LOCAL AND GENERAL

Hawera Star, Volume L, 8 April 1931, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The next meeting of the Barbour Board in Patea on May 5 will be the last of the year and the bi-ennial election will be held on May 6. jjiore and more people are becoming uncertain about our present, civilisation ana its value. JL)r. outnenanu, m nis lecture in ivianaia on xnursuay evening, win deal with tins subject from tne view or the minings oi tne new science of antnropology and psychology . Tne provocative. title of tne lecture will give .some idea or its nature, so that questions and lively discussion are expected to follow it. Many people are under the impression that the toheroa is found only on the west coast of the North Island, but that is a mistake. It is found on the Ahipara Beach (usually called the Ninety Mile Beach), North Kaipara Beach, Muriwai Beach, Qtaki Beach, Oliope Beach (Bay of Plenty), near Palmerston South, Riverton Beach and Te Waewae Bay, states the Auckland “Star.” Up North Kaipara and Ahipara way this popular bivalve is canned, and during the 1929-30 season a total of 6532 cases was packed, the value being £12,442. The amount of shellfish eaten is enormous. During the same season New Zealanders consumed 39,331 sacks of dredge oysters, 6219 sacks of rock oybsers, 9037 sacks of mussels, and 2675 sacks of crayfish. The value ran into about £40,000.

Though the two Hawera motor-cars which were removed last week without their owners’ consent' were recovered a few hours later, undamaged, the ignition keys were removed in both instances. A theory is held in some quarters that some person is making a collection of ignition keys of various makes of cars with an eye to their future use. About the same time last week as the two cars were reported stolen, at least one other Hawera resident surprised a stranger examining the interior of his car, which had been left outside his house during the evening meal hour. The theory that the recent car removals were carried out by friends of the owners as practical jokes is discounted by one of the motorists concerned. “I have no friend, or even acquaintance, possessed of that kind of mentality which ’would allow him to do a thing like this as a joke,” said the motorist. “Aren’t we as a people somewhat to blame for the mounting expenditure of Ministers of the Crown and their secretaries?” asked Mr. Norton Francis during his address before the Junior Reform League at Christchurch (reports the “Press”). “We put up so many questions to them, and we always demand their personal attendance. If anything goes wrong, we must have the Minister down. We want a Minister to open a flower show, to lay a foundation stone, to look into this and to look into that. Now we arc finding that the cost of these luxuries is more than we can afford to pay. I suggest that we should try to help ourselves and see if we can’t get on without Government help and Ministers here and Ministers there.”

The fifth annual young bird show under the auspices of the Hawera Poultry Society will take place on Wednesday, April 15, from 2 to 9 p.m. The judge last year drew attention to the fact that many exhibitors made the mistake of entering Yorkshire in Norwich classes and vice versa. For the benefit of those who were unable to distinguish the two breeds he explained that the Yorkshire was a lightfeathered bird .standing erect tei the perch, slimness being an essential feature. It used to be the aim of breeders to take a ring off the finger and slip the bird through it. This was a recognised characteristic of the champion Yorkshire. The Norwich, he pointed out, was a much looser feathered bird, shorter and thicker in the body, and stood almost horizontally on the perch. Entries close on Friday at 5 p.m.

There is a project on foot to help a Japanese student to come to New Zealand toward the end of this year to take a course in agriculture at Lincoln College (states the “Press”)- The scheme is sponsored by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the New Zealand National Union of Students. The idea originated when Miss Carol WcstWatson, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, visited Japan in 1929 as a New Zealand delegate to the Pan-Pacific Conference. Later, the Papanese student, Mr. Isamu Kawase, wrote to New Zealand asking for particulars of the course and of the regulations governing entry into New Zealand. This information was supplied, and the Foreign Affairs Committee made further investigations. It was ascertained that the Lincoln College authorities and students would be pleased to welcome and assist Mr. Kawase. Sheep farming is not carried on to a very great extent in Japan, and Mr. Kawase says he hopes to “make Japan a shepherd land.” For this reason he hopes to study at Lincoln College, sheep farming, dairy farming, and live stock.

Some cases have been reported of an arsenical poisoning in Hiawera, which has caused much distress and sickness. In each case it has been traced to the remains of spray on tomatoes. It is understood that the spray, when used, sticks on the fruit and will not come off when washed hut, if a dry cloth is used, the spray is removed altogether. At a cost of £300,000 the London County Council has deepened the famous Kingsway subway and provided palatial double-deck tramcars to take the place of the single-deckers that previously ran on the route. There are now three tramway services running via the subway, providing direct journeys over many miles of central and suburban London. They connect with 69 other tramway services. In order to popularise, the trams, the authorities have instituted cheap fares and an extensive system of transfer facilities. The new cars each seat 74 passengers. The London “Evening News,” describing the new service, states that more elbow room has been provided, and aU draughts have been eliminated, while ventilation has been vastly improved. <f ln my judgment the rescinding motion is likely to be carried at the next meeting of the council because one councillor was coerced into voting in a certain direction at last night’s meeting, and I cannot imagine that ! that vote will be repeated,”’said the Mayor of Christchurch, the Rev. J. K. Archer, last week, in announcing that notice of motion had been given by Councillor H. T. J. Thacker to rescind the resolution that salaries and wages be reduced by 10 per cent. He declined to give the name of the councillor whose vote, he alleged, had been changed as a result of coercion. “My 1 reason for putting in this notice of motion,” said Councillor Thacker, ‘‘is that I consider it is a matter for the electors to decide. The election is so near that that' would not cause any great delay, and moreover I contend that the present council has no mandate from the citizens as to what it should do. It is entirely a question for the citizens, and I intend to make it one of the vital planks in the coming contest.

A language that would ihav© puzzled many a skilled linguist was spoken fluently at a conference held in the Higher Thought Temple, Wellington Street, Auckland, last Saturday, states the Auckland “Star.” The occasion was the •second annual conference of the New Zealand Esperanto Association. Among those present was an Aucklander who has known the international language for 25 yeans, and a Dalmatian who speaks six different tongues. The movement really got on its feet in New Zealand early in 1929, when the association was formed, with a membership of 200. At present Sir George Eowlds is the patron, and the members are scattered throughout the Dominion, with representatives in at least 70 towns. It is estimated that there are 1000 in New Zealand with a working knowledge of the language. It sounds somewhat like Italian, and is really 50 per cent Latin, with the “cream” of the chief European languages, English, Gennan, French. Spanish and Italian. There are now thousands of Esperanto study groups in the world, the language is taught in day classes in 17 countries, in evening classes in 39 countries, and is also extensively broadcast from radio stations in 33 countries.