LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 1 May 1922, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Serious allegations concerning the treatment of certain natives in illhealth at Ratana's camp have been referred to the Minister of Justice (the Hon. E. P. Lee), who has instructed the Commissioner of Police to have careful enquiries made. j The Customs revenue collected at the port of New Plymouth last month: .showed a falling-off of over £4000 com-j pared with April of 1921, while there! was also a decrease in the amount of ( beer duty. The figures, with those for' April of last year in parentheses, are: Customs, £5146 3s 8d (£9664 7s lid): beer duty, £210 13s Id (£270 18s Id). At the Anglican Synod at Auckland last week, Bishop Averill presented a petition from Taranaki with reference to the proposed Taranaki bishopric, asking that several sums of money, already provided and to be collected for this purpose, be placed in the hands of the Taranaki church' trustees. He gave notice to move in this direction. Concerning the alleged prevalence of faulty English among New Zealanders, a local M.A. says in the Manawatu Daily Times: "Twang and slang in New Zealanders is really far less objectionable than the Oxford bleat so noticeable among a few pretentious English men and women." Wherever one goes in the country nowadays (says the Otago Daily Times) complaints are heard about the unsatisfactory nature of the railway service, and not a few business men are finding it necessary to purchase motor cars so as to facilitate their work and save much of the time they now lose in waiting for trains. Coal from Buller Gorge fields is being brought by lorries to Westport and retailed at prices similar to those ruling for the other best class house coals. Why there should be any talk of unemployment in the Dominion with the rich mineral resources of the Buller Gorge undeveloped passeth understanding.— Westport Times. A man, 78 years of age, fell over a cliff over 100 feet in height ,iear Greymouth a day or two ago. As the result of the fall he sustained several broken ribs and a severe scalp wound, which required a dozen stitches. The injured man is a hardy miner, and he is making rapid progress towards recovery. The Minister of Education (the Hon. C. J. Parr) interrupted a member of the Auckland Education Board, who was expressing pleasure with the way the educational needs of the children of Auckland were being considered by remarking, apropos of expenditure: "A million in two years." "It is a very creditable record," remarked the local member, "and we hope it will continue." He went on by suggesting (states the Star) that as' Mr Massey was reported to have raised another loan of five millions, it was to be hoped that Mr Parr would be able to have another million earmarked for educational purposes. This district was the scene of a terrifying thunderstorm on Saturday week, just before noon (says the Wyndham Farmer). The flashes of lightning and peals of thunder were awesome! No startling damage, fortunately, occurred, so far as we can learn; but, as an evidence of the force of the lightning, it may be said that, on Mr. John Woods' farm, Wyndham ridges, the liquid fire struck a line of trees 20 yards from the house, and a pinus insignis 35ft high and 2ft in diameter at the base was completely severed 15ft up the trunk, while another big tree had the bark stripped clean off it on the near side. All over the place the telephone wires were disorganised too. It is not often that a person who has been confined within the walls of an asylum for the insane desires to return there. Such, however, reports the Auckland Star, was the case, oi a. burly middle-age 4 Swede, who was charged with drunkenness at the Auckland Police Court. It was stated that ofte man got drunk and gained admission to the grounds of the Mental Hospital at Avondale, where he had formerly been a* patient, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that he had been fej«cted* Thert he was arrested 'outside the walls. As the result of nis spree, however, the Scandinavian had to undergo a week's medical treatment. He was convicted and ordered to pay £1 12s 6d, medical expenses.

In former times, when supplies of outside money flowed into the country, there was a tendency—very human perhaps—to make the first instalments fly in rather reckless fashion. The desire of Government spending Departments and of local bodies to participate in the plums brought about first a general attitude of mendicancy, and where this succeeded it was too often followed by a spell of extravagance The spending habit dies hard and revolts against check, however imperative and wholesome. Mr Massey appears to realise the need for a powerful brake and to possess |the strength to apply it. But he miist have the snnport and co-operation of his fellow Ministers, of the Public Service from the heads of Departments to the messengers, and of the community as a whole. There must be no unseemly scramble for the loaves and fishes. There must be no agitation for higher! salaries and wages or for the multi-| plication of lucrative posts. Sinecures must be weeded out of the service. Expensive transfers of officers in order to comply with stereotyped ideas of promotion must be reduced to a mininvum; this continual reshuffling ofi public servants has reached a stage which no business firm would countenance in the conduct of its own affairs —Dunedin Star.

Critics who day after day convince themselves that Mr. Massey is driving the country helter-skelter to the dogs ot bankruptcy must have been disagreeably surprised to find their dismal views completely repudiated by the shrewd men in the City of London where they were asked to subscribe to a New Zealand loan of £5,000,000 If this country was in sore straits' financially the financiers of London would not be so eager; they almost tumbled over themselves in the> hurry to "get m" to take up New Zealand stock on terms that are immeasurably superior to any obtained by the Federal Government or any of the Australian States. It must be admitted, of course that money is becoming cheaper, as Mr Massey has said, but the fact that the Government floated its £5,000,000 5 per ce"t- loan at par js something about which the Prime Minister is entitled to boast to the discomfiture of his critics —Southland Times.

-Nominations for all events at the Wanganui Jockey Club's winter meeting close with the secretary, Mr W. Hall, Wanganui, at 8 o'clock to-night. One of the greatest bargains for men at the Melbourne's Gigantic Sale is the line of Colonial all-wool tweed topcoats at 79/6. These coats still bear the original price tag, and were marked (••o sell at £6 10/-. That gives some idea of the magnitude of the saving that can be effected. Buy now while the offer holds good.—Advt.

The Sistme Chapel Choir will appear , at the Opera House, Hawera on Monday, July 10. The choir, which comes direct from the Vatican (Rome), consists of 60 male voices. A disclaimer iv connection with a recent motor accident on Hunter road is inserted by Messrs P. W. Allen and Co., the well-known motor garage proprietors, of Kaponga. The tinu inform customers that it was not their Mr P. W. Allen, who was involved in the ae-' cident. The euchre party and dance to be given by the Hawera Football Club in the Foresters' Hall on Wednesday, promises to be a huge success. There are several good prizes for the winners, and these may be seen in Jury and Co. s window in Hawera. It is expected there will be a large attendance. j There is at least one man who I appreciates the good that is to be ! obtained by a term on Rotoroa Island ; 'lhe man in question came before Mr Poynton, S.M., at Auckland (states the limes correspondent), and applied to be sent to Rotoroa. He explained ho had been on the island five years previ- ; ously, and it had done him an immense amount of good. The request was ; granted. A sporting writer, who was in , Palmerston North last week, states that ;he has abandoned that career, and with it the race game. For eighteen years (states the D.aily Times) he earned £400 j a year with his pen, but found upon reference to his carefully-kept ledger that his nett losses in moderate betting upon inside information for the whole period averaged just £300 per annum. The Manaia Municipal Brass Band, under Conductor Cosgrove, rendered a good programme in the rotunda on Saturday evening. There was a large i attendance, and the improvement of ! the band was very noticeable. The band members are attending practices twice weekly in full muster, and good solid work is being put through by the ; conductor. The pupils are also doinsr well. fo A professor in South California is so struck by the successful entrance of I women into public life and work that iie is moved to lecture thereon and to predict that by 1977 at the latest, women will rule the world and men j win care for the children.'' In militant suffrage days men teimted women to retrain by singing to them "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world '' | We never believed them, and here they are betrayed by one of themselves.— Time and Tide. ! When the visitors to the farmers' school at the Central Development Farm at Weraroa were being received at the Levin Dairy Factory recently, Mr. J. B. Brown, chairman of directors, took the opportunity of urging upon all dairy farmers the importance of supporting the dairy produce pool : which was in course of formation. He ; said that it was only by this means , that they could hope to stabilise the i market. He announced that the latest news from Home was to the effect that the dairy produce market was still firming, and there was every prospect of its holding up. A faux pas by a, speaker at the monthly meeting of the Council of Christian Congregations in Christchurch caused a burst of laughter which interrupted the meeting's serious deliberations for a few minutes (relates a | southern contemporary). The subject .was prohibition," and the speaker i commenced his speech by saying: I When I look around the faces in this room I realise that there is no need toteH you about the effects of strong ■VI j. Jhe statement was received with stony silence for about two seconds, and then the assembly of clergymen and laymen burst into hearty laughter which clearly demonstrated : their hijrh appreciation of the unintenI tional joke. ■