LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 March 1929, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Eltham Salvation Army brass band will visit Hawera to-night in connection with the harvest festival celebrations. The Hon. T. M. Wilford on Saturday inspected the proposed site of the aerodrome at Green Island, Dunedin, and approved it. Mr Charles Todd has completed the purchase of .the property and will deed it in trust to the City Council for a landing ground. Tlie committee of the Egmont A. and P. Association has arranged a working bee on the showgrounds to-morrow (Tuesday) to make arrangements for the gymidiana on Wednesday next. Work will commence at 10 a.m. In the Ketemarae Pa on Wednesday next there will be a. social and dance at which the Rongonui Maori orchestra will perform, in addition to songs, poi and hula dances, and other items. 'The lloor and supper and music will be of the best. Competing at a carnival in Masterton on Saturday night, T. Oakley, Masterton, New Zealand champion cyclist, lowered his record of 2mfn 21 4-ssee for the mile, doing the distance in 2min llsec. Earlier in the evening he also did the same distance in 2min 11 l-ssec. It is stated that somewhat important changes in the matter of electricity charges will be discussed 1 by the Stratford Borough Council at Monday night’s meeting, says the “Post.” Though no dennite information is available on the subject, it is understood that the proposals to be brought forward are in the nature of a revision of all charges for electricity. At the demonstration held on Mr. Trilby King’s farm last week, Mr. D. O’Sullivan said that, they were going to ask the. Jersey Council to subsidise them for £125 to be allotted to 25 shows for a progeny class. He personally thought it better to put it for one prize at one of New Zealand’s foremost shows as this would attract breeders more. St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, and the Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage will benefit to the extent of £I7OO under the terms of the will of the late Miss Charlotte M. McLaehlan, who died on Thursday (states an Auckland message). The will provides for £IOO for the Leslie Presbyterian Orphanage and similar sums for St. Matthew’s Church and the Maori Mission administered by St. Andrew’s Church. The balance of the estate, amounting to £I4OO, goes to St. Andrew’s Church. “Much of the trouble is that tlie value of the use of cattle has been forgotten,” remarked Mr. J. C. Field at a meeting of the Poverty Bay executive of tlie Farmers’ Union at Gisborne, when a circular from the Dominion executive with regard to deteriorated lands was under discussion. Mr. Field added that when beef prices slumped many farmers went out of i cattle breeding, only to discover their mistake when the pastures began to deteriorate. It was being discovered now, however, that a beast to five acres was required to keep sheep land in order. It was decided to support- the decision of the Dominion executive to urge the Government to set up deteriorated land and land for settlement boards, one for the North Island and one for the South. The annual meeting of the Opunake District High School Old Pupils Association took place on Wednesday. Officers were elected as follow: Patron, Mr W. 11. Burgess; president, Mr S. D. Sinclair; vice-presidents, Misses Edna Hindi and Margaret Bailey and Messrs C. Urbahn and L. Main; secretary and treasurer, B. S. Dudley; executive committee, Douglas Lind, Miss C. Bailey (Awatuna); Miss Madge Pennington and Henry Brewer (Oaonui); Miss L. Pettigrew and Wm. Allan (Pihama); Misses S. Crofskcy, Iv. Julian, E. Hinch and Messrs W. Dudley, C. Urbahn (Opunake), and officers ex officio. The dance in November showed a credit, of £l2 10s, and this was voted to the school committee for improvement of the high school grounds. The question; of entering an Old Boys team in the Des Forges Cup competition was discussed and it is probable a team will be entered. Badges are to be procured and these will be available from the secretary.

On Friday eve.ning a tire broke out in the house of Mr T. Tumaroroa, at. Oliangai, caused by a kerosene stove getting out of 'order. The outbreak was extinguished without much damage being done. Speaking at a recent meeting of the Pastoralists ’ Association, in Perth, Western Australia, the president, Mr E. Lee Steere, said that kangaroos were now more numerous than sheep in' the pastoral areas, with the result that valuable feed was lost. He hoped that the Government would declare the kangaroo vermin in the pastoral areas and encourage its destruction.

Some surprise was caused at the, conference at Wellington on setlement and migration when the chairman (Mr A. L. Hunt) declared that there were many in the British Empire who were firmly of opinion that unless New Zealand absorbed more people it could not hope to continue, living under the Union Jack. "That view is held by not a few people,” said Mr. Hunt. “I can’t help thinking that we are a pack of snug, self-centred fools. It is well known that self-preservation is the first law of nature, yet tlie question of the national security of New Zealand seems to be overlooked. It is an extraordinary state of affairs. There is only one way to provide for our security. It is not by contributing towards the Singapore Base. It is not by building more battleships. It is only by peopling the country that we can provide for our national security.” “If dehorning of cattle is made compulsory, in twenty years’ time cattle, i believe, will grow without horns,” declared Mr. William Harris, ex-pre-sident of the Canterbury Master Butchers’ Association, when interviewing the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. G. IV. Forbes) at Christchurch. “That is the general belief,” continued Mr. Harris, who produced a photograph of a kitten without a right foieleg. The father of the kitten, in being run over by a train, had its right foreleg taken off. “Like father, like son,” said Mr. Harris. “It will be the same with the cattle.” Mr. Kerrigan, of the Department of Agriculture, agreed with Mr. Harris that cattle would in time grow without horns, but lie thought that it would take more than twenty years. An expert classification of the fish •being .netted in Hauraki Gulf by the originators of the projected sardine industry shows that they are a species closely related to those commercially exploited in English and European waters. Until now there has been no independent classification by experts of the little fish, which are being caught in considerable numbers ancl salted down in barrels until such time as a canning industry can be established. In the meanwhile those active in launching the new enterprise are continuing their practical researches in an endeavour to locate the homes of the gulf shoals, and with the aid of their latest high-powered lighting installation are nightly meeting with liberal success in netting.

Greater Mercury Island, lying off Coromandel Peninsula, has just been sold. The new owner of this attractive island "kingdom” is Mr E. E. Mizen, of Te Awamutu. One of the advantages of owning Greater Mercury Island is that no rates are payable whatever. Recently it was rumoured that Mr Zane Grey had bought the island for a permanent fishing establishment, but this is not so. Several attempts have been made to effect a sale with him, but they were fruitless. At present Mr Grey has established a fishing camp on the island and has succeeded in making Mercury Bay and the surrounding sea areas popular places for deep-sea fishing. Greater Mercury Island consists of 4240 acres, half of which can be farmed. Until recently the island has been administered by the Public Trustee at Auckland. Although it was not fully stocked, it carried 1972 sheep, 889 lambs, '93 cows, 43 yearlings, 67 steers, 3 bulls, and 5 horses.

Most of the dairy factories in the Manawatu report aii increase of about 20 per cent, in milk production for the last mouth over the corresponding period for last year, while prices are a little better. The increase in production is due to the beneficial rainfall which enabled many farmers to maintain their previous month’s supply. The Awahuri is advancing Is 6d per lb. of butter-fat, making a total distribution of £12,000. The supply’ increase is approximately 25 per cent, over March of last yeaT, the average grade being 92.25. The Rangiotu factory is advancing Is 6d., with a further payment of 14d. for the last season up to the end of December, making a total payment of Is SJd. The Mangawhata, Tokomaru, and Makowhai factories will pay out Is 6d "per lb.