LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

“The weather is sweltering hot,” says a cable received from Sydney last night. A cable from London says the Board of Trade hopes to provide space for 1,200,000 cases of Australian apples, and further space if definitely required.

In the real estate market in Sydney during 1920 there have been record sales totalling nearly £10,000,000 (says a cable message). The road from New Plymouth to Uruti used to be considered one of the best macadam roads in Taranaki. Now it i£ one of the worst. Loose stones and pot-holes are its chief characteristics and make motoring anything but a pleasure. With the present heavy motor traffic, which pays heavy tribute at the Waihi toll-gate, it will never be any better until the_road is remade and tar-sealed. The TaFanaJd County Council has made a start with the road between the borough boundary and Bell Block. It should pay to complete the whole of the road to Uruti.

By means of an increased staff and longer working hours the Egmont Box Company is successfully coping with the extraordinary pressure of work brought about by the strike at the company’s Ohutu mill. Over fifty men are now employed at the Eltham mill, which is regularly working twelve hours a day, while some of the men occasionally work no fewer than fourteen hours. A visit to the mill would be a striking object lesson to some of the Labor unionists who are always agitating for shorter hours and more pay.—Argus.

In conversation with Mr. O. J. Hawken, M.P. for Egmont, an Argus representative learjit that the holding back of wool shipments for this season may possibly have some advantages. Some "freights have recently been arranged at Id per lb, a reduction of five-eighths of a penny on the rates quoted at the beginning of the season. This, remarked Mr. Ha\vken, would mean a saving of £1 per bale to the wool-growers, and if the whole of the Dominion’s wool could be shipped at this rate it would mean a saving of approximately £690,000 on the season’s clip. A substantial saving, and one which would prove very welcome to the wool-growers. ‘■The Fashion Plate Dandies” completed their New Plymouth season on Saturday night, when another good audience assembled and greatly enjoyed the excellent performance presented by this fine - combination. The company will appear at Eltham to-night, Stratford tomorrow night, and Hawera on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The Woman Teachers’ Conference adopted remits urging the recognition of the qualifications of infant teachers holding higher froebel certificates, supporting the Minister’s policy in training women as dental nurses for schools, and reaffirming the principle that the inspectorate should consist of both men and women.—Press Assn. The Wellington vital statistics for 1921 show the following figures: Births, 2517 (an increase of 429 over 1919); deaths, 1124 (a decrease of 6) ; marriage notices, 1’545 (an increase of 260); marriages by the registrar, 381 (an increase of 49). —Press Assn. The vital statistics for the Christchurch metropolitan area for 1920 show substantial increases in births, marriages and deaths, as compared witli tile figures for 1919. The increase in births was 761, there were 277 more marriages, and the number of deaths was 359 in excess of those for 1919.—Press Assn.