General News

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22431, 18 June 1938, Page 14

General News

Health and Superannuation Scheme The Westland provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union yesterday adopted a remit, moved by Mr P. J. O’Regan, jun. (Inangahua), that a referendum be taken at the next General Election on the proposed National Health and Superannuation Scheme, and also a remit that in the distribution of the surplus in the Dairy Industry Account the butter sold on the local market participate equally with export butter, —Press Association. Citrus Fruits Ripen Early “Auckland growers are at present picking as many lemons as can be used in the Dominion, said Mr J. A. Lambden, of Kumeu, president of the Auckland Citrus Growers’ Association. “The period of peak production for the season does not usually begin until August, but the long, warm autumn, and a copious rainfall, have advanced the picking season by several weeks this year.” The orange crop is also stated to be two or three weeks ahead of time, and owing to warmer temperatures the skins of the fruit are likely to be thinner this year. But the opinion has been expressed that marketing of the fruit for dessert should not be permitted until it has developed a correct sugar content by normal ripening conditions. Photograph of Their Majesties

Thought to be the only ones of their kind in New Zealand, two large autographed photographs of Their Majesties King George and Queen Elizabeth have been presented to the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Territorial Association by the president (the Hon. Eliot R. Davis, M.L.C.), The photographs were secured through the assistance of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London (Mr W. J. Jordan). They are to be hung in the club rooms of the association. Mr Davis presented the photographs to the association at a gathering held at the Officers’ Club, when many members of the association and regimental officers were present.—Press Association,

Invitation to Artist The committee of the West of England Academy, Bristol, has invited the Christchurch artist, A. Elizabeth Kelly (Mrs Cecil F. Kelly), through her London agents, to allow her portrait of Miss Ngaire Steventon-Smith, at present very well hung at the Royal Academy, to be shown at its forthcoming exhibition. Lake Forsyth Outlet A start has been made on the construction of an outlet for Lake Forsyth. Five three-horse teams will be employed on the work, and it is hoped that the outlet will be completed by next Monday. A bank six feet high and six chains long will have to be cut. There has been a sixinch rise in the level of the lake since Tuesday, and a slight increase of water on the road is making it difficult for motor-cars to get through.

Australians and New Zealanders Australians and New Zealanders resemble one another more than is commonly realised, in the opinion of Mr R. A. Willoughby, a prominent American businessman who arrived in Christchurch yesterday. Mr Willoughby said he thought Australians and New Zealanders resembled Americans more than they did Englishmen. They were more accessible from a business point of view than were Englishmen, and the difference socially between employer and employee in Australia and New Zealand was not nearly so marked as it was in Great Britain.

No Children “This is the forty-fourth divorce I have heard since yesterday morning,” said Mr Justice Reed in the Supreme Court at Auckland, when issuing a decree nisi. “It is the twenty-second in which there are no children born of the marriage. I make no comment. I just state the fact.” Leak in Gas Main A strong smell of gas made several residents in a block of flats in Union street, Dunedin, realise that there was a dangerous leakage somewhere nearby. Several young children were affected, and two of them became very listless. The gas department was notified soon after, and a gang of men arrived and located the leakage in the street main. While they were digging in the roadway the gas could be heard hissing from the main, and a few more headaches were distributed among the men on the job and some inquisitive spectators. Then, as a pick was brought down to loosen the roadway, it struck a rock and gave off a spark which .immediately ignited the gas with a dull explosion, and a few exciting moments followed in which the flames were beaten with sacks, the hole being partly filled again as the fire was extinguished. The leakage was then covered with red lead and bound up. New Zealand’s Cities New Zealanders should be proud of their cities, said Mr R. A i Willoughby, an American businessman, who arrived in Christchurch yesterday on a brief visit to the Dominion. Mr Willoughby said he had been impressed by the general cleanliness of all the cities he had visited. New York and San Francisco had dignified and imposing sky-lines, he said, but the cities of New Zealand were built so that the maximum amount of sunshine and fresh air could be admitted to every street. This was not always possible in great cities where towering buildings obscured all but a rift of sky and where electric light had to take the place of sunshine.

Maori Chewing Gum Chewing gum is apparently no modern invention. The Maoris made theirs in the old days out of kauri gum, according to Mr H. C. Heays, who gave a lecture on kauri gum to the Philosophical Society, Wellington, recently. The Maoris made it plastic in boiling water and then mixed it with thistle juice to give it softness, elasticity, and flavour. They also used the gum as fuel for torches and for burning under sheets of green bark in order to secure lampblack from which the tattooing pigment was made. Even the early European settlers, before kauri gum achieved commercial importance, used lumps of gum as fuel.

Native Court at Exhibition Proposals that a Maori, Samoan, or other native house or village, complete with inhabitants in traditional garb, should be a feature of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition have been mooted and are receiving consideration. If anything of the sort is arranged it will be as part of the New Zealand Government’s contribution to the exhibition and will be administered by the appropriate Government department. It is understood that a suggestion has been made that the Native Department’s exhibit should take the form of a Maori village or house, but precisely what form the Maori court will take, and how extensive it will be, has not yet been decided. It will depend largely on the expenditure and amount of space reserved by the Government to be allotted to the department. A further suggestion made by the External Affairs Department on behalf of the Samoans is that a native “fale,” or thatched house, should be an exhibit representing the mandate.—“ The Press” Special Service.

Kiwi Chick Dead The kiwi chick at the Hawke’s Bay Acclimatisation Society’s game farm at Greenmeadows is dead. This announcement was made to the meeting of the society in Napier this week by the chairman, Mr H. M. Bishop, and was received with regret by all members. It appears that the recent flooding was too much for the young bird. It developed an illness at the vital period of its growth, and in spite of the treatment of the curator, Mr F. D. Robson, died. The two adult kiwis at the farm are still alive and well. The Department of Internal Affairs has been notified of the death and has given permission for the skin to be given to the Hawke’s Bay Museum, where it will probably be mounted.

Minister’s Speech Praised

“I have listened to one of the best speeches on preventive medicine I have ever heard. It could worthily take its place at a medical conference,” said Dr. K. G. Salmond, of Feilding, after the Hon, W. E. Parry, Minister for Internal Affairs, had outlined to a deputation what it was hoped to achieve through the national council for physical welfare and recreation. Dr. Salmond also advanced the opinion that it seemed to him the move for physical fitness should really have formed part of the national health proposals have been finemoedrJfcontethaksourcefc’"*'