LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3419, 25 February 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Government has reason to believe that presently immigrants of desirable classes will be reaching New Zealand at the rate of not fewer than 1000 per month. At one of the leading picture theatres in Brisbane the other day the orchestra did its work in shirt sleeves. It was a. vice-regal performance, too, The Governor——who got as close to shirt sleeves as he dared——nodded his approval. He knew itfs no joke fiddling or blowing for hours with a temperature ranging frorn 90 fr'\‘' 100 <.‘=<'-g.

Proseéuting Attorney: “Your Honour: The hull pup has chewed up the Court Bible." Judge: “Make the witnesses kiss the pup.” ,

A Lincoln ram, which fetched the top price at the Masterton ram fair on Thursday last failed to elicit a. bid at the speéial ram fair held there in January last.

Mr J. C. Cooper stated at Master-I ton that the shares in most o_!! the: shipping companies which formerlyi traded with New Zealand Were now‘ held by America.‘

It is reported that Mr James King has purchased the Mavoura and Barewood Stations, Southland, comprising about 155,000 acres, from Messrs Jenkins and Logan. The purchase price is reported -to be between £40,000 and £50,000. =

The divorce lists of New Zealand do no appear to be shrinking. Another batch of undefended petitions for the fracture of the marriage tie was -Jealt with in Wellington on Monday, and a. new list was on the programme for yesterday.

It is not expected that a single ton of coal will be removed from the Lens mines during 1920, as it will take a whole year to clear the debris resulting from the German destruction. Electric pumps have been installed‘, but pumping out will not he -completed for at least three years.

The inquest on the body of the late Patrick Leahy, killed in the Matal'oa railway tunnel while walking to Taihape, was held yesterday, the verdict ‘being, “That ithe deceased, Patrick Leahy, was accidentally killed by being run over by a special goods train on the afternoon of the 21st instant, no» blame being attachable to any person, the deceased having no right on the railway line.”

How to make money without working. A man bought a dairy farm near Palmerston North just one year ago at £l4O an acre. He has now sold it (says the Manawatu Times) at £_lßo~——a £4O per acre increase in a year. Better still, a local speculator bought a. Kairanga. block one morning last week, and before sundown had sold it at a clear profit of £I2OO. T-hese are not isolated cases, similar instances occur almost daily. However, there are still a’ few people working for a living——perhaps they prefer it—-thel'c’s no accounting for tastes.

Says the Lyttelton Times: Experiments in profit sharing and co-partner’ ship are not so numerous in New Zealand as they might be, and the decision of the shareholders of the Kaiapoi Wollen Company in this direction should arouse much interest among the workers and employers. The company has taken power to issue employees’ lbenefit shares, and also to distribute bonuses, in addition to which deposits will be accepted from the employees,’ savings with interest at the rate of 7 per cent. This, as the chairman of the company pointed out, should be an incentive to thrift, and if the whole scheme should turn out as Well as the promoters expect it may point the way towards industrial rest in the country.

A belief that is widely held is that the high prices w-hich are now current will not continue very long, and that they will soon return to normal. This belief is not held by business men, and one, speaking to a newspaper repmsenstativc thus referring to his Own industry, expressed the opinion that it would be many years» before there was any decline in prices for building material. The demand far exceeded the supply, and when materials were procured on the overseas markets many transport difliculties had to be overcome before the goods could be landed. It was becoming increasingly hard to procure materials and get them here. The exchange note in America was another great obstacle, and added greatly to prices of materials from that country.

A novel but short-lived strike is reported from Stratford, the Borough. workmen on Wednesday deciding to “down tools.l.’ T-he -position is a somewhat peculiar one in the fact that it is not their wages: that is the subject of the dispute ,but those of the borough engineer (Mr T. D. Sullivan). The men have just been given an increase of 2/ per day, and the position of the salaried officers is to be revised by the Council at the end of the presciit. financial year (March). The workmen "have -taken up the attitude that the engineer should be included in the rise, and news -of threatening trouble was known to some residents on Tuesday evening, who heard that if the engineer did not receive an increase from the Council at that nigjhts’ meeting the men would-so it was then alleged—-strike in sympathy. Then men, after conferring with the Council, resumed work next morning.

C-akes to make-———scones to bakehow easy, pleasant and sure is tthe work when you use SHARLANDS Baking Powder. 1

A car number plate awaits an owner a._t-, this omee, Portions of a fishing «outfit found on the Taihape-Moawhango road await an owner. ° Anyone in sfeérch -of a. partly improved property is recommendied to read the particulars of a 1670 acre property advertised by Messrs R. Wilson & Co., Ltd. There is a noticeable demand for this class of property at present, and the price and -terms are decidedly attractive.

As an example of the manner in which the Americans have got to the windward of us in trade, the Dunedin Star points out that the average six seater motor car, such as is usually imported into the Dominion, is costing on an average £lO4 more than usual, owing to the increase inn exchange. '

A deplorable _condition of affairs was revealed at the Magistrates’ Court at Wanganui on Monday by Inspector.Hendrey, when he was dealing with a licensing case where a hotel keeper was charged with supplying liquor for consumption in a native settlement up-river. He said that the police had been informed that when liquor entered up-river settlements, scenes of deplorable drunkenness took place, men-, women, and even children drinking liquor. There were some convent sisters and priests working among the native settlement.-: and they found that their work was very much retarded. by debauchery which took place occasionally in these settlements. In the natives’ own interests supplies of liquor should be prevented from going into the :;e:tle~ ments. The better class of nzttives deplored this excessive dl~inl;in~.j, which was having a fa.r-reaching effect upon the morals of the iiatives.