LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Northern Advocate, 20 October 1920, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Governor-General has given assent *<> the raising of four separate loans, toalling £24,600. for purposes of roading in he Hobson County.

A German submarine torpedo arrived by the ferry steamer Wahine at Lyttelton. The torpedo is about lift in length, without tlie nose-cap, and was consigned to the Christchurch Museum.

A start has at last been niad.o with the erection of municipal dwellings in Wanganui. Two houses have boon put in hand, to be erected on the hollow block system; a third, on the continuous concrete system, will be started iliis month.

Although edible fish within the Whangarei harbour limits have noi yet shoaled to any large degree, the adven of sharks has become particularly noticeable and experienced fishermen have expressed the opinion that this fact will interfere to a considerable extent with summer fishing this year.

A small area of • additional land situated in Paparoa Parish is gazetted as set apart for North Auckland Railway purposes. Several pieces of land aggregating six acres have also been set apart for portions of the Kawakawa—Hokianga Railway and for a road diversion connected with the line.

•With the object of promoting the systematic recovery of kauri gum and other valuable products an area of about 964 acies. being portion of the Ohia Kauri Gum Reserve, contained in Blocks 5, 6, 8 and 9 of the, Rangaunu Survey District, has been set aside under the authority of an Order-in-Council.

A big disparity in favour of the Whangarei Racing Club is disclosed as between the totalisator turnover at the recent meeting at Avondale and that held at Kensington Park in th c spring of 1919. In the former case the amount handled was £87 - 110 and in the latter £21,053 10s, providing the substantial increase of £66,056 10s. •;

Vicars of parishes in th e Auckland Diocese will in future be paid a minimum annual stipend of £350, representing an increase of £50. This was resolved by the Anglican Synod sitting in Auckland, on the recommendation of a' conference of laymen. The stipends of vicars of parochial districts is not affected by the decision. In their case the remuneration may be any sum agreed upon.

Appreciation of the good work accomplished at the Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls is being in practical form by the natives in several parts of North Auckland. Money to th e amount of £60 has been raised by three or four settlements as the nucleus of an endowment fund for the school, while various gifts of money and articles of Maori manufacture have "been sent in for the school's sal e of work which is to be held next year.

Descanting volubly on the excellencies of "beef idrippinff," ia prominent member of a. local hotel staff caused much amusement amongst th e diners present last evening by making a liberally-spread sandwich of cold mashed potatoes and devouring it with great gusto. His hallucination went to th c length of a demand tthat itihe balance of be put aside for his morning lunch today. That was when disillusionment came to him, also the meaning of the many "pointers" about potatoes.

Though the contingents of Chinese arriving in New Zealand are of small proportions they ai*e so f«?* uqent that the total is assuming formidable dimensions. The Riverina, which arrived at Auckland on Monday from Sydney, had thirteen aboard and the Talun e brought eight more on the same day. Of the latter only* on c was able to pass the qualifying test which gives permission ito land and the other seven were takn on to Sydney. The number landed at Auckland this year now stands at 688.

. The gazetted rainfall returns fot , August show that Whangarei did not establish a Dominion record, as was generally supposed at the time. The measurement given of 18.62 inches was beaten in four instances, all of them in th c North. Puhipuhi Plantation took premier place with 22.15 inches, Kaeo came second with 19.86, Waimatenui was'third with 18.66, and Pakotai fourth with 18.38. For the same period the Queenstown s'ation in the South Island made a nam c for itself at the other extreme, recording only eleven-hundredths of an inch,

There are eight new sawmills being constructed in the Hokitika district, and on e hardly knows where they are going to get all the men needed to work them (writes the Hokitika correspondent of the "Grey River Argus"). Some of the present mills are working shorthanded as it is. and it is not everybody that caree about mill work. At th c present time there is far too much boy labour in the mills. Some of the boys would do far better if they stuck to school a littl e longer, as they will be broken down before they are 40 years of age. Of course, one knows that the high cost of living is pressing hard upon families, and somebody must see to bread-winning, but it is a pity the burden falls upon shoulders so young.

Few things annoy ladies more than to discover that their clothing has been copied, and consequently tha fact will be appreciated that Mr. Hosking has secured £500 worth of samples of ladies' dainty underwear having th e distinct advantage that no two articles of the hand and ma-chine-made apparel are alike,*

An allocation of a further consignment oi war trophies amongst tne iocai bodies in tne custrict wili be rauue on Saturday moriung - Uy the special committee constituted ±or the purpose, in addition to machineguns, win De some iield artiliery guns for disposal, and these trophies will doubtless be sought by the chief centres.

iJie employees m the zurnituve crude' in iiaweru nave secured ilie abolition ot Saturday work oy doing tueir 44 nours during me urst live, uays ox tue wook. Wneu tn,e Cmciiiacion Council was cuscussing 'iie iurnUure trade agreement at New riynioutn, a delegate explained ttxax me iiawei'ii men, Dy arrangement witn their employers, wonted aa exii-ra 46 minutes (over eight nours) ana mushed Uneir worKi-ng week on rriuay. i<t was stated that tihe alteration -was woriung satisfactorily.

liie Wihangarei Bowling and Croquet Clubs will open 'the season tomorrow aiternoon, at 2.15, w.itJh tale iormaiities dedicated by custom to such ■occasions. Already both clubs nave substantially increased their lnembers'nip inns season, ana large iiuniiDers oi invitations have been issue a ctoi- to-morrow's gathering, &o mat .botii players >and spectators are expected to be very numerous, ihe greens anu lawns we in line order, and aif the weather is favourable the aitrnooji should be very pleasant.

The promenade concert given in, Uie W hangar ci I'owri Mali on 'Monday uight was very successful from the musical point of view. Madame .beediiaim-Growe's pianoforte numbers were at least as enjoyable as a-; ncr earlier concent, and the vocal soloists contributed many pleasing numbers, Madame Edith Brainsby .being particularly successful, while Miss vioiet Dennis also found favour. L'n fortunately the audience w<as not nearly worthy of .the occasion, -a large numioer of Whangarei people proibably not realising 'how exceptional a musical treat they were missing.

" Italians are pouring into New i'orK attne averag e rate of a thousand, a day," says Mr. E. A. Tanner, who has just returned from America.

•■ A small army of .them crossed the Atlantic with us on the Adriatic, and a more poverty-stricken, dirty crowd of humanity I have never seen in my life.. Their poverty was excusable, tout no one need be dirty on the Adriatic, and these people looked as though they had never had a wash in their lives. They, and the Polish, Hungarian and German Jews are .Unking up as one people an America... Is it any wonder they cannot think as we English do?"

I do not know that the manager of any office is hankering for a girl typiste who recites poetry while typing the copy of a letter at full speed, or who wiu carry on a conversation with another person while he himself is rapidly dictating to her an urgent letter, states a writer in the " Manchester Guardian. ,, If such a man exists, however, he can stimulate .his secretary's ambition by pointing to rth e example of Miss Millicent Woodward, champion typewriter of Great Britain. Miss Woodward, who is quite a young girl with ten years' typing experience, gave an interesting exhibition of her proficiency at a West End office. Using a typewriter with unlettered keyboard she wrote to dictation at a rate that would test the average shorthand expert severely. When blindfolded she still wrote with extraordinary rapidity, and she finished by typing a memorised sentence repeatedly at a rate of 234 words a minnte. The machine and this typist might stand such a strain for a few minutes, but the speed and noise ( made one thankful for the humdrum ' rattling of th c ordinary office typewriter. It was, however, an extraordinary demonstration of typist and typewriter efficiency.

With a rapidity which indicates the prosperity of the district Mr. Hosking has disposed of a considerable consignment of the famous Lynx ready-to-wear suits for which he is the sole agent in the North. To meet the sustained demand Mr. Hosking has been , fortunate in securing a further supply of 150 suits of the colours, cut. and fashion which at the present juncture meet with such ready sale. Another line, which is hard to get nowadays consists of saddle-tweed and worsted trousers, admirably suitable for wear, with the popular sporting coats, of which he holds an extensive range. Neglige and tennis shirts of light fabric for summer wear have also met with a ready sale.*

Try Dobsoja, Piano Specialist, for better results. ■ 686