LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 250, 30 July 1940, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Another fire broke out in a niacrocarpa. hodgei last evening on the frontage of an empty section, on the Alford Forest Road owned by Mr J. McCormick. The Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade extinguished the fire.

The S'fc. Andrew’s Church Life-Boys raised about £3 for patriotic purposes when they held a special effort last evening in St. Andrew’s Hall. The evening was occupied with a number of interesting games.

A feature of a concert to be presented at Hampstead to-morrow evening in aid of Red Cross funds will ho a humcrous sketch on nursing. Community singing, an auction sale and items by local performers make up the programme.

At. the request of the Ashburton Hospital Board the Borough Council last evening decided to carry out a certain amount of reconstruction work on the grass portion of Oak Grove to give adequate approaches to the new residence for the Medical 'Superintendent of the hospital.

Fresh from listening into a broadcast from Davcntry a young man entered the office where he works this morning and picked up the telephone. He was put through to his number and he opened the. conversation with: "London calling!” He collapsed with confusion when he realised what ho had said.

The 15 aero clubs in New Zealand had a flying membership of 670 and were operating 66 .aircraft before the outbreak of war, states the annual report of the Air Department. Theire were 401 private licences current at March 31 last, and, the hours flown during the year were 4102 dual and 7638 solo. Commercial flying by aejro clubs amounted to 1590 trips, aggregating 47,817. miles. The total hours flown was 486 and 2241 passengers were carried.

Evidence of the activity of censors in connection with private correspond - ence passing out of the country has been received by a Gisborne resident, who some months ago, wrote to relatives in the United Kingdom and, incidently, criticised severely , the then policy of the New Zealand Government. In one of the replies received from England, the Gisborne correspondent is given the following ad'vico : —"I do net think that you should criticise your Government in your letters Home. Half your last letter was cut out.”

Though more than a dozen of the best players in the Ashburton Silver Junior Band were taken into the senior hand recently to replace members who have gone on service, the conductor (Mr G. Whiting)' has net lost any time in building up the junior band again. His enthusiasm for the younger players’ work has been commended by band officials and his training of the boys has boon the means of keeping up tne strength of the main band at a time it has suffered seriously from losses of players.

The debating team of the Hinds Young Farmers’ Club which will shortly table part in an inter-district debate for clubs, debated wit'll, the Catholic Club last evening.' The Hinds team consisted of Messrs E. Rhodes, L. Watson and E. Withell and the Catholic Club team of Messrs R. G. Ross, J. Brown and M. L. Crequer. The subject was: "That the. tnend toward mechanised farming to-day tends to affect adversely the position of the fapn labourer.” Hinds took the negative. The judge, Father G. Dalv, did not give a decision but gave the Hinds team some, useful criticism.

' Believed to have brought the first bicycle to New Zealand, Mr J. T. Horne, of Clifton Road, Hamilton, celebrated his 90th birthday on Friday. A native of Gloucestershire, Mr Horne arrived from England on the barque Ada in 1875, bringing with, him what customs officials declared to -be the; first cycle imported into the country. His bicycle attracted a great deal of attention from the Maoris and the colonists alike, many of whom had never before seen such a machine. Shortly after his arrival he cycled from Auckland to Hamilton ever a road consisting mainly of mud and sand.

Following a complaint from Great Britain that excessive amounts c.f tin, lead, and zinc had been found in New Zealand canned toheroas, and that copper and arsenic wore also present, careful analyses were carried out in Wellington states the annual report of the Dominion Laboratory. The proportions cf metals found were not higher than normal for shell-fish generally and the high figures obtained in Great Britain were not confirmed. Inspection of the canneries revealed no likely source, of metallic contamination, and it seems evident that, where reasonably care is taken, canned toheroas do net contain metals in injurious amounts.

The first of the four 100-box churns to be installed this season in North Auckland butter factories was successfully transported to Maungatapere on Thursday afternoon, states a Whnngarei correspondent. The churns are the largest to be manufactured in the Southern Hemisphere, and to transport them on this railway it has been necessary to construct a. special low-deck wagon which enables tunnels to he negotiated. Stripped of its equipment the churn delivered to-day weighed 10 tons. A low-built Trailer was usisd for the road haul from "Whangarei railway station to the factory at Miaun gatapere, the loading and unloading being carried out by means of a tractor and winch.

It has bryn observed that in sonic butter factories there are skylights through vihich direct sunlight can infringe on the butter in the makingroom. As it is known from previous work that light tends to accelerate the deterioration of fat, somy experiments have been carried out to study the effect of light of varying, intensities on butter under conditions of handling similar to those existent in commercial factories. Blocks of butter exposed to light were found to undergo oxidation at the surface. When this butter was passed through the on chine machine and the surface layer was thus mixed into the remainder of the butter by the action of the packer screws, the evidence of deterioration disappeared. The butters are ibeing Field in cold storage for some months. The gradings of the stored butter, when they become available, will ho of interest, as thev should indicate whether the incipient deterioration noted on the surface, of the block bias spread through the whole gi.ass of the biittrr.

Captain and Mrs W. Simpson, of Temuka, conducted a devotional service for the Ashburton branch of the Torchbearers at the 'Salvation Army barracks last evening.

Forty-eight drivers’ licences were issued by the Ashburton Borough Council in the last two macks, bringing the total oil' issue to 1358. In the same period throe building permits for structures estimated to cost £460 were issued.

For some. months there has been a marked absence of white butterflies in Ashburton but with the warmer weather they are again making an appearance. One good speciman was found on some flowers at a home in the Borough at mid-day io-dav.

Mr George Lester, aged 58, a Public Works Department employee, of Methvon, was admitted to the Ashburton iPublic Hospital yesterday, having suffered injuries when a workman’s cottage be was assisting to load on a motor-lorry overbalanced.

At tine close of the last Dominion Baud' contest the adjudicator, Mr Frank Wright, of London, gave two lectures to conductors and bandsmen, who found the talks most instructive. As some of the bandsmen had not been able to wait for the lectures, it was suggested that on this way hack to England Mr Wright should write out his talks for publication in booklet form. This was done and copies, of the booklet, “A Paper on the Brass Band,” have reached Ashburton.

The annual report of the Department of Industries and Commerce states that efforts are being made by the Government and the Tobacco Board to bring about a. substantial expansion in tobacco' production during the 1940-41 season. This, it is stated, is both desirable and necessary having regard to war conditions, to possibilities of interruption of supplies of leaf from America, and to the necessity foil’ conserving sterling funds. Thei report adds that certain recommendations recently made by the board to the Government for the expansion of production are being considered by the Government.

(Difficulties in, obtaining' shipping space have greatly restricted the ex--oirt of rag waste- from Auckland to Britain since the war started, it is stated by dealers. Most- of the rag waste comes from clothing factories and mills. Some portion is taken by flock manufacturers, and the New Zealand paper industry absorbs some for the manufacture of wrapping paper and paper felt. Most of the wool clippings, however, have been exported in the past, prices being fairly high overseas for this class of waste. The, question of disposal of rag waste hitherto exported has been submitted to the National Council for the Declamation of Waste Material.

Complaint .against the scores of bicycles that are permitted to lie on the footpaths and in the channels of the streets of Ashburton was made at the meeting of the Borough Council last evening .by Mr A. H. Fenn, who said ht? had counted more than 40 such bicycles between Tancred and Burnptt Streets as he walked along East, Street, and in half the block between Cass and East Streets in Burnett Street he had seen more than 20. It was stated that the By-Laws Committee had had the question in hand for some time and it had decided that stands should be built to take bicycles, but the shortage of pipes from which Jhe stands had to be made had caused delays.