LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 20 May 1926, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mails which left Auckland on April 13, via. Vancouver, arrived at London on May 13. At about- four o’clock yesterday afternoon an- outbreak of fire was discovered in the wash-house of the. Eltlianii Convent, which is distant from the main building about twenty feet. The fire had! a' good hold when the alarm! was- given, but the brigade av as very prompt and soon had the flames extinguished. Mr. A. L. Campbell fciakL ait yesterday’s Farmers’ Union eonferenee that if he were Prime Minister of New Zealand be would employ a gang of men on all land containing noxious weeds, the eradication of which would be a charge against the land upon which they grew. Peter McHae, a cleric employed by the Fordl Sales Company in Wellington, was handed £7O 8s (id to take to thebauk. Instead of doing so he booked a passage to Sydney in the Manama, pocketed the balance of the money, and shipped on board as a- passenger. Wireless and cables were operated, and Mcßae was arrested as he was about to leave the steamer at -SydneyYesterday lie- 'pleaded! guilty to theft from his employer and was remanded for sentence. —Press Assn. Current- for approximately 80 lights and all the gas required for cooking is to be supplied to the- To Puri a Hospital. Waipiro Bay, within the next month by aii electric lighting plantdriven by natural gas. The- gas is obtained 'from a- natural outlet beyond the springs and led a distance ot oW yards to 600 yards to a- gasholder near the hospital. Ngauruhoe continues to he more active than for -some years, past. It was visible from Taupo on Saturday for the first time for a week, and some magnificent shots were observed. At five o’clock in the evening dense clouds of black smoke were rising ItXJOit. above the cone. During the past- week the rumbling of the shots has been plainly* andiblo ai> Tokaanu, the mission at times being sufficient to make windows rattle. The stately pine plantation fringing the railway line in the vicinity of the racecourse at Foxion will soon have disappeared, for tenders are to be called for the timber rights of the whole area —approximately 75 acres. The Minister of Forestry, Hon. O. J. Hawken, visited the snot last week, arid m commenting upon the nature Of the timber said subsequently that had the place been planted systematically in the first place —-forty years ago—the yield of timber would have been in the vicinity of two million feet, whereas it was estimated that the plantation would now produce about a million feet. Some of the trees were wholly unsuitable to the nature of the soil. Taupo advices on Monday stated that Ngauruhoe was showing increased activity. Shots had been more frequent than at any. time since the mountain became active three weeks ago. In the afternoon .columns of black smoke succeeded each other in rapid succession rising - to a height of 2000 ft, each shot being followed: by a- loud rumble, the concussion being sufficient to rattle windows. Several earth tremors were also felt. The volcano was emitting flame on Sunday night. It was again plainly visible from Taupo on Monday night. Out Ararata way a splendid ‘view was obtained of t-lie dense volume of smoke issuing from Ngauruhoe- Quite a, number of townspeople went out to see t-lie unique spectacle.

In connection with recent references to the need for progressive measures being adopted in the interests of the Maori people of the West- Coast area, the Wanganui He*aid understands that consideration is being given to the formation of a West. Coast Maori Welfare League with a view to going into the whole matter fully, bide by side with the expressed desire: lor educational facilities being provided it- is understood that there are excellent possibilities in the near, future for the upriver Maoris developing certain of tlieir holdings, and important proposals, are under consideration at the present time which: may have an important hearing on the trade and the general well-being of tlie upriver Maoris.

The High Court returns in Apia last vear show a revenue of £2391 for the .year 1925-26, a sum considerably m excess of the estimate, says the Auckland Herald. Marriages numbering 1001 helped to swell: the amount to a marked extent. During the period the Chief Judge disnosed, of 79 divorce cases. Dealing with this matter the report says: “It has been a. common practice in the past among the native Samoans for couple's unsuitably married to part by mutual consent and thereafter for one or both parties to take another spouse without the formality of divorce or remarriage. As a result of the legislation passed by the Faipules, and enforced largely through their influence and that of the mission aries, many of these irregular unions of loner standing have been legalised by divorce and re-marriage. Hence the increase in the number or divorce cases.