LOCAL AND GENERAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 27, 13 November 1935, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

An. unusual event —the reading and confirmation of minutes eight y®. ai ® old—took <j>laee at, the annual meeting of the Hamilton branch of the Bible-in-Schools’ League (states the Waikato Times”). The meeting was the first at which officers had been appointed since the inaugural meeting m 1927, although; the [league had been active in the intervening' period.

The Hon. J. G. Cobbe (Minister for Defence) is to ask the Cabinet to consider making provision which win allow a territorial soldier tc» claim compensation in the event of injury to himself or his horse during attendance at a military camp. The present regulations of the New Zealand Forces make this impossible. The Ministei .thinks such compensation wn■ e granted (says a Press Association telegram).

A swarm of bees on the wall, close to the main door caused the children of the Havelock School (Marlborough) to spend the first hour of the afternoon one day last week working in the grounds, as the head teacher considered that a large number of children passing so near might annoy the bees and cause some of the children to be stung. The bees had become quieter 1) V two o’clock, and work went on as usual. At the end of the afternoon the swarm was still clustered thickly at the peak of the gable.

A Press Association message from Palmerston North states that the Minister of. Pensions (the Rt. Hon. J. G: Cobbe) stated yesterday that it was recently arranged to pay pensions and family allowances on (December 20. Now it- had. been decided to make the payment on December 19 owing to an acceleration of the departmental work involved. The Minister said pensioners would 'he glad to get this information, especially as those totally- dependent on this source would have ready cash several days before Christmas.

Speaking at the Presbyterian General Assembly at Wellington yesterday the treasurer said there was still , a reluctance on the part of congregations to repay loans (says a Piess Association telegram). Presbyteries were not realising that loans at a cheap rate of interest were only available it repayments were made regularly. If Presbyteries wished to secure the benefit of assistance from the New Century Fund they must insist on the honouring of their agreements.

Dr Elizabeth Gunn (medical officer of schools for the Wanganui Education Board), when lecturing recently under the auspices of the Plunket Society, sai'd there appeared to be a wave ot hysteria in the Wanganui district. She said she did not object to adults following starvation cures an cl #J. having meatless days, vegetable days, and other “ess” days, but she did object to children being put on such treatment. She would.like to impress on parents the necessity for giving children fresh milk, meat, vegetables, bread and butter. She had found some children attending schools and trying to do a day’s work on an orange, half an apple, oi- a lettuce lunch, and being sick in school and falling ill and fainting. “Beware of fads for children,” she said, in emphasising the value of milk. She suggested that farmers, when sending cream to a factory, should provide a gallon of skim milk daily for distribution among children in the towns. By doing this it would be found in six months that neople got so used to' plenty of milk that they would not do without it, and children would materially benefit.

• Greens on the Ashburton golf links were very favourably commented upon by H. R.'Blair, the Christchurch Golf Club’s professional, who played a round on the course last week. He admired the beauty of the links, and said the greens greatly impressed him, one in particular being the best he had seen for some years. Blair intends to visit Ashburton again in the near future and spend a day on the links.

Visitors and residents of Te Aroha who have lately climbed Te Aroha Mountain (states the “Waikato Times”)} have noticed that considerable damage has keen-done to large areas of trees by herds of goats. The damage .is noticeable .on-the -younger; trees, and many oil the larger., ones have been effectively -ting-barked* It has been found'that the animals are particularly partial to youngkauri heads of trees, many of which bear a stunted appearance consequent upon their crowns being eaten out. It is intended to place the matter before the Acclimatisation Society.

A number of people in Auckland have suffered lately from sudden and unaccountable loss of voice, without the usual accompaniment of a bad cold or apparent attack of influenza. A throat specialist stated that such cases had been rather common some weeks ago, but he had not encountered any of late. The cause was generally an influenza infection, so mild that the patient failed to identify it. If the subject was susceptible to threat affections, the . attack might have no noticeable effect except to weaken the muscles of the larynx or otherwise to interfere with the mechanism of speech.

Political candidates in some of the southern electorates are experiencing a much more strenuous campaign than that of their fellow-candidates in most other centres. In the Mid-Canterbury and Temukn electorates, for instance, meetings of electors are held only inthe evenings, but in the Clutha electorate the. meetings are held at all hours of the day. The meetings of one candidate for four days commencing to-day were scheduled as follow: — Wednesday—2 p.m., 3.30 p.m., 7 p.m., 8.30 p.m. Thursday —9.30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12.30 p.m., 2 p.m., 7 p.m., 8.30 p.m. Friday—lo.3o a.m., 2 p.m., 6.30 p.m., 8.30 p.m. Saturday—lo.3o a.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 8.15 p.m. The other candidate was scheduled to address 14 meetings in the same four days.

Humorous reference to the habit apparent in a number c-f countries of frequently changing place-names is contained in a letter which a Napiev man has received from Mr C. H. Wilkie, of Napier, who is at present on a world tour. After mentioning that the new name for Pekin is Peiping, and that Manchuria is now known as Manchukuo, Mr Wilkie states: “From Dairen (in Manchukuo) to Berlin they seem to alter the names of places every week or two, and it is 'hard to keep pace with it. All the uncivilised countries do it, but Russia is not the worst. The old names of ancient fjpwns we learned in our school days are no good now, as they name a place after the chairman of the dustmen’s union, or someone like that, and when he gets a bit out of hand and is sent to Siberia, they re-name the town after the secretary.”

It is no unusual thing for New Zealanders to return from trips abi oad with stories of the people they met who had exceedingly vague ideas as to the whereabouts and nature of this place called New Zealand. But the worst slight of all comes from Germany, which country • publishes an astronomical almanac called the- ‘ Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch” which omits New Zealand altogether from its map. This map is drawn for the annular eclipse of the sun which' takes place next Boxing Day, and which wiU be partially visible ,in New Zealand in the early hours of the morning. Although New! Zealand is one of the few inhabited countries m which this eclipse will be visible, the South, Pole getting the best view of it, yet New Zealand is invisible on the map which purports to show the eclipse s path.

The legal position that a person was entitled to assume that nothing was going to cross in front of a tram at all closely while the tram was moving was mentioned by Mr Justice Fair at the Supreme' Court in Auckland during the hearing of a damages claim arising out of a collision between two motor-cars. Tn tbe action which concluded last week. Mrs Doris Mildred North, of Remuera road, claimed £4OO general and £23 special damages from W illiam Mattson, motor driver. She was a passenger in her husband’s motor-car which, crossed over the intersection oi Market and 'Great South Roads in front of a moving city-hound tram. The defendant’s motor-car had stopped alongside the tram and moved off with the latter vehicle, and just after passing it collided with plaintiffs cai, which had crossed in front ox the tram The motorman of the latter vehicle stated in evidence-that lie had to put his brakes on. to allow plaintiff’s car to cross in front of him. A Full Court judgment in favour of a cyclist in similar circumstances to the defendant was quoted by counsel for the defendant. The Court had held that the cyclist, who had moved off with the car, was justified in-believing that, the road was clear and that anv vehicle approaching from tbe right would give. way. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant. and judgment , was. entered accordingly.

It was with light hearts and the anticipation of an enjoyable day before them that a young couple left thenhome in the suburbs of Dunedin early on Sunday morning to catch the excursion train to Timaru. Unfortunately, they missed, by only a, few seconds, the bus that would have conveyed them to the station. The hasty use of several pennies in a slot telephone finally summoned a taxi to.their aid, and they boarded the train with a few minutes to spare, but with their spirits somewhat damped by the unexpected expenditure of three shillings: But worse to come later in the day. A second 'taxi, commissioned to land them at the Timaru station- at 4.55' n.m., arrived just as the express glided gracefully away on it,s. long- journey south.:' ' Then: followed a hectic clash by car in an endeavour to catch the train at its next stop-—Stiidholme Junction. The 27 milds were- covered at a speed that would have offended the eyes of a traffic inspector, th_e overworked taxi pulling up on the wrong side of the station just as the engine began to move. A wild dive through a double gate, a short sprint across four sets of railway tracks and the nlatform, and the young man and his girl friend flung themselves, breathless and embarrassed, into a carriage as it quickly gathered speed. Their only consolation was the fact that, as the taxi company was the cause of the missed express, the fare came to the small sum of two shillings.

Asked the correct procedure to adopt if bitten by a katipo spider, Dr. F. S. McLean (medical officer of health in Wellington) stated that the actual danger of a katipo bite was generally exaggerated. The bite was very seldom fatal, but might be painful and distressing, The wound should be sucked and encouraged to bleed freely, and the most readily obtainable remedy \vas a strong solution of ammonia, which should be freely applied.

How the spread of electric power was displacing the use of candles was referred to by Mr E. W. Evans (chairman of directors of the Union Oil, Soap and Candle Company, Ltd.) at the annual meeting of shareholders at Auckland. Sales of all manufactured lines, with the exception .of candles, had been well maintained, lie said. The Domiijjon was reticulated from the Far North to the Bluff, with the obvious result that, electric lighting must eventually supersede candles, thereby ending an industry which had been carried on in New Zealand for 60 years.

Grand Chapter Court ' No. 1 (A.0.F.), met on Monday evening, the G.C.R. (Bro. J. E. Meaelem) presiding. Court Star of Rakaia invited the Chapter to visit it on December 11, and to conduct the. installation of officers. An invitation was also received, from Grand, Chapter No 2 to attend its meeting at iPapanni on December 7. Regarding the proposed new rules,; the-? Grand Chapter in New South: Wales advised that it was mooted to admit as honorary Chapter members, any Court members who had belonged to a Court for 15 years or more. The Chapter also: invited Ashburton members to attend its meetings if in Australia. It was resolved to send a copy of the letter to the Grand Chapter No 2 for consideration.