HERE AND THERE.

Waipa Post, Volume VII, Issue 325, 23 June 1914, Page 7

HERE AND THERE.

A bay mare is impounded at Te Awamutu.

- An old and respected native, named Mauriohohi, died on Tuesday at Parawera, and a large tangi is now being held.

A result of the recent formation of a town district at Whakatane is unwelcome so far as the licensees of the local hotels are concerned. It was stated on Thursday that fees of £4O will now have to be paid on licensed premises in the. newly-formed area as against £25 previously paid.

During the Farmers’ Union social (states the Opunake Times), and just after the dancers were seated, a bare-footed young lady, attired in night-dress, entered the dance room. There was a hush in sound whilst the young lady, who was in a trance, went through her movements, and departed. A branch of the Farmers’ Union has been formed at Okoroire, to be called the Paterere District, to include Tirau, Okoroire Springs, Waiomou, and Tapapa districts. Mr E. Somerville is president, and Mr W. D. Ayson secretary pro tern. The subscription was fixed at TOs per member, and the next meeting will be held in July at Tirau. The annual report of the Masterton Municipal Gasworks shows that the output of gas for the past year totalled 37,856.5°° cubic feet. The gross profit on manufacturing account was £3,343 4s 4d, which with profits on fittings, and receipts from rents, etc., gave a total profit of £3465 2s 3d. The total expenditure from revenue on capital account amounted to £2174 17s Bd. A Cabinet Minister at Home was unable to attend important duties recently owing to a severe cold. He tried all sorts of cures, but without success. At length a lady friend of his wife recommended a certain plaster which she had tried. She returned with one, and it worked like magic. The politician was soon his old self again. Imagine his surprise when he took the plaster off, however, to find imprinted on his skin these wellknown words, “Votesfor Women.” This is the very latest, says a Scottish journal. At a meeting of the Horowlienua County Council on Friday, it was resolved that the following remit be sent to the Counties Conference : “ That owing to the rapid increase of motor traffic, the time has arrived when a tax should be placed on all. motor vehicles, the revenue derived from such tax to be devoted to the improvement and upkeep of the arterial roads in the Dominion, and that the Government be asked to pass necessary legislation during the coming session to give effect to this resolution.”

The work of the commission which is now preparing a report on the gum lands in the North was mentioned by the Prime Minister to a Wellington reporter. Mr Massey said he believed the investigation by the commission will result in a very large area of land being opened up for settlement, and particularly for fruitgrowing. Making a rough estimate, the Prime Minister thought that not less than 75,000 to 80,000 acres of this land would be made available. As instancing that its capabilities are appreciated by settlers in other parts of the Dominion, Mr Massey mentioned that in the last six months a number of people from fruitgrowing Nelson had left for North Auckland to take up land there for fruit farms.

Interviewed by the Wellington Post on the subject of prison reform, the Hon. Mr Herdman said the work of construction of a large prison at Waikeria, near Te Awamutu, was proceeding apace. It was estimated that when completed, it would hold 250 prisoners. Then the accommodation required in Wellington would be for not more than 100 men. The policy for the North Island was to have a large gaol at Auckland and another at Waikeria ; a gaol at New Plymouth for habitual criminals, a small place at Gisborne, and a prison near Wellington large enough for 100 short sentence and waiting - trial prisoners. The South Island requirements would be met by the Invercargill prison, a small prison at Dunedin, a large prison in Canterbury about Templeton, and a women’s prison at Addington. A prison camp has been established at Waimarino. The Invercargill and Mount Edin prisons would be added to when the programme of new prisons was complete. The conditions obtaining should be quite satisfactory. As to complaints by prisoners, the Minister said the gaols were never intended to be luxurious, and it was not the intention of the Department to make them so, and when the prison building policy was completed, accommodation would he provided for 860 prisoners in the North Island, and 445 in the bouth Island.