LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 May 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The shooting season opens to-day. There is said to be a good prospect of a fall in the price of sugar in New Zealand in the month of July (says the Wellington Times).

No trace of Captain Steame, who was lost in the wreck of the Turanga at Mokau, had been found up to yesterday, according to the latest advice received by the New Plymouth police.

Two 'sections in St. Aubyn Street, New Plymouth, with frontages of 80.3 and 109.7 links were submitted to auction by Newton King, Ltd., on Saturday, but bidding did not reach the reserve and they were passed in at £8 5s and £7 per foot. A property of one acre and two roods in Hobson Street, New Plymouth, with a cottage of 3 rooms and racing stables, part of the estate of the late Mr. James Hawkins, was offered by auction at Messrs. L. A. Nolan’s mart on Saturday. There was a fair amount of bidding, but the reserve was not reached, and the property was passed in at £1350.

On a charge of failing to comply with an order for the maintenance of his wife Jeremiah Crowley, who was alleged to be £370 in arrears, was summoned before the New Plymouth Court on Saturday morning. The case did not proceed, as counsel representing the parties intimated that a settlement had been arrived at.

Shortly after nine o’clock last sight an outbreak of fire was noticed in a small corrugated iron shed at the rear of premises occupied by Collier and Co., in Devon Street, New Plymouth. The central fire brigade were promptly on the scene and very quickly suppressed the flames. A few packing cases were destroyed and some damage to the shed resulted.

| The vital statistics for Hawera for the I month just ended are as follows, the I figures for the corresponding period of ' last year being given in parenthesis: — Thrths 8 (22), marriages 11 (7), deaths

A total of 150 lots, which was submitted at the auction sale of fresh .meat at Webster Bros.’ mart, New Plymouth, on Saturday, wag all disposed of at prices about on a par with the previous week s rates. Legs of mutton made up to B%d per lb, shoulders up to GAd, loins up to 7d, fore-quarters of lamb to 10d. hind-quarters to lOd, sirloins of beef to Is 2%d, ribs to 7d, steak to topside to 9d. A 25£lb side of mutton went for 10s 6d.

During the month of April 15 building permits for the erection of buildings of a total value of £7BOO were issued by the New Plymouth Borough Council. These represented nine new dwellings, varying in value from £BOO .to £lOOO. The balance consisted of motor garages and sheds. Since the beginning of the year the value of buildings for which permits have been issued totals £33,600.

The New Plymouth Beautifying Society desire thankfully to acknowledge the receipt of the following subscriptions for the current year:—Two Friends 10s, Taranaki Herald and Budget £2 2s, R. C. Hughes £1 Is, S'. Teed £l, S. W. Shaw 10s, W. H. Skinner 10s, M. F. Hansbury 10s, W. W. Smith, L. A. Nolan, N. K. Macdiarmid, N. King, A. S. Brooker, L. H. Arnold, W. B. Davies, T. Avery, G. W. Browne 5s each, and Miss Devenish 2s 6d

Mr. and Mrs. Durrant, of Island Bay, Wellington, have returned to their home after an enjoyable holiday spent in the Taranaki district. One of the pleasures, the Evening Post says, was a motor trip through the coastal towns to New Plymouth, round Mount Egmont, and , back through the Inglewood and Stratford districts, a total distance of 158 miles, covered in six hours’ actual running time. Mr. and Mrs. Durrant speak very highly of the splendid roads in Taranaki.

The Racing Commission will arrive in Hawera to-night, and will receive deputations at 9.30 o’clock tomorrow morning. The Commission will arrive in Stratford to-morrow night. On Wednesday morning they will visit the Stratford racecourse, where evidence is to be taken unless other arrangements are made in the meantime. The Commission will arrive in New Plymouth on Wednesday night and will receive deputations on Thursday.

Prices for pigs at the haymarket sale held by Newton King, Ltd., at New Plymouth on Saturday showed an improvement, on the previous market rates. Weaners made up to 7s, 8s and 9s for single pigs, small lines realising from 3s 6d to 5s 6d. Slips to small stores made 9a for a first pick of seven or eight, the balance Bs. Buyers mostly were townspeople who came along with sacks to take away their purchases which were intended for immediate killing, and although there was an advance in the market, prices were still in favor of the purchasers.

A number of building sites at Fitzroy were offered at auction by Messrs. L. A. Nolan and Co. on Saturday, on behalf of Mr. D. Carmichael. The areas ranged from 21 to 25 perches and had frontages to Devon Street, Beach Street, and Henui Road respectively. The following is a list of the sections sold:—Lot 7 £lOO, Mr. Chas. Smith; lot 8 £lBO, Mr. H. E. Mantey; lot 9 £135, Mr. H. Petersen; lot 10 £lBO, Mr. Mantey; lot 11 £l4O, Mr. T. Hodge; lot 12 £l7O, Mr. E. Vickers. For the homestead the bidding did not. reach the reserve.

Some very important points have been raised in connection with the negotiations that Mr. A. Mabin, on behalf of the New Zealand holders of wool, is conducting with the British-Australian Wool Realisation Association (writes our Wellington correspondent). Mr. Mabin is continuing the discussions with the directors of the association in Melbourne and he is in touch with the authorities in Wellington, but the negotiations have not yet reached a stage where any definite announcement can be made.

After considerable controversy among ministers of religion in Philadelphia (says a Reuter message.) an agreement has been reached as to what constitutes a “moral” gown: —Skirt, above the ground or below “see level,” as one wag puts it; bodice, cut 3in below the neck, decollette beginning “about Gin below the chin dimple.” It is also provided that the skirt shall not be tight, neither may it be made of diaphanous material. One young woman who has viewed the “moral” gown declared, “With a dress like that, all a poor girl can do is work her eyes!” *• The total of 131 bottles of whisky, which was seized, by the police some time ago while it was being transported from Waitara to Awakino, and which resulted in the prosecution of the man found in possession of the liquor, was offered by auction at Webster’s mart, New Plymouth, on Saturday, this being the method of disposal ordered by the magistrate. The whisky was sold in five lots of 20 bottles and one of 31 bottles, and the price realised ranged from 9s 6d io 10s 3d per bottle, the total return being about £65.

The non-return of a man named Goodwin, who left the North Egmont Mountain House yesterday morning on a walk up the track, occasioned some anxiety at the house towards evening and a search party was despatched to seek the missing man. All fears, however, were removed later, when word was received from Goodwin by telephone from Stratford advising that all was well. The day was misty on the mountain. It appears that Goodwin set out to reach the summit and succeeded in doing so, but while on the descent he evidently got on to the Dawson’s Falls track and arrived at the Stratford house. He then proceeded into Stratford and communicated the news of his arrival.

The shortage of telephones in the Auckland district continues. In March only 10 new connections were made in the city, 41 in Hamilton, and 125 in various other parts of the district. There are 900 waiting subscribers at Auckland. A total of 324 connections were made in March throughout the Wellington telephone district, which extends to Gisborne, and of this number 83 were in the city of Wellington. There are 2-677 waiting subscribers in that district. In all, 7'B additions were made to the Christchurch service, and the number of waiting subscribers is 1060. In Otago district 61 new telephones were installed, and there are 660 people waiting. New installations in Wellington thus total more than those made in the three other districts combined. The waiting list for the Dominion includes 7374 names.

There is every likelihood of a scarcity of coal and coke this year, and those who can would be well advised to obtain supplies of fuel for the winter. Some industrious men in New Plymouth are felling trees and cutting up their own wood. Two men recently cut up two pinus insignus, and obtained sufficient wood in their spare time inone week to last them both for the winter.

There’s money in the bush. A pit sawyer who returned to Stratford on Friday after an absence of less than four months, had a- cheque for £79 odd, being his net savings for the period. He told a Post Representative that he would take another contract if he could get it, but he was comfortable in the feeling that he had enough to “tide him over the winter.”

A good deal of unemployment is reported in the Wairarapa, and a good many men are to be seen at the present time carrying their swags on the country roads. There have been fairly numerous calls for relief of late by these men at the Masterton police station, on the plea that they have been unable to procure work. Reports from the Lower Valley state that any amount of men are offering for all kinds of agricultural labor.

Mr. Robert Hastie, a well-known settler in the Mangawai (Auckland) district, makes a practice of “planting” earthworms on the high lands of his property, and considers that he has achieved wonderful results from their work in the fertilising of the land. He showed the Kauri Gum Commission how the worms \ operate in bringing the soil to the surface, gradually increasing the productive capacity of the clay land, and how the rains wash their “casts” to the lower levels, with ever-increasing improvement of the pasture. Some of our readers may remember the meteorite that fell in the Mokoia district some years ago in the daytime (says the Star). It struck a tree in a plantation near the Mokoia school, and portions of it are now in one of the museums. It is a remarkable fact that the substance of these meteors which come from the spaces beyond are found to consist of the elements with which we are familiar on the earth. Without the earth’s atmospheric envelope we should be subjected to an incessant bombardment of these aerial messengers. Some astronomers account —though the theory is not generally accepted—for the huge craters on the moon by meteor action due to the paucity of the moon’s atmosphere. An enjoyable social was held by the New Plymouth Rechabite Tent on Friday last on the occasion of the visit of Bro. T. Fathers, the district secretary of the order. There was a good attendance of members and friends. The meeting was presided over by Bro. E. Chatterton, who briefly introduced the visitor. The following programme was then rendered: —Piano solo, Miss G'Lspie; song, Mr. Fredric; recitation. Bro. D. Gillispie: song, Sister J. Cocker; piano solo, Mr. Fredric; song, Bro. Ray Cocker; bells solo, Ricketts. Bro. Fathers gave an interesting address on the aims and objects of the Rechabite 'order. Mr, Herbert Grinstead, a visitor from Palmerston North, spoke briefly on the encouraging outlook of temperance development. During the first weekfin May throughout the world an appeal is being made on behalf of the peace time work of the Red Cross Societies, particularly with a view to the increase of membership. A special appeal is being made by the British Red Cross Society and St. John Ambulance throughout New Zealand and the New Plymouth sub-centre has already secured 126 members and collected £l4 Is 6d. The residents of Oakura and school children have forwarded, per Mr. Pearson, the sum of £4 10s. A special badge with the Red Cross and bearing the figures 1921 thereon is supplied and the minimum subscription is 6d for children, 2s 6d adults, and life members £lO 10s. These can be paid to Mr. W. L. Newman (hon. treasurer), Mrs. E. A. Walker (vicepresident), or at the office of Mr. A. B. Gibson (hon. secretarv), Egmont Street, New Plymouth, who will issue a receipt and supply the. necessary badge. Entries for the Royal Academy of Music examination close with Messrs. Collier and Co. to-day.