LOCAL AND . GENERAL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 1 August 1921, Page 4

LOCAL AND . GENERAL

' * 7 ■ A cable from London says Mr. Hellaby, an Auckland artist, is painting a three-quarter length portrait of Mr, Massey for New Zealand. Th vital statistics for Hawera for the month of July, with those of the corresponding period of 1920 given .in parentheses, are as follow:—Births 31 (35), marriages 10 (11), deaths 10 (5). The Pakeha arrived at Wellington yesterday from London with over 800 immigrants of both sexes, most of them coming to positions or friends (says a telegram from Wellington). Figures given in British Parliamentary papers show the great increase in divorce in the last few years. In 1913 there were 312 decrees• nisi made abso-| lute on the petition of husbands and 234 by, wives, with 41 marriages annulled. Last year 2351 divorces were; granted to husbands and 690 to wives, and there were 49 decrees of nullity of marriage. The Hon. O. J. Parr has sent the following reply toJMr. E. Dixon, M.P.> \ who suggested that the Minister should j visit Hawera on His way to Auckland: ! "I must leave for Auckland end of next j week in order to keep engagement Dargaville. Very much regret impossible to call Hawera on way up as you suggest owing to engagement here for next week." ~ At Opunake on Friday Mr. T. S. Hickey, proprietor of the Times, was! the victim of an unexpected assault' when a resident of the district entered ■ his offiice, and, without provocation j or any warning, attacked him. Fortu-' nately assistance was close at hand, and the 'aggressor, was secured until- ~the arrival of the police constable, who had been telephoned for by others in the office when the assault was made. When Constable Clouston arrived he at once placed the man under arrest. The accused was brought into New Plymouth, and, as the remit of 'medical' examination, he was committed'by the : magistrate to the Porirua Mental * Hos-! pital. " The danger of allowing cattle to stray on the roads at nights was forcibly' illustrated on two successive nights last week to a prominent coastal Tesident,' who is aL*o a member of a local body (says the News). On the first night he was motoring from Hawera to Okato ) when his car ran into a cow which was : standing in the middle of the road round a bend at Warea. The car was somewhat damaged, but the, passengers escaped injury. On the following evening while motor-cycling from. Warea to 'Oakura with a passenger behind a cow was encountered in the middle'of the road on the Petone hill. Fortunately the cyclist was not "scorching," and though not able to altogether avoid striking: the cow. got off with very slight damage to the machine. i A former master of a destroyer operating, off the coast of Ireland during *£® war recalls an experience in 1916. While m the Irish Sea an oil ship wasdiscovered on fire, and the destroyer went to the vessel's assistance. On arrival at the scene the crew was seen standing on the fore and aft parts of the steamer, which was alight amidshipjs. The destroyer wa Sj however, unable to go alongside the steamer., which was surrounded by a huge ring of burmg oil floating on the water. This. prevented her crew from reaching the rescuing destroyer. The men pert ished on the burning vessel which was hnally blown up by an explosion.- In less than half an hour there was no trace of wreckage, and the bodies of the crew could not be found. Had the men .on the,, destroyer not witnessed the / tragedy the fate of the steamer would probably have remained a .mystery. ■■;...;.*. J