TOWN EDITION.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15748, 13 February 1922, Page 6

TOWN EDITION.

Residents of Opotiki mol last week, and decided to establish a Beautifying Society. It is proposed to plant trees over a large portion of Cornwallis Park, Auckland.

A most polite application from a Hindu for a street barrow license was received bv the Newmarket Borough Council. The application was declined, the unanimous feeling being that such hawkers were not wanted in the borough.

Mr. E. S. Harris, who was the victim of a serious motor accident on the Wairoa-Napier road some months ago, has never recovered from the severe injuries to his back. He recently underwent another serious operation, the result of which is ns yet uncertain.

Advance payments for butter-fat suitplied to factories belonging to tlio South Auckland Dairy Association during January will he the. same as for ttie previous month's supply—that is, butter, first grade, Bj,d per lb; superfine. 9d;. cheese, Is; dried milk, lOd. Asked by a representative of the Manawatu Times if he thought the present prices of fat stock would be maintained, the buyer for a well-known company stated that he did not think they would. He ventured the opinion that the lamb market would decline considerably in the near future. There lias been a considerable decrease in passenger traffic on file Wellington tramways. For 40 weeks to January 5 tlid number carried 1 was 28,174,743, ‘a decrease of 244,480 upon the corresponding period of Hie previous year. Then was an increase of revenue amounting to £36,405, due to increased 1 fares. For the week ended on Saturday, 51 naniesi remained on the unemployment list of the Gisborne branch of the Labor Department, compared with 59 for the previous week. During the week thre< men were sent, by the Department tc the public works at Whareratn, and one was assisted to private employment. The cocksfoot crop at Akaroa this season is. reported to he an absolute failure. Tire continued wet weather soon after the paddocks were shut up foi seed in August caused a tremendous growth of stalk and there was every appearance of a heavy crop. However, the excessive moisture brought on rust, and the unusiialy dry weather which followed caused the heads to ripen before the seed had actually filled. The result was that the tops simply dried off and very little seed of any qunilty was saved.

The observations of one local produce merchant lead him to believe that the wet spell during tlie last month will not detrimentally affect the crops of potatoes sown late. The early potatoes will probably start their second growth, if left in the ground, or will go bad, especially in heavy land. In higher soil the danger is not likely to be so great, as the water would get away. Another week of rain would, however, kill all the crops of potatoes, late or early. Leaf crops planted early were saved by early harvesting, but the later crops, caught by the rain, are not worth lilt irig from tile paddocks. An interesting difference of opinion re garding the value of a piece of land was heard by a compensation Court at Auckland. James W. McGregor claimed from tile Whangarei Borough Council £405 for land taken by the council under the Public Works Act for street widening purposes. While the council had rated the area on a £SOO valuation it now refused to pay the smaller amount claimed. The land in question comprised half a perch, and the Government valuation was £SOO. It was contended that the land was useless for building purposes on account of its lack of depth, and was therefore not worth more than £l6O. Claimant was awarded £290 ns compensation. The railway working account for the period commencing April, 1921, and ended January 7, 1922, shows a credit balance of £i48,784. In the North Island there was a surplus of £318,814 to credit over the expenditure, and a debit of £170,030 in the South Island. The figures for the Gisborne section for the four-weekly period ended January 7 were: Revenue, £4014, expenditure £2714. This covers the Christmas period. The receipts and expenditure respectively on the Gisborne section for the nine months ended Januery 7 (the figures for the corresponding period the previous year being given in parentheses) were: £34,278 (£34,281) and £30,531 (£29,838).

A sad state of affairs was revealed at. the Magistrate's Coui't in Christchurch, when two boys andt two g,irls, aged 14, 12, 10, and 5 years respectively, were charged with being out oi proper control. They had been living at Rotherham with their father, an old man of 70 years, who said ho received £1 a week old age; pension. He paid 5s per week rent, and kept the children, a girl of 17 years, and himself on 15s a week. Evidence was given that the children had practically no clothes. The girl of 17, a daughter of his first wife, who had lately given birth to a child, had no underclothing, and neighbors had had to supply her with various articles. The Magistrate committed the children to the Christchurch Receiving Home. At a meeting of the Ashburton County Council a letter was received from Messrs Bower and' Harrison, farmers, of Seafield, asking for what period:'of time the council intended to pay at the. rate of 6d apiece for rats’ tails (says the Christchurch Press). They stated that owing to the excessive, arbitration awards in the freezing, thrashing and shearing industries, and’ the great cost of growing mutton, wool, and grain, they were considering the question of going in for rat farming instead. With only their own labor arid 1 the Government pooling the carcases they thought it. might be a profitable business. The chairman remarked that they might have saved their paper. Ho would not read the letter, but would' lay it on the table and members could .read it if they felt disposed to do so. *

With regard to the visit of the Spring-' bok athletes to Gisborne on Wednesday, and tho question of allowing employees the opportunity of witnessing their prowess at the sports meeting arranged for that occasion, Mr. C. Rosie, president of the Holiday Association, to-day stated that tho retailers could do nothing as a body. He felt sure, however, that they would all be agreeable to allowing as many of their employees off as possible if they wanted to see the South Africans. The position was as expressed in Saturday’s Herald, as the result of the interview which the Mayor and Mr. 11. F. Forster had had with him upon the matter. The opinion of several firms had since been taken, and they were quite agreeable to that course being adopted. This opinion should, therefore, he commented, be a guide to tho others in releasing as many of their employees as was reasonable. After Admiral Codrington had won the Oringi Welter at Dnnnevirko Hunt steeplechase meeting last August, it was claimed that the accident fee had not been paid for him, and under the rules there was nothing left for the stewards to do but disqualify him for the race- This was done, and the stake given to Truthful, which ran second. Mr. Lvsnar, the owner of Admiral Codrington, was not at the meeting, but gave his trainer an open signed cheque, instructing him to fill in the amount owing for nominations and acceptances anil to add the amount necessary for the accident fees. This, it is alleged, was done, but the secretary of the club claimed tliat no accident fees were tendered and no receipt given. On these facts the stewards decided against Mr. Lysnar, and his appeals to both the District Committee and the Racing Conference were dismissed. Mr. Lysuar, however, intends fighting tho matter out to the bitter end, and has commenced action in the Supreme Court at Wellington, when the legal aspect will be gone into- The case is of considerable interest to racing men generally, and the result will be keenly watched for.—N.Z. Times. A meeting of the picnic committee of the Kahutia Bowling Club is called for to-morrow night.

Thera is a scarcity el eggs at the present Inn© for the Wanganui market. The price, recently advanced 3d per dozen, and tliev arc* now being retailed at. 2s. At, Palmerston the wholesale price is 2s 4d.

The price movements have, been responsible for restoring some old time road scenes, states the. Whakatans Press, droves of sheep being on all the roads, a state of things that has become almost non cst in 1920-21.

The Rev. J. L. Dove, who was at one time vicar of Runterville, and was more recently headmaster of Wanganui Coihgi.ite School, has been appointed rural dean of Newport Pagnell, Bucks, in succession to the Rev. F. B. Gunnery. For some time past Mr. Dove has been rector of North Crawley. “It ought to be made a criminal offence, for relatives to interfere between man and wife,” said Mr Wyvern W ilson,' S.M., in a. half-jocular, half-oracular vein, at the Christchurch Magistrate’s Court (says tlio Sun). An applicant for separation was being cross-examined' on some evidence given by her female relatives. ‘ *We see Die results of it here over and over again,” added the Magistrate. “If they would only permit the couple to settle their own matrimonial affairs! But relatives try to interfere, and carry tales backwards and forwards, mid do more harm than good. There is. far too much interference. It may he that one sees here only the cases in which Dio intervention of relatives has failed. But one is disposed to doubt it.”

The Invercargill Corporation inspector tins reported to the Council that a firm in Invercargill had employed tlio auctioneer for another firm to sell their wool at the recent sales and he asked for the. opinion of the Council as to whether Die practice was in accordance with the law governing the. issue of auctioneers' licenses. "Cr. Maekrell said it- was usual or one. firm (o occasionally engage the cervices 'of the auctioneer of another ai stock and other sales, and the Mayor replied that the question was whether he license was issued to the firm'or the auctioneer, on which legal advice, would lave to be obtained. It was slated that if tha practice was extended it would he possible for one auctioneer to act for ill the firms with the consequent loss of a considerable; amount of revenue to the Corporation. Miss Annette Kellerman, who witnessed the great contest at Wellington between the Misses Sliand and Hoeft, described New Zealanders as the keenest people on swimming in the world. She thinks that, for the first time in the annals of swimming, the Dominion can challenge the world. If Misses Sliand and Hoeft could go to Australia it would make competitions there twice as good as they have been, and it would be better for sport generally. Australian swimming had been stagnant during recent years; it had not made anything like the progress made in New Zealand. Miss Kellerman stated that she, had sent a message to the swimming authorities in Australia suggesting a visit by Misses Shand and Hoeft. “1 am prepared to finance Miss Shand's trip,’’ she added, “and sincerely hope arrangements will be, made to send Miss Hoeft also.”

Some time ago it was reported that a provisional agreement of partnership between the New Zealand Insurance Company anl the South British Insurance Company had been entered into. The scheme involved an adjustment o; capital assets of the two companies, including the calling up by the South British oi capital for the purpose of earning interest thereon. During the negotiations it lias become apparent that the partnership contemplated and desired would involve 'greater capital adjustments by both companies than were originally contemplated. The directors of both companies have reluctantly come to the conclusion that, having regard to the present financial outlook, they would not be justified in recommending the slureholders of their respective companies to niter i # ;to the suggested partnershm at the present juncture, and they had, accordingly, mutually arranged to proceed no further with the proposal.

Large areas of flax lands in the Manawatu have been turned over for other and the mills closed through the ravages of “yellow leaf” disease. Work for flax mill hands has to that extent been reduced. The disease has been studied by Messrs R. Waters and E. fi. Atkinson, of the Biological Laboratory, Wellington. Reporting in the journal ot the Department of Agriculture, they hold that “it should be clearly recognised that while every endeavor is being made to trace the cause of yellow-leaf diseast to a specific organism, nevertheless in the light of our present knowledge it cannot be assumed that a micro-organ-ism is certainly the cause. Even if the trouble is finally traced to a specific organism, the present evidence would show that only under perciso ‘conditions does it exhibit destructive parasitism. We would therefore stress the study of requisite environmental conditions; it may ultimately prove more productive of control measures than a knowledge of the casual agent.”