LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 79, 15 March 1934, Page 6

LOCAL & GENERAL

Bearing the name of Brown and Duthie, Ironmongers, Brougham Street, on one side, and a reproduction of Mount Egmont on the other, with the inscription "Taranaki,” a token advertisement coin was found in a crewisse in the decking of the Wanganui Town bridge by a workman recently. The coin is dated 1866. The Napier Harbour Board’s dredge ' Whakarire, which has been in operation at the Breakwater since Thursday last, was not working yesterday, it being understood that certain alterations have been found necessary and these are being carried out at the foundry. The dredge Apiti continues to do good work between piers in the Inner Harbour channel. Although the Hawke's Bay Automobile Association wag greatly disorganised as the result of the 1931 earthquake, and the records lost, its membership register shows a marked increase within the last 12 months. On the agenda paper before the monthly meeting at Napier last night, 12 new members were registered, which brings the total to a figure slightly in excess of 1300. "The pollution of rivers is likely to become a serious problem,” said the seei'etary of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, Mr. C. M. Gordon, at a meeting of the council. The detrimental effect upon fish was the least important aspect of the matter; there was the wider question of the pollution of the countryside. "Among sources of the nuisance are dairy factories, sawmills and farms,” Mr. Gordon added. Four very dry seasons in succession have placed the farming community of Marlborough in a very serious position, and during the past few months the province has been practically in a drought condition. A farmer who has lived there for the past forty years stated that in the Seddon and Ward district the country for miles was, depleted of grass altogether. If rain did not come very soon, he said, it would do no good, for once the frosts arrived the grass would not make growth. Favourable consideration has been given by the Government to the repiesentations of motoring interests that some arrangement should be made whereby the services of Mr A. Tyndall would not be completely lost to the Main Highways Board as a result of his recent appointment to the position of Under-Secretary of Mines. Prior to assuming his new office Mr Tyndall was engineer to the board and when a suitable opportunity presents itself it is the intention of the Government to appoint him a member of the board Mr T. H. Wilson, a Hastings vegetable grower, has got into the habit of winning first prize for collection of potatoes. He secured that award at the present show for the fifth year in succession. Mr Wilson also secured six other firsts including first for kidney beans with a new variety which it is believed was shown at this show for the first time in New Zealand. This variety is a very round podded variety almost like a pea, but with a smooth skin of very fine texture. It is a decided acquisition to the varieties of French beans. Last night the Hawke’s Bay Automobile Association executive held its monthly meeting at Napier. Members present considered a number of matters affecting the domestic policies of similar organisations throughout the country, particularly in relation to the suggested formation of a national body. Dr. W. 1). Fitz Gerald presided. The executive expressed the view that a national body would not be in the best interests of motorists, and it was resolved to make this clear. “You will have the support of the South Island, I feel sure,’’ said the secretary, Mr R. M. Chadwick. Reference to mistakes that had sometimes been made in appointing justices of the peace was made by Mr. Wyvern Wilson, S.M., while addressing the conference of the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Association. Justices who were unfit for the duties of their office had provided a fund of cheap wit for many years, he said. There was the example of a justice who duly witnessed and fonvarded a document that he himself had signed, ; while a classic case was that of a jus- [ ties who gravely ruled that a cow was not an animal within the meaning of

the Act. The opinion that there are too many hills in New Zealand was expressed by Mr H. A. Bruce, M.L.A., State Minister for Fublic Works in the Queensland Government, in an i interview in Dunedin. Though there I were roads in Australia rising to 2000 : and sometimes 3000 feet, the average grade was 1 in 20 and the lowest about 1 in 15. In New Zealand he had travelled over roads with a grade as low as 1 in 6. Engineers, he said, could, avoid that if they liked, and he considered that the ear owner in New Zealand would be forced always to keep his machine in perfect condition if he wished to be sure of negotiating some of the hills. ft was pointed out at the executive meeting of the Hawke’s Bay Automobile Association at Napier last night, that many motorists indulged in the practice of violently accelerating their ears when thu siren of a passing ear was heard. The secretary, Mr R. M. Chadwick, said tins was a bad feature, and one which caused many accidents, i The subject was raised by a letter from the North Island Motor Union, which urged the association to suggest that - its members should give passing motori ists the ‘come on” signal, thus indieatI mg lhat oilier cars might safely pass. ■ It w.i", stated lhat a. largo proportion ■ ...f accidents occur when one car passes • another, and the Hawse’s Bay association executive decided io draw the atI li-iiiion ol its members to this plea for I 1 all <-i. in give I he correct signal at

The New Zealand Shipping Company, Ltd., advise that the Bangitane arrived at Auckland at 8 a.m. to-day. Passengers for Napier leave by to-night’s express. “We have to realise that the days of the old stock acting companies are probably gone for ever, ’ ’ said Mr. H. McD. Vincent, when outlining the future policy of the Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society at the annual meeting. “The talking pictures have accustomed the public to a better class of presentation than they were able to provide. We are planning to put on plays this year which will be well mounted and well produced, and which will, I think, both please and educate the public.” Canterbury College will have a new haka with which to greet the other university college teams when they arrive in Christchurch for the coining interuniversity tournament at Easter. Hakas are always a distinctive feature of these tournaments, and some dissatisfaction has been felt in late years with the old Canterbury College haka. The new haka has been composed by Mr C. M. Bennett, of Canterbury College, who is a son of the Bishop of Aotearoa. It is entirely original and has been composed exclusively for Canterbury College. < In the opinion of Mr B. J. Pye, an Australian woolbuyer and sheep farmer, who arrived at Wellington from Sydney by the Wanganella, the price obtained for wool .is the only factor that has given an improved tone to general conditions in Australia. Although there had had been an advance in wool prices, he said, the surprising thing was that woollen goods had not increased greatly in price in the Sydney shops. That was contrary to everybody’s expectations, including even the retail traders. It appeared that the wholesale dealers had refused to advance the prices. “You must be used to the loquacity of local bodies by this time,” remarked Mr T. C. A. Hislop,/the Mayor, when welcoming to Wellington members of the New Zealand Institute of Town Clerks who were holding their- annual meeting. “I don’t know what you think of Mayors and councillors,” he went on to say: “I don’t know what you can think. Some of them come into office with tremendous reforming zeal, and they must be an unmitigated nuisance to town clerks and other permanent officers; but the latter have the satisfaction of knowing that they go on for ever, so to speak, but Mayors and councillors do not.” The building of Wellington's new railway station, together with the completion of the Tawa Flat deviation, will necessitate a totally different lay-out of the numerous railway tracks at present in the vicinity of Lambton and Thorndon Stations. For months past alterations have been going on and new tracks have been laid Withthe next few weeks or so Hutt Valley trains will approach and leave Lambton Station by a new set of rails running much closer to Thorndon Station than the present tracks, and this alteration will leave room for the rearrangement of the tracks which will ultimately terminate in the new station. The recent partial demolition of the Kaiwarra station is part of the general rearrangement of Wellington’s railway terminus. The hearing ability of motor-drivers is discussed in a circular which has been issued by the Commissioner of Transport. The circular states that some persons suffer from oto-sclerosis, a characteristic of which is that the sufferer’s hearing may be quite adequate for motoring purposes, although under other conditions definitely below normal. The Transport Department considers that the present clause in the motor-drivers’ regulations in respect to the hearing ability of an applicant for a license operates somewhat harshly in the case of persons suffering from the disease, and proposes to make provision for cases being referred to a specialist who will have authority to decide ■whether the persons, if otherwise eligible, are entitled to licenses or not. The sale of health stamps in aid of children’s health camps commenced on November 9 last and ceased on February 28. During that period the post offices throughout the Dominion disposed of 236,120 stamps, representing £983 16/8. This sum is practically the same as that realised by their sale a year ago. With a total of 65,624 disposed of, Wellington sold more of these stamps than any other place in the Dominion. Auckland had the second highest total with 52,469. Next came Christchurch with 21,992, and then Dunedin with 16,296. Timaru sold the fifth largest number of stamps with a total of 11,199. This town is by no means the fifth largest centre of population in the Dominion, but the fine response from Timaru is believed to be ' due to the formation there of a health 1 camp association.