LOCAL GENERAL NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13894, 21 October 1918, Page 4

LOCAL GENERAL NEWS.

Rescue tliat little task from the maw of dull routine—do it better. The flap;s on the public and other buiidings arc being Mown to-day in honour of Nelson Day. Just after the Auckland to Wellington express had passed, a slip occurred three miles north of Mangaweka on Saturday, stopping all traffic from seven a.m. to two p.m. A cigarette is the best gas detector in the trenches, according to a French officer. The gas is invisible, he said, and the best way he has found to sense its coming is in the changed taste of his smoke. Miss Agnes Ingram, wife of Christopher Ingram, died from injuries sustained in a lire which destroyed her residence at Avondale on Saturday night.

There was a fall of snow in the King Country on Saturday night. At Waiouru the passengers by the Main Trunk express alighted and indulged in snowballing.

We understand the well-known firm of Messrs. Samuel Vaile and Sons, Ltd., of Auckland, and Victoria street, Hamilton, have acquired the business of Messrs J. E. Hatnill and Co., Land Estate Agents, of Victoria street.

The negotiations between th> Thames Valley and Te Aroha Dairy Companies in regard to amalgamation have been satisfactorily concluded, and the necessary resolutions to complete the transaction will be adopted in i few days. Mails will close at Hamilton on Wednesday, Octol)er 23, at 8 p.m., for Australian States, Ceylon, India, China, Straits Settlements, South Africa, EgypJ, and Expeditionary Forces (Egjpt), Pa go pa go, and Honolulu, to connect with the Riverina at Wellington.

"Out of 20,000 men who have returned we have lost the run of only 189,'' said the Hon. D. H. Guthrie in Wellington recently, in explanation of the systematic work done by the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department.

The gas emitted from an oil bore on the estate of a Gisborne resident to be put to a new use. The owenr is having balloons made to act as holders for the gas, which he intends to use for the driving power of a motor lorry in the Povertv Bav district.

In Idaho there exists a. species of thr> acacia tree that is entitled to be classed as one of the wonders of plant life. The tree attains a height of about Hit. When full grown it closes its leaves in coils each day at sunset. When the tree has thus settled itself for a night's sleep it will flutter violently if touched, and if you shake the branches it will emit a nauseating odour strong enough to bring on a headache. In Idaho it is culled the "angry tree." Yesterday was observed as Young People's Day by the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. A special form of service was used at all services, the aim of which was to impress upon tin; people the importance of missions, both home and foreign. At St. Andrew's, Hamilton, there were large congregations morning afternoon and evening, and Hie proceedings throughout were marked with much heartiness and fervour, in the morning and afternoon a juvenile choir which had been coached by Miss Stewart, lead the singing, and in the evening the Young People's Bible Classes were well in evidence. Hev. R. Mackie delivered appropriate addresses both morning and evening, and in the afternoon Sister Jessie, of the Maori work, b'pl the rapt attention of the Juveniles as she gave them an account of the work the church is doing in educating and teaching the Maori children of the pas in the recesses of ' the Urewera country. Nazol for Influenza and Catarrh.

The garden party which was to have j Ikm 'ii in Id at "Claremont," Tainaliere, | (,u \Yednesday, lias been unavoidably I postponed.

At. tin 1 Police Court., Hamilton, '.)■•- fore .Mi' E. Rawson, S.M., a lirst-of-fender, charged with being' druik while in charge of a horse and cart, was fined 10s in default 'iK hours imprisonment. A prohibition order I'->r 12 months was also issued against him. James Phillips, for enteric licensed premises during the currency of his prohibition order, was fined 10s with 12s costs, in default one wceVs hard labour. A week was allowed in which to pay the amount.

A large number were arraigned at the Police Court, Hamilton, this morning for breaches of the borough bylaws, and were lined, ill the majority of cases, 10s with 7s costs. The chief offences were riding unlig'ub'd bicycles, riding oil the footpaths, and leaving motor cars on the streets without being sufficiently lighted. The magistrate commented on the fact th it the lines imposed did not apparently have the effect of securing respect for the regulations, and inliinated that he would substantially increase the penalty in future.