LOCAL AND GENERAL

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4729, 6 August 1935, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Carlson Cup match at Ohura on Saturday was won by Ohura by 6 points to Taumarunui’s 5. It provided spectacular football, particularly in the last twenty minutes, the ball being- thrown about freely by the backs, and the forwards battled strenuously throughout. Ruapehu and Kaitieke drew, 13 all.

The opinion was expressed at the annual meeting of the Royal Oak Dairy Company on Saturday night that the Dairy Produce Board had been of little use to cheese factories. Its whole attention, is was said, seemed to have been devoted to the interests of butter. It was time the board began to advertise and push New Zealand cheese.

At the monthly meeting of the Mangaotaki branch of the Women’s Institute held in the Schoolroom, the President, Mrs. Cathie, was in the chair. Visitors from Te Kuiti and Marton were present. A very delightful and interesting talk on “Oxford and its Environs” was given by the Rev. E. W. Hancock. Mrs. Taylor presided over a bring and buy sales table, which was well patronised. A competition was won by Mrs. J. Cox.

“I once went to a Presbyterian Church service,” confessed Mr. T. O’Byrne, M.L.C., at the officebearers’ dinner in connection with the seventieth jubilee celebrations of the Southland Presbytery. “The minister commenced his sermon with a ‘Firstly.’ After half an hour, he said ‘Secondly,’ and again after a lengthy lapse of time ‘Thirdly.’ Later he came to ‘Lastly/ but I fell asleep then.” A hearty roar of laughter from the 200 guests present showed that the story had been thoroughly appreciated.

Giving evidence at the Palmerston North Supreme Court, Dr. Russell, deputy Director-General of Mental Hospitals, said that the great majority of cases of insanity were brought on by continued worry and stress of mind; few cases were caused by a sudden shock, he commented. Later, he said that in some cases there was no change in the construction 'of the brain, but where there had been an injury to the brai'n, which injury was the cause of insanity, then, of course, there’ would be a changed structure.

Describing the bobby calf trade as the cruellest part of the farming industry, Mr. G. A. Cook, speaking at a meeting of the Waikato sub-provin-cial executive of the Farmers’ Union, advocated an investigation' of ■ the trade from the farmer’s gate to the freezing works. Mr. Cook said that when trucks wei'e unloaded at the works calves had been found trampled to a pulp. . Other instances of cruelty to bobby calves were quoted, abd the meeting decided to request information as to the truth of the allegations from the Railways Department, Transport Board, freezing companies and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ,

It was a pity Norfolk Island did not belong to New Zealand, as it possessed great potentialities, said Mr. W. H. P. Barber, Wellington, on his return 'by the Wanganella from Sydney. Mr. Barber made the Islands cruise in the Wanganella. The sea was very rough when she anchored off Norfolk Island, but he and a few others made a trip to the shore in the 'ship’s boats, and a'n their return were hoisted back on board in baskets. Mr. Barker said he enjoyed his stay on the island, but he remarked that the inhabitants were a little dissatisfied, and also they found great difficulty in marketing their products.

The prisoner, Edgar Arthur Petersen, aged 27, who escaped from the Rangipo prison camp, near Tokaanu, on June 26, and who jumped into the To'ngariro River when threatened with recapture by prison warders three days later, is still missing. It is now almost definitely established that a man seen in Taumarunui on June 30 and leaving < that town the following morning bn a cycle was Petersen, and since then no further search has been made by parties of warders who had previously patrolled the river for signs of the escapee. At the time of his escape from the prison camp Petersen was undergoing a period of five years' reformative de-. tention, imposed in May for breaking, entering and theft, and breaking and entering with intent to commit a crime.

A group of Maoris were “swapping stories” one night recently when ohe related the following incident. The “big” man of the tribe had been drowned in the river, and for days his people had sought unsuccessfully to recover the body. At length it was seen floating on the surface of the water and was brought ashore by the sorrowful searchers. Then to the surprise of everyone, a multitude of eels emerged from the pockets, pants and clothing of the dead man and commenced to wriggle their way back to the river, but were quickly secured, in view of the inevitable tangi. Then the mourners turned to the weeping widow, who had been watching the proceedings and asked: “What shall we do with him?” And she replied between her sobs, “Py korri! I think Kapai set him again!”—Kawhia Settler.

Angling for crocodiles was explained by Captain Heber Percy to the Anglers’ Club at Wellington on Saturday night. The method was to bait large hooks with baboon, and not far above the bait was a petrol tin, as float. Keeping this below water exerted a pull which kept the crocodile’s mouth open, and facilitated the landing, in which donkeys took the place of reel, and the catch was shot on arrival ashore. Crocodiles usually knocked away the legs of unwary riverbank pedestrians with their tails as a prelminary to seizing them. They were known to have pulled in lions and even buffalo. When a grip had been secured, the “croc” did not exhaust itself, but just waited the inevitable moment when the victim paused for breath, then “taking in the slack” as it were, and gradually getting its prey under water. Crocodid notjimmediately eat their catches, but stowed them under roots below water, in fact “hanging” their game.

It was stated during the course of a transport licensing application at Raetihi a Tew days ago that last year the railways used 422,334 tons of New Zealand coal, and they had imported no outside coal for the last three years.

A controversy concerning the sinfulness or otherwise of dancing in proceeding in Scotland. The discussion arose from the suspension for six months by the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland of John Murray, who for 13 years was Provost at Dornoch, for having permitted dancing at his daughter’s party. Most Church leaders are tolerant. The Rev. William Younger, a former president of the Methodist Conference, said: “The Methodist Church definitely bans dancing.”

Although the fares of numerous air services in Australia were much cheaper than the fares ruling in New Zealand, the Commonwealth aerodromes, generally speaking, could not compare with grounds such as the Wigram Aerodrome at Christchurch, was the opinion expressed by Mr. A. R. Galbraith, city engineer at Christchurch, on his return from Australia. He said there was one possible exception, however. The Richmond military aerodrome, about 30 miles from Sydney, was excellent. Since his last visit to Australia aviation had developed tremendously, said Mr. Galbraith. There were regular air services between all the main cities except Melbourne and Sydney, but even then, private cheap rates of about 3d a mile. From Sydney to Newcastle, a distance of approximately 100 miles, there was a daily service, the charge for the trip being 255.