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Evening Star, Issue 21905, 17 December 1934, Page 10

Extra cars had to .be called out for the Dunedin tramway service on Friday and Saturday, and the reinforced plant for the regular Christmas traffic will be gradually put on the roads as from to-morrow. On Friday and Monday, Mr W. H. MacKenzie says, practically every car and bus will be running, the whole plant being available.’ That the department’s rolling stock should bo thus ready for any emergency is, we may remark, proof of the continuous and thorough examining and the faithful repairing in the w'orshops, the doings in which are controlled by Mr W. Richards, the tramway engineer; A hint to the public to hefp the efficiency of the tram services will no doubt be accepted in a friendly spirit. It is that they should move as quickly as possible, short of unseemly rushing, in getting on to and leaving the care. Another suggestion is_to.be as sparing as possible in bringing push-carte on to the cars in busy hours. , Lord Bledisloe is reported to' haye told the boys of Scots College, at this year’s break-up, that from the point of view of commonsense it is up to all to study the welfare of our neighbours. To be spiritual, not wholly worldly, was 'advice to which commonsense should be applied. His Excellency’s exhortation runs on the same lines as the answer given by a theological professor in Dunedin years ago. A man was pefseveringly plying him. with quotations from Scripture and challenging him to reconcile seeming contradictions, and the reply was: “ God gave men commonsense before He gave him the Bible.’’

To : reach the excellent total of £70,000 worth of work, only another £2OO is needed by the committee of Dunedin’s More Work campaign. Firstly, £50,000 worth of work was asked" for, and so great was the response that ah endeavour was made to increase the figure to £60,000, and incredible though it seems, nearly another £IO,OOO of work has been promised; in fact it only requires registration cards for £2OO to permit the organisers of the scheme to announce a,t the final meeting on Friday, that the £70,000 has been reached.

So far there has been a small local response to the Post Office’s offer to send Christinas and New Year greetings telegrams to all parts of the country for 6d, but it is anticipated that the rush period will be experienced later in the week. Persons wishing to send telegrams to their friends are asked to give their orders at the telegraph office as soon as possible, stating the date on which the messages are to be delivered at the other end. These messages will bo sent out at convenient times, being held at the receiving offices until the date specified. If the public generally, and business houses in particular, would comply with this reasonable request, the last-minute traffic congestion experienced last year, would be avoided.

The sunny, well-drained, and sheltered valley of .Sawyer’s Bay lias formally years been known, near and far, for its flower-growing. Now it is likely to be known for its soft fruits. The sample of strawberries that Mr J. Bews sent to Dunedin this morning would be singled out in any market as choice, of the best for size, colour, and flavour.

Hot ashes left near the wall of a wooden house in Binnie street, Abbotsford, were the cause of a fire yesterday afternoon, when the South Diinedin and Green Island Fire Brigades extinguished the outbreak before any great damage was done. The house is owned by Mrs Wright, of Ravensbourne, and occupied by Mr Baillie.

The programme to be presented by the city organist (Dr V. E. Galway) in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening next at 8 o’clock will be of a seasonal character. Items to be presented for the first time at these recitals will be a Fantasia on Christmas carols by I)r Alan Gray, ‘ The March of the Wise men,’ -by Dubois, and ‘ The Christmas Eve Pastoral,’, by Merkel. The programme . will also include Guilmant’s Offertory on Christmas Themes and Grand Chceur, Wesley’s charming ‘ Halsworthy’s Church Bell,’ Bach’s ‘ Fugue in G major,’ and other interesting items. The supporting artists will be Mr Wilfred Kershaw, who will sing two numbersifrom the ‘Messiah,’ and Miss Hazel Walker. There will be no charge for admission.

That people are not being tempted by the settled fine weather to plan their Christmas expenditure on a scale beyond what they can afford is a fair inference frdm the report to-day by Mr Quaile, manager of the .Dunedin Savings Bank, to the effect that the withdrawals are fairly heavy, but not above normal.

An uiicomriionly good display of cut flowers grown by Mr E. Oswald Reilly was on view at the Central Produce Mart to-day, their culture surprising. Prominent examples included the blue hydrangea, both shades of the delphinium, the Dainty Bess cluster rose, the spreckelia, the bomaria, the blue scabious, the regal lily, and the Winter! dianthus.

For bravery in attempting to rescue a girl from drowning in the Manawatu River last, summer George Grindrod, a local Boy .Scout, publicly received the Scout’s silver .cross medal. Only six of these medals have so far been pre-sented-in New Zealand.—Feilding Press Association.'

It is noted with satisfaction that our New Zealand apples are this season keeping 'longer than usual. November is the 'month in which they commonly lose quality. Now, in mid-December the best of the consignments from Nelson and Canterbury are unwithered in the skin, sound to the core, arid if not as sharp in- flavour, are quite nice for dessert use. The' pick of the Otago apples are also doing well, hut they are somewhat scarce, growers having called up their reserves from cool store as soon as the prices became payable.

Dunedin'butcher's say that trade is well up to the average of the Christmas expectation. Hams are being bought, freely,', and it is satisfactory to find that a very large proportion of the hams now in the shops are from Otagogrown pigs. Beef has cheapened lately, and mutton is coming down in price. Lamb is in keen demand at values about the same as at this time last year.

One hundred and thirty passengers by this morning’s south express of eleven cars will be among those who will sail for Melbourne by the Maheno, which is scheduled to sail from Bluff at 5 o’clock this , afternoon. There were twenty-six Boy Scouts from Otago (including thirteen from Dunedin) and others from Canterbury, who are on their way to the centenary jamboree, which is to be held at Frankston, thirty miles from Melbourne, from Thursday, December 27, to Monday, January 7. The Scouts are due back here on Friday, January 18. Girl Guides, who will attend that section of the jamboree, were also travellers. A special car. was reserved for seventy members returning from a Christian convention, held at Mihiwaka during the week-etid. Forty more entrained for the north this morning. although seventy left by the limited express last night. An increased, number of holidaymakers were also in evidence among the passengers on both this morning’s trains. At the last meeting of the South Otago Hospital Board the question of the establishment of, a home for old people was brought forward by Mr J. Christie, who made reference to the need of such an institution in the Clutha district. It was tragic to think, he said, that many old people who had practically spent their lives in the district had to-go elsewhere to end their days amongst strangers. The chairman (Mr H. A. Brough), who thought it was the duty of the board to make some provision in the matter, suggested that this afforded an opportunity to some public-spirited citizen to confer a real benefit on the community. The fact should be made known that’ the board was willing to consider the establishment of an old people’s home. The secretary mentioned that at present the board was providing for about six such people. It was eventually resolved to discuss the matter at the board’s next meeting. The postal authorities advise That the mails which left Auckland on November 13 per the Niagara via Vancouver arrived in London on Saturday last. Blenheim is experiencing the most severe heat wave for many years. On Saturday the thermometer registered 92.5 in the shade. Yesterday was somewhat cooler, but to-day the mercury is sky-rocketing again.—Press Association.,

Don’t delay with eye troubles; they lead to other troubles. See the, optician without delay. To give satisfaction is the ideal of W. V. Sturraer, optician, 2 Octagon. Dunedin.—f Advt.!

The Railway Department, by advertisement in this* issue, draws attention to Christmas and New Year holiday train arrangements.

The -Kailway Department advertises in this issue, particulars of special train arrangements in connection with the conveyance of unemployed relief workers and Pub. lie Works employees, from the Otago Central branch on December 21; also advice to passengers travelling to Invercargill on Saturday next to travel by the early afternoon train.