LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1931, Page 8

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The countryside drew the town dwellers from New Plymouth in the mild spring afternoon yesterday. Just before dusk the footpaths were dotted with people carrying flowers, knapsacks and flowering shrubs. The recent spell of fine weather has brought out the whitebait, which are running up all the North Taranaki rivers. Good hauls were made on Saturday and Sunday in the Waiwakaiho, Waiongona and Te Henui. The succulent little fish are reported to be more plentiful this year than last. With the fine weather during the week-end, flying at the New Plymouth aerodrome by pupils of the Aero Club was carried on without interruption ill the machine ABS. The federation ground engineer, Mr. A. Salter, has com.--' menced the work of repairing the AAX, which was damaged at Stratford last week.

Regret at the fact that the shores of the Mangamahoe lake were not to be preserved from shooting was expressed by Mr. W. H. Skinner to a News reporter yesterday. It is understood that efforts arc to be made to persuade the New Plymouth Borough Council to have the lake made a bird sanctuary. Taranaki should have' a good summer, according to the Maoris, who get tivir cue from the unusual florese-mcc of the native clematis. Just now it is out in all its glory almost wherever there is any native bush. Most of the exotic flowering shrubs are from three to four weeks late in flowering this year. A sign of the times was reflected recently when an advertiser in a southern paper called for tenders (labour only) for 42 chains of fencing. Fifty-five tenders were sent in, the prices submitted ranging from £7 to £5O. A reasonable estimate, it is understood, would have been in the vicinity of £2O. “You have just heard my report, gentlemen,” remarked the chairman at an annual meeting on Saturday after a very lengthy and comprehensive report on the year’s working prepared by the executive officials had been read. “I saw it in the paper yesterday for the first time, and though I say it myself, it is a good report,” he added, amidst the laughter with which his frank confession was received. In the view of a Taranaki.doctor, the past few days of sunshine have been more efficacious in the mitigation of the mild influenza epidemic than gallons of medicine and all other medical treatment. A singular feature of the outbreak, the same authority remarked, was that those who took care to escape its ravages, wrapping themselves up in cotton wool, as it were, have been the first to go down with it. After the football match at Pukekura Park on Saturday hundreds of local people, who seldom visit the park, were to be seen walking through the grounds and 'making a careful inspection of the new kiosk and the curator’s house, which is now such a conspicuous feature of the park. : The recent controversy, of course, was responsible for this unwonted manifestation of interest in the gardens. In order to encourage cross-country flights by pilot members, and to give the advantages of personal contact between its various clubs, the committee set up by the council of the Western Federated Aero Clubs has delegated Mr. C. Frey berg (Hawera) and Captain Gibbons to prepare a programme of crosscountry flights for the summer months. The decision was made by the committee during a session in New Plymouth in the week-end.

Desiring to reach Auckland on urgent business, a Wanganui business man left with Flying-Officer lan Keith- in one of Western Federated Aero Club’s planes at 9 a.m. in the morning, flying to Auckland via Hawera. Although they met witJi heavy fog near Raglan and had to fly low over the sea, they reached Auckland in three hours. They left Auckland -again at 12.30, calling at the New Plymouth aerodrome for refuelling and tea, and reached Wanganui again at six o’clock after a quick, safe journey. There has been considerable mortality in dairy herds in Taranaki during the past month, due to the unusual severity and prolongation of the winter and the shortage of feed. The herds, too, have suffered from the same conditions, and the milk supply is being adversely affected. The fact is that many old and experienced farmers were caught napping; they provided insufficient feed for a hard and long season as has been experienced. During the past few days the grass has come away rapidly, and it only requires another few days of fine weather to give strength and nutriment to the pastures to enable the herds to make up leeway.

Dared by the crew of the river boat Maid of ' the Mist, little 14-year-old Mary Bell, of Port Dalhousie, Ontario, swam the Niagara river just below Niagara falls in 10 minutes and set up a record for the crossing. The old record of 11 minutes was held by William (“Red”) Hill, a veteran riverman. She entered the water from the United States side and swam across to the boat landing on the Canadian shore. She was accompanied by a ticket agent, on is Maid of the Mist and a cabin boy, in a small rowboat. Never before has a woman attempted the treacherous swim. Miss Bell’s father is engineer-of the Maid of the Mist.

The fact that New Plymouth was the nearest overseas port in New Zealand to Sydney was stressed by speakers at the dinner to the Australian Rugby team on Saturday. In expressing the hope that tlie visitors had been made to feel at home in New Plymouth, the Mayor remarked that they were certainly nearer their homes when they were in New Plymouth than any other part of the Dominion they had’ visited. Mr. J. McLeod, chairman of the Taranaki Rugby Union, forecast that with the completion of the railway in two or three years, New Plymouth would actually be the first and last port of call between New Zealand and Australia, when the relations of the Taranaki and New South Wales Rugby Unions would-be much closer.

.The shining cuckoo (pipiwhararoa) has made its reappearance in suburban New Plymouth gardens. On Saturday and yesterday the plaintive cry of the little visitor was several times heard in his old-time haunts. It is a fact that the cuckoo every year not only comes back to the same garden, but to the very same tree. Stranger still, the bird usually returns on the very same day each year. In New Plymouth the same cuckoo returns to his old nesting place every 4th of September. This year, no doubt «-wing to the unseasonable weather, he did not put in an appearance until Saturday; the 19th. It is interesting to recall that it was from the habit of the shining cuckoo that the early Polynesian navigators, Kupe and Ngahue, formed the conclusion that extensive land existed to the south of Tahiti, which led to the Maori migration to New Zealand in 1350. The shining cuckoo spends the other part of the year in Northern India, China and Siberia.

A farinlet of 12A acres at. Eltham for sale cheap on easy terms is advertised by W. H. and A. McGarry, Eltham. During the past week Mr. W. J. Freeth has sent out of Taranaki two well-bred pedigree Jersey yearlings. One was shipped to Mr. Inwood, Inangahua Junction, West Coast. The other was railed to Mr. J. O. Brady, Mangatira, Dannevirke.

Following Miss Levick, Berlei expert, visit we are offering oddments in a large range of styles and quality. Corsets at a 15 to 20 per cent, reduction. Call to-day. Free fitting at McGruer’s, Devon Street Central, New Plymouth.*

Lissaman’s Mammitis Paint. Our repeat orders show that our mammitis paint is very satisfactory. Try a bottle, 5s 6d. Send to S. Lissaman, Box C3A, Kaponga, or at all stores.*

The injury received by Sid. Malcolm,; captain of the Australian Rugby team, which necessitated his leaving the field on Saturday, was not serious. He suffered slight concussion, but soon recovered and was able yesterday to visit Mount Egmont with the rest of the team. The Jewish Day of Atonement commenced last evening, and will end at sunset to-day. The Day of Atonement is the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, and to-day will be observed as a close holiday by the Jewish community and Jewish business houses. One of the things which came off in the Australian-Taranaki match at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, on Saturday, though not intended to, was a pair of football pants. An Australian forward soon afterwards was seen trying to burrow into the ground and hide. With much presence of mind, the. referee ran up and sat on him, thus giving him the needed shelter. Enthusiastic whitebait fishers proceeding to their favourite streams could be identified on the road in large numbers yesterday by the nets attached to their cars. The exodus from New Plymouth seemed particularly heavy on the road to Waitara. Drivers meeting the traffic occasionally had to give a wide berth to oncoming cars from which there projected solid poles or large nets, A genuine harbinger of spring and summer arrived at the Belt Road camp reserve yesterday afternoon. He was a motorist who proceeded to pitch his tent with the object, apparently, of initiating the camping season and spending the night. The warm, sunny weather enticed many people to the parks and beaches. At Ngamotu the beach was speckled with sunbathers and motorcars, while a number of bathers ventured into the sea for the first time this season. A collision between a motor-car and motor-cycle occurred at the corner of Brougham and Powderham Streets yesterday evening. The car, driven by Mr. V. .Sisarich, had just negotiated the Brougham Street .hill when it met the cycle as it was ’ proceeding in a westterley direction along Powderhani Street. The rider, Mr. W. Amor, was thrown.off, and after being attended by Dr. E. A. Walker, was sent to the public hospital. He was suffering from abrasions and shock, and on inquiry last night his condition was stated to be as satisfactory as possible. The car was slightly damaged. That the Taranaki Rugby Union had made a great forward step in securing in New Plymouth a ground of its own was the opinion expressed by Mr. T. Fletcher, a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union, on Saturday evening. Though all realised that Pukekura Park was the most picturesque ground probably in the world, he thought the union was right in looking to the future. He congratulated it on its progress in having raised such a substantial sum of money, and expressed appreciation of the remarkable transformation made in the appearance of the ground as compared with when he saw it in its rough state two years ago. The early bird does not always get the worm, nor the early fisherman the whitebait. A New Plymouth resident whose house is near the East End reserve, decided to make sure of a suitable base for scooping operations, and duly arose at 3 a.m. He leisurely made himself a cup of tea and descended to the river bank, to find a net. already occupying the chosen spot. Inquiry from the possessor elicited the news that he had been there since two o’clock. “Well,” said the second man, “I thought I was early—” “So did I,” was the rejoinder, “■but -—’s over there; he’s been here since one o’clock.” A service in memory of the late Mr. Thomas Veale was held in the Whiteley Memorial Church, New Plymouth, yesterday morning, when appropriate hymns were sung and reference was made to the death of a very old and highly respected member of the church. The Rev. Clarence Eaton based his remarks on 11. Timothy, chapter 4, verse 7: “I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith.” The sermon was not only a tribute to the fine, soldierly qualities of the veteran, but also, a tribute to the work of the pioneers and the courage, energy and sclf-eaerifice of the settlers who laid the foundations of New Plymouth. The possibility of Timaru being selected as the locality of a rubber factory, the promoters of which are now seeking a suitable site, was referred to in a special report presented to the Timaru Borough Council by the electrical engineer. The report was the outcome of conversations the engineer had had at Christchurch, during which it was stated that there was a probability of a rubber factory commencing operations in New Zealand and that the promoters of the company were looking for a site for a factory, the chief requirements being low rates, cheap electric power, and a plentiful supply of artesian water. In paying a tribute to the sterling qualities of the early settlers of Taranaki, the Rev. Clarence Eaton made, an interesting personal reference at Whiteley Church, New Plymouth, yesterday. He quoted from Wells’ History of Taranaki as follows: “On August to, 1860, the brig George Henderson, which was being filled, up for taking the families of the settlers to Nelson, was. driven ashore northward of the Henui in .a gale. A large party of bluejackets in command of Commodore Loring followed her course on the beach with a gun and a rocket; apd when she grounded lent all possible aid. In town the assembly was sounded and a large party of militia and volunteers were marched to the wreck to preserve it from being plundered by the natives.” Mr. Eaton said he felt a personal interest in those dark days because the George Henderson was the ship that brought his father (then a boy) to Auckland in the early days. The brig was built in. his grandfather’s shipyard in Nova Scotia, and sailed from there with the whole family to New Zealand. It was while still owned by Mr. Levi Eaton, and trading on the coast, that she wae wrecked near the mouth of the Henui, as recorded by Wells.

As a sequel to the search for the missing climbers on Ruapehu, the Chateau has been faced with the loss of nearly £3OO worth of alpinc equipment. Many of the articles, including heavy boots, riding trousers, rucksacks, socks, gloves, capes and snow goggles, were issued to searchers who were setting out in the snow adequately clothed. Some of it was lost on the mountain, and some of it was not returned. The missing equipment includes 60 pairs of boots and 50 pairs of riding trousers. It will all have to be replaced in stock. New season’s printed fabrics in cotton, cotton and art silk, pure art silk and pure silk have opened out at the Melbourne Ltd. Printed Shantungs and coin spot art silks are going to be a big feature this Spring, while for the everyday trade printed cambrics are sure to be in very great demand.