LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 April 1928, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Accroding to a report from the New Plymouth Hospital last night good progress is being made by Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Thomason, of Inglewood, who were injured on Thursday when their car fell 300 feet over a precipice on Mt. Messenger. Mr. Thomason -had his collarbone and three ribs broken, while Mrs. Thomason received a. broken shoulder and facial cuts.

Figures for the year ending March .31 are now available in regard to the Taranaki Scholarship Endowment Fund. Receipts were: Balance brought forward, £21,848 Is lid; ordinary revenue, £989 15s 9d; interest, £1147 Ils. Total, £23,985 8s Bd. Disbursements were: Scholarship, £420; examiner’s fees, £lO 3s 6d management expenses, £35; supervision fees, £3 13s sd; commission, £9 18s, petty expenses and exchangee, 10s. Balance carried forward, £23,506 4s 9d.

Attracted by the opportunity, of hearing an excellent programme of music well rendered, many people gathered in Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, last night despite threatening weather and earlier showers. The Taranaki Regimental Band, under Lieut. F. W. G. McLeod, conductor, gave its Easter recital before an appreciative audience. Included in the programme were Mendelssohn’s "War March of the Priests,” Gounod’s "Nazareth,” the march from Handel’s “Scipio,” Wagner's “Pilgrims’ Chorus,” and Wailace's “Sweet Spirit, Hear My Prayer.” The collection amounted to over £6.

Having forgotten to lock his premises on a recent evening, a well-known Timaru business man loft home in company with a friend to attend to the oversight. Entering the shop from the rear, the proprietor was astounded to see the figure of a fairly tall man, with his hat on appearing from the vicinity of a counter. The proprietor told his companion to call the police, and approaching stealthily he came within hitting range of the figure and dealt him a terrific punch on the jaw. The figure fell over as if poleaxed, and lay inanimate. The force of the blow ' evidently satisfied the proprietor that further investigation would not contain, any element of risk—and he was right. The supposed intruder turned out to be a lifeless model which some assistant had left in a position which caught the light from the door as soon as it was opened. Much to the relief of the proprietor, the police had not been summoned by the time he found his companion.

Buy your Easter Hat, Frock, or Coat now at The as we have just opened up a choice stock of Autumn and Winter Goods. Three we are marking at very low prices. Now is the time to save money on your purchases. The Hustlers, Devon Street

Twisted, bent and rusted iron and tins heaped in disorder to form a tangled mass, hard-baked earth, mostly covered with ashes and half-burnt odds and ends, whisps of smoke issuing from fissures in the ground, stark ruin and desolation everywhere! That is the scene that thrusts itself on one after passing through the first cutting on the ’ Devon Road. It is the borough rubbish dump. Even a steam engine is slowly corroding amongst a litter of battered oil drums, while a lorry chasis that long ago took a nose-dive to destruction is now lying with broken back half buried in benzine tins. Propped up pro-. minently in the middle of the section yesterday was a discarded sign; “For Sale or To Let.—Apply Within.” Something unusual in the history of the Mataura paper mills oesurred recently when the turbo-generator was found to be running at a slow speed. The engineers were at a loss to account for the trouble as the water supply was ample to keep the turbine running at full pressure. Investigations revealed the fact that hundreds of eels had blocked the gate and the smaller ones, passing through a grating came in contact with the turbine, and were torn to ribbons. The turbo-generator was shut off for about two hours, during which time hundreds of eels varying in size-—the largest measuring approximately s£t. in length—were gaffed by the mill hands. The gate the following morning was piled with eels and presented a unique sight. The past summer in Nelson has been the driest on record since 1887, the rainfall during December, 1927, and January, February and March of the present year, being only 3.82 in., of which 2.04 in. fell in December. During the present dry spell rivers, creeks, and watercourses have ceased running, and for the first time in the city's history the use of the can for watering purposes has been prohibited. Permits for extraordinary supplies, except for factories, have been cancelled and altogether the city has been facing a position which has not occurred within memory. The only rainfall of any consequence since last Christmas was an inch on the night of February 26. The fall in January was nil, and in March only 22 points were recorded.

A long motor ride occasions drowsiness in a good many people, and if the motorist so affected happens to be the driver, the consequences are sometimes serious. A motorist who passed through Timaru the other night had a narrow escape from serious accident through falling asleep at the wheel. He had driven from Wyndham, near Invercargill, and on reaching the approach to a bridge over the Opihi River, at Arowhenua he fell asleep, with the result that his car, instead of going on to the bridge, ran over the bank of the approach on the left-hand side, and into a fence. The engine stopped, and neither car nor driver was any the worse.

Little success so far has attended sportsmen who have been out after deer among the ranges at the back of Palmerston North. Further south, however, several heads have been secured. This week a party of three returned to town with two remarkably good heads, which they obtained near Apiti. One was a ten-pointer and the other an eleven-pointer. During the week-end Mr. J. E. Warrington secured a fine sambur head at Tokomaru, the specimen being a six-pointer. The first of a series of euchre parties will be held in the Oakura Hall to-mor-row. A dance will follow. Admission is Is for ladies and 2s for rnen.

After the long, hot summer days the men folk feel like sprucing up with a new suit. In preparation for the heavy demand for suitings, Besley’s have selected some really fine clothes. Their prices are right, so is the workmanship.

The cable news in this issue accredited to The Tinies has appeared in that journal, but only where expressly stated is such news the editorial opinion of The Times. By special arrangement Reuter’s world service, in addition to other special sources of information is used in the v mpilation of the overseas intelligence published in this issue, and all rights therein in Australia and New Zealand are reserved.