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Evening Star, Issue 21503, 30 August 1933, Page 6

A committee of the Harbour Board, accompanied by the board’s chairman (Mr H. C. Campbell) motored to Port Chalmers yesterday afternoon, met tho mayor (Mr J. Watson), and decided it was desirable that a corner in front of Mussel Bay railway station should be tilled in before tho summer weather came. Beclamatioa is taking place there. A suggestion to substitute a stone sewer for a proposed open wooden drain through tho area that is being reclaimed was discussed in the mayor’s room, both the board and the Borough Council being financially interested in providing the drainage. The Minister of Lands (the Hon. E. A. Ransom), who is senior United Minister in the absence of the Prime Minister (Mr Forbes), will leave for Lyttelton to-night to take part in the by-election campaign. Mr Coates will speak during tho last week of the contest.

In a letter to the United Burgesses' Association, states a Christchurch Press Association message, the Minister of Finance (Mr Coates) states that in general terms he is in agreement that local bodies should not be empowered to raise loans without the consent of the ratepayers concerned. The legislation providing for loans for tho relief of unemployment being taken without a poll of ratepayers had expired, and would not be renewed. There were, however, certain cases which, on the score of urgency, did not require to bo submitted to a poll of ratepayers An example was a loan for sanitation works essential to tho health of the community, and it'(ho thought) would be a retrograde step to amend tho law in this respect. There were some other instances where tho law provided with sound reason for tho raising of loans without a prior poll, and renewal loans must necessarily bo freed from any restrictions in that respect*

Nine members of the Otago University Commerce Faculty Ex-students’ Association took part in the impromptu speech competition held last night in the University Club rooms. Mr L. M. Satterthwaito presided and Mr E. J. Anderson judged the contest, which was won by Mr Satterthwaite. Two chances were allowed each speaker, who was given three minutes to cover each subject. Diversity in the nature of subjects was a feature of the contest, which proved very entertaining to those present. Mr Satterthwaite won by discoursing on the subject of ‘ Bagpipes,’ and the next placed men were Mr W. J. M'lnnes, whoso subject was ‘As Dr Campbell Begg Address the National Council of the New Zealand Legion on the Real Aims of the Organisation,’ and Mr R. Malcolm, ‘ Pessimism and Optimism as Applied to Present Conditions.’ In the judge’s opinion the speaker making the best initial attempt was Mr A. T. Francis. The Gore experimental farm, which has been working since 1915, is to be shut down. With its discontinuance the South Island will not have any such farm. It is the only one south of Cook Strait. That fact alone is regrettable, and double so when it is remembered that its activities were largely in the direction of solving rootcrop problems, particularly those pertaining to club root, and has done a lot of successful work in that way under the direction of Mr J. Sleeman. It seems strange that the Government should retain the numerous experimental farms in the North Island, where the cropping is mostly of grass, and cut out the one farm that specialises in root crop purity. If there is a justifiable reason it would be politic to publish it, and thus satisfy the murmurings that are heard right and left. Chas. Begg and Co. give a scholarship every year for piano playing at the competitions throughout New Zealand, and it is an experience worth publishing that a Roslyii family has thrice carried off this prize—Miss Winifred Gardner in 1922, her sister Margaret in 1927, and the younger sister, Jean, now declared the 1933 winner. These successes were all won at Dunedin, but awarded by different judges. A first offender for drunkenness (who is 70 years of ago) was fined £1 or 48 hours by Mr J. R. Bartholomew in the Police Court this morning.

A slight misunderstanding has arisen among short-wave radio listeners regarding .the ‘ Star’s ’ published programmes from the Daventry, England, station. It will be noted that each evening tho programme given commences at 5.15 a.m. on the day of publication, but this refers to Greenwich time, New Zealand standard time being 4.45 p.m. the same day. The second transmission to New Zealand on an omni-directional aerial shown as starting at II a.m. is received here at 9.30 p.iu. Programmes from Daventry received in this country in the early morning are tho special transmissions to South Africa. The Council of the New Zealand Society of Accountants has decided to offer up to £450 a year towards the provision of a full course in accountancy tuition at Victoria University College. At a recent meeting of the society it was mentioned (says a Press Association telegram from Wellington) that Victoria was the only university college in New Zealand which did not make full provision for tuition for the degree of bachelor of commerce.

The postal authorities advise that the Port Hardy left Sydney for Timaru with eighteen bags of Australian mail for Dunedin. The mail should reach the local office next Saturday.

The proposal to raise £125,000 in Is shares to mine the Kawarau River has been further advanced by the Amalgamated Kawarau Company, and the statutory meeting of shareholders is to be held in Dunedin in three weeks’ time. The company proposes to erect a new dam below the junction of the Arrow and Kawarau Rivers, as recommended by Professor Horncll. The prospectus will be issued immediately the increase of the company’s capital is authorised by the shareholders of the present company. An attractive booklet is now being circulated as a preliminary effort. If the flotation is successful the total capital of the company will be £250,000. So much has been said and written in denunciation of the grey owl (commonly known as the German owl) since its introduction to New Zealand about thirty years go that a word or two in it defence will not be out of place. Mr R. Hanning, secretary of the Otago Acclimatisation Society, has received the following letter from Mr W. H. Hinton, secretary of the Earnscleugh Fruitgrowers’ Association: —“At a meeting of our association on the 2nd inst. attention was drawn to the fact that protection had been taken away from the grey owl in North Otago. In our district the owl has done and is still doing a great amount of good, not only in keeping down the small bird pest, but also keeping the earwig pest in check. These birds in Central Otago, if opened, are found to be full of earwig and beetle shells. We would respectfully ask that the protection be retained in fruitgrowing districts. On behalf of the little owl.” The two Australian wool buyers, Messrs Prevost and Walcelyn, who arrived here on Monday by air, left again yesterday by Mr H. M. Mackay’s Southern Cross Kitten, piloted by Squadron-leader T. W. White, arriving in Wellington in 4h smin flying time. There they connect for Sydney. A sitting of the Conciliation Council will be held on September 21 to deal with wages and conditions of employment of tea room employees.

Though better than expected, tho attendance at the annual bazaar of tho All Saints’ Girls’ Club last night was not exceptionally largo. However, the visitors went there with open purses, and much of tho attractive stock on tho stalls was readily snapped up, with the result that tho takings for tho evening were quite satisfactory. It is expected that to-night’s supporters will be more numerous, and that the stalls will be cleared of all goods before the conclusion of the bazaar. Boys and girls from tho orphanage, to which portion of the proceeds will be devoted, have been invited to attend the fair this evening, when the same programme as presented by club members and friends last evening will be repeated. it comprises dancing, elocution, and singing. High praise for President Roosevelt’s scheme for the reconstruction of American industry was expressed to an ‘ Evening Star ’ reporter this morning by a local resident who not only has travelled abroad but has also made a study of tho economic ills facing tho world. He stated that the American President’s scheme (an outline of which was published last evening) should bring about relief that would bo practically immediate. Ho was glad to note that New Zealand’s Prime Minister had been favourably impressed by what he had learned about it in passing through the United States, and it was to be hoped that he would try to introduce legislation something similar into the dominion. Tho speaker felt that if Mr Forbes did so ho would carry tho public before him,_ despite any possible opposition he might encounter from lus-'colleagues.

Mails which left Auckland on July 25 per the Aorangi via Vancouver arrived in London on August 21.

A supplementary wool sale was held in tho Victoria Hall this afternoon. The offering, which comprised under 3,000 bales, was of crutchings, fleeces, and pieces. No advice of a reduction in the price of butter, following the wholesale dx-op of £d a lb in Wellington, has been received by Dunedin retailers up to noon. The city organist (Dr V. E. Galway) will give an after-church recital in the Town Hall on Sunday evening. An interesting programme has been prepared, including all classes of organ music. Dr Galway has been fortunate in securing tho services of such popular artists as Miss Ethel Wallace (violinist) and Miss Dorothy Sligo and Mr A. M'Dowell (vocalists) as soloists. An observant agriculturist who has just finished a tour of Central Otago, says that owing to the abnormally light falls of snow and rain during this year’s winter, many of tho farmers who rely on irrigation are fearing the possibility of a shortage of water in the coming summer, especially where the irrigating schemes depend upon reservoir supplies, such as the Manorburu and tho Poolburn. Copious rains would be welcomed as a I'elief from what is a cause of anxiety. In this connection it may be stated that the work of diverting Totara Creek to supplement the shortage in the Poolburn dam had to be stopped in the winter owing to snow making the roads impassable for the_ transport of material, and that the District Engineer of the Public Works Department is anxious to resume that operation as soon as the roads dry xxp sufficiently.

Candour marked the address of Mr E. L. Hills, the Independent Labour candidate for Lyttelton at his Sunnier meeting. He. stated that Parliament should be freed from the shackles of party. The big stick was wielded by tho party leaders, and if the members of the rank and file did not obey they would lose their positions. “ The people of New Zealand,” he said, aro entirely responsible for the mess it is in. If they had been as intelligent as the politicians have ‘ kidded ’ them they were, tho country would not have been in the position it is in to-day.”—Press Association. Probate has been granted by His Honour Mr Justice Kennedy in the estates of Janet Aikman, Mornington; Anna Elizabeth Bunn, Rongahere; Elizabeth Ann Jackson, Dunedin; John Drummond, Dunedin; Marian Francis White, Dunedin; Martha Moore, Tapanui; Jane Skewes Ranfree, Anderson’s Bay; Angotta Olsen, Sawyers Bay; Jane M'Millan, Momona; and Robert Fincham, Ngapara. Letters of administration have been granted in the estates of Isabella Douglas Gourlay, Dunedin; and Catherine Burke, Dunedin.

A young dove petrel was seen in difficulties in the water near tho wharves on Saturday. It was picked up by a boat lowered from the scow Talisman, and found to be covered with fuel oil. It was in such a state that it was impossible for it to rise. It was taken to the Dominion Museum authorities, and during the week-end the oil was cleaned off tho bird. It is being fed and cared for until it is able to fend for itself, if liberated. —Wellington Press Association.

Tire seismological instruments at tho Dominion Observatory were kept busy yesterday for three hours recording a big earthquake. It began at 10.1 a.m. (New Zealand time), and the centre was located about 5,200 miles from Wellington, probably somewhere in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. It is the biggest shake recorded for many months— Wellington Press Association

Save your eyes. Be wise and consult W. V. Stunner (optician. 2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age. [Advt. 1 “ Hard-up Dance,” Bijou Hnli, King street, to-night, 8 till 1 a.m. Casli prizes for best “ hard-up ” costume. Admission, Is, including supper.

Tho opening of tho Adelphi Dance nest Saturday night in the beautifully appointed Moonshine Winter Garden Dance HaJ will no doubt meet with tho approval of Dunedin’s dancing public. This dance hall, with its sprung floor, cosy lounges, subdued lighting, and spotlighting effects, is now perhaps the most popular rendezvous for dancers. Old-time and modem dances are on tho programme, and Mon to Cailos and lucky spot dances will be featured. Tho music for tho old awd new dances is in the capable hands of Will. Smith . A tasty supper will bo provided. As the management is in capable hands, with tho co-operation of tho Otago Amateur Cj cling Association, this dance should pipye most popular*