Local and General

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 18 January 1935, Page 6

Local and General

—, — Instances of vandalism of a particularly distressing nature are reported from Waverley, where headstones in the cemetery nave been painted and artificial wreaths broken. The police have the matter in hand.

A shark’s tooth which was found by Mr D. Roberts, of South Bay, near Kaikoura, has been identified by Professor R. . Speight, curator of the Canterbury Museum, as belonging to an extinct shark which lived in New Zealand and Australian waters in the Middle Tertiary (Eocene-Miocene) age. The extraordinary heat in which Christchurch sweltered last week invaded even the Magistrate’s Court, a cool building if ever there was one. Permission was given by Mr H. A. Young, S.M., that coats might be icmoved if desired. It was an unusual sight to see detectives, counsel and other Court officials, who were not in uniform, carrying out their duties in shirt sleeves.

It was stated at the monthly meeting of the Waitotara County Council on” Monday that farmers had been buying sodium chlorate, subsidised by the county, for ratepayers in other counties. The council decided that such a practice would have to stop. If ratepayers in other counties required cheaper sodium chlorate they should approach their own councils and request them to purchase bulk lots and sell at a lower price, as had been done by the Waitotara County.

Discussing the political situation on Saturday, Mr Will Appleton, a member of tnc Wellington City CoundU .expressed )the opinion, that ai strong National Government, similai to that in Britain was what was needed in New Zc-aalnd. He suggested that the Hon. W. Downie Stewart, should be invited to rejoin the Cabinet and create, more confidence and now that exchange was a. matter for the Reset \e Banir there should be no difficulty about giving the suggestion material effect.

“I am afraid we will wake up some day and find wo have a pest of very serious dimensions to deal with,” commented the chairman of the Horowhenua County Council, Mr G. A. Monk, at a meeting of the council at Levin, in an informal discussion, on the growth of the rabbit nuisance. Mr V j Gimblett said he had had rabbits eat off half an acre of very young swedes as if it had been done by sheep. In three nights’ poisoning operations he had known of over 850 rabbits being taken on three small properties in his district. Farewell gifts to Lord and Lady Eledisloe will be made by the Maoris during the visit of their Excellencies to Rotorua this week. The Arawa Trust Board has had two caskets carved as a farewell gift. In the larger casket it is proposed to place a film of the Waitangi celebrations. An address from the Maoris will also be picsented in tile form of a scroll attached to two lucky sticks. Great importance was attached to these sticks l y the Maoris in bygone days. Strange thefts in Auckland have ueen those of an aeroplane, a turtle and most of the timber from a house, lhe newest kind of theft has been that of mushrooms from an artificial bed established in a cellar at Bastion Point, on the waterfront road. The owners of the cellar have been considerably troubled in recent weeks by tho activities of vandals and thieves. The bars of an iron gate protecting the cellar have been prised apart and implements necessary to mushroom culture have been stolen. Vandals have thrown blocks of concrete down the ventilator of the cellar. The latest article stolen has been a notice board w-arnling intruders against prosecution. The mounted guard of honour, anti the escort of lancers which will be pro vided at Ashburton’s welcome to the Duke of Gloucester on Saturday, are likely to attract much interest. Net only will they form the first mount ad guard seen in New Zealand for many years, but the careful preparatory drilling which has been done has led to confident expectations that the < osplay given will be the best seen since the war. Members of the guard have ‘been issued with saddle-cloths in the. regimental colours, brass ornaments ared white forehead bands for the bridles, and white picket ropes. lie escort of lancers will be commanded by Lieutenant G. Brown, and Major A. J. Nicoll will be in command of the Guard of honour.

Described as ‘‘so wonderful that there is probably not another like it anywhere in the world,” a collection of rare old brandies was recently offered for sale in London. The oldest brandies were of 1789 vintage, which is pre-Napoleon. It is interesting to note that one of Dunedin’s leading hotels has no fewer than three Napoleon iirandies in its cellar, one being 126 years old and another 124 years. The .third was guaranteed 89 years old when bottled. Two bottles of 1811 vintage met an unworthy fate a few years ago. They were purchased by Jascha Heifetz, the famous violinist, during his visit to Dunedin, and when he arrived at Honolulu he took them ashore with him, believing that the prohibition authorities would not interfere with such precious liquor. The officers, however, made no allowance- for age. and tlie distressed violinist had to pour the contents of the l>ottles down a sink.

For riding a bicycle without a light on January 11, Lawrence Andrew Taylor, solicitor, was charged in the. Hawera Magistrate’s Court before Mr W. IT. Woodward, S.M., this morning. He pleaded guilty. In stating his own ease, defendant said Ihnt he had been detained in Normanby on the date in question and was proceeding very slowly on the outskirts of the borough with his dog running ahead of him. As my dog has a white tail he is as good as a light.” said defendant. “Mv dog is so well known that had he not been with me the inspector would not linve caught me.” The borough inspector (Mr L. Hunt) said that defendant was actually within the borough precincts when accosted. This was the third offence of the same nature. He was ordered to pay costs amounting te 10s.

Messrs Smith and Trim, Ltd., of Hawera, advertise particulars of their mart sales for to-morrow of fruit at > 39 a.m. and poultry, furniture and sundries at 1.30 p.m., followed by balance of fruit.

Advice ""'as received in Hawera yesterday that the Hawera Boy Scouts returning from the Melbourne Centenary Jamboree on the Alalieno had reached Bluff and were due at Dunedin to-day and Lyttelton to-morrow. The party expected to arrive in AVellington on Sunday and entrain for Hawera on Monday morning.

Fewer cases of notifiable disease occurred in Taranaki during 1934 than in 1933, states Dr Mary Champtaloup, medical officer of health ,in her report- for the year. . The.total, for the year was 1 -Id compared with- 258 hi '*933, a decrease of 113. The largest individual decrease was in diphtheria, there being 97 fewer cases. In December. 1934, the total number of cases reported was eight, compared with five for November and four for December, ’933. There were two cases of scarlet fever, but no cases of diptheria.

Two Hawera scouts who have been attending the jamboree at Frankston, near Melbourne, have earned distinction for themselves and their troop. Robin Holloway, son of Mr and Mrs H. F. Holloway, Fairfield Road, recited “To Rauparaha” in Maori costume to a crowd of 1209 boys around a camp fire at the jamboree. He later by special request gave the same item before. Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. A photograph of another Hawera boy, Noel Keys, appears in a Melbourne paper. The inscription under the photo states that he “fulfilled his obligation to the Scout Commandant by assisting an elderly woman, lost- and bewildered in the maze of roads and side tracks through the camp, to find her way safely to the arena.” The name plate at the corner of Little Regent and Regent Streets in front of the “Star” offices was noticed this morning to have suffered an accident. Instead of pointing along Little Regent Street it had been ripped round partially off its supports. Evidently a lorry, laden to a good height, had passed along Regent Street close to the kerb. The top of the lorry's burden has caught the plate and almost torn it off. The plate is affixed to a pole and is about eight feet above the footpath. A hiking feat was achieved yesterday by Miss I. Johnson, of New Plymouth, when she covered the distance from that town to Hawera in less than 12 hours. In order to get as far as possible in cool conditions she left the northern town at midnight on Tuesday and, walking all night, reached Hawera at 1.15 p.m. on Wednesday. After allowing an hour and three-quarters for breakfast and another halt at Stratford, she averaged nearly four miles an hour for the whole distance, a very good performance when one knows she carries a rucksack and contents weighing about 201 b. Miss Johnson started with the intention of going on to Wellington, which she hoped to reach in four days, but shoe trouble caused her to stay a day in Hawera. During the last few years Miss Johnson has been a consistent and enthusiastic hiker and has several solid achievements to her credit. She decided yesterday to continue her journey to Wellington and left on the two hundred mile trek about nine y clock in the morning.

Permits for' building work to the value- of £9233 were issued in the borough of Stratford during the 12 months ended on December 31. This figure included £6621 for 12 houses, the demand for residences at Stratford thus accounting for the bulk of the total. Significant of the times is the average values of the houses erected, £552, and it was very noticeable that during the whole year the values seldom strayed far from that level. Nine garages were also built. In spite of the building subsidy, which operated during the last five’months of the year, this period did not produce any marked increase of activity; in fact, in September not a thing was done. Very different was the same period of 1933, when during the last six months work to the value of £17,157 —nearly double the total for the whole of 1934—was done.

Appeals to buy Empire goods were met by an attitude of antagonism on the part of a section of English people .it any rate, said Mr. Duncan M. Rae yesterday when addressing the Teachers ’Summer School at New Plymouth upon his experiences in England recently. “People were very keen to hear about New Zealand’s attractions,” said Mr. Rae, “and were appreciative of the beauty of the country. I showed them photographs of the marvellous country of the east coast, with its thousands of hills and huge flocks of sheep. When I started to tell them, however, of what the flocks of sheep meant to New Zealand, [ felt a stiffened atmosphere immediately. There was no enthusiasm or interest in that aspect of my address.”

The revival of interest in “Strad.” violins caused a Ilawera resident to call on the “Star” to-day' with the smiling confession that he had himself once harboured hopes that he had a potential fortune in an old fiddle which had been in his possession for many' years. The violin, which is of half size, bears tne Stradivarius inscription with the well-known syunbol and the date “1717.” The owner took it to Christie’s, London, on the occasion of his last visit to England and was referred by the famous dealers in antiques to a Bond Street firm of instrument makers. By the latter the owner was told that the violin, though quite a good one, was merely' one of thousands turned out on the Continent. There are known to be at least three Continental firms which place the “Strad. ” inscription inside their fiddles, selling them as Strad. “models” only' to buyers who show signs of inquiring too strictly' into their origin. This wholesale manufacture probably' accounts in large measure for the large number of “Strads. ’’ that are being found in the lumber rooms of New Zealand homes at the present time.

LET SUNLIGHT TAN YOU. Dyes and pastes which promise an artificial sun-tan clog the pores and are therefore definitely injurious to the health. A natural, beautiful, healthy sun-tan can be acquired by using Q-Tol Skin Emollient before sun-bathing. Q-Tol allows the health-giving rays of the sun to reach the body and therefore promotes a natural healthy tan without burn and discomfort.—A-dvt. Vinegars are • judged by their piquancy, and in this respect Sharland’s Vinegar is unexcelled. It’s pure and full-flavoured, tool In bottle or bulk at all stores. —3