LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Patea Mail, Volume XLIV, 26 November 1920, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Try P. Jones, Egmont Street, for plumbing and timmiithing repairs. Telephone 111.*

The comic sketch artist will make his first appearance in public at the Pierrot Kiddies’ entertainment on December 3rd. Come and hear his witticombcrS rd. Come and hear his witticisms, and you will scream with laughter.

According ta the Government census in the South Island (hero are It:?,.'.>(>3 Presbyterians, ’flic total under pastoral care, however, leaves more then 40 per cent, unaccounted for. In !ne North Island there are 11(5,173 Presbyterians, leaving a little over *SO per cent, unknown to the Church.

All Paris is laughing at the story of the well-known actress, whose 'famous bust burst during the pinning ,on of a Legion of Honour decoration. It appears that a nervously clumsy Ministerial representative drove the pin in to its fullest extent. Instead of the onlookers hearing a scream of pain, they heard a report, owing to the piercing of a kind of semi-circular balloon which the actress was wearing.

Mr. E. .1. Cnrthew, of Xew .Plymouth, writing fro m Eiskhead, Cornwall, in September, makes some comments on prices in that district. Rutter, he says, is ds !)d per lb, and will be -Is (id in the winter. Boots and clothing arc about half the juices charged in New Zealand. The price of shoej) and cattle astonish him. {Sheep arc £(i to £7 head, heifers in calf £45, fat cows £(!5, three .year steers £(i() and over, good cows £.SO, not pedigree stock.

A Wanganui jirossmau who had occasion (o call ujion a Maori resident the other day aceejited an invitationfor a cup of morning tea. Evidently the hospitable native considered that his jiakeha friend might like a little additional nourishment,as when the fragrant cup made its ajipearance it was accompanied by a dish containing four fried duck eggs, a large slice of ham, several potatoes, and a boiled selmappcr. The visitor, when he got over his first astonishment, remarked with mild apprehension that the compassing of the feast was a bit beyond him, but the amiable host immediately consoled him with the remark: “Oh, you have two hours yet before 'the train goes.”

Mass will be celebrated on .Sunday as follows;—Wavcrlcy, 0 a.in., -and Pa tea J 1 a.in. No mass will be celebrated in Waitotara on that day. A final reminder is given of the Presbyterian Gift Sale which commences this afternoon at 2.30. The children’s entertainment will take place at 7.30. At the Melbourne Hide Club’s meeting at North Williamstown one day recently, Mr. R. J. King, of Mastcrton, das responsible for a coincidence unique in ride shooting. He readied the age of -to on that day, and his total in the Hancock Match was ti>, while his score card road 4,5, 4, 5, 4, a, 4, a, 4, a —4a. Messrs. R. P. Morrissey and Co. have received instructions from Mr. J. G. S. Dunn, who is leaving the district, to sell by auction at his residence, Cambridge Street, on Tuesday, December 7th next, the whole of his superior household .furniture and 'effects, full particulars of which will /appear iu a later issue.

The other day a Jersey bull was responsible for the hold-up of three mo-tor-cars, a lorry, and a motor cycle in the dip on the Main Road side of Ball Road. The bull charged one of the motors, causing some damage to the mudguards. A lady, who was in the car, received a fright. Eventually the animal was driven to a place of safety, and the traflic was allowed to proceed.

As an illustration of the apathy of ratepayers in some districts, the result of the poll taken in the Kaitaia County will bo hard to boat. The poll was to decide the question of whether £15(10 should be borrowed for metalling portions of a new road. The votes for the proposal totalled four, and those against it eleven. The moral is, if you want a loan carried, vote for it; don’t leave things to chance.

At an Auckland bazaar farmers contributed goods for sale for the benefit of the fund, including a bullock, pig, lamb, am! calf. One man in his shilling prize packet had a curd stating that he was the winner of “a pig.” A. butcher promptly offered 20s for the card, which was declined. When the owner called for his pig, he got a real surprise, as the porker was a small one made of crockery. The butcher would have hail a bigger shock had his offer been accepted.

A giant .ox is being exhibited at the various shows. The beast is seven years old, IS hands high, 11 feet long, 12 feet girth, and Ids prime weight is 2080 lbs. He is so big and long that the ordinary cattle truck is too small for him, so ho is transported in one of Wirth Bros.’ elephant trucks. Last season rhe late owners paid £lO los to the Xew Zealand Railways to have the doors of the truck widened six inches. He goes shortly direct to Buenos Ayres for the six months .Stock Exhibition, starting next May, to represent Xew Zealand Beef.

A few days ago, says an exchange, a quantity of coal being ’urgently needed to complete the loading of one of the vessels at Greymouth, eight trucks were attached'to the workman’s train in the evening. This the minors regarded it as a breach of the recent agreement with the Railway Department, which provided that the workmen’s train would be purely a passenger one. A stop-work meeting was held next morning, and a resolution passed warning the Department that any further departure from the terms of the agreement would result in a stoppage of work. After the one day’s idleness the miners resumed on the following day. What next?

Chatting with a Mastcrton reporter Mr. H. Aitehison, an old Foathcrstonian, who has reeonly returned from Canada, commented upon what he termed the idtnil farming conditions in this country in comparison with those of the great sister Dominion, where he had seen settlers struggling against four ami five bad seasons running, living in much discomfort and on a system of credit. If the grocer refused to give, credit, then the settlor was forced

to work on the roads. In some instances the settlers had been pleased to sell out for a small sum to the more experienced men, who had thus been able to gain j«onsidorable tracts of land. Ho instanced how on some farms the houses were surrounded by banks of manure several feet high, the manure frozen stiff and as hard as ice, and he renin rked that New Zealand farmers had not to contend with such conditions. At present they were depressed somewhat owing to the wool outlook, but they hail not one quarter of the difficulties ahead of them that beset the Canadian farmer.

A disc prosonfiit”' all (lie elements of u mystery is reported to have occurred in Gisborne a few days ago, when a girl walked out of her father’s house one afternoon, and uj) to the present has not been discovered. On Friday morning last the girl, who is L’l) years of age, had been working in the garden with her parents at their residence in Childers Road. She is a (irst-class horsewoman, and after dinner she said, according to it common custom, that she would go for a ride. She caught her father’s horse, and used his saddle and bridle. When the tea hour arrived she had not put in an appearance, and its the evening wore ,on, she was still absent. That was nol considered altogether unusual, as it was thought she had arranged to spend the night at a friend’s place. After inquiries had been made next morning, however, from her friends, it was found that she had been seen by no one, and up to the present, moment n.o traces have been found either of the girl or (he horse. On Salurday and Sunday the parents and friends sen rehod t lie sandhills in case an accident had happened to the girl, but though many people were questioned, she had not been seen. The search has been continued at intervals, but without success.

Owners arc required for two watches found in Patea recently. Farmers and others arc requested to note that the clearing sale of Mr K. Cornwall's dairy herd has been withdrawn. ■'Messrs. Morrissey and Co. in another column have a list of articles to be sold at the Egmout Auction Mart tomorrow, at 2 p.m. A big lirewood project is reported to be well on the way at Rcikiorangi. Lugs are to be hauled from hillsides by haulers and sawn up by electric saws, and the finished product hauled to the railway by motor lorries. A largo amount of capital is being expended by a syndicate, who me,an also to engage some fifty hands. Wellington will not bo short of firewood next winter if the hope of the promoters is realised. “fho infusion of the native race in Now Zealand with the Hindu has begun,” remarked a Presbyterian missionary at Saturday's sitting of the General Assembly. “How do I know? Well, 1 have officiated at the first wedding between a Maori woman and a Hindu. It has started properly. Just what sort of a success it is going to be, however, I cannot tell.” The speaker added that the possibility of an infusion of these two races called for very serious consideration.