BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1929, Page 6

BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ CLUBS

NEW SEASON’S COMPETITIONS. SOUTH TARANAKI ENTRIES. Entries already received indicate that this season’s competitions in root-grow-ing and calf-rearing under the auspices of the South Taranaki Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural Chibs’ Association will be as keenly contested a© any held since the inception of the movement. Of course, the success of the competitions is not- dependent alone on the number of entries; the real strength of the movement lies in the fact that the quality of the crops grown has been' im-; proving year by year, and the yields have been growing larger. At first swedes and carrots were grown, then mangolds and carrots; in 1921 the scheme was extended to include calfrearing, and in 1926 an important change was made, a senior division' being instituted in addition to the schools’ division. The two divisions are retained in this season’s competitions. In the schools’ division there are three distinct competitions, in calf-rearing, in growing mangolds, and in growing carrots. Provision is made for two classes of calves, Jerseys and Ayrshires forming one and Shorthorns and Friesians the other. All calves must be grade heifers. The points taken into consideration by the judges, who make their awards in December, are the condition of the calf and the chart showing a record of the food consumed by the calf and its cost. In the root competitions the competitor is required to use a plot of onefortieth of an acre. After the ground has been prepared for sowing all work must be done by the competitor, the committee in charge supplying seed and artificial manure. A complete record of the growth of the crop must be kept, and when the judging takes place, in May and June, points will be given for the yield of the crop, cultivation, quality,. the record chart and a test. The competitions for the senior division, open to hoys and girls from the time they leave school until they are 18 years of age, are confined to the growing of carrots and mangolds, and the entries are judged in the same way as in the schools’ division. Each senior competitor, however, is required to grow a quarter of an acre, the Agricultural Department giving the necessary seed and fertilisers. Entries nominally closed yesterday, and at 5 p.m. the secretary had received the very fine total of 406, comprising one for carrots and two for mangolds in the senior division, and in the schools’ division 55 for mangolds, 60 for carrots and 282 for calf-rearing. It is expected that late entries will increase the number. PERSONAL ITEMS. Messrs. W. A. Spragg and W. G. Walkley, representing the North Taranaki and South Taranaki Automobile Associations, left Hawera on Wednesday for Wellington to join a North and South Island deputation to the Prime Minister on the subject of interference with road funds. The death of Mr. Alexander Smith, Ranfurly, Otago, is reported. Mr. Smith lived at Okaiawa some years ago and there married Miss Anna Christiansen. In a reference to his death the Otago Daily Tinies says: “The Maniototo district has lost a well-known and highly respected citizen. Mr. Smith was wellknown for his sterling worth, his kindly nature and his business integrity. Always willing to help in any local cause, he endeared himself to all those who sought his aid not only by his material help but by his very personality, which always appealed to his kinsmen. He assisted extensively to build up the'town of Ranfurly, and several large business places stand to-day as a token of his progressiveness and courage. He was the founder of the Loyal Maniototo Lodge, M.U.1.0.0.F., and organiser of the newly; formed ladies’ lodge. He was first president of the Ranfurly Bowling Club, and always, in spite of his many business dei .'nds, was a keen player of the game. Mr. Smith was a past chairman of the Ranfurly school committee and secretary for seven years, and it was chiefly through his energy and. untiring efforts that a new site of seven acres and ahalf and a new up-to-date school was acquired in the town.” Mrs. Smith survives her husband and there are two daughters and two sons. GENERAL ITEMS. The pheasants at the Hawera Acclimatisation Society’s hatcheries have begun laying a month later this year than they did last year, the coldness of the weather probably having caused the delay. The pheasants’ eggs for the most part are hatched under bantams, which make exceptionally good mothers, and the first setting of the season has just begun the process of incubation. The directors of the Whakamara Cooperative Dairy Company have decided to put into operation at once the system of milk grading, which has been adopted by several companies in South Taranaki. Under this system differential payments are made for first and second grade milk. The matching of brown trout ova . at the Hawera Acclimatisation Society’s hatcheries has been very successful, and the curator (Air. J. J. Miller) expects a very largo proportion of “the tiny fish to develop satisfactorily. Mr. Miller received 350,000 ova from Southland and is very well pleased with the results obtained. He has also 50,000 rainbow, trout fry, whicli have been transferred from the hatching boxes to a pond and are doing well. The Patea Harbour Board has decided to issue its rate demands on October 1. Ratepayers in the Hawera and .Eltham districts will be permitted to pay their rates at the Hawera County Council’s office. The Otakeho Men’s Hockey Club will hold a plain and fancy dress ball in the Otakeho hall on Wednesday, October 2. Novelty dances will be included in the programme and prizes will be given for fancy costumes. GRAND THEATRE, HAWERA. DOUBLE FEATURE PROGRAMME. “Trent’s Last Case,” a Fox films feature attraction, which opens at the Grand Theatre, Hawera, to-night, is based on what many lifelong critics have acclaimed as the finest mystery story ever written. This story “Trent’s Last

Case” appeared some years ago, and was the forerunner of th© modern type of detective novel. E. C. Bently, its author, introduced the principle of successfully concealing the criminal’s identity until the very end, which has been followed by later writers. Howard Hawks, the director, has taken the Bentley story and is said to have made a picture that is both thrilling and entertaining, with the aid of an unusual cast, that includes such sterling players as Donald Crisp, Raymond Griffith, Raymond Hatton, Marceline Day and Lawrence Gray, the film departs from the conventional style of mystery drama and . becomes a narrative of absorbing interest. The supporting programme will include episode 4 of th© thrilling chapter play, “Tarzan the Mighty.”