LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 90, 26 January 1938, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A party of howlers travelled from Christchurch this morning to take part in a match for superannuated railway servants. The howlers were joined at Ashburton by C. J. McEaehen and J. E. Carter.

Through striking a cow on the line near Mangamaire, about four miles from Pahiatua, a railcar bound from Wocdville to Wellington was derailed, the front pair of wheels leaving the line. The car was crowded with passengers, but none was injured, nor was the vehicle damaged. The cow was killed. After about an. hour the railcar was jacked back on to the line and proceeded on its journey.

‘‘ln Germany the people are very motor-minded,” said Mr W. J. PStack, of Sydney, a through passenger by the Monterey, which arrived at Auckland on Friday. Herr Hitler had made it his business to encourage motoring in every possible way by the building of wonderful arterial roads at a great price, Mr Stack added. He had also practically eliminated all motor-taxation and no licence fee was charged.

To endeavour to secure some funds to send the Ashburton Silver Band to the Dominion contest at Palmerston North, the band placed a collection box at a post on the corner of East Street. The first time the box was opened the response was disappointing. All that was received was three rubber rings. On the next occasion a few pennies were found, and on the third: a. shilling and a sixpence. The band hopes that increasingly large donations will be found on future occasions.

An Auckland nonagenarian, Mrs W. Bell, of Epsom, made her first flight in an aeroplane yesterday as a passenger by Union Airways to Wellington (says a (Press Association ’telegram). She enjoys good health and travels frequently, visiting relatives. She decided to visit her son in Wellington and came to the conclusion that flying was the quickest and most comfortable form or transport. She has lived in Auckland for seventy-five years, her husband having served in the Maori Wars.

With the works at full time as at present there was a very real danger every morning and evening to,the large number of men who cycled to and from Ashburton along the bitumen strip oi the main road, said Mr H. E. Herring, M.P., yesterday in remarking that although the Public Works Department had notified its willingness to construct a track east of the main south railway line for cyclists to and from the freezing works at Fairfield, it would not be able to carry this out for some time. If some way could he found to have the work done at once that danger would he removed, hut the department had pressing major work.

Not infrequently are coins picked up from streets, paths, and gutters, but a half-crown piece, almost black and. with its surface worn smooth by the constant movement of sand and the sea, was recently discovered on the shingle t bank of the Makafewa River by an Invercargill resident, states the “Southland Times.” Found lying only a few inches from the water’s edge, the coin must have been lest for a considerable time and received much washing, for its milled edge was perfectly smooth and the raised surface of the coin, when the discolouration had been removed, was found to he almost worn away. The only feature that was quite distinct was the date—--1875.

The executive of the Associated Chambers of Commerce at its meeting in Wellington yesterday resolved to protest to the Government against giving a monopoly to the railway workshops in the supply of steel furniture, not only to Government departments, but also tc contractors to the Government, who apparently were not allowed to secure their supplies from any other source. The meeting considered it would, be a better guarantee of efficiency in the railway workshops, and economy in the expenditure of the taxpayers’ money, if the workshops were allowed to tender for such supplies in competition with outsiders, as recommended bv the Railways Commission of 1930.

The Northland District Pig Council oppose the new grading regulations, which are shortly to come into force, without the length of carcass being taken into account. Tho following telegram was sent to tho DirectorGeneral of Agriculture:—“The Northland Pig Council views with alarm the gazetting of the pig grading regulations on February 1, with the total disregard of length, and respectfully suggests that the gazetting be postponed until an opportunity is given to .submit further evidence on the necessity of including length in the regulations.” The secretary stated that grading without length was a retrograde step, and it would be a big mistake to allow the regulations to he gazette as they stood.

There is every indication that the output of honey throughout the Doininion this year will be generally good and the market very favourable, said Mr J. Rentoul, manager of the New Zealand Honey Control Board, recently. He said that the short supply caused by the failure last year had left both the* local and expert markets bare of ilioney, and there was little likelihood of a glut. According to reports from officers attached to the Department of Agriculture in various parts of the country, the outlook for apiarists seemed most hopeful, said Mr Rentoul. In the North Auckland district this season, for example, beekeepers were extracting honey early in November, when normally the time for extraction was some weeks later.

A severe explosion occurred shortly after 6 o’clock on Friday morning in a, firebox of one of the two ovens in Mr E. V. Heffernan’s bakery adjoining the Borough Council Chambers in Haszard Street, Waihi, states a correspondent. The oven was wrecked, bricks being blown in all directions, ancl the iron front of the even, weighing more than three tons, was shifted nearly five inches from its foundations. The other oven was not damaged sufficiently to prevent its being used. Mr Heffernau and two assistants, who were working in the bakehouse at the time, had a remarkable escape from injury. A fire broke out, but was extinguished without difficulty. The cause of the explosion is not known, but an official of the School of Mines was of t'he opinion that the only feasible explanation was the presence of water gases. The stock was not damaged to any extent.

Because of a breakdown in the electrical equipment in the Lyttelton Tunnel, there was a. considerable delay in rail traffic to-day. The south-hound express arrived in Ashburton 40 minutes late.

The Dutch broadcasting station PCJ recently sent out a. broadcast concert and offered. 50 radio sets to persons who named the greatest number, of nations that heard the broadcast ana distance at which the concert could he heard. A message picked up from the station this morning by an Ashburton listener stated that four New Zealanders had each now a set.

The Mayor.of Gore (Mr A. D. Newman) announced on Monday evening that the Government was indebted to the Gore electricity consumers for approximately £6OOO, as overcharge for current since December, 1932 (says a Press Association message). The agreement then negotiated had been violated to date, he said, and the arbitrators’ verdict favoured the Gore consumers.

Grass is being chipped from some of the footpaths in several Ashburton streets at the present time and the result is a much tidier appearance. A number of paths on the east side of the Borough have 1/een .similarly dealt with, and where chipping has not been carried out, the horse mower has been at work keeping down the heavy growth of grass, which has been more prolific this summer than for many years.

A remarkable escape from injury was experienced, by a child in an unusual accident in West Street yesterday. The child was sitting in a trailer drawn behind a motor-car, and as the car went over several bumps the trailer broke loose, and, fortunately with the child’s weight at the rear, tilted backwards, continued along the road, ’ and finally came to rest with a jerk that threw the child on to the road. The child was not injured and seemed more amused, than anything else at the incident.'

Reports of drinking among Maoris on the Wanganui River are viewed with concern by members of the Hospital Board, and at the monthly meeting a committee was appointed to discuss the question and bring forward a recommendation to the next meeting. A recent discussion was the outcome of reports received from a health officer, stating that long distances were sometimes travelled to attend Maori “patients” who proved to be cases ot drunkenness.

Almost complete, and in an excellent state of preservation, a skeleton has been unearthed on the coast not far from Napier. It is believed to be that of a female Maori, and it is considered to have been lying in the earth less than 100 years. The discovery was made by two men, whose attention was caught by hones which they believea to be human lying on the. foreshore. After digging a few minutes, they uncovered the skeleton, which was resting two feet under loose sand and about 200 yards from the water’s edge. Only a few hones were missing. The lower jawbone contained an almost complete set of teeth.

An interesting photograph has been received h,y a Palmerston North resident from a friend who is now in South Africa, the view showing a pair of lions on the side of a road. The photograph was taken in the Kruger Bark, an area of many thousands of acres set aside for the preservation of native game. The scene was taken from the inside of a motor-car, and the animals are seen quite at ease, only about a chain ahead of the vehicle. In the course of a speech at the Rotary Club in Palmerston North some time ago, his Honor Mr Justice Ostler referred to the same matter, and explained that the animals in the park were extraordinarily tame, many not taking the slightest notice of traffic on the roads through the reserve..

The statement was made at the meeting of the Hutt Park Committee last week that families of men who came to Wellington from Great Britain to work on the State housing scheme were now living in tents at the motor camp, as they were unable to find houses or rooms. Some suggestion was made that the firm who brought these people out to New Zealand had sent them to camp at Hutt Park, and Mr C. J. Ashton described this as “a piece of impudence.” The secretary (Mr H. Firth) reported that these “permanent” campers, comprising three families, would not he much longer at the camp. They wouldf be asked to leave after the four weeks stipulated in the by-laws as the length of stay for campers had expired.

Pedestrians in Ashburton do not yet realise the significance of the specially painted crossings in the business area. On those crossings., the pedestrian lias the right of way, provided he is not loitering, and the motorist must give way, but while some motorists have pulled up to allow pedestrians to cross, the latter have stopped or stepped, hack and waited for the motorist to proceed. This is wrong. At the same time some motorists do not take notice of the special crossings and dash across to the peril of pedestrians who take the safety zone for granted. A good deal of impatience lias been shown by these motor drivers, demonstrated by a vigorous pressing on the horn button. In the cities motorists who fail to give way to pedestrians on the special crossings are severely dealt with.

The small drinking fountain that lias stood on the edge of the footpath in East Street for many years has been removed in the course of construction work that is going on at the southern end, of the Courthouse section, and it is not known if it will be put back. The fountain has been a nuisance in many ways because heavy winds have carried the water far out on to the path and sometimes children, and even young men have squirted the water far and wide by pressing a finger over the vent at the* top of the pipe. At the same time it was about the only place in Ashburton where a child could get a drink without paying for it, and the seemingly unquenchable thirst of children is known to every mother who takes little ones on a shopping outing. A suggestion has been made that the fountain should be re-erected on one of the lawns, but that would involve children having to cross a busy street to reach it.

Mr E. Cholerton, of Messrs .1. K. Procter, Ltd., Christchurch, is at present in Ashburton, and may be consulted on all defects of eyesight at the Somerset Hotel to-morrow and Friday. —(Advt.)