LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1929, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Taranaki Daily News will not be published on Wednesday (New Year’s Day).

A party of dairy farmers from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will visit New Zealand next March in order to inspect farming methods in the Dominion.

The annual convention of the Seventh Day Adventist congregations in New Zealand is being held at Avondale racecourse. Between 500 and 600 . people are under canvas.

"I’ve paid 100 per cent, more land tax this year,” a Wayerley landholder remarked exhibiting his receipt. “It simply means that a farmer is farming for ‘dirt’ these days.” "You were, married twice,” said Mr. J. H. Salmon, S.M., to a defendant woman at the court at Wanganui. The woman held up four fingers. “Four times,” remarked the S.M. with astonishment.

Over sixty campers made use of the Belt Road motor camp site on Saturday and again last night. The’residents of the canvastown have shown a decided knack for amusing themselves and community jokes have been good and plentiful.

Charged with obtaining credit in New Plymouth for £l2 12s by fraud, Hector Stewart, a young man, appeared before justices at New Plymouth on Saturday morning. As further inquiries had to be made, Detective Meiklejohn secured a remand till Friday. “The quietest Christmas in years,” was the way Detective Meiklejohn described the festive season in New Plymouth from the point of view of the law. There had been little drunkenness, while petty thieving in shops and accommodation houses, usually to be expected, had not been reported.

Thomas George; Howarth, aged 57, who was injured at the New Plymouth borough hydro works on Saturday morning, is making satisfactory progress in the New Plymouth Public Hospital. He sustained fractured ribs and abrasions as the result of a concrete wall, in the course of construction, falling upon him.

The Urenui Domain has proved very popular with motor campers during the holidays. The number of parties using the reserves has varied between 30 and 40. The locality is well-sheltered, anr] though it has rained heavily at time;, the well-pitched tents have remained dry inside. Owing to the locality being well-drained the water does not lie on the surface.

Dry smut has made its unwelcome appearance in the North Canterbury wheat crops, especially in those on lighter land. The heads of wheat affected bear only a small proportion to the whole, but as no grain can form in these heads the yield will be affected, in some cases, by perhaps up to half a bushel an acre. Wheat on heavier lands managed to maintain its growth during the drought, and has consequently not been visited by smut.

It is stated that Mr. T. D. Burnett. Reform member for Temuka, has declined to accept the £lOO bonus.

The pay-out of the Kakaramea Cooperative Dairy Company for last season works out at the rate of Is 10.? d per lb butter-fat.

Lord Bledisloe’e first official New Zealand engagement will be on January 1, when he will participate in the first performance of the full Wellington war memorial carillon in Hyde Park, states a London cable.

Mr. L. R. Brunton, of Christchurch, recently succeeded in landing a 201 b trout, the largest eaught in Canterbury for many years. It was taken .from the No. 2 Selwyn, and was one of a bag of seven, being hooked on a large fly. The trout is to be skinned and set up by Mr. D. Hope, the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society’s curator. The generally-improved conditions in the Waikato this year are reflected in the Hamilton bankruptcy returns, for there were 16 fewer bankrupts this year than last in the districts of which Hamilton is the headquarters. Fiftyfour persons filed, as against 70 in 1928. It is unlikely that there will be any further filings this month. The farming community was represented by nine bankrupts. Last year there was a considerable mortality among lambs in Wanganui district, owners being at a loss to know the cause. The other day, while a Wanganui resident was in Feilding, he met a farmer who stated that his lambs were not doing too well. He brought them in with the mothers and ran the lambs into a separate pen and drenched them and left them in the yard overnight. The following morning he was surprised to find the yard covered with worms, and these had accounted for the poor condition of the lambs.

It is a mistake to assume that Boxing Day is in any way connected with pugilistic encounters, for that is not how Boxing Day derived its name. It has connection with the giving of Christmas boxes, the origin of which custom has many and varied explanations. It may be a survival of the custom of giving friendly gifts at the feast of Saturnalia, which the Romans celebrated in December. The term "boxing,” according to one authority, dates back to 1611 when earthenware boxes with slits in their lids were first used for the collection of gratuities for servants and dependants. Christmas time was selected for the opening of these boxes, but the custom lent itself to abuse and has practically ceased to exist, although the name remains. Motorists using the main road between Gisborne and Taneatua from January until the end of the month may expect a little slow travelling ow-_ ing to the presence of large mobs of sheep on their way to the Waikato. As soon as the bulk of the holiday traffic concludes ewes will begin to come forward in large numbers, and it is expected that at least 30,000 will be setting out within about a fortnight. So far as is known, says the Povery Bay Herald, the first mob will leave on January 7, and further lots will continue to be dispatched till about January 20. Most of these are to be driven to Taneatua, where they will be placed on railway trucks for the final stage of their journey. Between Poverty Bay and Opotiki both the Waioeka and Motu routes are to be used. Most of the lines, it is thought, will be divided into mobs of from 3000 to 4000. The East Cape route has been used lately for wethers at present on the way to the Waikato.

A case of extreme foolishness that nearly ended in tragedy occurred on Mount Messenger a few days ago, when two motor-cycle riders, northward bound, attempted to climb the mountain on top gear. To do this it was necessary to maintain a speed of approximately 20 miles an hour, which was not only a menace to other traffic on the road but, as experience showed, was nearly fatal to one of the riders and'a pillion passenger behind him. One of the sharpest bends in the road proved too sharp for the machine on which these two were riding to negotiate, and over

the cliff went motor-cycle and both riders. The lives of the latter were saved almost by a miracle. of dropping the hundred feet or so into the gorge the two men and the machine were caught by a jutting tree about 15 or 20 feet below the road, and escaped practically unharmed. So near, however, was one of the men to being impaled on a broken bough pointing up into the air that as he fell it actually passed inside the bottom of his waistcoat, up between waistcoat and shirt, and out at the, top past the side of the head, without causing any injury. A New Plymouth resident who arrived on the scene a few moments after the motor-cycle went over the cliff is able to testify to the accuracy of the facts as outlined.

A question widely asked at the present time, but one to which man, whether a professional meteorologist or not, cannot give an answer, is: "When is summer to begin?” People read in the paper that it is hot in Australia, and wonder when the same will be able to be said of New Zealand; but, as a matter of fact, Australia as yet this year has had no summer to speak of. Temperatures, until the last few days, have been lower than normal, just as they have been in New Zealand. For

this unpleasant state of affairs it is possible to blame sunspots, which of late have been frequent, but whether they are really responsible or not science cannot as yet say definitely. Certainly these sunspots cause magnetic disturbances, and wireless waves have been recently much affected, static being very prevalent, but the meteorological aspect of sunspots is still largely a matter of speculation (states the Wellington Post). People’s recollection of weather conditions is usually vague and uncertain. A perusal of previous years’ records shows frequently real summer weather has not begun in New Zealand until after Christmas, really settled and warm conditions getting established early in the New Year. February and March generally prove to be the best two months of the year as regards summer weather.

Motorists are requested 'where possible to kindly avoid High Street (between Victoria and Albion Sts), Hawera, on New Year’s Eve, thus lessening the danger to pedestrians.

A pleasant dance and social evening was held by the New Plymouth Caledonian Football Club in the Caledonian bandroom on Saturday night. There was a good attendance. Mrs. Bremmer provided the music for the dancing and extras were played by Miss E. Keeble and Miss P. Godtschalk. A recitation was given by Mrs. Lithgow and Mr. J. Rea delighted with a couple of musical items. Mr. N. Bremmer was master of ceremonies. Supper was'provided by a committee of ladies.