LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 3 October 1925, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A Press Association message from -Wellington stated that Herbert James McGrath and Clarence Ronald Sutherland, who were charged with commencing a lottery by Avhich prizes were to be drawn by a mode of chance, were each fined £SO. Sir James Parr (Minister for Education), in opening the secondary department of the high school at Marton on Thursday, dwelt on the necessity for more education, and outlined the scheme for higher education already reported. Sir James hinted at the building of an agricultural college “in the centre of the North Island.” — Press Assn.

Following the audacious theft of furniture from the residence of Mr. H. P. Kissling at Auckland on Monday, E. Maud, jeweller,- has notified Arthur’s Limited, auctioneers, who bought some of the furniture from the thief for £lB, that he received Arthur’s cheque for that amount on Monday afternoon from the man who purchased jewellery and received in change £lO. —Press Assn. It is announced that preliminaries are approaching completion for the raising of a £5,00J,000 loan in the Dominion. The term will be ten years at 51- per cent., issued at par. Although the bank rate in England has been reduced to 4 per cent., it does not follow that this makes it advisable to go upon the Home market for so largo an amount, but it is not unlikely that the reduction will facilitate the disposal of some of the last loan, which was left on the under-, writers ’ hands.

Under the auspices of the Kaponga Croquet Club a monster dance is to be held in the Town Hall, Kaponga, on Thursday next, October 8. In addition to the dance programme entertainment will be catered for with a euchre tournament, the tables for which- will he arranged in the annexe. Boulton’s Orchestra has been engaged to set the rhythm for the dances, to which interest should he added by special numbers, including a maiden waltzing competition for a £1 Is prize, and novelty dance contests for worthy trophies.

The question as to the prices that will probably be ruling for our primary products such as butter, cheese, wool and meat, for the coming summer and autumn will soon be before, our minds. Prices for land in many parts of New Zealand have advanced so materially during the past decade that farmers here will be obliged to follow the lead of Denmark and resorb more to growing root crops for winter feeding, and crops such as lucerne, kales, eliou moellier, millet and ‘rape for the autumn feeding, and thus much increase the output per acre, and reduce the cost of production. We are reminded of this by a timely notice upon the matter inserted by Messrs F. Cooper Ltd., the well-known seed growers of Wellington, which appears in another column.

Anxious enquiries are being, made by Mr. J. T. Riley, of Auro-a, regarding i the whereabouts of his son Victor. The lad, whose age is 15 years, was missed from his home on Thursday and so far no trace of him hia.s been discovered. The catches reported by local anglers show that fish are about in fair numbers. The condition-of the streams has been against- fishing, but prospects appear to be very good. The only catch reported this morning was by Messrs Preston and Davies, who took fifteen in the Otakeho and Ouri streams. “Natives on the East Coast are spending hundred® of pounds in equipping rooms for manual: training in then* schools, and the practical side of education is becoming more apparent every day,” said Dr. Mdlraith, senior inspector, <a:b the Hawke’s Bay Education Board’s meeting recently. A Gisborne resident who invested in German bondis during the boom several years ago, has been advised by his brother, resident in London, that the bonds sold in Gisborne are now worth from 7s to 9s per £IOO. Financial experts in London consider it is extremely unlikely that any large increase 4 n the value of the bonds will take place. The Taranaki Rugby football team started from New Plymouth for Auckland by motor on Tuesday, but their car had a breakdown near Otorahanga in the afternoon and tlio players had to walk eight miles to catch the Main Trunk express in order that they might reach Auckland iu time to catch the train for Wliangarei on Wednesday.

In the last 24 weeks train passengers have increased by over one million, working expenses by- £11,555 and receipts by £(.iiU>o. During part of the time a heavy reduction in long distance fares has been in force. On the old number of passengers the drop in revenui would bo £IB,OOO, but the increase in passengers will neutralise this to some extent.

Viscount Torrington was arrested at Yu filing, Kent, on a charge of offering a worthless cheque iat a Nottingham bank, states a London cable. He married a Gaiety actress, but was divorced in 1921. His bankruptcy in 1919 included 'a debt of £IO,OOO to his first wife. Viscount Torrington was released an 'bail until October 9. As the offence is a misdemeanour he will be treated as a commoner, trial by peers before the House of Lords being reserved for felony.

An explosion in No. 1 camp at Arapuni on Wednesday night blew off the roof of the building and cracked a 6in. concrete wall. The timber lining caught fire. The flames were quickly extinguished. Most of the men living in the vicinity were on the night shift. No one was injured. It is supposed that the explosion was caused by sticks of gelignite left in a workman’s clothes becoming heated when the wet clothing was left hanging 6n the steam pipes.

The. Hon. Crawford Vaughan, exPrime .Minister of South Australia, who is to speak in Hawera on Monday evening, was the founder of the Australian Cotton Growing Association, With. Mr Johnson, a cotton expert, he travelled 10,000 miles in the Commonwealth, organising this body. The great development of the Australian cotton industry since Mr Vaughan took the matter in hand is shown by the increase from 30 bales in 1920 to 10,000 bales in 1925. The visitor is described as a man of untiring energy, of unde administrative experience, and of generous sympathies, and an expert debater.

While patrolling his beat along Queen Street, Auckland, about 8.30 p.m. on Sunday, September 13, Constable Needham received a complaint about a man parading the street dressed up as a woman. As a sequel to the incident a young man, K. J. Dell, appeared before Mr. Poynton, S.M., at the Police Court on a charge of behaving in a disorderly manner in . Queen Street. Constable Needham said he found Dell walking along the street. He was dressed in female attire and wore women’s shoes, besides a hat, veil and neck scarf. Dell was attempting to disrobe when witness first saw him. On the application of Dell, the hearing of the charge was adjourned until the following morning. —Press Association.

Although every precaution was taken to flag off a wide area as a danger zone during the blowing up of the Cyrena at Wauganui, still the element of danger exists through flying pieces of steel. An instance of this was disclosed the other afternoon when, after an explosion, a large piece of ship’s plate travelled a distance of half a mile and buried itself in the sand about three feet from a Castlecliff lady and her family of small children. ' This occurred at the comer of Nikau Street and the Town Belt Road. The lady had gone out to meet the children coming from school and was wheeling a pram. She had stopped to allow the small boy to catch up, otherwise she considers cither the pram or herself would have been in the direct line of the flying steel. She •heard the explosion, and a little later there was a whirring noise as though an aeroplane was approaching, and the next thing was a dull thud as the steel penetrated the sand, about a foot of it being left uncovered. How Sir Ernest Rlutherland nearly lost his life in Pel or us Sound when a boy of about 14 is related bv Ml’. G. A. Rutland, of Taupaki, near Auckland. Mi*. Rutland recalls that Sir Ernest’s father, Mr. James Rutherford, became interested in flaxmilliug ab Ruapaka, in Pelorus Valley, a mile from where the Rutland family was living. Mr. Rutherford took his family of thirteen to Havelock, where Sir Ernest received most of bis early education. One Satu > day afternoon six boys went for a row in the Sound. They included two brothers named Mathews, three Rutherford brothers, including Ernest, and a boy named Price, aged 16, who wtas in charge of Hie boat. They were warned not to put up sail, and so pulled down the Sound for about five miles. A stiff breeze sprang up-, and one of the boys was tempted to put- the sail into commission. The breeze developed into a -strong wind before long, and the inexperienced youths found themselves in the wa-ter. Two of the Rutherford brothers, aged 10 and 12, who were uns/oile to swim, were swept away and were never seen again. The rest of the little party clung to the upturned -boat, and. were buffeted about ill n veritable tempest for uearly two hours. They were eventually rescued by a settler.