Shannon News FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1925.

Shannon News, 13 November 1925, Page 2

Shannon News FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1925.

Tlie ipoJl is being taken to-day lor a loan of £7OO for the purpose of making alterations and additions to the present Council Chambers. The booth is at the Council Chambers and will close at 7 p.m.

Mr Jones (postmaster) is -'at'present on his annual leave. Mr McConville is acting as. postmaster during the former's absence, and -Mr W. E. Free, of Seddo'n, is performing Mr McConvilie's duties in the office.

Arrangements have 'been made by the local School Committee for an educational lecture and lantern dispJay on the "Wonderful West Coast of the South Island" to be held in the 'Parish Hall on Tuesday eveningnext. As the lecture- will embrace mountain scenery, lakes and .glaciers, industries and mineral wealth, it .should prove both instructive and interesting to all.

At the school committee meeting last evening Mr .!. V. ißums announced his intention to donate prizes to the .best boy and girl in the 4th, sth and 6th Standards, which he hoped would be an incentive to the pupils to do their best. Mr Brown in moving a. 'hearty vote of thanks to Mr Burns, suggested that the other members'of the committee combine' iu providing similar prizes for the •other standards, the suggestion beingread ily agreed tQ by the members.

The committee of the Shannon Choral Society are leaving no stone unturned to "make the coming concert the best yet. The society will be augmented in the male, section of the choir. • The programme will be a verv attractive one, while the soloists are' some o.f the fcest from Palmerston North, Levin and district. Tickets are being sold by 'the ischool children and a prize has been offered by Howard Andrew, Ltd., for the one who sells {lie greatest value in tickets. Tickets are also on sale by Hie members. No doubt the public will patronise the coming concert, remembering the treat they had last time. Boys' suits are the subject of a special announcement on page 4 by Howard Andrew, Ltd., to-day. Parents will find it of interest.

Two boys were jooking over the howling green fence in New Plymouth watching the. bowlers at their play. Said one to the other: "What's this game they're playing?" "Bowls," was the reply. "But I don't see, many old men among them," said the first. "No," replied the other, "but they've all got something the matter with 'em.''

A prominent hanking concern in Ontario has insti Lined a. novel precaution against i;uau;liorised persons cashing cheques. When opening an account at the haul;, the depositor, while giving a si."-v::me!t signature, is requested to add. his mother's maiden name. The system 'is regarded na nearly "hurglar i:r<nf." !Ym very few people are aw;."" of the maiden names of even tin ir closest friends' molhers.

For months past two elderly me:: have been seen ,it.\ the same hour eacli morning on tin 1 pliitfoi !•! of 1.3k 1 Auckland railway Mat ion (repuriM thi! Auckland "Herald.") They arrive regularly just 1:clove. 8 o'clock, take their accustomed seat;-. and commence reading tie? morning paper. At noon they disappear, m»lv to return lafer in tlie afternoon to remain fill'the'"~Hotorua express comes in at 5 o'clock. Although these two arrive together, and have been doiii'-- so- for months, Iliov appear fo he complete strangers 1o eacli other. Thov occupy seats on different parts of the platform, and do not apnea!' <> hold murh' conversation with anybody the whole day long. Rnihvfv nidi have hecotne finite used fo Ihem, and would miss them greafly if one morning the two old Men failed to turn up.

During a dance at the Stratford military ban (the liltnam Argus was inionaeu) out of eighty ladies, dancing on .- floor, only mine did not have vheir hair bobbed or shingled.

It is claimed by some of the workers in connection with the recent election in Waitemata tnat at one boom four electors recorded itheir votes whose combined ages total 376 years, a record which they believe would be very hard to beat in any other booth around Auckland.

The Christchurcli Returned Soldiers' Association ran a big fireworks display on Guy Fawkes night. It was attended by*7soo people, out only 2500 paid lor admission. The oilier 5000 with 700 ears full 01 spectators wateiied the sliow from various vantage points outside the gfound. The result was that the returned soldiers lost £IOO on the venture.

Concern is being expressed among those connected wim the painting and decorating irade Li Wellington, a.pparentlv with just.flcaiion ;says the "Building Trade Journal") at the dearth of competent paperhangers. Efficient workmen are very few and far between, and The position'seems lu .he growing wu.se, while the demand mr skilled workmen is increasing.

It is not often a person keeps money over a period of six years as a souvenir, but an exception was brought lo light daring the hearing of a case in the Supreme Court recently (states the Auckland Star). A witness" stated that his wife had kept 14 sovereigns and 13 half-sovereigns in a box for six years as a souvenir, and that half a sovereign only had been expended in this time.

All the rivers in the Wellington district are providing some good fishing tiiis season. Seveial local sportsmen fished during the week-end in the Waikanae, Mangacne, Ngatiawa and Ohau streams with quite good results. On three occasions were anglers successful in obtaining the limit, viz., 20 trout. From this it will be seen that the season bids fair to be an excellent one, and should encourage more to the glamour of hook and line.

Surprise has been expressed in many quarters that, although he has spent over 35 years of his life in Parliament, ably filling tlie position of Minister of Education in the National Government, the Hon. J. A. Hanan has not been included in the list of exMinisters and M.'sP., called to the Legislative Council. The retirement of the Hon. Mr Hanan from the political arena made possible the return to Parliament of Sir Joseph Ward as member for Invercargill.

A party of four men are passengers by the Sir James Clark Ross from Stewart Island to the Campbell Islands last week, in order to carry out mustering operations there on behalf of the syndicate which owns the sheep flocks ■on the island. These men, along with two others who have been on the island lor some time past, will remain there pending the return in March next of the whaling fleet Irom the Ross Sea, which, will convey them back to civilisation.

A comparison of the number of electors on the roll with the estimated adult population of the Dominion, exclusive of Maoris, reveals that there are 22,837 fewer people on the roll than the actual adult population. This is accounted for by the fact that there is a fairly consider.tt.ble floating population and a fair number of new arrivals who have not been resident in the Dominion for "12 months. The adult population, exclusive of Maoris, at June 30th, was 780,260. The total number of electors on- the roll is 757,423.

During excavations on the Winstone l J ark estate, Mount Boskill, a kauri log was found in quite sound condition at a depth of 17ft (states the "New Zealand. Herald"). A quantity of kauri gum was also found. The excavations had first to be taken through volcanic soil, and then solid bluesiione lava. The kauri log was perfectly hard arm sound, and its presence at such a depth suggests that a kauri forest was growing in tills locality prior to the eruption of Mount Roskill, from which the lava rock would most proibablv have been ejected.

Farming is appaicutly not a very profitable occupation for a half-caste Maori of Otorohanga, who. appeared at the Hamilton Magistrate's Court, to show reason why a judgment order for approximately £I.OO should not be made against him. Debtor said in evidence that he was running 70 cows on a 400-aere farm at. Otorohanga. but only about 48 cows were in milk. HJs milk cheque averaged about £2O a, month, out of which he had to ipay tiG wages. The cows, presumably, were not pedigree Jerseys.

| As there are many farmers in Pov 7 i erty Bay who are dubious about the ; benefits attendant upon top-dressing, j the experience of one well-known farmer may be of service to them (states i the Gisborne "Herald"). This farmer, who owns a station with comparatively little flat land, has been ploughing and top-dressing for some years, and lie finds that the returns show that his policy has paid him handsomely. Portions of the land lie has top-dressed cost him M an acre to plough and crop, because of its steep. ness. He manured to the extent of 2ewt of superphosphate to the acre, and got splendid results.

Who was the canuidate who said he wanieu lanu reionu, nousing relorm, and educational reform, and was told by one ox the crowd "that what ne reaiiy needed was cnlu.olurni?

A New York touch lias been given to .one of tne suct.s near tlie Nap it:? Hospital by tne election of a board designating the thoroughfare 65th street. To tlie uninitiated observer this would appear k> indicate thajjjrNapier has aspiration*-, towards following the example of American cities. The truth is, however, that 65th Street was named after the 65th Regiment, which was quartered in the barracks.

A young man in med A. J. Pascoe, an employee of R..essrs Ross Rough and Co., Foxton, -.vas taking a big wheel off a tractoi on Monday morntug when it fell on his leg and broke it. After receiving medical attention the sufferer was admitted to the Palmerston North- H, spital, and this morning was reputed to be as well as can be expected. —Herald.

The organisation in the various Ciiristchurch electt. ates for the speedy announcement of <t e figures was very good, says the, "..an." Once again the palm' of speedv performance goesto Mr T. W. Rel:=e, the Returning officer for Ghristch trch South. Soon after 7.30 p.m.—3o minutes after the closing of the poL—lie was first in with the result of the Parliamentary election in his elee.orate, and he also gained first place with the licensing returns, which \\c:e published 50 minutes after the t.oors of the booths had been shut.

An unusual cat • came before th.-r Wairoa Court who... two Maori youths were charged with using a bow- and arrow m a public place (states the Napier Telegraph). The police stated that the accused w e not content with shooting their an ws at birds, and began to fire'them at passing motor cars, and in one rise, while a lady was driving, it was only by a narrow shave that serious ■. onsequences were averted. The pre: ding justices administered a shaip warning, accompanied with a fin. of 27s each.

"They will be writing to eat their dinner "during wo; :dng hours next,' : commented Mr C. Tell, at the. Conciliation Council silt ng at Christchurcli to discuss the cyei- workers' dispute. He was referring to the union's.demand that in eve: y four hours 1 one quarter of an hour .mould be allowed for smoko, or that smoking should be permitted during v. irking hours. Tht Commissioner: Is i'. not usual to have a cigarette during working hours? Mr Bell': Never on you;- life. They will be wanting to eat their dinner during working hours n'exi. It was pointed out by the employers that benzine tins .were open in the workshops and smoking would be dangerous. The clause was not agreed to.

The sweeping victory gained at the polls by the Reform Party under Mr Goates recalls in some respects that of the late Mr»Sethi on in tlie general election of 1905. The Liberal Party then secured 5.5 European seats, the remainder being filled Joy an Opposition of 15 under Mr Massey, and 6 Independents. Tlkmc was, however, a Mfference in that the preceding Parliament was made up of 52 Government members, an Opposition of 23, and 5 Independents. Mr Seddon's majority in 1905 was regarded as one of the largest on record in New Zealand, but he had enjoyed large and increasing majorities for a number of years.

Whether the climates of the three northern centres (says the '.'Otago Daily Times") are more conducive to thirst, than that of our own city, or whether the public of Dunedin is graduallv being weaned from foaming tankard to the übiquitous marble bar, is hard to say, but it is interesting to note that of the four citiesWellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin—the last-named alone polled a preponderance of votes in nivour of prohibition. In the three northern cities no-hcense .was defeated in each case by a suifctantiai maloritv, whereas in our own city, notwithstanding the fact that- a large number of votes was cast in favour of State control, prohibition outweighed this issue and continuance combined by a majority of 2000-odd votes.

That he had fallen in love with a girl and had issued a valueless cheque in order to obtain- meney was the admission- made by "■ youth charged with a serious offence at the Wangauui Magistrate's Court. In admitting the. accused to a lengthy period of probation, Mr Barton, S.M., commented upon the fact tii.it this type of case had had a tendency to increase in recent years. It was surprising, he ;aid, the number of young men, who, having fallen in love with young women—where the circumstances called for the very essence of chivalry and honesty—launched out in matrimony on the profits of crime. Sometimes even the finery a girl wore, or the property which constituted the home were the proceeds of crime,- and unconsciously a yonng woman became linked'for life with a criminal. In conclusion, Mr Barton reminded the accused that it was better for a house to be furnished with benzine boxes and a clean start made, than to have a well-stocked place furnished by dishonest means that were likely to bring disgrace upon a young wife.

The strawberries offered at the AucKianu v.ty jiiui-Keis last week ini tutted 50... c ready first-class lruit, and up to .<s 6d a chip was paid for tne uust. ihere was, of course, a certain an.ounl of inferior quality oiiereu, bi.i even this realised is 6d a chip, generally consider mat with me arrival of warm weather the t-.asou should soon he in full swing, and there should be steadily im leasing supplies of good mm.

A prisoner in Newgate compiled some curious statistics from the Bible. He found mat the word "Lord" occurs 1853 times; "Jehovah" 6855 times, "Reverend" once, "Girl" once. The eighth verse, of the 117th Psalm is the middle verse of the Bible. The longest verse is the twenty-eighth of the ninih chapter of Esther; the shortest is the thirty-fifth verse of the eleventh chapter of .John, lu the 107th Psalm the eighth, the fifteenth, the twentyfirst and the thirty-first verses are alike. There are, in all the books of the Bible, 3,586,483 letters, 776,693 words, 1189 chapters.

What is. claimed to be the largest oak tree in the world is growing at Waiina, North Island. This tree grew from an acorn planted by Rev. John Ma vim of the Hokianga Home Mission Station, in 1840. Tlie tree at present has a (girth of 24ft, rises to a height of 80ft, and at noon casts a shade of 100 feet in diameter. Under the spread, of its branches 500 people call gather. 'Waima Valley is a quiet, prettv nook about a dozen miles up the Hokianga River, and the -6ak is growing about half a mile inland. Though only some 80 years old, it is larger than oaks in England 500 years of age.

One of the housing schemes put into, effect by the Austrian authorities, said Dr. R. A. Bermami, now visiting Auckland, .was the building of 25,000 flats. A jlarge number of these had been completed, and were being rented at'a nominal figure. The housing problem,' however, was still terriblv acute. Rents haddwindled almost'to nothing as a result of depreciation of currency upon a lawpassed when tlie Republic was established in 1918, forbidding any increase in rent. As a result, people who were living in flats practically rent, free refused to go emit of them, while no new houses (were being built by private enterprise to make good tlie shortage. Dr. Bermann cited one interesting instance of a lam-/ ous musician, who previously owned 45 houses, and drew a rental of £SOOO a year. To-day -tlie rentals barely covered maintenance and repairs! and the musician and his family were existing in a state of semi-starvation in one room of the beautiful villa that was his home,