LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 71, 6 January 1936, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Railway bookings from Ashburton yesterday were heavy, 395 people travelling on the two excursion trams to Timaru and one to Christchurch. lhe summer timetable for excursion trains on Sunday was begun yesterday.

A partv which was camped at Ringway for the holidays was fishing 111 the Aparima River one evening (states the Otautau correspondent of the "Southland Times") and hooked a large eel, which turned the scale at 331 b. The eel was photographed, and was an object of curiousity to those in the vicinity.

\ flatfish spear with a powerful electric light fitted near its point has been used with marked success by an Auckland electrician at Kawakawa Bay (North Auckland) during the holidays. The light illuminates the bottom from beneath the surface of the water and the fish are easily detected, the usual handicap cf a vivid reflection, when an ordinary torch is used, being eliminated.

Two calls to rubbish fires were received by the Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade during the week-end. Fire starting through hot ashes in a rubbish pit catching adjoining dry grass endangered a young pine plantation 111 the river bed off ' William Street at 430 p.m. on Saturday. The brigade answering its first call of the year, promptly checked the flames, preventing damage to the plantation, which is owned by the Ashburton Borough Council. An outbreak in grass on the edge of the Domain rubbish dump near the corner of West Street and Wa nut Avenue resulted in a further call at 6 o'clock last evening. A considerable portion was burned before the arrival of the brigade.

After a periodical trip to America and Britain, Mr A. L. Webb, a radio expert of Melbourne, said in an interview at Auckland that automobile radios were becoming extremely popular in the United States. He had studied the relationship between radio and aviation. Tse radio beacon and the radio compass were two methods employed in America for aiding navigation, and one or other of the systems would have to be adopted in Australia and New Zealand also, to aid pilots in night flying and flying in bad weather. When he left Australia several months ago they had made no move in the matter, but radio beacons or compasses were essential before any definite and regular air services could be established. Blind flying instruments were highly developed in America, and the pilots were well trained in their use.

Letters bearing novel stamps have recently been received by Mr P. It. Shine, of Arcadia Road, Epsom, Auckland. The letters came from Christmas Island, which is situated just north of the equator. The island is leased by Central Pacific Coconut Plantations, Ltd., and mail is delivered there only about twice a year. The company runs a special mail boat service at irregular intervals, and for this it issues its own stamps and uses its own cancellation mark. The stamps are issued in denominations of five cents and 10 cents. Both have the same design, shewing a schooner off a palm-fringed beach, but there is a slight difference in the colours. The extent to which the island is "off the beaten track" is shown in that Mr Shine dispatched his request for letters bearing the company's stamps on February 2.

The condition of Mr R. Law, of Higlibank, who was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital on Thursday suffering from internal injuries as a result of a fall from a motor-truck at Methven, is reported to show a slight improvement.

Two windows in shops in- Ashburton were broken either late on Sunday night or early this morning. The windows were in the premises of Russell and Co., Ltd., Burnett Street, and M. Baker, East Street. Stones were found inside the windows, indicating'• the means of breaking. The holes made were not large.

While the Christmas bonus was being paid at the Ohdnemuri-"County Council's office to men in relief camps, one of the recipients offered 10s to an official, telling him to treat the staff. Ihe man revealed that he and three others in the camp had recently won £SOO in nn overseas sweepstake. He drew from his pocket a considerable roll of notes and told the official he would not be returning to camp after the holidays.

There was an interesting gathering on board the Orama at Wellington, when Dr. P. I>. Cameron and Mr P. M. Cameron, of Wellington, and Mr lan Cameron, of Masterton, were the guests at luncheon of Captain Evan Cameron, R.N.R., commander of the ship. The members of the party discussed a movement which it is hoped to make world-wide —the organising ot members of the Clan Cameron in every country into fraternal links under the headship of Cameron of Lochiel.

A much larger dance hall will be made available to the public, with the completion of alterations, costing £750, to the Orange Hall, Tancred Street East, which have been commenced. An addition of 71 feet in length and 18 feet in width is being made on the western side, the present floor measuring about 60 feet by 30 feet. A lodge room 46 feet long and 18 feet wide is being added to the rear of the building. Mr W. J. Brown is the contractor. ,

A Press Association telegram from Thames states that Mr J. Thorn, M.P., stated on Saturday that the Minister for Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) was giving sympathetic consideration to a request for the early construction of the Thames aerodrome. Mr Semple had also undertaken to inquire into the representations for an aerodrome at Whangamata, the most southerly port on the eastern side of the Ccromandel Peninsula, 23 miles north-east of Waihi, Mr Thorn said that Mr Philip Williamson, a member of the Thames County Council and a resident of Whangamata, had offered a gift of 100 acres for the aerodrome site.

Although the pohutukawa, or New Zealand "Christmas tree" is well known to Aucklanders, there are many who are ignorant of its longevity and size to which it is possible for one of these trees to grow. On the property of Mr H. Williams, of Onetangi, Waiheke Island (states a correspondent of the "New Zealand Herald"), there is a pohutukawa with a. spread of 123 ft and estimated to be at least 150 years old. One of the large branches of this tree has grown in the form of a semi-circle until it has met the ground. At this point it has thrown off a number Of other large branches, making it appear that there are two trees, instead of only one. The tree, particularly when in full bloom, is visited by large numbers of holidaymakers to Waiheke.

As "captain of the great canoe known as the Labour Party," the Prime Minister ((the Hon. M. J. Savage) received a traditional . Maori welcome when ho visited the village of Orakei (Auckland) yesterday afternoon. It was the first time that Mr Savage had visited the Maoris in his capacity of Minister for Native Affairs. Representatives of tribes in the North and South Islands and other Maori organisations were associated in a welcome to him. Mr Savage received from the Orakei Maoris and representatives of tribes as far south as Taranaki an inkstand and pen on a native carved base, and Hia Hira, paramount chief of the Tamaki district, handed to him a Bible brought to New Zealand by Samuel Mnrsden, and a copy of the Treaty of Waitaugi, bound in bock form. ''l promise yon that the letter and spirit of the' Treaty of Waitangi will be kept by the first Labour Government that hiis had the privilege of honouring its contracts with the native race," said Mr Savage in reply.

Of four eclipses which will occur this year, three will be visible in the Dominion. On Thursday will occur the first phenomenon of 1936—a lunar eclipse, which will be visible in New Zealand. Umbral eclipse will begin at 4.28 a.m. completely immersed in the earth's shadow, and the totality will continue until 6.21 a.m. The moon will then be<nn to move out of the shadow. A total eclipse of the sun, scheduled for June 19, will not be visible in New Zealand, but on July 5 a partial eclipse of the moon will be seen. On this occasion slightly more than a quarter of the moon's apparent diameter will be obscured at maximum phase between 3.56 and 5.53 a.m. The annular eclipse of the sun, which will take place on December 14, will be seen only in Australia and New Zealand. Beginning at sunrise at Broome, Western Australia, the annular phase will be visible in the greater part of the Auckland province, while the rest of New Zealand, the greater part of Australia, and southern Pacific will see a partial eclipse.

Twenty inches in circumference, 603 feet long, and weighing 3 tons ldcwt, the largest Manila hemp rope ever manufactured in New Zealand has been delivered to the Auckland Harbour Board bv a firm which made it in its Dunedin factorv. Composed of four 6in. ropes, cable 'laid, this giant rope will be able to stand any strain up to somewhere between 130'and 140 tons before it breaks and it will be used for deep-sea towing by the Auckland Harbour Board's new tug William C. Daldy, which is due at Auckland from England about the middle of January. Also for the eouipment of the William C. Daldy, three other ropes smaller than the deep-sea towline, but still of unusual size, have been supplied by the same firm. The longest of these, a 16in rope 180 ft long, was made in the firm's Auckland factory, but the other two, a lOin and a 6in, each 720 ft long, are, like the 20in one, the product of the Dunedin factory because the hopewalk at the Auckland premises is too short for. them to be made there in one meco. The Dunedin ropewalk is 3floft longer. All four ropes are made of selected Manila fibre imported from the Philippine Islands, New Zealand flax having been declared bv the Marine Department to be unsuitable on the grounds that its breaking strain was lower and that it was less resistant to deterioration in salt water.

There was little sea fishing at the Mouth of the Ashburton river during the week-end on account of. a heavy sea, which has been running continuously for some days. Some good catches from fly and minnow were reported from upstream.

Picture programmes will be screened at the Majestic Theatre pn Saturdays and Mondays only in future. The new St. James "Theatre, being the permanent Fuller-Hayward house in Ashburton, will continue screening every night as usual. The management states that the population of Ashburton dees not justify two theatres being run except at week-ends and holiday times.

An accident, dependent on a coincidence of circumstances that would not happen in a thousand times, occurred on the south road not many miles from IDunedin. recently. A motor-cyclist, going from the city, was passed by a lorry loaded with coal and coming from the other direction. At the moment of passing, a shovel, resting on the coal, slipped from its place and dropped, blade first, on the mctor-cyclist's right hand gripping the handlebar, cutting three parts of the way through his" middle finger just above the nail. The lorry driver drove on, not knowing that he had lost his shovel. The motor-cyclist had his injured finger dressed at the nearest town.

Although arriving later than for the past couple of seasons, the white butterfly threatens to be a serious menace to gardens and green farm crops again this season in Taranaki. A few specimens of the pest have been seen about for some time (states the "Taranaki Herald"), but, during the past few days, in which the weather has been distinctly warmer, the hatching out of the grub has evidently been speeded up and the increase in the number of butterflies has been most noticeable. Gardeners in some instances have adopted the precaution of spraying with a solution of lettuce leaf water and other antidotes, but the ravages of the fly seriously menace crops of. the cabbage variety of vegetable.

The need for the Public Works Department to relieve the Unemployment Board of much of its present burden of wage commitments was emphasised by the Minister for Employment (the Hen. H. T. Armstrong) in an interview at Christchurch yesterday. Many Public Works jobs; he said, were being completely paid for by the board, which was even meeting the cost of materials as well as that of wages. Many of the jobs for which the board was thus paying would have had to be dene in any case, and it was not right that the cost of them should be met by the board. It should be remembered that before there was an Unemployment Board the Public Works Department employed thousands of men and found the money for their wages. Some form of adjustment was certainly necessary at the present time, Mr Armstrong said. If the Unemployment Board had continued the policy of putting thousands of men on full time rates of pay on Public Works it would have been bankrupt. The decision to lower the unemployment tax had been made against the wishes of the board, and had not been justified. That did not mean necessarily, however, that the tax was going to be raised. Additional taxation was another question altogether.