LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3439, 5 March 1932, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

St. Luke's annual Flower Show will be held in the Parish Hall on March 9th and 10th—next Wednesday and Thursday. Besides the floral exhibits there will be cake and sweet stalls, and afternoon tea and supper will be obtainable.

Military aeroplanes to the value of £500,000 have been ordered from one British firm by the Belgian Government. The type commissioned has a speed of 220 miles an hour at a height of 13,000 feet. When the final deliveries are made Belgium will own more than one hundred aeroplanes of British design.

"I would ask that the price of butter-fat never goes above Is o%d a pound," said Mr. D. Bryant, at the meeting of the Hamilton Rotary Club on Monday evening. "It would be very good for the country. If butter is produced at a reasonable cost the consuming public could buy more and sales would consequently increase. I

believe the price of butter-fat wi settle at Is a pound."

"Wherever I go I hear people referring to the good time the farmers experienced some years ago," said Mr. D. Jones, speaking in Ashburton the other evening. "They did have a good time, certainly, but so did the rest of the community. The benefits they reaped in a period of 16 years were only slightly less than the benefits derived by the whole of the rest of the people of this country."

Commenting on the proposal to cut out some of the existing hospital districts Mr. John Christie at the meeting of the Farmers' Union in Balclutha recently, created roars of laughter by vehemently asserting that some people were able to make out a balance-sheet to prove any d thing. "If," he added, "they were able to make out a balance-sheet as to whether a person should be born or not, they would probably conclude that some people shouldn't be born because they would be unprofitable."

The necessity for butchers providing a cover for meat carried in delivery baskets was stressed in the Rotorua Magistrate's Court last week, when the borough health inspector proceeded against Messrs. Lionel Dixon, Limited, for a breach of this regulation. It was stated that a boy employed by the defendants had been seen by the inspector delivering meat without a cover on the basket. For the defence it was contended that the boy had been instructed to take a cover but had forgotten to do so.

In the opinion of authorities no fewer than 1,000,000 sheep and lambs will be kijled in the Auckland district this season. A reliable estimate places the current season's total for the Auckland district to date at 720,000 head, Considering that only about half the season has elapsed, such a figure make a good basis for the belief that the million mark will be pleased.

Some few weeks ago a Stratford lady who owns a house in a nearby town leased the place to a family. On learning that the breadwinner was unemployed the lady decided to reduce the rent by 5s per week in order to make things easier for the tenants. Imagine her feelings when she lear'ned, later, that the wife had made practical use of the rent reduction to have her hair marcel waved, for which she was paying the account at the rate of 5s per week.

The Prince of Wales, in the presence of the President of the French Republic, will unveil on Whit Monday, the great memorial at Thiepval to 73,357 officers and men who fell in the battles of the Somme and whose graves are unknown. Altogether about 82,000 have no known graves, but Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, and India have memorials of their own. The Thiepval monument carries all the names from the United Kingdom and South Africa with the exception of the airmen, who are commemorated at Arras. About 150,000 soldiers of the British Empire fell in the Somme area before 21st March, 1918. The monument stands on a site of nearly forty acres of State land, in the communes of Thiepval and Authuile, between the two villages, but considerably nearer to Thiepval. The total height of the monument is 150 feet, and its bas"e is 123 by 140 feet. ■•

The population of New Zealand at the end of last year was 1,521,887. which includes 69,140 Maoris, according to the latest abstract of statistics. This does not include the population of the Cook and other Pacific Islands. 15,204, of the Tokelau Islands, 1048, or of Western Samoa, 45,918.

The fact that the New Zealand farmers' competitors in Argentina and Australia have a 20 per cent, advantage over them because of the exchange was referred to by Mr. D. Jones when speaking to a meeting of business men and farmers in the Masonic Hall at Ashburton the other evening. He added that this Dominion was faced this year with a big increase in exports from Argentina and Australia. "Where will the farmer be in that event?" he asked. "The

farmer cannot compete against it! What chance would he have?"

At a meeting of the Otago Temperance Reform Council on Tuesday night a resolution was adopted—- " That the council emphatically protests against, and will oppose most strenuously, the proposed extension of the life of Parliament to a four years' term. (a) The question has never been before the electors for consideration; (b) any such extension means the collecting by the liquor interest of another £6,000,000 from the people, before a licensing poll is held." The Otago Council strongly supports the licensing referendum and the parliamentary election being held on the same day.

The Wellington City Council has decided (says a special correspondent) that, so far as its heavy transport vehicles are concerned, solid tyres are to go, for, though an immediate outlay of about £SOO will be required, a very much greater indirect saving will be made, mainly in lessened road damage. The heavy traffic regulations insist that no lorry shod with solid tyres is to run at more than 12-miles per hour, but the regulations permit of considerably higher speeds for vehicles running on pneumatic tyres, and fewer lorries will do the same amount of work. The saving of road surfaces, however, is by far the strongest argument in favour of pneumatic tyres.

Some weeks ago a Maori from the country picked up a purse containing notes in the avenue (says the Wanganui Herald). A carpenter friend whom he knew was working in a shop nearby v and the Maori showed him the purse and remarked that the owner was a woman and her name was in the purse, and he intended to return it. The carpenter did not meet the Maori again until recently at the show, and the conversation, turned to the purse and the notes. "I suppose,'' remarked the carpenter, "the woman gave you a reward." "She did," replied the Maori; "she gave me one of the best dressings down I ever had in my life, and told me that I had stolen it."

The excellent condition in which the New Zealand war graves in France are kept very greatly impressed Mr. W. J. Bardsley, secretary of the Otago Harbour Board, who is in New Plymouth after a holiday in Britain and Europe. Mr. and Mrs. Bardsley visited the New Zealand zone of the French battlefields, and have returned anxious to convey to the parents and relatives of those who fell the information that the graves and burial grounds are in every instance maintained in beautiful condition. If the parents and relatives themselves were attending to the graves they could scarcely improve the conditions which were obtained, he said.

A new master mind is believed to be responsible for the big jewel robberies which have become so prevalent in England and European countries. From somewhere on the Continent he, or it may be a woman, is directing thieves in London, Paris and other big cities. During the first six months there have been almost daily robberies in England, as the result of which family heirlooms and other jewellery have been taken and apparently smuggled abroad. A recent evidence of the master mind's activities was the theft from a London West End hotel of jewellery valued at £15,000, belonging to the Maharajadhiraj of Darbhanga. The police have been unable to find any trace of these jewels and they are believed to have been sent abroad.

Air-Commodore Kingsford Smith's mishap in the famous Southern Cross, while barnstorming at West Maitland, recalls the amazing experience he had with a young engaged couple at Dubbo, where he was giving passenger flights shortly before the war. The couple wanted "plenty of thrills please." A week before Smithy's 'plane, unknown to him, had been inexpertly repaired after a crash. Up the party went. Smithy flung the machine into stunts, and when at the top of a loop the port wing partially collapsed under the strain. Any ground was good in that breathless moment. Smithy steered for an orchard. He climbed from the badly-wrecked 'plane, shaky and nervous, expecting to find his romantic passengers badly injured or dead, But they were snug in the cockpit, holding hands in blissful ignorance. They skyly said: "What a short ride. And this isn't the place where we J started from is, it?"

"South Africa is by far the most prosperous of the British colonies at the present time," stated Mrs. M. C. Matheson, of Johannesburg, who is at present on a visit to the Dominion, when in conversation with a Manawatu Evening Standard reporter. "There is very little unemployment, no dole system, and the country is still on the gold standard. However, the retention of the gold standard by the Nationalist Party under General Hertzog has had the effect of placing the farmers at a disadvantage, andthey are unable to dispose of their wool. As a result the farming community is experiencing more difficult times than the other classes. The' retention of the gold standard, however, is far from popular with many of the residents; indeed, there are many members of the party in power who do not hold the same opinion as their leader. Many hope that another election may be necessary in the near future with the return of the South African Party under General Smuts to power," added Mrs. Matheson.

The manager of the Milford Track (Mr. L. C. Cheriton) is very proud of a feat recently accomplished by his son, Eugene, aged four and a half years, who walked both ways over the track without receiving any assistance whatever. It is. common to, see men of 60 or even 70 years of age on the track, but Master Cheriton must be the youngest tramper ever to have done the trip. He has a rival in Miss Lang, of the Milford Hostel, aged six years, who has twice done the track.

The broadcasting apparatus at the Taranaki Show on Thursday proved invaluable not only for disseminating information regarding the events, but also as a general inquiry and answer bureau. The announcer, Mr. J. M. Smith, had a busy time, but he had also the happy knack of conveying his intelligence concisely. Some items announced were: "There is a baby rolling round in a perambulator at the back of the stand tying itself in knots. Will the parents look to it?" "The president will either give a speech or ride a steer." There were several announcements regarding lost children being harboured at the Plunket Society tent, which performed useful service.