LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 194, 30 May 1934, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Visiting Australia in connection with the Bendigo competitions, Mr W. H. Dixon, of Christchurch (conductor ot the Ashburton Choral Society), will broadcast from 2BL Sydney, on Jmday.

Telephone subscribers in Ashburton complain that they have been hoaxed recently when they have been given the wrong number. One resident was told by the person who answered that he was speaking to the subscriber he had called, and it was net until some conversation had passed that the caller realised he had the wrong number.

“To say men and women are interchangeable in our teaching service, or that we can do without either is to talk nonsense ; women can no more do work among boys than men can do work among girls or infants, } said Mr G Iv Hamilton, president ol the Auckland branch of the Educational Institute and headmaster of Auckland Normal School, in a statement on Saturday.

Speaking to a “Guardian” reporter this morning, the General Manager of Railways (Mr G. -H. Mackley) stated that tenders for the piles for the new railway bridge which is to be built between the present rail bridge and the traffic bridge over the Ashburton River would bo called at an early date. The bridge was one of a number which would he built in the present year.

About 900 motor-vehicles m Ashburton had been registered for 1984-30 up to last evening when the office in the Baring Square schoolroom was closed. There are still many to he registered and the staff had a busy day to-day and anticipates a rush again to-morrow, which is the last dav before the new plates have to be affixed. The total registrations last year were 2188, this figure being spread over the whole year.

Awakened in the early hours of the morning by the barking of his dog, Mr Iv. H. Young, who resides on tho Motumaoho-Tauhei swanip road, Morrinsville, found the hack portion of his house in flames/states the “New Zealand Herald.” Mr Yoilng was the only occupant of the house at the time, but by ringing on the party telephone line he aroused liis nearest neighbour, Mr J. Milton, who was quickly on the scene followed bv another neighbour, Mr R Wright. The three men toiled for two hours and succeeded iix checking the spread of the fire. The fire hatl started in the back and older portion of the building, which, was connected with tho newer portion by a long porch. By cutting through the porch with axes and using over /OU (rollons of water from two tanks, the men restricted the fire to the older structure, which' was completely destroyed.

A hundred years ago John Macartliur, pioneer of the Australian wool industry, the Commonwealth s _ principal product, died and was buried at Camden, near Sydney He introduced the Merino sheep. He came to Australia. an officer in the military forces, in 1790, and after four years military service received a grant ot land and became a farmer as_ well as attending to soldiering. On lus tnrm bo initiated tho experiment ot crossing hair-hearing ewes from the Cape of” Good Hope and Bengal and sheep of English breed, acquiring later some coaise-woolled Irish sheep. Then he obtained Merinos, winch, carefully guarded against impure mixture, increased in numbers and improved m quality. In 1801 he took specimens of hi 3 wool to England, and as they were favourably reported upon he devoted ids time to further improvement. leaving the army in order to do sc. His descendants are living on the estate lie founded with the W 00l industry.

It seldom happens that two mothers of triplets find themselves together in the course of a visit to a town. This incident occurred recently at New Plymouth. The first set of triolets comprised two boys and a girl, and were 26 years of age. The second set were two girls and a boy, aged 23 years. The mothers «ame from widely-separated parts of New Zealand. Both sets of triplets have enjoyed excellent health and are well over average height.

To have almost decimated its indebtedness within a single year is the proud achieyement of the Egmont Agricultural and Pastoral Association. In November last the association celebrated its golden jubilee, and at the end of the financial year the balancesheet presented to the annual meeting showed that it „was in the fortunate position of having wiped off most' of the debt on its property, having, through' the generosity of a number of donors, reduced its indebtedness from £IO,OOO to £I2OO. 1

For failing to answer to his name and attend as a grand juror at the opening of the session of the Supreme Court at New Plymouth, Robert Deare was fined £5 by the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers). Eater Deare appeared and explained that he was in charge of the relief workers engaged at the public hospital, and in setting out the work for ihe week he had overlooked the time, for which he expressed his regret and apology to the court. His Honor said it was a discourtesy to the court which could no£ be overlooked, but he reduced the fine to one of £2.

Bringing about 15,000 cases of fruit from Rarotonga and several thousand more from California for discharge at Wellington, the R.M.S. Maungamii arrived from San Francisco on Monday. It was the largest consignment of fruit to reach Wellington during the past year. From Rarotonga the Maunganui brought thousands of cases of oranges, mandarins, and bananas, and also a few kumeras, while from San Francisco the ship brought several thousand cases of prunes and raisins, together with a very large quantity of oranges, lemons, grapefruit and' peaches.

In the course of a tour of the railway systems of Canterbury and the West Coast, the General Manage? (Mr G. HMackiey) visited Ashburton this morning, when he was accompanied by several executive officers of the Department from Christchurch'. He was met by the president of the Ashburton Chamber of Commerce (Mr E. Buchanan) and the president of the Ashburton Golf Club (Dr. G. I. Miller). The last-mentioned conferred with Mr Mackiey with regard to the question of access to the golf links after the new railway bridge has been built. Mr Mackiey inspected the links entrance, and it is understood gave an assurance that there would be no difficulty in keeping it clear.

Thermal activity at Whakarewarewa was very pronounced on Saturday, Waikite geyser throwing up shots well over 30 feet high (states a Rotorua / correspondent)." Pcliutu Geyser has been quiescent for a period of two years, and during that time Waikorohihi Geyser, which is in close proximity, has been continuously active. It is considered that the activity of Waikorohihi Geyser takes the pressure from Pohutu, which will not play until the activity of Waikorohihi subsides. The Papakura and other smaller geysers were also very active during the day. The terrace formation at the back of the Cauldron is still proceeding, and the colouring is becoming very pronounced.

The death'has occurred at Oruanui, near Taupo, of a Maori named Kohe Kobe, aged 79. In 1869, when Kohe Kohe was 14 years old, he ate some raw karaka berries, and shortly afterwards became paralysed. As time went on his body became terribly contorted, and he was in such a state that ho was unable ,to feed himself, and it was impossible to dress him at all. He used to be wrapped in a rug and placed in the corner of a room, and this had been his whole existence for the past 65 years. His brain seemed to be the only part of him alive, and it was a wonder to anyone who saw him that such a crippled body could have a spark of life. For many years Kohe Kohe had been liying with a resident of Oruanui.

A rather scathing indictment of the carelessness of the New Zealand motorists at .railway crossings was made on Friday by the General Manager of the New Zealand Railways (Mr G." H. Mackley) while addressing a Greymouth deputation. He said that in the last three months he had covered 7000 miles in the North and South Islands in his rail tour, during which time he had crossed over 100 crossings, and be would like to say what he thought of the manner in which some motorists approached them. It was not the number of accidents he was surprised at—he was surprised there were not a great deal more, having regard to the indifference and carelessness of motorists, as he had observed them, states the “Grey River Argus.” The more dangerous the crossing, the greater was the need for care.

Referring to the recently-announced plans of the Government for the strengthening of the defence forces of the Dominion, the Minister of Defence (the Hon. J. G. Cobbe) stated at a large gathering of returned soldiers at Hunterville that it was wrong for anybody—as some critics had done—-to view the Government's plans in the light of stimulating war. It must not be forgotten, Mr Cobbe said, that- Jvew Zealand to-day was practically defenceless. The plans, of which he had given particulars at Auckland recently, were, in these world-troubled days, to change that position. All that was being done was to provide the Dominion with protection in the event of any emergency, which he hoped would not arise After all, he said, a. man locked the door of Ins house or business premises, not expecting a io bery, but to provide a measure of protection against robbery. That wa. what New Zealand was doing n. strengthening its defence forces.

To glance un suddenly and see a 20ft kauri girder hurtling down from the top storey of the Capitol budding \w the alarming experience of one of the workmen engaged in erecting the scaffolding in front of the building the other morning '(says the Otago Daily Ti m e*”) The timber, which is six inches by four inches, was being hoisted by means of a rope on a pulley from the veranda to the to- storey, about 50ft un and one of the girders had just, been raised and was being pulled on to the platform at the top when it slipped. At the same moment the man standing on the veranda below looked up and sprang to one side as the girder crashed. end on. just where be bad been standing. His escape from death vas so narrow that the beam grazed his arm. removing some of the skin, as it landed. Fortunately it struck another girder lying on the veranda, making a heavy depression in the wood, otherwise it would have cut through the veranda like a harpoon and possibly struck a pedestrian.

After inspecting the railway yards and premises at Ashburton this, morning, the General Manager (Mr G. H. Mackiey) expressed satisfaction with what he had seen, and congratulated the staff on the work they were doing.

Of ,‘Jie twelve women players selected as the team to represent Canterbury University College at the annual hockey tournament' in Wellington this week end, four are ex-pupils of the Ashburton High School, one of the four, Miss Marjorie Gudsfell, being captain of the team. They are Misses Gudsell, Joan Loy, Madge Biggar and Jean Muirhead.

“The president of the Chamber of Commerce spoke in congratulatory terms this morning regarding the working of the Railway Department in Ashburton,” said l the General Manager (Mr G. H. Mackiey) to a “Guardian” reporter to-day. “It is highly pleasing for us to know that our efforts on behalf of the business community and the residents generally are being appreciated. After all. we are the servants of the people, qnd we like to know what our bosses think of us. Commendation of this kind is. too often, manufactured, so we are-all the move appreciative when the praise comes spontaneously.”

“It has always appeared strange to me if a person is injured at his work his claim for medical and hospital expenses is limited to the sum of £l,” said Mr 0. C. Mazengarb in an address to the members of the Insurance In-/ stitute and Officers’ Guild in Wellington last week. “Such a state of law is, unjust to the patients, to- the hospital board and to medical practitioners. The hospitals and doctors are expected to treat a sufferer with skill so that lie may soon return to work, suffering as little permanent disability as possible. The more skilful the treatment the less coriipensation the insurance companies have to pay, but the reward to . the medical profession may be restricted to a pound note.

Comment on the value of ( the rhythmic method of instruction of typewriting through the assistance of music was made by the director of the Wellington Technical College (Mr R. G. ;R idling) at the meeting of the board of governors of the college. He said that tlie use of special gramophone records helped materially to reduce the difficulty of teaching the girls to touch each key of the typewriter with the same pressure. To some extent the musical method removed the monotony of typing and it did. improve the quality of the work. The method was used only during the first two years of learning typing, and was abandoned as soon as the pupil started speed work.