Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 245, 16 October 1922, Page 4

The dangers of youngsters playing | with explosive material was again emphasised on Saturday afternoon, when j Kenneth Rctter and Leslie Vague, boys of about 14 years of ape. experimented with some benzine, carbide and matches lin the yard of the former's home at . Orakei Road, Remuera. The benzine tin | exploded and both bays were injured by flying fragments. Retter had to have stitches inserted in both arms and right hand and Vague had three stitches inserted in his leg. j A proposal was brought forward at a meeting of the Te Awnmutu-I'utariiru ■ Railway Board thßt it should cease operations and disband. The board has made a survey of the route of the pro- . posed line, but finds many difficulties in : the way of proceeding further. Most of . its liabilities have been met, but there . are still a good many outstanding rates. .The suggestion is to discharge liabilities ias quickly as possible and then disliand. I Notice of motion to this effect was given jto the clerk. Meanwhile the board -will j press for the payment of rates so as to facilitate the clean-up. j The winter season of the Auckland. ■ Orphans' Club was concluded on Satur- ! day evening in the Scots' Hall, when i the annual "ladies evening" was held. 1 j The president. Prof. Maxwell Walker, i presided over -an attendance of about iJUO I members of the club and their guests. 1 and in welcoming the ladies remarked that tbe programme wa_ arranged prae- ; tically on the lines of the club's u-ual ' gathering's. An excellent and lengthy musical and vocal programme was then ; given by prominent Auckland artists. During the year ended March .11 last. ! 080.814 bushels of apples. 157.261 of peara. 115.261 of peaches. 13.630 of i nectarines. 75.728 of apricots. 117.150 of plums, 5538 of cherries. 3430 of oranges. I 10.065 of lemons. 204f of quinces, and j 267 of walnuts were produced in comI mercinl orchards in New Zealand. The i increases over the previous year's figures : were in apples, peaches, nectarines, npri- . cots, oranges, lemons and quinces. Pears • and cherries showed the most marked , decrease. The president of the Kaipara Chamber ■of Commerce, Mr. Todd, has received a ! telegram from the Hon. J. G. Coates ! stating that Mr. R. W. McVilly. General j Manager of Railways, will leave WelI lington for the North on Tuesday. I Among th. matters being urged by the ! chamber is the establishment of a stalled j station at Paparoa, on the North Auck- ! land railway. | The Wanganui musical, elocutionary I nnd dancing competitions concluded a i ten days' festival on Saturday after- | noon, amidst scenes of the greatest ' enthusiasm. Mr. ,T. F. Montague, who | has been acting as judge in the elocu- | tionary sections there, speaks in the j highest terms of the work of the comI petitors. There were a great many 1 visiting competitors from all parts of | the North Island, and the standard in | : singing, elocution and dancing was very I high. The attendance throughout the j whole season was wonderfully large, and lon three or four occasions at least j many hundreds were unable to obtain j ! admission. Last Saturday week over j ' 2000 people actually paid for admis- l j sion, and this constituted a record for ! j the Wanganui Opera House. In the ! musical sections most of tbe prizes were I , won by Wanganui competitors, but in j j the elocutionary and dancing classes the ! ! winning competitors came from Wei- | I lington and outside districts. The : : judges were: Mrs. Clinton Hunt' I (music), Mr. J. F. Montague (clocu-I tion), and Miss Cecil Hall (dancing);! I while Mr. Harold Whittle (Wellington] i I was the official accompanist. I There are 30,0.7 acres of orchards, \ \ market gardens, vineyards, nurseries and ! I seed gardens in New Zealand compared ! | with 35,041 acres in 10-21. I At a meeting of the Auckland In.-ti-j tute, to be held in St. Andrew"- Hal! : this evening, Dr. P. H. Hook. D.5.0., will deliver a lecture on ""The I'as.inp of the Maori." He will deal with the part played by race environment and culture. He. will draw attention to the evolution of the Maori people through the period of their living as Polynesians in the Pacific Island's, their pre-Kuropean occupation of New. Zealand, the disastrous times following the advent of Europeans, and the more hop. ful prospects of the present. Extinction will be dis j posed of, and the pro-pects of absorpj tion discussed.

1 X3T I Fish stories are always looked upon \ with a certain amount of suspicion, tout ; here is one for which authenticity is guaranteed both by the fisherman concerned and by observers, says the ■■Post." The incident occurred on the Hutt Road last week, the second day of the season. An enthusiastic sportsman al-armed others on the bank by crying out loudly, "What's this? What j have I got?" ' A fisherman close by i heard an unusual rushing noise from i'ie vicinity of the voice, and. running to the rescue, found his neighbour excitedly holding his rod out at arm's length. He hud a "morepork" on his hook, and the bird was flying round clumsily in the air. The captor had never seen one before, and was quite alarmed. It appears that the bird flew oul from the bank a< be made a cast and -nnpp.-d up the "bully" before it reached the water. Tbe observer of the incident remark- that one required to be present to appreciate the humour of the situation. The sport-man. lie -aid. ""-or! of got the wind up.' A lender has been accepted by the Wellington City Council for the erection of tbe exterior scaffolding necessary for tl,.- erection of the Town Hall ciock, which is being mnde by .Messrs. LittleJohn nnd Son. of I.ambton Quay. It will he realised that this is a work of some magnitude when it is stated that the four opal dials are each 11 feet- in diameter. The=e bnve to be imported from England. The .lock, which will not be in position for some si - month', will not be a chillier .. r a striker. n-« such action would interfere disastrously with the musical and oilier entertainments which take place a 1,,,..! nightie in lhe Town Hall and Concert Chamber. According to figure- compiled by Mr. 11. .1. Lowe, petroleum economist of lhe j I'.iil-.'lill of Alines in the Tinted Stutes. lhe supply of gasoline i~ gaining on the , on-.-iniptinn in America. While the consumption ol' gasoline has increased, the reserve stocks held in the I'nited States are :it present lhe largest in the history of that country. At the date when the ligiircs were compiled by Mr. Lowe, nt the re,|itest of the Vnierican Automobile Association. the stock- totalled S.--1.2.".0.ti110 gallons, an increase of 21 per ,-ent for the Clinic period in 11121. and 3d per cent over 192(1. The increased consumption was only 7 per cent, notwithstanding the development of motor traction. The annual "get together'" of fathers nnd sons was held in lhe V.M.C.A. on Saturday evening, and this interesting gathering was largely attended. Games were indulged in by fathers and sons, and afterwards supper was enjoyed to the accompaniment of the singing of many well known and popular choruses. During the interval Mr. J. Pearce Luke addressed the boys, pointing out the great value of any movement which made it possible for father and son lo get together and understand each other. Several fathers also spoke, urging the continuance of such gatherings. During the evening Messrs. J. Rae. H. Wilson, L. Bowen, and H. Horsley contributed musical items. Mr. J. G. Cobhe. in giving some impressions of hi s visit to Queensland at a meeting of the Palmerston North Luncheon Club. maintained that New Zealand was far superior to Queensland in points of beauty and interest, and, provided that the Dominion Tourist Bureau boomed the advantages in the same manner as did Queensland, New Zealand would quickly become a "Mecca"' for world tourists. As an example of the burden of taxation on the people of the Dominion, Mr. E. Marfell, who was chairman of Mr. J. I!. Hine's political meeting at Toko, pointed out (states the "Stratford Post") that a company of which he was a director had to make 18 per cent profit to allow of a dividend of six per cent being paid to the shareholders. That was one reason why the Government should endeavour to cut down income tax. He believed that land tax should be paid on one to 1000 acres. Ai the present time many men had to borrow money to pay the land tax. The anniversary of the Northoote -M'etbodist Sunday School was celebrated ye.terd.ty in the new school. All three services were "bright, the singing of tbe children, under the ronductorship of Mr. Horace Ste-b'bing. being an outstanding feature. The services were conducted by the Revs. Percy I. Cooke, C. H. Olds, and K. I\ Blamires. The latter paid a tribute to State school teachers, but pointed out there were 150.000 children bein« taught every Sunday in the Dominion by « voluntary staff, in buildings erected by voluntary subscriptions.