LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 September 1924, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Permits for the erection of buildings to the value ■-■of £17,583 were issued by the New Plymouth Borough Council during August. This amount included 17 new residences, but no big commercial buildings. Some sheep which had just been shorn were noticed by a Star representative on a farm near Eltham on Saturday. A farmer near Hawera states that he intends to shear his sheep in a few days’ time. The Customs revenue collected at New Plymouth during August totalled £8689 ss, an increase of £2266 18s 5d compared with the corresponding month of last yea.r. The beer duty amounted to £176 15s 7d, a decrease of 037 17s lOd compared with August, 1P23

The best-known picture by the artist Mr Francis Barraud, whose death has been recorded, is probably “His Master’s Voice,” which was purchased by the Gramophone Company and repror duced as an advertisement.

Assisted immigrants totalling 411 arrived in Wellington last night by the lonic. Twenty-three of the new arrivals are booked for New Plymouth. The. immigrants include 38 domestics. Seven English public schoolboys also arrived by the lonic. One comes under the Taranaki Chamber of Coninferce scheme, and six are under the New Zealand Farmers’ Union scheme. Each boy will go to a different fj.im, their destinations being Cambridge, Mangaweka, Waverley, Raetihi, Gbinewai, Taupiri, and Maudeville (Core).

Women’s feet are getting bigger, says a London correspondent. Shoes below the si/e of four are not being made now. The chief demand is for sixes, sevens, and eights, whereas 20 years ago threes, fours, and fives were in normal ddmand. Eight is an average size shoe for a man, and many men take sevens, and even sixes. The athletic movement among, women is probably responsible for the change. Probably high heels may make a difference to the size of feet, as the tilting up of the heel causes the forepart of the. foot to spread out, necessitating a larger shoe as time goes on. An interesting physiological fact, that the skull makes room for a growing brain, was mentioned by Mr J. H. Hudson in an address .delivered at the Museum Institute, Auckland. In support of this theory, the speaker stated that the distinguished “lawlords” of the English courts had to get their heads measured and their wigs enlarged from time to time. Another instance Of the proof of this theory, quoted by the lecturer, was that William Ewairt Gladstone found it necessary to buy a new hat every two years—-not that lie was suffering from “swell-headedness” in the ordinary sense of the word, but because his brain actually continued to grow until he reached the age of 90.

Some amusement was caused at a conference of Bay of Plenty delegates owing to the title “Hell’s Gate,” which is the name of the spot from wnence it is proposed the Opotiki should obtain a supply# of hydro-elec-tric power (says the Whakatane Press). Hr. Gill, of Te Puke, facetiously suggested that the name should be altered. He did not like the idea of power from ‘‘Hell’s Gate.” Amid much laughter Mr. H. R. Hogg, at a later stage of the meeting, stated that Upotiki delegates had met together and passed a vote of sympathy to Mr. Gill, as they could quite understand the feeling he expressed. Henceforward, therefore, and forever more “Hell’s” would be known as “Paradise Gap.”

Professor John Adams, not the least of whost attributes is a delightful sense of humour, and who showed crowded audiences that the temple of Minerva need not-necessarily be a dull place, introduced to Sydney some strange words and terms. In recommending a rational system of card indexing for all school children, so that when they leave school there will be a card history of each child, Professor Adams said that while individuals might be classified in many different ways, “introverts” or “extroverts” might come within a general classification. What, then, are these strange beings? The “introvert,” it appears, is the introspective person who is always poking his nose into things, and examining the why and the wherefore of them, instead of doing things. The “extrovert,” on the other hand, is the man who rushes at things and does them without examining too closely the reason for his action—the fat man, for example, according to the elderly professor,, who rushes into a railway carriage at the last minute and breathlessly exclaims, “Have you room for another little on?” and before he reaches the next station is in conversation with half the people in the carriage. Professor Adams'laid down the dictum that to be a successful politician or clergyman “of preaching type,” or to be a successful auctioneer, a man has to be an “extrovert.” University professors would not be nearly so depressing if thev were all like distinguished John Adams, whose bigness, intellectuallv, is in strange contrast with his diminutive height. A grand vaudeville concert, in aid of hall funds, will be held in the hall, Kakaramea, on Wednesday next, 3rd September. The euchre partv to be held in the Manaia Town Hall to-night, in aid of the sports queen, promises to be a good success. Good prizes will be given to lady and gent. Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure for coughs and colds, never fail*.—Advt.

The 'total rainfall for the month of August just ended, as registered at the Hawera Post Office, was 3.62 inches. There were 16 days on which rain fell, the maximum fall being on the 17th, when .71 inch was registered. At , the Eltham Magistrate’s Court on Saturday .morning, before Messrs J. \V. Stubbs and H. G. Carman, J.P.’s, a man named Haroldi Barking Howell pleaded guilty to having stolen a safety razor valued at 35s and attempted to sel,l t it. He was convicted and ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within three months.

Animal breeders in East Africa have developed a new beast of burden which they call the zebrule. It is a cross between a horse and a zebra, stands about 14 hands high, and is said to work just as hard as the mule. Caught recently off the coast of Iceland, where the sea reached a depth of 100 fathoms, an extraordinary fish has now been declared new to science. It is three feet long, jet black in colour, with a palmate tail and a curious rodlike process protruding from the centre of the back. The whole of the skin is covered with very sharp, conical white spines.

An interesting programme that, should meet with popular appreciation will be submitted at Kaponga to-morrow evening. The concert has been arranged by Mr. W. G. Simpson, of Hawera., who has organised several successful concerts in the district, and it is anticipated that there will be a large attendance. Mr. Simpson’s party will consist of eight Hawera artists, who will give a number of songs, recitations and dances.