LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 97, 5 February 1936, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

In the Supreme Court at Timnrti yesterday probate was granted bv Mi Justice Northcroft in the following estates:—Maggie Stewart hechney (Westerfleld), Jiohnstcn (tinwald) and Henry Andeiton (Asl burton). A Dunedin Press Association telegram states that the Returned Soldiers’ Asscciation carried a resoluDo protesting against the Citj Court granting permits for pictures to be shown on Anzac Day. While flying tests were being made ;\t Reddon Park, Hamilton, with a special type of model aeroplane, known as the “pusher” model, owned by \lfred Leong, the small craft readied a great height and disappeared in the direction of the Waikato River. Efforts were made to fellow the plane, but it was not located. The committee of the Hampstead Women’s Institute met in the Memorial Hall on Monday. Final arrangements were made for the annual picnic to be held in the Tinwald Domain next Wednesday. The programme for 193 b was discussed, and left for the president and secretary to draw up and present at the next meeting on February 20.

The question of a park, or playing area, for the use of residents of the Hampstead district of the Borough was briefly discussed at the meeting of the executive cf the Advance Ashburton Asscciation Inst evening, and gave full support to the proposals that are to ho advanced to the Borough Council by the Memorial Hall Society on behalt of ratepayers. It was decided to give the district every support in its power in forwarding the scheme.

When sunshine figures for New Zealand were published recently, revealing that Ashburton was only the 28th sunniest place in the list of 31 weather stations, surprise was expressed by some local residents. The theory was advanced that the Ashburton totals were lower than the actual figure because, particularly during the evening, the sunshine recording instrument in the Domain is shaded by the tall trees growing nearby. This view is supported by the curator of the Domain (Mr H. P. Clayton) who stated that a number of minutes were probably lost every evening through the shadow of the trees, and this would result in hours being lost yearly.

At a meeting of the vestry of St. Stephen’s Church last evening a vote of thanks was accorded Mr E. M. Gabites.for having designed and supervised the erection of the new. Anglican Church, at Fairton. The Success of Ashburton Lodge, U.A.0.D., met on Monday evening, Sister A. Hawke,s presiding. The hards’ report was received, and sick pay passed, for payment. An invitation from the Lily of Temuka Lodge to attend the installation of the District President was accepted. It was decided to hold quarter night on Tuesday, February 18. The Ashburton railway yards presented, a bright appearance this morning, owing to the arrival of a number of carriages which had been painted and overhauled ’at the Addington railway workshops. Owing to the convenient distance from Christchurch, Ashburton is usually made the terminus of the trial run for these carriages before they are put into active service. The ideal weather for pasture growth that has been experienced during the last month (says the “Waikato Times’’) is not appreciated by all farmers. While at this time last year pastures were practically bare sheep farmers are now complaining that there is tco much pasture for their lambs. The abnormal conditions have caused the fat lamb trade to “tail off” unusually early this year, and the shortage of stock has resulted in an advance of id for all grades in the lamb schedule. Discovering an Alsatian dog Worrying his father’s sheep, a. young pnstoralist in the district hastened to the place in his car. A shot at the dog missed, and like a flash the Alsatian attacked the man, Avho unfortunately had no other cartridges. In the nick of time the pursued jumped into his sedan car, leaving the dog in charge with temporary victory. Later the Alsatian was dispatched with scant ceremony. Building activity in Invercargill city and suburbs continues to show improvement. At the present time (says the “Southland Times”) the building and. allied trades are being kept fully occupied, this state of affairs being reflected in the number of permits issued by the eity engineer’s department for the month of January. All counted, 42 permits, representing £16,478 worth of work, were issued. In January, 1935, the amount of building work in hand was £12,045. The 42 pqrmits for the month just concluded were made up as follows:—New dwellings, 15 permits, £13,036; additions, 8, £6OB ; new business premises and additions k 7, £2706; miscellaneous, 12, £127. “Denmark is the natural larder of Britain . . . Britons have always enjoyed Danish bacon, butter and eggs . . Denmark is the collaborator in Britain’s expansion.” These announcements are blazoned by the Danes in English newspapers with such prominence that they almost seem to be true. The Danish propaganda first began in an intensive form in the grim year of 1931, when Great Britain was struggling desperately to reduce the adverse balance of trade. It was conducted by a body of Danish land-own-ers called the Twelve Men’s Union. These persuasive Danes were trying to answer in advance an awkard point, which was bound tc- come up Avhe'never they should ask Great Britain to continue to take their produce. The point Avas that Britain already bought £53,000,000 from them in 1930, though Denmark took only £10,000,000 from Britain.

A brilliant meteor which for a moment transformed night into day, was seen by Mr Reg. Martin-Smith, of Haumcana, at 3.45 the other morning in the western sky. Mr MartinSmith had jnst finished milking, and was’ walking from the milking sheds when (says the “Hawke’s Bay Herald”) there was a brilliant flash behind him, similar to what one sees when a flashlight photograph is taken. It was, of course quite dark at that time of the morning, but everything became lit up for that brief time. He was quite startled and on turning round the vivid brightness had faded, but in the sky there remained for fully a minute a" belt of brightness covering a wide expanse of sky, which, Mr Martin-Smith said, was easily a third of the arc in that quarter of the sky. He had, never seen anything so startling, and his first, thought was that it was a comet.

“Ever seen a seagull ‘register surprise’?” asked a returned holiday maker. “Well, I have, and I only wish I had had, a film camera to record it.” He explained' (reports the “Auckland Star”) that he was knocking ah old gclf ball about on Little Oneroa Beach at low tide, and lost the ball among the big boulders at the end of the foreshore. He had ceased to worry about it, and was resting on the sand when his attention was attracted by the curious behaviour of a gull. It had picked the ball up, evidently mistaking it for a nice round pipi, and was dropping it on the rocks to break it. At first the ball fell on a strip of sand, and did not bounce much, but at the second attempt it landed on hard rock, and leaped about a dozen feet in the air. Then the bird decided that there was something very unusual about its catch, and.it certainly “registered surprise” as it sidled, up to the ball and cocked its head to inspect it. A poke or two with its beak evidently decided the bird that the rcund white object would not be much good to eat anyway, and it marched away. Incidentally it had acted as an excellent caddie by finding the lost ball for its owner.

When a Now Plymouth Bowing Club oarsman lost a set of false teeth _in the sea while practising on November 18 and found his lonely patrols up and down the beach after each tide in vain, he gave up the teeth as lest. Fate has decreed otherwise, however, and on Friday last the young man acquired a spare denture —his original set after they had been swallowed by a fish, states an exchange. It happened that when the teeth sank in the deep waters of the port they were spied by an adult gurnard. Being an enterprising fish, hut ignorant, lie swallowed the “mouthful.” Although he was thus distinguished as being one of the few finned creatures with false teeth he did not leave his home town, but continued liis everyday life round the piles of New Plymouth's wharves. On Friday, however, he took tht bait, of a fisherman sitting on Newton King Wharf and was hauled out and prepared for supper. In his stomacn tiie teeth were found, scarcely altjrod i.i appearance in spite of their work in aiding the digestion of a fish’s food, and restored to their astonished (v.'i.ei.

The New Zealand Railway Department sight-testing van arrived in Ashburton this morning after a trial run from Addington, where it has been renovated. The van is used for testing railway employees for colour blindness and eyesight defects, but members oi the Ashburton staff who were tested a year ago, will not be examined, for two more years.

Work on the large hangar for Union Airways, Ltd., and. the adjacent administrative building at Milsom aerodrome, Palmerston North, will soon be finished. Only tihe hanging o,f the half-ton door sections, the glazing of the windows, painting and odd finishing work remain to be dene. The building (says an exchange) represents a capital outlay of some £16,000, apart from expenditure by the Public Works (Department on the improvement of the flying field.

An interesting coincidence occurred the other day, at the A.A.A. motor camp at Ramarama, Great South Road, at the foot of the Bombay hills. Calling in for a short stay with touring car, and caravan, a Rotorua resident learned that the camp was on the site of the farm owned by the picneer settler who was instrumental in arranging migration of the Bombay settlers. His own grandfather (says the ‘‘Auckland Star”) had been one of these settlers, although he had left the district many years previously, and with his family had since resided in other parts of the North Island. The visitor, in fact, found, that he was standing on a spot where often his grandparents must have stood over 70 years ago, in the early days of the settlement of Auckland Province.

“I consider it is fully time we should forget the Great War and what happened immediately before, during and after it,” said Colonel J. L. Sleeman, chief commissioner of St. John Ambulance Brigade, Overseas, at a civic reception in Palmerston North. “We old soldiers are too prone to sit down and talk as if the whole history of the world was made during those four eventful years,” he continued. “It is full time we realised we must not live in the past, or on the past, but must live up to things as they exist tc-day, or as they may exist to-morrow. Other nations, not because they have greater vitality, but because they were in a worse position, have had to face realities, with the result that, with almost exaggerated patriotism, they are coming up the gap, while we, like an ostrich, are sitting down.”