LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 129, 13 March 1935, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The Court, of Appeal a* Wellington, yesterdav, made orders striking James Joseph Butler, of Auckland* and Andrew Chrvstal, of Auckland, oft the rolls of the barristers and solicitors ol New Zealand. Both orders were made by consent.

Asleep in his carriage when the south-bound express train arrived at Ashburton this morning, a passenger who had reached his destination did not wake until the train began to move off again. He then pulled the emergency lever which brought the train to a 'standstill under the southern overhead bridge and leisurely removed Jus luggage from the carriage.

Costly smoke issued in volumes from a New Plymouth factory chimney-stack one day last week when no fewer than 300,000 cigarettes, ruined by flood water, were destroyed. Theyi were still sodden, and in order to ensure their destruction it was necessary to mix with them large quantities of sawdust and shavings. Of brands the cigarettes were damaged while still in the bond stores and their destruction was supervised by a Customs Department official.

A particularly vivid meteor was seen travelling across the sky at Auckland last week-end, at the comparatively low altitude. It was visible from several of the suburbs. It appeared to bo shaped like a globe, and was of a brilliant bluish colour with a long tan of reddish-yellow. What atracted the notice of some of the residents was the noise with 'which the body seemed to be travelling through* the air. It began in the direction of St. Helier's Bay and disappeared behind a cloud in a southwesterly direction.

iPlant for the separation of iron-sand ores for shipment to Sheffield will bo installed immediately at Patea according to a letter received from the AngloAmerican Steel Company by the Patea Harbour Board recently. Concessions granted to the company by the board will expire in May. The letter stated that the minimum shipment wanted was 1000 to 5000 tons of ore. As a canal ran to the end of the company s new works at Sheffield it was hoped that the boats would be able to make the voyage from Patea to Sheffield direct The chairman of the board said that the shipments from Patea. would not exceed 200 tons each trip. Members suggested that it would be advisable for the company to send an expert from London to obtain first-hand information or to seek a report from an authority in New Zealand.

The condition of Patrick Bradley, aged 11, of North-East Belt, who was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital with a broken leg, was reported to-day to be satisfactory. The accident occurred when he tripped on a piece of wire.

, A reinforced concrete bridge is to be built over Bush Creek, about 10 miles from the Hermitage, on the Lake Pukaki-Hiermitage main highway. This is the creek that gives most trouble to motorists on the road to the Hermitage. Tenders have been called by the Public Works Department for a structure which will be 360 feet long, with nine 40ft. spans and an effective deck width of 10 feet.

The "Award of Merit" of the Canterbury Horticultural Society has been granted to Mr D. M. Hill, of New Brighton, for several spikes of; gladiolus, "Mrs Robert Nash," raised by him. The Gladiolus Floral Committee, in recommending the award, stated that 87 points were scored by the variety, 80 being the required number for the award.

Arrivals from overseas during January totalled 3392, a sharp fall when compared with the total or 5584 in the previous month, reports the Government Statistician. The December figures, however, included 1877 visitors in* cruising liners, while there were no liners visiting New Zealand during January in the course of cruises. The excess of Ne.v Zealand residents departing permanently over arrivals intending permanent residence still persisted, the departures during January exceeding the arrivals by 169; the excess during the ten months ended January 31 being 1432.

A Press Association telegram stated that the Oamaru branch of the Labour Party at its annual meeting last night affirmed that every reduction in the sales tax should be accompanied by a corresponding reduction in the wages tax. The branch entered an emphatic protest against unemployed who were doing jobbing work, being held by the certifying officer as being in business, also against the certifying officers interrogating the wives of relief workers in the absence of the workers.

Disparity between meat and butter served in New Zealand hotels and sold in shops and that sent to London was remarked upon by the Duchess of Westminster and lier husband, Captain J. Fitzpatrick Lewis, who are on a, visit to Napier. The Duchess said that in practically every case the food served in New Zealand hotels was very well cooked, but the meat was tough and generally inferior in quality to that sent to London. The butter also was definitely not as good as that which English people had come to expect.

The annual meeting of the St. Stephen's Anglican Senior Girls' Bible Class was held on Monday evening, when the president (Mrs N. C. Jones) presided. The balance-sheet showed a credit of £5 15s. The following officers were elected: —President, Mrs N. C. Jones; vice-presidents, the Ven. Archdeacon A. J. Mesdames A. J. Petrie, L. A. Charles, B. Opie, E. C. Bathurst, and S. Harper, and Misses I. Easterbrook and M. Crowther; secretary. Miss M. Protheroe; treasurer, Miss M. McKenzie; correspondent to "Te Karere," Miss H. Foster; correspondent to the parish magazine. Miss P. Meaclem.

A resident of Christchurch lias written to the ''Times" stating that quadruplets were born in the city in the early part of January, 1912. A complete search of the records of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages did not bring to light such a registration in any year. One case of triplets was found, however. If the writer's statements were correct, the quadruplets would certainly have been on the local records and on the records of the Registrar-General, at Wellington. His files show that the first quadduplets born in New Zealand were at Ngnruwnhia. in 1914.

Perfectly good tomatoes are rotting on the vines and on the ground in many gardens in the Hastings district. A Pakowhai resident showed A "Visitor his tomato crop and stated that the price did not warrant him touching the fruit (or is it a vegetable?). "The best price I can get is £d per lb," he said, "and to attempt to market them at that price is throwing money away, because my account sales would show a debit instead of a credit." In many other gardens a similar state of affairs exists. The Pakowhai man also pointed to large vegetable marrows, which, he said, were practically unsaleable, and the best he could hope for was $d each.

An application was received by the Auckland City Council the other night from a company asking for permission to advertise on a balloon attached to the top of the company's building, states the "New Zealand Herald." The City Engineer (Mr J. Tyler) reported to the works committee that although such a sign was not specifically mentioned in the by-laws, the definition of a roof sign was both sufficiently definite and comprehensive to deal with such an application. The proposed sign did not comply with the by-law, and therefore permission could not be granted. Apart from that, the City Engineer continued, it would be injudicious to permit the inauguration of such a form of <idvertising for not only would the variegated appearance of such balloons from numerous buildings be not in harmony, but there would also be a tendency for the advertisements on a windy daj r to encroach beyond property boundaries. The application, on the recommendation of the committee, was refused.

Great interest is being taken by the people of Kawhia in the Methodist Centenary Memorial Church, the erection of which is now nearing completition, states a Hamilton correspondent. Standing on a prominent and ideal site, it enhances the beauty of an already attractive landscape. The work has been done almost entirely by Maori craftsmen and labourers, and will be a permanent memorial not only of the centenary but also of the ability of Maori craftsmen. The church was officially? opened yesterday morning, when Princess Te Pm_a and Chief Tarapipipi opened the church and unveiled the pulpit,' and the Rev. J. H. Haslam (president of the Methodist Conference), assisted by the Rev. Tahupotiki Haddon (senior Maori superintendent) dedicated the building. The church contains some very beautiful Maori carving of exceptional character, which has been executed under the personal supervision of Princess Te Puea at the Ngaruawahia Pa. The central design on the pulpit is the Maori "King's" coat of arms. On the walls of the church are hung models of the great canoes in which the ancestors of the Waikato, King Country, and West Coast people came from Hawaiiki to New Zealand.

The past few days of dry weather have caused fresh outbreaks in the Waikato of the grass and peat fires, which were a serious menace during January and February. Late the other afternoon the scrub on the side of the hills in Hinton's Gully' on the main Hamilton-Cambridge Road caught fire and burned fiercely. Several poles carrying telegraph lines were endangered, but employees of the Post and Telegraph Department were able to save them. The Hamilton fire brigade received two calls to grass fires, which were extinguished without difficulty.

Concern at the extensive damage being occasioned to the unique flora of New Zealand was expressed at Auckland by Professor Josephine Tilden, of the University of Minnesota, who has been on a world tour in charge of a part}' of scientists. places as Rangitoto are priceless heritages," she said, "and every precaution should be taken to prevent the introduction of destructive animals and also of exotic plants which eventually might completely destroy the unusual scientific interest of the island."

Architectural grandeur was of paramount importance in the erection of a school building in the past, sufficient evidence of this being given in the case of the Otago Boys' High School, the beauty of which no one will dispute, although many of its class rooms are dark, stuffy and altogether out of date. However, this will not be so in the case of the new auxiliary boys' high school building in Bay View Road, South Dunedin. Nothing but modern schemes in architecture to ensure proper lighting and ventilation, approved by English and American education authorities, will be incorporated.

• "We are pretty safe in having good Governments, but no matter what our Government is my country! is always run very efficiently," said a Swedish business man. Mr O. W. Ohlson, on his arrival in Wellington by the Maunganui from San Francisco. The reason he gave for this was that "such public utilities as railways, post office, the wine and spirit trade, and the tobacco trade are nationalised but are entirely divorced from political control." Only a few important items including taxation and Customs tariff, are regulated by the political party in power, he said. The other departments are not controlled by Ministers, but by permanent general managers who' have supreme control.