LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Grey River Argus, 15 May 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

To-day at the Aralnira. Sale Yards W. Jefferies and co, will offer by public miction about 200 fat cattle for var ions clients.

During the four weeks ending April 29 last, the following exports from the port of Grcvniouth were recorded: Wool. 22. S bales; flax, 31 bales; coke, S tons; timber, 3,630,303 feet.

Mr W. Maefarlane (late of the Royal Hotel) has taken over the Albion Hotel, Greymouth. Mr Maefarlane hopes by catering for the public with his usual thoroughness, io merit a fair share of patronage. The dining room will be under the personal supervision of Mrs Maefarlane. —A<J«t

The friends of Mr ami Mrs Sherlock of Cobden will learn with regret that their seven year old boy William was yesterday removed to the Grey River Hospital suffering from diphtheria. The Reef!on Power Board is considering the. power possibilities of Larry s Creek and Waitahu River, having approached the Public Works Department re the granting of rights over these streams. The fertility of West Coast soil is shown bv a giant vegetable marrow, which is on view nt Mr T. Bond’s shop, Boundary Street, Greymouth. The vegetable weighs nearly 421 b, and was grown by Mr F. Stent, of Blaketown, who is noted as the cultivator of some remarkably line garden products. Air Chitha McKenzie M.P., fur Auckland Central will deliver an address entitled “For the Blind” in the Town Hall, Greymouth to-night. As Mr McKenzie is himself a sufferer from blindness his lecture should be worth going far to hear. Winter is here and it is the time of the year you require the home snug with every comfort. Harley’s offer a splendid selection of chesterfields and easy chairs at prices which are extraordinary value. —Advt. During the four weeks of April ending on the 29th., 13,582 tons of coal was exported from the port of Greymouth, the contributions from the respective mines being as follows: —■ Blackball, 5464 tons; State Mines, 5130 tons; Pajiaroa, 2036 tons; Hillside, 250 tons; Baddolcy’s party, 576 tons; Dunollie (Smith and party), 126 tons; Owing to their inability to secure a lease of suitable premises Glasson and Co. announce that they are closing down their Greymouth branch and have disposed of the stock to Messrs McGrucr and Co. In future readers in need of a smart tailored-to-measurc suit arc advised to write to Glasson and Co., 96 Lichfield Street, Christchurch, when a comprehensive range of samples, together with,easy measurement form will reach them by return mail. —Advt. Now tbe cold weather is set in it will pay you to secure one of The Mayfair stylish overcoats. On Monday, May Ist, wc are holding a Stupendous Sale of all kinds of Gents Overcoats in gaberdine, Tweeds, Canvas, Oilskin etc., ranging from 32/6 to 75/-. Do not miss this opportunity, our loss is your gain. The Mayfair Mon and Boys Wear Specialists, Mawera Quay, Greymouth, ’phone 276. —Advt.

The Buller Electric Power District is constituted by a proclamation published in last week’s Gazette.”

There was a faint display of tho phenomenon known as Aurora Australis on Saturday evening, but it faded away shortly after the moon, gor up.

The Labour Party will hold their usual fortnightly euchre tournament and dance in the Druids’ Hall this even-

The borough authorities have deposited quantities of gravel on (yrtain roads in the borough where the recent rains had interfered with the asphalting operations, and the result promises to prove satisfactory for the present.

The skating season starts to-night at the Star Hall. The Star Football Club have a. fine supply of skates and patrons can be assured of a splendid night’s amusement. It is the intention of the club to open the hall for skating every Monday and Friday night from 7 to 10 o'clock.

At the opening of the new hall at Tnangahua Junction the other evening a large gathering included Westport, Murchison and Reefton visitors, as well as others from the Inangahua Valley. A dance was continued till the small hours, and an excellent supper was provided. Mrs Brooks was the musician while Mr Thomson, of Murchison, contributed musical items.

To-day another big batch of immigrants, over 300, arrive in Wellington from England by the liner lonic. There are four of them for Westport and thee for Greymouth, but the Auckland district is to secure 113 of them. In addition there are on the lonic no fewer than 40 domestic, servants, who are being brought out under charge of a Mrs Hcnimington.

The officials of the Runauga Football Club arc energetically preparing for their annual ball, which is to be held in the Miners’ Hall on Friday evening next. The football ball is recognised in Runanga social circles as the most successful of the year and this season’s function declared to be no exception to the generally recognised rule. Music of an exceptionally high order has been engage> and all the other arrangements are in keeping with the high standard of the football club’s dances.

An accident that might havce had fatal results happened in Hokitika on Saturday morning, when a cyclist and motor cyclist came into collision at the intersection and Sale and Stafford Streets. Mr Alf Graham, sawmiller, was cycling down a hill in Sale Street, leading to Stafford Street, along which latter street Mr Geo. Shaw was proceed-

ing to Rimu on his motor cycle. Neither could see the other till they met at the crossing, where the motor cycle struck the other machine side on, and overturned it. The motor cycle passed over Mr Graham, who, however, emerged apparently without any serious injury. lie took the early train to Greymouth, but during the day here had to seek medical attention, though he was able to proceed home again to Hokitika in the evening.

Heavy stocks must be reduced to simplify stocktaking. Here at the beginning of winter all new goods com-o right down to end of the season’s low sale prices. You will have to act quickly. This great sale for three weeks only commencing Friday, May sth.—McGrucr and Co., Greymouth, R-eefton and Hokitika.—Advt.

An hotel which will have a church on the premises, and in which dancing and card ploying will bo forbidden, is about to be built in Kcw York. The owners state that the new establishment is intended to cater primarily for church and chapel members, of all denominations. The building, which will be of 17 storeys, will contain a banqueting hall and other facilities for entertainments, but all these, as well as the lists of guests invited to them, will be “strictly censored.” There will be equally tsrict supervision of those actually staying in the hotel “to assure the maintenance of a high moral tone. Laughable coincidences take place occasionally even during the solemnities of a church service (says the Christchurch “Press”). The other Sunday evening, for instance, in a certain sacred building that stands, let us say, at least within 100 miles of the Cathedral , a lady member of the choir was constrained to leave her place owing to the persistence with which her nose bled. Just as a fellow member rose to follow, with the object ot rendering first-aid, the minister from the pulpit above, who was holding forth in prayer and was sublimely unconscious of what was transpiring brought out with fine effect the scriptural injunction “to bind up the bruised and bleeding.” Different people view the bare necessities of life from opposite standpoints (comments the “Mataura Ensign”). To most, food and clothes arc a first consideration, but there arc other chararcters abroad. A man was arrested at Gore last week on a charge of drunkenness, sentenced to 48 hours* imprisonment, and later discharged. As he was penniless the sergeant of police handed him 3/6 as a personal donation to the needy so that he might secure a meal if he did not strike work immediately. The released imbiber expressed his intention of going to the country and settling down again to hard toil. He booked a passage to the nearest “watering place” and alighted. The sergeant in plain clothes, also happened to be aboard the train, and ultimately they found themselves in the same hotel. The receiver of charity walked straight to the bar, and ordered a long beer with the air of a millionaire. Enter, the sergeant. “So this is where wou have got to?” “Yes, but I didn’t expect to see you here,” came the reply. A thirsty man left the premises later without his long beer, but with a greater respect for the long arm of the law.

While potatoes may bo purchased at country stations in Canterbury at from £3 5/- to £3 10/- per ton, the price retain Palmerston North is £lO per ton (says an exchange). The numerous burglaries in Gisborne of late, and the free and easy way in which, apparently, the midnight marauders work undisturbed, has caused much alarm to a large section of the community. A rather unusual story is being told in the town (says the Gisborne “Times”). A well-known resident, it is said, returned home one evening last week and found the front door open and the maid lying gagged and bound in the dining-room. Certain silverware and other valuables were missing. The maid was questioned by the police, and told a graphic story of a man breaking in, seizing her and carving her to the dining-room, where she was gagged and bound. The intruder then (so her story went) departed with the swag. Then the search for clues began, and after a time the police went away. For two or three days nothing was heard, but finally the swag was discovered in the next door section near a window of the “burgled” house. Then the girl, it is alelged, confessed that she had been j reading a blood-curdling novel, and thought she would have a “lark” with the police. In an old building now being demolished at the corner of Shortland and Princes Street one can sec how solidly people used to build when Auckland was in its infancy (states the “Star”). And although it was one of the earliest buildings put up, it was built of such excellent heart of kauri I that some of the. timber is still as sound as a bell. Compared with the ricketylooking skeletons which arc now the fashion —the very minimum of strength consistent with holding together—this relic of early Auckland is solidity itself. The studs are six by four inche:< and instead of one lonely brace from corner to corner each space of about six feet is cross-braced with extra bits in here and there just to make certain. Each corner stud is a six by six, and extends in one piece from the ground to the top of the second story. The joists are in keeping, and some of the beams are over a foot thick. Most interesting of all was the method o: covering the walls. Instead of the usual wcatherboarding upright boards of exceptional width and thickness were used. Each board was a solid bit of kauri about three feet wide by about an inch and a-half thick, tongued and grooved, and a batten fixed over the joint to make it water-tight. To build a place on such a generous scale today would cost a small fortune. The “futility” of the city man as compared with the country-bred girl was demonstrated by an incident in Auckland last Wednesday (relates the “Star”). A horse harnessed to a tradesman’s cart stumbled and fell,

pitching the driver over its head o: to the hard roadway. The man was

litle stunned, and before he could recover himself the horse had in a general way commenced to smash things up as it lay on the ground struggling to free itself. With commendable pluck a smartly-dressed young woman grasped the situation, and, getting hold of the horse’s head and sitting on it, gave instructions to a few nervous men who had gathered how to free the horse from its predicament. Occasionally a movement from the prone horse scattered them quickly, much to her disgust. She asked one young fellow to sit ou the horse’s head and she would soon free the harness. “I wouldn’t sit on its head for a fiver,” said the young fellow. By this time the driver had come to himself, and the horse was soon got. free. “Thank you, Miss,” lie said, “you arc worth six of those city chaps.” “Oh, I learnt to do that on my father’s farm,” she said, as she passed on, telling the young driver to bathe the horse’s injuries with plenty of hot water, and to put embrocation on the ijnured knee.