Shannon News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1928.

Shannon News, 30 October 1928, Page 2

Shannon News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1928.

Mr Thurston, of the Bank of New Zealand, is away on Ms annual leave. He is being relieved by Mr Galloway, of Feilding.

Arrangements are well to the foro for the Halloween Mascot dance to be held in the Parish iHall cm Friday evening, and from reports received the danee should be-a great success.

The Shannon friends of Mr Alf. Hunt who is now residing in New Plymouth will be sorry to learn that he is seriously ill. It Avill be the wish of all that he will have a speedy recovery of good health.

The Manawatu river was in flood on Saturday afternoon and as a result the punt was unworkable, which necessitated travellers between Foxton and Shannon journeying via Koputaroa between the two places.

A shop day will be held on Saturday by the Methodist Church Ladies' Guild in the premises lately occupied by Howard Andrew, Ltd., The sale of work will include a fine lot of children 'a clothing which will be on view on Thursday and Friday. There wi'i also be produce, cakes and sweets stalls and a number of competitions.

Mr P. Webb, a former Labour M.P., addressed a good attendance at the Maoriland Theatre on Sunday evening on the aims and objects of the Nevir Zealand Labour Party. Mr Webb, who is a splendid platform speaker, dealt fully with the different subjects and at the conclusion answered a number of questions.

A street stall was held by the Shannon branch of the N.Z. Labour Party on Saturday, when good business was done. During the day competitions were held, the winners being:—Table eentre, Mr F. Peach; dinner, Mr A. E. Hyde; Eoach's cake, Mr A. L. Milner; Mrs WhibleyV cake, Miss M. Butt; Mrs Wither's cake, Mrs Waring Taylor.

At the Maoriland Theatre this, evening the Tunney-Hceney fight film, will be screened. This is the best fight film yet shown in this Dominion according tp boxing experts. It gives a splendid idea of the stirring surroundings at the Stadium and the exciting rounds of the big contest in which New Zealand was so deeply interested. ,

The fortnightly five hundred card tourney conducted under the auspices of the Plunket Society will be held in the Ballauce Street hall on Thursday evening commencing at 7.30. As usual, useful trophies will be awarded, viz., a beautiful worked apron kindly given by Mrs C. -Thomas for the ladies, while the gent's prize will be a box of cigarettes, donated by Mrs E. J. S. Spencer. At the conclusion # of the cards supper will be served.

The Shannon Bowling Club were represented at the, welcome home to Mr Suhan at Levin on 'Saturday by Messrs Henry, Wilkinson, Blackwood ;and Jones (skip). Mr Suhan, who went Home with the Dominion bowlers as the Manawatu representative was welcomed by the president of the Levin Club (Mr J. D. Brown) and the Mayor (Mr T. Hob3on). In his reply Mr Suhan gave a very interesting account of the trip through the countries visited, which was heartily appreciated.

At the Magistrate's Court at Palmerston North yesterday, before Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., Clarence A. A. Pritchard was charged that, at Shannon, on September 25th, he did drive a motor lorry without keeping to the left hand side of the road. Defendant, by letter, pleaded not guilty. Senior-Ser-geant Whitehouse stated that defendant, had collided with a service car and a passenger had been injured. He had been* on the wrong side of the road. A fine of £2 was imposed, with 16s costs.

The Christmas Numbers of the Auckland Weekly, Free Lance, Otago Witness, Weekly Press, and Brett's Christmas Number, ihave arrived aft Baxter's, Newsagents, and are ready for delivery. Book your orders early, to save disappointment.*

Should bachelors be taxed? Put to Mr H. 6. Dickie at his electioneering meeting, the oft-used query led to an outburst of merriment when the bachelor member for Patea replied: "I don't think a man should be taxed on his misfortunes."

A curious occurrence which was reported by a ship many years ago, and which had a prophetic import that was not recognised at the time, was recalled by the Rev. H*. Spencer, of Otaki, in his lecture or. radio, at the Levin Lunch Club's gathering yesterday. The experience, which must have been a very uncanny one for superstitious sailors, was that of a voice accompanying 'a flash of lightning, although there was no other ship in sight. The lecturer said that the captain probably had to endure some chaff when he got ashore, but in the light of present-day knowledge Ilia story could be credited. It was not known exactly how the voicewas superimposed on the electric current, but this was just the effect that radio was producing nowadays.

"I "believe that in. the near future all the tobacco smoked in the Dominion will be grown within its own borders. This would mean a saving of hundreds of thousands annually," said Mi- G. K. Sykes in the course of his speech at Masterton.

All Australian tinned fruit is now branded first or second quality and Eimmer's clearly indicate to their customers the difference hi quality and price at the time of purchase. The summer season always creates a keen demand for fruit sc that the priees quoted on page 1 will be of interest.*

His Honour Mr Justice Frazer, Judge of the Court of Arbitration, has been temporarily appointed to the Supreme Court bendh of 1 New Zealand. The appointment has been made OAving to the pressure of accumulating business and the recent unfortunate circumstances which have considerably reduced the numerical strength of the Bench. The death of Mr Justice Sim and the paiaful misfortune which has befalleivthe Chief Justice, Sir Charles Skerrett, are still fresh in the mind in this connection, and the absence of Mr Justice Herdman in England has further weakened the Bench.

The "Evening Post" of sixty years ago has the following:—On the Ist of November next, a resolution of the Hov.se of Eepresentatives will be carried into effect, and "New Zealan-i Mean Time" will have become by statute the legalised time of the colony, anid will be observed in all public offices. This resolution was brought into the House by Mr Beynolds, and we have to thank that gentleman for a circumstance which, trifling as it may appear, is one which marks'the progress made by the colony, and the exi tension of the many settlements towards what they will one day become —one harmonious and great country.

Touching on) the Government subsidy offered in connection "with the pork industry, Mr J. Linklater, Eeform candidate for Manawatu, speaking at Moutoa last evening,'said that a glut had occurred on the pork market in New Zealand and 'the Government had found that it was necessary for something to be done. The subsidy had been offered to enable the export of pork from the Dominion and it was' hoped to establish this commodity firmly on the Home market. Already, New Zealand pork had a good name on the Sniithfield market and there was already a continuity of supplies.

"The time is coming when we shall have no generating stations," said the Eev. H. Spencer, in reference to electric power supply, in the course of his lecture on radio, at the Levin Lunch Club yesterday. "It is coming quickly when we shall get all our electrical enorgy from the atmosphere. These are facts that radio is telling us to-day. In the life-time of some of us the power corporations will get their, current from the atmosphere. One thousand feet up we can get 10,000 volts. I read of a Hungarian lighting his house and several others from the air. Benjamin Franklin brought down the current with a kite, and we shall get our cheap electricity from the air— at least, I hope it will be cbe % ap..

\ large number of people, presumably ,of all shades of opinion, listened to the address entitled "The Vampire," given by "Digger Padre Brown," otherwise the Rev. George T. Brown, of the Palmerston North Presbyterian Church, on Saturday night, in Oxford Street. The speech was an effort, and an eloquent one, in the campaign on behalf of Prohibition. A fine delivery and compelling personality enabled the speaker to hold very effectively the attention of his hearers,, on whose part good feeling prevailed throughout the address. The subjectmatter was of the intimate, personal type, the Padre recounting examples of alcoholic, mania and kindred misfortunes coming within his own sphere of knowledge.

■ The Christmas number of "Tho Weekly Press," published in ample thrivj for transmission to overseas countries before Christmas, has as its cent;r:il feature this year a well illustrated article on the Tongariro National Park, written by an authority, Mr James Cowen. Both the letterpress and the pictures do full justice to the natural wonders of a particularly interesting part of the Dominion. The progress made by New Zealand since the early days of colonisation is graphically portrayed in many new views of the cities and towns, and the foundation upon which that progress has been built is equally well illustrated in a number of pictorial pages dealing with'' the primary industries. The coloured supplement this year is a reproduction of one of Mr Richard Wallwork's vivid paintings, and the cover i» a highly original piece of work. The printing, all through is of the quality invariably associated with the Christchurch Press Company's production of its popular annual.

A ease of the absorption of electricity from the air was mentioned by Mr J. A. Smith, engineer to the Horowhenua Power Board, at the conclusion of the Rev. H. Spencer's address on radio at the Levin Lunch Club's gathering yesterday. He stated that it had occurred on Potts Road, where it was found, in putting up a line, that when it came to 'the earth it was very much alive, although it was not near any live line. All lines, he added, had to be earthed, during construction, for this reason. Mr Spencer stated that if a wire was hanging high in the vicinity of a thunderstorm, it was unsafe to touch it. "I am. quite satisfied," he remarked, "that nature supplies our needs in this respect and we shall,always have th 3 electrician, who, in the future, will be the man most in demand, because we will be handling voltages much higher than our 110,000 of to-day."

The Earl of Orford who has come to New Zealand for health reasons, has purchased for £12,000 a residential property at • Manurowa, fifteen miles south of Auckland,' comprising a house of nine room in grounds of 14 acres. He will go into residence there next month.

Autograph-hunters made good use of their opportunity while the Southern Cross fliers were in New Zealand. Several books from Levin were among the many hundreds .sent to them, and in due 'course they were returned with the signatures of Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith and Flight-Lieutenant IJlm. except that- in one case a book went astray, probably having been wrongly addressed.

Commenting on the running , ;>f whitebait in southern rivers after appearance on the West Coast, an Oamaru" pisciculturist advances the explanation that their late arrival on the east coast is attributable to the action of the currents (states the Southland Times). The first whitebait of the present season showed in large quantities tat Westport'. Then they! appeared to work their way down the coast to Greymouth, round the Bluff, and up the east coast, finishing their run at the Waitaki Eiver. This '"route" was in keeping with the currents. !

Seven of the New Zealand bowlers who left for a world, tour early this year, returned on Monday, being passengers by the Makura, Avhich arrived &t Wellington. Among them was Mr M. J. Suhan, of Levin, who was accompanied by Mrs Suhan. This was the second party to return from the tour, the first having arrived at Auckland about a fortnight previously. The remainder of the bowlers are due at Auckland by the Aorangi on November 23rd. Mr and Mrs Suhan, who were met on arrival at Wellington by a number of friends, are expected in Levin to-day. They reported having had an immensely, enjoyable trip, during which they met with uniformly generous hospitality and were afforded many facilities for sight-seeing.

A sea serpent was caught off the east coast* recently about three miles from the shore. According to the Rotoiua Chronicle the catch was made by fishermen on an ordinary snapper hook and line, but it was treated with every respect because of its formidable teeth. The Creature wtfs about seven feet long, with slender- silver-brown body and a thin ribbon-like dorsal fin that extended the whole length of the body. By good fortune Sir James Parkinson, the eminent physician and biologist, was in- Eotorua, and he examined the find. He pronounced it to be a real sea serpent, and justified the fisherman's caution, as it was highly venomous. Sir James stated that it was out of its recognised habitat, which was the coastal waters of North Australia and the narrow seas adjacent. He had never seen so large a specimen, nor one of that colour. The snake had a remarkable head, with large eyes set well forward above the jaws. The teeth were numerous and sharp, being laid back at an angle that would make release from a grip almost impossible. The poisonous fangs were in the middle of the jaw.

A Levin lady (Mrs P. Oag) recently received a rather unusual token of remembrance in the shape of a piece of •the fiftieth birthday cake of the Balclutha Presbyterian Church. The church has just celebrated its jubilee, to which Mrs Oag was invited, but was unable to' attend. Part of the proceedings took the form of a dinner attended by over 300 members and adherents. The place of honour on the tables was occupied by a huge birthday cake bearing fifty golden candles. After dinner the Moderator (the,Eev. James Aitken) lighted eight candles representing early ministries of the Revs. McAra and Moriee. The Rev. Dr. Currie then lighted forty candles representing the period of his ministry, and the present incumbent, the Rev. Roy Alley the two candles for his years., Dr. Currie, in a reminiscent speech, reviewed the history of the church, paying a tribute to the early families—the Eobsons, Bruces, Dallases, Wilsons, Rentons, Moffats, Coghills (Mrs Oag's family)', McKees, McNeils, Kings, Moirs, Willochses, Bells, Gngors, and Ryries—who laid the foundation of' the church. Other speeches were made of which the keynotes we're grateful remembrance of the pioneers, thankfulness for Divine guidance and mercy in the half-century that had passed, and hopefulness for the future of the church.

Mr L. H. Arcus, a former member of the Levin Tennis Club, who 'was recently promoted from the charge of the Ohau School to that of the Lansdowne School, Masterton, was a visitor to the opening of the Levin Club's season, on Saturday afternoon,* when he was the central figure in a pleasing little ceremony. The President, Dr. S. J. Thompson, said that the members had thought it would be fitting to give Mr Arcus .some memento of his stay in Levin. Mr Arcus had been, perhaps, the keenest player in the district; he had been a member of the club for about thirteen years, and had always held an executive position. During the last three or four years he had acted with complete success as the club's handicapper, and his experience in Wellington and in Association matters had helped the ,club veiy much. In presenting Mr Arcus with a tennis racquet, to mark in a fitting manner his stay in Levin and Ohau, the President wished him every success in the district in which he had now taken up duty and in any other place to which he might go. In responding, Mr Arcus thanked Dr. Thompson for his kind remarks and the members for their generous gift. He said he felt that he had got a great deal more out of the game in pleasure, experience and good companionship than he had given to the clubj consequently he valued this token very highly.