LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 November 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

“For cool impertinence, I think that takes a lot of beating. It is downright impertinence to wire to a magistrate to adjourn his case for him. It’s not that he doesn't know, either. He has had plenty of judgment summonses against him.” Mr. R. W. Dyer, S.M., made the foregoing remarks at Napier on receiving a telegram from a judgment debtor, asking him to “kindly adjourn the ease.” “I shall not take any notice of it whatever,” said, the magistrate, in ordering the man to pay the money. On the Wellington waterfront in 1914 the men moved 775,106 tons of goods at a cost of £54,000, stated Capt. Colbeek to a meeting of farmers at Wanganui on Wednesday night. In 1919 they handled 777,560 tons or practically the same quantity at a cost of £99,000, an increase of some £45,000. In the mining industry the average cost per man per shift wa<* 17/H and in 1920 it had risen to 30/6.J. A similar state of afexisted in relation to the handling of frozen meat, and the worst feature of the whole thing was that after paying these increased charges the producers had to face a 33 1-3 per cent, reduction in efficiency. This reduction in efficiency could he supported by actual figures—and they were very startling figures—and further than that it existed throughout a large number of trades.

The steamer Trevelan will discharge 15,000 cases of refined oils from Texas at New Plymouth during December. The New Plymouth harbormaster, Captain Waller, received a letter from the Texas Company, Ltd., yesterday, stating that the vessel left Port Arthur, Texas, on November 3, being due to arrive at Auckland on December 8, proceeding thence to Wellington and New Plymouth. Other overseas vessels on the list of expected arrivals at New Plymouth are the Waiotapu, due from American ports, via Auckland and Wellington, to-morrow; the Canadian Pioneer, from Montreal and New York, due at New Plymouth at the end of the month; and the Karori from Newcastle, with timber, on Tuesday.

The Prisons Board, which is at present in New Plymouth, held a sitting yesterday, when a number of prisoners’ eases were considered, and recommendations according to the decisions arriv ed at will be forwarded to the Minister of Justice. The personnel of the board is: Mr. C. E. Matthews (ControllerGeneral of Prisons), Dr. F. S. Hay (In-spector-General of Mental Hospitals), Messrs. Wm. Reece (Christchurch), Edwin Hall (Onehunga). Two members of the board. Sir Geo. Fenwick (president) and Mr. C. B. Jordan (Undersecretary of Justice) are absent from the tour on other business. The board leaves New Plymouth by the mail train this morning.

The annual conference tff the New Zealand Waterside Workers’ Federation at New Plymouth was resumed yesterday morning, Mr. L. Glover pre 'siding. In the course of his opening address Mr. Glover dealt with presentday questions as affecting the labor movement in New Zealand, and also the unemployment problem and the economic depression so much in evidence at the present time. The secretary (Mr. Jas. Roberts) presented his report and balance-sheet and the day was devoted to discussing these and the president’s address. The report and balance-sheet were adopted' and conference adjourned at 4.30 p.m. till to-day. A deputation from the Kawaroa Park Society is to wait on the New Plymouth Borough Council to direct the attention of members to the danger to the foreshore which exists through erosion by the sea. A resolution on these lines was passed at the annual meeting of the society last night. In reply to a member the president of the society (Mr. V. H. Beal) said the question of erosion had been brought before the council on previous occasions, and it seemed to be largely a question of financing any protective works. Mr. J. Brown urged that the society should not lose sight of the question. He agreed that it was largely a matter of securing money to carry out works and believed thte would have to be done by way of loan., though he doubted whether such a pro, posal would be carried in New Plymouth. He did not agree that it was not the function of the society to help, and he believed that the' council might ; assist if the society did something for , itself.

Farmers, you all like to see your Victory getting high grading points, don't you? There i>, however always room for improvement, and you cannot afford your manager greater help than by supplying nothing but pure and wholesome milk. The regular use of “Sinus,” the champion dairy cleanser, ensures absolute cleanliness, and in fairness to everyone concerned, you should always, use it.

It is not often that a worker has to be urged to take a day off every week from his employment. A case was called at the Napier Magistrate’s Court, however, in which the inspector of factories sued an hotel-worker for a penalty of £2 10s incurred by the worker’s action in not taking one day off every week during the 11 weeks of his employment. The inspector said he was not pressing for the full penalty, and the magistrate, Mr. R. W. Dyer, S.M., gave judgment for 10s and 8s costs.

An unpleasant experience recently befel a school teacher who was lately appointed to take charge of the new school at the Wilder Soldier Settlement, near Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay. In pursuance of the policy of providing accommodation in the baekblocks for teachers, a hut was supplied and furnished for the new tutor. Soon after taking possession a heavy wind storm was experienced, and hut and furniture were soon rolling over and over. Fortunately the teacher was engaged elsewhere at the time, and thus escaped injury. The contents of the hut were baxily damaged. It is understood that four anchors are shortly to be secured to guard against a recurrence of the incident.

“Can you imagine two people swimming twelve kilometres (nine mil’is) and never one gaining a yard over the other?” asked Miss Annette Keileiman, the well-known swimmer arid “movie” performer, at the reception tendered her by Wellington swimming enthusiasts. “It sounds impossible,” she said, “but it is true nevertheless, It happened to me on the Seine in Paris some years ago, and I shall always remember it as the most terrible swim I ever did.” She was not in training, she explained, and consented to give an exhibition in Paris, but on arriving at that town found that the event was actually to be a race. It was too late to back out. There were four other women competing, and one of them, an Austrian, had been in training for a month in order to meet her. “We swam for nine miles,” said Miss Kellerman,” and I could not gain an inch on her, or she on me. I had an unbeaten record to consider, and won the race in the last hundred yards. I shall never forget that Paris race.”

The frequent use of turpentine in a house would keep away many troublesome pests, and also render the place more generally healthy (says an exchange). There is nothing that black beetles, ants, flies, and even mice dislike so meh as the odour of turpentine! When any shelves or cupboards have been cleaned, apply a little turpentine, especially to the corners, and no form of insect life will exist there In boxes or wardrobes where woollen clothes are stored, sprinkle a little turpentine, and the destrucive moth will give the place a wide berth. Turpentine has strongly antiseptic properties, and its frequent use helpst in keeping diseases away from the home. The odour of turpentine is not unpleasant to most people, and, in any case, it is a nice clean smell.

A firm of chemists of Cambridge, Massachusetts, have succeeded in manufacturing a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, says the New York correspondent of The Times. They admit that it is not yet a commercial proposition, but sufficiently complete and substantial to demonstrate the fallacy of the ancient proverb. Having discovered that the silkworm manufactures its product by exuding from tiny duets in its head two kinds of viscous* liquids which combine under the action of air to form the silk thread, the chemists set to work to find a substitute for the process. One of the liquids secreted by the worm is somewhat in' the nature of glue. The sow’s ear has also many of the natural elements of glue, which the chemists succeeded in extracting. This substance was subjected to a process of refinement, and a fine thread was drawn possessing all the desired soft feeling of silk. After treatment to increase the strength of the thread it was woven on a small handloom into a small piece of fabric, which was made up into a diminutive but authenic purse.

Vestey’s meat works at Port Darwin which the Sydney Sun says are generally believed to have been shut down for good have involvd the firm in the expenditure of a vast amount of money,/ The cost of erecting the works readied such ail immense figure that Sir William Vestey is credited with having said “They must have used gold nails.” The last boat loaded with meat must have provided the last straw. Sixty wharf laborers were employed loading ■llOO tons of meat, which occupied about 13 days. The wharfies wages averaged about £W 10s per man per day. Hundreds of other men were employed in and around the works and the wages paid were on a similar scale. Thousands of tons of coal were used at about £7 per ton. Add to this interest on about a million (original cost of works) and about 25 per cent, per annum for depreciation (owing to the use of salt water in the works the corrosion of machinery and roofing iron is most serious) and most men would come to the conclusion that unless they sold the meat for its weight in sovereigns they would show a loss. These works are said to be the largest of the kind in Australia and there they stand in the centre of a large number of empty cottages, and every conceivable kind of [humpy, like a great monument in the middle of a cemetery.

Within recent years disastrous cyclones, rushing from seaward, have repeatedly struck the Queensland , coast without a moment’s warning. Sometimes the people were in bed and asleep when these dreadful visitations came upon them. Almost invariably the cyclones have caused sad loss of life and immense destruction of property. With the object of avoiding further ruinous surprises of this kind, or at least of securing timely warning of the approach of cyclones, the Federal Government some 'months ago gave authority I for the erection of a wireless on Willis Island, a. tiny speck on the ocean —the island is less than an acre in area—situated about 350 miles directly east of Port Douglas, Queensland. The work of erecting this station has been completed, and the first radio message from Willis Island, announcing the fact, was received by the Minister for Home and Territories in Melbourne last week, says the Age. A party of workmen, under Captain Davis, the Director of Navigation, left Melbourne several weeks ago to erect the plant on the isolated island off the Queensland coast, and the task has been completed expeditiously The workmen will now return, leaving Captain Davis and two operators on the island. _ They .will remain there during the cyclonic season, which commences at the end of the present month, and continues until about the end of April. From then until next November the island will be left uninhabited. The only duty of the operators will be to watch the horizorf, and send wireless messages of warnings to shipping along the coast and to Australian wireless stations when indications portend the approach of a stormThe cost of the station was estimated a.about £4<XK), ,