LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 13 February 1926, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Seven motorists were each fined £lO and costs by the magistrate at Christchurch for speeding. One driver also had his license endorsed. Stratford Eire Brigade heat Eltharn in a competition lor the shield held annually between the two brigades. On two charges of laying totalisator odds. George Bull, at the Waipukurau Magistrate’s Court, was yesterday lined IK) and 7s costs on each charge.--Press Assn. The water pressure in the Hawcra mains last week averaged 27.00 lbs at 9 a.in., 33.831 bx at noon, and 72.51bs maximum pressure at night. In to-day’s issue appear the statutory notices in regard to the Licensing Committee elections for the Pa tea and Egmont licensing districts respectively. Nominations of candidates close on the 27th inst. at noon, and polls, if necessary, will be held on March 9. The police are still searching for Ernest Sutherland, the' half-caste Maori, wanted on charges of arson and the attempted murder of his wife at Awalmri. alleged to have been commit ted in the early hours of Thursday morning. Sutherland was ]ast seen at the Bulls bridge over the Rangitikev River, says a Press Association message from Feilding.

Weather permitting, the opening of the reconditioned Stratford Mountain House will take place to-morrow afternoon, cars leaving the Stratford Post Office at 2 p.m.

Speaking to the farmers at Manaia yesterday,"as the result of observations during his trip to Australia, Mr. J. W. Deem said that although he saw in some of the rich river flats very fine fields of lucerne, lie saw nothing that for general good quality could give points to some of the fields he had seen round Manaia. The crops here were, in his opinion, equal in weight and better in quality. The farmers over in Australia, of course, cultivated very much larger areas.

A tribute was paid to the dairy farms of South Taranaki by Mr. A. JFiirai, the Japanese agricultural expert who was in Taranaki last year, when he told Mr. Deem that he saw no dairy farm in his journeys in Australia so good as the best farms round this district, and that the dairy farm homesteads here were far ahead oi those in Australia.

As a result of hotel thieves paying a visit to a hotel on Thursday evening, several members of the British bowling party will have .just cause to remember their visit to Wellington. One member of the party had £57 stolen, while another was a loser to the extent of £2t. The police iiave the matter under investigation. —P.A.

There is a great clea lof ragwort on the unimproved and semi-improved properties round the T'e Awamutu district, notably further south. A farmer is reported to have recently lost 200 sheep from the effects of the weed, eaten* before he purchased them. At a meeting of directors of the Manutahi Dairy Company, held this week, a resolution was passed affirming the desirability of the Dairy Control Board assuming full control of exported dairy produce from August 1 next. On Wednesday next the Women’s National Reserve has charge of the tea kiosk at the motor cycle sports. All profits are to be divided between the Boy Scouts and the Automobile Association. In order to help the profits it has been decided to ask the sympathisers of either organisation for donations of cakes or scones. These may he sent to the Women’s Rest room, next Borough Chambers, between “the hours of 11 a.m. and noon and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, or any time that day at the Park Store. It ‘is hoped the response. will lie generous, as a large gathering is expected.

Describing the fire at Opunake, when the factory was destroyed, a spectator told the Eltham Argus that the building, of wood and iron, was very old, and burnt with astonishing rapidity. The flames burst out suddenly, and in about half an hour the destruc. tion of the premises was complete. When the ammonia plant was reached by the flames, the spectators were treated to a brilliant display of blue, green, and yellow flame, which was unique as a spectacle. The water wheel kept on turning, the water supply not being affected by the' fire. Yesterday the suppliers sent their milk to the Ihaia creamery, a branch of the Opunake Company, and the cream was sent to Oaonui.

A strong protest against the duty on the importation of wheat and flour was made bv the North Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union yesterday, says the Taranaki Herald. The protest will he forwarded to the Dominion executive, The Minister or Agriculture' (the Hon. 0. J. Hawken) wil be waited upon by a deputation, which will comprise representatives of the union and, if possible, the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce and the poultry men s’- associations. A conference between the Taranaki executive and the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce was held in New Plymouth in the afternoon to draw up a. detailed statement of the wheat position. The latest- development in the cement manufacturing industry is what has been termed electric cement, said Mr T. H. Wilson, when addressing the Whangarei Rotary Club. This class of cement, which was burned electrically, was unheard of until during the war. It was a French discovery, which enabled gunpits to he made one day and the big guns fired from them next day. Electric cement is as strong in 48* hours as the ordinary product is at 28 days. Mr Wilson, stated that this is being closely watched by . the local producers, and steps are being taken to meet the development should the necessity arise. In the repairing of streets it was valuable, because, although considerably dearer than the usual product, traffic could h© permitted over a repaired roadway on the day after the concrete was put down. In the Supreme Court at Christchurch yesterday, Herbert James Symons was found guilty of having assaulted Thomas George Atkinson, but not with intent to do grievous bodily harm. Atkinson, a newspaper runner alleged that Symons stopped complainant’s horse and undid the reins from the bridle and attacked Atkinson with a pocket knife. Medical evidence stated that Atkinson’s injuries were superficial. with the exception of a wound on the finger, which would leave a permanent disability. For the defence it was claimed that Atkinson attaacked Symonds with a whip.—P.A. The overseas commissioners at the Dunedin Exhibition arrived in Invercargill yesterday on a brief visit to the province of Southland. They were met at the station by the president of ttie Invercargill Chamber of Commerce (Mr. A. Hoyles), the president of the Southland League (Mr. H. F. Drewe) and Messrs. A. H. Mackrell and R. A. Anderson. After luncheon the members of the party, were taken for a three hours’ drive round Invercargill and the countryside in the afternoon, and at night were the guests at a complimentary dinner at which there was a large and representative gathering of all sections of Southland’s agricultural and commercial interests. To-day the commissioners will visit Stewart Island, and with every prospect of fine weather prevailing the outing should prove an interesting and enjoyable one. The Thames Valley Power Board recently communicated to the electrical branch of the Public Works Department the curious fact- of the weight of birds causing an electric transmission wire to break at Waitoa. The Department, in replying, asked.: “Does .this mean that a large number of birds settled, oil the wire? If there is evidence that the weight of birds settling on the wire had. caused it to break, I think this would be well worth recording, but it seems to me more likely that the birds would fly off as soon as the wind caused the wire to swing. ” The Power Board’s engineer said that this instance was witnessed by one of the board’s troublemen, who saw that particular section of wire laden with starlings, which, when the line broke, flew away. Mr Grace, a member of the board, stated, that he had noticed wires at Gordon; black with starlings. Hawera grocers are endearing themselves to thrifty housewives in admir able style, thanks to “No-Rubbing Laundry Help.” —Advt.