LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19049, 28 June 1924, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The first lamb appeared in the Tangitu district (King Country) on June 7, mote than a month earier than is usual (says an exchange). It and other lambs will run a great risk of being eaten by wild pigs, which axe very numerous and causing anxiety to the settlers.

In responding to the toast of the Farmers’ Union at the annual dinner of the Southland Union, Mr J. Cowie stated that the root cause of the farmers’ difficulties ]ay in» the fact that land values were far too high and were no longer based on producing capacity, and until this condition was put right the farmers would continue to have troubles.

There were more new electrical supply connections made in Auckland last year than in the city of Birmingham for the same period, the respective totals being 4950 and 4138. This information was given to the Auckland Electric Power Board, and it was pointed out with quiet pride that Birmingham’s electric supply was one of the largest undertakings in Great Britain, serving a concentrated area with’ 1 a population nearly 'equal to the whole of New Zealand.

At the Wellington Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday the following report of the legislative committee was adopted:— “That representations be made to the Government requesting that regulations governing travelling auctioneers be made more restrictive, even to excluding these travelling auctioneers from holding auctioneers’ licenses. That before the chamber approaches the Minister a solicitor be instructed to draft in consultation w’ith a committee suitable amendments. That this committee consist of Messrs W. S. Bennett, M. M. Heinemann, and S. A. Longuet.”

A development occurred at Auckland in connection with the theft of a camphorwood chest containing about £<so worth of clothes and £57 3 in money, belonging to a Chinese engineer on board the oil tanker Nucula. The chest was picked up on the beach near Bayswater by a Takapuna resident. It was empty, and apparently had been opened with a key, as neither lock nor chest was damaged. The chest was stolen on June 6, and the fact that it was discovered only on Monday last adds to the mystery,, for the indication is that it was thrown overboard recently.

How long may a horse continue in active work, and be profitable to his owner, was a question which cropped up at this week’s meeting of the Devonport (Auckland) Borough Council. The engineer reporting on reorganisation of the borough carting computed the age of one faithful servant at 28, which is well beyond the ordinary span of equine usefulness. The Mayor defended the animal in question for its willingness and vigour, but other councillors were pessimistic, and suggested that an old-age pension was about due. The information was supplied that a horse was usually in his prime from seven to fifteen years, and that for one to be useful in harness at two-score and eight was an incident equivalent to human activity at 70 odd. The horse will still remain on the borough’s paysheet.

A London cable states that the Russell divorce proceedings have been withdrawn, and the decree nisi rescinded.

Since its inauguration in 1907, the Victorian License Reduction Board has closed 1535 hotels, of which 436 were metropolitan and the others country. The amount of compensation aggregated £891,786.

Wellington seems to have more booksellers to the square inch than any other town of its size in New Zealand has to the square yard. Yet they all seem to do well, and a man, who has just settled up in Courtenay place, says that he is making a decent living already though his show has not been in existence more than four months.

“In carrying out the work of connecting up new subscribers during the past year it is of interest to note that 11,000 poles were erected. The majority of these are ironbark and were, therefore, purchased, outside the country,” stated the Chief Telegraph Engineer in a review’ of telephone matters.

The first stages of what constitutes one of the biggest rush jobs in Dominion shipping was successfully terminated at Auckland. A full staff has been working continuously right through since Saturday, June 7, with the object of being in a position to deal with consignees in arranging for the delivery of the large salvage cargo ex the Matatua.

A gardener, who knows all about the art of successful seed growing tells of a novel and excellent method of planting sweet pea seed, and to procure the best results when they bloom. It is done by saving up all the egg-shells from tile kitchen, and when the suitable time arrives, plant one seed in each shell, placing the whole in a spot where it is desired the peas should be trained. In a short time the shell becomes decomposed and provides splendid plant food for the young seedling. An example Oi.t.V -W, by the R.S.A. in Wortl Otago to light recently, when, a whose son was killed in the war to the local secretary, stating t^ a was in want. Inquiries by the secretary (states th#’ Oamaru Mail), revealed the fact that she had not drawn her son’s gratuity nor her pension. Since her son was killed at least six years ago the R.S.A. had been able to get her a full pension of £1 a week, right back to the date of her son’s death, some £3OO. together with the gratuity. She had no knowledge that anything was due to her. and but for the R.S.A. would be receiving charitable aid. In view of the legislation affecting hospitals to be discussed at the coming session of Parliament, the North Canterbury Hospital Board decided to urge that a conference of Hospital Boards should be held during the session to discuss these matters. The question of holding a Hospital Boards’ Conference was referred to the Direc-tor-General of Health recently, but it was reported that the Department of Health is not favourable to a conference being held during the period that Parliament is sitting. The chairman of the board had conferred with the chairmen of other main boards, and these had been favourable to the scheme. It was decided to ask the department to call a conference in Wellington during the session.

Equal rights for women was the theme of an address given by the Rev. Thos. Miller, M.A., in the Presbyterian Church, Feilding. Christianity, he said, was the foundation of equality, and he thought women had proved themselves worthy of copartnership with men in every position of life. Women wore proving themselves as able as men as members of the British House, of Parliament, and in every walk of life where tested they had made good. New Zealand had given women the equal franchise and had opened many doors of equality to them, in professions and business. It was the church that was backward in recognising the place and power of the other sex. And with it all the preacher paid a fine tribute to the motherhood of the nation.

Some idea of the number of rabbits which infest the lands of the Waikato may be gauged from the statement made by the manager of a. rabbit-skin firm at Frankton that he had received no less than 224,000 rabbits since March 11 (says the Waikato Times). Had the last three months not been as wet as they were he would have expected close on half a million rabbits. The carcases are sold to Auckland firms for food, and the skins are dried and despatched to England and America. Rabbit skin coats were much prized by Americans, who do not show' any reluctance to refer to them by their proper names as is the case in New Zealand. The prices for well-made! coats ranged up to 800 dollars. Coats made of rabbit skins sold in America under 57 names, the value being assessed according to the treatment and cutting of the skins.

Apropos of the paragraph which appeared in yesterday’s issue, in re spect to the destruction by fire of the Waitotara further particulars show’ that a minor outbreak occurred in the sitting-room at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The fire was quelled, but apparently not effectively,, for al 10 o’clock the old structure burst into flames. Fanned by a strong northerly wind, the conflagration increased in volume, with the result that the building was razed to the ground. Had the wind been blowing in the opposite direction the flames would undoubtedly have spread to adjacent buildings. The occupants of the hotel, including the licensee, Mr J. W. L. Mills and his wife, escaped from the burning premises with difficulty. Owing to the absence of fire-fighting apparatus, little could be done to save the main structure, although by pouring on water the outbuildings were saved. The hotel, which consisted of 16 rooms, was owned by Messrs T. and W. Young, spirit merchants, of Wei lington, and was insured for £750, the stock and furniture being insured for £5OO with the New Zealand Insurance Company.

A huge shark measuring thirteen feet in length was caught by the seamen on the steamer Trewyn when the vessel was loading phosphates at Nauru Island for Auckland in the middle of June. The hook on which the monster was caught was baited w’ith salt meat, and the shark was played for three-quarters of an hour before it was finally hauled on board. For this part of the operations a winch on the after-deck had to be requisitioned, and when the fish, which was of the shovel-nose type well-known in tropical waters, was safely landed the services of ten men were required to draw it along the deck.

When questioned in regard to the suggestion that meat shipped from the Dominion to the Home market should be encased in bags, a local gentleman connected with the meat export trade considered that additional wrappers would certainly be an advantage, but it was questionable whether the exporter would be compensated for such extra outlay. “No doubt,” he said, “the New Zealand exporter would be pleased to spend extra money in this direction, if he was sure of getting his money back.

“There is, at present/’ he mentioned in conclusion, “a tendency on the part of some exporters., to use inferior wrappers.”