LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Another grass fire necessitated a call on the New Plymouth fire brigade about mid-day yesterday. This time the outbreak was in the Fitzroy area, just past the Waiwakaiho bridge. The flames were suppressed before neighboring buildings were endangered. An Order-in-Council was gazetted yesterday prohibiting the exportation of wheat; wheat-meal, flour, bran, pollard, and allowing the exportation of oats and other cereals, oatmeal, crushed and rolled oats, and similar preparations.™ Press Association. The Hon. C. J. Parr, in a speech at the opening of the Pukekohe Technical School, expressed the hope that the school age for the elementary course would be shortly Teduce.d to 12 yeans at least. Twenty-five to 30 per cent, of the boys at secondary schools took courses unsuited tp them The Canadian Trade Commissioner, Mr. Beddoe, is prepared, if sufficient inducement offers, to arrange for a shipload of Canadian cement direct to New Plymouth. The landed cost, he says, might be very slightly in advance of the cost of the Japanese article, but the quality is the very finest, even superior to British. Mr. Beddoe will discuss the matter with importers to-day.

Mr. Beddoe, Canadian Trade Commissioner, who is on a visit to New Plymouth, has kindly consented to deliver an address at the Soldiers’ Club tonight at 8 o’clock. The subject of the address is: “Canada, the land of mystery, romance and gold; with particular reference to her commercial relations with New Zealand.”

At Hawerg on Wednesday a poll was taken on the proposals to raise loans for £20,000 and £15,500. The voting was by no means brisk, only 159 ratepayers casting their votes. Both proposals met with a favorable majority, the figures being: For the £20,000 proposal 116, against 39, informal 4. For the £l.’>..u;U proposal 127, against 29, informal 3.

An interesting race to Australia between the six-mastbarquentine E. R. Sterling and the four-masted schooner Helen B. Sterling, was commenced at Auckland on Sunday. The vessels left port within 40 minutes of one another, the former being bound for Sydney and the latter for Newcastle. The barquentine carried a cargo of sawn timber, and the schooner was in ballast.

The popularity of the Ngaere Gardens as a picnic resort ig indicated by the large number of picnics which are being held there this year. On Wednesday the combined Sunday schools of Patea held their picnic at the gardens, the party consisting of about 500 adults and children, who arrived at 10.30 a.m. by a special train and left again at 4 p.m., after a thoroughly enjoyable day. Fully 75 per cent of the party had not seen the gardens previously and it was decided to hold the picnic at Ngaere again next year. Picnics from the Durham Road school and several other schools will be held at the Ngaere Gardens during the next few weeks

'For some reason or other a good many dairy farmers seem to have got hold of the idea that it is not possible to accurately test cream, for butter-fat when the cream is above 40 per cent. A question bearing upon this matter was asked at a dairy farmers’ meeting at Leeston, and Mr. W. M. Singleton, of the Dairy Produce Division, Department of Agriculture, said that if the cream was in good condition there was no difficulty in giving an accurate test, even though the cream should fo up to 50 or even 60 per cent. A4O per cent, test for cream seemed to be favored by most of the factories. It was not advisable, Mr. Singleton said, to have cream at a test much below 40, the presence of too much skim milk liad a tendency to prevent the cream keeping as well as it would do at a higher test.

Two important wireless developments are announced. One is the invention of a machine which automatically prints wireless messages, and the other an apparatus for the transmission of messages at a speed never before attempted. The first-mentioned machine is the invention of the creator of the Creed system of printing telegraphic messages. “I have been working on the idea for several years,” said Mr Creed, who explained the invention to a Daily Chronicle representative. “Wireless messages can now be magnified millions of times. These magnified currents are transmitted to my machine, which is able to produce the message in the form of a perforated slip. This is fed into the printing machine, and the message is automatically typed out at a speed of 100 words a minute. Successful experiments have already been conducted with the Army Signals Department at Woolwich.”

Mr. R. Wylie, a potato-grower on the north-west coast of Tasmania, last year tried the experiment of heating seed potatoes to a temperature of 125 deg. Fahr, for four hours. Enough were so treated to plant an acre. Very encouraging results followed. Th ? potatoes from this plot were planted this season without any further treatment, and have carried the effects of the heating to the second generation in a remarkable manner. The plants are much more vigorous and healthy-looking than in any of the other crops in the vicinity, and there are no misses amongst them. As far as the experiments have gone they have proved that clean seed can be produced by this means; with very little trouble or expense, and that heating exerts some influence on the vitality of the seed, which ensures a more vigorous growth.

Despite the decision of Mr. Justice Stringer fixing the last cor»t-of-living bonus at 35., the twelve sections of the General Labourers’ Union intend to put up a fight for the much-discussed 9s. at the next sitting of the Arbitration Court (reports the Auckland Star.”) Applications for the greater amount have been filed in accordance with the requirements of the Act. Twopence fartlling per hour is asked for hourly workers, and 9s per week for weekly workers. Referring to the matter on Saturday morning the secretary of the General Labourers’ Union, Mr. A. O’Niell, said that one section of the general labourers were already receiving a bonus of &■>. per week, but as stated it was the intention of the union to seek 9s. per week bonus for all twelve sections.

It has been announced already that some Welsh coal is coming to New Zealand to the order of the Government. The quantity has not been stated, but it will not be less than 10,000 tons, There seems to be no great difficulty about placing orders for Welsh coal at. a price, and shipping fqr the transport of the coal round the world is easily obtainable under present conditions. The landed .cost of the coal will be high, but not necessarily higher, on a basis of fuel value, than some of the coal that has been landed here from sources of supply I nearer to hand. The Welsh coal is of high quality, and the most expensive coal that the Government has bought during the peri id of local shortage has been the inferior stuff. Tests have shown, it is stated, that some of the imported coal, on a basis of fuel value, has cost the equivalent of over £l5 a ton for the best West Coast coal. The problem, of course, has been to get any coal at all for the essential services of the Dominion. The reduced production of the local mines ha K s driven the Government to buy coal wherever it has been obtainable.—Dominion. you ever heard of a farmer, or rather of a farmeress, who thought more of a fine Jersey cow with a splendid butterfat record than of a human being? Perhaps in this country where butter and cheese account for a huge percentage of the year’s exports, and milktesting classes are a feature of every country technical school, this is possible. but the experience that befel an electrician in a resiidential suburb of Auckland is not at all a common one. He went into a house to repair a damaged wire or switch, or battery, or something of that nature, and was anxiously asked by his temporary hostess to keep quiet. He is a gentle man in speech and manners, so he walked on tip-toe. Solicitous questions revealed the cause of the trouble. Somebody in the house was ill of fever. He sympathetically inquired after Iris work was done whether he had disturbed the sufferer. His hostess said no, and she told him her favorite Jersey cow was in the shed down below, and was very ill indeed. This story has every stamp of authority, but (says the Auckland Star) we do not vouch for its truth.

“There are some who think the grand jury, the survival of ancient times, is unnecessary,” remarked His Honor Mr. Justice Chapman while charging the grand jury at Wellington on Monday. “I differ from this view, for there may be times when the country is disturbed, or the Government despotic, that a jury of this sort would be safer than an independent tribunal, in the interests of the people.” “The quality of sheep dip to-day is unsatisfactory,” said Mr. G. P. Johnston, chairman of the Provincial Executive of the Southland Farmers.’ Union on Saturday, when the question of admitting dips duty free was discussed. He went on to say that he was against the proposal, and his experience recently had been that he required to test his dip with ewe ticks before dipping. Other members were of the opfinion that instructions issued with the dip were useless. It was decided that, as the tariff was being revised next session, the Dominion Executive be asked to watch the revision in the interests of the farmer —Southland Times.”

“For some time past,” writes a correspondent to the Dominion “the High Commissioner’s cablegrams from London have announced t'he prices of home-kill-ed beef, mutton, etc., always followed by the statement ‘New Zealand mutton, ruling price.’ Can you inform your readers what this ruling price is, or has been during the past few months ?” Inquiries made in official quarters go to show that the quotation in question refers in almost every case to the controlled prices fixed by the Imperial authorities, which are as follows: 7d, for forequarters and IOJd for 'hinds; cut dwe mutton, 8d per lb; cut wether mutton, 8d per lb; uncut wether mutton. 9d pe. lb; lamb, Is Id per lb. The High Commissioner’s office evidently assumed that these prices were known in the Dominion, and that there was no need to recapitulate them. A party of settlers, at the request of the Mangakahu Valley Settlers’ Association, went for a four days’ expedition into virgin bush country between the Main Trunk line and Lake Taupo, starting from Ongarue last Wednesday, and returning to Taumarunui on Saturday The Government placed provisional restrictions upon a block of 120.000 acres for a State forest, and a protest was made by Taumarunui and Mangakahu Valley settlers. The Minister of Lands replied that Department officials reported that the area, was unsuitable for settlement. The Settlers’ Association, after blazing a trail, proposes to the Minister to see the country himself. The Department states that the land is mountainous and broken, but the party found very easy country, with occasional broken bluffs, which took up very little land, ai]d when scaled some very fine plateaux were traversed, all being ploughable. The land consisted of dark chocolate loam. Several good kahikatea swamps were discovered, and the land is watered by numerous streams, making it an ideal grazing country. —Auckland Star.

An “outlaw” sheep, which had evaded capture for three years, and had been living on the sea coast at Point Mataia. Kaipara Harbor, was one of the interesting exhibits at the Holensville show on Saturday (says the New Zealand Herald). The sheep, which was owned by Mr H. Mather, of Gloria, was missed from the flock at shearing time three years ago. The flock was sold, and the sheep refused to associate with the next lot, taking refuge among the mangroves when chased by dogs. During the next two seasons he was seen only at intervals, and evaded capture by clambering down a percipitous cliff to the coast. A few months ago Mr. Mather and his companions waited for a spring tide, and went out with the dogs. The sheep ran from the mangroves, but was cut off by the tide. The dogs cornered him, but could not get him back up the cliff, and were obliged to swim him for a mile. The sheep was a tremendous size, the live weight being over 2001 b. and the wool, which was clean and free from tangle or brambles, was pronounced a perfect fleece, weighing about 351 b. In places it was 24in in length, and unbroken. Mr. Mather presented the sheep to the association, which held a guessing competition regarding its weight. At the time of the Parihaka raid in 1882, when the late Hon. John Bryce (who Was Native Minister) rode on his White charger at the head of his troops into the pa to arrest Te Whiiti and Tohu, the late Rev. J. A. Luxford was in the midst of a very successful ministry in the Hawera district. It is said that it was at this time that the military spirit caught him, and he went on from stage to stage till he reached the rank of lieutcolonel, when he was appointed senior Methodist chaplain at the Weltham military hospital. So exasperated had the settlers become at the arrogance of Titokowaru and Ms followers during a long period of years in ploughing up their land and in many other high-hand-ed actions, that when Jflie Te Whiti coup came about many of the people were in a very angry mood, and Mr Luxford did much by his conciliatory methods to bring about a feeling of moderaI tion at a time when it was much needed. The Rev. C. H. Laws, B.A.,preaching lat the funeral service at Pitt Street Methodist Church at Auckland on Sunday afternoon last, said that early in I his ministerial career Mr. Luxford was i marked out for military distinction of a very high order, this being brought about by the keen grasp he had of all matters which attracted his attention and for his broad outlook on such a big question. The remains of the departed clergyman were accorded a military funeral at Waikaraka cemetery on Sunday, this being his expressed wish. —Auckland Star.

Cotton piece goods are being drastically reduced at the 'Melbourne’s gigantic summer reduction sale. Horrockses famous, AL and B2 36 inch calicoes reduced to Is Idd yard. Sheetings reduced by 25 per cent. Damasks by 20 per cent., whilst navy drillettes and navy prints are reduced to 2/3 and 1/11 respectively. To wash blankets speedily and effectively, use “Fairy Wonder” washing powder. This compound loosens the dirt like magic, saves the use of ordinary soap, saves laborious wringing and moreover keeps the. blankets a good color. “Fairy Wonder,” obtainable from all grocers and storekeepers. There was quite a scene in the showroom at Rennie’s Sale on Saturday. Two women had hold of the same garment, both claiming she saw it first. Fortunately another was found, and both were satisfied. You will be more than satisfied with the under-priced underwear bargains offered on page four. See and save.

NORTH BRITISH GARDEN HOSE is the most lasting of all rubber hose. All hardwaremen and Rubber stores can supply it.