LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Waipa Post, Volume XVIII, Issue 1009, 21 October 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Mushrooms have made their appear-, ance in some of the paddocks in the Cambridge district. Ngaruawahia Borough Council has decided that the rating system of that borough shall be on the capital value basis. A LondSn cable message to the Australian paper .states that Mr Knocklands, a well-known gardener, has evolved a cross • between tho gooseberry and black currant, which has the size of the gooseberry and the flavour of the black currant. A recent discovery was made by the Manchester (England) College of Technology of a new vulcanising process. The importance of the discovery is said to be in the fact that it makes cold vulcanising possible and is expected to have far-reaching effects on the rubber tyre industry. The sum of £20,000 instead of £2OOO was mentioned in our report of the last meeting of the Parawera Road Board as the amount the Board proposed to raise as a loan for road improvements in the Puahue Soldiers' Settlement. This may* be explained by the fact-that there are returned soldiers on our staff. Crying "Stop, thief!" a parrot' belonging to M. Poirey, who lives in the Faubourg Street, Martin, Paris, put to flight two burglars who had broken in to the flat where it was kept. Just as the bird gave the alarm its owner returned and succeeded in arresting one of the spoilers. The parrot had been taught to say the words, and did so on being startled by 'the sudden noise the thieves made.

"It was a land grant I got for the war," remarked a Maori witness at the Wellington Magistrate's Court (says,, the New Zealand Times). The magistrate looked hard at witness whose age was 75 years, whereupon a lawyer explained that this grant was" in connection with the Waikato war of 1863-6, the witness having foughi on the side of the Europeans. Palmerston North is having enviable luck in the matter of raising loan money. A notification*, from a lending company to the effect that it was prepared to lend the Borough Council £20,000 was received at its la'st meeting. "This is towards the electric lighting loan," said the Mayor, "and since, tha,t was arranged I have secured another £20,000. Possibly I may pick up another £IO,OOO in a few days We can already see £IIO,OOO by way of loan."

It was claimed the other day that £54, the price which a grade cow brought at a North Island auction, was a record for the Dominion. This figure has just been beaten at a sale held by A. Buckland and Sons, who sold a grade Jersey belonging to Mr C. A. Willis, of Pukekohe, at £7l 10/, which is easily a Dominion record. The firm also sold yearling heifers from the same owner up as high as £34 15/. Fourteen grade Jerseys averaged £49 10/, and five yearling heifers averaged £25 10/. The privilege of free rides on tram cars already enjoyed at Hull by blind people and by men who have lost a leg in the war has been extended to old-age of whom theire are 5000 }n the city. At a meeting of the Tramways Committee, when this decision was arrived at, the chairman, said that no other municipality gave old-age pensioners "such a privilege. Opponents of the proposal took the view that the Government ought to increase pensions so as to enable old people to pay their own fares. The Te Awamutu Municipal Band has earned the good will of several ladies. According to a report quite a number of businessmen are astir at daybreak in practice for the chopping event at next Monday's Labour Day Celebrations. Where, hitherto, the ladies have been skimped for firewood there is now an ample supply. Nine inch logs are being cut into short lengths and the chips lie about in considerable heaps. Hence it is that the band has earned the appreciation of the ladies.

One of the projects which the re-cently-formed Chamber of Commerce at Pirongia has in view is the making of a track to the top of the Pirongia mountain. It is believed that if facilities for the ascent of the mountain are provided the climb will become an extremely popular one by visitors from far and near. The proposed track would penetrate beautiful native bush and at the top the climber would be rewarded with a magnificent panorama including the snowy mountains, Kawhia harbour and the West Coast. Five cases were set down for hearing at tSe Te Awamutu Court this morning—three civil and two licensing cases—but proceedings were held up for the want of a magistrate It had been understood that Mr Young S.M., of Hamilton would be in attendance but on being communicated with Mr Young disclaimed any responsibility as Te Awamutu had not yet been allocated to his district, under the new boundaries for judicial operations. An inquiry elicited the fact that Mr Burton S.M. was to-day presiding at tfce Court at Te Kuiti and Mr Keane S.M., of Auckland, also was not available. Consequently the court will be held here to-morrow when Mr Burton S.M. will preside. On many occasions New Zealanders have had it brought to -their notice that the people of foreign lands know little of this Dominions and its whereabouts on the map. An instance of such ignorance of our land has been received by the Napier Chamber of Commerce from Roumania. The letter, printed in the French language, makes enquiries of the exports and the names of exporters in the Dominion, and the envelope containing the letter was addressed as follows: "Chamber of Commerce, Napier, New Zealand, America." Another example is afforded by the Philadelphia Public Ledger, which, under an illustration of a Maori haka in connection with the Prince's visit, tt says: "Maoris, in full panoply of war, stick their tongues out at the Prince. Far from being a sign, of derision, it is, with the Maoris, a symbol of hearty greeting and affection. The Maoris, a few years ago savages, now form the backbone of New Zealand's citizenship."

According to figures submitted at a recent meeting of the Raglan County Council the engineer's car has cost £5 a week to run. A gentleman at Taihape, being unable to proceed to Wellington during the recent heavy rains telegraphed to a friend: "Cannot come. Wash put on the line." In a few hours a reply came: " Never mind, borrow a shirt." A start has been made by the Pub- f lie Works Department with the erec- V tion of the bridge over the Waipa ' River at Ngaruawahia, which collap- / sed over five years ago. The estimated cost of the new bridge is about V £IO,OOO. . j ':' '- The family of the .late Mr Edward Murphy, of Gisborne, have donated £SOOO to the Salvation Army, the gift to be used for the purpose of establishing a nursing home in Mr Murphy's memory. During his lifetime Mr Murphy was a very generous contributor to the funds of the Army. Whilst riding a motor cycle round.a curve on the road between Kihikihi and Otorohanga, just beyond the Punui bridge, oh Monday afternoon, Mr Johnson, an education Board official, was thrown heavily to the ground sustaining a face wound and an injury to his eye, and also a lacerated leg. After being conveyed to Te Awamutu and receiving attention, he returned to Kikihiki on Tuesday afternoon. A French on the way to London —will enable the woman of 50 to have a face like a girl in her teens. London Daily Mirror was told by a doctor who is one of London's leading beauty specialists, that there was nothing painful in the new process. The skin of the face was pulled tightly by the process, which made all the lines and wrinkles vanish. "The process," it, was declared, "is guaranteed permanent. Women can look 20 for ever."

It is narrated by Sir Keith Smith, who has recently been lecturing on his .flight from England to Australia, that the flight was partly the outcome of a jocular remark made by General Barton, who, when giving instructions regarding duty in Mesopotamia said: "After reaching Bagdad we will fly on to India and see the Viceroy's cup run. Why then not fly to Australia and have a look at. the Melbourne Cup?" And from that jocular. remark arose the desire which culminated in a journey that showed the possibility of an aeroplane service between England and Australia. . As there must shortly be several vacancies in the ' Supreme Court Bench of New Zealand owing to judges having reached the age limit, there is a good deal of speculation as to the names of the men who will be chosen for this high position. It is rumoured that £ well known Aucklander is almost certain to be among those elevated. He is a young man, not yet a K.Ci, who has won a very high reputation particularly at the Court of Appeal, and his appointment would give keen satisfaction to the legal profession not only in Auckland but throughout the Dominion. '. Members of the Committee of the A. and P. Association and of the Domain Board met on the new Domain ground yesterday morning. Those present were the Mayor (Mr L. G. Armstrong) Crs. A. Young and G. Spinley (representing the Domain Board) and Messrs. F. Quin, S. C. Macky, A. S. Wallace and J. T.. Johnson, representing the A. and P. Association. All recognised that the ground was in every way the most suitable in the district for a show ground, and subject to the provision of a grandstand and other alterations to the ground, to meet thb convenience of the Association, it is probable that an agreement will, be entered into between both bodies, the Association, paying a rent for the accommodation to be provided*by the Board, After discussing details, the committee representing the association agreed to put its offer to the Board in writing which' would have to be confirmed by the general committee of the Association at its next meeting.

The world's most costly show is the International Horse Show which, after a Japse during the # war years, was resumed this season. It is held at. the Olympia, London, England, and those who have been to it say it is a magnificent spectacle, equal to the splendid pageants of ancient Rome and Greece. This is largely due to the high standard set by Lord Lonsdale when he inaugurated the show fourteen years ago. He then made up his mind to eclipse anything of the kind ever attempted before, and he succeeded. The huge hall was transformed into a gigantic bower of roses banked with castliest exotics and draped in silk. Nothing more beautiful had ever been seen in London. About £30,000 were spent by him before ever the doors were open; but he got it all back, and more, in entrance money; for the public, quick to appreciate- a good thing flocked to Olympia in such multitudes that even that huge building could not contain them, and more than twenty thousand people were turned away from the , doors during the ten days the lasted. *

It is hoped that by the end of the year the first wheat silos erected in New Zealand will.have been built in Waimate, and the quartet of themj surmounted by the elevator tower, and, in all over 100 ft. high, will be a landmark for miles around. The work of building these silos for the South Canterbury Flour Milling Company has been in hand for some time now, and Mr E. S. Wood, of the Concrete Constructions Ltd. (Sydney), is now in charge of operations. Each of the four great concrete cylinders will (states an exchange) hold 30,000 bushels of wheat, equal to 800 tons in weight. The internal measurement of each silo will be S6ft. high and 25ft. in diameter. The four of them will be set together and practically adjoining • On top of the foui' of them will be the elevator tower comnion to all of them. Once full, these-silos will be able to keep the mill going all the year round but when the new mill is built it will require 12 of them to maintain a continuous run. Some 6000 bags of cement will be used in the erection of them, and the management believes it has secured the whole of the cement required.