LOCAL AND GENERAL

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1933, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

With the high winds prevailing yesterday, it was no uncommon thing to see men running, some bounding athletically, some merely puffing along, in pursuit of wayward hats. But in these days of close-fitting feminine head-gear it is surely something unusual to see a woman chasing her hat down the street, a spectacle to which passers-by in Devon Street, New Plymouth, yesterday were treated.

They had been taught at school that the three great things in life were faith, hope and charity, and the greatest of these was charity, remarked Mr. I. Gibbs, Mayor of Inglewood, in extending a civic welcome to the farmers’ conference yesterday. In the farmer’s life the three main points were high exchange, quotas and quality, and the greatest of these was quality, he added. A south-easterly wind buffeted' New Plymouth with increasing force yesterday until by evening pedestrians found difficulty in making steady progress, Waves offshore were not large, the wind being in the wrong quarter for whipping up heavy breakers. What waves there were had the curling white caps of a choppy sea. Violent flickers in the electric light told of contacts caused by swaying lines. The work of rebuilding the temporary structure of the new railway bridge at Wangaehu has been commenced by the contractors, Messrs J. T. Julian and Sons, of Auckland. Over 200 feet of staging was lost at the beginning of this month, when the Wangaehu River, in common with other rivers in this district, rose rapidly as a result of heavy rains. The damage was estimated at £600.’ The quantity of fertilisers used in different parts of the Dominion has been affected by the lot/ prices ruling for dairy produce this season, but Taranaki’s 9 per cent, decrease since 1928-29 is the smallest among the provinces. Wanganui with a 31 per cent, decrease in the same period shows the largest decline. The Taranaki statistics are: 192829, 61,660 tons; 1929-30, 76,706; increase on 1928-29, 24.70 per cent; 1930-31, 58,856 tons; decrease compared vjith 1928-29, 4 per cent.; 1931-32, 56,526 tons; decrease compared with 1928-29, 9 per cent An admission that his client had been carrying on the business of bookmaking up till the end of November, when he paid the last instalment of a fine of £2OO inflicted in December, 1931, was made by Mr. A. Coleman in addressing the jury in the Supreme Court at New Plymouth yesterday. He was defending Dominik Sisarich, charged .with bookmaking at Stratford about March 8. “While he was paying his fine for his conviction for bookmaking?” asked his Honour, with some surprise, “Yes,” replied counsel. “He had to in order* to obtain the wherewithal to pay. At all events, I am so instructed.”

For the purpose of inspecting school buildings and meeting committees to discuss matters of interest to schools in the gouth ward of the Taranaki education district members of the board made a two-day tour on Thursday and yesterday, returning to New Plymouth yesterday afternoon. Messrs. S. G. Smith, M.P. (chairman), J. A. Valentine, H. Dempsey, W. H. Jones and H. W. Insull (secretary) made the whole trip and were joined in places by Messrs. W. B. Glasgow, J. C. Barclay, J. McAllister and Dr. W. M. Thomson. The schools visited were Finnerty, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Kapuni, Manaia, OkaiawS, Normanby and Turuturu on the first day and Whareroa, Mokoia, Whakamara, Tawhiti, Ararata, Fraser Road, Rotokare and Mata yesterday. As giving some indication of the demands made upon his time in carrying out his duties as president of the North Taranaki branch of the Farmers’ Union Mr. H. E. Blyde stated that during the past year he had travelled 2400 miles by motor car, and had attended 50 day meetings and 100 evening meetings. That was exclusive of his attendance at Dominion executive meetings. That the conference recognised his great services tn the Farmers’ Union was shown by the appreciative remarks when re-electing him to the position of president, and more substantially by increasing, his honorarium from £35 to £5O despite a protest from the president, who stated that in view of the present financial position he would prefer the honorarium to remain as previously.

A smart hat for the football match can be obtained at Scanlans Ltd., at the Melbourne Corner, for 4/11 or 7/11. These lovely little felt hats are all this season s styles, the 4/11 offering being quite “sporty” in effect, while the line at 7/11 is composed entirely of model trimmed “pull-ons” in all the latest shapes and colours. See windows.*

Marram grass planting to stabilise sand dunes along the coastline skirting the Rangitikei County commenced on Wednesday, the work being carried out by Wellington unemployed married men. At present 10 men are at work and it is reported that another 10 will be brought from Wellington by the Unemployment Board, the work being carried out in accordance with Government relief schemes. Full time relief pay is being given the men. The planting will be continued until the beginning of September. It is stated that forestry work will be carried out on the area planted after the grass has taken root. Residents of Patea heard an aeroplane flying over the town about 10 o’clock on Thursday morning, but owing to a thick fog enveloping the town they were unable to gain a glimpse of the machine, reports the Patea correspondent of the Wanganui Chronicle. The blanket of fog intensified the sound of the motor to such an extent that many people were under the impression that the plane was flying dangerously low. It was remarked on by many residents that following the aeroplane’s passage through the air the fog cleared rapidly and an hour afterwards the sun was shining brightly. Several interesting relics of the Tarawera eruption of 1886 have been discovered during the past few days on a property recently acquired by Mr. R. Smith, in Te Wairoa Valley, in the vicinity of the buried village, states the Rotorua correspondent of the New Zealand Herald. In the process of cleaning up a paddock which had become overgrown with tea-tree and scrub two buried buildings were discovered, one of which was thought to have been a store and the other a small dwelling. Part of a chimney of one, fireplaces, embedded roofs and beams, and other debris were unearthed and a number of articles were found. Among these were some willow and pheasant-patterned plates, an old glazed teapot, crockery, ironware, and a sword scabbard. A curious piece found was an old stone jug with a group figure design in relief, and an old Chinese teapot was among the relics. Although these articles had been buried for nearly 50 years, they were mostly in a good state of preservation. The opinion that at some future date it might <be possible for fairly large vessels to be taken up the Waikato River as far as Hamilton was expressed by Mr. R._ Worley at a luncheon held last week by the Hamilton Rotary Club. About two million years ago, said Mr. Worley, the river, originating at Mt. Ruapehu flowed down the valley now known as Lake Taupo, and from there went by the shortest route to the Bay of Plenty. Later, however, a tremendous volcanic eruption took place and blocked the valley, so forming the present Lake Taupo. At that time the river level was considerably lower than it is to-day. Sand and soil are being carried down to the river mouth where comparatively large aeas of land are being built up. “From a navigation point of view,” Mr. Worley stated, “the river might play an important part in the commercial and economic development of the Waikato. At present it is too shallow, but it is within the realm of possibility that fairly large vessels could be brought up to Hamilton.” A great deal of interest is at present being taken by passers-by in a \large plank of kauri, 14ft. in length and 3ft. 6in. wide, which is on view in front of a pastrycook’s shop in George Street, Dunedin. This has been in use as a bench in the bakery for over 60 years, and, according to a placard, millions of pies have been cut on it. It is not difficult to believe this assertion when it is considered that the plank, which was originally an inch and a-half in thickness, lias now been worn in places, by successive cutting and scrubbing processes, to one-sixteenth of an inch. It is estimated that the tree from which the plank was taken had been growing for about ,1000 years, which would account for its huge girth. It is said to be impossible to obtain a kauri plank of such large dimensions nowadays, the bench which recently took the place of the one on exhibition being composed of three boards set together.

“I would not advise any New Zealander to seek work in Australia at the present time, although there is less unemployment there than there is with us,” said Sir James Parr in Auckland on Monday, referring to his recent visit to Australia. Sir James said that it was extraordinary how many New Zealanders there were in Australia. It was estimated that there were 7000 in Melbourne, and 17,000 in New South Wales. It seemed to be far too many, and he was hopeful of the day when by reorganisation of New Zealand industrial life employment would be offering for them in their own country. “I met New Zealanders everywhere,” said Sir James, “and most of them appeared to be doing well, although some who had gone across recently had fallen on evil times. In Melbourne I was the guest at a New Zealand lunch. They have a New Zealand Club there, and a good organisation. The members include bank managers, manufacturers, and clerks. The president was a very genial chap. He told me that he was doing very well. He was an undertaker.”

“Personally, I don’t think charges of bookmaking should be tried by juries, because too big a strain is placed on them,” said Mr. Justice Reed in summing up at the end of a case in the Supreme Court yesterday. He said that these cases were important because of the danger of people losing reverence for the law if verdict after verdict of not guilty were' returned. Most people had a small bet these days, and in small places, and there was the liklihood that even some of the jurymen had made bets with bookmakers. After pointing out the duty of a juryman to decide the case strictly in accordance with the oath, even though they might not agree with the law, his Honour said that there were many features of the Gaming Act that might be open to objection. He considered that the act of a juryman in disregarding his oath when trying such cases was actually a worse offence than that of bookmaking.

Among the most interesting exhibits at the Auckland War Memorial Museum is a “marutuahu,” or cultivation charm, whose history is believed to go back more than 600 years. A globular mass of stone, pierced at one end, the charm is a unit in the Mair collection, and until recently was regarded as a fishing sinker. Speaking at a meeting of the anthropology and Maori race section of the Auckland Institute last evening, Mr. George Graham said that the relic had been' identified with the original Tamaki tribe, and had passed from them to the Tainui canoe party. It had been deposited in cultivations at Kawhia, had been taken from there to Patea, and later had been returned to Kawhia. Thence the charm had been moved to Hauraki, where it had remained until it had been taken to the Bay of Plenty by Tametera, whose successors, the Ngati-pukeho, had retained it. The relic had been hidden for some years, so that it should not be seized by Hone Heke’s raiding parties. Eventually it had been acquired by Captain Gilbert Mair, whose collection was now in the museum. The relic, said Mr. Graham, belonged to the class of charm connected with kumara cultivation.

Why buy new clothes when the old ones can be renovated equal to new at the cost of a few shillings? We have been dyeing and cleaning garments for over 20 years. Let us have your soiled or faded suits, costumes, dresses, etc., to renovate and you will be surprised at the result. We also renovate and rehlock felt hats. Why not have yours done at J. K. Hawkins Co., corner Devon and Liardet Streets, New Plymouth. ’Phone 680. Mrs. Rudkin (Everybody’s) is our Stratford agent.*