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Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 4

A large New Zealand mail from the United Kingdom is on board the large steamer Armagh, which left Suva yesterday for Auckland, en route from London. Cable advice was received by the chief post office to-day that the mail includes* 750 bags of ordinary mail, and about 750 parcels receptacles. This will be discharged next Monday morning. With the exception of a few minor details the contract for the concreting , of the Manukau Road had practically been completed, according to a report furnished by, the engineer to the meeting of the One Tree Hill Road Board last night. The reduction of the price of cement -would result in the board saving about £700. Regarding the concreting of the Great South Road, the contractor was making satisfactory progress. A etart had been made with the concreting of Market Road, and yesterday the contractor had commenced a new'system of finishing by drawing a belt backwards and forwards three times after the surface had been screened instead of trowelling it, with most satisfactory i results., The same method had been employed on the Great South Road with success. , Some food for thought was contained m figures showing the drift of the ' rural population towards the cities ' quoted by Mr. S. Vickers at a meeting of Taranaki delegates of the Farmers' ' Union (says the "Taranaki Herald"). J In 1001 the rural population of the Dominion formed 60.78 per cent of the whole, but in 1021 it had fallen • to 51.23, whilst during the same years < the population of the towns had in- < creased from 39.13 per cent, to 48 73 ' This was due, Mr. Vickers considered', < to the lack of adequate educational ' facilities for teaching the younger gen- 1 eration how to make a success of farm- : ing. An ocean race that will be watched > with some interest in Auckland has com ' menced between the Clan Mackenzie and ' the Trekieve. Both steamers reported l at Colon on July 30, and both are en i route to Auckland from New York. ' Both also are eleven-knot steamers, and " are of modern build. The Clan Mac- * kenzie was built in 1917, is of 6544 tons gross register, and is an oilburninp • steamer. The Trekieve is a sister ship * of the Trelyon* which was at Auckland some cix months ago. She is a unit of i the. Ham fleet of steamers, which are ' distinguished by a big white "H" on a i black funnel, and, like her sister ship, ' she measures 5250 tons gross i havine bppn built In 1020. ■ ,

"Now you ccc mc and now you don't," has been the attitude adopted by the' electric light in parts of Kemuera for i several nights recently. The time of the performance just fits the average hour for dinner, which lends interest. On Saturday night the lights were off for several minutes on three occasions. Sunday night was all right, hut for the last three trenings the game of "in and out" has been enacted, generally between 6 and 7 p.m. By the time a candle hag been obtained the light is on again. When the candle is extinguished the electricity is also off. After this has occurred three or four times, the "juice" becomes steady for the rest of the night. "In my opinion, within the next few years bacon will return you as much as butterfat," was the encouraging remark made by Mr. F. J. Nathan to the annual meeting of Xorsewood dairy, men on Saturday. "But you treat your pigs shamefully; you know you do," he added, and went on to say that there was no animal that gave better value for good treatment and good food than the pig, "though it may eeem funny for a Jew to advocate the cause of the pig," he concluded amid laughter.— Exchange. A Blenheim farmer says that the merino flocks of New Zealand are vanishing, and the country cannot afford to lose them. The foundation of the halfbred, the most numerous and popular type in the South Island, has almost ceased to exist. However, he says, there is no doubt that the merino will again come into favour in our hill country, as sheep owners are beginning to realise the solid advantage of the breed. Motor care driven by vandals are evidently put to a most extraordinary use in the One Tree Hill district. At last , nijrht'e meeting of the board the en- | pineer, Mr. J. Dawson, reported that recently quite a number of street nameplates in the "Wapiti area had been torn up from the ground, posts and all. Evidently the destructive vandals had placed a rope to the posts and hitched the other end on to a motor car, for the posts were snapped off level with the ground, tearing the asphalt away. He thought that motor cars had been used, as tracks were visible the following morning. It was decided to refer the matter together with another complaint by Mr. Purchas. that Iβ doss had been poisoned recently, to the police to take action. The excessive rain in June, which Boddened the ground and rotted the seed, and the severe frosts of July together, have played havoc with the prospects of the early potato crop of the famous Pukekohe potato-growing district. Crops on ground having a westerly aspect, or in places which the sun does not strike till it is fairly strong, have especially suffered in the , : last few days, but where the aspect is ' easterly and the frozen leaves are gradually thawed, the damage has been much lees. From one cause and another it is expected that there will be a serious shortage of early potatoes in October and November. I A heavy shipment of Rarotongan oranges is being discharged to-day from I the steamer Flora, which berthed at the King's ivbarf last night on her return from the Eastern Pacific. The shipment includes 13j000 cases of oranges, which are equal in quality to other recent ship- ! ments; but, like the June shipment, have I suffered somewhat during transport. It is expected tbat about 25 per cent will prove unfit for consumption, and, , rcekoned on this basis, over 3000 casee will be a dead lose The condition of the shipment on its arrival at Auckland was disappointing, and is due to a large extent to the weather encountered by the Flora during her voyage and her consequent late arrival. Stormy weather con- ( ditions were experienced all the way from Rarotonga, and at times the steamer was labouring heavily, with heavy seas breaking on the fore deck. She was well loaded with island fruit of which the orangee comprised the bulk of the shipment, but in the balance were 3000 cases of tomatoes and 1000 cases of bananas. It is expected that the loss on the tomatoes will amount to between 10 and 15 per cent, j but the bananas are in good order and condition, being mostly green and suitable for steady consumption. I Comment was made at a meeting of creditors in a Chinese bankrupt estate in Wanganui upon the fact that the business was being carried on under the name of one proprietor, irrespective of the fact that the business had changed hands two or three times eince he had it, and no notification had been given to the business men with whom the Chinaman dealt (says the "Wanganui Herald"). One creditor said that; the original owner had been on his firm's books since 1016, and there had been no notification of any change. He stated that even the bank with whom the Chinese firm transacted business was not informed of any alteration. It was pointed out that this was a habit of most Chinese firms, and other instances of it were quoted. Creditors hoped that for the credit of Chinese business people generally that this practice would bo stopped, and inquired if anything could be done to prevent it by legislation. Another point raised was that of the liability of the original proprietor under the circumstances, and it is believed that it will-be made the subject of aye interesting test case. Maori delegates* are about to proceed ( to Wellington to bring before Parlia- i merit a request for compensation for I the lands confiscated in the Bay of Plenty about 60 years ago. The lands affected comprise all the country from , the shores of the bay to the confiscation boundary line 15 miles south and from the Kast Cape to Rotorua lakes. Within its boundaries are included the townships of Opotiki, Whakatane, Taneatua, Matata, and other places. The Waimana townsohip is half a mile south of the boundary, the Waimana Settlement being acquired from tho Maoris by purchase in later years. ] A fire caused by a child over-turning a kerosene lamp destroyed a four-roomed ■ cottage at Waimate. Mrs. Wasley, the I occupant, endeavoured to extinguish the flames, but was severely burned about the face and hands and is suffering from shock. One child was also slightly burned. The other two were not hurt. The building was owned by Mr. R. Swan. "Herd testing is making rapid strides i in the Waikatb," stated Mr. G. H. j Oldham, of the N.Z. Co-op. Dairy Co., [ in conversation with a "Star" representative. Mr. Oldham went on to say that the group system in its advanced form is finding favour with farmers who prefer to have their testing done for them. New groups were continually pect of still greater success attending the movement. While playing near his pare ite' home at Island Bay, Wellington, on Tuesday, Tony Paino, aged five, was knocked down i by a motor van and seriously injured. \ The driver of the van conveyed the little fellow to the hospital, where lie was admitted nt nix o'clock.