LOCAL AND GENERAL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1857, 4 September 1923, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Owing to pressure on our space, several letters and' country notes have been held over.

Last year 10,200 new subscribers were connected with the telephone system of the Dominion, a record for New Zealand.

A firm in Palmerston has* 3,000,000 feet of timber stacked in its yard, valued at £25,000, being seasoned for casks and butter boxes.

During last year £459,247 was spent in the Dominion on the development of hydro-electric power, the total outlay in this connection to date being £2,170,100.

Messrs Dalgety and Co., Ltd., are in receipt of the following cable from their head office, London, under date the 30th. ult.:—Butter: Market very firm. We quote N.Z. salted 186 s, Australian, g.a.q. 1645, Danish 1925, finest Australian salted 1745, unsalted 1745.

“I always make it a strict rule to dim my headlights when approaching another car,” remarked one of the delegates at the South Island Motor Union conference held at Waimate, “but unfortunately the consideration is not always reciprocated. Now,” he continued, “I have a very wicked spotlight, and when the other chap ruthlessly ignores my soft light,. I let him have the spot to its full advantage. It has a wonderful effect,” the delegate concluded, amidst laughter.

~ As a result of Ratana’s work it is stated that not a single copy of the Maori Bible remains on the shelves of the British and Foreign Bible Society, either in New Zealand or in London.

Throughout the Waikato the ad~. vance in the value of beef has to a considerable extent been reflected on store cattle, and values have firmed, says an exchange. A strong inquiry exists for this class, but with little prospect of being satisfied. There is also a good inquiry for empty cows, and fortunately the markets are fairly flushed. Young steers are the scarcest product in the live stock category, while on the other hand there is a very apparent surplus of heifers, the demand for which is extremely weak. At Taihape stock sale last week there was brisk bidding for fat stock, and some of the prices were reminiscent of the days before the slump. A line of fat wethers was purchased at 41s per head, and a line of fat cattle was knocked down at £lO per head.

The whole of Mr ,W. G. Stead’s ’V racing team at present in Australia, comprising nine, will be auctioned on September 10. Mr Stead told a Sydney interviewer that he had decided to relinquish racing for the time being. Taxation and other charges in the Dominion were so heavy that he considered owners were not receiving a fair run from the Government. Further, a big team owner who was anxious to see his horses race must spend a considerable time away from home. In Australia . the > conditions were different, as all big prizes centred in Sydney and Mel- *- bourne; but in New Zealand the prizes were scattered. When he had a big running in New Zealand he had to lead a life like a commercial traveller, and he was tired of it.

Quite a sensation was caused in one locality on the outskirts of Masterton, when a resident was rung up by a neighbour and informed that a man, with a wild look in his cye,^.

dishevelled as to hair, and clad in a costume which is best described as “frank,” had been seen entering his grounds (says an exchange). Gun in hand, the resident made a minute search for the obvious lunatic, while his family sought fearfully, but thoroughly, under the beds and in other likely spots in the house. Not a sign of the intruder could be found, and a nervous household assembled to compare notes and comfort each other. Suddenly and effectively the gloom was dispelled when the youngest hopeful up and spake: “I know what it was, dad —a harrier!”