LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 211, 14 June 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

There was again a clean bill of health, in Ashburton Borough and Ashburton County this week.

Mr J. B. Ede, a teamster, employed by Mr H. Doak v of Seafield, was rolled on by a horse at the hunt at Newlands yesterday, and was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital. He was reported to be in a. very satisfactory condition this morning.

It is the intention of the Curator of the Ashburton Domain (Air D. H. Leigh) to plant in Baring Square 12 palms. These will greatly add to the beauty of the spot. Six are available in the Domain and one has been donated by a local resident. Mr Leigh strongly appeals to citizen to donate palm trees.

A"n innovation at the Ashburton Domain of educational value is the erection in conspicuous positions on trees of neat white boards bearing in black lettering .the name ,cf the tree in Latin and .English and the origin. This work is now- well advanced and gives a further interest to the Domain. It will no doubt be of value to school teachers and their pupils as well as to the general public.

“The Director of Educational Services of the Royal New Zealand Air Force has advised that he is taking advantage of the Board’s offer of rooms and equipment for the instruction of Air Force trainees, and classes will commence on July 1, under instructors appointed by his Department,” said Mr W. Crawford, (Principal of the Ashburton Technical High School) in his report to the Board last evening.

The following members of the Ashburton Technical High School Board of Managers will retire by rotation this year:— Mr H. Watts (representing parents), Air .S'- ’ Mitchell (Borough Council), Mr J. Shaw- (employers), Mr J. Lowery (County Council). An election for parents’ and for employers’ representatives will he held during August, according to a report presented to the Board last evening by the Principal (Air W. Craw-ford).

It is likely that the sun-dial will he erected in the Domain next week. This centennial memorial is to be placed in a sunny spot opposite the howling green. This area was previously in garden plots in the design of a millwheel, hut with the dial erected it will be necessary to completely change the lay-out and form a number of rectangular beds. The concreting and laying out of the base to receive the dial was in full swing to-day.

A social afternoon was held by the Alethodist Ladies’ Church Guild yesterday, when the Rev. A. Alcßean presided. Competitions w-ere held and items w-ere given by Mesdames J. Whyte, J. H. Millar, Misses L. Robinson and Alison Black. It was decided to make a grant of £5 to the new piano fund and to conduct a special effort for the same fund later on. The hostesses for the afternoon were Mesdames E. A. Amos, R<. Leask, N. J. Hosking, and K. G. Fowke.

“It is because we believe as we do,” said Archbishop AYcst-AVatson, preaching in St. Mary’s Cathedral, Auckland, on Sunday evening, “that even in the darkest days we say ‘His Kingdom cannot fail.’ If God has a use for this British Empire, this British civilisation, with all its faults, then Ho will not let it perish. And we offer ourselves to Him with all our failings, asking Him to use us for His glory in the long story of mankind’s growth in grace. AVe are sure that faith in nothing less than that Divine-human Saviour can ever lead men upward and onw-ard to the goal.”

Nigerian natives have a special facility for counterfeiting the currency, linked with sterling, that is used for all British possessions in West Africa, according to Mr W. M. Milliken, an Aucklander who is a member of the British Colonial Service in Nigeria. In an address yesterday to the Auckland Rotary Club he said that the coins were made of a bronze alloy that the natives were adept in counterfeiting. As a result a “security edge” had been introduced so the natives could not imitate the milling. However, within a fortnight of its introduction counterfeit coins with the edge complete were discovered.

An offer by the Fletcher Construction Company, -Ltd., to- the Government to eifect any military camp or hospital during the war at cost price—tha.t is, less the customary 1\ per cent, profit on which contractors work—was extended to the Auckland Hospital Board, and was promptly accepted for the erection of the new infirmary block at Epsom (says a Press Association telegram). A few days ago the company telegraphed its offer to the Prime Minister and received a reply acknowledging it as a. patriotic gesture, and intimating that the Government would accept it if and when required. “The company’s offer is not only a generous one, which will save the board and hence the public some, thousands of pounds, but it is further evidenfce of the wonderful patriotic spirit ruling in Auckland at the present time,” said the chairman (Mr Allan Moody). “The hoard’s loan authority of £200,000 to cover the cost of the; whole block has been approved by the Local Government Loans Board.”

American opinion on the present w T ar is summed up by a United States business man in a letter to a friend in Dunedin. “Needless to state,” the letter says, “not only are our sympathies with the Allies, but our very existence, we feel, lies in their success. Naturally the war is the sole topicof conversation here, and there seems to be a very definite opinion throughout the length, and breadth of the country that we must immediately furnish tiie Allies with every material assistance possible.” A radio commentator had stated, the letter continued, that hundreds of thousands ol letters had been received by members of Congress, expressing sentiments of that nature and particularly urging that the Johnson Act and the Cash and Carry Bill should bei repealed. The commentator had added that practically none of the letters had expressed any contrary sentiments and that he therefore expected that Congress would takei an unequivocal stand, which the writer presumed, would mean that Americawould abandon its position of neutrality and assume one of non-belligerency. A recent speech by the President, it was felt, would result in additional funds for defence and a consolidation of the pro-Allied feeling of the country.

A ; Labour- Legislation Suspension Order gazetted last night enables the 40-hour week at Wilson Timber Mills, Ltd., Te Wliaiti, Whakatane County, to be waived. The new extended hours and rates of pay are to be agreed upon between the employers and the workers. This action is taken because of the urgent nature of the work carried on at the mills.

As it is getting late in the season for the planting of spring flowers, the putting in of plants in preparation for the spring display of tulips and forget-me-nots and their similar flowiers in Baring Square is being pushed ahead with before any other work is attempted. Ooncreting of the paths will not be started for some time.

The port of Auckland was closed at 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon, and all shipping was at a standstill until shortly before 9 o’clock. Ttie; sailing of two harbour vessels was held up. The Auckland naval control authorities stated that tiie reason for closing the port was to enable exercises to be carried out. On completion of the exercises, traffic was resumed.

Londoners, listening in to 8.8. C. broadcasts of concerts in. London, had been surprised that reception was Somewhat blurred, stated the noted English tenor, Mr Heddle Nash, in addressing- an Auckland gathering. The reason was that the concerts were relayed by land line to secret stations perhaps in the north of Scotland or in the south of Ireland, he said. Elaborate precautions had been taken by the 8.8. C. to guard against the vital transmitting gear being damaged by enemy action.

With social security benefits now being obtained a number of recipients of lelief from the Auckland Hospital Board are no longer in need of this assistance. An indication that these people have not been unappreciative of the help received from the Belief Department of the hospital is shown by letters which have been forwarded to the board. Typical of a number of cases is a letter from one woman, who said: “Now that I am granted £1 a week I am sending you these few lines to thank you one and all for the kindness you' have extended to me in the past many years.”

An interesting programme of nictures was shown to pupils and parents at the Assembly Hall of the Ashburton High School on Wednesday evening. The following films were shown: — News Parade of 1939: Scuttling of the Graf Spee- “Islands of Romance” (dealing with Samoa —a New Zealand Tourist Department film); “Liquid Air” (an educational picture): “New York” (a travelogue); “Holland (Days” (a comic film showing a new way of making cheese); “The Dark Hour” (the main film taking up the second half of the programme—a detective film).

A doctor who was called as a : witness by the police in a case of alleged intoxication in charge of a car heard in the Magistrate’s Court at Wellington, was ordered out of the witness box by Mr J. L. Stout, S.M. The doctor, who was giving evidence about the condition of the defendant, gave the opinion expressed in a medical re nor t which he produced and stated that his finding was based mainly on the appearance of the defendant’s signature. He then added he had since rung up an official of the defendant’s union and had been assured that'the defendant’s signature was always of a scrawling nature. In consequence, he would have to modify his finding. After the doctor had answered several questions put to him by the Bench, the Magistrate said he trusted that the police would not call the witness in again as he could not give evidence. His statements about the telephone conversation were mere heresay evidence. “It looks as if you have been got at,” the Magistrate) said to the witness. “You had better get out of the box. I don’t want to hear anything more.” The witness then left the Court.