General News

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26122, 26 May 1950, Page 6

General News

800 Guineas for Two-year-old Heifer A New Zealand recox’d price of 800 guineas for female beef cattle was paid by a Morrinsville breeder, Mr H. K. Rendall, for the two-year-old heifer, Park Amethyst 253rd, at the disposal sale of G. F. Moore’s polled Herefords at Bush Park, Wanganui, yesterday. Ten of the females made the remarkable average of 450 guineas, which is said to be a world record for the breed. Every prominent breeder in the Dominion was present, and also some breeders from Australia. The offering comprised 53 head. Five hundred and ten guineas was paid for a five-year-old cow, Park Amethyst 223rd. Seventeen cows averaged 420 guineas, four two-year heifers 388 guineas, six yearlings 247 J guineas, and nine heifer calves 141 U guineas.— (P.A.) - Capacity of Jurymen “The ordinary common juryman knows more about the innards of a motor-car than I do.” said Mr Justice Callan in the Supreme Court, HamilI ton. when discussing the question I whether a special or a common jury should try a case. His Honour added i that he was often impressed by the quick understanding shown by common jurymen in cases involving motor vehicles, but he did not think the ordinary juryman knew much about his own body. He seemed to regard it as a mystery about which he preferred not to inquire. Ketch Arrives from Sydney Twelve days out from Sydney, the 38-foot double-ended ketch Kalua tied up at Russell on Wednesday evening. Manned by six Aucklanders, who flew to Sydney to take over the boat, the Kalua left for Auckland at noon yesterday. Bad weather was faced all the way from Sydney, but the wind was with the ship, and the Cape Reinga light was sighted on Sunday night. From there to Russell the wind was contrary, and the auxiliary motor was used. A sail was torn in a strong wind, but otherwise the voyage was uneventful.— (P.A.) Atomic Waterworks Suggested The United States’ increasing water shortage could be ended by the construction of huge coastal atomic plants

to distil salt water into fresh water, said Mr Norman R. Beers, editor of the magazine “Nucleonics.” at the convention of the American Water Works Association. A good workable plan for the construction of low-tempera-ture atomic furnaces along the coast of the United States could be drawn lid in a relatively short time. There did not appear to be any unsolved cn- ' gineering problems involved. Mr Beers added.—New York, May 24. Crowd to Hear Mr Nash At 5 p.m. yesterday, three hours before the former Minister of Finance (Mr W. Nash) was due to speak in the Civic Theatre, people were waiting for the doors to open. Before 7 o'clock a queue had formed along Manchester street and round the corner into Worcester street. When the doors were opened at 7 o’clock, the theatre filled in six minutes. Every seat in the theatre was occupied, the stage was filled, and a crowd of 700 or 800 people remained outside the theatre to listen to Mr Nash’s address, which was relayed through a public address system. Minister Visits Prison “Though one can never express pleasure at seeing any person in gaol, the conditions in the women’s section of the Auckland Prison are much better than I expected.” said the Minister of Social Welfare (Mrs H. G.

Ross) after a visit to the prison. Mrs Ross said there were only 10 women prisoners, which was not a large number considering the size of Auckland. She saw a meal served and stated that the food was good. The women had recently been provided with a number of amenities. (P.S.S.) Second Northern Highway The long-term scheme for an alternative highway out of Christchurch into North Canterbury, proposed by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. will not be supported by the Automobile Association (Canterbury) until the whole of the Picton-Bluff highway has been sealed and all oneway bridges on this road replaced. The roads committee of the association reported yesterday the view that construction of a second bridge over the Waimakariri river must be an integral part of this scheme. Such construction was unwarranted while the completion of the existing through highway was awaited. World Surplus jf Cotton A world carry-over of 2.000.600 bales of cotton this year will bring the total surplus stocks to 17,000.000 bales, the International Cotton Aayisory Committee reported to-day. The committee said that consumption had shown relatively little change in the last four years, and was still slightly less than pre-war years. The committee esti-

mated production this year at 31.000.000. bales, but anticipated that the total will be less next year because of the reintroduction of acreage restrictions in the United States and Egypt.—Nev.York. May 24. Publication of Convicts’ Photographs Publication in the daily press of photographs of persons convicted of offences involving violence, particularly assaults upon women and children. was urged by a remit placed before a meeting of the New Plymouth branch of the National Council of Women. A note to the remit, which was put forward by the women's committee of the National Party, suggested that the resultant publicity would prove a valuable deterrent and protection in the case of planned offences. The remit will be discussed at the council’s next meeting, when delegates will express the opinions of the bodies they represent. Drive on Faulty Headlights In three weeks of its drive on motor-vehicle headlight faults, the Transport Department has checked the lights of 6337 motor-vehicles. 2786 of them in the third week of the drive. So far 425 traffic offence notices have been issued. Of the 6000-odd vehicles checked, 1468 have

been found to have lighting faults of one kind or another. There were 455 with incorrectly adjusted headlamps. 298 with incorrectly focused head lamps. 337 without tail lamps, and 380 •with other faults. The drive is continuing.— (P.A.) Prize For Frost-fighting Device The Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association favours a proposal that ' a prize of £2OOO be paid to anyone who can devise an economical and practicable method of frost-fighting in orchards. “We must do something, i as the position will only get worse.” said the president, Mr J. Howard Paynter, at a meeting this week. “We know all about the sheep population ' getting its wool blackened and the nuisance caused to householders.” It was true, he added, ihat there were means of combating the frost menace, but expense was the chief drawback. The association decided to ask the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation to collaborate with other districts in offering a prize.

Sawdust in Streams “A number of sawmills think they have the right to use streams to get rid of their sawdust, but they have none whatever.” said Mr W. H. Freeman. S.M.. in the Magistrate's Court at Rotorua. “When sawdust is dumped in a stream it gets into the gills of trout, and in this case might also harm the people downstream.” The Magistrate was commenting on the prosecution by the conservator of wild life. Mr S. A. McNamara, of the Franklin Timber Company on a charge of allowing sawdust to flow into a stream, polluting it. He fined the company £25. Research in Britain The research that had impressed him more than any, in both the fundamental and applied fields, was that sponsored by the large commercial enterprises whose sole concern was thought by many to be that of making money. This comment on research work in Britain was made yesterday by Dr. I. D. Blair, who has just returned from a visit to Britain and the United States under a Nuffield Travelling Fellowship Dr. Blair said that a tremendous amount of research in Britain was contributed by organisations largely independent of State assistance.