Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3581, 30 December 1926, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 1926. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There will •!><' no publication ol ! the “Herald" on Saturday, Now Year’s Daw

The year 1020,. with all its experiences will soon give place to 1027 and we take this opportunity of conveying to our readers the best of good wishes for the New Year.

The Ill'st Russian census taken since 190 S, shows a population of 145,500,000 people the Soviet’s territory.

A commodious dressing shed for ladies has been erected in a convenient and sheltered position on the river foreshore at the local seaside.

The Maori !login touring team defeated Cardiff after a magnificent struggle by 5 points to three. The game was witnessed by 25,000 spectators.

Mr Cioorgo Baker, who left his lodgings in Palmerston North some weeks hack, and whose whereabouts were for some lime unknown, has been located in Wellington. Two men were arrested and placed in hospital -after a duel with axes, at Perth. They were found seriously injured, lying in a pool of blood.

In the Invereargall Court yesterday, Raymond Rov Witting, a carpenter, was fined £lO and had.his license suspended for twelve months, for being drunk in charge of a motor car.

A letter, posted in 1911 to a resident of Uffculme, Devon, while serving as a private in the R.M.L.I. at Plymouth, was delivered recently to him, after having lyien 15 years in transit.

.An old man named James Roy Curtis, living alone in a liut at Ngatapa, Gisborne, had not been seen for several days. A visit was paid to the hut yesterday and Curtis was found dead in his bunk.

Two Maori shearers —the Haeata brothers —have .just put up some tine shearing records at Mr. L. Donald’s farm, near Masterton. One day last week one put through 300 and the other 290, the sheep being.Romneys with good heavy fleeces.

A case of “tarring and feathering’’ is reported from the Murchison district (reports the Nelson “Evenin# Mail”). It is alleged that, a settler, of foreign extraction, made uncomplimentary remarks about some women folk, whose friends waylaid the man, stripped him, and applied the “tarring” process, substituting kapoc for feathers. The man, it is said, was rather roughly handled, and had subsequently to receive treatment at a private hospital.

The people of Dunedin still retain their reputation for demanding full value for their money. A lady entered a shop, says the “Otago Daily Times,” and asked for “a penny eomie,” and when this was. being produced she asked for a calendar —which, by the way. cost the. vendor 1/7. When informed that the supply of calendars 'was exhausted and that the request could not he complied with, the would-be purchaser declined to take the “eomie.”

A small portion of Main Street on the west side of the triangle is being tar-sealed, thus completing the whole of Main Street, the surface of which is n credit to the Council. The only objectionable IVat urc to the appearance .of our main thoroughfare is the chained enclosure of the triangle. Why our progressive Council retains this; old-, time relic, is a puzzle, as the day is long past since stock were allowed to graze in the principal thoroughfare. The chain fence should lie replaced Inga raised curbing which would greatly add to the appearance of the triangle.

A smart rescue from drowning was effected by a member of the police force at Milford beach, Auckland, on Monday evening. When walking along the heaeh Constable I’’. Oliver, of the Newmarket station, who is at present on sickleave, heard shouts for help and noticed a man in difficulties some distance from the shore. Fully clothed, the constable dashed into the sea and soon bad the swimmer on the beach. The bather, a man of about twenty-eight years, _ had suffered a severe attack of cramp and would probably have been carried out to sea by the tide bad .it not been for the constable’s prompt action.

During llie visit of the GovernorGeneral to Wl-iihi, an amusing incident occurred when Ibe ears containing his Excellency and the Mayoral party respectively were about to leave the Recreaiion Reserve. An elderly lady approached the mayoral car. and addressing a distinguished looking gentleman wearing a “hard knocker,” said “Good-bye, your lordship. 1 hope you've had a good time.’’ “I'm not his lordship. You will find him in the next car.” The surprised member was no other Ilian Ohiuemuvi’s popular ALP., Major Samuel, who was in the Mayor’s car, and he immediately remarked that "it must have been the ‘hard knocker’ that did it.”

MV. Bruce Levy, ngrostologisl to tlu l Department of Agriculture, is convinced that he has discovered a natural enemy of the obnoxious blackberry. Writing in the journal of tlie Department, tie declares that paspaluin is of value not only for the control of bracken fern, hard fern, water-fern, manuka, tall fes r cue, etc., but also is most promising; for the control of hlaekberry. Blackberry will not thrive with a tight turf of grass about its crown nor can it spread by layering in a dose turf such as paspalum can make. The writer feels certain that on the better-quality soils at least, or where top-dressing can be systematically carried out, the establishment of paspalum among any blackberry that may be there is one of the means by which this troublesome secondary growth can be suppressed.

.Did you know that Lord Jcllicoe was a devotee of the “weed?" He chiellv smokes cigarettes, but conlines himself to one packet of ten per diem. Quite moderate! Yes. Some people smoke thrice, that quantity between breakfast and bed. But despite the popularity-of (he “oig,” millions of smokers prefer the. pipe. As to the injuriousness of smoking it largely depends upon the tobacco. The imported brands, as a. rule, are simply loaded with nicotine, so that their habitual use cannot be good. Tn that respect they differ materially from our New Zealand grown tobaccos. These are toasted —hence their delightful flavour and fragrance. Also, they are comparatively free from nicotine and do not burn the tongue, wreck the nerves or effect the heart. There is unquestionably a. great future before these tobaccos, and already the, growing, curing and manufacture of the leaf is beeomming an important New Zealand industry, and farmers are finding a tobacco crop a profitable one to cultivate. Brands chiefly in demand are “Riverhead Gold,’’ mild; “Navy Cut” (Bulldog), medium; and “Cut Plug No. 10,” full. Caversham Mixture is the latest addition. 36.

Air J. Linklater, ALP., and family are in residence at the seaside. Air Linklater, as chairman of the local Harbour Board, is keenly interested in all movements for popularising the seaside. Mr Hodge, the Wjanganui Education Board’s architect, visited Foxton to-day to inspect the site upon which is to be erected the building to accommodate the secondary and technical classes in connection with the local District High School. A total of '293 building permits for work valued at £158,(»2i3 were issued in Napier during the past year, constituting a reconl. The previous year’s figures, were 273 permits for work estimated to cost £138,1(52. About 2,000 visitors enjoyed themselves at the local seaside on Boxing Day. It is anticipated that a record number will he there on New Year’s Day. The river foreshore is in splendid order and the Harbour Board’s artesian bore'provides an ample supply of fresh water for picnic parties. A Presbyterian Bible Class conference is being held at Wjanganui this week, nearly 800 delegates, from all over New Zealand attending. A hoy named Keith Doyle, of Oumaru, who left home to attend the conference lias not: arrived, causing consternation in conference circles.