LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 15, 30 October 1935, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

A party of 16 members of the Ashburton Tramping Club spent the weekend at Lake Heron, undertaking several short tramping excursions neai the lake.

The opinion that there was iiot so much wheat being grown m the A. r burton County this season as is usually the case was expressed to a urn dian” reporter by a farmei m tow vesterdav. file did not consider there would be any surplus next yeai, cause with a reduced crop the Tielci would sell readily after harvest.

An egg of abnormal proportions was laid bv a White Leghorn fowl on the property of Mr W. J. White, Frankton, recently (states the “Waikato Times ). With a girth of 7iin, the egg turned the scales at oi-oz. The egg was unique in the fact that it was not a double yolk specimen.

Adjourned Conciliation Council proceedings held at Timaru yesterday to deal with an industrial dispute between the Waimate threshing mill workers and employers proved unavailing. Ihe Conciliation Commissioner (Mr b. Ritchie) presided. The workers clemauds included an increase of od an hour, and an alteration in the hours of work. The employers’ counter-claim was *on the lines of the old award.

Ashburton motorists who returned recently from a tour in the Noith Island told a “Guardian” reporter that they considered the sign-posting ol roads in the Wellington province to be far ahead of that in Canterbury. Signs were more numerous, more informative and more easily read by people in passin# motor-cars. “The difficulty is that the system of sign-posting is hardly uniform throughout the Dominion, said one man. “A corner proclaimed as a ‘ sharp bend ’ : on the straight South Island roads would he considered a more curve in the north, nlvcie almost every corner is a sharp’ one.”

• A well-boring plant being operated at Whakatu by Mr A. F. Leipst, of Hastings, has brought up from a depth ox 10 feet a quantity of wood in winch are the remains of clearly defined grooves sucli as are made by the matai grub (says the “Hawke’s Bay tribune.”) 'Some of those who have seen the wood, which is excellently preserved, believe it to be black maire, but Mr Leipst is inclined to think it is manuka. The soil from which the wood was brought up is of a sandy character, and its presence gives rise to the belief that there are remains of buried forests beneath the Heretaunga Plains. Mr J. M. Stewart, of Dunedin, who sank the wells near the Hastings nower house in 1931, once gave an address in which he produced evidence that the Heretannga Plains had passed through at least three tremendous upheayals, each of which raised the level of the land by many feet. The ivood brought up by Mr Leipst’s plant is thought to have been part of a log about three feet in diameter.

“I have never seen wheat looking better at this time of the year than it does just now,” a prominent Ashburton County farmer told a “Guardian” reporter yesterday. Ho could compare the crop with those for the last 25 years, he said, and he considered that the rain was doing great good, coming at this period.

An ingenious device on the', newlyinstalled warning signal at the Portage Road railway crossing, New Lynn (Auckland), automatically switches the signal over to a battery circuit in the event of an electric-power failure. The batteries are sufficiently powerful to operate the alarm for a week with a normal number of trains using the line.

In preparation for the approaching busy season at the Fairfield freezing works, renovations are being carried cut. One or two wooden walls have been replaced with brickwork, and several minor alterations effected while the construction was in progress, The renovations this year are a little more extensive than usual, but the plant always receives some attention at this time of the year.

Owing to moisture causing the rolls of stamps to stick, rendering the machines inoperative, it has been found necessary in several suburban post office in Auckland to move the automatic stamp vending machines to positions inside the offices, apertures being cut in doors and walls,so that the machines can- /be operated; from the entrance lobbies. Another reason for the decision to move some of. the machines has. been the amount of attention paid to them by thieves during the past few months.

A terrific explosion startled racegoers at Trentham on Saturday just as the horses were lined up for the start of the last race. It also startled the horses, causing several of them to break through the barrier. Several distant and similar explosions had taken place during the day, but the final one was very close and it shook the whole racecourse and buildings. It appears that the Corps of Engineers is undergoing a course at Trentham camp and setting off land mines and demolition charges was part of Saturday’s routine. The- effect of the incident was not noticeable anjong the horses, as the first and second, Valarth and Mount Val, ran as backed and, in fact,. Valarth was the only favourite to win on the day. , ...

A round trip of the United States of America by motor car covering a total distance of 10,500 miles, was completed recently by Mr P. D. England, of Wanganui, who has returned to the Dominion after three months’ absence. Mr England said that the main roads were mostly of concrete, and driving was comparatively simple because one knew what the other fellow was going to do. On the main highways there were tracks for fast and slow driving and a centre track for passing. Mr England said it was safer driving along Broadway, New York, than in the Avenue, Wanganui, because of the traffic regulations. With regard to the prices of petrol, the cheapest Mr England obtained was 4sd a gallon and the dearest Is a- gallon.

Exhausted by its struggle against southerly winds, an Eastern golden plover, which is one of those migratory birds that arrive in the Dominion annually this month from Siberia and Alaska, alighted on the deck of the Marama in the Tasman Sea on Saturday, when the vessel was about 500 miles from the New Zealand coastThe bird, which was accompanied by another of similar species, was first noticed by Captain when it was flyiing weakly about the ship. When it alighted Captain Morgan took possession of the bird. It was in an exhausted condition, and died 24 hours later despite attempts to revive it. The bird’s companion did not settle on the vessel and was lost from sight. On the arrival of the Marama at. Auckland on Monday Captain Morgan handed the dead bird over to Mr R. A. Falla, ornithologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

If British steel production were tied up by a war there was only one outside British source that could, supply munitions or other steel goods, and that was Broken Hill in Australia, said the Australian Trade Commissioner, Mr R. H. Nesbitt, in an address to the Hastings Chamber of Commerce, reports the “Hawke’s Bay Tribune.’’ The steel works at Broken Hill, he said, were national in this respect that they were the only British steel works of any magnitude outside Britain. They meant a tremendous thing for Australia, and at present were employing about 13,000 hands. Their consumption of coal amounted to approximately 1,000,000 tons a year. They had a great potential value in time of war, and if they were to be kept in a state of efficiency against that contingency, they they should bo kept in a state of efficiency in time of peace. That was why they must be supported.

It is 60 years since the Methodist Church was established in Ashburton, and the diamond jubilee of Methodism in the town will be celebrated, at the Baring Square Church next w'eek with functions in which the various sections will take part. Final arrangements were made at a meeting of the jubilee committee last evening. It was reported that a souvenir had been prepared and that an anonymous gift of £lo' had been made for copies of the new hymn book. Detailed plans for each day of the celebrations were drawn up, and it was stated that early members of the church would he honoured at the -banquet on Wednesday evening and at the garden party on S_aturday week. The Sunday School festival will be held next Sunday, and the celebrations will conclude on the following Sunday with a sacramental service in the evening. A Bible Class rally has been arranged for the afternoon.

An increase of nearly 8 per cent, in the number of motor vehicles licensed in the Dominion is disclosed by the official figures for September 30, the grand total of vehicles being 192,844, compared with 178,652 a year ago. The registrations of cars has increased during this period in the North Island by 7.745, and in the South Island by 3,058. There has also, been a substantial increase in the number of commercial vehicles licensed’: North Island 2,523, South Island 1,285. Motor cycles, however, have decreased in number to the extent of 117 in the North Island, and 302 in the South. The increase in the number of motor cars is well distributed throughout the Dominion, the eighteen postal districts showing the following results: —Auckland, increase 2,550; Thames, 558; Hamilton, 1,044; Gisborne, 392; Napier, 321; New Plymouth, 412; Wanganui, 478; Palmerston North, 574; Wellington, 1,416; Nelson, 217; Blenheim, 53; Greymouth, 144; Westport, 28: Christchurch, 995; Timaru, ; Oamaru, 183; Dunedin, 667; Invercargill, 539.

Refreshed by the rain of the last week, gardens and reserves in Ashburton are looking very well to-day. Lawns and trees have taken on a fresh greenness, and spring growth should be rapid if some warm weather follows the rain.

A child with a distinct eye to business, but at the same time anxious to comply with the law, inquired from the police at Auckland recently if it was necessary to have a license to collect “pennijes fqr the guy.” On being told that there was no such requirement, he was apparently satisfied, and presumably commenced collecting in anticipation of November 5.

Due recognition had to he given to the work of'the leaders in educational matters in the past, but there was a great need for a general change from methods of standardisation, said Mr W. Gray, speaking to the Palmerston North Rotary Club. Mr Gray, who has been for some years the principal of a leading secondary school in Melbourne, urged that a new system of education would have to he developed, a system which allowed the personal development of the individual child.

During the last six months there has been a remarkable increase in the number of radio listeners’ licenses, the total reached on September 30 being 175,290, which is in excess of the total of March 31. by 22,801, representing an increase of nearly 15 per cent. Including dealers’ and 367 free licenses, the grand total now stands at 117,683. Every part of the {Dominion contributes to this progress, listeners’ licenses being distributed as follows:—Auckland, 54,040 (increase in six months 7,402); Canterbury, 31,867 (4,075); Otago, 24,342 (3,378),; and Wellington, 65,041 ,(7,946).

The .bell of the railway station at Kroonstad, Orange Free State, which was “removed” about May, 1901, during the Boer War, and which has been used ever since to summon members of the South; African War Veterans’ Association to their annual reunion at Timaru, is on its way back to South Africa. The prime movers in the escapade which led to the “removal” of the bell were members of tlie South Canterbury Contingent. One man who was concerned in the escapade says that the bell was removed from the.station to hold up a: train while the perpetrators 'attended a boxing match arranged between Lieutenant “X,” a Liverpool man, and one of the Boers of the Kroonstad commands. The search made for the missing bell held the party up long enough to enable them to see the fight. The bell returns to South Africa richer in sentiment and with the best wishes of all who knew it.