LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 298, 3 December 1935, Page 6

LOCAL & GENERAL

Clock Working Soon. The Hastings town dock will soon be chiming the hours. The mechanism arrived this morning, and the expert began the work of placing the units in their correct order. He expects to have the job finished in about ten days. Relief Donations.

The Mayor of Hastings, Mr G. A. Maddison, wishes to acknowledge the following donations towards the Relief of Distress Fund: —Books and magazines, Mrs Geoffrey Moore, Havelock North; quantity of bread, Mr T. H. Crutchley.

Athletic Championships. The New Zealand track and field championships for 1936-37 were allotted to the Auckland centre by the council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association at its annual meeting lust night. The New Zealand cross country championships for 1936 "ere also allotted to Auckland. Mr R. W. McVilley uas re-elected president—Press Assn.

Blackbird’s Family. The progeny of a white blackbird, which nested in a Mount Albert (Auckland) garden, have come to a ead end. They were attacked and killed, evidently by a rat, and their bodies were found on the ground some distance from the nest. Apparently their captor had been scared away when carrying them off and abandoned them in its flight.

Funds for Health Camp, The splendid result of £l2 4/6 was obtained by a bridge afternoon conducted by the Hastings Women’s Club yesterday for the purpose of raising funds for the Health Camp. Mrs T. H. Lowry and her many helpers are to be commended for the success which has greeted their efforts, and the funds raised will assist materially in swelling the amount which is being collected in other directions for this purpose Too Much Borrowing.

In conversation with an Australian State official, Rotarian M. S. Spence learned that in the last four years Australia borrowed something like £140,000,000, most of which was used not for capital works, but for tne restoration of salary cuts and other things. “He said it couldn’t last,” said Rotarian Spence at the Napier Rotary Club yesterday. “Any Government strong enough to resist this borrowing would be put out at the next election, but cannot last.”

Proficiency Exams. Hundreds of children (and teachers, too) in Hawke’s Bay will not be sorry that the proficiency examinations are over.- As in most other years the number of examinees is fairly high. In accordance with the decision of the Hawke's Bay Education Board last year, the proficiency results will not be published in the Press. The board reached this decision after a long discussion, which was resolved largely on the score that the publication of the names only of those who passed was often not in the best interests of the children.

Schoolboy Howlers. These delightful examples of schoolboy humour (they weren’t intended for humour, needless to say) are obviously the efforts of desperate pupils, who feel that they must set down some sort of answer to every question. The pupils were required to form adjectives from certain nouns and to use each adjective formed with a noun. The first noun given was peril, and one bright lad’s answer read; “A peril necklace”! Another given noun was France, and tho crown for ingenuity should go to the pupil who wrote: “Frances Drake”!

Show-ring Successes. At the Stratford A. and P. Show, last week, Mr. A. W. Parsons’s (Waipukurau) Spearopa repeated his successes of the previous week at Hawera, by winning in the ladies’ hack class, in the list, hack class, second for best paced hack, third for best walking back, and second, with Miss D. Bous field's Arapai, in the class for best pair of hacks. Miss D. Bousfield’s (Waipukurau) Arapai was first for best walking hack, and her Painted Doll was second in the class for ponies 13.2 to 14.2 hands. Miss M. White (Hastings) secured second for best lady rider. Plant Research station. “The whole thing is deplorable,” said Mr. T. L. Lancaster, head of the Department of Botany at Auckland University, this morning, when commenting on Dr. Cunningham’s retirement. Mr. Lancaster said he knew the Palmerston Plant Station and the two antiquated buildings, where conditions were “simply terrible.” It was deplorable that in a country so dependent on “greenblude” so little attention was puid to plant research. The institution at Palmerston North is absolutely vital to the prosperity of the Dominion, and the sooner the Government awakens to the official inertia the better, Mr. Lancaster added. “This is another case of losing the services of a brilliant New Zealander through indifference, ignorance, and apathy.” Chinese Wives. “Should the prohibition of the Immigration of Chinese women into New Zealand be discontinued?” was a ques lion debated by Mr. W. Wah and Mr. W. C. Bradley, two Canterbury College students, at a luncheon gathering of the Christchurch Business Men's Club. Mr. Wah, in an interesting speech, held that those Chinese men already resident in New Zealand should have the right to bring wives with them from China. A mate was man’s natural right, he held, and the enforced celibacy could mean nothing but harm. Mr. Bradley maintained that tho admission of more Chinese into the country, and any measure that would meau an increase in tho Chinese population, would be adding to the already grave social problems facing New Zealand.