LOCAL & GENERAL

Western Star, 14 March 1939, Page 2

LOCAL & GENERAL

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The monthly 'meeting of the local Progress League takes place this evening. Besides the .ordinary business, matters in connection with ’ the recent carnival will come up for consideration.

The Oreti regatta, held on SatSTrday, was a great success. The day was fine and some interesting racing resulted. Otago.was strongly represented, and its crews carried off the Sports Cup. securing 17 points; Awarua. was runner : up with 13 points, and' Railway third with 12 points. Riverton was fourth with two points, and Invercargill, one point, was fifth. In the youths’ .four Riverton (represented by-F. Haslemore, C. More, R. Goodwills and E. Ward) was third. In the junior fours Riverton (F. Finnie, A. Weir, J. Fleck and W. Bickley) secured second place.

Arthur Murphy and Ellis Hammond, both of Centre Bush, were injured when a car in which they were driving late on Saturday night collided , with another car at the top -of Fernhills .On th o Invercargill-Queenstown highway. Hammond suffered severe cuts about the face and "Murphy a cut finger. The men were taken to Win ton where their injuries were attended by a doctor. The occupants of the second car were not injured. Both cal’s were damaged.

Elizabeth Shore, the two-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs E.- T. Shore, Kaiapoi, suffered' injuries from which she r later died when she fell out of a motor-car driven by her father. He was returning to his home with -his infant son in the front seat of the ear and the other child 'in the back. About six miles from Christchurch along Marshland road the -, back ’ door of the car swung open and the child fell out on to the road. A doctor was called and at first it was thought that the child was not seriously injured but she was later sent t 0 the Christchurch Hospital where an operation was performed. She later died.

An appreciable fall •of rain in many parts pf Taranaki lias broken the long dry spell that had caused a considerable drop in dairy production ■ and particularly on coastal areas, placing many farmers in a serious position. The heaviest falls’have been experienced around the coast, filling tanks which had been dry for many days. At Opunake many Jiitherto bone-dry tanks 'were overflowing. In inland districts only light falls were recorded, doing little t 0 relieve the serious position. In the. -'eastern Stratford district where rain is badly wanted the fall }ia,s been negligible. Conditions in the back country generally are becoming serious. (South Taranaki is still fairly parched after light rain.

After eluding searchers in dense bush near his home at Waikari, Dunedin, for five weeks a youth, aged 17, was discovered in a horse-box on the wharf by a gpnstgble on Saturday evening and he was arrested op a charge of being an idle and disorderly person, having insufficient means of support. He was demanded for six days and to be kept apart from other prisoners by the Magistrate. Mr Bartholomew, who ordered tho suppression of his name. The fugitive's clothing was wet and torn and his physical condition was poor, his diet- having been mainly turnips. The police provided fresh clothing and a shave.

The Southland Education Board invite tenders for the erection of a B. type dental clinic at Riverton and also for a similar one at Orepuki. Tenders ejose pn 23rd inst. at 4 p.m.

Despite the cold easterly weather thero was a good number present at the open air concert given by the. Tnatapore P?po Band on Saturday evening, A collection wa.s taken up. the proceeds going towards the banc’s funds. The performance was a fine one. and the band is to be congratulated on the excellence of the music supplied,

There was a large attendance at the seaside oil Sunday, the weather being all that could be desired, the chief attraction being at The Hocks, where the Oreti Surf Club gave an interesting demonstration, which was keenly watched by the large number present;-

The body- of Herbert Scollay, aged about 35 years, a single man, wh 0 was missed from the Kaimai, the Westport Coal Company’s vessel on February 28 soon after the vessel left Westport- for Auckland, 4 was recovered on Sunday morning washed up on the beach at Capo Fouhvind, about seven miles south of Westport, by a fisherman named H. Sutherland. The body was identified by a seaman of the Kaimai, which was in port on Sunday afternoon, pnly by the clothes which Scollay wore. Scollay -is believed to be a son of Mr and Mrs T. Scollay, of Port Chalmers,

Three ' persons are' believed to have been drowned and three- saved, when a shallow creek in the Orange district in Sydney in which their motor-car had stalled, suddenly became’ flooded. Those missing are Mrs Gordon, her daughter and her son’s daughter. Two other daughters and a woman friend were saved by a farmer who was trying to tow the car out of the creek when a cloud burst, and a sudden torrent caried the car. down the creek.

About 16,000 applications to rent State houses have now been received throughput the Dominion by the State Housing Department and of these nearly 13,000 come from Auckland and Wellington. In view of the acute housing shortage in Auckland and Wellington it has been decided to concentrate in building chiefly in the two cities. This information. was given by the Minister of Housing (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong). “The greater demand comes from Auckland,” said Mr Armstrong, “although it is also very heavy in Wellington. We are making strenuous efforts to- produce this year at least 'double the number of houses in Auckland that we were able to build last year.”

Much of the plant at the Orepuki shale works, which have been closed down for many years, has been dismantled, and . sold to : the Government and t- 0 private interests. Some of the cast iron settling tanks have . been bought by the State,. Forest Service for use at Conical Hills and Rotorua-, and some of the machinery has been acquired by Amalgamated Chemical Industries at Wa-ipango. which has already begun the manufacture of oil from shale, ahd has produced' as much as 60 gallons of oil to a ton of shale. The lease of the Orepuki property has not yet expired, but- recent legislation makes it incumbent on a company to work an oil claim within a stipulated period or forfeit its title.

For the second time within a year the premises of J. L. Bennett, Ltd., Palmerston North, auctioneers, was the scene of a daring burglary during Friday night, when the office safe was blown open and about. £SO taken. The explosion caused a fire which was extinguished by the brigade.

More than 100 English workmen arrived at Auckland on Friday by the Brngitata from London. The majority of them were carpenters, but there was als 0 a fairly, large number of Welsh miners, who are going to Westport to work'in the coal mines there. A larger oa-rty consisted of carpenters and buildel's’ labourers and among them were 1 Englishmen.- ..and Irishmem A number stated they, had been persuaded to come to'the country by one of two "encons.. They had either heard of Do--"'•lion conditions from tradesmen who had only -recently come the country A 1 ’ else they bad deckled that New Zealand was worth “prospecting” as a ron’t of what they had read in English "'•wspopers. Some of the carpenters -"e tinder contract to the Government •--i .expect to be assigned to the housing scheme. Others have come out to see if conditions are* as good as they have heard them to b<e.

A well-known Maorilander just returned from.a trip Home, visited Birmingham in the oou"se of his riavels and was shown at a wholesale warehouse a lot of elaborately carved tobacco-pipes-of allegedly Maori origin. On enquiring the, price he was asked whether he was “in the trade,” and unblushingly said ‘yes.” Of course he isn’t. He merely wanted to get a little “inside information.” These pipes are made in Birmingham and. get into the curio shops of London and ejsewhere where they are sometimes jsold at fa,ncy prices'to- “collectors, s ’WbftL wprl'fl! It isn’t quite so easy to fake New Zealand tobacco because of its comparative freedom from nicotine —the result of the special purifying- process it is put through at the factory, and which eliminates most of its nicotine and makes it safe to smoke to apy extent. There are only five brands: Cavendish, Riverhead Gold, Desert Gold, Navy Cut No. 3 and Cut Plug No. 10. They are famous, every one of them, for’ their flavour and matchless fragrance. Of course they are being imitated —every good thing is. So mind what you buy!