LOCAL AND GENERAL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2066, 13 January 1925, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

It ought to: be possible to get a plain answer to a plain question, but sometimes it seems that it is hard to make i!he question plain enough (says an American weekly). There had been complaints of overcrowding at Muddlecombe, reports the "Argonaut," and so au official of the local council was sent to make inquiries. Approaching one dwelling he knocked sharply. A young girl opened the door. "How many people live here?" he asked. "Nobody hves here," answered the girl. We're only staying for a, short time." "But how many live here?" persisted the man. "I'm here. Father's gene for a walk, and mother is—" "Stop Stop!" exclaimed the official, .unpatientfly. "I want' to know the inmates of -tliis house. How many :slep}t here last night?" "Well, you see,' was the reply, "I had toothache dreadful; my little brother had an earache, and we both cried so much that nobody slept a wink." The inspector said he would call again.

The campaign in connection with the poll for the Waitomo Power Board s loan will bo commenced on Febrtoary 2nd, and continued on the 3rd, 41 n and sth, the poll being taken on xhe 6th. Tho Board will be formed into two parties, each accompanied by an engineer, and meetfngs will be held and addresses given at Te Kuiti and tho other centres of the district.

An accident is reported to taken place on Saturday afernoon, in *■ which two cars collided on the New Plymouth Road about 23 miles from Te Kuiti. They met on a corner but were able to avoid anything more serious than a. glancing blow, in which the running board and door bandies were torn off one machine, and the mudguard of the other was bent. The identity of the drivers is unknown.

The programme for the visit of 25 Wellington business men, and representatives of the Departments of Industries and Commerce, Tourist Resorts, Railway and Public Works to visit the southern half of the North Island does not include Taranaki, and on Friday the president of the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce (Mr Gordon Fraser) sent the following telegram to the Wellington Chamber:— "Referring to your proposed tour, strongly urge you to return from Waitomo via the Awakino Gorge and Mokau to here. Cars take six hxours. It is the most magnificent drive in the Dominion, and our Chamber will bo delighted to welcome you." The Hawera Chamber is co-operating with the Taranaki Chamber in the matter.

Arrangements have been made in connection with the investigation of the artesian water supply on the Mangarino Hill and a well-sinker from Hamilton, commenced boring opererations to-day. Mr J. jtf. Boddie told a Chronicle reporter that the engineer of the Takapuna Borough informed him that a good deal of scepticism had existed there before Takapuna's new artesian supply was investigated with such satisfactory results.

Ellis H. Cutting, believed to have beeai the last survivor of the Light Brigade on its immortal charge at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War, has just died in Cedar Rapids, lowa, after being stricken with a paralytic stroke, the second during the jast monith. He was 87 years old. Olttin-r joined the British, army when he v>'as 16 years old, and took part in many campaigns. Ho often told the story of how he was standing close to Lord Raglan when the order was issued that sent the Light Brigade into the valley of death. Occasionally he intimated that he possessed information which might clear up a disputed point in history regarding the faal order, but never* made it public.

As a part of the poilicy of the Railway Department { vo popularise tourist traffic, special excursion tickets to Rotorua. are to be issued at stations north of and including Taumarunui on Saturday 17-tfti and 31st, and Febrfaary 14th and 28th. These will bo available only for the train leaving Te Kuiti ait 9.40 a.m.. Otorohanga at 10.15 a.m., arriving at Frankton at 11.58 a.m. and connecting with tho express leaving at 1.30 p.m., and arriving at Rotorua ai> 5.34 p.m. The are available till ,the Friday ibiibwing their purchase. The Department wishes to enable the people in the country districts no visit scenic resorts at convenient times. An advertisement in connection with these excursions appears in another column.

Faith in the district's prosperity, and gratitude to the community that had made him successful, have been expressed in a tangible form by a wealthy Masterton citizen. A visitor to that district told a Chronicle resporter that the gentleman had erected a number of ferro-concrete hotases for returned soldiers, and they are being paid for at the rate of 12s 6d a week, this amount being paid off the principal, he believed. In addition ito this, money was being provided for the erection of a Salvation Army Home, and maternity hospital. "If there were a few mom public-spirited people like what a fine place New ZeaJand would be toi live in," commented the informariij in conclusion. •

States a contemporary: Many and varied are the cricket stories that come to hand from time to time, but, a Wanganui resident states that he can vouch fur this one. Recently, he Stated, he visited the Central King 'ountry, and went to view a. backblocks game of cricket. The ground had anything Sat a biUiard-table surface, while no great distance from the pitch—and certainly not the regulation boundary ran a river. Occasionally one of the batsmen of the "bushwhacking 'f\ypo would give the ball such a mighty swipe that it would land in the water and float down stream. Eventually the opposition side got wise to the little game and stationed a man, stripped to the waist, on the bank, ready to plunge into the rushing waters when required, and retrieve the leather.—lt would be interesting to know where this unusual match took place. The King Country has been credited with many tilings, but we are afraid that the visitor's imagination must have run away with him on this occasion.

Questioned about the industrial conditions in England, Mr Tully of the Y.M.0.A., who recently arrived in Palmerston North in charge of 26 boys for Flock House, said thai unemployment was rife, and there were thousands ready to emigrate to the Dominions.. "It is very difficult at the present 'time in England for a boy to secure a good job in the city," he stated. In reply to a question whether New Zealand is at all prominent in the eyes of .the emigration officials at Home, Mr Tully said his experience was that of all the dominions New Zealaid was the most keenly ; sought by those seeking fields of fresh endeavour. "In England prospective immigrants think New Zealand the best of all, being blessed wi+h an ideal climate and great possibilities," he stated. "It is a country which has been very much to the fore of late by virtue of the tour of the All Blacks." Touching upon Rugby in England. Mr Tully said that, of course, "Soccer" was the national code at Home, but* lie J thougjht that Rugby was a little stronger now than before the war.

While a question of labour was momentarily before the Wanganui County Council, members observed that it was difficult to expect a good labourer at 14s a day when mere boys were securing 2s and over an hour for light work. An" aged Maori, Popoki te Kurupae, has died at Taupo. In the Maori War he was noted for his endurance as a despatch runner. He regularly traversed the distance between the military post at Taupo and Petane, near Napier, following the foot trail that was the only route across the 90 miles of plain and mountain range. "The German tourist is the one who gets the shortest shrift in Honolulu," said Mr C. S. Thomas, who returned to Christchurch on Thursday after a holiday visit to the island. " The people are still amazingly bitter, and after the United States entered the war all the German merchants were hunted out by the islanders in no time." The Hon. R. F. Bollard expressed himself at Waimate as being keen to see provided all facilities' possible for the amusement and entertainment of men on the land in the backblocks (states the Christchurch Press). "We don't want men running away from their farms to the cities," he said; "we should keep them there turning out the produce of their land, and so we must provide them with the amusements enjoyed by the people of the centres; that is why I am paying a lot of attention to the country racing clubs in the applications made for assistance under the Gaming Amendment Act passed by Parliament last session." A number of Auckland people who have returned from their holidays spent in the Raglan and Kawhia districts and who had hoped to enjoy a good deal of surf bathing, say that that part of their holiday was epmpletely spoilt by the large number of sharks which infested the water, and which made it dangerous to go very far cut. Some of the residents did not dread the black shark, but those most seen this season were the maneating kind and were more numerous than any of the old residents had ever remembered. It is thought that shoals ddhse hrtdst rdl th rducehr drhtdr of smaller fish had caused the dreaded fish to come out of their usual haunts in deep water into the shallower spots.

In discussing the changes that are taking place in the administration of the New Zealand Railways, the Railway Officers' Advocate, the official organ of the Railway Officers' Institute,, pays a warm tribute to the late Geneftl Manager, Mr R. W. McVilly, for the fair treatment he always accorded the members of the First and Second Division of the Service. "We have at times said hard things about him," says the Advocate, "and also have at time had to listen to some very plain speaking on his part. But these hapisenings have in no way lessened our respect for Mr McVilly. He had his duty, as he saw it, to perform; we had ours, as we saw it. We have never faltered in our belief that, so far as he could find it consistent with his paramount duty—that of carrying out the policy of the Government of the day—the retiring General Manager has given the staff of both the First and Second Division what is colloquilly known as 'a fair spin,' and we wish him and Mrs McVilly many happy years of superannuated life."

An Auckland man, who Ims just re. turned from England, said lie had written to an English paper complaining of the little space given 1o colonial news. A few lines about New Zealand appeared now and then, sy'uck away in some obscure portion of the edition. But when Jackie Coogan arrived he was given pages, and photographsJackie Coogan feeding the birds at the Zoo, Jackie Coogan doing this, that and the other thing—and getting a huge advertisement for his jtrarable. "For mining and commercial news tbe're is nothing that can touch the English papers," he said, "but for allround news of the world, and the general setting-out (rf the papers, give me the New Zealand dailies every time."

A Gore motorist issues a strong protest against the practice of certain ear drivers using exceptionally bright lights in not dimming when met by other cars. The other evening the motorist in question, an experienced driver, narrowly missed killing a couple of local people on the Mandevillo road (states the Mataura Ensign). His Dodge ear, which has lights of considerable strength, was met by a couple of cars that were evidently searching for a track to heaven itself, if the strength of their lights was any criterion of their intention*. Both failed to dim, although signalled to do so, and as the second car passed, tho Dodge driver, blinded by the powerful searchlight rays of the other automomiles, found two people directly in his path a yard in front. He kept his head, swerved immediately and managed to escape by brushing past the coat of one of the pedestrians. In the 'interests of life and limb it certainly seems time a limit was placed <in the strength of the lights of thoughtless road hogs.