LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 19 December 1919, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Whangarei Rowing Club has arranged another harbour excursion for Sunday, 21st inst. The launches Eva and Rose will leave the town wharf for Urquhart's Bay at 8.30 a.m. Plenty of good music will be provided. Hot water will also ibe available for picnic parties. A spe cial trip has been arranged for those who enjoy fishing. Speaking at Roseneath, Dr A. K. Newman advanced the opinion that in a few years' time there would be no tuberculosis in the Dominion. He believed that it would be possible to I achieve this very desirabl e result by making the Public Health Department more efficient. The Department should institute an aptiye campaign against cancer. If he had his way he would prosecute a vigorous crusade against this disease. A U.S.A. Government committee of technical advice on printing in Egypt ii.?.-. issued a report on the possibilities, of manufacturing paper in the country, and points out that rice straw, old cotton rags (mostly coloured) and waste paper are already available as raw materials in Egypt, and that several other materials— papyrus, reeds (bourdie, etc.) and bagasse (sugar cane refuse) —may eventually prove useful for paper making. None of them are of any use in the making of high grade naner. but only for cheap grades of

An unusually big cricket score was compiled by the Timaru team playing against Geraldine on Tuesday last. Timaru declared the innings closed with three wickets down for 501, of which aggregate L. Eaton hit up 164, E. Donoghue 141, and F. S. Cave 108. The whole of the Geraldine eleven were dismissed for 75.

Local natural history colour shows itself in the children's story published to-day. The riroriro is a fairly common songster and would even more frequently delight u_ were there more accommodating trees. The shining cuckoo is "The Intruder" to which reference is specially made; and atlhough it is a beautiful bird it is not so pleasing in its habits of intrusion. The story tends to make the children observant, and to feel a sense of kinship with nature's charm ing variety and loveliness.

In England the Women's Industrial League is very busy urging the claims of women architects on the ground that women will pay special attention to comfort, convenience and cleanliness. They have offered to supply the Ministry of Health with the names of women architects whose appointment will be and are pleased that the offer has been accepted. Already the Housing Department has recognised the value of women's expert knowledge. It is appointing women as insurance inspectors, rent collectors, and inspectors to the commissioners' staffs, and it is recommending that women should be co-opted to the housing committees of all local authorities.

A Melbourne paper has the following:—it is regarded as not improbable that Australian tobacco companies may be forced in the near future to increase their prices for manufactured goods. A recent intimation gave the price of the raw material at the high figure of 60 c. per lb at the plantations, and from that quotation it is thought probable the factory product may be raised in price next year, although uncertainty as to the result of-'any move in that direction is entertained, in view of the experiences of recent applicants for the sanction of the authorities for increased charges.

Deputations frjjm the Warkworth branch of the N.Z. Farmers' Union and the Rodney Chamber of Commerce waited on the council at its last meeting suggesting that instead of the county choosing ]a 'central route for the main north arterial road, the road should as far as pos. sible follow the existing east or west coast roads thus saving an amount of new road construction. They did not favour following the railway line, considerable discussion took place on this point when Cr. Hooper proposed, seconded by Cr. Morison: That this council favour the taking of a central route, as far as possible, for the Main north arterial road. —Carried.

' A remark by a prisoner in the Supreme Court, Wellington, that he had no vices except that he smoked, led Mr Justice Edwards to make some observations on the question of tobacco. The use of tobacco in moderation, he said # could not be regard, ed as a sign of'depravity. There were so many addicted to the habit that it woull ill-become him to say that smoking was a vice. True, he believed the cigarettes were very harmful if the smoker inhaled, but even then it was hardly a vice. "Why, some people even put down tea-drinking as a vice," added His Honour with a smile.

The family which can "sport" a turkey as Christmas fare can certainly say that they are celebrating "regardless," says th e Cfiristchurch "Sun." It is almost impossible to obtain these birds in the ordinary way, and then only at an extraordinary high price. Indeed, all classes of table poultry are extremely, scarce, and prices show an advance of about 40 per cent, over last season's. The reason for the scarcity is that providores of vessels have secured large quantities of poultry, and the special festivities since the spring also have made inroads into the supply. One large dealer states that usually he has about 500 turkeys for the Christmas season. So far, he has none in hand. They certainly would not retail at less than 30s apiece.

At the Magistrate's Court, Palmerston North, on Tuesday last, a lad was brought up on a number of charg-'s of breaking and entering the premises of twelve firms in the town. He was caught red-handed in the premises of the Premier Drapery Company on the previous evening, and eventually he pleaded guilty to all the charges and admitted that he alone was responsible, having worked entirely by himself. The police stated that although very little had ibeen taken from the various premises entered the damage done to glass windows and doors and shop fixtures had amounted to over £50. The father of the lad stated that the boy was one of a family of eight, and that on the night on which he was arrested he had left home with some of his brothers and sisters for the purpose of attending the services of the Salvation Army. The charges were eventually reduced to common theft, in order to allow of the the lad being dealt with summarily, and Mr J. Logan Stout. S.M._ entered a conviction and ordered the boy to be sent to the Nelson Boys' Training Farm for five years, and ordered that he should receive six strokes with the birch rod.

There have been complaints lodged to the Matamata County Council against the nauseating odour which is occasioned through suppliers to factories in certain parts of the county depositing the skim milk and whey on the roadsides. It is obligatory on suppliers to take the_ e byproducts from the factories they supply, but many instances have come to notic where the contents of the cans had been deposited on the roadsides before th" homeward journey had been traversed far. The council had, in respect of the nuisance created in one particular locality sought to have a remedy effected through the local I