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Evening Star, Issue 21582, 30 November 1933, Page 8

At a meeting of the Dunedin Presbytery on Tuesday arrangements were made for the following ministers and ciders to proceed to Wellington to attend a special meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church on December s:—Ministers—the Revs. D. C. Herron, J. D. Smith, R. G. AUDowall, Gillman Dunn, and H. Mitchell; elders—Messrs J. M. Dick, J. Moir, A. A. Campbell, R. Miller, and G. Booth. The assembly is meeting to hear an appeal by the Rev. George Brown against the recent action of the Wanganui Presbytery in severing the pastoral tie between him and the Palmerston North congregation. One of thy most interesting of the many novelties amongst plants exhibited at the recent rose show in live Wellington Town Hall was a dwarf Japanese cypress tree. The Japanese have made a special hobby of cultivating dwarf trees, and this specimen, a tree said to be 500 years old, was only a couple of feci high, yet with all tlie characteristics, except size, of a fullygrown tree, ft was lent for exhibition by Airs Forbes, and bad been presented to the Prime Minister by Admiral Imamaru when the Japanese training squadron last visited these shores. A Press Association telegram from Wellington states that 309 entries were received from primary school children all over the dominion for a competition promoted by the National Confidence Carnival Committee for an essay on an outstanding incident of New Zealand history. The first prize of £5 was won by Polly Larkins, of Bangiotu, the second of £2 by George Collins, of New Plymouth, and the third of £1 by Albert Staples, of Mastorton. Four prizes of 10s were won by Ken James, Owaka High School, South Otago; Vivian Brown, Christchurch; William Hill, Greymouth ; and Joan Bee, Takapnna, Auckland. Fifty other prizes were awarded. Since the earthquake there have been a number of illustrations in Napier of the ability of trees to withstand the tremendous heat of the fire which followed the upheaval (states the Napier ‘Daily Telegraph’). Thus the palm tree which stands in the grounds of the former Bank of New Zealand building at the corner of Hastings and Browning streets sent new shoots through the charred stem of the tree the following spring, after having had tho appearance of lifelessness all winter. Another remarkable illustration is that of a fig tree situated on the southern side of Tennyson street near the Civic square corner. Tire tree itself, badly burned, lias all the appearance of complete destruction, but from tl>e roots there have now sprung numerous new branches which form a kind of Elizabethan ruffle round the charred and barren stem. A letter, written by a plaintiff‘to a firm of solicitors, caused a diversion in a Supremo Court action at Auckland. The plaintiff, a woman, after being advised that she had no claim in the estate of her deceased father, was recommended to take further legal advice if she was not satisfied. This she did, and subsequently she wrote to the solicitors stating that she had consulted “ senior counsel,” with the result that she considered her claim a just one. “ What do you mean by ‘ senior counsel? ’ ” she was asked during the course of her evidence. “ Oh, I don't know. He was senior to me. in any case,” was the reply. “ Perhaps it was a little flattery of myself,” added the solicitor, who was appearing for the plaintiff. When she replied to His Honour that she had worded the letter herself. Mr Justice Hordman remarked: ‘‘Well, your literary ability is quite good.” A decanter from tho household of Air R. Cozens, who, as a lad, served for some years on the Victory with Lord Nelson, similar to two belonging to Air R. E. Isaacs, of Eemuera. Auckland. is in tho possession of Mrs Oswald, a great-granddaughter of Air Cozens (says the Taranaki ‘Herald’). By a strange coincidence all three decanters found their way to New Zealand. The decanters Mr Isaacs has were purchased about 1814, and were won by him when they were raffled by an Auckland resident. Mr Cozens’s great-granddaughter has been endeavouring to trace the other two decanters for some years. It was not until she saw a letter from Air Isaacs in the New Zealand ‘ Herald ’ that she learned where they were. Three or four weeks ago the* Star’ announced there was talk in Dunedin about devising a scheme for sending the St. Kilda Band to Victoria to compete at the Alelbourne centenary festival. A definite step towards the founding of such a scheme was taken this week. Tho mayor, at'the instance of some of our musicians, convened a meeting of representative citizens to dis. cuss the preliminaries of the proposition. Thst meeting was well attended, and it resulted in the setting up of a committee to inquire, consider, and report as to the ways and means of financing the trip as a community undertaking. If, as seems likely, the report recommends that the proposal bo gone on with, the next step will probably be to call a public meeting to ascertain the opinion of the citizens as a body. The drive round the Otago Peninsula is becoming more popular every year. Tourists recommend it to one another, and those of our own people who cannot indulge in long scenic routes are getting into the habit of spending an afternoon in a run to Portobello, finding some new enchanting viewpoint on every such excursion. This summer there will be a lot of holiday-making down that way, and the state of the roads is therefore a matter of widespread interest. To be able to write from first-hand inspection, a ‘ Star ’ reporter made the round trip yesterday, and found the going very good all the way. On the lower road, perfectly level, the surface is sealed all the way, in excellent condition, and made easy by the middle lino that marks the tivo routes. As to the upper road, the going is excellent for any motorist who exercises ordinary care. On tho steeper grades there is now a liberal surfacing of small stones, so that skidding is not a danger, and tho turns, even the sharpest, are not difficult to a man who keeps his eyes open. For an afternoon run the out trip by way of the upper road is the more advisable, since at that lime (if (be day not many country vehicles aro met.

“ There are speed limits everywhere but no on© takes any notice of them,” said Mr Justice Hcrdman, when a question as to the limit in a- particular place was asked of a witness in tho Hamilton Supreme Sourt. His Honour said that the signs were a waste of good timber and metal.

Within the past few weeks Whangarei timber millers have received a fair number of inquiries from Australia and elsewhere, mostly in connection with white pine arid kauri (states the ‘Northern Advocate’). Every year kauri is more difficult to get, as remaining supplies are now confined to the more remote districts. 'There has been a shortage of logs in some mills owing to the wet weather. Access to most of the bushes being worked is by clay road, and contractors have been unable to use heavy lorries. Though it is doubtful if any women have yet begun to smoke a pipe in public there is at least one woman in Southland who plays the pipes in public. In the ranks of the Browns Pipe Band which provided the music at the Winton Show was a handsome lassie who played lustily throughout the afternoon and who inarelied with just as much dignity as did her male associates. .

From the secretary of tho ‘‘Happy Moments ” art union, the mayor (Rev. E. T. Cox) received a cheque for £127 this morning. This amount is an allocation to the mayor’s relief fund. A chimney fire at a house in Canongate was attended to by the brigade late yesterday afternoon. There was no damage. Slight damage was done to a stack of timber in tho yard of Mr Robert Parker’s motor body building works on the Anderson’s Bay road when a spark from a plumber’s brazier set alight to the wood this morning. The brigade turned out at 9.42. The contents of tho works were insured in the Yorkshire Office for £IOO. The first New Zealander to book a passage to England by a Blue Star steamer is a Dunedin man, Air Thomas Ritchie. He is to embark at Wellington on the Tuscan Star, scheduled to depart on Saturday.

The annual refresher course for the South Island members of the New Zealand Permanent Force is this year at Waikouaiti, Colonel Nicholls in command. Eight of the Dunedin men and five from Invercargill travelled thither to-day by the through express that left Dunedin at 11.35. The chairman of the Railways Board (Air H. H. Stirling) appears to waste little time when he is travelling. On the course of his southern tour he arrived at Kingston at about 7 p.m. last Friday and immediately telephoned to Queenstown for the Ben Lomond to come down and pick him up. As soon as she had got up steam the little steamer started off, picking up Air Sterling and arriving back in Queenstown at midnight. On Saturday morning the official traveller went on to Alount Cook.

A very interesting and instructive address on his experiences with tho Slmckleton expedition to the South Polo in 1914-16, and also with the Government relict expedition in 1917, was delivered by Mr Howard Ninnis to the members of the Imperial Ex-Service-men’s Association at the Officers’ Club rooms last night. The speaker gave- a very vivid picture of the dangers of the silent ice tracts and the risks of starvation, which are ever present owing to the unexpected dangers to bo met with even by the best-equipped expeditions. Air Ninnis traversed the intentions and objectives of the Ellsworth expedition, and also dealt with tho projected flight from the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea and back to the base. At the conclusion of bis address a hearty vote of thanks to Air Ninnis was carried by acclamation. Flags were Hying to-day in Dunedin and elsewhere in New Zealand because it was St. Andrew’s Day. The anniversary is made a bank holiday in most parts of the British Empire. It is not a Public Service holiday now in New Zealand. Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus, and became one of the apostles, bringing with him his more famous brother Simon Peter. Tradition has it that Andrew preached the gospel in Scythia, Northern Greece, and Epirus, and suffered martyrdom on the cross. About 740 St. Andrew was made the patron saint of Scotland.

Air J. J. Alallard has obliged by sending to the editor further information as to the meaning of the word maniototo, gleaned from his voluminous records. The important extract is from a communication written by the late Air Robert M. Turnbull and published in Dunedin several years ago. When a county council was formed at Naseby an order was given to make a county seal, and on it the real Alaori word ‘‘ maniatoto ” was misspelled “ maniototo.” Air Turnbull added that he asked a high-caste Alaori the meaning of “maniatoto,” and he answered: “ Field of Blood, or it might be Plain or even Garden, that is separated in some way from the surrounding country.” AVhru asked the meaning of “ maniototo ” the Alaori replied that he did not know and did not think it was Alaori at all.

A street collection has been arranged for to-morrow in connection with the mayor’s appeal to provide a Christmas treat for tho children of the unemployed. Some 3,600 children, between the ages of four and fourteen, are to be entertained at the party in the Town Hall on Saturday, December 16, while there are also 1,000 children under four years, to whom a parcel is to be sent. It is also intended to take the children, with their mothers, to the seaside at least once during the holidays. In view of the cost entailed in providing the treat it is hoped that the response from tho public to-morrow will bo gratifying. A large number of ladies from the various depots, churches, and social organisations will assist in the collecting, and in the evening several bands will parade the main streets in the interests of the appeal. The manager’s staff of the T. and G. Life Assurance Company sent in a donation of £lO for the fund this morning. All donations received at the Town Hall will be acknowledged in the Press.

The wide discrepancy, amounting to 4RI per lb, between the price of Danish and New Zealand butter in England, is disturbing producing circles here. Quality, especially freshness, has something to do with it. With the consumer who (within limits) ignores price considerations prejudice has more to do with it; but tho claim made by New Zealand interests is that this prejudice is being gradually broken down, and that New Zealand butter, which has always had a good sale in the South of England, is making headway against Danish in the North of England, which has been the Danes’ stronghold. The “ industrial north ” has strong commercial instincts, and the form or condition in which Danish supplies arrive has appealed to these. What may be termed “ sprcadibility ” is one of the recommendations of Danish batter as against Now Zealand. It goes so much further on a slice of bread that one can easily understand the keeper of refreshment rooms, purveying sandwiches in quantity, paying 2d per lb more for Danish butter, because ho finds that it pays him in do so simply because loss ol il is needed per loaf limn if he used New Zealand butter.

Definite advice lias been received by Messrs H. L. Taploy and Co. from Rear-admiral R. E. Byrd that the expedition ships, Jacob Rapport and Bear of Oakland, will not call at Dunedin on their way to the Antarctic. The expedition is already delayed, and the stay in Wellington will be brief. Engagements of shearers are now being made for Otago sheds, and indications are that few shearers will be unemployed. The minimum award rate is 18s a hundred, but most sheepfanners are paying £1 and £1 2s 6d a hundred. On a number of Otago runs shearers have always been paid above award rates. Tli© supply of fish more than equals the demand of the Dunedin market at present, and prices have fallen in consequence. A leading fishmonger said to-day that he would not describe the supply as causing a glut, but the catches on the Nuggets, Taien Mouth, and Puketeraki grounds were greater than they had been for many months. Kingfish were coming forward in good supplies. At the Police Court this morning a woman seventy years of ago (a first offender) pleaded guilty to a charge of drunkenness and was convicted and discharged. Save your eyes. Be wise and consult W. V. Stunner (optician. 2 Octagon), thus conserving good vision for old age.—[AdvtJ Unusual interest is centred in the, opening next Saturday night of the Palais Dansant’s new series of dances. The choice of the Moonshine Cabaret ballroom is a happy one, with its modern appointments, lavish furniture, and lino dancing lloor. I’llO Miife-dic Dance Hand will supply the musiu fur .the old-time and modem dances.