LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3178, 14 May 1932, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Te Awamutu has had plenty of rain this week. Messrs A. Livingstone and J. J. Ryburn have been re-elected unopposed to the Waikato Hospital Board as representatives of the Waipa County ratepayers. A reminder is given of the Te Awamutu Municipal Band concert to-mor-row evening (after church hours) at the Empire Theatre. In addition to instrumental items, several solos wid be rendered by popular vocalists. Representing the Taupo and Otorohanga "Counties and Taupo Road District, Mr F. Potts (chairman of the Otorohanga County Council) was reelected to the Waikato Hospital Board. Among successful students of the Auckland University College were: Diploma of Honours, Miss Eileen Margaret Johnston (Otorohanga’; Bachelor of Arts, Mr H. J. Tozer (Kio Kio).

The organising of the “ ten-acre farm scheme” for the unemployed is proceeding rapidly in the Waikato district, which is under the control of Mr J. F. Shepherd, fields inspector, Hamilton. One of the first and most important matters (says the Waikato Times) is the appointment of a local advisory committee, and this is being selected. To hasten the scheme it is proposed that the Waikato County Coouncill will consider it at an early date.

The registrations of unemployed in New Zealand for the week ended May 9 were 51,517, compared with 50,093 a week earlier, an increase of 1424. The total includes men numbering 36,516 engaged in part time work on scheme 5, leaving 15,001 unplaced or standing down.

Credulous people in New Zealand have been forwarding money to Bombay, India, with applications for foi’ecasts of fortune, and the Post and Telegraph Department has banned the address “Pundit Tabore. Bombay.” Letters or money-orders bearing this address will not be forwarded from New Zealand.

Sixteen sheep were killed by lightning during the thunderstorm on Thursday morning on the Kereone estate, near Morrinsville. The sheep were close together under some small totaria trees. The trees were not damaged, and th/x carcases of the sheep were not marked in any way.

The Australian driver, Mr Norman Smith, together with Mrs Smith and Mr E. C. Swadling, of Sydney, left Wellington for Sydney by the Zealandia yesterday. The windscreen and radiator have been removed from his racing car, which is in a shed on the northern wharf at Auckland, and the car will probably be shipped to Sydney in about a fortnight’s time.

Schoolboy howlers were to the fore at the social evening held under the auspices of the Putaruru Chamber of Commerce this week. A local dominie was responsible for the following, which he averred was the product of a pupil of a school not 100 miles away from Putaruru. The class were asked to complete partly given proverbs, and one bright pupil handed up the following proverb: “Necessity is the mother of virtue.”

In sending a copy of the Land Laws Amendment Bill of 1932 to the Putaruru Press, Mr C. H. Clinkard drew attention to a clause (3) that he states he has been asking for for some time past. It provides that where a settler has more land than he can profitably use he can enter into an arrangement with a prospective settled and the department may assist the purchaser up to 90 per cent of the purchase price.

In the Paemako riding for the Waitomo County Council the sitting members, Messrs C. K. Wilson and R. W. Neal, were again returned. For the Mahoenui riding Mr J. Old was defeated by three votes by Mr E. Rattenbury. Mr G. P. Webster was reelected to represent the Aria riding, while Mr R. Were was re-elected for the Mairoa riding by a large majority. The members of the Waitomo County Council now are: Messrs G. P. Webster, L. W. Jones, W. A. Lee, E. Rattenbury, R. Were, R. W. Neal, C. K. Wilson, J. Georgetti, and J. R. Jensen.

A Kai Iwi, Wanganui, settler relates an interesting experience he had with his dog. On Monday of last week a friend with a sporting dog was shooting wild ducks on his property and the farmer’s sheep dog also accompanied the visitor. The latter and the sporting dog departed on Monday night. On Tuesday morning the farmer’s dog returned to the house with a live duck inhis mouth, and on Wednesday evening again repeated the performance. The farmer is at a loss to know how the dog managed to catch them. The first duck was plucked and showed no sign of shot marks, so that it could not have been wounded. The other duck has not yet been plucked, and if it is also clear of shot marks the farmer can only assume that his dog has developed into a first-class poacher.

“ It seems to me to be a farce bringing these men before the court when they have no money, for it is only making the position worse,” declared Mr J.. L. Stout, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Palmerston North on Wednesday, when dealing with defaulters in the payment of instalments of the unemployment levy. Mr Stout said the Department of Labour should use some discretion in taking action, for it seemed absurd to him for men who had no means to be charged. The department should investigate each case and come before the court with the full particulars which were available to them. There were frequently cases which he would like to dismiss, but he could not,, for it was his duty to set an example to the community. He was sure that there were many men who were not in a position to pay the tax who were not aware that exemption could be granted to them if they made application in the proper direction.

To-night the local branch of the Returned Soldiers’ Association hold their annual reunion.

The attention of our readers is directed to the Railway Department’s advertisement in this issue regarding train arrangements and cheap fares in connection with the Waikato races at Te Rapa on 21st May.

With Major-General Sir Andrew Russell as head, a league to stabilise the currency has been formed in Napier. It is hoped to extend the movement over the whole Dominion.

Two forged National Bank of New Zealand £1 notes were detected at the Shortland Street premises of the bank at' Auck’and and at a Queen Street store on Thursday. An unusual circumstance was that the representations were produced by penmanship, the forgeries showing a degree of skill in some respects. In size and appearance the notes closely resembled the genuine issue.

Encouraging success has attended experiments carried but at the Gaborone freezing works last November by Dr W. A. Bowie. Reports received from England on meat treated by a special process of bleeding and conditioning show that palatableness is definitely increased, that the bloom is retained, and that there is less loss in weight per carcase than when the routine procedure is followed.

Whether wool week is having its good effect or whether the fashion of knitting is the fundamental cause, there can be no doubt about the increased popularity of knitting. Not only is it the recognised occupation during women’s social rounds but children are becoming obsessed with clicking needles. As a result of this new “ industry,” a very amused butcher at Wanganui was confronted by a swarm of youngsters recently who demanded that he supply them with skewers. On asking what they were required for, he was informed that they were to be used as kitting needles.

Local breeders of Jersey cattle will note with interest that at the Matamata Jersey Club meeting this week, in pointing out that foreign fields were not always the best, Mr Peffers said that though Taranaki was noted for herd-testing and pedigree bulls, there were no less than 30 grade bull fairs advertised in a Taranaki paper. In view of this he thought that Waikato farmers would be well advised to concentrate on local stock instead of going to Taranaki to purchase their requirements in dairy heifers. Mr Peffers then laid before the meeting a cutting from a Taranaki paper with the list containing 30 grade sales.

Mr H. Valder, of Hamilton, who has been nominated as governor of the New Zealand Rotary district was born in Southampton, England, in 1862. He came to New Zealand in 1880 and joined the firm of Ellis and Burnand, Ltd., timber millers, Hamilton, in 1901. In 1912 he was appointed managing director of the firm. Mr Valder has been keenly interested in improving labour conditions. He was the first president of the Hamilton Rotary Club when it was formed six years ago and was one of the club’s delegates to the conference in Dunedin.

He was a married man, with four children, but because he had £SOO saved and in the bank a man who came before the New Plymouth Unemployment Committee a year ago could not be granted relief work. The man returned to the committee this week (repoi’ts the News) and said he had spent all the money. With most of it he had bought a house and property in the borough on which he had to pay £26 a year in rates. It was rather unfair, said a member of the committee, that a man had to get rid of his savings before he could get relief.

“I must confess I do not know exactly what a Communist is,” said Mr E. D. Mosley, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court at Christchurch on Saturday morning, when Sub-inspector G. B. Edwards stated that several of the men arrested in Cathedral square on Friday belonged to that political order. “I do not care whether they are Communists or not, so long as they are law-abiding,” he added. The sub-inspector said that Communists were up against law and order. “ Unfortunately, the only time I have had anything to do with them is when they have been up against law and order,” the magistrate said.

The Stratford Self-Help Club, formed last year mainly through the offices of Dr Doris Gordon, has achieved great success. The club aimed to assist the unemployed to cultivate gardens with a view to growing sufficient vegetab’es for use during the year. Seeds and manures were provided free and the services of an instructor were made available. The result is that there is an abundant supply of vegetables in Stratford. A shop day was held last Saturday to dispose of the surplus, and in addition to a profit of £4 being made by the club, a large quantity of vegetables was handed to the local welfare officer for distribution.

Petitions requesting the Waikato Hospital Board to maintain salaries at their present level or if possible to raise them to the standard of other_hospitals of similar grade before any further reductions are made were received by the board on Thursday from the nursing and general staffs. The nurses, 99 of whom signed the petition, pointed out that 4626 patients were treated by a staff of 139 receiving £9941 in Salaries at 1 Dunedin Hospital, in 1931. In the; same year 4595 patients were treated by a staff of 112 receiving £7212 in salaries at the Waikato Hospital. The maintenance cost per head of the nursing staff was £37 for the Waikato Hospital and £43 for New Zealand. The petition of the general staff was signed by 75 persons. The chairman believed that a general review of all salaries should be delayed until the return of Dr Hockin, Medical Superintendent, in October. Mr T. Hinton suggested the matter should be left over until the board had definite advice from the Health Department concerning reductions, and this course was agreed upon.

The Borough Council meets on Monday evening.

The Waipa County clerk has arranged for motor drivers’ licenses to be obtainable at Mr Kemp’s store for the convenience of Ohaupo district vehicle owners.

A decrease of 10s a ton in the price of sugar is announced by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Limited. All grades of refined sugar, except tablet and icing sugar, are affected by the reduction, although the prices of golden syrup and treacle remain unchanged.

The most interesting phase ofl the local body ©lections held on Wednesday throughout the district (says the King Country Chronicle) was the contest for the Wairere Power Board, when there were thirteen candidates for seven seats. Mr F. C. Davidson headed the polling with 234 votes, Mr M. A. Mackenzie coming next with 192, and Mr R. W. Neal third with 187. The personnel of the Board is now Messrs R. Boddy, F. C. Davidson, M. A. Mackenzie, R. W. Neal, G. F. Nelson, C. S. Roberts, and J. E. Trust.

A meeting of the district council of the Northern Miners’ Union will be held at Huntly to-day to consider what further action will be taken regarding the proposed new agreement between the Mine-Owners’ Association and the men. Tools were brought out of the mines by the men at the Huntly mines on completing for the week yesterday, but it is stated that no decision to cease work has been reached.

Dairymen in the districts surrounding Te Awamutu have had, *in common with those in other parts of the Dominion, to accept lower prices this season for their butter-fat, but they have had a truly wonderful autumn, as far as weather conditions go, and this has caused mifk production to be sustained a good deal longer than is usually the case. But for the favourable autumn matters must have gone extremely hard with several of the dairymen.

The well-known Te ' Awamutu wrestler, “ Bill ” Bayne, has been matched, by the Wellington Wrestling Association for a special match at Wellington on Monday, 23 inst., against Anton Koolman, with whom Bayne has already had two contests one at Wellington and the other at Te Awamutu. The match on the 23rd is to be for the “ Leslie Trust Fund,” which is being promoted with the object of paying the expenses of Mr “Dorrie” Leslie, of Wellington, who has been appointed an official starter at the Olympic Games at Los Angeles.

“I think farmers should consider themselves specially favoured, for they have had a truly wonderful autumn,” remarked a district farmer on Thursday afternoon- When reminded that many farmers were lamenting the low prices prevailing for dairy produce, he said that that was so, but they had also to realise that low prices combined with an unfavoui'able season climatically would have been far worse. “‘ Be thankful for small mercies’ is my motto,” he added, as he moved over to the cattle pens.

Sweeping reductions in the retail price of coal, which indicate the keenness of competition, are announced to the Auckland public. As a result householders will benefit considerably for the reduction coincides with the approach of winter, when the seasonal heavy demand for coal sets in. Best house coal, which formerly cost 5s 9d a bag, has been reduced to. 4s a bag, and the price of best kitchen coal has been lowered from 5s to 3s 8d a bag. These quotations are for cash with order or on delivery. Some firms are offering a further reduction of a shilling a ton on one ton and half ton lots.

A rather peculiar fact was mentioned by a district farmer in conversation yesterday on farming topics. He said that last November the weather was so dry that at about twelve inches under the surface the ground was “ as dry as a bone,” a circumstance he had never noticed in all his experience of farming m this district. He added that this fact, followed with dry weather conditions right through into late February, Convinced him that there would be a wet autumn — and so it is proving. At Christmas time several springs that, rarely failed in other years were quite dry. Had the autumn continued drier than in average years, there would have been bankruptcies and forced sales in all directions.

Unfavourable conditions continue to operate in* the London dairy produce market. On Thursday the top quotation for New Zealand finest butter was 97s a cwt, compared with 96s to 98s for the previous week, while cheese at 58s a cwt for both colours is about Is lower. A special cablegram from J. and J. Lonsdale and Company, London, states that the present industrial, financial and political conditions make a forecast of the market impossible. Present indications were for a continuance of low prices, but it was pointed out that any change in the foregoing conditions might quickly alter the outlook. Australian butter is still being quoted on a parity with New Zealand, and both are seriously feeling the competition of Continental supplies, which are being denied closer markets owing to the operation of European embargoes.

“ Can the medical superintendent give us any idea why appendicitis is so prevalent? ” asked Mr H. A. Bell at Thursday’s meeting of the Waikato Hospital Board, referring to the fact that 303 cases of appendicitis had been dealt with last year, compared with 260 cases in the previous year. “ It is hard to say,” replied Dr R. S. A Graham, acting-medical superintendent. “It may have something to do with our modern civilisation and our modem diet. There is no doubt the disease is increasing very much. It is unfortunate that many people neglect it. Many cases are worse because they are not treated early. We are continually getting patients who have had appendicitis for days and believe they have had simple stomach ache.”

We are asked to remind the public that the proceeds of the sacred concert arranged by the Te Awamutu Municipal Band at the Empire Theatre to-morrow evening, are to be devoted to the local Unemployment Relief Fund.

One of the finest lines of dairy heifers we have seen this season is that belonging to Mr A. J. McGovern, and depasturing on his Frontier Road farm. All are grade Jerseys and due to come to profit in July and August next. They are sleek and forwardin condition, and would make a very fine addition to any herd in the district.

Wireless messages received last night from Australia indicated that the Governor of New South Wales has taken the extreme step of dismissing the Premier (Mr J. T. Lang) and his Government, and has called upon the Leader of the Opposition to form a Cabinet and conduct the affairs of the State until the dissolution of Parliament.

The sensational kidnapping in America of Colonel Lindbergh’s baby a few weeks ago and the subsequent search seems to have aroused public interest throughout the vworld. The climax was reached by the announcement by wireless last evening that the dead body of the missing child had been found only a short distance from its parents” home.

A goat shot by Mr Norman Shepherd on Watarangi Station, Palliser Bay, has a horn span of 34 inches (states a message from Featherston). This is believed to be a record for a wild goat. The head is being mounted by a taxidermist in Featherston. Two other remarkable trophies of the chase at present in Featherston are the skins of two animals, stated to be crosses between sheep and goats, which were shot in the Tararuas by Mr Jack Shepherd. The skins have a multitude of colours running through the hair.

Advice was received this morning from Mr W. J. Broadfoot, M.P., that the Minister of Employment, Hon. J. G. Coates, had acceded to requests from this district that a responsible departmental officer should visit Te Awamutu to confer with the farmers and all others interested in the various plans of the Government to for- , ward land settlement. Mr Coates indicated that Dr A. H. Cockayne, assistant dii’ector of agriculture would visit this district on Thursday and Friday. This morning a hurried consultation was held with the chairman of the various local bodies and public institutions, and it was arranged to hold a public meeting on Friday next in the Te Awamutu Town Hall. Communications are proceeding with a View to a detailed explanation of the scheme being made available and by Tuesday next a more complete itinerary will be available for publication.