LOCAL AND GENERAL

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4577, 1 May 1922, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

HE IS CHEERFUL. It is cheerful to strike a local business man who greets you with the remark that recently he had moro customers in his shop than the staff could serve. This is tho statement made by a .AVanganui 'draper to a Herald reporter. Ho went on to state that he had noticed that country people were now buying more freely, showing that they had confidence in the tone of tho produce markets. There had been very little increase in drapery lines generally of late, except in articles made from finer wools. These naturally advanced as the price of the raw material hardened. TRIBUTE TO WOMAN. British women have displayed extraordinary pluck sinco the war, according to Judge Doncourfc, who says: "Women have pushed their way through hostile crowds to assist the police, have searched their premises for burglars, and have resisted men who ..attempted to attack them. I entirely disagree with those who claim that, owing to the war, the morals of the people, particularly of the women, are going to the dogs, and that respect for traditions is passing.' 'The judge found an "enormous decrease" in drunkenness, and says that tho more brutal types of crimes have been less frequent. GERMANY AGAIN. "Germany to-day is a more prosperous and contented country than England, America, or even New ZcnI land. Factories are going at full speed, there is plenty of work, no slums like those in London and New York; theatres are crowded nightly, seats in the cabarets have been booked in advance. Hardly a word is spoken about tho war, and—Germany is snapping her fingers at the rest of tho world." This (says tho Dominion) is the sum of the impressions gained by Mr S.. Gordon, a Wellington business man, who was in Germany three months ago, and who returned from a world tour by the Marama. Mr Gordon's tour of Germany embraced visits to Berlin, Coblenz, Cologne, Tilst. Memel, Bonn and other centres. SCATS 1 An interesting wild-cat story comes from Patwtahi district (says the Poverty Bay Herald). A settlor had been missing turkeys, and many had disappeared. Occasionally the shrill cry of a turkey was heard in the night, but was not taken to indicate much out of the ordinary. One night, however, a shepherd, hearing _ the noise, was able to swiftly investigate. Ho saw a turkey falling from a tree, and as it reached the ground it was in the grip of a big black cat. The cat was a wild one, and evidently climbed the trees and pounced on the turkeys one by one. Out of a. flock of over 20 turkeys there were only half a dozen left. An exciting cat-, hunt followed, tho hunters being armed with shotguns.

SCHOOL SUGGESTION. A suggestion made at the householders' meeting at Mount Albert, on Monday eveuing, that school children in the Dominion should open up a correspondence with school children in Britain and Canada was supported by Mr J. M. Mitchell, formerly architect to tho Auckland Education Board, who recently returned to Auckland after a number of years spent abroad. Mr. Mitchell said he thought tho children overseas would gladly welcome letters from New Zealand. The practice, moreover, would tend to foster the Imperial spirit. If the children could be encouraged to write as child to child on such topics as the Maori, the hot springs, kiwis, and nature studies generally, their letters .should prove extremely valuable. 'The suggestion was recomended to the committee for consideration. WOOL PROSPECTS. From a Dunedin wool expert, who knows the inside of the trade as well as any New Zenlnnder can know it, a reporter obtained a cheerful statement last week. He says that the present stock of commandeered wool in London is going into consumption at a rate which will cause it to disappear probably witiiin the next twelve months. When it has quito gone the blocking of' the annual clip will no longer exist. The normal clip of New Zealand averages about 650,000 bales. The quantity offered in the Dominion this season may be approximately stated as 420,000 bales, including the small supplementary auctions next month; therefore the quantity of new wool available for re-sale in London will not be very great, amounting on those figures to only 130,000 bales, which, even if added to the amount in store, will not really swell to any appreciable extent the reserved wool at Home, since 130,000 bales is but a small quantity in comparison with the big figures of London. The prospects for crossbred wool look fairly hopeful. Fine wools and merinos are already on a high basis, and it cannot be expected that they will go very much higher.

THE PLAGUES OF N.S.W. From all parts of the western districts of New South "Wales come- stories of the damage done by mice, and of tho record catches of the rodents. At Trangle, Narromine, and Warren the water in many of the wells lias been fouled through mice falling in, and this is a most serious matter in districts where water is scarce. Gardens have been ruined, and in dwellings evej-ything has to be stored in water out of reach of the mice. All sorts of methods have been used in fighting tho onslaught. A popular one is to scatter caustic soda round some cheese, so that when the mouse seeks his meal his feet will be burned by the caustic. As soon as he licks his feet ho receives the fatal injury. Poisoning by strychnine is widely adopted. At a Trangle store the "catch" for three/ days was 5000, while at Collie one man collected no fewer than 6300 for one night's work.

CAUSE AND EFFECT. A faux pas by a speaker at the monthly meeting of the Council of Christian Congregations on Monday night caused a burst of laughter which interrupted the meeting's serious deliberations for a few minutes. The subject was "prohibition" and the speaker commenced his speech by saying: "When I look around the faces in this room I realise that there is no need for me to tell you about the effects of strong drink." The statement was (received wlith stony .silence for about two seconds, and then the assembly of clergymen and lavmeu burst into hearty laughter, which clearly demonstrated their high appreciation of the unintentional joke. * , "There are two things in life which are certain," remarked Chief Detective Kemp, in opening a case at the .Wellington Magistrate's Court. "One is death, and the other is finger-print evidence." .There is a family of eight up at Mangatara, near Dargaville, of which none of the children has ever been to school. So said Mr R. C. Smith at the Education Board's meeting. A Dunedin resident, visiting a property which he had not seen for some months, found that someone had built a house on it. Enquiry elicited the fact that the buUdtr bad placed the house on the wong section. A man in a crowded street car had his eyes closed when the conductor reached him. "Wake up!" said the conductor. "I wasn't asleep, ' explained the passenger, "but I hate see women standing." 1 Chronic violators of road rales are t» bo rated by the Pennsylvania State police by means of punch marks on their registration cards. Jll this way every motorist will carry his-re-cord with him, and the card will bp a ready exhibit to the prosecuting attorney. . •The Southland timber millers has reduced the rough red pine by 2s per 100 ft. for first class, and by 1 for second class. The price of dressed pine has not been altered, nor is it likely to be. - ■ '«* * ...'•■' ,--.■-..■