LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3462, 16 April 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

H.M.S. Renown, due at Auckland on the 24th inst., brings 700 bags of mail.

The three tallest ‘tfees in the world are believed to be ha. sequoia, near S,tockton, California, which is 325 feet high, and two eucalypti in Victoria, Australia, estimated to be 435 and -150 feet respecifively. ‘

Thus a contributor:-——Scene. Railway carriage, somewhere (or is it “anywhere ”) in New Zealand. FusSol‘ (watch in hand): “I should like’ to know just how much this train is overdue?” Cynic: “A watch ain’t no good ———wha't you want is a halmanack.”

A transaction described as “‘the biggest deal that has ever taken place in the whisky trade,:’ is reported from Glasgow, where D. P, o’Brien and. Co. Ltd., distillers and wine merchants, have purchased the business of Bulloop, Lade and Co., distillers, the sale including the three distilleries and large stocks of whisky. The purchase price is stated to have been considerably over a. million pounds.

Albert Staples and Ernest Ford, railway empioyees, appeared ‘on remand at Christchurch Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of the theft of a roll of tweeds from the goods shed at Christchurch. The Magistrate said that in view of the responsible positions held \by the accused he could not admit them to proprobation. Styles was fined £lO, in default two fifonths’ imprisonmeilt, and Ford £5, in default one month in gaol.

What Tammanyism means to a country is shown by thelevidence of Gen‘. Bingham,, Police Commissioner at New York a few years ago, who stated that no less a sum than twenty million pounds was paid annually by the “under-world’-3 to the New York police in the form of graft and blackmail. He also declared that he ccluld personally have made £200,000 :1 year in lb-ribes while he was Police Commissioner.

According to the Wellingtloir Post, bueon ought presently to -be cheaper. Prices paid by many eurers for pork are new reported to be fully 1d per pound lower than formerly. The export of hams and bacon is prohibited for the present, but there are'now no control of prices. Pigs are reported by a. leading em-er to be much more plentiful, taking a’t ans! rate the‘ Nortlr Island. as :1 whole, eonseqlxe'htly the priee of pork for turning into bacon is now easier, and fresh pork should soon be -correspondingly cheaper.

Relics of :1 bygone age have been discovered at various times in the Wairarapa. distl'ict..ReCelltly Dr A. Thompson and two members of his staff (Messrs H. Hamilton and Phililps) proceeded to ‘that district and excavated and hauled by hand from :1 deep fissure in some limestone rocks, about seven tons of Moa bones, and ‘other Valuable fossils. _The remains have all been removed to Wellington, and are at present being cleaned, sorted, and classified. Dr Thomson believes there may be collections in other caves be"cv.«'een ':.’a.lliser Bay and Napier, :m<l particularly asks that any discovel"ie.<. be reported.

A Router (i0I‘1‘('>.‘,pOX1(l(‘1)l in America ‘transmits the story of how Captain ’I‘:11-bot E. Wilcox, of the Royal Air Force. was making :1 flight above Niag:lr:s. Falls, when his engine began missing, and he was compelled to descend hastily to the river. His inueliine was :1 hydroplzine, and he fouml. himself fioaling hastily down the current to\va.l'(ls the falls. The river was full of ice. He worked desperzltely to get his engine .<t:lrt‘e(l,. but in vain, till by good "fortune the flying boat came to rest against Goat Island, which divides lllC Falls into two parts. Here fhc uvizifor lost no time ‘in scrambling over the ice ‘to terrzi fi!‘nl2l. A bridge cmmecfs Goat Islhncl witli the mainlzmd on tlm American side, and Captziiii Wilcox was ‘soon’ among his f:'l'iendS. 9

In connection with recent "revela.tions of tardy dealing with public works, Auckland _Star salys:—“Men dissatisfied with their pay, 200 withdrawals from work on one section‘, nine overseers to 35 ‘men in 19 miles, and in a large cutting two men work[ing with nbau-ows——it is not exactly picture of energy, speed, and up-tO- - equipment. We have some recollection of having read that the Detpartnient has sent, or means to send, an official‘to America to look into {the question of labour-saving machingery. We hope this is the case, ‘and that his report will be acted on vigiorously. The day of barrows is over. It seems to us that this little picture of two men cutting through a. hill all ‘by themselves would stand for the whole trend of public Works policy in ‘New Zealand. The thing that shoufd be symbolical is the steam shovel}?

People from every part of the province speak in the highest terms of NAZOL as a remedy for Coughs, Colds, and Nasal Cat-3.1-rh. It relieves and cures more quickly than anything else; ' '

The Masterton Dairy Company hasbeen adlis_ed. thafi it has been awarded first prize at the Sydney Royal Show for butter for export.

Mr Massey, commenting on the Australian wool cable, said no overtures whatever regarding the future purchases of wool had been made by the Imperial Government to the New Zealand Government. '

“Owing to the excessive cost and rotten scarcity of benzine, I am forced to the conclusion that the consequent worry and bother of running a. machine isn’t worth while, in other words, the game is not worth the candle,” said a member of the Auckland Automobile Associzvtion in tendering his resignation; ‘

H.M.S. Renown will he the first ship of the Royal Navy to carry a. billiard table. One is installed on the spar deck. The Prince is 3. fair‘bil- - player, though he usually has to strike his flag when he plays’ Prince Albert, who is probably. the best fierformor with a cue the Royal Family has ever possessed.

The old Spread Eagle Hotel at Rugby (England), immortalised in‘ “Tom Brown’s Schooldays," is to dis~ appear. The property has been bought by Lord Lever-hulme, who will use the ground floor for one of his fish shops. The rooms to be built above will be let out in flats. Already the Work of reconstruction has begun.

No fewer than five'bri'dal couples travelled South from Aucklénd by the Main Trunk expresses on Thursday night. Confetti was freely used by the friends of the couples, and the station platform soon assumed a decidedly festive appearance. Some amusement was occasioned the onlookers through the porters becoming, in the discharge of their duties, liibel'ally besprinkled by the confetti.

The great sun—spot which was visible ¥ronl March 15 to 7, and was conneefed with theiauroras and magnetic. disturbances experienced on "March 23, reappeared on the eastern limb of the sun on Sunday last, according to Mr G. V. Hudson, of Wellington. It is still 3. large spof, but has greatly decreased since it was last seen. It will be favourabily placed for observation during this week, and the early part of next week. -

“In six weeks finie there will be one of the sharpest pinches in the flour business that New Zealand has ever seen,” is the opinion of a well-known’ flour and grain merchant of Napier, who has just returned from :1 four of investigation among the millers in the South Island (states an exchange). Mr Baldwin says there is no miller in the Dominion with more than six months’ supply of wheait for gristing, and that a portion.’6f the wheat in hand is stufif that in ordinary years would be looked alt a. second time if offered as fowl Wheat,

Soldiers who refurned by the Corinthic passed the following resolutinn before embarking last Monday: “We profest against having had to pay full third-class fare to New Zealand, when there are a number of Imperial (lischarged soldiers travelling on the same scheme under an assisted scheme reqniring them‘ to pay 36/ only for a passage.' We are of opinion that :1. New Zenland soldier in England honestly wishing to return to New Zealand, irrespective of the circumstances causing him to be in England, should be fil'.'<t granled assistance.

Messrs Freeman‘ R. Jackson and Co. when asked by a Wanganui Herald reporter on Thursday morning for a report of the cattle sale yesterday stated that there “was practically nothing of interest in prices to record The tone of the store sheep market was dull, and the same ap plied to cattle. The reason given for the dullness was that farmers could not get rid of their f:it.s- and therefore did not‘require the stores. Practic-_ ally me only killing at the works until they ,closed down for the season would be potters.

High praise for the New Zealand Division‘ appears in French Army orders. The olficia-1 notice is as follows: “Minister ’s Office, Paris, 28th November, 1919. The President of the Council of the Ministry of War‘ mentions in Army Orders the names of the following English officer: Major-Gen-eral Sir A. H. Russell, N.Z. Division. Has led to countless victories a splendid division whose exploits have not been equalled, and Whose reputation was such that on the arrival of the division on the Somme battlefield during ‘the critical days of March, 1918, the departure of the inhabitants was stopped immediately. The division covered itself with fresh glory during the battle of the Ancre aula _S—ambl'e, at Puisieux an Mort, Bapaume, Crevecoeur, and Le Quesnoy,__ For and by the President of the Coun. cil of the Ministry of War. Boeker, Colonel, Adjutant-General to the Cabinet.

For Influenza, take b Wooods’ Great Peppermint Cure 1/9, 2/9. ' ‘

Mr B, H. Just, Nurserzmmn, Pzii. meraton Noxph, uoffers green tomatoes for jam and sauce-making, perfectly‘ free from blight. at 3/ per case, rail~ age paid sixpence extra.

A meeting of those interr-:~:r.e<l in forming a men’s hockey c}ub will be-. held in the Fire Brigade Hail tonight, at 8 o’clock. Taihape in thepast had :1 fine body of men hf)(‘.l~'.e}.“ p]z}_VerS, and an attempt is to be made tonight to form a club to revive the glories of the past. A full nlllste:- is requested. .

The following vessels will be within wireless range for 16th March, 1920:——Radi0 Wellington: Pateena, Maori, Ulimaroa, Moana, Paloona, Kent.‘ In range Chathams: Whaka.tane, Otaki. Radio Awarua: Noko-' tay, Wanaka. ‘Radio Auckland: Niagara, Maheno,- Kawarra, Mokoia, Mow ana, Manuka. Radio Awanui: Atua, Maheno, Niagara, Kaiwarra, Otaki» Moana.

There is a great deal of land ~specu~ lation going on in the Stratford district at present, (states the Tarauaki News), and som'é‘ remarkable instances of rapid increases in value were quoted by a local land agen't. One small farm alfexv miles from Stratford was sold recently for £47 an acre, and the purchase:-fire-sold it for £62. Thenif. \.\'.?.s sold again for over £BO an acre, a‘ild the fllreo deals occurred within one month. In another case a farm was sold’ for £6B an acre. and re-sold a fortnight? la'fer for £B2. Good’ depositswere pu? down in alfcases.

L Mr Percy Olliffe, touring manager‘ I for the Allan VVilkie Company. -was in Taihape to-day {ll'l'anging‘ for the visit of his company to the town. This talented company will appear in the Town Hall on Wednesday, April 28th, when “The Luck of ‘the Navy” will :be, staged. This is one of the most suc--cessful and popular pieces in the company’s extensive repertoire, and has‘ drawn crowded houses whercver it has been shown. Taihape is indeed foritunate in being included in the itinerary of the Allan‘ Wilkie Company, and doubly fortunate in Hffving a. drama of ‘such outstanding interest as “TheLuck of the Navy” provided for their ientertainment. It will be a very welicome change from the puerile American picture melodrama which has been lscrvcd up ad nauscum since the War.

The price of suits show no sign of falling, and a leading tailor assured a Wellington Press representative on. Thursday there is little prospect of a. general decline until the New Zealand mills are in a position to place their maximum output upon the market. Thetailor showed ‘two’ suit lengths of_ materials, of the same type, and which, hesaid, were of equal wearing qualities. One was English-made, and a suit from it=was priced at £l7 17/;‘ the other suit was New Zealaud-made, and from it a finished suit could -be supplied for £l4 14/. He admitted; that even the latter price was high, but pointed out that -on it there was a saving of £3 3/. Unfor-tunately, he said, the mills, owing, he understood, to scarcity of labour, among other causes, were .not able to put enough material on the market. Once the looms were working at full pressure there would be more of the loiver-priced suits available.