The Levin Daily Chronicle SATURDAY, JULY 17. 1937. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 July 1937, Page 4

The Levin Daily Chronicle SATURDAY, JULY 17. 1937. LOCAL AND GENERAL.

A goods train which had difficulty in negotiating a grade in the vicinity ot Manakau last evening, was responsible for the holding up of the north-bound Limited and Field's express. The latter was side-tracked to allow the Limited to get through 15 minutes behind schedule, while Field's was running an hour late.

Estimated to weigh about 15001 b., and standing - about level with the top of the cattle stalls, a huge white Shorthorn bullock was sold for £l7 at the Westfield stock yards, Auckland, on Wednesday. The beast was six years old and had an undefeated record in Auckland provincial show rings.

The fact that boys and girls entering business after one or two years at a secondary school often had to be taught, how to spell correctly and write legibly was mentioned during discussion at the New Education Conference at Auckland by a member of a large Auckland department store. He said the firm employed a staff supervisor who conducted a class for that purpose. It had been found that over half of the applicants, were unable to work out correctly an ordinary sales docket of five items.

A striking example of faith in the I Placement Service’s methods of selection was given in a city in the South Island. Owing to the non-arrival from England of steel and iron supplies, a big firm had to shorten its staff, most of the men being thoroughly capable tradesmen. Smaller firms in the same lines were canvassed by the discharged men, but were told that there was no work for them. Their last hope was the Placement Service. Having verified the capabilities and suitability of the men. the officers interviewed several of the smaller concerns, with the result that a job for almo.st every man was found, mostly with firms that had declined their personal request for work.

The Westland County Council at a meeting this week resolved to make a strong request to the Government for the extension of the railway to south Westland, also asking the support of all the coast local bodies. The unanimous opinion was that road transport would only retard the progress of the southern district and prevent further expansion. The council also resolved to request the Minister of Forestry to make a personal visit to south We'stland : to investigate conditions in the white pine industry before the new regulations are brought into force. Speakers [averred that the failure to provide a railway south would result in a great loss for the timber industry.

As advertised in our columns, Mr. It. King continues his series of addresses in the Gospel Hall, Levin. At 2.30 p.m. on Sunday there is a special address to adults. At 7 p.m. the Gospel subject is “ Confidence. ’ ’ On Tuesday at 7.30, “How to Have a Happy Home,” Wednesday “Flaming Youth,” and Thursday “Question Box. ’ All are heartily invited to these meetings, which arc being followed with much interest.

With the approval of the Native Department and others interested, the •Labour Department has decided to introduce a new system for the payment of Maori unemployed, involving the use of coupons instead of cash. The object of the scheme, which is an innovation in this country, is to ensure that a proper proportion of the money received by the natives is used for the purchase of necessities and i s not ex ! pended in certain undesirable directions which penalise their wives and families.

Cigarette cards have a definite appeal to the young, but it is nearly always the case that the urge for securing collections is but a passing phase, and is entirely, lost when some other interest presents itself. Such, however, is not the case with Air. Jack Alurtagh, a 24-year-old shop assistant of 625 Nelson Street, Hastings, w T ho, for the past 11 years, since he was 13 years of age, has amassed the huge collection of something like 120,000 individual cards. These he stores in about 350 albums and some 65 tightly-packed boxes. The collection is valued at £2OO.

At a meeting of the executive of the New Zealand Crippled Children Society held in. Wellington this week, Mr. G. Meachen, in reporting to the meeting, sand that at present; there were some 1500 cripples in New Zealand. These were being carefully classified as, the various branches became operative. There were 18 branches, each one re presenting a hospital district. The complete returns were not yet to hand of the • cripples in all those districts, but. so far they were aware that the Auckland district, a very big one, had 400 cripples, Wellington 155, and Canterbury 135.

A human skeleton, believed to be of great age, was unearthed by workmen engaged on a river protection and harbour scheme ' at Karamea, Westland, the other day. The skull indicates that its owner had an unusually low forehead, and it has for this reason been suggested that it might have belonged to a Moriori, a member of the race that preceded the Maoris in New Zealand. One curious feature of the jawbone, which contains nearly all the teeth, is that the molars have either been filed or have been worn down at a fairly acute angle almost to the jawbone. .

‘"The interest that the newspaper 1 ; of New Zealand take in education is wholly to be commended,” said the Director of Education in Lancashire, Sir Percy Meadon, in an interview at Christchurch. The results of the assistance given by the newspapers had readily been noticed by the delegates to the New Education Fellowship Conference, because everyone in the Dominion whom they had met had shown a lively interest in many aspects of education. “Some of the newspapers at Home are also good,” Sir Percy added; “but I wish wo could say it of all Of them.”