NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 31, 5 August 1930, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

IA Faulty Headlight. In reply to a lcttcr'forwarded to him by the Wellington Automobile Club from Mr. F. W. Pearse complaining about the headlight of the 4.40 p.m. Wel-lington-Upper Hutt train recently, the General Manager of the New Zealand Eailways (Mr. 11. 11. Sterling) has written that the facts were that, though in tlip early stages of the journey the headlight was bright, it later developed a fault which made it difficult to keep the light burning. An oil lamp was put in the headlight, but of course did not provide a strong light. The enginedriver, however, took special precautions to approach the crossings cautiously. The Common Lot. The executive of the Wellington Automobile Club, which met last night, received a reply from the City Council that the suggested cutting back of the corner of Wellington road and Crawford road could not be proceeded with on account of limited finance, and because provision had not been made for the work on the, estimates. In regard to the condition of Upper Hawker street, the City Council admitted that the steep gradients and bad access from Shannon street into Palliscr road Were not satisfactory, but only temporary surface repairs could be done until the job was tackled on a large scale, for which ]io financial provision had been made. Kamp Indefinitely Postponed? '. A letter received by the "Wellington Automobilp Club's executive last night from the Hutt County Council stated, in regard to tho Petone ramp, that while tho elimination of danger at this point was desirable, the expenditure that would be required to build the ramp made advisable an investigation to see if some cheaper and better device was available. The Lower Hutt Borough Council wrote on the same matter, to the effect that the time was not opportune for the expenditure that would be involved, and stops were being taken pressing other local bodies to move for its postponement until conditions woro more favourable. Tho chairman (Mr.' E. A. Batt) said that tho Wellington City Council had turned down the construction of .the ramp under present conditions almost unanimously, so that it was unlikely that these two smaller bodies would wish to proceed with it at present. Itinerant Traders. Eetail drapers have a grievance against hawkers of soft goods in the smaller towns. The question is continually cropping up at meetings of local trade associations. At Timaru, after a long discussion on the subject, it was resolved to request the district municipal authorities to raise the license fees for itinerant traders and - hawkers. Masterton drapers also dealt with this form of competition, and it was decided to ask the Masterton Borough Council to support the remit passed, at the Municipal Conference recently, that the law be amended to make the maximum fee £25 instead of £.5 as at present. "Almost, every' week," it was complained, "we have these traders coming in for a few weeks getting rid of cheap lines at good prices, and it is very hard on retailers." How Lighting Charges Vary. Wanganui drapers-have been looking into electric light charges, as an important item in "overhead:" Inquiries about the charges in various centres elicited tho following interesting .variations:—The rates in New Plymouth and Palmerston North were higher than, in Wanganui. Invercargill was understood to .be slightly lower than Wanganui. At present 300 units in Wanganui cost £6 ss; Wellington, £5 13s 6d; Dunedin, £2 IBs 4d; Auckland, £4 15s; Hamilton, £5 12s 6d; Christchurch, £5 12s 6d. In Christchurch it would be possible to have a lower rate because the charge had been worked out at 44d per unit all round. Charges for lighting to a Wanganui firm for 954 units was £19 7s sd. Tor the same consumption in Wellington the charge worked' out at £15.' . • , All Quiet in Samoa. Passengers who returned to Auckland by the Tofua from Samoa yesterday reported that the quietening down of the political troubles there held out encouraging prospects for the future. The Samoans were back in their villages, and had settled down, to work, and the .administration of the country was running as smoothy as ever. Mr. S. J. Collins, who was accountant to the reparations estates for four years, and who has just completed their reorganisation, stated that the price of rubber .and cocoa had fallen. Efforts were being made to prevent the complete collapse of the rubber market. Dutch planters in the Malay States and the Dutch Indies intended to export only a ; portion of their crop in order to prevent prices from falling much lower, and steps were being taken in Samoa to reduce production costs. Although copra was down to ,the lowest figure yet known, the Samoans were settling down to work again, and it was hoped the old standard of production would be restored. Mr. J. C. Entrican said that J Samoan rubber was being sold below production cost. Whereas it cost 7Jd a 1b to grow, it could only be sold for s£d. The principal hope of improving matters lay in the efforts now being made to reduce the quantity being placed on the market. A Dream Comes True. A story of a dream that .came true is told by Mr, T. W. Timms, sen., who resides in a cottage at Tonioana, Hawkes Bay. He droamt that a tree became uprooted and fell across his house. The dream was so vivid that it unnerved him, for there was a particularly large blue gum near his cottage. The next day he decided to give his housekeeper a few days' holiday while he went i.o i"ye with his daughter, Mrs. A. G. Suttou, of Vigor Brown street, Napier, until tho tree could be felled. It was fortunate that Mr. Timms acted upon the warning in the dream, for, at tho height of a gale four days later, the treo crashed across the corner of tho cottage, doing extensive damage to tho bedroom in which Mr. Tinirns usually slopt. International Road Conference. Included in the questions to bo considered at'the International Boad Congress, to be held at Washington in October, will be the construction and maintenance of highways; another subject will be the construction of highways in new countries. Other questions deal with traffic and , administration, finance, the co-ordination and co-rela-tion of various methods of transportation, and particularly with traffic requirements in largo cities. Mr. A. Tin-1 dall, of the Main Highways Board, will represent New Zealand at the con- j ference. , j

Frost on the Wires. - Snow is not the only thing that the Christchurch trams have to contend with in winter time, says the Chnstchurch "Star." There wero delays on several lines on Monday morning. Itie- j carton and Pendalton were particularly affected. Frost was the cause, and the trouble was not with tho track, but with tho overhead wires which supply the power. Trouble of this nature occurs mainly when frost comes after rain, when tho overhead lines are wot. Ico forms on the lines and the contact becomes faulty enough to interfere to some extent with the power. These conditions have occurred many times this winter, and tho first trams have often been delayed. "Staid New Zealand." "In New Zealand we have probably the most homogeneous population in the world, with the result that we are producing a monotonous and stereotyped citizen," said Professor A. B. Mtt, in an address to the Now Zealand Federation of Teachers at .Auckland ■ (reports tho "Star"). While from tho point of view of instruction the New. Zealand educational system equalled any other in the world, the creative side of education was in danger of being overlooked. "Agriculture is a case in point," said Professor Fitt. "America has spent a great deal on agricultural instruction without any groat rosult, and New Zealand seems bent on doing tho same. In Denmark, where agriculture has reached an unrivalled standard of efficiency, tho who/c tendency of education has been to free tho farmer from serfdom, to • widen his cultural outlook, and to place his profession on a broad and scientific basis. The Danish system is the very reverse of the policy of 'agricultural bias.' " ■