LOCAL & GENERAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 6 January 1928, Page 4

LOCAL & GENERAL.

Continuously dry weather in Taranaki is adversely affecting the milk supplies at dairy factories. Palmerston North and Feilding Girl Guides arc bolding a camp on Mr 11. R. W. Beetham \s property, Goal Creek, Pahangina, from January 14th to 27th. At Wanganui last night, Norman Dowsett put up a new fresh water record for a hundred yards. The New Zealand record is (31 l-osecs., which Dowsett lowered by four-fifths of a second. * A total of 1,'!,G<38 bales of Wairarapa wool lias been railed from the Masterton railway station to Wellington so far this season as compared with 12,954 bales for the whole of last season. This represents an increase of 084 bales and it is expected that at least another 1500 bales will be consigned before the- New Zealand selling season is over.

E. D. T. Lewis, of Christchurch, ascended Mount Cook on Wednesday accompanied by Guides V. Williams and J. Pope, states a Press Association telegram from Timaru. The party set out at 2 a.m. on Wednesday and returned at midnight on the same day. They say the view was very clear from the top of Mount Cook, both east and west coasts being perfectly visible. Five eclipses will take place in 1928, three of the sun and two of the moon. A total eclipse of the sun on May 19 will be visible as such only in the South Atlantic Ocean; South Africa will witness a partial eclipse. Two partial eclipses of the sun occur on June 17th and November .12th, the former being visible in Siberia and the latter over the northern part of Europe. The first of the lunar eclipses is a total one on June Jrd, of which we may obtain a glimpse in Yew Zealand; the second is another total eclipse on November 27, also visible in this part of the world.

A writer in the Christchurch Sun s ys: ‘ 4 Recently I had occasion to dine with a dairy farmer, his wife, and two daughters. After some discussion of the Arbitration Bill and the price of butter-fat, the conversation turned to hides and skins .and the time taken in skinning cows and calves? My host was choosing his words as carefully and correctly as he knew how, and 1 was listening attentively until he startled me by saying, ‘ Do you know, the last cow 1 slum 1 slum in 20 minutes.’ The youngest daughter tried to stifle a giggle—J laughed outright, and when the general merriment had subsided father wanted to know how he should have said it.”

The final section of the British contribufory pensions scheme, which was embodied in the 1915 Act, became operative this week. Under it 450,000 persons between the ages of G 5 and 70, who have been insured under the national health scheme, which covers 15,000,000 weekly wage-earners, will be entitled forthwith to a pension of 10s a week, irrespective of any other means they may possess. The benefits also apply to, wives of insured persons. Another section of the Act, which came into operation with the Now Year, relieves workpeople over G 5 years of age from liability to pay contributions under*the health insurance scheme but employers are still required to pay their share of contribution in respect of such people. —(British Official Wireless).

Despite the fact that the Scriptures mention that fabulous monster, the dragon; that it is inseparably associated /with St. George, and was displayed on our gold coinage, there is nothing to provide the slightest confirmation that suc-h a creature ever existed (says the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle). The Greek word “drakon” means a snake, and the conclusion that the dragon was evolved from the snake is borne out by Egyptian and Indian mythology. .Previous to the Norman Conquest. the dragon was the standard of the Welsh, and formed one of the supporters of the Royal arms of Tudor sovereigns. It can only be surmised that the ready credulity of our ancestors was taken advantage of. The Christians adopted the dragon as the symbol of unbelief, and in picturing St. George triumphing over it it is only 'natural to conceive they made as fearsome a monster as they could.

A Madrid cable states that Cabinet is utilising the Budget surplus of £950,000 to enable persons throughout Spain to redeem pawned articles of clothing. This-summer busli fires have been prevalent in the Main Trunk districts. Prolonged dry weather has been responsible for the outbreaks, several of which were extensive. It is not infrequent for a Chinese youth of twelve or thirteen to be married to a woman of twenty or twentyfive. The bridegroom’s mother usually arranges the marriage, and she is then privileged to use her daughter-in-law as a household assistant. Should the husband’s mother die, his wife can then assist her father-in-law in bringing up the youth, no doubt supervising his upbringing ill a manner that will turn him out a model husband. A Taranaki motorist, who recently returned from a 1000 miles tour of the North Island, reports meeting* an unusual number of swaggers on the road. Some were of the “down and out ” order, but a number were young, able-bodied men who appeared to be genuine “triers.” Some of the latter say there is not the harvesting work being done this summer as in previous years, and that farmers are managing with less labour in other directions. Shorn of its winter mantle, the Blue Crater Lake, GOOOft. above the sea, oif the north-east end of Tongariro, occupying one of the eight or nine craters of the mountain, is a circular amphitheatre of grim volcanic rock, black and grey, with sides sloping down to exquisitely-tinted blue waters (says the “Star.”) The distance across the water from short to shore is about onethird of a mile, rind many an Aucklander has been charmed in the past few weeks at the first sight of the silent beauty. “Umm Elgaraa” —the organ of Ibn Baud, the Sultan of Ncjd, and King of the fledjaz of Arabia —describes the preparations for the improvements which are to be made in the Mosque at Mecca. A pump has been fixed over the sacred Zcmzem Well, providing water for building purposes. The same paper gives plans for improving all the pilgrim roads to 'Mecca, and also* the roads to Arafat, Medina and Yanbu (inland, and northward to the Prophet's tomb), ft is proposed to fit C ie main roads for motor transport. A prize of £IOO has been offered—by a generous benefactor of the Royal Free Hospital—to the “Anti-Curse” Box holder who will have collected for the hospital the Ugliest amount over £5 by March Jlst, 1928. These “ AntiCurse” Boxes are the Midland Bank Home Safes, which can be opened only by the bank. They are identified by numbers, of which the Midland Bank has the record. The bank also keeps a register of all sums paid in when these boxes are opened at any of its branches. The winning box will be certified by a statement from the bank of the numbers of the boxes and the total amounts each has paid in. By means of a new high-speed camera, motion pictures have been taken of air moving into an aeroplane cylinder at the rate of fourteen yards a second, and of the flight of a bullet crashing through an electric light bulb. These pictures have been made possible by a camera that takes 20,000 exposures a minute, invented by Baron Sliiba, a Japanese engineer. When shown on the screen as a slow-motiou picture, the bullet went slowly up to the bulb, and at the moment of impact dented the glass before it ploughed its way through, while fragments of glass floated in the air.

One of the chief reasons why balloonists have to descend is that they have to release gas in order to regulate their altitude. A new type of balloon proposed by AT. Linden Bodin, a Frenchman, does away with the necessity of loosing gas, and should make it possible for a balloon to remain in the air for weeks. Besides the balloon’s ordinary gasbag, filled with hydrogen, not quite sufficient to support it alone, the proposed craft will carry'an auxiliary compartment .filled with air to supply additional buoyancy. The pilot can regulate his altitude by heating or cooling this air, thus obviating the necessity of releasing any of the hvdrogen.

The public and also those in the trade will watch with keen interest the operation of one baking company’s scheme to give the people of Sydney,, or at least those who constitute its customers, their morning bread wrapped in hermetically-sealed 'wax paper wrappers. In New South Wales and possibly in other parts of Australia, bread is about the only food product sold to the public that is uot wrapped. There lias been an agitation for a long time past for the reform which at least one company is now courageously introducing. The feeling has been that if, in England and America, wrapped bread is rapidly increasing in favour, there is no apparent reason why the same method cannot be generally adopted out here. Possibly it will now- find, general practice in Sydney if the company. which is undertaking the reform can convince the trade of the desirability of it. In America, it is said, quite 80 per cent, of the bread made is delivered in printed and waxed paper wrappers. A lot of people would also like to see £heir milk delivered in her-tnitie.ally-sealcd bottles. Two carpenters wanted. Second-hand range wanted. Lost bay pony is advertised for. Air Cecil AlcNab inserts a thanks notice on page 1. Air A. Bippon, butcher, advertises lamb, etc., for sale. Air and Airs j. Scott and family insert a.thanks notice on page 1. Alen who wish the latest in summer suitings should call at Nicol and Co., tni'ors. The Tiniii Parochial District Church Services for Sunday next are advertised on page one. Sprinkle “NAZOL” on baby’s pillow to stop that sleep-preventing cough. Acts quickly. Wonderfully soothing. Allays iiitlammation. 60 doses 1/6.*

A number of dairy companies in North Taranaki which sold their output to the end of November have, as a result, paid out to their suppliers Is 7d per lb butter-fat for the first four months of the season, with .an additional premium of Id per lb on fat from linest grade cream. ‘ Three young men concealed themselves on board the Royal Mail liner Niagara which reached Auckland this week, when she was at Vancouver. The stowaways were discovered among the passengers on the second day after leaving port and they were put on shore at Honolulu, to be sent back to Canada. ‘ < ’Alio, Tommy!' ’ In English, strongly marked by a ■Gorman accent, a workman in h Plymouth street hailed, a passcr-bv. The passer-by was Thomas Knight, oi' Newton Abbot. Unring the battle of Manetz, Knight was badly wounded. Three Germans found, him and carried him on a stretcher to the British lines, where they were taken prisoners. The man working in the road was one of the three Germans who carried Knight to safety, and who, 11 years afterwards, promptly recognised him. A Bluff correspondent relates a story regarding a “wild” pig hunt (says an exchange). Officers of shipping in port are always keen on getting as much shore leave as possible, for the purpose of seeing the country and also partaking of any form of sport that is available. The chief steward of one of the regular traders was keen on having a day’s wild pig shooting. A friend of this officer, a fanner near Greenhills, accordingly arranged a wild pig hunt on his farm, the said farm having about forty acres of bush in its native state. On the morning of the . dqv chosen for the hunt, the farmer selected one of his tame porkers and placed it in a small clearing in the bush. Nimrod arrived with all manner of offensive and defensive weapons, and the hunt was on. Mile after mile by circuitous routes the 40-acre paddock was traversed, until at last the clearing was reached, and the “wild”*pig -at once espied by the keen-eyed steward. Bang went his rifle; Dennis lifted his snout, grunted derisively, and calmly went on rooting. “Try again,” said Mr Farmer, and it was not until live eartidges had been expended that - a fatal hit was recorded. Next day “roast wild pork” figured on the menu of the ship.