LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1930, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A flaxmilling plant, which cost £2BOO to erect, was sold at public auction at Mbrrinsville on Thursday for £35. The equipment Sold included two 35 horsepower engines.

The New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited, has decided to make an advance payment of 9d. a lb. for finest grade butterfat supplied for butter and cheese making during November.

A correspondent informs the Auckland Star that while a big fire was raging.at Newmarket on Thursday a land ageht promptly let three empty shops to property owners. At the time their original holdings were going up in smoke. A fall from a plough resulted in the admission of. an Opunakc boy seven years of age, Nelson Day, to the New Plymouth hospital about noon yesterday. One leg was fractured, but the boy’s condition was satisfactory at a late hour last night, -'

Arrested on warrant at Gisborne for failing to pay arrears of maintenance, Eric Martin Harper was brought before Mr. R. W. Tate, S.M., at New Plymouth on Saturday, but was released on the payment of £25, ..n application in that direction being supported by- Mr. A. A. Bennett.

“If you feed a dog and suffer it to remain on your property you are in lawdeemed to be the owner of it,” remarked Mr. F. 11. Levien, S.M., in the Otahuhu Magistrate’s Court to a defendant in an action in which it was shown that the dog had destroyed 99 purebred chickens.

“Dealers are allowed to install wireloss sets .for seven days only on t'rjal, and after that the set must be taken away, or a license obtained.” said the district radio inspector in the ’ Magistrate’s Court at Christchurch when a man prosecuted for operating an unlicensed set, pleaded that he had it on approval.

But for the remarkable strength oi; the glass in doors and windscreen, injuries might have been suffered by. the occupants of a five-seater sedan which skidded on the road on the New Plymouth side of Egmont Village late yesterday afternoon. The driver, Mr. W. Abraham, had' swerved to pass a motorcycle when the skid took place) the car turning completely over. Beyond bruises and shock none of the party was injured. The upper bodywork of the. sedan was severely strained and, twisted, but the glass remained uncracked.

“Anyone who doesn’t work for matriculation is silly,” declared the Bishop of Waikato, speaking at the breakingup ceremony of the Waikato Diocesan School at Hamilton. “If girls only knew how useful it may become in later life they would determine to take it. It is not hard—get that out of your minds. Matriculation in this country is a potty exam., and if you gave me three or four hours I would do it myself.” (Laughter.)'lnmates of the Old People’s Home, convalescent hospital patients and nurses able to be spared from their duties, were entertained by the New Plymouth Motor Traders Association on Saturday. The drive round the district has become an enjoyable annual event and the ideal conditions on Saturday made it extremely pleasant. The guests were entertained at afternoon tea at Pukekura Park.

A farm worker, Mr. Hector Johnstone, who had been spraying ragwort with sodium chlorate, was severely burned at Paengaroa, Bay of Plenty, last week. He was returning home wheeling the sprayer and his clothes had become saturated with the chemical. Friction caused by rubbing against the sprayer ignited his clothing. His presence of mind directed him to a horse trough nearby flames were quenched.

A collision between two cars occurred about midnight on Saturday on the main road between New Plymouth and Waitara. A small car driven by Mr. V. K. Mitehenson was proceeding towards New Plymouth and a large sedan car owned by Mr. McNeill,. Okoke, and driven by one of his employees in ( tho direction of Waitara, collided on the Malngaoraka Hill. Mrs. McNeill, an occupant of the large car, suffered slight injuries, but none of those, in the small car was hurt. Both cars were considerably damaged. The promise of Christmas cheer to be provided by the commercial travellers of New Plymouth was not scorned by the children at Pukekura Park on Saturday afternoon. Scores- of them were present and a happy afternoon was spent. Races were run, tea provided and presents distributed. The gathering, 'which has become an annual event, was made possible this year by the efforts of the commercial travellers in their recent drive and concert. Those in charge were Sisters Corkill ’and Gill, Nurse Paterson, Messrs. J. R. Sceats, A. Dunkley (repre; seating the commercial travellers), and P. E. Stainton. They were-assisted by a willing band of ladies. The usual Christmas tree provided for the scholars in the primary department of the Fitzroy Methodist Sunday school was held on Saturday evening before a good attendance of scholars, parents and friends. • After a fey games' and a concert programme Father Christmas arrived at 7 o’clock and presented a toy to each of the 96 scholars on the primary rolls. The Rev. R. B. Gosnell, who was in charge of the proceedings, thanked all those who had assisted and explained that owing .to the size of the Sunday school it was .impossible to give every one attending a toy, so the effort was limited to the children in the infant department. Mr. Gosnell announced the Sunday school picnic for the last Saturday in January, to be held again at Mr. D. B. McKee’s farm at Lepperton.

A Wanganui. stamp collector received the following note from Germany yesterday: “Dear Sir,—Have you already (a) How. do I finish my collection cheep answered yourself the following ask? .and suitable? (b) How do I guard myself against damage? (c) How can my inheritors turn to account my collection? You receive answer in the eight following, informations of our society: (1) Exactely good choices; (2) we procure novelties so cheep as possible; (3) examinations cost free; (4) informations and constitutions costs free; (5) procur-' ing special novelties (lie Zepp. letters, etc); (6) section to turn to account the collection of inheritors and also to lombard collections; (7) blacklist; (8) Ipo, News, our news. Thus please resolve you directly.— Yours faithfully,. Ipo, International Stamp Collectors’ Club.” It is not every indigenous shrub or tree that can bo taken from its native habitat in the bush and made to adapt itself to the varying conditions of urban horticulture,. but Mr. J. B. McDougall, St. Clair, Dunedin, has been fortunate enough to get good strikes from three cuttings of a manuka bush of rare beauty and unusual profusion of foliage which he found on a recent holiday trip in the back’country of the Gatlins district, says the Otago Daily Tinies. The species, which had not previously been registered, is, At the suggestion of Mr. H. Hart, to' bear the name Sir George Fenwick. The plants are making a, good showing this season and have already been the subject of much admiring comment. To date, all efforts to-find the parent bush, which bears a pure, white double flower, have proved in vain. “We have now reached the limit to which deforestation can safely be permitted,” stated Mr. .R. 'D. Campbell, conservator of State’ forests, speaking at Hamilton. “Only land that ■ would, give 'undoubted settlement results should be excluded from' State forests, and to counteract such ' exclusions unsuitable settlement lands should be set aside as State forests,” he added. “We are probably all agreed that greater production ip necessary to bring back prosperity to the Dominion, but after many years’ study of the position, and with ah intimate knowledge of the unoccupied Crown lands and State forests I ain. convinced that the remedy lies, not. in . the further opening up of unsuitable land, but in closer utilisation of land already alienated; much of which is only producing a small percentage-of what it is capable of.” ■ . , Officials at a certain service-car depot recently derived considerable amusement from a.jnistake made’by a passenger. The young lady in question, who was obviously not a colonial, stated that she wished to book a seat on a car leaving later in the day. As it happened, there were no other bookings, so an obliging clerk offered her a choice ’of seats. Would she take the front seat? —No, because that meant talking to the driver. How about the back, then?—No, again, as one was always bumped about in the back. ‘’’Then there are only the dickey seats, miss,” said the clerk. Prompted,/no doubt, by reminiscences of something more luxurious than the average New Zealand service car, the unsuspecting passenger agreed to take a dickey seat. When the time for departure arrived and, in an .empty car, she saw the’nature of her choice, her confusion can easily be imagined. That excellent sweet oranges can be grown in the Auckland province, prodding that .proper varieties are planted in 'the right class of soil and are given good treatment, is now generally acknowledged, but hitherto, says the New Zealand Herald, one of the drawbacks has been that the main crop of oranges comes in the -winter months, when oranges are not popular. -Mr. H. R. Wright, of Avondale, has, however, a variety, the Lue : gim‘-gong, which grafted on the trifolita stock produces a fruit which hangs on the tree for nearly two years from flowering, and the consequence is that the fruit can be kept in the ripe stage through a prolonged period. Samples of these oranges have been exhibited during the present week. They are of good size and attractive flower, being sweet, juicy and tender,in fish without any pith. This fact should enable a fine table orange to be grown commercially in the northern districts a ...I add a valuable new crop to the list of orchard fruits. i