LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The official opening of the njew school at Upper Mangorei will take place at 2.30 p.m. to-morrow. The ceremony is to be performed by the chairman of the Education Board (Mr. P. J. H. White).

The only candidate for the- vacancy on the New Plymouth Borough Council, for which nominations closed yesterday, was Mr. R. A. Large, who has been declared elected unopposed. Mr. Large was returned at the April poll, but retired through a disqualification, which has since been removed.

A number of charges against the licensee of a hotel for breaches of the licensing laws relating to the sale of liquor to residents of a proclaimed, area, will be heard in the Magistrate’s Court at New Plymouth to-day. Five men have been summoned to. appear for procuring liquor for consumption in a proclaimed area without giving a proper order in writing. hie of the men is also charged with illegally keeping liquor for sale. The oil launch Heather, from Waitara, put into New Plymouth before noon yesterday for shelter, having been unable to return to Waitara on Tuesday after a fishing trip, owing to the rough conditions. The night was spent at anchor, when it was found the river could not be entered, and the conditions not having improved in the morning, Captain Lynch decided to take shelter at New Plymouth, which was reached safely. The launch will remain at New Plymouth till the weather moderates. Nine energetic workers turned up at Baines Terrace on Saturday last. The whole surface of the lawn was dug over, and it will be left in this condition to be sweetened by the atmosphere and the winter frosts. A commencement was made in laying out paths on the slopes above the lawn, and some surplus trees were felled and cut up. Mrs. W. Kerr and Mrs. Charlie Webster kindly provided afternoon tea. The work will be continued every Saturday.

A scarlet and white dance in aid of. the Girls’ Hostel funds is to be held at the Kawaroft Park bungalow about the middle of June. Prizes are to be given for the best scarlet and white dresses. Why is it that particular men, and men of limited spare time, call at Preece’s Hairdressing Saloon? Because of the prompt attention given and the sanitary methods whereby pll shaving and haireutting instruments are sterilised.—W, H. Preece, Devon Street Central.

Replying- to a deputation at Wellington on Thursday the Hon. C. J. Parr said that to apply the pruning knife drastically to the system of education would be false economy, and that matters would have to get pretty bad before they reduced the expenditure on education.

Writes a Ratapiko correspondent:— “Kindly rer.ove the advertisement as soon as possible re wanted horse, as I will have all the horses in Taranaki out here. I had about 16 horses offered mo the first day, and nearly as many the second. I have secured a good suitable horse now, thanks to the advertisement. I had enquiries right from Hawera and Uruti and Okato.”

ff lf I were to preach to the New Zealander in the street, what I should say to him is this: For Heaven’s sake encourage immigration, and whatever work you do, put your back into it, and for the working hours, which should be reasonable, work all you know if you want to make the country what you believe it ought to be.” This is what Sir Ralph Williams, K.C.M.G., a distinguished Englishman visiting the Dominion, said to a Wellington reporter during an interview.

Mr. G. Mitchell, M.P., discussing the question of unemployment with a reporter, said: “Some of our wealthiest firms, land-owners, and others are discharging men who have been with them a number of years. Some of these are returned soldiers, to whose efforts alone these very people owe their wealth today. Surely after seven years of prosperity it is not just to put the very men who served them on to the street as soon as the first depression comes. Have they forgotten so soon ? I appeal to these people to demand efficiency in work by all means, but not to put dividends before human beings.” “There will be no more half-crowns for a long time to come,” remarked Mr. George Sangster, in responding on behalf of the dairy industry at the Jersey Breeders’ Association’s banquet at Stratford on Tuesday night. “We cannot expect the good prices to continue, and we must be content to put up with lower prices. To meet this we must increase our yield or output, and this can best be done by paying greater attention to our pastures. No matter how good a cow we may have she won't give the milk unless we feed her properly.” • .

“I don’t think those people who are unduly pessimistic about the success of the returned soldiers on the land need be at all alarmed,” said Mr. F. L. Ward, Crown Lands ranger, at the Jersey breeders’ smoke concert at Stratford on Tuesday night. He added that he had about 200 returned soldier settlers in his district and there had been only two failures since 1914, and that was in an area covering a third of the Taranaki Land District. “I don’t know a solitary man amongst the loi. who is a loafer; they are all hard toilers, and given a fair chance I am quite sure the movement of settling the returned soldiers on the land, as far as this district is concerned, is going to prove an unqualified success. I have been on the farms of all but one in my district and I think I can express an opinion of them.”

Mr. P. Beere; Inspector of Stock for the Stratford district, mentioned at the Jersey breeders' social on Tuesday night, that there were 60,000 dairy cows in his district requiring supervision, out of which in the natural course of events there should be 60,000 calves each year. But this year he had inoculated only 15,000 calves, which meant that about 45,000 had been killed. Of the 15,000 fully 75 per cent were heifers and at least 75 per cent of them were Jerseys or well into the breed. Mr. Beere stressed the necessity of farmers having their calves inoculated against blackleg, and instanced a case which occurred a few days ago of a valuable pedigree Jersey bull dying from blackleg, owing to the neglect of the farmer in not having the animal inoculated. Inoculation was free and every farmer should avail himself of the privileges afforded by the Government.

Write Messrs. W. Morey and Son, drapers. New Plymouth:—■ < “We desire to thank you for the manner in which you assisted in boosting Friday as market day. Our returns showed a substantial increase for the week, not a decrease, as might have been expected. We also would like to place on record our appreciation of the services rendered by the News to our business. By your enterprise you have your paper delivered all over the province in t'he early morning. As proof we continually receive orders from all round the mountain, as far south as Waverjey, and as far north as Awakino and Te Kuiti. We are continually receiving orders from people we do not know, though in almost every case they mention the News, wherein they read our announcement. Thank you again. Kia Ora!”

*An extraordinary incident occurred at Auckland City Police Station last week, when a man called and made complaint that a constable at Whangarei had deprived him of his money, boots, and some of his clothing, for recovery of which he asked assistance. A perplexed official made a few rapid mental deductions which led him to the belief that the man had escaped from custody, and when tax'ed with it, the visitor admitted that there was seme truth .in the officer’s suspicions. A telephone ring to Whangarei produced the information that a fortnight ago a man, whose description corresponded with ’ that of the visitor, had been locked u;p for drunkenness, and the following morning had greeted the constable with a bow and decamped, and •that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. The arrest was therefore made.

“It is not a great length of ‘-.ime since the dairy industry really started in New Zealand,” said Mt. George Sangster, in responding to the toast of “The Dairy Industry” at the Jersey breeders’ social at Stratford on Tuesday night. Tn ■lB9B he was in Dunedin and at the South Seas Exhibition held there that year the box of butter which took the prize came from an obscure factory in Taranaki and was made by a Chinaman, the late Mr. Chew Chong. (Applause.) Mr. Chew Chong made good butter, but there was no Bobcock tester, no pasteuriser and no freezer in those days. He stood by and tasted the milk as it came in and paid for it by the gallon—-there was no talk of butter-fat then. The farmers received about 2 1 / s d a gallon for their milk. Shortly afterwards the cooperative factories were started and his old friend. Mr. Wright, was really the father of the industry. The Government then recognised dairying as a national industry and the Dairy Division was established, introducing the grading system.

The Melbourne, Ltd., have a splendid range of little boys’ high grade gaberdine coats to fit boys two to seven yjars. The fabric is pure wool, and the style is extremely smart, having Raglan sleeves and bait at back. Price, 45s to 43s 6d,

A southern farmer is the owner of a crop of potatoes that for size are something out of the ordinary, says an exchange. Four of the largest weighed no less than nine pounds, and 20 tons were taken off two acres. He used half a ton of manure to the acre in planting.

A resolution debarring military defaulters from playing in matches under its jurisdiction has been adopted by the Manawatu Rugby Union. It involves the suspension of any club wilfully playing a military defaulter. At a genera] meeting of the Eltham Retailers’ Association on Tuesday officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows:—President, Mr J W. Stubbs; vice-president, Mr. E. Clare; secretary and treasurer, Mr. F. H. Ham; committee, Messrs. 11. G. Carman, G. Peebles, J. O’Hagan, W. Shipton, C. A. Wilkinson. J. Skipper, and F. H. Ham; auditor, Mr. C. B. Martin.

When emphasising the trustworthiness of the Japanese people in the course of an address at Auckland, Mrs. L. F. Fitch said that during her six months* sojourn in Japan she had not locked any of her boxes, and she did not lose any of her belongings. This experience she contrasted with the -fact that she kept everything locked up during the three months she was in Australia, and then had her handbag rifled. “Would it not be wrong because of this, if when I get home I were to say the Australians were a ‘bunch of crooks.’ ”

“There is a possibility that before long bananas will become very cheap in New Zealand,” remarked a commercial authority to a Wellington Times representative on Tuesday. He based his opinions, he said, on the fact that in future a duty of one penny per lb is to be levied on Fiji bananas in Australia, which formerly paid 2s fid per hundred pounds. Therefore there was a probability that the new duty would not only kill the import of bananas into Australia, but would cause the deflection of much of the present Australian export trade to Fjji, to New Zealand, and to America. An unfortunate mistake was made by the member for Bruce, Mr. John Edie, M.P., regarding the date of the Clutha Valley show at Tuapeka Mouth (says the Bruce Herald). Mr. Edie, who was married on the Saturday, turned up at Tuapeka Mouth with his bride the day after the show, much to the astonishment and amusement of the local committee, who were busy cleaning up. The member for Bruce was the subject of much good-natured banter in consequence, and, having regard to the excitement associated with wedding festivities, his lapse was readily forgiven.

A prominent kauri gum merchant stated at Auckland last week that some 500 or 000 Dalmatians had left New Zealand within the past few months, the main reason, he believed, being that they were still classed as alien enemies, and therefore had no status here. He claimed that this drift away would seriously affect kauri gum production, which had contributed more to the revenue of New Zealand than any of the minerals with the exception of gold. Dalmatians, he said, were peculiarly adapted for gum-digging. Their deep trenching system in the past had revolutionised the industry. They were able to work harmoniously in .syndicates, and could perform an amount of work that other men would not do.

All income-tax returns were required to be completed and forwarded to the Commissioner of Taxes by yesterday. Persons failing to render a return are liable, under the Land and Income Tax Act, 191 fl, and its amendments, to a penalty of not less than £2 nor more than £lOO, and to pay triple extra duty. The commissioner is also empowered to make an arbitrary assessment in such cases of the amount on which, in his judgment, a tax ought to be levied. All persons receiving £250 and over by way of income are required to iuinish a return. The onus of procuring the necessary income-tax fofm and cf forwarding it to the commissioner is now ‘ imposeu upon the taxpayer, whether employer or employee. Forms are obtainable at any postal money-order office, or at the Land and Income Tax Offices.

Regulations for the settlement of soldiers on poor quality lands under the homestead provisions of the Land Act are now being prepared. At present the Government is dealing with 14,000 acres of pumice country between Riverhead and Henderson, and a further 12,000 acres at Atiamuri, while the Lands Department is trying to secure another block of 7,000 acres of educational reserve, either by exchange or purchase, for soldier settlement. This is in. the Reporoa district, and as soon as the deal is negotiated it is intended to proceed with settlement at once, as the block is to a certain extent loaded and ready to be taken over. On the present soldiers’ block at Reporoa there are 20 settlers, and a further 20 sections will be thrown open next month.

A strange discovery of hoarded money was made by the Wellington police a couple of days ago, when they found £4ll in notes and cash hidden in the dwelling in Kent Terrace of an elderly woman, Mrs. Gott, who had recently been committed to the Ohiro Home. The woman, who is 81 years of age, seemed to be without means of support, and was living in a wretched condition through weakness, due to senility. In her own interests she was committed by the £ourt to the Ohiro Home. Subsequently the police searched ths premises vacated by her, and found bundles of bank notes and silver coinage under her mattress and other places about her bedroom. The police have taken charge of the money and will later determine what shall be done with it. The probability. however, is that the £4ll will be handed over to the Charitable Aid Board to defray the cost of the woman’s maintenance at the Home.

“There is a difference of about 3s between the price per ’bushel of wheat paid to the farmer and that charged to the consumer,” said Mr. D. Smith at the Farmers’ Conference at Master ton. “That sort of thing does not help to reduce the cost of living.” There are too many handlings of the wheat before it reaches the consumer. Each handling means freight and commission, and the public are not benefiting to the extent they should by the purchase of wheat by the Government at the price paid tc the farmer.” Many speakers condemned the present system of control, and still more roundly condemned the regulations. A motion was carried: “That the Govern, ment amend the regulations as to rhe sale of wheat, and endeavor to prevent the middleman’s profits and the millers making large profits on the resale of wheat they do not mill.” Newton King, Ltd., call for entries for a dairy heifer fair at Rahotu on the 30tb last. e •