LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 September 1927, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The strains of music coming from a ear being driven through the business .portion of Hawera on Saturday attracted the attention of passers-by, who saw that a wireless set was installed in the car, which belonged to a local electrical engineer. Good results were achieved with a small loop aerial erected on the hood, and the music was received iat good loudspeaker strength.

Messrs F. Stephenson and J. Grundy, the two young men who left Wellington on August 30 on a walk round the world, arrived at Palmerston North on Saturday. They left for Wanganui via Marton, equipped with cameras, securing photos en mute to make lantern slides tor lecturing purposes when they reach America and England. Both have been hospitably entertained by the mayors of the boroughs through which they have already passed. • Mr. James Pilkington, of Kamo, and a passenger lie was •driving in a ear, had a miraculous escape at McLeod’s crossing, between Kikurangi and Kamo, at about eight o’clock on Friday evening. Mr. Pilkington was going in the direction of Kikurangi and failed to notice a coal train running to Whangarei, the engine striaing the front of the ear and smashing it utterly. Kow the two occupants of the car escaped is a mystery 7 . Mr. Pilkington was unable to give an account of the accident and how it happened. They were practically 7 uninjured, and came back to Whangarei on the train. The crossing is a very dangerous one, and the local bodies of the district have been agitating for some time for its removal, but so far no official action has been taken.

The fact that probably four-fifths of New Zealand's total area of native plants has been destroyed since the coming of the white man was mentioned by Mr G. A. Green, secretary of the New Zealand Horticultural Institute, when speaking to members of the Mount Eden Borough Council, states the Auckland “Herald.” He was pleading for the more frequent use of native plants, and pointed out that over 1500 kinds of exotic plants have been established in New Zealand, and some of these are represented by as many as 50 varieties. This would give some idea of the extent to which introduced plants 'were spreading, and he thought it was time something was done in every city and town to preserve the native flora. The work of the Mount Eden Council in this direction earned his warm approval.

“New Zealand’s exports to Canada should increase, and) if the exporters, either individually or by some combined method, would take a slightly more active means of pushing their wares in the Canadian markets they would find no difficulty in disposing of quantities considerably larger than at present,’’ said Mr. Paul Sykes, acting-Canadian Trade Commissioner, in addressing members of the Auckland Agricultural Science Club. “We in Canada are far from self-supporting,” he added. “We are anxious to trade within the Empire and with New Zealand as part of it.” Canada was now buying greatly increased quantities of New Zealand goods, the value of Canadian impoi-ts from New Zealand in 1926 being £569.000, or over £145,000 greater than in the previous year. Canada would he glad to see such figures increase in the -same- way that they were anxious to see their exports to New Zealand maintain their present level or a- higher one. As it was, however. Canada was in a position to offer New Zealand buyers- a much wider range of necessities than they had to offer. “I think it will he borne out in the statement that it is most unnatural for the trade between two conn trie® to balance exactly, and that this is an impossiCanada and New Zealand are ronsiderbilitv when the present positions of ed.” Mr. Sykes added.