LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 210, 17 June 1933, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Three cases of scarlet fever and one of tuberculosis were notified to the Ashburton Borough Health Inspector this week. In the County, the only notification was of a case of pneumonia at Fairton.

"Pace is worse than weight," said the engineer, Mr J. A. Hansen, during the of a discussion on heavy traffic at a meeting of the Waimate West County Council. A sixton lorry, he continued, travelling at 30 miles per hour was likely to do more damage than one of eight tons travelling at 15 miles an hour.

A 'Press Association message from Wellington states: In an insurance claim heard before the Supreme Court at West-port on June 13 the company concerned was the Commercial Union Assurance Company, Ltd., which was incorrectly described in the telegraphed report as the New Zealand Commercial Assurance Company.

The question of the law in relation to cruelty to animals was under consideration in a ease in the New Plymouth Supreme Court, when Mr Justice Reed remarked that the British law on this matter was far ahead of that in Continental countries. "I once nearly got into trouble for trying to stop a man beating a donkey on the Continent." said his Honor. "They did not seem to take much notice of it there."

It did not take the men who use the hut on the Ashburton riverbed long to give it a name. Pencilled in large block letters on a bar of the gate is the word "Paradise." The hut must have been a boon to many itinerant men after their experiences of sleeping out under hedges, bridges and haystacks. The "road telegraph" has been in operation in connection, with the hut and it is said that the facilities offering for swaggers in Ashburton are known throughout the island. So far, however, there has been no tendency on the part of itinerant men to make a rendezvous of Ashburton because the hut is available.

The improving condition of the British motor car industry was remarked upon by Mr W. H. .Johnson, a director of one of the large British companies, upon his arrival in Wellington hv the Wanganclln from Sydney. .Mr Johnson is at nresent making visits to motor car distributing centres in various parts of the- world. The recent improvement in the exports of British cars, he said, was largely due to the fact that those manufacturers who wished to increase their export business were meeting the various needs overseas. particularly with in the Empire. In South Africa, a country where there was no preference for the British product, Mr Johnson found that during the last six months 60 per cent, of the cars sold were British. The demand in Australia, also, he said, was growing steadily.

A neat comment on a decision he had just given in a somewhat involved case was made by the Chiei Justice, Sir Michael Myers, in the Supreme Court at Auckland. "Anyway/' he concluded, "as Mr Justice Semtton used to say, 'i am satisfied it is justice, and 1 hope it is law.' "

"Now Zealand seems to have provided mining engineers for half the world, and they have left New Zealand," remarked Mr J. S. Jessep, deputy-chairman of the Unemployment Hoard', when he was explaining to the Marlborough County Council the difficulty the board was experiencing in obtaining sufficient mining engineers to assist in the development of the subsidised gold-mining scheme.

A New Plymouth fruiterer had an unexpected visitor the other evening when a full-grown morepork flew into his shop and settled on a partition. In spite of numerous attempts, the fruiterer was unable to turn the bird out, as at each attempt it hew around the shop, evidently dazzled by the light, and was unable to find the exit. After a couple of hours the fruiterer obtained the assistance.,of a bird expert and the morepork was captured.

A number of fake two-shilling pieces made of alloy in an Australian design, dated 1931,* were successfully passed at the National Dairy Show at Palmerston North (says a Press Association telegram). It was also reported that half-crowns of the same date, of British design were in circulation. A southern newspaper reports that spurious coins have been in circulation in InVorcargill, three shopkeepers having received them during the week.

There were numerous crates of pigeons, poultry and dogs on the Ashburton railway'platform this morning for dispatch north and south. With the dogs barking and the roosters crowing, it sounded as if the station had been erected in the country, far away from ■the noises of the town. The large numI ber of exhibits to be returned to ether ' towns gave an indication of the interest taken in the Ashburton Fanciers' Society's Show by fanciers in various parts of the South Island.

The interesting discovery that rats have climbed the bare slope of Fantham's Peak, on Mount Egmont, and entered the Syme Hut, about 5000 feet up, has been" made. A mattress has been damag?3 and labels and a beok have been chewed. Poison has been laid. It is recalled by a prominent Hawera climber that "mice have been found in the Haast Memorial Hut, Mount Cook, where a four-mile expanse of ice and bare rock lies between the, building and the nearest cover.

An assertion that New Zealand was losing millions of pounds' a. year through the inferior quality of her cheese was made by Mr F. H. Anderson (Cambridge) when addressing the executive of the Taranaki Federation of Dairy Companies at Stratford. Time after time, he said, it had been shown that the cheese and butter markets were svmpathetic and dragged one another down. If cheese quality was ''improved, better prices for butter would result.

Approval of the Ashburton County Council's scheme to place relief workers in camps on full time has been received from the Unemployment Board. Many applications have been received from men to go out under the Council's camp schemes and the first party will leave on Monday week to take up work _cn the Cracroft or Klondyke main races. This work is of a highly developmental nature. The pay will be 10s a week for single men, 25s for married men without families, 27s 6d for married men with one child, and ranging xip to a maximum of 40s. A camp allowance of 12s 6d a week is made.

Theft and. mutilation of books, magazines and newspaper*, cause librarians the world over endless worry and annoyance. In Auckland, as anywhere else, pages are ripped from valuable volumes and files are ruthlessly slashed. Recently the latest volume of the British General Photographic Almanac was placed in the public room at the Auckland Library. A few days later it was picked up in Albert Park and returned to the institution minus 23 illustrations and 11 other pages. A copy of the most recent issue of the New Zealand Year Book disappeared within a few hours of being put out. A- book on the life of Whistler was recently ruined by the removed of eight plates and six pages of reading matter. A few weeks ago someone with a razor blade or sharp knife took two pagss from a volume of the latest edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

The Hampstead Institute met in .the Memorial HaH on Thursday afternoon. As it was members' day, Mrs H. J. Constable occupied the chair and Mrs H. L. Stone acted, as secretary. There were 40 women present and four new members were welcomed. A motion of sympathy was passed with Mesdames Coward and Tinker. After a discussion.on means of raising funds to send a delegate to the New Zealand Conference, to he held at Christchurch in July, it was decided to hold a euchre party on June 29. Members were reminded of the group meeting to be held in the Tancred Street Hall on Thursday. Hearty congratulations were extended to members who won prizes at iTimaru and Geraldine. Mrs Flatman gave an interesting demonstration on making humpties and Miss Tinker on making footstools. A competition, four kinds of biscuits, resulted: Mrs Cook 1, Mrs Coldicott 2, Mrs Hunt 3. The hostesses were Mesdajnes Miller, Flatman, and Cock and Miss Tinker.

The Ashburton branch of the Women's Division of the New Zealand Farmers' Union met yesterday afternoun, the president (Mrs D. Hamber) occupying the chair. Motions'of sympathy were passed with Mesdames Amos, Crosson, and McMillan. Four new members were elected. It was decided not to draw up a syllabus for the year, the competitions .to be arranged by the president and committee. It was agreed to hold the birthday party on Friday evening, July 28. The offer of Mesdames Hamber. Penney and Regg to donate tjie birthday cuke was accepted with thanks. It was decided to apply to the Borough Council for permission to erect a produce stall on the green in Fast Street on Friday, August 18 i»i aid of the branch's funds. Mrs Penney moved that the October meeting take the form of a spring flower shew and this was seconded by Mrs Biddick and carried. Mis W. J. Minoguc gave an interesting talk on drama, which was much appreciated by members, and she was accorded a hearty vote of thanks. Members of the Mid-Canterbury provincial executive of the- Farmers' Union were entertained at afternoon tea, when Messrs A. P. Bruce (president) and W. H. Amos (secretary) spoke of the friendly feeling Avliich existed between the men's and women's divisions cf the union and pointed out that wherever possible the men's division would be only too pleased to co-operate with and assist the women's division in its work.

The Royal Mail steamer Mara ma left Wellington for Sydney at 3.15 p.m. yesterday, says a Press Association message. The search conducted by the police for silver coin was \\ ithout result.

An interruption . occurred at the opening of the .Waihi Police Court the other (lay, when an elderly man commenced to address the magistrate (Mr S. L. Patterson), "in the name of the King." He repeated this phrase several times (says the "Northern Advocate"), whereupon the magistrate ordered him to keep quiet. The man persisted and Mr Patterson ordered him to be taken into custody until the rising of the court. He was removed from the court room protesting loudly.

Throughout the voyage to L6ndon of the New Zealand delegation to the World Conference, members were kept informed of affairs in the Dominion by a daily wireless message (says a. Press Association telegram from Wellington). The Postmaster-General (the Hon. Adam Hamilton) said last night that adequate arrangements had been made to keep Mr Forbes and Mr Masters in touch with New Zealand news, as the .Rangitata. was equipped with a short-wave installation enabling two-way communication.

An unusual case was called in the Waihi Magistrate's Court the other day (says an exchange), when Charles Henry Thomas, farmer, of Bulltown Road, Waihi, was charged with dual voting at the recent municipal elections. It was alleged that Thomas, who is an elector in the Waihi Borough, after recording his vote at the main booth also voted at the East End booth. Mr S. L. Patterson, ,S,M., said that as the case was an indictable one it could not be dealt with summarily. The maximum penalty was two years' imprisonment. The case would be allowed to stand down.

"I am not sure whether this is a case of Oriental guilt or bad luck," remarked Mr Justice Ostler in the Supreme Court at Gisborne last week a motion for the discharge of a Chinese, As Sob, from bankruptcy was heard. Counsel appeared in support of the motion, which was opposed by another solicitor on behalf of certain creditors. After hearing a statement of the circumstances, his Honor said that as there was a doubt he would assume that it was a case of bad luck, but if it happened again he misjit change the assumption. In any case bankrupt had paid 7s in the pound, which was more than many European bankrupts paid. The discharge would be granted.

"It is as impracticable as it is glorious," was the comment of Mr Leslie Murrell, of Manapouri, who knows the Sounds intimately, on the road round .the Sounds suggested by Mr R. A. Anderson to the Southland League (savs an Invercargill telegram). As he visualised the scheme, one quarter of the road would have to be .hewn out of solid rock. He did not think an engineer would seriously survey it. It was inconceivable td him that anyone who knew the character of the country and the floods that swept down the valleys, transforming them into lakes, could propose such a road, tl was estimated by the president of the league that the road would be 250 miles long, but Mr Murrell contends that if a level of 500 ft to 700 ft were maintained it would beIOOO miles. He could see as much as £IOO,OOO a mile being spent on some parts.