OKAIAWA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVIII, Issue LVIII, 4 November 1909, Page 6

OKAIAWA.

(JProm Our Own correspondent.) Messrs Dahl, of Palmerston North, and Kuhtze, of Hawera, recently had * an unpleasant experience vW**?!™*? < the Kapuni stream on the Kokiri road The stream was in high flood, and when the travellers wore in the middle the swingle-bar of the light. American buggy in which they were driving broke, letting the horse out of the, shafts. The swiftly running current was lifting the bugg/ofi the ground, and the position waS critical, but the occupants were equal to tho occasion, and, throwing ] all their weight on the upstream wheel, prevented it from capsizing. After a I bis struggle, during the course of which they received a- thorough drenching, the two gentlemen succeeded in getting, themselves and their buggy on to terra firma once more. The. travellers were fortunate in having friends living not far from the spot, and they were taken in and done for." After getting inside dry clothos and outside a good meal they were able to joke about their experience, but those who know the Kapuni will well realise that the call was "close," In a letter thanking his friends for their hospitality Mr # Dahl added: "Next time I have- occasion to cross your beautiful mountain- streams I shall probably carry a lifebelt. Much has been written for and against the practice of dehorning dairy cows, but the experience of a local settlor is a*rple proof that the practice is a good one. The settlor in question has a herd of 70 cows and a small yard, and last season had to run them in m two lote. Even then there was trouble, and frequently the older cows, after horning » heifer most cruelly, would ond up by knocking her right through the fence. At the close of the season the settlor had the herd dehorned, and this year is' yarding them in one lot. There is no trouble them, and lie says he could easily put in another ten head. ..«,_. ' '• Milking machines are still being installed in the district, the latest to put them in being ( Messrs Cameron Bros, and Johnstone Bros. The former have installed tibfo Dominion and, the latter the Simplex. Mr T. Collins, of Inaha, 1 has also installed the Simplex. A meeting of the Joll Memorial Committee, called- for Saturday evening, again lapsed for want of a quorum. This is a matter for regret, and the busy season cannot be put forward as an excuse, as a 1 good many members live in' the township. There are some twenty gentlemen elected on this committee, out on Saturday evening only' ' three of them and the secretary put m an appearance. However, I feel sure that a few of the more enthusiastic. ones will see that the work in hand will not be allowed to drop. ' At a stock sale held here recently a settler, through the auctioneer, ' gave notice of a pig which had been , trespassing on his property for some time. A Maori pr&sont called out:' "That my pig; I lose him one month." "Was yours a white pig?" asked the auctioneer. "Yes, ho the white one," replied the Maori. "Well," said the , auctioneer, "this pig is a black one." # ' The dreaded Californian thistle, which is. a regular scourge in some parts of the Dominion, and Vhich is not unknown in this district, is not, it may be interesting to a good many to know, regarded as a great pest in California. An ex-rosidont of that country informs me #iat there the ''thistle has not the same habit of spreading underground, and is not so bad as the Scotch thistle is hero. My informant is not making any mistake over the variety of thistle, as he has helped to cut it down on a farm since his arrival in New Zealand. ' Okaiawa, November 1..