LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The various Taranaki co-operative dairy companies holding shares in the New Zealand Meat Packing and Bacon Company during the past season dealt with nearly 13,000.0001bs of butter-fat. The total value of this at the. price received'(approximately 2s per lb) is over one and a quarter millions sterling.

‘Nothing has been done in regard to the matter,” stated the Prime Minister, in reply to a question by a Wellington Tinies representative as to whether any Cabinet changes were imminent, in view of the fact that the Hon. Sir W. H. .Berries (Minister for Customs and Marine, Minister for Native Affairs, and Minister for Labor) is to leave New Zealand in March next for a visit of some months’ duration to the Old Country, “What,” asked Mr. Massey, with a “is to prevent my carrying on Sir William's ministerial work during, his absence from the Dominion?”

The offer of a bonus based on the Arbitration Court’s recent announcement (%d per hour, computed on ordinary working time) will be considered by the various waterside workers’ unions at

“stop-work” meetings, to be held at every port in New Zealand next Tuesday. The offer was made at a conference held in Wellington last month, and is said to be much less than the demand. It is now stated that the federation is dissatisfied with the offer, and there seems to be little chance of its

acceptance. Should the watersiders bold out for a greater advance a difficult position may arise.

The quarterly return for the 'Eltham Magistrate’s Court, for the period ended 31st December, 192 U, shows that nine criminal sittings of the Court were held during the quarter and six civil sittings. Of these live of the criminal sittings were presded over by justices of the peace, and the remainder by the Magistrate, The total number of civil cases heard was 52. The amount involved in the claims heard was £865, and the amount actually recovered £516. Fifteen judgment summonses were issued, and three orders' made, while two committal warrants wgre issued. Sixtythree distress warrants were served, and one executed. The amount of civil fees paid was £BO 4s fid.

For light cost under heavy loads there’s no truck tvre to compare with NORTH BRITISH SOLID TRUCK TYRES. Guaranteed for 10,000 miles.lo3

The Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Co. state that the export value of the butter received this reason'to December 31 was £2, 896,390, an increase of £1,831,436 on the previous year.—Press Association.

An outbreak of fire in the office of the Waitara Mail was discovered just before three o’clock yesterday afternoon. It was quickly extinguished, only slight damage being suffered, mainly to the roof of the building.

Sittings of the Conciliation Council will be held in New Plymouth on January 21 and 24, when the busness will be the of the butchers’ dispute and also the dairy workers’ application for an award.

Some time ago a largely-signed petition was presented to the Minister of Lands (the Hon. D. H. Guthrie) by Mr. W. T. {Jennings, M.P., on behalf of settlers in the district, urging that the Government acquire the Manga-Awakino block of ’Native land. The Minister has replied informing Mr. Jenhifigs that he has deferred consideration until he has had an opportunity of visiting the locality, and hopes to be able to make the trip during the present recess.

The shortage of newsprint paper has resulted in two companies having been organised in 'Florida to maufacture pulp from the native saw grass. There are millions of acres of this grass in Florida, which were regarded as useless for agricultural purposes. The grass, it is stated, grows as rapidly as seaweed, and cutting only seems to stimulate its progress. Some of the first pulp made from this material has been foi warded from Florida to a large paper manufacturing company at Hoo.sac Falls. If an annual crop of grass capable of being converted into paper/has been discovered, then the question of future supplies will be definitely settled. An exciting incident occurred during the overland journey of the Wanganui cricket team on its Christmas toufr. Negotiating a steep climb on the hills just after leaving Waikari the foremost of the two Wanganui care met a twoseater car proceeding south from Gisborne. The cars pulled up to let the gisborne car pass, and the latter was requested to take the outside of the bend. Jn doing so the car went right to the edge, and the two front wheels actually dropped over the road surface. A member of the Wanganui team, describing the incident, declared that it was only the heavy wheel rut formed during recent wet weather that saved the Gisborne car from falling head-long over into the creek below. 'The back wheels stopped in the wheel-rut, and members of the cricket team rushed over and pulled the car back from its perilous jesition. The Gisborne motorist was accompanied by a lady, and they had a lucky escape.

The tramway traffic in Auckland during the Christmas and New Year holidays constitutes a record. No actual returns of the number of passengers carried are available, howeven, owing to the fact that it is not possible to calculate the concession tickets used. From December 23, 1919, to January 3, 1920. a total of 1,778,258 passengers were carried, and tramway officials estimate that the number carried during the past holidays is much in excess of that figure. The Davis Cup match and the races at Ellerslie and Epsom were mainly responsible for the increased traffic. Owing to the scale gf fares having been altered it is not possible to compare the total receipts at present, but it is stated that after allowing for the increases in fares the revenue is far in excess of the amount received during the previous holiday period. For the week ended December 31, 1919, the receipts totalled £9,932. During the corresponding period tn 1920 it is estimated the receipts were between £4OOO and £5OOO in excess of normal takings.

An interesting performance took place during, the holidays when two men, Messrs. Brown and Garmonsway, entered the Mangawhero river in a 15ft canoe at Pakihi, two miles from Raetihi, and sailed down thaF river to its junction with the Wangaehn river, and thence to township of Wangaehu, where the train was taken to Wanganui. The trip (says the Wanganui Chronicle) took eight days, which were full of incident. It is understood that this is the first occasion on which a party have attempted the trip by river, and their feat seems hardly likely to be emulated for some considerable time. From the ends ‘of the earth thousands of tons' of coal are being landed daily in New Zealand. Apart from the large importations being delivered at northern ports, three foreign steamers are discharging in Otago harbor, states the Daily Times. At Port Chalmers the American steamer Broxton is discharging coal from Newcastle, and the -Swedish steamer Sydic is landing American coal from the James river. In Dunedin a cargo of over 30'00 tons of Japanese coal is ready to be discharged from the Tamon Mam, while the Union Company steamer. Cosmos is delivering coal from Newcastle. The great bulk of this imported coal is for the New Zealand railways. '

An amazing career has been brought to a sudden end by the arrest of Edmund Preil, who in 1915 was a military motor driver at Hamburg. He met a woman there whom he brought to Berlin when transferred to the capital. In Berlin be became the chauffeur of the former Vice-Chancellor, Herr von Payer, who secured for him permission to live outside the barracks. Preil used the greater freedom thus obtained to open a shop for the sale of “whipped cream,” which consisted of gelatine of some kind and water, and wats sold by the woman, whom Preil had in the meantime married. He began this business with a capital of 300 marks (nominally £l5), and in a short time made a profit of 400,000 marks (nominally £20,000). He then went to Dusseldorf, where, with 250,000 marks (nominally £12,500), he bought the house of the Attorney-General, which . he furnished luxuriously with stolen goods and opened as a gambling club. Before the police discovered that gambling was going on there, he had, sold the house at a profit of 100,000 marks (nominally £5,000). Preil then returned to Hamburg, where he instituted a house of ill-fame on such a scale that the mirrors in the gallery, in imitation of those at Versailles, were worth more than 250,000 marks (nominally £12,500), and his daily income exceeded 15,000 marks (nominally £750). He was finally arrested on a charge of concealment of carpets, .silver, typewriters, and furniture, all of which had been stolen.