LOCAL AND GENERAL

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 156, 30 December 1925, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

Doubt exists in the winds of some shopkeepers as to Tvliethisr: they *honld dose their premises on Saturday, 2nd January. "Tue Post "is informed by the Labour, Department that all shops covered by the shop assistants' award must close on that day whether they employ asgistftuts or not, as the award provides for a holiday on lat and 2nd January.

The sharks reported to have bemi seen in Lytteltou Harbour are apparently still cruising around adjacent bays. A blue noae shark, over lift in length, was caught in Port Cooper on Siuiday afternoon by Mr. George Clarke, of Heathcote. It was hook hi! from a launch close in shore in a modium depth of water. After a spiriteo! fight, lasting the best part of au hour, the Shark Was hauled on boa.rl by the combined efforts of three of the occupants of the launch. At Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, a local launch party while fishing in .the upp;r reaches of the Tauranga Inner Harbour, off Omokoroa, on Monday, hooked a grey nurse shark on a handline. After a strenuous 20-minute battle the creature was brought close to the boat and harpooned. When hauled on board the shark was found to measure 7ft 4in.

It is not generally known that the first hydro-electrie scheme in Samoa was opened recently at Vailiina. Just before thn Administrator left for New Zealand, the power was turned oh by Aiono, the oldest Faipulc in Samoa, and Vailima is now the best lighted home in the islands. It is anticipated that sufficient power Will be supplied by this plant to, light the big Ii.M.S. school at Papauta and Avele school, as well as a number of residences on the Vailima road, states a correspondent of the "New Zealand Herald." The scheme was installed by Mr. Meidicke, the transport engineer, and he used prison labour on the job, so that the actual cost has not been very great. A dam was built just above Stevenson's famous bathing Jiool, the water being then, 'carried by spiral pipes across the road of "Loving Hearts," where it drops 80ft to tho had of the atreitm in which tho power house is titutttcd.

The trams will run in Christchureh on New Year's Day, an overwhelming majority of employees having voted against the strike, on which a ballot was taken. It is stated that the knowledge that the board has a waiting list of about 30 men desirous of joining the :vrvico had a steadying effect.

"It is what a man is—it is character, and character alone, that counts most in a man's life," said Bishori Taylor-Smith, Chaplain-General to the British Forces, in the course of a sermon at the Christchurch Cathedral. God save them from being miserable self-centred souls, whose thoughts, when they woke up in the morning, were: "What can I put on? What can I put in, and what can I get?" And then spent the whole day in getting. Only the Christian man had the true perspective of life.

Experiments conducted by Mr. A. Tonnoir, entomologist at the Canterbury Museum, show that green lacowings, introduced to New Zealand from British Columbia for the" purpose of dealing with the.green aphis on oaks, can be acclimatised in New Zealand. When the experiments arc further advanced it will be seen whether or not the aphis will be checked, states the "Press." Dr. K. J. Tillyard, chief biologist of the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, has sent about 000 lacewinga to Mr. Tonnoir, and these have been held captive in bags tied to twiga of oaks in the Museum Grounds, North Hagley Park, and iu Mr. J. B. Montgomery's garden in Fendalton. Some of the insect* have laid many eggs in a vivarium at the museum. Entomologists rely on the larvae or grubs for help in the War against the aphis. The insects are pretty, having diaphanous wings, bat their greatest beaaty is in their eye.', which are of a golden colour. This latter feature has earned them the name Chysopa.

It is a thoroughly sound idea to commence at once the planning of u great Exhibition, in Wellington five years hence, states the '' Wairarapa Age." These big shows not only attract visitors, but create a general stimulus in the provinco from which permanent benefit is gained. Christchurch had its Exhibition- in 1896, Auckland has followed suit, and Dunedin is to-day tho Mecca of the majority' of travelling New Zealandcrs. Wellington, being more central, and the capital city, has special qualifications for an Exhibition of national -character, and the province is capable of organising it effectively. Ono good evidence of this is the success of the Wellington Winder Show. This has grown tto excellent proportions, is financially on a good footing, and tho financial reserve now being built up will no doubt form the. starting-poiut for the great Exhibition of the near future. By.the time it conies to fruition, the great harbour reclamation will be substantially completed, and there is good prospect of Parliament Building being extended to the full proportions of its generous plan. Thus there will be something to celebrate, and the experience gained in running the Winter Shows will all be valuable as a preliminary to making the greut Wellington Exhibition quite worthy of our splendid province.

"The motor-car has made an immense " differenco in the life, of the Old Country," remarked Mr. Andrew Anderson, of Andersons, Ltd., who recently returned from a visit to Great Britain, to a Christchurch '"'Press" interviewer. "All the main roads and many others are exceedingly good, and a great deal of money has been spent on them. This has been rendered possible by the tax on motor vehicles, which is carefully paid by all motorists. In road construction I noticed that bitumen was used a great deal, especially in the South of England. The road from Edinburgh to Peebles, over which I was drives. is a tarred road and was Very good nil the way. Everywhere we went j wesaw men at work on the roads, keeping them up to the mark," Asked regarding road-making machinery, Me. Anderson replied: "I hid the oppor' tunity of meeting a leading man in i large road construction contract company, and he gave me many interesting points on the subject of road construction methods. One particular point was that he was highly satisfied with the machines turned out by British manufacturers, and he had no desire to experiment with American machines, of which he had seen several examples. I was ; pleased to learn from him and others that America does not succeed in exporting to Great Britain any considerable quantity of this class of machinery."

"'England doarly loves a.' lord.' At any rate, this is the impression here, but it floes not go down in ,«i democratic country liko New Zealand, where all bottlers 'meet on the level,' even it they do not always 'part on the square,'" writes "Trundler" in the "Auckland Star," when dealing with the visit of the British bowlers to . Auckland. "Auckland bowlers, wete thunderstruck last week when they found tho Scottish visitors equally deferential to authority. It sounded strange to hear such expressions as 'Come this hand, Provost,' or 'Take it wider, Bailie.' There are only two cities iii Scotlund larger than Auckland, but the Mayor of tEis city would be quite offended if he were addressed as such on a bowling green. He expects all his bid friends to address him as 'George,' knowing full well that this will not detract one whit from the respect which they are glad to show him when they address him in the Mayoral chair, as the worthy head of a great city. As for addressing a Bailio (or councillor) as such, the president of. the Hawhiti Bowling Club is naturally addressed as .'Councillor Patorson' when in the council chamber. But on the bowling green the only Bailie that is officially recognised is the Nicol Jarvie representative of that illustrious order, and our esteemed councillor does not consider it derogatory to the position which he has filled with such credit when he is called plain 'Jack,' when he is invited to draw the shot.*'

While trying to recover a boat which had drifted ftom the be,ach at Woreer Bay yesterday morning) a lad, fourteen years of age, g6t into difficulties. Douglas Bell, a member of the Worser Bay Swimming Club, dh fed in to the boy's assistance and brought him back to the beach.