LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 30 January 1914, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A final reminder is given to horse owners and trainers that acceptances tor first day events at the Egmont .Racing Club's Summer meeting close i witn the secretary, Mr J. A. Turton, to-night. The fruit hawker has made his appearance in Hawera. Of late a vendor, with his hand cart, has been seen in High street in the evening plying his calling. He apparently does good business. One auctioneering firm operating in last week dispatched 84 trucks of fat' sheep to the freezing works. An Auckland telegram states thai a young Maori escaned from tbe M«--tal Hospital on Thursday morning, and was captured in the Waitakerei r:\ms^ j at night. The escapee swam an arm of the harbor, and was traced by the i warders, being run to eartli after a long cliase of about 15 miles.

The Masterton police have moved i into new commodious buildings, whicn uauisfc remind ail concerned that it is time something were done to give the Jlawera ponce a more up-to-aate station. Tne liresent builamg lias outlived its use! ulness, and is really a disgiace to tne town. A Hawera resident, who has returned from a trip through the Auckland and Waikato districts, said to a Star, reporter on Thursday that nowhere had ne see a land equal to that of Taranaki. Undoubtedly there was good light land in the Waikato, but it required manuring. With very, few exceptions the Taranaki pastures were free of weeds, but this was not so in most portions of the Ruckland district which he had lately been over. It may not be generally known that there is a section in the Factories Act which makes it compulsory oa tne part of all employers to give notice in writing within 48 hours of any accident which may happen to an em- - pioyee. Notice should be given to the inspector of Factories for the district, and any employer neglecting to do this is liable to a. penalty of £10. In view of the strike, and the disturbance it caused in business, a table published in the Gazette showing the business of the Savings Banks in the principal towns in the last quarter of last year is interesting. Altogether the deposits in the quarter all over J\ew Zealand amounted to £2,745,732, and the withdrawals £2,672,484. The corresponding figures.for 1912 were not nearly so good: Deposits, £2,596,054; withdrawals, £2,688,237. The Taranaki Herald were informed by Mr Newton King that he has }iu>c completed the charter, through the Shaw, Savill and Albion Co., London, of the steamer Wotan, to load at Hull for New Plymouth direct. The Wotan is a steel turret deck vessel, of just under 4000 tons register, her length being 350 feet. She will thus be the biggest vessel to berth at the New Plymouth wharf. According to present arrangements the Wotan should leave Hull early in March, arid arrive at New Plymouth in May. The story of an interesting discovery was told to a meeting of fruitgrowers by Mr J. Prouse at Levin (says the Levin Chronicle). A few years ago he noticed that a limb of one of his trees was more heavily laden than the others, and he found near the trunk of the tree a bandage round the limb. The bandage had held and to a great extent had checked 'the growth of the limb. He tried the idea on another tree, and the result was the same —the tree bore more fruit, the wire bandaging apparently checking undue growth of wood. Mr Prouse said that at present he had more trees wired-up, and expected good results. Of course the wire needed watching, and should be loosened occasionally. , A smart »uu piucky action was performed on Saturday afternoon by a telegraph messenger in Christchurch (says the Press). The horse in a van had bolted during the absence of the driver, and was coming up Manchester street at a great rate. The boy jumped oti his bicycle, and climbed into the back of the van and over the seat. Being unable to reach the reins by any othei means, he stretched out' his leg, and lifted them with his foot, and then seizing them, managed to pull the horse up just as it was about to collide with a verandah post near the Excelsior hotel. , ■ Twelve months' leave of absence has (says the Evening Post) been granted by the Wellington Education Board to Miss J. Higgins, to enable her tc engage in 'teaching in England. The Chief Inspector (Mr Fleming) explained that, although no teacher was arriving trom England to "fill Miss Higgins' place, her visit to the Homeland was practically a step in the direction of exchanging teachers. Miss Higgins had arranged with the London County ,Council. (through the High Commissfdiie'j? foV-'New Zealand) to take up a wreillipn in one of the council's schools. In^dffition to her teaching duties, she wbuld visit the various schools to* impart information about New Zealand, a mission for which (Mr Fleming stated) she was most suitable. After- . wards she w rould return and enter the board's service once more. Oliver Noel Gillespie was before the Feilding Magistrate's Court this week to answer a charge of obtaining, allegedly, by false pretences, the sum of £600. The case was dismissed. The Magistrate explained that the law was that there must be pretence, it must be false, and the other person must suffer thereby. In this case there was no pretence. Wright had a property and wished to raise the loan; James had inspected it, and had lodged the money with Gillespie. Up to that time there was no pretence. What happened afterwards did not matter so far as this charge was concerned. There was quite enough evidence to bring another charge, so there need be no miscarriage, as the prosecutor might lay a charge under another heading if he desired to do so. It might seem ridiculous to a layman that this distinction should be made, but that was the lawi He would not be justified in sending the case to the Supreme Court. ' That the women of New Zealand arc unduly hard-worked is the opinion of I Mr T. Fraser, a Cape Town' banker, at present fishing at Temuka. Mr Fraser. in conversation with the Christchurch Press' cqrrespopndent, said that to him, coming from . a country wherp the darker or inferior races did most of the housework, and assisted in the minding of children, etc., the way the New Zealand women had to work struck him as strange. Doubtless New Zealanders had their objections to the introduction of useful colored labor, but it did seem curious that these objections should carry so far that townsmen, and farmers preferred to see their wives continually working at manual labor rather thaii employ those races which were suited to the work and would stick at it. Regarding the importation of domestic servants, Mr Fraser said he fancied they would soon marry, or follow the example of the colonial girls, and find other occupations. He was quite satis- 1 fied that the white women of South i Africa had a far better time than their j New Zealand sisters.

On'ir.rr f o tie want of a quorum the meeting of the Hawera Beautifying JsocieLy t^rive^ed tor ihursday evening lapsed, The date of the next meeting wus left i;-i the liands of the secretary to arrange. Mr T. Eyre Maeklin, the designer of the South African "War Memorial at Newcastle-on-Tyne, has, at the request of the Victorian League, submitted designs for a memorial to be erected in Auckland in memory of those who fell in the Avar. A rather laughable incident broke the monotony oi the Court at Taihape recently. It was a defence case., where a khaki-clad representative of the Department was giving evidence. He made a certain statement, and desiring to withdraw it, exclaimed hurriedly and- authoritatively: "As you were!" A birr kad of 17,264 crates of cheese wag taken to London by the Turakina, which sailed from Wellington on Sunday. The bulk of this shipment, (9886 crates) was loaded at the Bluff. Taranaki contributed 4435 crates and Wellington 2943 crates. There was only a 6mall quantity of butter on board; — 3573 boxes^—and all of this was loaded at -Duriedin. The vessel took much, frozen meat, and general cargo. t/iV«i+ e T'"nt-OoloT>el Pringle, of Palmerston North, ~ who has recently been transferred from the command of the 6th Mounted Rifles Regiment to the command of the Queen Alexandra Mounted Rifles, held a conference with the officers of the Regiment in Hawera on Wednesday evening at the Defence Office. Over seventeen visiting officers verr_ ir««"" rit. cotiing fro** 1 as far tkß Baetihiv Wanganui and Waitara. Several ratters <>f , imnoita^ce were discussed in regard to the administration and the training of the Regiment.