LOCAL AND GENERAL

Waipa Post, Volume 44, Issue 3183, 28 May 1932, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Trainers, jockeys and apprentice, jockeys in this district are reminded that applications for licenses for the 1932-33 season close on May 31. Persons who are late with their applications are liable to be fined.

“When was your house built?” an insurance inspector asked a Waitara man. “I don’t know,” was the reply, “but it was the year Star Rose won the New Zealand Cup.”

Four electric radiators have disappeared from, the Palmerston North Baptist Church during the past month. The radiators were not missed until the cold conditions made their use necessary. _

A cup for the winner of the potato growing competition conducted by the Makomako (Pahiatua district) Women’s Institute has been won by Mbs Hughes. The winner grew 1231 bof potatoes from three seeds, which is considered an institute record.

. On Wednesday last Cr J. W. Anderson was unanimously re-elected chairman of the Matamata County Council for his twentieth term. Cr Anderson was first elected to the council in 1911, and was chairman in 1913. He is thus serving his twentieth term in the chair and is in his twenty-sec-ond year on the council.

A violin solo played at the Christchurch competitions the other evening by a girl under twelve years of age, and accompanied on the piano by a middle-aged man, was remarkable (says the Times) for the fact that both the performers were blind. The girl later Avon the prize for violin solo.

Perhaps one of the most rapid land transactions ever recorded at Stratford occurred recently ( says the Taranaki News) when 510 acres in the eastern districts changed hands for £SO in the time it took the purchaser to write a cheque for the amount after the vendor, Avho had been talking about the property, said: “I’ll sell it for £50.”

“Beat this!” said a heading in a recent London neAvspaper, announcing the growth in New Zealand of a radish, Aveighing 81b and 2ft 6in long. “I can’t!” retorts Major F. Cook, of Grafton Street, Brighton, England, but says that in his experimental plot in the Punjab he grew caulifloweres 9ft high and mangold Avurzels weighing 251 b,

Particulars of cheap fares and train arrangements in connection with the Waikato Winter Shorv at Hamilton will be found in the Railway Department’s advertisement in this issue. Special attention is draAvn to the arrangements made to delay the usual 6.10 a.m. Te Kuiti-Frankton train on Ist June in order to afford the school children an opportunity to visit the Show.

A “ serving bee ” for the needy in Te Awamutu and neighbourhood, organised by the local branch of the Women’s Institute, was held at Mrs W. Jeffery’s home on Thursday afternoon, there being a good attendance of ladies prepared to cut and serv material that Avill be distributed among members for making up into garments.. Good progress rvas made, and future meetings Avill be held fortnightly at the Borough Council Chambers. The following committee was appointed to receive names of needy families rvith. a vierv to affording help: Mesdames C. G. Do\A T nes, O. A. E. O’Brien, W. Jeffery, K. N. Hiskens, G. Salter. A. A. Reese, C. W. Ricldt, and O. S. West.

Those Avho experienced the force of the fierce gale that passed over this district on Wednesday Avill note with interest the I‘olloAving item from a Wanganui correspondent, Avritten on Monday: “Whether Avarned by instinct of an approaching storm or for some other reason, hundreds of seagulls have invaded paddocks near Wanganui, and some dozens settled on Victoria Park, St. John’s I-lill, yesterday and to-day. Some who know the Avays of seagulls state that their coming presages a storm and others say that the.birds have merely come inland to glean the harvest of worms that comes to the surface in Avet weather.”

A Avarning to all owners off radio sets Avho charge their batteries at home of the danger of a. serious explosion Avar, given this week by Mr A. B. McDonagh, secretary of the New Zealand Short Wave Radio Clob. In an interview Avith the Dominion, Mr McDonag-h said: “Many people, in order to see if the battery-is being charged, have a habit of touching a wire from the charger on to the battery terminal to see whether there are sparks. The following report from a member in the Manawatu district might show the danger. A battery Avas being charged, and the attendant took a wire off and ‘sparked’ it. Immediately the gas given off from the neAvly charged acid ignited. There was a violent explosion, and the case was shattered to fragments, and sulphuric acid Avas scattered around within a radius of tAventy feet, doing a great deal of damage. Fortunately the attendant was not blinded.” Mr Donagh said that naked light should never be held near wet batteries.

The conference between the local Unemployment Committee and ;the delegation from the local Relief Workers’ Committee is to be held on Tuesday evening next.

That persons driving stock are compelled by law to open a passage through the mobs to let traffic through was a point stressed at Wednesday’s meeting of the Piako County Council. One councillor mentioned that he had threatened to report a drover who had declined to open a passage for him.

“ How are you employed ? ” asked counsel cross-examining a Maori debtor in the Taupo Magistrate’s Court, on Thursday. “ How do you meanemployed? ” replied the Avitness. to whom the Avord appeared unfamiliar. “Well, have you been working?”— “ Oh, yes, work; yes, I work a little lately,” replied the debtor cheeriully.

Can a man make a living off a tenacre farm? Mr IT. Daysh causeu some amusement at the annual meeting of the Wairarapa provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union on Wednesday by remarking 1 , during discussion on the Government’s scheme for small farm settlement: “My father came here in the ship Gertrude m 1840. He settled on 121 acres of land and reared 16 children. lam the youngesto and here I am —able to paddle my own canoe.”

External trade figures show. that the Dominion is living- Avithin its means. Taking July 1 as the commencement of the export season, the returns for the ten months to April 30 show a credit balance of over ten millions. For the first four months of this year exports exceeded imports by £8,847,164. Such a state of affairs is gratifying though it cannot be overlooked that the fall in imports has brought about a reduction in Customs duties, and therefore a diminution of revenue.

A very busy time is now being experienced by the local postal authorities, particularly the money order department, in the collection of the unemployment levy and the declarations of income. All persons concerned who have not yet paid the levy or filled in the declaration of income, form are reminded that if the levy is not paid on or before Ist June they are liable to a tax of 6d per month. So far as the payment of the unemployment tax on income is concerned, those affected are reminded that late payment will involve a penalty of 10 per cent. News that a large programme of building shortly to be put in hand by Napier property owners has induced hundreds of unemployed to travel to HaAvke’s Bay in the hope of obtaining work, but any such hopes are vain. 1 There will not be nearly enough Avork even for those who belong to the district. There are now 2454 registered unemployed in Napier, Hastings, and the adjacent sub-districts. Napier has 983, Hastings 743, and the sub-districts 728. . The total shows a slight increase in comparison with the previous week’s, but it is. hoped that steps recently taken to discourage the coming in of unemployed men from outside districts Avill prove effective.

When a man is about to be married, he often mixes a lot of things, including the drinks, but he usually doesn’t mix his marriage license Avith his fishing license. This, hoAvever, appeared to be the trouble of an ang-ler-bridegroom, Avho when charged in the Taupo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday with failure to produce his fishing license, Avrote that he “ had bought a license before his wedding but in the hurry and bustle, things had got all mixed up.” All the world loves a lover and even Magistrates Courts can he indulgent to a bridegroom; the “ mixed-up ” one, Avas given the benefit of the doubt and convicted and ordered to pay costs. It is seldom that a judgment debtor proclaims altruism, but a young Maori who appeared in the Taupo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday had no hesitation in doing so. “Do you go to dances ? ” he Avas asked by examining counsel. “ Err—no,” replied the debtor, who appeared a little doubtful. Counsel: You don’t appear to be very sure about it. Do you go to dances? —No I am not a dancing man. Counsel: What is your pleasure in life then?—Oh, helping others, and all that, you know. The magistrate made no order against this cheerful debtor, although liis Worship did not indicate Avhether or not this Avas to assist him in pursuing his career of altruism.

“ When sodium chlorate has been proved as a definite killing agent for blackberry I shall be pleased to try it, but in the meantime I am keeping the weed in excellent control with the use of goats. Prior to introducing goats on my property, the grubbing, cutting, and buon'ng of blackberry Avas costing me £IOO a year. The expense of establishing a herd Avas reasonable, and I can keep my paddocks moderately clean at practically no cost.” said an Eskdale settler recently in conversation Avith a Napier pressman. Goats are certainly Avorking wonders amongst the blackberry in the Eskdale district, and many farmers in that area are of the.opin'on that they haA'e increased their carrying capacity by their use.

Hedgehogs are reported to have done severe damage to lawns in Wanganui by rooting up the grass. In one case the offenders were caught while still engaged in their destructive work. The prickly animals Avere established in Wanganui some years ago to attack the slugs and snails, which made gardening so difficult in some parts of the city. They proved efficient dcstruct-'rs of the A T ermin, but. as the food began to get scarce various rumours started concerning the other food which hedgehogs could and Avould eat. It was alleged that they Aver-e notorious egg thieves and also would have no hesitation in raiding hen-houses to steal young chickens. Certainly, at various times eggs and chickens have disappeared in alarming quantities, but stoats and weasels might just as Avell have been suspected. This is the firsttime that hedgehogs have been caught redhanded in any destructive Avork.

The annual meeting of the Te Awamutu branch of the Plunket Society on "June 6th promises to be more interesting than usual.

Some, at least, of the Waipa County councillors have already taken action to set up district committees under the Unemployment Board’s ten-acre farm plan.

A rather strange coincidence was noted by an old Te Awamutu resident this week. She realised that exactly seven years ago on May 24th (now observed as Empire Day), the sailing vessel Zealandia arrived in New Zealand, berthing at Lyttelton. On May 24th this year a vessel of the same name, a steamer arrived in Auckland.

A large meeting of ratepayers of the_ Ngaroto Drainage district was helcTTn Te Awamutu yesterday to consider fresh proposals in connection with the board’s £2OOO loan for drainage improvements, raised about five years ago. Mr W. G. Macky presided, and a proposal was put forward to amend the old classification, but on a show of hands the motion was lost. It may be pointed out that the original proposal was sanctioned almost unanimously, but the expenditure of the money did not give the benefits anticipated, with the result that some ratepayers feel that the rate is oppressive, hence their desire for a reclassification.

“ It is difficult to understand why the Government will not reduce telephone rentals,” said a business man yesterday. “To my mind they could be reduced 25 per cent. Every day one hears of people having their telephones disconnected because they are unable to pay the rentals, while others, realising the value of the telephone, pay by the month because they cannot find the lump sum, until they are forced to give it up, finding the payments too m'uch for them. If rentals were reduced the amount lost by the Post Office would be compensated for by new subscribers gained and the old ones retained.” He added that many people could not afford to have both house and business telephones, and ;in many cases private telephones were being disconnected.

In its various schemes for relieving the unemployment problem, the Government has received more kicks than ha’pence. Mistakes have been made, but, while much outcry has been heard about these, little has been said by way of appreciation for favours and benefits received. It is hoped, therefore, that the remarks made by the Bishop of Wellington in his address to the Diocesan Synod in this connection may prick the public’s conscience a little. His Lordship admitted that the Government was not infallible, but—and here is the point—it was a duty, without further criticism, to assist it loyally in its programme. “ The private theoriser, amid all his theorising, is subconsciously aware.” he added, “ that he will never be challenged to put his scheme to the proof.” What is needed in these times is helpful suggestion, not carping criticism. The Government and the people have to make the best of a situation for which there is no precedent, and therefore no established working principles. We have to learn as we go, correcting mistakes, and enlarging upon successes. The bishop has done both the Government and the public a service in his timely reminder of. these things.