NEWS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1937, Page 8

NEWS OF THE DAY

Trade of the Port. An increase both in cargo and shipping arrivals for the month of Januarylast, compared with the previous January, was shown in the report of the chairman (Mr. D.J. McGowan) to the' Wellington Harbour Board last night. Cargo landed and shipped amounted to 173,070 tons compared with 159,767 tons, an increase of 13,303 tons. The principal increase was in imports of general cargo, which amounted to 9932 tons, exports of general cargo to coastal and Australian ports increased by 4252, and exports to British and foreign ports decreased by 1280 tons. Wool and hemp shipments were about the same, and butter, cheese, and frozen meat shipments were all a little down. The net tonnage of shipping arrivals was 373,957 tons, compared with ,349,650 tons, an increase of 24,307 tons. Control of Bathers: A suggestion that the Auckland I Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association should support life-saving bodies in their efforts to have legislation introduced, giving them control of bathers at beaches, was made by Mr. A. J. Whyte, the Eastern Suburbs Club's delegate, at the centre's, meeting on Tuesday night (states the "New Zealand Herald"). The incidents at Piha on Sunday, Mr. Whyte added, showed the necessity of such a measure. He also recommended that the centre should urge the pro- i hibition of inflated mattress floats at ! beaches, and cited two recent fatalities in justification of his opinion. : Cow on the Line. , A cow with a long chain attached ' to its neck walked over the level ( crossing at Koutu, on the outskirts of ] Rotorua, just before the passage of a ' train which carried several hundred ] passengers (states a Rotorua corre- ( spondent). The chain evidently be- ' came tangled about one of the bolts 1 on the rails. The animal was still ] straining at the chain when the ex- ; press passed over the crossing. Ter- ■ rifled by the noise of the engine, the j animal gave a convulsive jerk and ' succeeded in. snapping the leather col- | lar ■to which the chain was attached, but the chain itself became entangled { round part of the engine. It was torn away and dropped some distance along ' the line, bending one or two rods near f a set of points. c Waterfall at Horokiwi. Motorists along, the Hutt Road have noticed recently .an attractive waterfall at the back of the Horokiwi quarry, which is about a mile south of the | Petone railway crossing. This waterfall, which is'loo yards back from the road, is twenty-five feet high and comes from a dam which feeds the crushing plant. It was once hidden from sight by the gorge, but recently quarrying operations have resulted in the bluffs being cut away, bringing the waterfall into view from the road. The waterfall has always been there, but it was improved when the dam was built during the dry summer two years ago. No more quarrying is to be done in the gorge near the waterfall, so there is r no danger of its being damaged in any d way, especially as the water for the p crushing plant comes from the dam. j, The remainder of the water runs j through a culvert into the sea. ' c Makogai Leper Station. f* The provision of a talking-picture c machine at the Makogai leper station is exercising New Zealand Rotary f Clubs, and arrangements have been ?' completed for the Napier Rotary Club to raise funds by means of a concert i' this week. An amount of £600 or f £700 is to be collected by the Rotary t( CJubs of New Zealand, and the motionpicture distributors in the Dominion 1' have promised to co-operate in the ~ movement by giving films that have £' completed the New Zealand circuit, \ and also in the training of nurses and H doctors as operators of the machinery, y The movement originated from the ,[ Suva Rotary Club, which is in the New Zealand district, and a letter E from the District Governor, Rotarian J. Will Tbormas, asked for the support z: oC all clubs in order to provide some small entertainment for the unfortun- c' ate inhabitants of the island. "' The Ragwort Problem. t \\ "I am not unappreciative of the difficulties," said Mr. F. H, Levien, w S.M., in the Pukekohe Court on Tues- nl day when Miv M. Reed was pointing c c out that landowners charged with fail- T! ing to clear their properties of rag- c£ wort had had labour shortage and other factors to contend with (reports <*' the "New Zealand Herald.") "In fact, y( on some properties, the difficulties al must be quite insuperable," continued ol the Magistrate. "If every landowner w in the King Country with ragwort on cr his land was brought to Court, I would m be hearing the cases for a week. There vs is the Act, and landowners must satisfy the inspector that they are doing al a reasonable thing towards eradicating th the weed." The chairman of the Rag- th lan County Council, Mr. H. W. Wilson, br who gave evidence, said that the council would be pleased if all the a landowners prevented ragwort from wi seeding and then crushed it out by th fencing and stocking with sheep. ra

Wcter Main Bursts. Shortly before midnight last night the bitumen,surface of the road outside the Miramar Fire Station suddenly 4> started a gentle heaving motion, and [f then a section of the road paving gave J way to a flood of water, and a hole some five feet wide by twenty long was speedily opened. The cause of the IS outburst was the breaking of a tenil inch water-main. Because of the tough road surface and the sandy nature of the subsoil, the spectacular i~ fountain usually accompanying the 'i* phenomenon was absent. Repair work :0 was started early this morning, and k Miramar received its water supply again before many hours had elapsed. 1- "Romantic" Bagdad. The. "Arabian Nights" romance and n glamour that are associated by many with Bagdad and other cities in the " Near East were dispelled by Squadron--3> Leader A. G. Kayll in a lecture given d before members of the British-Israel r Association at Auckland. The speaker ;.' painted a picture of the Near East as ' he had found it after some years with c the Royal Air Force. There was little, ) he said, of the Oriental splendour of c the traditional cities of the caliphs. Bagdad, Damascus (Syria), and other cities were essentially cities of smells. )r The speaker traced journeys by motora car from Haifa to Bagdad, via Damasit cus, and by air from Bagdad to I Jerusalem. "Whereas he had expected to find the fields of Bethlehem nice II paddocks with green grass and stone s~ walls, he found them about the size of a pocket handkerchief. The Jordan, Tigris, and other rivers were unimposing and dirty. Palestine was very s desolate, with little greenery, and, 1 save for clumps of Australian bluel gums, was almost bare of trees. o Radio and Music. S "There is no doubt that radio is the c greatest influence in modern times in t musical taste, and yet it has its problems," said Mr. H. Temple White, s conductor for the Wellington Harmonic - Society, at the annual meeting of the f society last evening. ' "Undoubtedly, the radio has brought music into thousands of homes that before knew noth- • ing about it, and there are countless homes where people are able to listen to the great masterpieces of music rendered with exquisite taste and ability." But how did radio affect musical societies? asked Mr. White. It affected membership, because many people who could listen to good music in their own homes would not go to outside concerts. He suggested that the authorities might be a little more generous in their treatment of musical societies of proved quality, and might relay their concerts with wise discrimination. Crippled Children. "There still appears to me to be a little misunderstanding with regard to the funds of the society," said Mr: W. R. Wilson, who is prominently associated with the New Zealand Crippled Children's Society, in opening an exhibition of insects arranged in aid of the society at the premises of Milne and Choyce, Limited, Auckland, on Tuesday (reports the "New Zealand Herald"). Mr. Wilson explained that Lord Nuffield's munificent gift was held in trust, and only the interest was received, and of this he thought that Auckland's share was about £700. "That is excellent, and but for it I suppose the society would never have been formed," Mr. Wilson added, "but seeing that a, stranger has given so bountifully, it is up to us to do our lit" bit in supplementing these funds so that the work of the society shall go ahead. Providing crutches, artificial limbs, and a certain amount of vocational training takes a lot of money, and it is to help with this money that the exhibition has been arranged." Native Rates Problem. "Unless .a substantial payment of rates comes in before the end of March we shall find ourselves finishing the financial year with an overdraft of £13,837," said Mr.: A. G. Hicks at. a meeting of the Waiapu County Council (reports a Tokomaru Bay correspondent). "We have over £30,000 worth of current and outstanding Native rates, and this has accrued since 1930. The amount received in charging orders has been very small compared with the charging orders held." State assistance, said Mr. Hicks, had become imperative in connection with the payment and collection of Native rates. The council would be able to carry out no grant works at all after April 1, unless Native rates came in substantially. The council's financial position was due to three causes. They had not budgeted for enough to cover what they were committed to spend; very heavy flood damage costs had and Native rates had not come in. It will be the highest overdraft as at March 31 for many years. In fact, on going through the balance-sheets I cannot find a parallel. Had the Native rates been paid the.council's position would have been a very .different one today." ■