LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hawera Star, Volume L, 29 October 1930, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

“Donnie’s” golf notes, which usually appear in “The Star” on Wednesdays, will be published on Friday this week, when the play in the recently concluded South Taranaki tournament will be reviewed. The Wellington Chamber of Commerce last evening passed a resolution supporting the Associated Chambers oi Commerce in protesting against Government interference in private enterprise in connection with broadcasting. In anticipation qT the general elec-

tion toward the end of next year, the machinery of the Labour Party in Auckland is being set in motion. Nominations of candidates are being called for the 10 seats ' comprising Auckland city and suburbs, the closing date for which is November 27. Where more than one nomination is received a selection ballot will be held to determine who shall be" the party’s official candidate. Four of the seats are now held by Labour. Missionaries have to be tactful when working among primitive peoples, as the experience of Mrs. Keith Rammer, a Sudan missionary, shows. Mrs. Rammer was in a part of the Sudan where the men have aai average height of seven feet and have a peculiar way of expressing their approval. Whether it is a person or an object of any kind that appeals to them, their unfailing custom as to spit upon it. Mrs. Rammer, who recently returned to New Zealand, has painful memories of the reception she received when she entered her newly-made home aaad began work among these people. Some time ago Mr. R. Farley, of

vVestinere, made an offer, through the Wanganui Development League, of land for closer settlement purposes. Che area totalled 380 acre® andi the league was informed last night by the Government that another valuation was being made m view of. an amend-

d offer tiie owner had made since, "ine league president expressed pleasure at Mr. Farley’s lead. He said that when the league was foi*med it was reported that it was advocating confiscation of land. That was ridiculous. Whait it wanted was closer settlement and! even if a sale did not take place in the pre>sent instance he was delighted at Mr. Farley’s example.

The Christchurch ‘ ‘Dress, ’ ’ though it has ceased publication of the “Weekly Press,” has this year issued an illustrated annual on the lines of the Christmas Number of the now defunct weekly paper. This year’s annual ranks high among the many excellent publications of a similar character issued by the “Press” in the past. It is devoted entirely to illustrations which picture the beauty of New Zealand’s scenery and the progress of the Dominion’s cities and towns. No bet-

ter medium for conveying a true im-

pression of the country to .people overseas could be desired, and it is a foregone conclusion that “New Zealand Illustrated” will bulk largely in the outgoing Christmas mail this year. The 370 passengers carried by the TJlimaroa when she arrived at Wellington from Sydney yesterday was a record number for the vessel. Both of the ship’s classes were well filled, the first-class passengers including the members of a theatrical company. During the past few weeks there has

beeja a decided improvement in the number of passengers travelling to New Zealand from Australia. It was unfortunate for those included in the TJlimaroa’s record list that the trip

was a particularly unpleasant one. The ship left Sydney at noon on Friday and immediately ran into southerly and south-westerly weather. Conditions were cold, and wet and strong; winds drove before them high seas, the ship being continually swept with spray. Conditions were at their worst on Sunday. There was no improvement until yesterday morning. The Ulimaroa came through the bad weather well and it left no visible traces upon her. The suggestion that there may be dying a remnant of the lost Ngatimainoe tribe in Fiordland has provoked' a good deal of discussion in Invercargill. Opinions differ as to the possibility' of the tribe, or a few of its number. being still in existence, but there seems to be .unanimous opinion that a search should be made noth a view to finally clearing up the mystery surrounding the Ngatimamoe. Among those who firmly believe that such a tribe either is existing still or at any -ate lias existed until reoent times is

Mr. John Topi, of Ruaipuke, whose 'other played such a big part in the history of that picturesque island and was one of the recognised authorities on the history of the Southern Maori, l r Topi is most anxious to see an exoedition launched, and from what can j 1 o learned l he is likely to meet with olenfy of support. That the delivery of mails which were damaged when the Tahiti foundered in the Pacifii Ocean in August presented the Post Office in England with some puzzles is suggested by the receipt in Auckland 1 recently of another envelope bearing traces of its immersion in the ocean. The letter was for delivery in Belfast, Ireland, but only very few of the letters of the address were deoiph-1 erable. However, these scanty clues [ were sufficient for the Post Office, for the letter reached its destination with /cry little delay. Another interesting souvenir of the Tahiti disaster which has also been received in Auckland is i copy of a menu of the last breakfast served on board the vessel. In the face of dire misfortune the printer and the stewards found time to add a planted line, “With our best wishes. Kila Ora.”

On Saturday next the third annual Ranger, Guide and Brownie flower show should he an event of much local interest. Last year the entires exceeded 700 and the judges commented on the i o-li standard of work displayed by the mirthful enthusiasts. The display is not confined to floral arrangement only, but there ai*e cooking, writing, raffia, camp craft, sewing, fancywork, original sections, and the Winter Show hall should be well worth a visit on Siaturlav afternoon. Sweets and produce tails will bo well supplied and a dainty afternoon tea will be provided;—plenty of ice cream, too, for the children.

“The New Zealand Traveler,” the official organ of the New Zealand Commercial Travellers’ and Warehousemen’s Association, which has been a flourishing monthly publication since 1923, has issued, in time for overseas Christmas mails, its annual supplement. This is a beautifully printed and well-designed journal of some 76 pages, with a specially written foreword by the Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes. In stories, and by illustrations, “New Zealand 1931” deals with the business and sporting facts of the Dominion and depicts many of its scenic charms, it is a publication of which the commercial travellers or New Zealand may well be proud, being a tribute to their enterprise and proof of 'the very real interest their association has always taken in the affairs of tliis country. The Christchurch “Press” has made a fine job of the printing. An ingenious checking device by means of which the exact time worked by lorry-drivers and their colleagues can be gauged to the minute has been invented by Mr James M. Stevenson, of Dunedin. Although the design of this “tell-tale” clock is comparatively simple the task of fashioning the original idea into something concrete and practical has been by no means easy, and in rendering the invention infallible Mr Stevenson has used up a great deal of his spare time for the last three years. The fundamental parts of each checking device are an ordinary clock (an alarm clock will do), a delicately-balanced ■vibrating pencil, and a narrow roll of paper which winds from one spool on to another under the poised point of the inexorable pencil. The larger spool is made to revolve by the minute axle of the clock and it in turn draws the paper across from the other spool. When the vehicle is in motion the pencil keeps up a rapid and regular tapping on the slowly-moving paper, the least travelling _ vibration being sufficient to set it going. If necessary the device will act for 10 hours a day and when at the end of the day the scroll is removed one can tell by placing it along a ruler marked to scale precisely how long driver so-and-so had for lunch, how long it took him to load up at “x,” and how long it took him to travel from here to there or vice versa. So accurate is the system that even a stop to allow a tram to pass is recorded. ' .