Local and General

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 27 June 1935, Page 6

Local and General

The tunnel through the Mold Saddle on tne Ohnra Road near Tahora has oeen pierced, and work on the tunnel should be finished in a fortnight, but cioarmg work will take longer and the tunnel will probably not be open toi traffic until the eiul of July. The tunnel will obviate 74 chains of tortuous clay road over the saddle and reduce the climb by 90 feet. The tunnel is 64 chains from Tahora and about nine chains long, 12 feet wide and 18 feet high, the section being that of a Gothic arch! The approach on the northern side traverses new country for 39 chains, and on the Tahora or southern side about five chains of new formation had to be made. “The years of depression since 1929 mark the acute phase of a period of transition from one epoch to another, said Dr. H. Belshaw to the Wellington Philosophical Society last night. “Unless this transitional aspect of the crisis is realised, we shall fail to appreciate the underlying significance of the events of our generation. To us, it is the hitter experience of poverty in the midst of plenty which is important. To future generations it will bo the societies which will arise and of which we are laying the foundations. The cynic may perhaps wonder whether it is a tower of Babel which we are erecting.” A Lyttelton beekeeper is in a dilemma. He has just received “On His Majesty’s Service” a demand that he should register his bees On pain of a fine not exceeding £29, says a Press Association message. Difficulty has arisen for the owner because he has been called on to specify, among other things, what breed of bee be keeps. Although the bees have had their headquarters in a comfortable hive in the man’s garden for some time, they have so far resented his attempts to secure their honey. “Once bitten, twice shy” and a deadlock is likely to develop unless be can snare one of the boos for identification.

“It comes as a real shock to me—and I know it will be to most followers of the game in Australia—to find Frank Kilby omitted from the All Black side to tour Great Britain. 1 confidently thought the snowy-haired half would lead the side, so good was his form and captaincy here last year. Tt makes one wonder whether the New Zealantl selectors have committed as grave an error as did the Australian selectors in the omission of Towers from the Wallabies!’’ was what Syd. Malcolm (the Waratah-Wallahy halfback, had to say. Features of the development of air travel and transport in the United States of America were described by ,r. A. L. Lewis, in an address given on Monday at the fortnightly luncheon of the Christchurch Business Men’s Club. Dr. Lewis said that in a single year aeroplanes had. carried 600,000 passengers in the United States, w ith fewer fatalities than any other form of transport. The country was honeycombed with air routes, there being in all 58 air mail lines. Single-motor-ed aeroplanes, of the type chosen ny Sir Charles Kingsford Smith for the Melbourne Centenary race, were flying regularly between Los Angeles and San Francisco, making the trip, about 450 miles, in an hour and 52 minutes.

Fresh evidence of the progressive policy of the Railways Department in anticipating and meeting the needs of the travelling public is seen in the free issue of a strongly-bound 48-page book, which is a guide for the reservation of seats and sleeping-berths on the principal express and passenger trains throughout the Dominion. Plans of the carriage accommodation are clearly printed so that intending passengers are able to take % in the whole situation at a glance. The information accompanying each plan includes details of timetables and fares between principal stations and a list of the stations at which refreshments are available. Copies of this useful book are being sent to Government Tourist Bureau Travel Agencies and principal hotels (from which requests for reservations may be telephoned to booking offices).