NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 124, 30 May 1927, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Bedwood Pass Boad. , Some time ago representations were made to the Main Highways Board by the Awatero County Council for a deviation of tho Redwood Pass road. Several proposals were submitted, and, after having 'engineering surveys made, tho Highways Board has decided to adopt the following plan for improvement of the road:—To adhere to the existing road via Redwood Pass, with the exception of the badly aligned portion over the actual Pass, this section to be entirely eliminated by the 'formation of a deviation 1 mile 29 chains in length, at an estimated cost of £14,800. Tho board has informed tho local bodies concerned that it will contribute £2 for £1 toward the cost of the work. . i Origin of Word "Anzac." With referenco to the origin -of "Anzac" (telegraphs "Tho Post's" Christchurch correspondent), "Queensland" writes to the "Star": "I remember the camp at Ottoshoop, when most of tho Colonial contingents operating in the north-west of the Transvaal were at sorao time or other camped there, but I do not remember the kit bags being stamped 'Anzac' I have vivid recollection, however, of a general order that all kit bags be sent to the. Modder River to be stored there until the conclusion of hostilities. My kit bag, with all my earthly possessions, has not been seen since, but it was not stamped 'An«ac*" (A correspondent of "The Post" this week stated that he branded tho kit bags at Ottoshoop with tho word "Anzac" as an abbreviation for , Australian and New Zealand Army Contingents). Sea Phenomenon. Taking advantage of tho phenomenally heavy seas rolling in on Saturday afternoon, a party of Sumner residents visited Taylor's Mistake to witness the wonderfully spectacular display at Black Rock, telegraphs "The Post's" Christchurch correspondent. This spot is approached from the lighthouse, track on the eastern side of the inlet, and is about half a mile from fho end of the. beach. Here is the famous "blowhole," which in its best moments for noise and fury resembles the Waimangu geyser. Rolling in at the funnel-shaped entrance, huge seas surge along the narrowingl race between two precipices. The force of the waters and the pace of the current are enormous, and, as the flood strikes the end of the channel, it meets a solid wall of andesitic rock, and with a ter-. rifle explosion shoots hundreds of feet into tho air. In the average smooth sea the sight is always interesting, but on occasions such as on Saturday it is magnificent. A Bridge Replaced. For some time traffic on the main Wellington-Wairarapa Highway has had .to travel over tho bumpy temporary crossing near Silverstream Station ■while an old wooden bridge was being replaced. The new stn ' ..re, which is now finished and has been open to traffic Binco Friday last, was constructed by the Hutt County Council at a cost of approximately £1200. Prior to the commencement of the bridge, tenders were called, tho lowest of five being £1321, and as this was considerably o\cr tho estimate, it was decided to carry out the work by day labour. The time allowed on the c 'tract was four I months, and the: actual building of the bridge has taken approximately this time. It was anticipa'ed that it would have been constructed in a shorter time, but considerable trouble was found in connection: with the foundations. The original plans showed five driven piles at each abutment, but it was found impossible to drive to sufficient depth owing to rock strata about ' feet below wates level, and 24 additional piles had to bo driven. Tho span of the bridge is 26 feet, and the width between wheel guards 18 feet. The plans were prepared by the County Engineer (Mr. A. H. Benham), and approved by the Main Highways Board, which is subsidising the bridge £ for £. Although the extra foundation work was necessary, the work was carried out at less than the lowest tender.

r Archbishop's Motor Trirmtff t The city traffic inspectors are cvi- , dently no respecters of persons, telegraphs "The Post's" Auckland eorres--1 pondent. In apologising for his late . arrival at the Anglican Bible class p rally held at Kingsland yesterday after- ' noon, Archbishop . Averill, who had ; motored to the gathering, said that ? he had been stopped by a traffic inspec- _ tor. The Archbishop remarked that he was unable to produce a license, but ; was allowed by the official to proceed on the journey. He added that his hearers must not be surprised if he appeared before the Police Court in due course. Level Crossings. The Main Highways Board has made ( satisfactory arrangements with the Railway Department and the Danne- • virko County Council in regard to the s elimination of the Piri Piri level crossing. Inquiries have been made into the question of the elimination of the Wail puku and Tariki level crossings be- , tween Stratford ana Iriglewobd, but in . view of tho danger o£ other railway crossings the Highways Board has der wded that it cannot authorse the de- . viation at the present time,, but it has taken steps to improve the vision of L the Waipuku crossing, which, from the > northern bridge, is very poor. • Municipal Diamond Jubilees. Next year four mnnicipal bodies in ; -Canterbury, including the Christchurch City Council, will celebrate their diamond jubilees, telegraphs "The , Post's" Christchurch correspondent > Christchurch, Lyttelton, Timaru, and ( Kaiapoi were constituted boroughs under the Municipal Corporations Act ■ Amendment Act of 1868. The date of . the constitution of the borough of Christchurch was 28th May, 1868. The first Mayor was Mr. William Wilson. Teeth Still Perfect. An old Maori skull, in a good state 1 of preservation, and a number of hul man bones, were discovered by accident at St. Heliers Bay, Auckland, on Pri- ' day. The discoverer of the bones was ■ landing from a small boat when he dis- . lodged some earth from a bank, laying bare a number of the bones. Three of the teetn are missing from the front • of the ,upper jaw, and two opposing , teeth from the lower jaw, but the remainder, are in a perfect state of pre- • servation, in spite of the fact that tho . enamel' of the grinding 'surfaces has . been completely worn away. . „ Free Passes on Trams. It has been customary for tin Tramway Board to issue free passes over the ; city tramways to representatives of ■ local bodies, telegraphs "The Post's" L Christchurch correspondent. A member'of a "Christchurch local body who ■ wrote to the Controller and AuditoV- ' General has received a reply to his. question oh the subject ,to the effect that the board has no authority ' to ' iss-ie such free passes. The matter ; is a long-standing one, and it has been c nsidered by the board that it should ■ be in the pos'tion of municip'ally-own- -. Ed tramways, rhich legally can issue such free passes. ,'..'• Fly Versus Baits. < ■ With the increasing popularity of . trout fishing generally in New Zealand there have come into being a far greater number of anglers who have . learnt to thrdw a fly and appreciate the better sport, but there will always be the minnow and bait fishers. For purposes of defence against the restrictions fly anglers would like to impose on bait fishing, minnow and bait fishermetf are allied, but they are again in reality divided into, two schools, those who favour worm fishing and those who do not. The fly v..bait feud has been fought out many times; it dates back to the days before tho discovery of gut, when horsehair formed the cast. Upon the Hutt river the issue has formed the subject. of frequent, regulations which have fully met the needs of neither party. The present arrangement is that the river from Belmont to the Moonshine bridge is reserved for artificial bait, and the rest is open to all baits not prohibited by the Government. The 'whole matter will be reopened to-morrow night, at the annual meeting of the Acclimatisation Society, when Mr. D.-O. Haughton will move: "That tho Hutt River from its mouth to its source be declared open for live or natural bait fishing, with the exception of the Akatarawa and Pukuratahi Stream." Modern "Pill-Boxes." "They are .more like 'pill-boxes' than anything else," said, Mr. E. J. Phelan at the meeting of the Auckland City Council, in referring to the new type of telephone booths making their appearance in the streets (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). "We should have some control over the design of* these boxes," he added. "We should also have some control over the position of the booths," declared Mr* L. A. Eady. "Some of them have been placed on corners and are dangerous to traffic." Mr. J. A. C. Allum raised a Smile when he said he had been informed the newly designed "pUI-boxes" were the result of an art cqmpetitioa in England. > ■ ' . Loss of £46,000 on Bums. "I may say now that the balancesheet for the year will reveal a loss of about £46,000 on the buses and a profit of about £8000 on the trams," . said Mr. J. A. C. Allum, chairman of the Tramways Committee, at a meeting of the Auckland City Council on Thursday (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). Mr. Allum said the department had been awaiting the results of the bus litigation and the clearing up/of one or two other matters. The new committee did. not wish to make any report until they were prepared to place definite proposals before the 'Council.. The accounts of the tramways department for the year ended 31st March, 1926, showed a deficit of £3386. Last September an analysis was presented to the City Council showing the result of bus operations to have been a loss of £18,767, while the tramways made . a profit of £15,232. The loss, on the buses was exclusive of depreciation, for which no allowance was made. ! Quite a Novelty. Residents of a section of Brooklyn had their morning milk and Sunday cream supplies Belayed considerably i yesterday morning. A new horse being i tried in one of the municipal milk lor- • ries took fright at a passing motor-car, i Being in one of the higher streets, the ; turn-out soon gathered plenty of moi montum. Cornering proved difficult at i the first attempt, the lorry being left • behind wheels uppermost, and the horse ; wont on with the broken shafts. Later ! he was caught with little trouble, a i cut on the fetlock being his share of ! the escapade. A new supply of milk ' and cream was* soon forthcoming by » motor-lorry from headquarters, and the > same vehicle was -used to tow the dere- ■ lict wagon home. ! .■-.,'■ ■ • ' i Auckland Oyster Season. t "If this weather continues you will - not have any oysters until about Oct tober," said Mr. J. H. Leteher, manager '- of the Government .oyster depot, at I Auckland, on Friday, when asked if the t oyster Beason would open definitely on > 15th June. Mr. Letcher said it-was i tiw intention of the pickers to coml mence operations on the beds early next . week, but if the present boisterous weal ther prevailed picking would bepost--5 poned indefinitely. Mr. F. P. Flinn, s Government inspector of fisheries, left , Russell on Friday to organise men for. j picking. Most of the oysters come from 5 Kawau, Great Barrier, Mahurangi, - Coromandel, and Kaipara, while this i year the Waiheke beds, which are stat- - ed to be iii improved condition, will be reopened. "'" r "~

As Unusual Position. With the election of Mr. J. J. Moody as chairman of the Opotiki County Council an unusual position has arisen (states an exchange). Mr. Moody is r brother of Mr. G.V Mo^yf Major o f Opotiki and their father wm to/ZLZy years chairman of the Opotiki Town Board. It is claimed that the W°y* record m local body affairs has not been surpassed in the Dominion. Winter Strawberries. . An unseasonable delicacy was delivered at the "Otago Daily Times" office, Dunedin, on Friday, in the form of a box of strawberries, several wellgrowa and ripened, and others well developed though still green. It is surpnsing that a fruit so susceptible to the variations of climate that divide Otago 'a summer and winter should be found growing and bearing in the open so late in the year. The berries were grown by Mrs. Jamesi Craig, East Taieri. • . " • /. Experimental Boadway. During the past month a length of twelve* chains of experimental roadway has been constructed by the Main Highways Board on the Paparua county section «f the Christ-church-Dunedin main highway near Hornby. The whole of the work' has been carried out in bituminous concrete, but a number of varying conditions have been introduced, namely, one ' length of road has been constructed using broken stone as. coarse aggregate - another section involved the use of crushed gravel, while in the third aec- i tion uncrushed pit gravel was utilised. A number of different methods of surface finish were also used. The road will be periodically inspected and carefully watched under trance'conditions. Busy Wangaaui. Long lines of .goods wagons have, traversed the railway lines both north and south of Wanganui during the last few months, the traffic having shown a marked increase on' this section. The cause of the activity;!s not hard tofind, for in the large quantities of! produce exported from the port of Wanganui is a fair proportion* which but a year or two ago had its outlet thrpugh another channel, says the "Wanganui > Chronicle. ,' In this connection the port of Patea is the 'loser, and although it has retained a good deal of:,its trade, Wanganui has been the outlet for a considerable, amount of. the dairy produce, from the Patea and Waverley districts, while other consignments have been sent by rail towWellingtpn for direct shipment on the ocean-going vessels. The fertiliser wprkg at Wanganui have, also/ maintained'a large output, and the more general use of artificial manures by farmers hag been a factor towards increased, railway goods traffic. .'.' ' >.'■;.••-•'..■ ' Battle of Jutland. "A few weeks back we commemorated the landing of the Anzacs at Gallipoli, and upon that occasion pur minds went back to that day iipon which so many men lost their lives fpr the Empire," writes Laurence J. Turtle, S.T., H.M.S. Barham, sth Battle Squadron, 1916. "Bearing that noble feat in mind how many of us ever give a kindly thought toward the many of our bluejackets that gayer their lives at Jutland on 31st May, 1916, and Ist June, 1916 T Those who participated in that memorable naval battle will never forget their comrades, neither will the relatives of those men, ever forget their, lost ones. ,We do not ask for very much of our people of the British Empire. All; we ask is that a cacred remembrance be given to our lost comrades of the Jutland battle, just an offering to Almighty God for the souls of our men, and a prayer of thanksgiving to God for preserving the lives of those men who survived the ordeal. .1 feel sure that we can, count upon, the. .spiritual; co,operation of the people throughout Auckland, upon the anniversary of Jutland, to at least give one minute's thought toward our lost comrades." , .