LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Only one bankruptcy was recorded by the D.O.A. (Mr. J. S. S. Medley), at New Plymouth, during October. Several dairy factories in the Stratford district are changing over from the manufacture of butter and cheese on the first of next month.

An endeavour is being made by dairy farmers in Otago to the marketable products of th'ffir own farms. A company has been formed with this object in view.

A Palmerston lady who has passed life’s allotted span is reported to have been led to the alter last week by a blushing youth etill on the sunny side of 40, reports the Manawatu Daily Time®.

During October the deaths of two octagenarians and four septuagenarians was recorded by the registrar of births, deaths and marriages, at New Plymouth.

A good number of new dwellings and shops are being erected in New Plymouth, building permits for 12 houses and 3 shops having been granted during October. The total value of the new structures will be approximately £13,300. At Inglewood the other evening Mr. W. Winfield remarked there had not been any real demand for residential sections in Inglewood for many years. There were a number of men who were prepared to sell their sections to-day at the same price they paid for them 20 years ago.

The success of the competitions held last week under the auspices of the Bible Class of St. Andrew’s Church, New Plymouth, has led the committee to take steps to organise another festival, to be held after the band contest next February.

At a meeting of the executive of tne New Plymouth Band Contest Committee last night applications from judges were considered, but the selection was left over, as applications from Australia, are also expected. All bands were notified that nominations close on November 8, and that adequate accommodation is being arranged for all competitors. The Wanganui Borough Council is disposing of its debentures’ at a premium. A (fortnight ago it was decided to call tenders for the £5400 loan for providing the costs of raising the council’s antecedent loan. The rate of interest was fixed at 6 per cent., and the term was for 12 years. The tenders met with a good response, and quite a number of debentures have been sold at £lOl.

The Prime Minister stated in the House of Representatives on Monday, in reply to a question put by Sir John Luke (Wellington North), that he had received the report of the commission appointed some time ago to inquire regarding certain features of the military pensions. The report was very bulky and very important, and he did not think that it could be brought before Parliament during the present session. Some of its recommendations could be given effect to without Parliamentary sanction, but he could not say yet what would be done with it. To die on the roadside when nearly home was the tragic fate of Mr. Arthur 'Silverton Jonson, a married man with seven children, who lived at Vinegar Hill, Hunterville. A week ago the deceased left home by motor cycle to work at Bulls, and on Saturday last he rang his wife up to say that he would be home at fl p.m. As the time went by, hi® family became anxious, and a search was made, with the result that his body was found on the roadside about 1% miles from his home, alongside the motor cycle. The deceased had suffered from heart trouble, and death wae evidently due to natural causes.

Even the time-honoured ceremonies of the Maori “tangi” are apparently being cut down on the score of expense. Dr. P. H. Buck, speaking at the meeting of the Anthroplogical section of the Auckland Institute, said that when the Maoris lived in communistic style the expenses of the tangis were shared, and while now relatives subscribed and friends gave food the ceremonies- were being modified and made less expensive. A tangi over a. celebrated chief in the East Coast not long ago was simply a matter of a few hours, and he was told that in the same district the Maoris were so busy sheepfarming that they merely rang up the bereaved relatives on the telephone and expressed their sympathy.

At a country home visited by a Palmerston North Times, reporter last week was seen a practical demonstration in bulb growing, which will be a revelation to many. On both sides of the winding pathway, a quarter of a mile long, beneath the grove of walnut and oak, were thousands of splendid specimens of many coloured tulips, narcissi and lilies, intermingled., with cowslips and buttercups, all growing in the grass. The only “cultivation” given them in the past eight years was to mow the pasture after the flowers had died off, turn in the calves and sheep occasionally. The best show blooms are gathered from this beauty spot. Evidence that these flowers thrive best under nature’s own plan of growing is afforded by the fact that in the same garden where they were under careful cultivation over a term of years disease and deterioration set in. Those in the grass were mostly taken in the first place from the surplus thrown out of the garden. “This, said the 'hotaeas, “ is why they grow so beautifully in old England.” Mails which left Auckland on heptember 26 via Vancouver, by R.M.S. Makura. arrived in London on October 28. Those who require new furniture—and at this time of the year there are very few who do not—should pay a visit to Patterson and Pearce, the furniture specialists, of Glover Road, Hawera. This firm has a splendidly equipped factory and showroom right opposite the railway station, where furniture of all the latest designs is manufactured in Queensland maple, oak, and rimu. Only the best of seasoned timber is used, and only expert workmen are employed under the firm’s personal supervision so clients can rely on getting best quality at lowest prices. Patterson and Pearce have a very wide reputation. Furniture manufactured by them has been forwarded to Auckland, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay. and West Coast, so that country clients can be assured that the furniture is packed in such a way that its finish is not detracted from, no matter how far it lias to go. A cordial invitation is given to all visitors to inspect their showroom. The Union Foundries, Ltd., of Stratford, New Plymouth and Eltham, have a new advt. in this issue, under the heading of “Castings." j