Interprovincial

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1913, Page 29

Interprovincial

During the month of December the Egmont Butter Box Factory manufactured 24,942 butter boxes and 47,650 cheese cases. This is a considerable increase on the total turned out for the same month the previous year, when the total was about 50,000. Harvesting early crops of oats was commenced in several portions of the Waiau district at the latter end of last week (says the Press). Later crops look exceedingly promising, and the harvest should .be well over the average. The Tinmru Herald states that the spell of warm, dry weather is having a noticeable effect on the country. The pastures are dying off, and the crops are beginning to whiten for harvest on warm, sunny faces. In*a field off the Pleasant Point road a crop of oats is already to be seen in stock. , 1 A telegram from Wellington states that Mr. Schaef made a successful trial of his new monoplane with an Anzeni engine at Lyall Bay on Saturday morning, achieving several short,, flights. It is the intention of Mr. Schaef to continue short flights until he has had sufficient experience to attempt a long one. The performance was satisfactory in every way. In Taranaki the dairying season is in full swing just now, and the outputs from the various factories are reported to be large (says the Post). All the Taranaki product comes through Wellington, and the small boats have to work very hard to bring it down. The next outgoing boat to take the regular shipments from Wellington will be the New Zealand Shipping Company’s Ruapehu, leaving on the 9th. Over 9000 crates of cheese and over 2000 boxes of butter are to come from Patea for this boat. The difficulties experienced, by the postal authorities in delivering letters insufficiently addressed were exemplified recently (says the Southland Pews). A letter arrived at the Invercargill Post Office addressed to a name, ‘Church street, Pew Zealand . • The fact that there are thirteen Church streets in various parts of the Dominion seemed an almost insurmountable obstacle, but the addressee for whom the missive was intended was discovered in Masterton, and the letter promptly delivered. - . A telegram from Whangarei says: —A fire which broke out in the Whakatiri district on Tuesday is now assuming alarming proportions, covering an area of eight miles long and half a mile wide. The continued dry weather had made a shortage of feed, and now some farms are nearly devastated. One farmer, milking 50 cows on 200 acres, had. more than half of his feed destroyed. The cocksfoot crops are also destroyed. The fire is still raging. Settlers have engaged all available hands to beat it out, but the only hope is heavy rain. It is impossible to estimate the damage. The closing of the old year has brought to an end New Zealand’s connection with a horrible trade—the manufacture of matches from white phosphorus (says the Pew Zealand: Times). An Act which was passed in 1910 and ordered to come into force on January 1, 1913, provides penalties for the importation, manufacture, and sale of matches, containing this material, and in future the people of the Dominion will have to be content with lights that are a little less convenient in' use, but do not inflict the terrible disease ’ known as ‘ phossy jaw ’ upon the workers, usually women, who are engaged in the match factories. The Dominion has been importing increasing quantities of strike anywhere’ matches which do not contain white phosphorus, so that the change .may not be noticed by many persons ; but, in any case, we are sure that no one will be sorry that New Zealand has joined the countries that have given play to their humanitarian instincts in this matter.