an oflicer to attend a reception, an invit-ation to Which 110 hacl already declined. The ladfr insisted that ho should go, but the oilicor said he could not possibly do so, as he had “burned his bx-idgo.< bi-hind him.” “That will be all right.” She exclaimed. “I will send you a pail‘ Of my husband's” The lady had misunderstood thlg word.

Premier Massey sa)".< the reason Why profitcers are not being prosecuted is because the law on the" subject. is a dead letter. He intends I'(mlor.l,Yill§ that by presently bringiixg down 21 8111 which will give real power to n-mkc a suspcctqad profitecr produce his ‘booksAsked in the House why he did not do that long ago, the Premier smiled and pleaded “that it was never 'OO late to mend!” The politician miles over pi-ofiteering-~the c’om‘mon people have to" grin and bear i_€._.

The Evening Post learns that there i is no reason to expect an early general election. It is reported from the lobbies of Parliament that the appointment; -of Major Hine and Major Coates to the Cabinet is a direct. kowtow to the returned soldiers. The easy way out‘! Cabinet has decided to set up :1. Royal Commission to inquire into. the Railway Restrictions. Are these impositions going to last that long? And Mr Massey says he has taken over the portfolio of Rail-1‘ ways permanently. Minister of Chaos! I

At the Vvellington Magistrate’s Cour-t Edward Gregory Barrett was sentenced to three years’ reformative detention for disobeying the conditions imposed when accused was convicted in March for theft. of his erfiployers’ money. Mr Frazer, S.M., said he would not allow) probation to be played with.

The transport Ellenga, with the large contingent of New Zealand troops on board, is not expected to get away from Sydney before Friday; In the meantime ‘there is considerable discontent among the men because they hafre not received moneys which they expected Would be paid in Sydney. A shortage of cash is inconveniencing many.

A number of cases of breaking and entering warehouses and other business places have been reported to. the police at Wellington, who have -arrested seven boys between nine and fifteen years, and laid eighlteen chiarges against them. -The sums alleged to have been stolen by tile boys amount to about £4O, -but «the clémage done on the premises entered is considerable.

A large number of mines which have become detached from minefields in the North Sea around the Orkney Isles, have been seen floating quite close inshore. A fisherman passing in a small boat between Helm Sound, in Orkney, observed six of them inside. the Isle of Copinshap. One Went ashore at Deere ness, and '2l youth, who hadejourneyed‘ several miles to.see »-it, gmusedehimself by throwing stones at it from, as he thought, a« safe distance on the cliff e.bove_ A stone struck .one of the horns, and /the mine A exploded with terrific force, tearing "huge boulders ends fra£gxnellts,of rock from the elifi‘-face. The youth was flung into the air and yery seriously injured.

‘ Who is the loneliest Briton? Living on an island belonging to the Pauruoiu Archipelago, a French possession in mid-Pacific, many thousands uf m'i‘;C« from the Australian Continent. is a Mr E. Davies, who cl.l*’:.ig. the distil‘Ci'iOll of being the ion-.-liest Briton. There are only three other white me-n on ‘the island, which is 40 miles long and 20 broad, but these are I.hl'»'o Frenchmen. Hundreds of miles to the South of New Zealand are the Macquarrie Islands, on one of wliir-h two men manipulate a Wireless service to Australia. Their small haliitatimi is the only one on the island, which has no trees or shrubs, natives, har.'o=:u;s, and very little sunshine, being bitterly cold and most. desolate. 'l‘h«:i~.only companions are penguins. It is the most southern abode in the world for a Briton.

‘An adventure with fl. Shill'k‘is reported to have been experienced by a party crossing from Waiheke to R“tu Roa Island in the Salvation Army launch Iris a few days ago. The launch had a punt of timber in tow, and when about 500 yards from the shore of Roto Rea. the launch was bumped with such force from below ‘that the occupants feared that tlwir craft had struck a submerged reef. Within a moment, however, a shark, about twenty feet long, was seen circling the boat, and a few seconds later it commenced to last the water to foam with its tail. The launch succeeded in reaching the shore in safety. On the previous day ‘three shal'k>‘., varying from ten feet six ches “shovel—nose" to a seven-feet “thl'ashel‘,.” were caught from the same launch.

l The railway station at ‘Auckland on Vvoclnesday morning must have caus3ed a "tug at the heartstrings of the English folk whose lot is cast in Auck_ land. Not only was the station filled with the broad soft speech of many counties. and the twang that is current within the hearing of Bow Bells but the piles of luggage scattered about the station bore names of places known out here mostly through the guidobool-:s of E. Y. Lucas. One smart hatbox lmtl a V\7illcll(‘Stol' hOtcl’s name markvd npoll it; a kit—b:lg had had 9. sojourn at Luton; more than one had seen Torquay; and a utilitarian black box had the word “Bil‘millghanl" stamped boldly across it A porter on the station apparently succumbed to home-sickness at the Sight: and Said as ho hauled trunks 011 t 0 his barrow. “I wish .1 was back at? Brocton, Bill; yor don’t have to work like this there.” But Bill, :1 sturdi’ colonial of the colonials. refused to be convinc-t ed;-Auckland Star. E Nip that cold in the bud by treating it instantly with NAZOL. Taken on sugar or inhaled, NAZOL never‘ fails. I

. Messrs Ward ahd Co. will hold their usual weekly sale at the 'l‘ui Street Mart to-morrow, when a varied assortment of goods will be offered, consisting of house blocks, galvanised tanks, cases of apples, silver watches furni:tuz'c, ladies’ and gentlcmen’s boots and shoes, and a lot 0:‘ useful articles. The sale commences at 2 p.m.

j A meeting of those interested in the formation of a local branch of the New ‘Zealand -Labour Party will be held in the Three Stars Theatre this evening "at 8 o’elock. The time is getting short, and if the local branch expects to be organised and become a force to be considered at the forthcoming general election, definite steps will have to be taken at once.

Kopane came in for criticism in the House the other day. The Hon. G. W. Russell (who was a member of the Cabinet when the purchase was made) told ti’ tale out of school when he said this estate had been bought for a. soldier settlement at more’ than £lO,000 over its value as set out on the valuation roll. And of course our soldier settlers are mulcted in that extra £IO,OOO. /

The valuation of land, apparently, has not yet been reduced to an exact science. At the nleel‘.’~.ns»; of the North Auckland Land Board on Wednesday the Commissioner (Mr R. P. Greville), "alluding to a property some few miles out of Te Kopuru, in the Northern Wairoa, said the price asked was £2500, as against the " Government valuation in 1918 of £9oo_ A _va'ma—tion had also been made by a large and independenthfarmer, who assessed the property at £3OOO, while another equally large and independent. farmer had valued it at £630. “It is an iilustration,” said Mr Garville, “Of how diflicult it is for the Board to come to a conclusion-.” 0

Sore as _many’of.the_._co]o‘nial girls have A boon‘ about .the‘.n.rla_rria_g_e_ abroad’ of New‘Zeal.am_l .s<2ldier-.=_»_._*-‘#1635. :11? vs: ‘at least; -been able to_ oonsr,-1e =tl_l:_g3.il~;qél\ges, with. the kpowlodge J;hat_. the .Englis}i‘ girls ;whom the boys’ ,b;¢;ouAght‘ .c_)u’.c:_. V.'felje_ young ‘and . _someti.me_s. : ungl_ooig.'bly‘ pl'étty. Amongst the Athenic’-S dfrarc which arrived at Auckland on'_-wecmes-day morning was the edifying. sight. of more than one youngish , soldier nlarchi’ng_ along the s_t_ation supporting a, middle-aged lady and several growing children. ‘fWar widows,” sniffed a. colonial damsel contomptuoosly as she passed along. There were several of these ladies on board. .

‘Some people are under the impression that significance is to be attached to the fact that no reference was made in the Expiring Laws Continuance Act to the antishouting law. Any fear or hope that the matter was overlcokecl is quite groundless. (the antishouting provisions came into force in 1916 as a result of the passing of the War Regulations Amendment ‘Act. which unless soon repealed or revoked, shall remain in operation‘ during the present war with Germany, and for one year thereafter,’ or "for such shorter period t-hel'eafter“a.s' the, Government may by proclamation make after the end of that War be determined.

:At one of the Presbyterian Churches where rededication services are now being held, the Minister was speaking on the importance of the Bible being the rule of life, and stated that the second question in the catechism explained this very fully. “But probably some one of you can repeat it to me,” he said te those sitting in front of him. There was a pause, then an elderly gentleman sitting in the back of the church repeated clearly and distinctly the answer to the question “I’ll never forget the drilling we got in our catechism,.f’ he added, as he sat‘ back with a satisfied air, after being congratulated by the minister for having such a good memory.

I An instance of how a man may over-’l'cac-11 ‘~:imsel.f was mentioned at the ‘meeting of the North Auckland Land §Board on Wednesday morning. The ;Commissionel' (Mr R. P. Grveille) Said ‘the man had offered his place at at ‘figure, which the board considered too high. He was asked to reduce his price to a certain figure, but gave rather than evasive answer. Then it was suggested to him that he “split the difference,” but to this, too, he returnedan evasive answer. The board thereupon decided to “turn the deal down,” This brought a hurried telnmgram from the owner, saying he wou‘.d accept the second offer, but the board stood on its dignity, so to speak, and refused to consider it, but agreed to re-open the matter on the basis of its first offer. This the man finally accepted, with the result thnji he 1-(A-ccived some £3OO less than ne wouid if he had closed with the offer to “split the difference.”