ITEMS OF INTEREST.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4320, 3 August 1907, Page 1

ITEMS OF INTEREST.

We aire requeeted- to again; draw; attention to the fact that e-rds ornamented with tinsel, mica, powdered glass- 'Or -similar -substance are prohibited , for transmission, through the post unless .enclosed.,-in covers. Tin-, sailed cards:.enclosed, in.. coversA and bearing: written ; communication* are HaHe to letter without writtencoonmiinication,' thley xnay bo sent as printed -matter '-within New Zealand and 'to United Kingdom. Delivery elsewhere - at rate , for .printed matter caamqfc. 'be .guaranteed. '

Our ; Waihi dorreteppndent Whites: “Atj. the Weahi.. Police. Court; a plea for separation,. (Sarah. Ann Saunders v. Joseph,,.Saunders, carpenter) was heard before/Mr dh> S. Bush. Erid- > showed -acts *of brutality on the part of the - hurried - through; drink. He had thrasMd has: wifei, ‘ Kit the baby, and smashed' the* furniture. Only "for her earnings she and her six uhihhen would? ha.ye.;starv:ed;i His Wo • 'hi ; made an order that Mrs Sound >rs r,o longer live with her- husband; that she have 'the* -custody of the children, ' " and that Saunders •he bound to find and ptay 7s 6d per week towards: her: ; maintenance, and £1 per- -week for -his' childreh.

General- sorrow was experienced by* ijtlio«|^Bid«nts : of this district when *it Bjtps -known;, that Mrs Lawrence, . of Broken Hills,- had departed this life. She was laid up with an attack of measles \vheni double pneumonia , set in which carried her off. in a few days. She was attended by Dr Craig, of Mercuay Bay, but: from the;'fust her case was hopeless. Deceased w« s only 23 years of age, and- was the second daughter of Mr J. Patton, of ■Broken Hills. ,She has resided • in the district since 'her childhood, and: was. highly* respected. -- She leaves a little daughter 18 months, old. The interment took -place at I.ower Tairua, and was Wery- largely attended. Great sympathy has been extended to Mr Lawrence in his sad* bereavement.

Phormiumi tenax, it is Well known, is the scientific name for- the plant, commonly called New Zealand flax, and the fibre is (known throughout Hie world as New Zealand hemp. However, the Government,'in the-re-gulations gazetted to come into force in September, baa stipulated: that this hemp must be termed phormium fiblrev and this decision is meeting TvSth opposition from persons interealted in the industry. “New Zealand hfionip is a good advertisement for the colony, juat ate Manila, hemp is for the Phillipines,” said a flaxr,filler .ArirckJan<3i, and that sentiment is strongly supported elsewhere. The ;Yellow Peril loomed! darkly over? the conference of waterside workers l at Wellington. “The Chinavirtues are more to be feared in a capitalistic sense than his vices,” said Mr Way, “and the business man is in peril for his very “Fumituire manufactured in 'Melbourne by Chinese labour can be sold in Christchurch,” said another dele-gate,-'“at lets than, half the price it mn ibe made for in New Zealand.” “In Auckland,” remarked another member,; there is a regular*importer ol Chinamen, who work for him until tney have paid off their poll tax, and theirthey aredet loose on the labour The delegate- from Greymouth, Wr Jackson, considered the "the. mines were not ra<T-fattav% p; It was 'only: in towns th»ir. dp < apparent, men the question-of- raising the poll tax Was brought up-a member -interject ed: “PolLtax! They, want the poieaixe. M .

Some -of *th!e Thames Justices a,re no* devoid of humor, and though compMihgy themselves-, with due judicial austerity while -on the BeiieliL are quick., rto i Appreciate.! -a point unconKnouslyvmade. On Monday a man with bis in -lumps and bruises, a beautiful black eye,, and hisl countenance generally reseonibling a. dreary, smea'of kojt>jei Oin-theAfricmi veldt, was before, tho court on a charge!: of drunkenness. - He, promptly pleaded guilty, and looked- at the Bench as hough silently affirming. that the jattered ‘condition of his face • cons*'*•uted -a plea. Then the Sbrgeant m]smnly said! that" the accused though a xrohifttted'-perscn J hjad been tempted o drink,' and had subsequently gone m 'a wild -or words- to that fleets <‘And, ,; - added -the sergeant ittle (I trouble.” “It certainly ooks -t? as- ■ though,-- h©“ met dth serious tirouble, J ’ said the Bench efleotiyely, ? gazing r attentively at he wonderful fan® i which 3 the l owner aressingiy:-touc!h ! e<bi-Witha face-like hat before,-them* they- ; the tdairt to i inflict!•;farther punishment, B-d t: ■ a convictionnd discharged the mnforiutiate man, ho thanked the Justices., Wolubly and aparted still fondling his bumps womotive had at,ruck him," ventured Preismahj- fbiuffc- behind it all there -as -a tale o# a Ooribatt-Fltizsimmons mi 2®cfc haj) wi x® fciea .toi4l

Forty years ago last Saturday —on July 27th, 1867—the Thames goldfield, was proclaimed.

Members /of a (party of Lancashire' miners who have gone out to New Zealand haw sent Home to England for their clogs (says “St. James’s Bridget”). Your genuine son of toil in Lancashire, and in some other parts of the north, is never happy in other footwear hian this extraordinary sample. Clogs are worn by women and children as well as by men. A bialby in arms changes from .Woollen, socks into clogs. To one not accustomed to their use ologs are instruments of .torture, hut to the native Lancastrian they are the ideal of comfort, the very things in which to walk fair and Well.”

At the annual meeting. of the ■Waihi Mahers’ Union the balance sheet showed a credit balance of £251 4s 9d, as compared with ai debit balance last year of £136 10s 3d; This satisfactory condition principally was due to a, large increase in membership. Thie sum of £IOO was paid oh account of accidents, and £773 3s 4dl for accident, pay.--In the final settlement of W. R. Humphries’ accident claim, it was decided to buy him out for £3O. A sum of £5 was donated towards the. establishment of technical education in Wlaihi. It was resolved to continue the sixpenny building levy for another twelve months, and to expendl a sum mot exceeding £3OO in the erection of a hall at Waiskino l .

’ Our Coromandel correspondent writes: “Some time ago the residents of Port Charles approached the Board of Education with regard to establishing a school in that locality. The Board promised to provide a teacher if the residents would) arrange for a : suitable building. The settlers have had a school house erected in a. central position, and it only remains for the Board to cany out their part of the contract for the school to become an accomplished fact. There are some twelve children waiting to attend, and the school will be a boon to the distinct!. The Minister for Lands (the Hon. R. MoNab), in an interview with a Press reporter, and in reply to the question: “Why are land for settlement tenants not permitted 'to secure the option?” answered: “The policy in regard to these lands has been all along to preserve these unalienated. It is recognised that we are dealing with borrowed momev, that we have already had to terminate the freehold tenure, and it, was not deemed advisable to restore the tenure. The very existence of the land for settle- j ments scheme is a standing declaration of the failure of the' freehold ten-; ure.”