LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 127, 26 November 1923, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The Ulimaroa left Sydney at noon on . the 24th instant for Auckland. She carries for Well jugton 15 bags of mail from Australia, one from beyond, and 17 parcel receptacles.

"Kua is not as bloodthirsty as some people would have us believe,"" said the Hey W. J. Comrie at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand sessions. "He is a man of intelligence and a force among his people. When it was proposed to erect a college at Waimaha. he was the first to put Jus signature to the list of those who would give money. Of course we Know he has a number of wives, butthen the Maoris do not approve of this." The military band which' visited Trentham Camp yesterday, and played a number of selections for the benefit of inmates of the Red Cross Home, is commended by a correspondent to "The f° s\- ' "Such visits," says the writer, help to make the heavy load of sickness lighter for these sufferers in- the home, and for the time being they forget their troubles." The patients were very pleased with the music played by the band, which provided a treat not otten extended to these sufferers of war's calamities, and which went a long way towards cheering them up. The interest some country school teachers take in their pupils was shown by a conversation which took place in a railway carriage south of Frankton recently between two farmers' wives who were discussing the merits of the respective lady teachers in their localities (states the Auckland "Star." One remarked that their teacher had become so interested in her boy pupils that she had learnt the rules of football, so that she could act as referee for them when they played football, and had acquitted herself well at the job. "Oh, that's nothing," said the other, "our lady teacher has learnt all the rules of boxing, so that she could teach the boys how to box and make them proficient in the art of self-defence."

The gitt of a tiger to the Wellington Zoo, announced by cable from London, is the result of representations made on behalf of the Wellington Zoological Society, by the Rev. Dr. J. T. Pinfold, while on a. trip to England. While in London Dr. Pinfold interviewed the curator of the London Zoo, but found that he was (unable to help. He then interviewed Sir James Allen, High Commissioner for New Zealand in London, and a request was forwarded to the Prince of Wales, but a reply was received.that the Prince had no tiger at his disposal, having presented the, one that was given to him in India to the London Zoological Society. Later, Sir Lionel Halsey communicated with India in a further endeavour to secure a tiger, and the' effort apparently" has at last proved successful.

"I think I have now been often enough and long enough up and down tue world, to enable me to say that New Zealand offers attractions of life and surroundings unequalled by any other of Britain s Dominions or the' United btates," said Mr. Charles Rhodes, who returned to Auckland on Thursday. Olunate, productivity, and comfortable conditions of life seem to me superior .to any other place I have seen or heard of lemperamentally. I dislike extremes of any kind, and it is exactly in the absence of extremes that New Zealand ex-" eels, being free from devastating droughts, wide variations of temperature or periods of such reduced production that trade and industries are seriously affected. New Zealand's principal products are primary—butter, cheese, meat, wool, wheat, timber,' gum, gold, etc, all staples that the world must have thereby insuring our markets. I foresee a wonderful future for 'God's own country,' of which I am proud to be a citizen."

The manner in which motor traffic is increasing in Auckland presents a pretty question mark to those people who declare that times are hard, money is tight, and that generally our watchword should be economy and yet more economy, ihere are undoubtedly many folk whose purses feel the drain brought about by a cost of living which seems to have only the sky as an- ultimate limit, and with whom the watchword economy is a daily and a dire necessity; but it is just as clear that there are many others who know not the uses of adversity. The possession of a motor-car may not be the absolute insignia of wealth, but it at least presupposes relief from those little worries of life which attend the man with a largo family and a moderate income. In Auckland to-day there must be a very respectable army of people who are relieved from these petty anxieties in the struggle for existence (comments the btar ). The latest number issued at the City Council traffic office was 12,273 I his is the number of motor vehicles registered in the city, which, of course includes motor-lorries, trucks, and all sorts of machines on wheels with petrol exhausts besides motor-cars, but the motor-car ranks away on top. And the rate at which the numbers are mounting up is nothing less than astonishing In the fortnight between dth and 20th November there were 244 n? w registrations for motor vehicles, which, allowing for Sundays and Saturday afternoons, means an increase of about 17 per day, while in

What on earth would one do with a box of bees-30,000 or 40,000 of the little beggars all armed with nasty stings tipped like their temper, with venom? Wy few people would regard that sot L y'u \et> ln Tuam street, Christ a swar' 1™ *T* c°"Witfon"for jard of C S. M'Cully and Co and while it held up traffic valiant^ ; mp ts were made to snare it (states the 4uT) Bees wandering at large on the public highway may be snared; at least the law says so. But the statute in S uch how UJ Vr 6- Pr°Vided docsillt -Plain ried out. Of course, one might walk into the midst of a swarm, pocket the queen, and walk away.- In this instance you could be certain that the bees w-ouM follow you. But this method has its disadvantages. Several gentlemen tried the old-fashioned method of beating a petrol tin. . The bees, attracted by ?the pretty strains, gather round, and come Bnt \ WeW '- That'S the th^ But perhaps there were too man y tinbeaters. Anyway, the bees turned deaf ears to the charmers. Then a new competitor appeared on the scene. He had a box (for the bees) and a motor-hon ker. Obviously, he had read an account of the manner a swarm responded to the strains of a syren in a passine "K^r-car. , But alack and ala S P < h! honked and honked, but he didn't even attract a sting And rival harvesters beat tins, and the imitation of a p opu ! lar jazz melody as interpreted by a dance orchestra was splendid. Realism was the keynote. But the bees refused to dance. Meanwhile, a motorist or so darted through the swarm, with hats pulled over their faces, but horses refused to face the danger zone, and a hint of this was generally enough for their drivers. They turned right about. The band wa 3 m full blast when the queen boo made up her mind that she had had enough of it. So she hopped it ■ heading towards the Public Gardens' And in ten minutes not a bee was to be Keen.

According to a- Press Association message from Gisborne, a slight shock of earthquake was experienced at 6.40 on Saturday night.

The Wellington sessions of the Arbitration Court will commence tD-morrow morning. The members of the Court returned to Wellington from the West Coast yesterday.

At the Supreme Court to-day, before his Honour Mr. Justice MacGregor, an application made by Mr. 0. C. Mazengarb, on behalf of Peter Maloney, labourer, Petone, for an unconditional order of Maloney's discharge as a bankrupt, was granted.

In exchange with the Zoological Gardens at Buenos Aires, the authorities at the bydney Zoo are shipping by the lonic this week kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes, opossums, wombats, emus, ■ magpie geese, finches, cassowaries, cockatoos, pelicans, shell drakes, cranes, and eagles, ihe shipment was brought over by the Maunganu. from Sydney to-day, ana will be transhipped here to the lonic. Somer °y fNw bh aged 24 ' a Po^ £n the lshwL H?> tel ' -When wal«n S in th« Ash burton Domain on . Friday nieht w« suddenly confronted by a^anTx feet in stature who sprang from behind a tiee and demanded money. Noble . who ,s also six feet toll, see ing his as" sailant apparently unarmed, said that* he d give it a go." The man thereupon decamped, says a Press Associa-' hU messae?; Nol>le, whose pockets 4 held a considerable .sum of money, ip up Tnl'stbt? 6 ' Wh° ™ ™°<4 Jamuna,. Auckland's baby eleDhant on Thursday added another" chapter to TT nI Pr, a"kE>" this time b/biting °. ff,f e. top of the fourth finger of thf right hand of her mahout, Ali Ja muna, having finished joy-riding for the Pnrt" 001} a, fc, f* Zo° (states "The Post Auckland correspondent), was picking up a peanut, gave it to his charge § he opened ± *» closed it on poor Ali's hand as well as the peanut, so that when Ali withdrew it the finger-top was gone. The injury however, is not serious, Ali being able to attend to his duties as usual, Pipe Major Gray, who died at Dunedin, was one of the founders of the Dun, edm pipe band which achieved a reputation throughout Australasia. When the present Ivingcame to Melbourne to open *?, Commonwealth Parliament (states ■vi r. )- s Dunedin correspondent), the JJunedm pipe band was specially sent for and it made a great sensation in the streets of Melbourne by its interpretation iof the war marches of Scotland. Uf. Gray had a long and adventurous life. Born in Beeside Abeideenshire, he often as a youth drove Royalties about Balmoral. Saekin- more life he went to America, and 1 after some years came to Otago,' where he joined the mounted constabulary force, and in the early .'seventies rode with the cold escort from the Goldfields to Dunedin The Christchurch Sports Club is seeking for the man who offered to pay the hos-' Pital expenses incurred by Brian w 3 I**? his fight with Heeney. After the fight, and while M'Cleary was still m an unconscious .condition, an ambulance was ordered and directed to take the injured man to the Public Hospital. An enthusiastic supporter whose identity is as yet unkown, got into the ambulance and instructed the driver to drive to the Lewisham private hospital, adding that he would pay all expenses. Last week, the bill .for expenses was before the Sports Club and members were*emphatically of the opinion that the unknown man should be asked to fulfill his promise (statesthe "Press"). The chairman-(Mr." A.. ,Fairbairn)said that neither iheLewisham authorities nor' M'Cleary were parties to the arrangement. It was a cheeky thing to do on the part of the unknown gentleman. The club decided to pay the bill in the meantime, and make efforts to get into touch with the prospective benefactor.

The adoption o! daylight-saving for the summer months was recommended by the Christchurch Council of Christian Congregations, on the motion of the Rev. J. J. North, who spent some time in England while it was in operation there. Mr. North said that daylightsaving'was an inexpensive reform, which was intimately connected with the health and happiness of the community. He hoped to see it introduced into New Zealand before another summer came round. In England, in the month of April, all the clocks were put forward ah hour at midnight. went to bed an hour earlier and rose at 6 a.m. instead of 7- a.m. Schools and business places closed an hour earlier in the evening, and the extra hour was a golden gift to all. The custom on.the'Contineut had become almost universal. Ho suggested that, as religi#i was closely connected with health,, the council should take a lead in the matter of having the ssytem adopted here {reports the "Sun"). He moved: "That the Chriatchurch Council of Christian Congregations recommends fo the public the adoption of daylight-saving for the summer months. The council believes that the health and happiness of the commuuity will be increased by this very natural and beautiful arrangement." The motion was carried unanimously.. ,

For some months past the Tarahaki Chamber of Commerce has been engaged in making arrangements for bringing out boys from the secondary schools, of Great Britain and training them as farmers. In response to its appeal over forty local, farmers have expressed their willingnesi to take and train such lads and to cooperate with the chamber in making the scheme successful. The chamber is working in conjunction with'the Under-Secre-tary for Immigation and the Overseas Settlement Committee at Home, of which Sir William Windham is chairman. Associated with the committee is the Public School Masters' Association of Great Britain, which recommends th» boys from the various schools desirou'a of engaging in farming work overseas, the final selection being made by the Overseas Committee, in conjunction with a representative of the New Zealand High Commissioner's office. This method of selection ensures that only those most likely to make good on the land in Taranaki, and are otherwise suitable, will be chosen. The first lot of applications from the chamber have gone forward, and it Is hoped, says the " Taranaki Daily News," that during the next few days a further number will be forwarded, tho aim being to give the Home authorities ample time to make a selection of the lads, who will be dispatched from England early in June, so that they will arrive in. Taranaki in time for the new season? work.