LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 17779, 30 January 1920, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A special meeting of the Rangi- ■ tikei County Council yesterday con- [ firmed the resolution fixing Wednes- ■ day as the statutory half-holiday throughout the County for, the ensuing year.

The chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. A. G. Bignell 1 has received advice that the General Manager of the Railway Department (Mr. R. W. McVilly) will visit Wanganui during the next fortnight to discuss local railway matters.

Some good fishing-is being obtained on Lake Taupo. Recently a party which included Mr. E. IL Clark, caught in five hours, fishing with the rod, 71 trout which averaged 3Slbs. The largest trout caught, by the rod at Tokaanu this season weighed 8 Jibs.

The necessary steps are being taken to form Raetihi into a borough. There are a lot of formalities to go through, and at the earliest a Borough could not be created earlier than six mouths hence. However, the man in the street has become busy, and is already discussing who is to be the first mayor. A Horowbenua correspondent writes:—"Foxton is becoming notorious! Seaside bathers —ladies in particular—are being robbed of their clothes, fruit and vegetables are stolen wholesale, clothes lines are literally stripped, and now it is stated that a horse thief is operating.”

Patea (reports the Press) still holds the record of being the chief cheese export port of the Dominion, the value of the cheese exported for the eleven months ending Novmber 30th last being £1,604,450. New Plymouth was next with cheese valued at £1,340,063, whilst Auckland was third with £1,226.898 worth of cheese.

As showing the rapid rate at which motor transport is increasing, it may be mentioned that a return presented to the Rangitikei County Council yesterday by the clerk showed that during 1919. 108 new motor cars, 17 new motor lorries, and 4 9 new ■ motor-cycles were registered in the county during 1919. Mr R. C. Leach's Jersey cow Blackie, which was on view at the Woodville Show, has established something of a record. She is the : winner of the milking competition j held in connection with both the I Woodville and Dannevirke Shows. ■ She dropped a calf on October J Sth [ last, and up to January 18 her re ■ cord for the three months was ap- | proximately 210 lb. of butter-fat I valued at 2/ per lb. One of the largest land transactions recorded in the Waikato was | negotiated on Friday, when 1400 ■ acres at Te Kawa was sold by Mr J. B. Teasdale to Messrs F. Quinn and J. O’Sullivan. The purchase price was in the vicinity of £70.000. The adjoining block of 500 acres was sold last week by Mr L. Bayly and Co., to Messrs Gould and Ham, of Manawatu, for £40,000. “Accommodation is not available at Rotorua at less than £3 a week,” remarked Mr. J. P. Kalaugher at a meeting of the Auckland Education Board. He stated that on this account a prospective domestic science instructress for Rotorua had been obliged to decline the position offered to her. As the salary was only £l5O per annum, It would be entirely absorbed in the payment of board and residence.

The visits of female moving picture and theatrical stars to the yards of the New York Shipbuilding Corporation have been officially banned. Officials estimate that the recent visit of a famous artiste caused a loss of £2OOO through the men watching her instead of working. The men spent two minutes looking at the fair visitor and 15 talking about her after her departure, during which time shipbuilding practically ceased.

Since the last rise in the price of tobacco took place many men have been threatening to cease ?.m r kiag as a protest, but it has been le't. to the Auckland waterside workers to formally ban tobacco. Several hundred of the men, who were sheltering from the rain in their waiting shed on Saturday, unanimously passed a resolution pledging tl’emseb es to refrain from smoking, nrd to i ige others to do the same, until a substantial reduction was made in the price of tobacco. “The great majority of the public regard the nursery industry as a common garden occupation, whereas it is really a profession.” remarked Mr W. T. Benefield at the annual conference of nurserymen at Wellington on Wednesday. Mr Bene- [ field went on to say that it was only the man who had a natural instinct for plant life who could make any headway in the nursery business. He thought it was time that the status of the business should be lifted, and the public should be brought to regard the business as a profession.

A startling occurrecen took place , on Tuesday in the shop of Mr Bou- , zaid, at Greytown. The soda foun- ■ tain had just been re-charged, when [ for some unexplained reason it suddenly exploded with a report that was heard some distance away. The | fragments of the “fountain” flew in ; all directions, wrecking shop-fittings, | sweet-jars, and window glass. For- j tunately no one was hurt. The portion of the shop in the vicinity of the late soda fountain had the appearance of having been violently bombed. The_travelling public will be interested to learn that from February Ist the proprietors of the WanganuiRaetihi motor service are commencing a daily service. This forward mo”e on their part is a big step in tl:e advancement of Wanganu' distri t. end the service . th -y ,-emler is siau.d tc be of inestimable value to those using it. It is to be hoped that now Raetihi is linked up with Wanganui the public bodies concerned will see that the roads « kept in a condition that will allow of

this service being maintained. Ar. interesting point in this connection is that those so wishing can leave Wanganui in the morning, attend the Raetihi sales, and return the :ai..e < i y.

“It seems a peculiar thing.” remarked Mr Henri Verbrugghen at the welcome extended by the *1:1 zens of Wellington to the . bers of the New South Wales Stkte Orchestra, “that everywhere one goes one finds town halls, and yet the peopie think of everything except music.l In Auckland, if we wanted any ventilation in the hall we had to bear an accompaniment ,of the ramble of tramcars, the cries .of dogs, and worst of all, the crying of children, in the most delicate passages we ‘ were playing. If permission could I be given to the conductors of tram. cars here perhaps they might slacken speed as they passed the hall during a concert.” This suggestion met [ with much approval from the au | dience. “We are all crazy,” breezed Judge i Alden, in the course of his Chautauqua lecture on “The Powder and the Match,” in Dunedin. “Everyone is batty. We of the Chautauqua movel ment are mad; I’m crazy, and I know it. I’m a crank; we’re all cranks. Everyone who has fought for the establishment of a wider horizon, everyone who has battled for an [ideal was a crank. Columbus was a crank, and Franklin. The Wright brothers when they were perfecting their first aeroplane, were looked upon as cranks. Fifteen years ago in England the greatest statesmen in Cue world to day—Lloyd George —was derided as a crank. But.’i concluded the Judge, with one of his sudden twinkling smiles, “you can't start anything without a crank—not even a Ford.”

A frst step towards the creation of an arterial road from Taihapa to Napier »as taken by a repreeer.ative meeting of settlers at Taihape mst week. After an explanation of the proposals by Mr Mair, the Rangitikei County Council Engineer, resolutions were adopted in favour o' raising a loan of £60,00(1 for roading purposes. The works contemplated include the completion of some fifty miles of road and the building of two bridges, and will mean the construction of a good metalled road from the Main Trunk railway at Taihape, via Pukeokahu and Otupae. to Napier and Hastings. Besides providing a new through route, this roading scheme will give needed access to a large area of back country in course of settlement.

Dr. Caroline Giesel, who is a single woman, speaking at a Chautauqua gathering in Dunedin, gave an experience she had at an Illinois town She was to lecture at the Chautauqua there, and reached the tent jusi as a university professor was explaining that Dr. Giesel had not arrived. The manager of the Chau, tauqua signalled to the prdfessor, and he thought he had got the message all right, so he announced: “Dr. Giesel has not yet arrived, but I understand that Mrs Giesel is here, and no doubt she will be able to [explain why her husband has nol [come along. The lecturer added: | “What could I do after that but tell the truth, and the whole truth, so 1 told them it was quite true that mj husband had not come along, but 1 was quite unable to explain why h< had not come along yet.” The rippb of laughter that ensued caused th< lecturer to say, “Ah, you got thai quickly.”

What was apparently a rather novel method of obtaining goods by false pretences was attempted upor a Merivale (Christchurch) resident within the last few days. The heat of the household has for some weeks post been engaged in business pursuits in a country district. A day or two ago a well-dressed man, about 30 to 35 years of age, with a quit* engaging manner, called at his rest dence and told the lady of the house--, that he had been requested by hei husband to convey to him certain articles of clothing, including the ab sent gentleman’s best suit and overcoat, several hats, numerous shirts, and socks, a number of pairs of boots—in fact, his list included more than the absentee had left behind him. Knowing that her husband had with him some of t— > articles asked for, the lady’s suspicions were aroused, and she declined to accede to the visitor’s requests without authority from her husband, who, she remarked by way of blu.T, was unexpectedly returning to Christchurch, and should arrive at any minute. On hearing this the visitor departed, stating that he would return in half an hour, but so far he has not been [back for the “swag.” The lady imI mediately communicated with her [husband, who telegraphed a, reply I that he had given authority to no. [body to obtain his clothes, and that the man who had called was undoubtedly an imposter in search of a cheap outfit.

The following extract is from the London Daily Mail of November 12, 1919:—"The supplies of tobacco from the United States to Liverpool have been suspended for the present owing to the shortage of warehouse accommodation. During the last twelve months the stocks at the Mersey Docks have risen from 66.0071 V casks to 112,000 casks, and this is ' [the full capacity of the warehouses [There has been enough tobacco [landed to tax Liverpool’s resources ■until January next, stated Mr F. A. I Goodwin, of the tobacco trade sec[tiou of the Liverpool Chamber of , ICom’terce, yeste.cay to a Daily Math < |r;po’.-.er. Many thousand ca.'k« ; [are consequently held up in la- Un lited States. The monthly imports [ into Liverpool have been at the rate; [of 18,000 casks, and the deliveries [from the port are only 6500 casks* ■ owing to the difficulties of railway, [transportation. The consumption of tobacco is greatly on the increase, [Britain is using only about one-sixth-of the total American crop. The present stocks in this country are. 112 000 casks in Liverpool. 26.500 in London, and 17.000 in Glasgow, with smaller amounts at other ports; The Port of London is in a [state for receiving tobacco, and large ■quantities are lying in lighters in [lue Thacssc"