LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 6 July 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Eastern Extension Company's cables, which have been out cf order for some time, are still interrupted, and there is little prospect --f their being repaired for some little -ime yet, A large shipment of fruit, 2084 cases in all, reacnea ' Wellington by tne Manuka yesterday. Of this 1628 cases are for Wellington and North Island districts, the balance being for Lyttelton. Special attention is drawn to the Kor-ker advertisement in this issue. A car will be driven over a plank of nails in Princes Street to-morrow, just past the Winter Show buildings, at 2.30 p.m. This is a repetition of the test given at Hamilton, when the Mayor (Mr. J. R. Fow, who is*on a visit to Hawera at the present time) certified to the results obtained. There is no doubt a large number of motorists will be attracted. In the course of his lecture to the W.E.A. in Christchurch on the subject | of "Cable-laying in the Atlantic," Mr. lE. Hitchcock said that at one time the cable, companies in England beI came anxious on account of the frequent faults developing in the cables. It was thought that fishing trawlers were responsible for the breaks, and a circular was issued asking the trawlers' crews, when they picked up'^he cable, to cut away their tackle, the companies undertaking to reimburse the fishermen for their damaged nets. "In about four months," said Mr. Hitchcock, "every trawler on the coast had new tackle." The Auckland Star states: "Isn't it wonderful?'' "More like summer.*' These and similar expressions are heard a dozen times a day in Queen Street, for although good conversationalists try to obey the injunction to eschew the weather, it will keep cropping up. But it is remarkable weather. Here we are in the middle of winter with a day like November or even December, if it were not for that slight tang of frost in the air. The bright blue skies, crystal-like atmosphere, and the feeling of exhilaration^ these. days inspire remind,one of the'winter in some parts of Australia or the South of Europe. j The vocation officer tells of a pathetic incident which occurred recently at Pleasant Valley Sanatorium, Dunedin. Among the patients are .a number of soldiers who contracted tuberculosis as the result of active service, and the Defence Department provides them with instruction in suitable subjects, such as poultry farming, leather work, and basket-making. Great interest is taken in these occupations, even by the worst cases. One man, although in the last stages of the d'sease, insisted on finishing a basket he was making for the Dunedin show. The basket was finished, but the maker died before he could learn that a special prize had been awarded his last effort.