ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43072, 23 March 1907, Page 1

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Last! year twenty persons died in the four 1 •chief centres of the colony from appendicitis. A. young man named Wm. Cole, aged 18 years, son of Mir A. Cole, of Te Kuiiti, was admitted to the Waikato Hospital. He was going out shooting and gave a loaded gun to a young brother to hold. The gun went off and; the charge went through the lad’s left leg, about 10 yards away, shattering both bones above the ankle. He was brought down by a jigger to Hamilton'. It is probable one foot will have to be amputated'. From time to rime assertions have been made that the trout in Lake Rotorua were suffering from a disease that made them unfit for human consumption. Reakes, the Veterinarian, who recently paid a visit to Rotorua, made a minute examination of a very large number of trout taken from, the lake, and has stated in a comm unicar tion to the Tourist Department that the fish 'have no disease whatever, that is at all likely to he detrimental, andi that they are in every respect fit for human consumtpion. A rather peculiar test case was brought at Narpier a few days ago. The bandmaster of the Battalion Bhnd was charged! with playing a musical instrument in a public thoroughfare without the permission of the Borough Council. The contention of the police was that although! the Mayor had granted l permission that was not sufficient, as it had to be given by resolution of the Council. The whole band had been playing, but the case was brought against the bandmaster to test the question. The town clerk

started thlai the Council did not wish

‘any prosecution to be made ; they > Were perfectly satisfied with the action of the band. The case Was dismissed. It is stated that owing to the large aomunt of building now going on in New Plymouth and Northern Taranaki, master builders are experiencing trouble in obtaining carpenters. The building trade in New Plymouth has never been brisker than at present. • The Mines Department, in reply to a querv on the subject from one of the local bodies in the Auckland 1 district, states that a local body cannot enter into any contract for mining coal un- ■ der roads within its jurisdiction without obtaining authority from His Ero ell up "V the Governor, on the recommendations. The editor of the Reef ton 'Herald’ was fined on a charge of havine v published matter calculated to inter ' 'fere with the dispute before the Atbihrat’on Court. The Judge said the caso was the first, under the Abt, and as the defendant had pleaded guilty, statinc that he published the matter under id ea that the case had concluded he would inflict only ft nominal penalty. »■

It ip expected that in about sfiv months’ time about eight sawmills wil 1 be in full swing l at- the entrance to tlw 37nftn«r ; no forest, at Rausratawa. to Ohafcune. Round about Taifoan* the timber milling industry is? very nr■five just now. though great difficult"'’ is beino' experienced in getting sufficlient railway trucks to bring thie tim ber to market. . The ©bo-ir at St. Paul’s Church. f?out> End. has gone out on strike, that the rector, the Rev. Alfred Wal Jer. preaches too lengthy sermons The 'choir has been joined 1 in its strike by the choirmaster, the organist, and a trustee of the church.. The census) industrial statistics shlow that last, year there were 172 furniture factories in the colony, as compared with! 144 in 1901. The value of the output was J£328,185 in 1905, as against £241,024 in 1900. The number of hand® employed, last year was i&2B (1310 ini 1901), and their wages totalled' .£134,594 (£91,105 in 1901). The Rev. Father flay®, who returned to Ehgland from 'New Zealand fully restored in health, has been busily engaged, since his return in preaching tours in (England and Ireland. He has resigned his charge of the parish of Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, with the intention of devoting thie whole of his time to thei temperance cause. Ah 'American farmer has invented a machine for onion planting, which is Bal'd tfa cloSely approach! perfection. Xt is a bland drill which will drop one heed ‘in each drill, any distance apart. It also/makes a row, covers the seedi the required depth, and rolls the row to make the earth compact. In a test there was not a single seed missed or misplaced! in a number of 200 dropped The machine will also plant Carrot seed, beans, .peas, and other seeds. " , . In the returns gathered at last Census one wife in the colony was entered as being between the ages of 14 and 15 years, and one becalm© a widow between- the ages of I*s and 16 years, whilst one wife Was. divorced between 18 and 19 years of age. There were two husbands in' the colony, at the census between the ages of 16 and 17 years, four between 17 and 18 years, and 44 'between 19 and 20 year's. There were ten wives returned as between 17 and 18 years, 249 between 18 and 20 years, add 1101 between 20 sjns ffl xe§is<

Dairymen in the Manaia district ('Taranaki') are doing 1 well at present. One farmer with an 800 aero dairy farm received £350 for his produce for last month, and another with 500 acres made £550. In order to encourage regularity of attendance the proprietors of Schoolmates’ Magazine have been holding competitions’ amongst the primary schools of the colony subscribing to their paper, the school which) m akes the highest pea - eemtage of attendance for the year, being awarded as many copies as will give one to each family represented in this school. Last year the vValioKaraka, with 91.7 per cent, and the PaerOa District High School with 95.7 were amongst the successful competitors.

A) six-roomed 1 house at Katikati, known as Bay View 1 , and owned toy Mrs (Stein, was totally destroyed by fire. The house was let to Mr John Morrison, of Waihi, and occupied by his, wife and family. They were absent at the time. Mrs 'Stein is a heavy loser by the fier though insured. The furniture, owned! by Mr Morrison, was insured.

Our .Waihi correspondent writes: “Mr R. F. Way, editor of the iNew Zealand a candidate for the 'Auckland Caty Council, addressed an open air meeting at Fitzgerald’s corner on municipal and other matters. He criticised the administration of the Auckland! City Council in very severe terms. He also delivered a lecture in 'the Miners’ Union Hall on the subject of 'Socialism.”