LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 249, 2 August 1941, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Though horn; 28 years ago, a Marton resident who is a New Zealander ’by birth bad his first ride in a train when lie left for Trentham recently,

One Gisborne resident still enjoys, his daily morning dip at the Waikanae Beach, despite the frosts that have been experienced recently. Two women also attend the beach regularly for a bathe, but they wait until later in the morning for the sun to warm the air before venturing into the water.

A contribution of £390 toward the Fighting Forces Fund has been raised by L. J. Keys, Ltd., Auckland, and members of the. staff. This amount is the result of an. effort made by the staff of 53 over a period of six weeks, the cost entailed being only £3.

Thrown from a pony when it bolted near her home in Princes Street at noon to-day, Ronella Millar, aged 10 years, suffered a fractured left arm and was admitted to the Ashburton Public Hospital. She was seated on the pony when a football was kicked against it and the animal bolted for about Buu yards, when it turned a corner and threw the rider against a parked motor car.

A statement that most of the New Zealand yachtsmen who wont to Britain early in the war as members of the R.N.V.R. (N.Z.) had been-placed in command of leading trawlers of the “Tree” class, named after trees, is made by Lieutenant-Commander, Gordon Bridscn, formerly of Devonport, in a letter home, “ft was not long •before a nickname was iound for us of the tree, class,” lie says. “We are known, as ‘the shrubbery,” and aptly, too, considering that the job we do is more or loss on the fringes of the fleet.”

There was a good attendance of members at the monthly meeting oi the Nursing Division of the St. John Ambulance Brigade, when the Plunlcet Nurse gave a lecture at the Plunket Rooms. The lecture was much appreciated, members carrying with acclamation tile vote of thanks voiced by the lady superintendent. The course of home nursing lectures given by Sister E. Williams has been completed. The examination is to be held on Tuesday evening in the Baptist Schoolroom, Dr. J. (Connor being the examiner. A course of firstaid lectures are to commence shortly.

Interest is being well-maintained in the National Savings Scheme in Ashburton. The Postmaster (Mr C.- Ward) said this morning that six new groups had been started in the last week with a total of 23 depositors. As well luo persons had been enrolled in groups previously in existence. For the period 142 persons had opened national savings accounts, either in groups or individually. Up to July 31 Ashburton had 1612 depositors in the scheme, including group and individual accounts, and of these 894 were in groups numbering 83.

A collision occurred in Ashburton yesterday morning at the corner 01 William Street andHhe North-East Belt between cars driven by Mr IC. Vial, an employee of the Asliburton Electric Power Board, and Mrs Houston, ot Wakanui Road. Mr Vial was driving along William Street in a. northerly direction and Mrs Houston along the Belt toward the east. Nobody was injured but Mrs Houston’s car was extensively damaged as it* was pushed round by the other car, striking a pole.

Anything from home always arouses friendly interest on the part of New Zealand troops serving with the forces in the Middle East, states the N.Z.E.F. official news service. For this reason they were especially interested recently to see trade vehicles from New Zealand still -hearing the marks of their previous owners. To see motor transports painted in greens or reds in marked contrast to the sombre colours used by the Army immediately suggested something unusual, and to find that New Zealand “civilian” lorries had, joined the N.Z.E.F. overseas was a pleasant surprise. The fact that at least one bore the signs of a wellknown brewery may have had something to do with this.

What had been an almost perfect specimen of a moa egg was exhibited by the curator, Dr. H. D. Skinner, at the Otago Museum last week. Dr. Skinner explained that, except for a perforation at one end, it was a perfect specimen when found by Mr G. Griffiths at the mouth of the Shag River last February. It had, however, been -struck by a digging implement, and one shoulder had been taken off. The hole which had been carefully bored at the large end suggested that it had possibly been used to withdraw the contents for use as food. This hole also made it clear that moa eggs were used by the Maoris as gourds, the egg being in a wicker basket, with moss packed around it to prevent it breaking.

An indication of production pressure in the hosiery,’ industry was given to the No. 4 Armed Forces Appeal Board in Wellington by a witness for Prestige (N.Z.) Ltd. appealing for adjournments of military service for two employees. It was stated that two 50-hour shifts were being worked weekly with overtime for 10 hours of the 50. The decline in production, because of the loss of skilled staff to the armed' forces, was 20 per cent, compared with prewar figures. There had been 87 employees serving their country—sl in the 2nd N.Z.E.F., four in the Navy, 23 in the Territorial Force, and nine in the Air Force. Of the 87, 43 had been skilled operators. Since war began, the firm had started a system of training married men, or those unfit for service. The system cost thousands of pounds, hut enabled staff to be replaced as called‘up.

The driver testing equipment which was so popular a feature of the Transport Department’s display, at the Exhibition has been used to test the New Zealand Railway bus and service-ear drivers at Wellington, members of the transport section of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary, and is at present in use at Trentham under the charge of a Transport Department officer who is on military service, stated the Commissioner of Transport (Mr G. L. Laurenson) in his report to the Road Safety Council. The tests are being found of value in assisting in the selection of suitable drivers for the A.S'.C 1 . Similarly the results were used by the W.W.S.A. as a means of grading prospective women transport drivers as to suitability. Tests have also been made of any members of the general public who desired them. A charge of 2s 6d is made for these tests and a full report is given to each person tested.

On account of National Week there will be. a double stock market at the Timvald saleyards on Tuesday. There will naturally be no sale the following week. Entries for the Ashburton Competitions Society’s annual festival to be held toward the end of this month total 1225. Another medal for competition at the festival has been presented by Mrs P. H. Read. It will be awarded for. most points in the character dance under eight years. A statement to the effect that it was hoped to have the main siphons on the County irrigation diversion race completed by the end of next January and water will bo available for irrigation purposes in certain districts by the autumn next year, was made in Ashburton yesterday by the Public Works Department Engineer (Mr T. G. Beck).

A circular sent by the Postmaster (Mr 'C. Ward) to holders of oil-fuei licences has been taken by some Ashburton people to have a connection with the further restrictions on petrol ana the possibility .of a review of licences. Mr Ward said this morning, however, that the issue of the circulars was a purely routine measure following the relicensing of motor-vehicles.

“Things have been very quiet over here lately except for some of the good sweeps over France' you know about from the papers,” writes Sergeant Pilot-J. G. West, of Hamilton, who has been attached to a Spitfire Squadron in England. “I have had a change to the very latest fighter machines and have done some night fighting. Am very much taken with my new plane, and find night work not as difficult as I imagined it- would be. As a matter of fact I think that the night fighters are the pick of all the excellent machines.”

Contrary to the general belief, the now power station at rfighbank will generate electricity all the year round., and not in the winter months only, according to a statement made by the Public Works Engineer (Mr T. Of. Beck) in Ashburton yesterday afternoon. Mr Beck told the Ashburton County' Council that the main diversion race on the irrigation scheme, which will supply the generating power, will carry water to one-third of its summer capacity during the winter solely to supply the power station. It was expected that unless something incredible happened, the water would be got through to the station bv the early summer of 1942.

The hope that some day there might be a church specially designed for association with the power and purpose that were to l>e found in universities was expressed by Archbishop WestWa.tson in a sermon in St. Paul’s Church, Auckland. Referring to the changed, functions of churches in inner city areas and the nearness of St. Paul’s to Auckland University College, the archbishop said that perhaps in future the Church would be able to undertake a new mission to students, for whom, as Dr. T. Z. Koo had lately said, it did less in New Zealand than, in Japan. Youth might be rebellious and impatient of the way of its elders, but it welcomed understanding, and with right direction there was a possibility of dynamic work in the future.

A sample of Maori symbolic carving to be fixed to the bridge of his ship will shortly be forwarded to Lieu-tenant-commander G. Bridson, of Auckland, who is in charge of a trawler engaged in: minesweeping in British Waters. The gift of friends in Rotorua, the work is done on a, piece of timber, six inches wide and eight feet in length, milled at Wharepaina. The bridge already has been inscribed with the Maori war cry “Ake ake kia kaha’* (“We bight on for ever and ever”), sncl in a recent letter Lieutenant-com-mander Bridson expressed a wish to have some carving to go with it. Lieu-tenant-Commander Bridson was one of a number of men of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who went to England for active service after the out break of war. He formerly was a wellknown swimmer.

Spread over a table at a main street corner in the Dunedin Octagon yesterday was a Union Jack, placed there by an elderly woman who was seeking signatures on behalf of the Women's Christian Temperance Union to a petition asking the Government for the enforcement of the licensing laws of the country. It had not been there long before sho was approached by a traffic inspector, who informed her she did nor have permission to use the flag in that way and advised her to remove it. She refused to move the flag and said that “neither the police nor a firing squad” could make her do so. The town clerk arrived, but he, too, could not persuade her to change her mind. Later, however, an official of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in charge of the appeal for signatures visited the town clerk, and after hearing that a large number of complaints had been received about the use of the flag in this way she said she would see that it was removed. The Dunedin City Council has no regulation on the subject, but, as the town clerk pointed out, the Women’s Christian Temperance Union asked and was granted to seek signatures for the petition, but was not given permission to use the flag.