LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 23 February 1929, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

According to the “Stratford Post” the. .pay-outs by local dairy factories this .month are on the lines of previous months, but a rise in price is hoped for before the next pay-out is fixed. Otherwise a reduction seems likely.

During the discussion with the Minister of Education at Elthami on the question of the Rawhitiroa School and its proposed closing, it was mentioned 'by Mr Smith, the headmaster, that there were fifty-four turns in the four miles between Rawhitiroa and Eltham. In addition, Mr Smith said that some children had to travel two miles before reaching Rawhitiroa school, and this would mean that paddocks where their ponies could be left during the day would have to be provided.

An English Alpinist, Miss M. Grlynne, i who was accompanied by two. guides, | Jack Pope and Frank Alack, left the Glacier Hotel on Monday last and traversed the Franz Josef Glacier to the Aimer Bivouac. Next day they were ' successful in making the ascent of M?t. j Spencer, 9167 ft., a fine rock peak on the divide north of Mt. Conway. After traversing the huge snowfields of the Franz Josef Glacier, the party made the ascent of the mountain by the north face. This peak has not been climbed since March, 1914, when it >vas first ascended by Dr Teichlemann, of Hokitika, and Alex. Graham, of Waiho Gorge. Thet Masterton A., and P. Society’s ram fair was continued yesterday before a large attendance of buyers. Lincolns, both studs and flocks, met with the best sale for yeans, 110 guineasbeiog the top. price for stud Lincoln, offered on account of L. R. Wilton, of Mas,teuton, the purchaser being a Waimate breeder, R. Donald. Lincoln flock •rams, fetched up to 19 guineas. Southdown stud and floflok rams also met •with a satisfactory market. For quality animals, stud Southdown rams, sold on account of W. J. GimiMtett, Manawatu, topped the market at 122 guineas, being purchased by the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Christchurch. Another brought 100 guineas. Southdown flock rams ranged up to 31 guineas. A few pens of Oorrieda’les were offered but only two lots were sold.

The need for forming a class for physical defectives .at the _ Hawera school was stressed yesterday in an interview with the Minister of Education by Mr. J. W. J. Harding, chairman of the Main Committee. Mr. Harding told the Minister that the suggestion had been backed; by the Taranaki Board, but held for further consideration by the Education Department. He asked the Minister to take up the matter and if possible have it brought to fruition. The Minister wa,s very sympathetic in his hearing and promised to give the matter full consideration. It may h© mentioned that the idea is to give ailit who aria in such a class special physical drill and exercises so ais to give them a. chance of development.

Discussing the possibilities of a visit to New Zealand irom a representative British team of Rugby prayers during 1930, Mr >3. IS. Dean, of Wellington, stated while in Gisborne that lie bait certain the tour would take place. Mr Dean is a prominent member of the New Zealand Rugby Union executive, and his tour as manager of the 1924 An) Blacks gave him an excellent opportunity of forming friendly contacts with Rugby men on the other .side of the world. He remarked to a pressman that in connection with the 1930 tour to New Zealand there was every enan.ee at present of Scotland being associated with the dispatch of the team, which then would be fully representative. If Scotland did not participate it would be a great pity, for there was a line chance of healing ithe old breach.

A great record of work has been put up during several years by. member® or iae Rawhitiroa School Committee, when the deputation from the committee was interviewing the Minister of Education at Eltham yesterday, it was suited by a resident that he . believed no school committee in Now Zealand bad been holding more money raised by local effort. Another recalled that the members of the committee had taken pick and shovel and had excavated and) put down tennis courts and had done much beautifying work round the school. They would nave had swimming baths, for which money was held, but a difficulty had arisen in regard to the water supply.

(■speaking in support of till© Rawihitirea delegation at me conference in Eltiianr with the Minister - of ri.du.oation, Mr id. G. Dickie, M.P. for Patea, said •that lie was opposed to the centralisation policy in the case of primary schools such ns Rawhitiroa, but he favoured strengthening secondary schools so as to serve wider districts. He said it was.wrong to take ilittle children on conveyances such as would be required, and he instanced the case of . Whareroa, where, in deference to the opposition of ’local residents, the transport question was dropped. While in Wellington this week, Mr L .O. Hooker, secretary of the Egmont Park South Committee, approached the Post and Telegraph authorities wijlx a. request that arrangements should be made for an all-nighit telephone service for Dawson Pails Hostel. Hitherto the hostel has been cut olf from telephone communication after the closing of the is.apon.ga exchange at 11 p.in., and on Sundays and holidays it- was limited to an hour’s .service morning and afternoon. This a rrangement has proved an obstacle to tlio speedy summoning oh •assistance in the case of accidents on the mountain, and in the past attempts have been made unsuccessfully to improve the position. As a result of Mr Hooker’s representations arrangements have been made for the hostel telephone bo be connected with a private subscriber’s line after the closing of the exchange, thus ensuring speedy communi cation between Dawson Falils and Kaponga.. The most serious breakdown in the. history of the Southland Electric Power Board occurred short y before 8 o’clock on Wednesday night, and the light and power .services were out of oomoraissaOTi titl 9.30 p.m. The trams in Invercargill were at a standstill during that; period. The theatres were plunged! into darkness until .standby plants were brought into operation, while at. the telegraph office candles were hurriedly brought 'into use. There was a serious delay at the “Southland Times,’’ where the linotype machines were idle far nen.rty two’hours .and a half, other businesses relying solely on electric power being affected probably to a lesser .extent. Beyond the fact, that something had gone wrong at the head works at Monowaiit nothing definite lias been made known concerning actual 1 cause of the breakdown. When the lights failed efforts were immediately made to restore the .supply from the steam plant which was previously in use. end 1 - 9.30 n.m. this had been a.c"(rnip’.ished.

Catering for the 3600 persons carried by the Majestic, the biggest liner in the world, is a colossal task. For the round trip to America she will carry, among other stores, 55,0001 b of meat, 30,0001 b of green vegetables, 48,000 eggs, 06001 b of butter, and 42,0001 b of flour. . *

The Rev. R. E,. Evans's subject at St. John’s Presbyterian Church tomorrow evening will be “The Inequalities of Life, and Why.”

Mr N. H. Fuller, Hawera Golf Club professional, returned to Hawera this week, and lias resumed his duties at Fairfield. An indication of the gradually increasing prosperity of the Dominion is reflected in the payment of rates to the Hawera County Council. The total European rate struck in the county for the 1928-29 period was £21,439. The total paid up to Friday night was £21,037, and as there is still five weeks to go for the end of the financial year, .this probably constitutes a record.

“Tobacco is being grown in very large areas in the Nelson-Motueka district, ’ ’ said Mr J. Revell, of Kaponga, to a “ Hawera Star ’ ’ representative on his return from a tour round that district. The growers state that the returns are the best they have ever had and t'he outlook for profitable farming is very promising. Mr Revell saw a lot | of the fruit areas and learnt that the crops in the orchard were very’ heavy and the fruit of good quality. Mr Revell went through the Rye Valley and found that road work was very active, some hundreds of men being at work straightening out bad corners and widening the roads. On a short visit to Hawera and district, Mr W. T. Esson, chief inspector for New Zealand for the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., was in Hawera this week. He has visited the various parts of Taranaki, including some of the baekbloek areas. In conversation -with a “Hawera Star” representative Mr Esson said that he was very pleased with the prospects in the farming industry. He believed much of the deteriorated laud would come back into profit as better farming methods were adopted and he already saw an improvement. Mr Esson is paying an official visit to all the branches in the Dominion previous to leaving on a business trip to London. He will leave for the Old Country on April 3. One of the most popular events along the coast is the Waverlev show, which is to be held at the recreation ground at Waverley on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, Match IS. 'This year the society’s coming of age, the 21st show, will be celebrated and this will add to the interest of the function. The dates of ©losing-in the various sections a're as follow: General show entries, Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m,; amateur athletic events, Saturday, March 2; and for writing and drawing, in the school schedule, Monday, March 11. Schedules are now available and may be secured from the secretary, Mr J. E. Palmer, Box 9, Waverley. The new Garrett articulated locomotive had >a second trial rum yesterday with a load of 312_ tons, making the trip to Johnsonville in 11 minutes. The ordinary type A.B. Pacific engine, drawing a load of 190 tons, takes 14 minutes for the same rum. The traction effort of the Garrett engine is 51,380 lb; that of the A.B. type ds 20,0001 b only. xiLO registrar of the New Zealand University advised the Taranaki Education -Board on Wednesday that, tne Council of the University had! adopted, the recommendation by the Taranaki Education Board that a portion of the funds in the Taranaki Scholarship endowment be made available for schoiarsiiips and bursaries tenable at the Massey Agricultural College. The Minister of Education will be asked to promote the necessary legislation to give effect to the proposal. —“Herald.’’

The Hooding of the workings in the nikurangi oqai mine is now found to he more serious than was at first thought states the, nuckijand ‘‘Btar”;, and tne prospects or early resumption or work is not bngnt. Tine inflow of water-was irons a creek, in the Hikuraiigi swamp. Examination showed that this creek nad aramed into an underground channel at a point about 11 mlies north of the mine. The director® of the company are now taking steps to divert the coarse of this creek sO' as to prevent further water flooding, the mine from that point. This, of course', means some considerable delay, and meanwhile the miners will' be out of work. "A magnificent performance in seamanship.” was the comment made by an Auckland shipmaster upon the achievement of Captain WiUiami! Hemiry MacDonald, master of the Government’s motor vessel Maui Pomare, who took his' vessel safely to sea at Apia on J anuary 16 in the face of a raging gate, eaptam MacDonald was warned by the. harbourmaster of Apia of the peril oi remaining in the harbour in a high ..■ale, which theratened to develop into a hurricane. Captain MacDonald could not get the Maui Pomare head-on, and he took tlie only course open—that of beating, his way against the gale stern first. The violence of an Apia hurricane was fully proved during the ’nineties, when 19 vessels, including five man-o‘-war, were lost. _ The only vessel to escape was the Calliope, .under Captain Kean. ‘ ‘Captain MacDonald s feat of seamanship is second oiily to that of Captain Kean,” was the remark made.

Informed that the erection of a wire screen, 4ft above the parapet on each side of Grafton Bridge, would cost £6BO, 'the Auckland City Council decided on Thursday evening to take no action in the matter (states the “New Zealand Herald”). Mr L. A. Eady had suggested at .the previous meeting that consideration should be given to the provision of some safeguard to deter ■persons from mounting the parapet, particularly in view of recent fatalities. In presenting an estimate of tlio cost, the city engineer, Mr. W. E. Bush, said it would be extremely difficult, without largely spoiling the appearance of the bridge, to deter suioidally-inelined persons from mounting the, parapet. “Even if we roofed the bridge over I do not think we would deter such people,” said Mr J. Dempsey, chairman of the Works Committee, who had considered the suggestion. hour scientists have leit Liverpool on a journey of 7eoo miles with more tuan .WO packing eases, some weigning over half a ton, in order to witness. a spectacle last five minutes. The, are Dr Jacivson and Mr. T. Melotte, Greenwich Observatory, Colonel Stratton and Dr. vrarroli, ol Cambridge. They are going to Malaya specially to observe the total eclipse ox the sun, which occurs on May 9. Special eclipse expeditions are also proceeding trom America, Holland, Germany arm other countries. To minimise the risk ot Dad weather they are taking up stations at various points on the belt ot totality, pooling their results.