LOCAL AMD GENERAL NEWS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 2 August 1918, Page 4

LOCAL AMD GENERAL NEWS.

Two Barkly residents, Messrs Lindsay and Finn, recently read in the papers that instead of scalding pigs after killing, the hair was more easily removed by sprinkling petrol over it and putting a match to it (says the Winton Re r cord.). They decided to try the experiment. They hoisted the porker on to a beam, applied the petrol, then the lucifer. In an instant the hair was off as thoroughly as could be desired. Some eighteen months ago (states the Wellington Post) a well-meaning visitor to the Terrace Gaol, actuated by a desire to bring about reform by conjuring up visions of home life, left with one of the female prisoners a wall-card with the words "Home, Sweet Home." Whether or not the card has done its duty cannot be fully known, but the gift was certainly appreciated, for it was placed on the wall, and there it has stayed ever since, perhaps a little out of place at fh-st sight, but probably doing, to some extent, the good work it was intended to do. A lady who lives near Springfield gives some particulars of the conditions created by the snowstorms there last week: "On Monday and Tuesday, and on Saturday also, we had a dreadful icy blizzard, ft flung the snow up against everything, and it froze as it fell. You would like to see the cows with icicles on their eaxs and horns. The snow (from, the first storm) is still nearly up to the roof, and the path between the south verandah and the laurels is completely blocked up. Trees are broken in all directions, and one old outbuilding was simply flattened out." Will the snow cleanse the soil by destroyang insect pests? asks the Christchurch Sun. .Mr J. G. Blackmore. an expert pomolagist, has stated publicly that it does not. This flies in the face of the experience of nearly every farmer, and would seem to point an exception to the balance of Nature theory. Yet something can be said in. favor of t-hiis opinion. Recently a, case came to notice of a freezing works' employee who gathered a selection of grubs and insects and kept them frozen for a. week. He then thawed them out, and all were alive. Possibly, however, the cold snow water which penetrates the soil and which freezes later "catches" the pests in embi-yo. In addition, it is a noticeable fact that after snow grubs, etc., are ; brought near the surface, where they are the prey of the voracious small birds. A writer in Truth, the well-known London weekly, with which the name of Mr Henry Labouchere was associated in his lifetime, .says: "TJu> account of the dental' work in th e New Zealand TTorces, issued by the High Commissioner for New Zealand, affords a useful confirmation of my recent remarks on the neglect with which army dentistry_ has been treated in our Forces, in spite of its importance "in keeping men medically fit. At Gallipolf the British Surgeon-general had to borrow the New Zealand dental officers in order to get sskilled treatment for the neglected teeth of the Home Forces, and even to-day the New Zealanders are alone amongst the Allies in haying a clinical hospital in the divisional area at the front.. The Germans', of course, nnve_ their dental .surgeons close to the fightin.fr line, but they have always realised th-. importance of attention to detail in the interests of efficiency." The cold weather experienced of late has had a marked effect on the demand for fruit (says the N.Z. Herald). Enquiries from local wholesale merchants elicited the information that the sales in most varieties had decreased by at least 25 per cent, during the last three weeks. This is said to be in direct contrast to the experience of last season, when the demand for fruit was maintained right through the winter. Most of the fruit now being sold is from the cool stores, though there is also a good supply of lemons owing to a prolific winter crop. Island fruits are stated to have suffered from the cold weather, the last shipment of bananas from Fiji having been rather severely affected. The oranges are said to be of good quality. Prices for hothouse fruits are naturally high, a line of hothouse grapes last week selling for 5s 7d a pound. Whirring away with their tiny clockwork apparatus, two toy motor-cars gaily painted green and red, drivers .and everything complete, figured in the Wellington Supreme Court on Friday during the .hearing , o f a case on appeal concerning a collision between a motorvan and a private car (says the Post) Apparently unaffected by the weight of their arguments, counsel took quite a keen relish in the gyrations of the little toys, and there was even a momentary douat among them as to whether the green or the red toy should be the motor-van, or which should be the car. Even His Honor Mr Justice Hosking was much interested, as were the Court officials present. The only person who perhaps did not enjoy the exhibition thoroughly was the DeputyRegistrar, who, at His Honor's direction, had to clear away a mass of papers, red tape, pins, and other paraphernalia from his desk in order, as His Honor said, to "mate a nice wide road up and down the desk for the cars to run on." It was quite a refreshinosight. Fire! Fire! The cheapest insurance policy is the "Underwriters" automatic chemical fire etxinguisher—simple, safe, efficient, economical and absolutely reliable. Special quotations for quantities. Delays are fatal.—Manning Machinery Co.. 188 Cashel Street, Christchurch.—Advt. Sir J. Madden. K.C.M.G., etc., Ijieu-tfninnt-Governcr ami Chief Justice of Victoria, when delivering judgment in a case in which an inferior substitute had been pushed as "i-ist as good" as the gonuino Sander Eucalypti Extract, said : "Whenever an article is commended to the public by reason of its cood oualitv, it is not tKM'missibta to imitate any of its features." and he prohibited further substitution. When using a medicine it is "good quality" that you want, and Sander's Extract is always beneficial. A trial will at once convince yon that there is no "just as good," because Sander's Extract is the only eucalpytus preparation prepared ex-Hm.-ivp!v fr/vn th'> leaves: it is snocially rpfiiie.-.! by Sander's rwocosses. and conc;)''ne no hni-'viful hv prwln"^. If yon use Zander's Extract yon will have good aiul lasting effects —Advt. Boots! Boots! Now is the time to fit your-solf out in Boots or Slioe«. b^>i for-o tho rise in prices appear. Come to the H.B. TTawera real sale. Women's boots. 2o'-: women's Ince or strap shoes, 10/6; boys' boots. 1.7/6: women's glaco slinpprs. 12./ C: men's farm shoot-pj-s: moil's Sunday boots, 286: women's black velvet -shoes, 7/6 : women's satin slippers. 5/6. All shades. Comp and brine the family to the real sal e at Hawera.—Advt.

Residents of Nornratobty ;atid surround- , ing districts are reminciind of the ISor- I nianby Methodist Church, anniversary '• social in the Town Hall on the evening of the sth inst., at 8 o'clock. Special intercessory services are being held in Mauaia Methodist Church, on Sunday next. The Rev. F. J. Parker ' will preach in the morning, and Mr W. Hutchens in the evening. Mr Hutchens will sing a solo during the e y ening service. Rev. F. J. Parker will conduct a special intercessory service at Auroa i in the evening. j A Wellington telegram states that j the Customs revenue collected in the! Dominion iv July amounted to £282,- , 113, and the excise beer duty to £22,- ; 054, compared with £805,663 and £13,- ', 726 respectively for July of last year. ■ The increase in beer duty is accounted ' for by the increased rate of duty which , came into operation on September 15, 1917. Tuesday's Dannevirke News states: j The frequency of earthquakes during th« last few days :1s not appreciated. , There was one shortly before four yes- ! terday, a .smaller one soon after, wniie I at six minutes to 10 this morning j there was another seismic disturbance, which was fortunately brief. / Some doubt appears to exist in the mind of the public as to whether the postal regulations permit the sending of parceLs of cake to civilians in England as well as to the soldiers at the front (says the N.Z. Times). The posi- j tion is that such parcels will be re- i ceived and dealt with by the postal officials, but no responsibility will be accepted. This means that parcels will be forwarded only at the risk of the consignor. j Sir Walter Buchanan, M.L.C., in discussing with an Age representative the -effects of the recent snowstorm in the Wairarapa, said it was a mistake to suppose tnat shelter was responsible for the saving of the lives or sheep. On the contrary, the heaviest mortality ' was caused by drifts from bush. and. ! other shelter. The best place for sheep I in a snowstorm was on a ridge. Sir I Walter stated that sheep could survive ! for a long time in the snow, as they , were good foragers. His father had ! rescued a wether alive which had been buried for three weeks in the snow. The sheep had built a sort of dug-out > and had lived on heather. Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig writes: "I much regret to learn that the Church Army lost so many of its recreation centres, which had to be abandoned during the recent fighting. . One cannot pay too high a tribute for , the comfort and inspiration which the Church Army huts and other means of ministration have been to our heroic troops." It is announced that Lady Strathoona has given yet another recreation hut to the Church Army in aid of the lost huts replacement fund. The following motion dealing with the salt works question has been adopted by the New Brighton Borough Council: "That this council views with, considerable concern the Government's action in refusing to grant a permit for the formation of a company for the establishment of solar salt works at New Brighton; that the establishment of such works would be of national importance is undeniable, in view of the great amount of money sent out of the Dominion every year in the purchase of salt (£100,000), and the enormous price for ealt ruling today quite prohibits its use for agricultural purposes. The council urges other local bodies, especially those in the vicinity of Christchurch, to join in requesting the Government to give immediate eifect to the issue of the permit." Adjutant John Bladin, of the Salvation Army, who has just returned to Wellington from France, tells a story illustrative of the misery that is being undergone by the refugees of Northern France. About twelve months ago a French woman and her small son were about to leave their home on a little farm be/ore the approach of the Germans, when a shell landed close to them and killed the woman. The lad, in a dazed condition, wandered aimlessly about until he was seized by a couple of German soldiers, and as they were, dragging him along with those tender attentions so peculiar to the Huns they were taken prisoners by a British patrol. The boy stuck to his English friends, 'tramping round the broken countiy, and when they were ordered to Etaples for a spell he went with them. But the civil population of France were not permitted to enter the military areas there, so the lad had to be cast adrift, after sixteen days' tramping. He was next observed helping to clear away the cups and cans in the Salvation Army buffet near the station, and when accosted by one of the lady officers told his sorry story and wound up by saying that he had tasted no food for two days. Then the motherly heart of the woman went out to the boy, and when Adjutant Bladin put in an appearance and was told the story he gave the officer £2 to fit the boy out in new olothes and boote, and ordered him to "be fed up for a bit." Adjutant Bladin said that no one can imagine the horrors of the refugees' sufferings in France, and in that regard thought that the organisation was not so good as it might be.