GENERAL ITEMS.

Waipa Post, Volume XXI, Issue 1280, 12 August 1922, Page 2

GENERAL ITEMS.

A large sperm whale haa been, washed ashore on the; beach at New Plymouth. The mammal was dead when found.

Aphis is proving deadly to the weeping willow trees in New Zealand stated Mr J. McGregor at Wanganui. He said he had noticed in various parts of this country that the pretty tree was fast dying out.

During dredging operations in a certain harbour on the East Coast of England a curious agglomeration of rusty old iron was hoisted up and dumped on ithe quay. Local opinion was much divided ; some said it was undoubtedly from the wreck of a Spanish' Armada galleon of 1588, others said it was the remains of a .sunken German submarine. The local motor expert soon settled the question. His men came along with spaners, and tools, and after a few hours’ hammering and bending of the tangled mass soon had the Ford car running and drove it away in triumph.

Waipukurau is experiencing a revival of the building trade. A considerable number of premises 'are in course of erection.

The Clergyman : “ Do you mean to say that your wife goes to church every Sunday without, you ?” Farmer : “Well, it isn’t my fault. I can’t persuade her to stay at home.”

Kates of interest on mortgages are now definitely .lower (than they were (reports the Westport News). They have receded from 7 per cent, on first mortgages to 6 and per cent., and there is now a great deal of money available for this form of investment.

“We have Warned some things "from the Great War, and one of them is that ithe English-speaking peoples have come to a closer friendship than ever before,” said Dr. L. Wirt, speaking at Wellington.

Holdings of figs are fairly heavy (says the Wanganui Herald), and as the season advances the condition deteriorates by sugaring, so that realisations are being made at reduced rates. The demand is quite good at ithe cut 'rates, as many uses can he made of this fruit. New .season's Turkish for November delivery are now quoting, prices being under opening rates for last year.

“They (meaning the land agents) won’t batch me again !” remarked a farmer who recently returned to Pahliatua district bo carry on his old farm, which had been thrown back on his hands (isayis the Herald). “The deal cost me (about £2OO, but I think: I’m darned lucky to get the farm back even as 1 it is. And I’ll take a power of shifting after this !” /

A motorist had an unpleasant experience while driving over the Rimujtlaka Hill (says the Wellington Times). On going down the Wairarapa side of the hill the steering rod became detached, causing the car to swerve off the road into the fence. This is the third or fourth time this fence, which was erected by the Wairadapa Automobile Association, has been the of preventing a possible fatal accident.

A bankrupt farmer from Awahuri in bis 'statement to the Deputy-Offi-cial Assignee at Palmerston North, staid that his son was taken to the Palmerston North Hospital and died ■there. Nine of his cows died, and four were sold owing to disease. Again in 1920, eleven of hi® cows died, and three went out with bad quarters. Tibi® was out of a herd of twenty.

Amongst the flotsam and jetsam washed up, on the coast from the wrecked Wiltshire was a keg of whisky and a case containing solid silverware. The silverware was for the next-of-kin of an olj English family residing in Palmerston North, and (says an exchange) was so well packed that the air in the coffeepot and teapot and other hollowware kept the box afloat Both keg and case safely negotiated the bar, and, sailing majestically up the Whananaki River, landed in front of a settler’s homestead. The settler t who evidently believes in rendering unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, forwarded tooth parcels) to the Customs Department in Auckland.

This has been the worst planting season experienced in Taranaki for many long years, remarked a nurseryman to a press representative. The continuous bouts of 'southerlies and frosts, miore or les® heavy, had caused great harm to the young trees, and in not a few cases repl anting would be necessary. The value of tree-planting for timber, fencing 'posts and firewood, as well as shelter for stock, said the nurseryman, was being more realised in Taranaki, and where a farmer was settled, and not looking to sell hi® property, he was planting a few thousand trees each year. No better investment could be made.