LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 17 June 1920, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

At midday the secretary of the Whangarei Rugby Union received a wire from the Waikiekie Football Club to the effect that, as some of the best players had left the district, the club would withdraw from this season's competitions. Consequently the United-Waikiekie match arranged for Saturday is "off."

A welcome addition to th e local fleet is the launch "Wild Thyme," formerly named "Sister Dora," which has been purchased recently by Mr S. Blake. Sh c is a fine-looking boat, installed with a 10 h.p. 4-cylinder engine, equipped throughout with electric light, and she compares favourably wih the best launches on the harbour. As th e "Wild Thyme" has been especially fitted up for cruising her owner and crew are looking forward to a "wild time" next season.

Despite the impression -created that crime in the Dominion has shown a great increase of late, the bare figures of official statistics do not bear out the assertion. During the quarter ending March 31st last, 7,335 convictions in criminal cases wer c recorded, and at that rate the total for a twelve-months period would be less than those for any year during the past decade, with the exception of 1918 and 1919.

Th e Whangarei Schools Committee's independent action in taking steps to provide cocoa to pupils has a prcedent in Auckland, wher e so successful has been the experiment of supplying hot cocoa to scholars at Napier Street school at mid-day that th 6 Auckland City Schools Committee has decided to suggest to the Minister of Education that a permanent grant be established for school children's refreshment on the lines carried out at Napier Street among the young children.

Much interest has been shown by visitors to the Town Hall in the three enlarged photographs of Whangarei in its early days, which were presented to the borough by Cr. J. E. Holmes at the last meeting. Of the

two views of Cameron Street, one, dated 1870, depicts the street as it

then was from the eastern end, none of the buildings shown in it being in existence to-day, with perhaps, the exception of a small shed opposite the Lyceum Theatre. The second view is eastward-along the street in 1880 and it shows the Old Mill, now Calkin's boardinghouse. Th c remain-

ing photograph includes the Bank

corner and Harrison's Hill, then known as Manse Hill, garrison's

old store and an old-stager leaning against a solitary post ar c the most prominent features of the veiw.

Recently in Whangarei a fine was imposed upon a farmer for exposing a lousy sheep for sale, but little so far has been done in connection with cattl e similarly affected, yet it has been estimated that nearly half the beasts in the country have lice upon them. Th e result is that the cattle become infinitely harder to keep in condition; in fact, so far as dairy cows ar c concerned, a Waikato dairy farmer has computed the loss of butter-fat from that cause at 12_" per cent, based upon a conviction that ]ic e reduce butter-fat production by a quarter, and that half of the milking cows ar e affected. This is a serious matter, and the case cited in the advertisement of Thompson "Licerine" remedy, appearing in this issue, makes intesesting reading for all settlers in the North, which is by no means immune from lic e jjtnd ticks.

Members of the Whangarei Pipe Band, supported by a concert party, will visit the Kamo Springs Sanitorium this evening and will provide an entertainment there for the patients.

It is expected that th e session of the Tokerau Maori Land Court, which began this morning at the local courthouse under the presidency of Judge Holland, will last for ten days A considerable influx of natives has already become apparent.

Yesterday the County engineer, Mr Norris, inspected the quarry which has been opened up near the Wairoa Bridge at Titoki and made arrangments for the recently acquired ston a cmsher to be set up ther e without delay. A good face of stone has been exposed. ""

Discussion upon ways and means of dealing with the kauri timber acquired by the Borough Council at the Pukenui Forest, will take place this eyeing, at a special meeting of the Borough Council, when it is probable that further steps will be taken to wards converting the kauri into milled timber.

A proposal submitted to the Rugby Union last evening by Mr H. G. Smith, that th e Union should support a suggested building for all sports clubs as a war memorial, was rejected. The meeting was evidently opposed to the Anzac Park obelisk monument scheme, and a special subcommittee was set up to prepare suggestions ; to be llaid before the members of the Union.

Of th e total of 431 deaths recorded in the four centres and nine chief suburban areas of the Dominion during April, organic diseases of the heart and angina pectoris accounted for 57, cancer for 45, senility for 36, and tuberculosis of the lungs and other organs for 33. The toll of influenza was 22, bronchitis and pneumonia 31, and accidental deaths 15.

Damage occasioned by careless and superfluous us e of hooks in the handling of goods brought to the town wharf in th e Northern Company's boats has been reported. In on e instance a parcel containing tweed suit-lengths was badly ripped and the tweeds partially destroyed. There exists a special hook, with short teeth like thos 6 on a currycomb, for handling soft-goods, and if hooks ai'e necessary for handling such cargo at all this device should b e adopted by the watersiders. Rolls of paper have also been damaged in the same way on several occasions.

During the discussion on the question of agricultural training in primary schools at Thursday's conference of Taranaki School Committees the chairman (Mr S. G. Smith, M.P.) said there was a good deal of misapprehension in regard to what was being done in agriculture, but the Minister of Agricultureat iLklfio dd-AfKl ter of Education, when he recently visited Taranaki, had been astounded to see so much being done in that snbject in the Taranaki schools, and had admitted that the Taranaki Education Board was doing more in that direction than any other board in New Zealand. At the same time itwas not the aim of the Board to teach agriculture thoroughly in the primary schools, as it was a matter for the secondary schools.—News.

"There's one matter which we, as an Industrial Association, will have to take up sooner or later," said Mr J. A. Frostick at a meeting of the executive of the Canterbury Industrial Association on Tuesday evening —"That is as to what the term 'bonus' means. Is it wages or what is it? Not scores, but hundreds of awards were made with the proviso that the 'bonus' should cease six months after the end of the war. Not only was this not the case, but the bonuses hav e been confirmed and others added to them. A union which doesn't Hke to go and ask the Court for £4 10s, has no hesitation in asking for*£4 6s.'' Other speakers expressed the opinion that the bonuses would be withdrawn when prices fell, pointing out that the proviso for withdrawal six months after the war was made when it was thought that prices would drop after the war, instead of which they had gone up.